Escondido not enforcing existing laws

Escondido's City Council needs to enforce existing laws that are established to protect the rights of mobile-home park residents. These laws were enacted because of the unique situation of owning a home on another person's property.

Again, EMPAC (Escondido Mobile/Manufactured Home Positive Action Committee) has been forced to unite the voice of these citizens to protect and have these rights enforced. In the past, EMPAC has been politically vocal and the city never had a problem with it. In fact, local politicians have historically looked for their support.

Apparently they upset people at City Hall and will now pay a price ("Escondido mobile-home residents accuse city of retaliation," July 11). As I see it, the council spends a great deal of time attempting to enact new laws and should first enforce the laws that already exist.

Allen Pope

Escondido

Did you feel that feather tickle?

The economic stimulus checks have arrived and have been spent. If you spent it at Wal-Mart, your money is already in China. If you used it to buy gas, your money went to the Arabs. If you bought fruit and vegetables, it went to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. If you bought electronic gadgets, it went to Malaysia. Paid your credit card, the money went into a black hole. Bought a car, it went to Japan. Detroit is shutting down, GM going bankrupt.

We should have kept that money at home to strengthen our own economy. The best ways to have spent it was for prostitutes and beer, the only two functional businesses still in America. Goodness, if that Belgian brewer buys up Anheuser-Busch, we are sunk. And so is Cindy McCain.

Since I don't use either service, I spent it at a yard sale to help out my enterprising neighbor, bought some seeds to plant a bean garden and bought a good bottle of two-buck Chuck made in California. This was "free money," printed by the world's fastest printing presses, to stimulate the American economy. Did you feel the rumble of that stimulus? Felt rather like a feather tickle.

J. Howard Crews

Fallbrook

Bye-bye, Fourth, and freedom

We have quietly sat by while the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution was completely eviscerated this week. With few noting nor seeming to care much about our basic right to due process, all companies that are involved in warrantless wire tapping have been given carte blanche immunity from any prosecution with this ex post facto law.

Great news! You can now wiretap your neighbor for fun. Check his or her e-mails with impunity. Your privacy and what was due process (required warrants for wiretapping) are now gone for good.

As I have previously stated, on Sept. 11, 2001, we lost one hundred thousandth (1/100,000) of our population, and in this fury of blind paranoia we have given up the very freedoms that countless American soldiers gave their lives to protect. Do you smell the irony here? Freedom is not free, and if you are not willing to take even the slightest risk, then you deserve the Soviet-style government surveillance, which is now the American reality. Today! Your private information is now the property of the state, so continue to get more comfortable with your Big Brother; he is a very curious boy.

Nathan Wesley

Solana Beach

Congressional gas price solution

Most people are not aware of the fact that both the Senate and the House of Representatives have had committee meetings on the high gas price problem and have come up with a viable solution. There remains the struggle to get the solution approved and implemented. …

The price of gas is determined about equally by three factors -- supply and demand, the value of the U.S. dollar and the activities of the gas futures traders. The factor that is causing most of the damage at this time, and can be readily corrected, concerns the gas futures traders. It is only that portion of the traders that is not legitimately performing a commercial hedging function but instead is performing a speculation price increasing function. They never take delivery of the oil that they control by providing a mere 5 percent or less of the total price. …

It stands to reason that if the traders always bid high, they will all make money and the price of oil will just keep going up. The solution to the gas price problem is to regulate the speculation traders by raising the purchasing margin to 50 percent and adding other restrictions to their activities. This regulation [could, it] is estimated, quickly reduce the price of gas by about 50 percent.

Herbert Pairitz

Carlsbad

Aguirre is keeping them honest

Re: the July 9 article, "SDG&E threatened with suit over green energy."

Thank you, City Attorney Michael Aguirre, for reporting the erroneous behavior of SDG&E and its parent company, Sempra Energy. When companies stop pandering to their stockholders and stop misusing their position to the detriment of the county, state and country, all of the people will support the companies and their stockholders. This will be accomplished by sharing and living in a safe and clean environment. After all, the money is not a living, breathing thing. It is inanimate, does not breathe, feel or have conscience.

Companies and people are known by what they do to their fellow human beings, not by how much stock they own.

Vivian Osborn-Taft

Ramona

Another one for the history books

Once again, July 4 will go into the history books, and especially in Escondido. Some 3,000 people filled Grape Day Park for an exciting evening of music, etc. Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, the North County Times, the American Legion Post 149 and other generous donors created a beautiful evening, capped off by the Marine Band from San Diego. It is worth most any price to hear them play the "Stars and Stripes Forever," and you could hear them. There was Harvey Benne and his "Ragged Ole Flag" routine, which he does masterfully. Johnny Cash would be proud.

