Get on with serious issues like hot dogs
Reading all the reviews of the movie "Angels and Demons," I've noticed many of the reviewers have one thing in common: They all think the hairstyle of the main character, Robert Langdon, in "The Da Vinci Code" was absolutely horrible! Have any of these reviewers looked at pictures of some of our more esoteric thinkers from universities and science centers lately? If they had, they might have noticed that a lot of these scientists and men of academia don't exactly look like your average CEOs.
I say, let's get off the hairstyle bandwagon and start asking some serious questions like: Why do packages of hot dogs and hot dog buns come in different amounts?
Tom Di Roma
Oceanside
Why so long for new license plates?
I have been wondering, for some time now, why it takes the California Department of Motor Vehicles weeks to issue new/transfer license plates. I know, at least I think, the process has to be completed in Sacramento, but for what reason? Why can't the whole process be completed at the local DMVs?
The state of Washington issues license plates, on the spot, within the hour. I'm wondering if the personnel are smarter, more trustworthy, or what reason? Maybe the state should review the whole process and recommend or institute some changes. Maybe someone "in authority" can answer this question.
Dick Devon
Oceanside
NCT ignores killing of teens in Tijuana
It would seem that the North County Times must have laid off any of the reporters who didn't drink the cafeteria's pro-Mexico Kool-Aid. How else would one explain the lack of reporting on the murder of four American teenagers in Tijuana on May 12?
I realize you need all hands on deck for each Sunday's big anti-Escondido police hit piece, but you'd think that something that made national news would at least warrant a tiny mention in a newspaper based 50 miles from the scene of the crime.
The cynic in me would say that, for some reason, the NCT just flat-out refuses to print anything at all that paints Mexico, or "undocumented workers," in a negative light. The alternative is that NCT is just so blindingly incompetent that they didn't even know about the murders.
Which is it? Either way, at a time when the print media is struggling for its very survival, the NCT is doing nothing whatsoever to disprove its irrelevancy.
Jack DeLessio
Valley Center
Different charges for different folks
Police in the Rochester, N.Y., suburb of Greece recently arrested, jailed and delivered in chains to a local courthouse a 33-year-old brown-skinned woman named Yolanda Hill. A judge read the charge of grand larceny and set her bail at $25,000. Her alleged crime? Using her mother's suburban address and enrolling her children in the Greece public schools while living about nine miles away in Rochester. She told reporters she was just trying to "get the best for my kids."
A former lobbyist used his mother's address in Carlsbad to qualify to run in the 50th District in California. His penalty? He was elected by the Republicans and sent to Washington.
Our penalty? We have had a representative who consistently votes against any government assistance for child health and welfare. Many people might have the money, but still cannot get affordable health insurance.
We would all be happy to have the health insurance that Washington provides him.
Shirley Slentz
Carlsbad
NCT's changes are unfortunate
It is fortunate that Kent Davy got his award when he did, because he would never get it now.
I know that the economy has made the North County Times cut back on the size of the paper. The changes could have been better selected. They could have eliminated a lot of the big sports pictures that a lot of people could care less about.
Trying to read the Prep Scores, Sports, TV for the day, etc., are not readable, even with glasses. To read them, you need a magnifying glass. On May 13, they were terrible.
Also, putting that half-page ad on the front page is very annoying. Putting part of the "A" section in a different part of the paper is so ridiculous.
I am very disappointed in the choice of cutbacks. It is now a poorly rated paper. I've read other letters from people complaining of the format too.
Marge Smith
Lake San Marcos
Degree idea doesn't nix history requirement
Why does the Palomar College Governing Board need to approve the Associate of Science Degree in Nursing, a second-degree option, for Palomar nursing students? This degree option will meet the National League for Nursing Accrediting criteria for a nursing program to be no more than 72 units. This accreditation assures our community of a quality-nursing program leading to quality health care. The Faculty Senate supported nursing's request for an additional degree option. This degree would not require six units of history and institutions.
To clarify, this degree does not eliminate the associate degree in nursing requiring history and institutions. Failure to approve the associate of science in nursing will result in loss of this essential accreditation. It is important for board members to continue to make quality education and quality health care a priority in our community.
Kathleen Clyne, RN
professor emeritus,
Palomar College
Kern must go!
Councilman Jerry Kern is insensitive to the needs of Oceanside residents. Consider this:
1. He has set into action a plan to cut water rates for one of Oceanside's wealthiest communities while proposing to increase the rates of ordinary residents.
2. He has suggested cutting police, fire and paramedic services in a supposed attempt to save city money at the expense of lives, and
3. He is having a $1,000 fundraiser that involves a hunt of "released" pheasant and partridge. These birds are not wild and are certainly not chickens. They will be killed and tossed in the trash.
Lower-income residents should not have their water rates raised while others are lowered. Police, fire and paramedics have performed admirably over the years, and the public safety of Oceanside residents should be our highest priority. Furthermore, the killing of innocent birds to raise blood money is unsportsmanlike. What's next, Mr. Kern, shooting cats?
