Does postal service know what is going on?
I hate to burst John Platt’s bubble(Letters, Nov. 3), but some of us in the 92056 zip code inOceanside did not receive mail either Tuesday or Wednesday duringthe fires. I contacted the main post office in Oceanside onWednesday, where I was assured that our mail was going to bedelivered that day. No one and nothing showed up. I tried tocontact the post office during business hours later that day, andno one answered the phone.
Thursday morning I called the 800 number for USPS and filed acomplaint. They told me they would get back to me within 24 hours.I then was able to get in contact with the main PO in Oceanside,where a very rude woman … told me that they only had limiteddelivery on Wednesday, and that it had been up to the individualcarrier if they wanted to deliver the mail or not, based on theirpersonal assessment of the smoke in the air. …
We finally did receive mail delivery on Thursday, delivered by asubstitute mail carrier. … The return phone call regarding thecomplaint I filed on Wednesday was finally received on Fridaymorning, where I was assured that I would receive mail service thatday. I wonder if anyone at the post office really knows what isgoing on any more? Obviously, John Platt, the USPS district managerin Rancho Bernardo, certainly does not.
Linda FitzGibbon
Oceanside
Illogical move by Coastal Commission staff
Methinks we could well do without the Coastal Commission staff.Seems like they are against anything that appears logical to therest of us(“Coastal Commission staff opposes Carlsbad desal project,” Nov.3).
Jack Anderson
Oceanside
Issa is a Bush team player
Rep. Issa is a perfect Bush team player. He too is willing andable to twist the facts to suit the administration purposes. Hispiece on the SCHIP bill (Community Forum,“Democrats put politics before children,” Oct. 31)) is amasterpiece of deception.
The Democrats passed a second revised child health bill withchanges to meet some of the president#,s objections. Republicansinsisted on the two-times poverty limit, and were not willing tocompromise. A family making $40,000 in Southern California, cannotafford health insurance. Yet the GOP is locked into this limit foraid. Under this existing bill, millions of children are leftuncovered, while we squander hundreds of billions in Iraq.
The Republicans would rather let the kids go without medicalcare than spend the necessary money to protect them. Issa twiststhe facts to make SCHIP look like a bad bill. Then he tries toblame the Democrats.
Yes, Mr. Issa, you really have the president#,s style.
Gordon Archibald
Carlsbad
Investment policies create economicrefugees
The contemporary debate over immigration seems to lack certainkey points. For instance, the impact of investment liberalizationpolicies on workers in Mexico, from which a large percentage ofmigrants have come. It is not simply by chance that investmentliberalization and privatization policies coincided with anincrease in migrants from Latin America, primarily Mexico.
In debt to the IMF in the 1970s, the organization used thisleverage to promote resource privatization and investmentliberalization, policies which undermine local popularsustainment.
A 2003 Carnegie Endowment report found that NAFTA undermined aconsiderable amount of small farmers in Mexico, who could notcompete with subsidized U.S. corn exports. In response to theseconditions, many Mexicans supported the presidential candidateAndres Manuel Lopez Obrador in 2006, who would have worked tomitigate the conditions that have made economic refugees out ofmany.
However, following the closest election in Mexico#,s history,and evidence of electoral fraud against Obrador, the FederalElections Institute, apparently controlled by corporate interests,denied a recount.
Borders apparently only apply to the workers, while corporationsshould be able to come and go as they please.
Brian Donald Williams
Oceanside
‘Latino’ groups are inherently racist
Let me run a sentence by you. “The report by the ADL is furtherconfirmation of what we in the white community have been saying forquite some time.” That sentence sounds pretty racist doesn’t it?Now replace the word “white” with “Latino” and put it in BillFlores’ Community Forum (“Minutemen’stactics inflame hate,” Nov. 2), and it seems to be perfectlyacceptable. Why is that?
Mr. Flores need look no further than his own mirror to findsomeone to add to his list of purveyors of hate and propaganda.When anyone disagrees with his point of view he, as well as [some]illegal immigrant activists, pulls the race card, which is itselfinherently racist.
I believe that everyone should be subject to the same laws andrules. However, the illegal immigrant community, whatever thenationality, seems to think the laws are for someone other thanthemselves and should be ignored.
