Give us a break on quarry 'facts'
I hate to sound petty, as Rick Kellogg has defined quarry opponents in his May 30 letter in Community Voices, but I must respond to his comments.
Rick, who lives in Wildomar, I believe is or has been in the gravel trucking business ... so you can see where his loyalties lie. Rick indicated that we, the gravel pit opponents, know nothing about the gravel business, and he's right. We don't know, in fact, how many sticks of dynamite it takes to blow up a boulder, or how many gallons of diesel fuel will be used by the gravel trucks making about 1,500 trips a day going up and down Rainbow Canyon grade. I'm sure Rick does.
Rick indicated he is preparing to mail a letter to the Californian with information about the unusually high quality of rock at the quarry site. Does he think this will make us look at the mile-long, mile-deep, dirty, dusty quarry in a more favorable way? I don't think so. Does Rick think we just fell off a turnip truck? Not wanting to sound petty again, but give us a break.
Joe Benvenuto
Temecula
Writer doesn't remember the facts
In calling this country an "Obama-nation" (Community Voices, June 1), Mr. Emil Hurtik seems unsure of the facts. Does he not remember that it was Dick Cheney's allegiance to Big Oil, Big Banks, Halliburton and deregulation that created the oil disaster, bank failures and mortgage crises in the first place?ˇ
Republicans have consistently flip-flopped on immigration and border issues to gain votes rather than to institute real reform. Sen. McCain now wants a fence that he never supported before the insurgence of the tea party crowd. Republicans have sworn in verbal statements never to lift a finger to help this president, so they can sit back and spew venom his way while he struggles to clean the dirty laundry they left behind and continue to accumulate.
The Democrats need to get out there and brag like crazy about what they have done to help the American people and why it will work, while loudly chastising the Republicans as the do-nothing party of no.ˇ
Katherine Fortinash
Menifee
Money and greed shouldn't trump health
Mr. Rick Kellogg must have a Ph.D. in environmental studies May 30. He lives in Wildomar and tells Temecula residents not to worry about quarry pollution, even though more than 100 Southwest doctors disagree with him (maybe Kellogg is an MD, also).
Kellogg continuously bashes Southwest County citizens who do not want the quarry destroying a mountain because Granite wants money and convenience of the location. I volunteer at the Farmers Fair every Saturday and have signed up more than 3,000 people who disagree with him. More than 250 U.S. Marines who live in the area do not want this quarry (the Santa Margarita River flows through Camp Pendleton). They have also signed the petition against the quarry.
Mr. Kellogg, money and greed should never trump people's health, the environment and our military.
Robert Martinez
Temecula
Second-rate operations of UHS
In spite of Medicare's recent reprieve given to Southwest Healthcare, it will probably never be more than second-rate considering how its owner, Universal Health Services, operates. A few examples:
After a four-year investigation, UHS' South Texas Health System paid back $27.5 million to the federal government for Medicare fraud. A Service Employees International Union report, "Failure to Care: A National Report on Universal Health Services' Behavioral Health Operations," declared that UHS disregarded the safety and recovery of the patients. Their Lancaster Community Hospital paid a $9,000 fine after violating a federal law that prohibits "patient dumping." LCH was also among the 77 hospitals in California found in violation of a law prohibiting hospitals from denying medical screening or stabilizing treatment or improperly transferring a patient who is not in stable condition ("Hospital sued over doc firing ex-E.R. chief claims LCH rejected patients," www.thefreelibrary.com).
Nurses at some UHS hospitals have been fired or threatened with firing for speaking out against staffing shortages or fighting for unionization. In at least one case, UHS even brought in anti-union "persuaders" like Brent Yessin and Associates, who are known for using coercive tactics ("SEIU Nurse Lockout: Who is Brent Yessin?," Dec. 6, 2005, www.organizedwisdom.com).
UHS also had to pay more than $1 million in back wages to employees at their Stonington Institute in Connecticut for paying less than minimum and overtime wages ("Hartford: Back Wages Settlement," July 17, 2007, www.nytimes.com).
Loma Linda can't get here fast enough.
Barbara Jezior
Murrieta