Kern must go. He supports the needs of wealthier folks who can afford a $1,000 fundraiser and panders to developers who can fill his campaign coffers. He puts their needs above those of the rest of Oceanside. Wake up, Oceanside! Kern isn't doing you any favors. Visit www.RecallKern.com.
Ann Christian
Oceanside
Basic disregard for all traffic laws
I am writing concerning "Stop sign means you make a complete stop," Letters, May 16: There is a basic disregard for all traffic laws. Right turn on red must stop first, not just slow down and keep on going. Yield means stop first. Full stop means just that: a full stop. Changing lanes demands a directional signal, as does a right or left turn. Hand-held cell phones are against the law.
How many have wavered into your lane? Bicycle riders must obey all rules also. They go by full stops in groups of 40 and expect you to wait as they arrogantly fly by. Forty times the fine sure would help our cities' incomes and help pay the police officers what they deserve.
Observing all the above daily.
Jim Schlichting
Escondido
Support justice, Innocence Project
If you are interested in justice, there are two books that might interest you. They are "The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town" by John Grisham, and "Picking Cotton" by Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson Cannino.
I first became aware of this problem in the 1950s when Argosy Magazine published a column called "The Court of Last Resort." They were very successful for what they had to work with.
Today I try to do all I can by supporting The Innocence Project, because I realize that for every wrongly convicted person in prison, there is a guilty person that no one is looking for.
Besides trying to correct these injustices, The Innocence Project is working to set scientific standards for evidence presented in future trials. By logging on to www.innocenceproject.com, you can become aware of the work they are doing and have the opportunity to sign a petition to our government asking for a commission to study and establish these standards.
Dennis Nichols
San Marcos
How about the 'trust fund'?
Why are our "concerned" politicians ignoring Social Security and Medicare when they are on this spending binge? Certainly the trust fund, which they plundered, should be repaid and make the system solvent maybe just for a few more years?
Or is the administration going to stick it to the working citizens by increasing the deduction in their paycheck? Maybe another slick way would be by delaying the time they can start drawing payments … age 70 instead of 65. Why not make it 75 while you're at it? Of course, socialized medicine would be another way to "solve" the problem, thereby sticking it to everyone.
How about an editorial to bring this to the attention of Washington, D.C.? Just a suggestion.
Howard Sharpell
San Marcos
Male, female or other?
Frank Lancelotti says: "People are born male or female" (Letters, May 15). That's almost correct. While most newborns appear stereotypically male or female, there is a spectrum of ambiguity for the remainder. In some instances, the physical appearance may be completely opposite to the genetically determined gender! Additionally, some are also are born to be geniuses, some to be superb athletes, and yes, some to be homosexuals. These inborn traits may not be evidenced until the individual displays the associated behaviors.
Lancelotti also says: "At inception, the mind is a blank book." But the pages to be "written on" are biased by the physical differences between male and female brains and over the spectrum of innate sexual differences within gender.
Within this context, sexual behaviors, both heterosexual and homosexual, are learned, whereas sexual orientation is innate.
Lancelotti contends homosexual relationships are less stable than heterosexual relationships, quoting from "Are Gay Relationships Different?" that " … over a 12-year period, 21 percent of gay and lesbian couples broke up; only 14 percent of married straight couples did." This study didn't report percentages for unmarried straight couples. However, the study did acknowledge that: "Legalizing same-sex marriage would probably help prolong gay relationships … . "
John Terrell
Fallbrook
During wildfires, use the military
The Santa Barbara fires, loss and destruction is surely a wake-up call. Uncontrollable wildfires consuming homes, especially at night when air operations are prohibitive, poses a question: Could these fires have been overwhelmed by massive assaults using military assets?
As a retired Marine specializing in precision radar systems, my second career was an engineering instructor, teaching operation and maintenance of these systems to the U.S. military. The Marine Corps' transportable Close Air Support and Ground Control Approach equipment can be on site and operational within hours. Continuous air drops could be directed accurately during night or adverse conditions. Air support would be made by night-vision equipped helos, all of which were available to assist in the Crest fire, but were denied by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention. Their refusal was allegedly based on the military's lack of training or experience.
A problem exists here that may be political or contractual. In any case, a solution would be cross-training and inter-agency coordination in preparation for future emergencies. Instead of using military for traffic control and looting security, let's make proper use of such valuable assets. We can drop a bomb down a chimney â"â" so why not a bucket of water?
Roy Leo
Oceanside
No on hate crimes legislation
Eric Parish and J. Howard Crews ("Hate crimes legislation: Not all murders are equal," May 17) call for the passing of hate crimes legislation. This is a terrible idea, for a number of reasons:
1. It makes certain victims of crime more deserving than others in the eye of the law. A homosexual attacked by a heterosexual is more of a victim â"â" by some logic â"â" than a heterosexual assaulted by another heterosexual. As George Orwell said in "Animal Farm": "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
2. This bill criminalizes people's motives, something that can never be truly known. I have respect for our law enforcement officials, but none of them are mind readers.
3. No one with an ounce of common sense thinks that black-on-white crime or Hispanic-on-white crime will ever be prosecuted under this law. This is a leftist law, made for the protection of politically correct minorities, and should be rejected.
Jack Davis
Carlsbad