At least the group that he attacks does not believe the laws areirrelevant.
Mark Allen Ruhm
Escondido
Point well made on karma
Kudos to Mehilli Bhagalia of Carlsbad on the letter in the Nov.2 North County Times’ issue(“The law of ‘what you sow you reap,'” Nov. 2). The thoughtsand rationale are outstanding and should be broadcast far and wideto every human on the earth. Few, if anyone, could make the pointso well and so concisely.
Henry Sanford
San Marcos
Fear Bush’s fear tactics
“I feel that if our constitutional system ever fails, it will bebecause people got scared and turn hysterical and someone in powerwill demagogue them right into a police state.#” Harry Truman#,sworry is becoming a reality.
Recently, someone I#,ve known for almost 30 years said that hedid not mind giving up a few of his civil liberties to be protectedfrom the terrorist threat. Whatever happened to the American spiritof “live free or die”?
Bush recently compared those Democrats who want to block hiswarlike tendencies toward Iran as being like Chamberlain placatingHitler. He has it backward. It’s the Bush administration thatresembles Nazi Germany, complete with phony enemies (Islamicfascists instead of Jews), domestic surveillance (warrantlesswiretaps), secret prisons of torture, a paramilitary group notanswerable to any regulation (Blackwater instead of Brownshirts)and a continual cadence that anyone who does not agree with theirfascist view of the world is not patriotic.
“Be afraid, be very afraid, only we can protect you,” is theessence of the Bush administration, while they systematicallydismantle our civil liberties. It gives a new meaning to FDR#,sadvice that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Margaret
McCown Liles
Escondido
Can’t trust officials on price of oil
The price of oil is skyrocketing. Our worthless federalgovernment has failed to implement an efficient energy policy thateliminates our dependency on the Middle Eastern countries that hateour guts but love our money. You can take the corrupt politiciansin Washington and the greedy officials at the oil companies and usethem as compost to help seed the burned-out areas in San DiegoCounty for all I care.
Please don#’t tell me that there is no technology available foraffordable electric cars or solar energy for our houses. Wouldsomeone tell me why hybrid cars are more expensive than regularcars? They should be cheaper so more people will buy them.
The latest fires should be a clear indication of how much weshould trust the federal government. Solve problems locally, thengo to the state, and when everything is organized, then acceptassistance from the knucklehead feds so that they can#,t screwthings up.
It is a national disgrace of epic proportions that the Americanpeople have allowed themselves to be placed in this position.Countries with oil should be begging us to buy their product, notthe other way around.
Thomas Calabrese
Oceanside
Fire-resistant gels should be moreavailable
I’m glad to hear that these fire-resistant gels had some successat Palomar Mountain(“Anti-fire gel saved Palomar Mountain homes, has limits,” Oct.31. They have been available to the general public for quiteawhile. In fact, I’ve tried to get … a few of the local hardwarestores and lumberyards in the Ramona and Julian area to try the[fire-resistant gels], but haven’t gotten anywhere. Maybe nowthey’ll listen. How many homes could have been saved?
I hope these fires will open our eyes to see that there are waysto vastly improve your chances of saving your property when awildfire is near.
David Serven
Fallbrook
Autism and lead in toys?
The American public has been showing an increase in [the numberof] autistic or retarded children over the past 35 years. Is itpossible that the toys that have been coming into the United Statesfrom China, and other countries that do not have the no-leadrequirements in toys during that period of time, are a major reasonas to this high increase in autistic children and retardation in agrowing number of adults?
When I was a kid 57 years ago every toy was made in the UnitedStates. I remember the few toys we had were made of either wood ormetal (plastic was still a new material), with very little paint onit. The paint didn’t last long on the toys either. Any parent whopurchases a toy that was made outside the U.S. is playing Russianroulette with their kid’s mental and physical health.
Just a thought to think about.
Gary Myers
Oceanside
Firefighters are heroes
I wanted to say that, in light of the last few days’ events inSan Diego and all the surrounding counties, that firefighters arereal live heroes! Firefighters are to be admired and idolized assports and rock stars are. They should also, in my humble opinion,be paid as well a sports star or rock star. Putting their lives onthe line, saving thousands of homes and saving lives makes each andevery firefighter worth his weight in gold.