I first heard the Marine Band play on the then-enormous parade ground in San Diego as a recruit in January 1939, then lastly on the Fourth of July 2008. Both sounded the same: Great! My profound thanks to all who participated. Another plus for the beautiful California Center for the Arts, Escondido, as well.

Oh, as I said some years ago, that drum exhibition would knock your hat in the creek. It still does. The beautiful fireworks display was tops, and even the traffic seemed to flow more smoothly than before. Living in this area does have its advantages. Semper fi.

Theodore Roosvall

retired, U.S. Marine Corps

San Marcos

Rebuilt, renovate and expand Tri-City

In the past 3 1/2 years, I have been in Tri-City hospital five times. To begin, the lower left lobe of my lung was removed because of cancer. The remaining part of my lung has collapsed three times, and I have had shoulder surgery. The doctors, nurses and technicians involved were all caring with a professional attitude.

We really do need to rebuild, renovate and expand. Now is the time. Each month we wait, it becomes more expensive.

Aletha Sholes

Vista

That cute little airport

Recently, a young lady who read my Community Forum ("Airport, riverbed future tragedies," May 28) said she supported the airport "because I think it's cute." I think baby lions are cute, but I sure wouldn't want one for a pet!

When we moved here, a rise in the ground with high weeds hid our view of the airport. Would we have bought our home had we known an airport was a stone's throw away, plus training novices to fly? No way, Jose! We also weren't advised about previous flooding of the then-clean, dry riverbed a few blocks from our purchased home. In 1990, there were no trees in the riverbed. Now, they tower above the Foussat bridge, rendering adjacent levees useless. … The trees create flood and fire hazards and invite transients and firebugs. Newcomers were unaware of the dangers. What money-hungry Realtor will bother bringing up such trivialities when it involves possible loss of a sale?

So Oceanside is keeping our "cute" little airport in spite of the … records available of previous accidents and deaths. It's been said that ignorance is bliss, and the creation and acceptance of these two hazards are a perfect example.

June Kristapovich

Oceanside

Escondido's anti-American decision

I was appalled to watch (Wednesday, July 9) the Escondido City Council vote to use taxpayer money to relocated persons who may be illegal aliens while they demolish their run-down, gang-ridden Elder Place apartments ("Dramatic changes planned for troubled Escondido neighborhood," July 9). Only Councilwoman Marie Waldron voted in opposition to this decision. Clearly, Councilmen Sam Abed, Ed Gallo and Dick Daniels took a very anti-American stance, going against all they promised the voters on Election Day. We expected as much from the mayor.

Now families in these units, legal or not, will receive lump sum payments upwards of [thousands of dollars] each for so-called relocation costs, which will actually be used for whatever they feel like. And no verification of legal status. This could have been examined closer and some restrictions put on the money.

Councilwoman Waldron should be our next mayor because she is the only one taking the tough stands.

Greg Roberts

Escondido

Another no to hospital bond

We all know we need Tri-City hospital, and it is a good hospital. When will the hospital board and administrators realize that just property owners should not be asked to pay for the hospital bond? What happened to expanding the hospital district to include all of the Tri-City areas? How about a .25 percent sales tax for the Tri-City area, or even San Diego County? This will let everyone pay.

Now the hospital has volunteers calling property owners to support the bond. I received my call this week. Even by mail, or like we did with two previous attempts, we will still have to say no to the hospital bond.

Jack Bandy

Oceanside

Hands-free law working?

Does the hands-free law apply to all? The new hands-free cell phone law appears to be working for some; I don't see half as many folks driving while they wrap their head around a cell phone.

Now this law probably does not apply to those with the dark-tinted windows. They can do anything behind that dark glass, as no one will know. These are probably the same folks who have the wide license plate brackets that block out the name of the state and cut off the bottom of the numbers so a two looks like a seven.

Now, I can understand why some folks cover up the name of their state (I wouldn't want to be associated either), but covering up the bottom of the numbers is suspicious and should be unlawful. Maybe license tags are no longer needed, and we all should have dark windows?

Jack Key

Oceanside

Compassion lacking for sick friend

Recently, a good friend of mine was hospitalized and diagnosed with acute leukemia. He is a DJ/karaoke DJ in North County. Those of us who have gotten to know him feel as if he is our family, and therefore we have done everything we can to help him and his family.