I believe that firefighters are worth the same yearly salary assay a David Beckham, LaDainian Thomlinson, Kobe Bryant, JakePeavey, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, or Madonna (to name just afew).
Pay the firefighters what they are worth, treat them as theydeserve to be treated, as heroes!
Cindy Van
Escondido
Thanks to couriers
I want to give very special thanks to all the people who did ourdeliveries during the last week during the fire storms. These arethe people we just overlook because they are all in our dailylives. All the emergency workers deserve a big thank you, but theseother people deserve as big a thank you. The postal workers, UPS,FedEx, the people who deliver our food to our markets to keep usall fed and a special thank you to Morris at Pro Courier.
Morris had to go up and down the freeways to pick up and deliverour mail three times a day, braving the smoke so we could do ourwork. Morris, along with his wife and new baby, was evacuated fromhis home but this did not stop him from doing his job.
Hats off to Morris and the rest of the Pro Courier crew and allthe other courier services.
Dorothy Bruno
Vista
Bush’s national security charade
Waterboarding is torture in every sense of the word. … MichaelMukasey is a pawn for whatever Bush and Cheney want the laws of ourland to be. He has already said that the president can ignore thelaw if it’s for national security reasons. Wow, now there’s alaw-and-order type of guy for you. Hide unlawful acts under ablanket of national security and it’s A-OK. Everything that Bushand Cheney want to keep secret is placed under nationalsecurity.
When they got caught wiretapping without warrants their firstrecourse was the inevitable denial, which is routine now. When thatdidn’t work so well, they used the premise that they did this onlyafter 9/11 for national security reasons, which is a blatant lie.They started well before 9/11.
Enough! The attorney general should never allow himself to bedictated to from the White House, as all of them have been. In myopinion, anyone who votes to confirm Mukasey is someone who doesn’tgive a damn about the Constitution and our laws. …
These senators better wake up and use their votes forconfirmation in the way they are expected to do. They need to askthemselves if this person, as the top lawyer in our nation, willallow only the Constitution and any laws on our books to be hisonly guideline in rendering an opinion. Period.
Joanne Goodwin
Oceanside
San Diego fires were no Katrina
I feel the deepest sympathy for those who have their livesdestroyed by these fires, and this letter isn’t meant to diminishtheir loss in any way, or the way our marvelous firefightersperformed.
I’ve been watching too many feel-good stories about what awonderful job San Diegans are doing for evacuees compared withthose dummies in New Orleans on TV. There’s such a big differenceyou can’t even begin to compare the two. For example: 200,000 homeswere destroyed in the Gulf Coast; less than 2,000 here, and theevacuees arrived in their air conditioned cars. The evacueesarrived in New Orleans with the wet clothes on their back aftersurviving a night of flooding and a class 3 hurricane.
In San Diego, evacuees have every imaginable agency to help,including friends. In New Orleans, every local government agencywas destroyed and the people who worked for them also lost theirhomes. They didn’t have water or electricity. I wonder what kind ofjob we would have done under a similar situation. Sometimes it’stoo easy to call yourself a hero.
Joe Martin
Oceanside
Consider this before you vote on cityhood
The city of Wildomar would be a color picture with ablack-and-white budget. Do people who support Wildomar becoming acity think the county would give financial support forever to allowWildomar to operate on its own as an independent city?
The county is facing losses of tens of millions of dollars fromthe reduction of property values due to the housing slump caused byforeclosures, bankruptcies, overbuilding and prices dropping thatcould last into 2009 or later. This will force local officials tostart reducing costs to keep their budgets balanced. City andcounty governments rely heavily on property taxes to fundservices.
Where would this leave Wildomar as an independent city? Thereare other services to be considered that involve street cleaning,animal control, voting costs, parks, trash control and sewagedisposal that come with becoming an independent city in addition tothe costs of a council, city services, police and fire protection,city employees, equipment and their facilities. These costs wouldsoon become a burden to the county and it would reduce its supportto balance its budgets.
Please consider this and think about whether Wildomar becoming acity is best for your community when you vote.
Joseph R. Holsinger
Wildomar
Government shouldn’t foot bill for families
In response to all the letters about Darrell Issa on Nov. 1,this isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue. It’s an issue ofshould the federal government/taxpayers aid low-income families ofthe uninsured. This bill includes much more then health care. SoI’ll put it on a personal issue.
My employer doesn’t provide health insurance for the family, soI have to get health insurance from an outside source. I have achild and am expecting my second. I fall under the guidelines ofthis bill as a low-income family. It’s not the responsibility ofthe federal government or the taxpayers of this great country toprovide health care for my children. We brought them into thisworld so that makes them my responsibility to provide the best Ican for my children and wife.
I repeat: This is not the responsibility of the taxpayer toprovide health care for my family. So I would veto this bill andprovide a tax credit – dollar for dollar – to all families who haveto pay for health care, rich or poor. The problem with health careand the cost comes from all the frivolous lawsuits doctors have toovercome in this country.
I can pay for health care because we plan, budget and livewithout many of the things people often seem to need or want.
Michael Beiter
Murrieta
What is Hillary Clinton hiding now?
It appears that Hillary Clinton finally had to answer some toughquestions during the recent debate, and she did not do well. In myopinion, Clinton is the most corrupt person to ever run forpresident. She makes Richard Nixon look like a choir boy.
Her corruption runs deep, such as the recent fraud committed inthe Hollywood campaign fundraising, or the “Filegate” affair, herrole in “Travelgate” – where agencies of our government were usedby the Clintons to go after an innocent man – or her brother’sinvolvement in accepting large payments to obtain pardons from herhusband.
Now it appears she wants to have driver’s licenses for illegalimmigrants. She is running, in part, on her experience as firstlady, yet she refuses to make available papers related to her yearsin the White House. We must demand those papers be released andsoon. What is she hiding now?
I suspect those papers will reveal her role in much of thecorruption committed during the her husband’s presidency. MaybeSandy Berger – one of Clinton’s staff members who was convicted ofstealing and destroying secret government documents – can”sanitize” them for her before they are released.
Jim Ramsdell
Menifee
Help lobby for pilot’s recognition
The P-38 National Association is scheduled to hold its 20thanniversary in Las Vegas in connection with the Nellis Air ForceBase Air Show from Thursday through Sunday. This convention marksthe 60th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch ofthe military and the 70th anniversary of the P-38 LockheedLightning. Also, all World War II vets will be honored.
This Las Vegas celebration will give the membership anopportunity to renew its efforts to upgrade P-38 pilot DickAndrews’ Silver Star to the Medal of Honor. Andrews was honored forhis heroic “piggy back” rescue of his wingman, Dick Willsie, whohad been shot down Aug. 4, 1944, during the 82 Fighter Groupstrafing of airdromes in Foscani, Romania.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest honor for braverywhereas the Silver Star, awarded to Andrews by Gen. Nathan F.Twining, is the highest medal a commanding officer in the field isable to award at his discretion.
The P-38 Museum, a nonprofit organization at March Air ReserveBase, houses a full-scale P-38 replica fighter plane that can beviewed in its hangar on weekends.
In honor of Veterans Day, we call upon members of the public towrite, e-mail or call Congressman Peter de Fazio (202) 225-6416requesting the necessary steps be taken to assist our efforts inrecognizing the heroism of pilot Dick Andrews for the heroic rescueof fellow pilot Dick Willsie.
Don Pechous
Murrieta
Fresh from the Web:
A buck and a truck gets you O’side home
Readers respond to our Nov. 6 story about Oceanside’shistoric Rorick house – also known as the “Top Gun” house – beingsold to make way for a new Westin hotel and beach resort. DeveloperJane McVey says the house will be demolished unless someone wantsto pay $1 for the house and the cost of moving it from thelot.
Double down
I’ll Pay $2 today: ” … just to remove that eyesore off ourstreets. I’ll save the city thousands of dollars. They will nolonger need police checking on the abandoned old place (a haven forhomeless and who knows what other kind of illicit activity).They’ll avoid the potential lawsuit which will no doubt ensue whensomebody gets hurt on that property, etc. Bulldoze the joint andget it out of Oceanside!”
Clear the way
Bite the Dust: “Every old house can be called ‘historic’ bysomeone. Just get rid of the old buildings a.s.a.p., look totomorrow with the new. Hopefully, many properties will bite thedust soon and our coastal city will begin to upscale like most CAcoastal cities.