Over the past week, I have sent countless e-mails to different radio and TV station in San Diego asking for a prayer for him and giving the address if anyone wanted to make a donation. I have not received even one message or phone call. Obviously these stations that talk about helping your neighbor all the time don't care at all.

He has done so much for those of us who attend his shows: given rides to and from the shows for elderly who are regulars, invited some of us to his home for dinner and given us a reason to smile after a hard day's work. He has a young son who wants his dad home. …

Vernon Jaworski

San Marcos

Climate alarmists seek to control people

For many years, some people have been frightened and confused by a deluge of global warming propaganda. Lately, however, the global warming cheerleaders are beginning to get flak from some pesky deniers who are now debunking the global warming hoax.

For example, Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, spoke in May 2008 before the National Press Club and told how his thinking today was fundamentally influenced by the fact he spent most of his life under the tyrannical Communist regime. He remembered well that the Communists not only wanted to control the people, but to control nature by "commanding the wind and rain."

However, he doesn't believe that future threats will come directly from old-fashioned Communism, but rather, he warned that a related danger is environmentalism, especially climate alarmism. He warned that the global warming or climate change process was now controlled by those who were not interested in rational ideas and debate, such as climatologists and scientists whose careers revolve around upholding the theory of manmade global warming. Also, the hoax is now influenced by politicians, bureaucrats and international institutions, who seek to control the people, maximize the government's budgets and increase votes to extend their careers.

Darrell Beck

Ramona

Swift-boating works both ways

Republicans have developed a unique character-assassination technique, by which they focus on the quality held most dear by the victim, and then proceed to tear it down. This technique was superbly executed against John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign by means of a well-funded propaganda campaign to convince the public that Kerry's swift-boat heroism was questionable. A new word, "swift-boating," was coined to describe this approach.

Understandably, Republicans were outraged when a bona fide war hero, Gen. Wesley Clark, recently stated that John McCain's wartime service didn't necessarily constitute a qualification for the presidency. McCain's run for the White House rests strongly on his heroism when he was captured by the Viet Cong in Vietnam, and he claims it as his defining qualification for becoming president. Casting aspersions on his most sacrosanct reason for running clearly smacked of swift-boating.

Col. George Day, who has mounted a savage attack against Gen. Clark, was intimately involved in the swift-boat campaign that impugned John Kerry's wartime service. No doubt his outrage stems from the realization that swift-boating works both ways, and that the Republicans do not have a patent on this technique.

Sorab Ghandhi

Escondido

Political circus is in town

The circus is in town! Featured are Ringmaster George Bush and his cavalcade of despair. The main attraction presents: the new world disorder, themed with an economic plot of treasonous betrayal toward national sovereignty by lack of projective thinking or protective strategy. Acts included are: delayed border security, providing millions of undocumented aliens preferred seating under the big top, accompanied by uncounted foreign agents and terrorists.

A cyclops energy policy spotlighting economic chaos; 19th-century technology; fossil fuel addiction; plundered constituent clowns amid a foreboding backdrop of climate-related disasters. Included are: war, drought, famine, dustbowls, firestorms, giant cyclones, biblical floods, massive landslides and melting of tremendous ice fields. Large-scale human misery and death by temperature extremes included.

Do not miss the colossal elephant of national debt all the way from China, promised as tribute to exotic Arabian sheiks for their provision of their elixir some call oil. Be awed by the amazing Wall Street Wallendas balancing on their financial high wire between disaster and recovery over their invisible net woven by cynical spiders. Is this a daydream or nightmare? Next time, read the gas pump's warning label.

John Harris

Oceanside

Mercenary groups in Iraq

I had no problem concerning security people from Blackwater in Iraq. I had always thought soldiers of fortune were illegal when working with the U.S military. … We have bought and paid highly for their use. In Iraq alone, Blackwater has been projected to have up to 30,000 of these uncounted soldiers on the ground and in the air.

So far they have received over $30 billion unbudgeted dollars from the Bush administration. Halliburton has also been given billions for their subsidiary KPR, a separate part of Cheney's Halliburton no-bid policies. These are but two of the many mercenary groups we have hired under the guise of security personnel. They wear U.S. uniforms, and fight in the country like our young men from Pendleton, Fort Lewis and many other military facilities.

There are a couple of differences. They are paid about eight to 15 times what we pay our own regular military, and oh yeah, we don't hold them responsible for their many atrocities. If we think our regulars have done anything wrong, we hold them up to court-martial. Damn, I will be so glad to get out from under this almost totally illegal and hateful government.

Don Frate

Oceanside