Take it easy
O’side Resident for Life: “I have lived in Oceanside my entirelife and I wish they would stop taking away everything that wasquiet and beautiful about this town. Everyone wants Oceanside to bea great tourist resort but most of you are not the people who grewup here and liked the town for its beauty and tranquility. I amvery glad that the city is trying to keeping the few treasures westill have.”
Oldie but goody
I like old: “I agree with O’side Resident – leave the home andthe historical part of our city. Forget the resort living. Whowants the tourists here anyway?”
Wilkes guilty of bribing ‘Duke’
Readers respond to our Nov. 6 story about a federal juryfinding Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes guilty on all countsthat he bribed former North County Congressman Randy “Duke”Cunningham.
One more time
Right winger goes down: “Another wonderful patriot goes down.Maybe bush will pardon him, too.”
More to come
This will all: ” … be swept under the rug. They are Republicans,after all. They will be pardoned for being loyal good old boys.Wait and see.”
Dollars, no sense
Fat Cats: “Just another example of the morally bankrupt natureof the GOP. How many dollars were wasted? How many lives lost?Let’s flush the republican fat cats and their big businessbuddies.”
Beat goes on
And: “The smart criminals are in power. Go figure.”
Not alone
Smitty: “With a [low] approval rating in Congress, I roll myeyes at the liberal bloggers. In case you have not heard, we areall in this together.”
Look around
WhoWhat: “The wink-wink, nod-nod that both sides of thepolitical aisle have been doing for years is gone – they areturning on each other like wolves. Don’t worry libs, your turn ishere. If you think this is a GOP issue you’re blind.”
Corrupted
MJ: “The root of the problem is congressional earmarks – somehowour country’s appropriations process became inherently corrupted.There will always be scammers in this world, but do we have to givethem such easy access to the U.S. Treasury?”
Insured will have to negotiate with FEMA
Readers respond to our Nov. 6 story about a FederalEmergency Management Agency spokesman saying some of the more than10,000 county wildfire victims who’ve applied for federal disasterrelief have received letters denying government help, but victimswith private insurance may just need to provide moreinformation.
Maybe …
Randy: “FEMA is too busy producing fake news conferences towrite easy-to-understand letters seeking additionalinformation!”
People need people
JohnyOnTheSpot: “This is what is wrong with our country! Youcreate a huge national agency like FEMA and when people are inneed, all they can get is a form letter telling them to go away andpossibly come back later. Why not have a human contact for thesepeople who are in need and find out how they can be helped, insteadof sending them all a form letter from a computer.”
Be realistic
Jake: “Don’t be silly. Whose going to handle 10,000 phone calls?I haven’t seen the denial letters but I would expect they includemore info on what is needed to do to refile.”
Tanker a success, but some wonder why it hasn’t been usedbefore
Readers commented on an article Tuesday in which officialslauded the success of a Canadian air tanker operating from LakeElsinore in fighting the wildfires:
Accolades
Milo: The Martin Mars flying boat converted to a firefightingtanker is a museum piece. Accolades to those who still keep herflying. Her sisters are long gone.
Sure as heck
Howiek: Yes, Milo, right alongside the Catalinas, but they sureas heck worked! San Diego County needs some water-scooperaircraft!
What’s the problem?
Why Two Weeks?: Is the airplane so top secret that the lake hasto be closed for two weeks? The fires are out, so what’s theproblem? These fire officials have way too big of an ego!
Think liability
Two weeks: Hey, Why Two Weeks, the fire in Orange County wasstill going yesterday afternoon and you cannot have boats and JetSkis riding on the lake when a very large prop-plane is taking off,landing and scooping up water. Think about the liability concernsalone.
Precious time
Why two weeks?: Because they need to take off on moment’snotice. If there are civilians on the lake and the tanker needs totake off, those people are at risk and/or it takes precious time totry and clear the lake so the plane can take off. Oh and the firesare not out completely.
O Canada
Diane: … Thank you, Canada, for sending the plane. The U.S. owesyou one!
Return to glory
Cool plane: I’d like to just get a ride in it! Or better yet, inthe off season, use it to fly tourists out to Catalina island andback. The glory days of the flying boats!
