Letters to the Editor 11/14

Abortion not a sin

No man can speak for God, whose manner and disposition is inscrutable. God is what we are taught to believe is true, but nature’s forces are the true voices of God. Evangelists may proclaim catastrophe to be the will of Jesus, who objects to what they choose to believe. God is neutral, but they are not. It is the evangelists who talk as pretenders because they want to control everybody.

Mother used to say during the Depression, “The rich get richer and the poor get children.” There’s truth to the adage, for in an overpopulated world sex is an act of recreation as well as procreation, but among the poor and uninformed, lives are ruined unnecessarily for lack of “the pill.”

Women need not become pregnant unless they want to, and if they do, they should love and care for the child. Those who can’t should not get pregnant, but if they do, the sooner the pregnancy is aborted the better for all.

It is not a sin; it is common sense and the means to a better life that allows people to enjoy richer lives.

Kenneth Ramey

Paso Robles

Bush to blame

Usually people wait a while to rewrite history. But Richard Placak didn’t! In his letter (Nov. 4) he blames President Barack Obama for our current economic plight. How absurdly short-sighted is that? As a small San Luis Obispo County independent business owner, we began to feel the pinch in late 2007. Anyone paying attention knew the smoke-and-mirrors economic bubble of the Bush administration had to crash.

Let’s see, during the Bush years, taxes on the very wealthy were decreased well below the rate under President Ronald Reagan (who justly felt that those who’ve been so richly blessed financially should contribute more). Then the regulations that were in place to prevent such boom and bust times were ignored.

Reduce money coming in and begin two wars, which have cost billions with millions and millions lost to private contractors hired by our government, not to mention the loss of American lives and thousands more left with extraordinarily debilitating injuries.

Of course the economy failed; it was a forgone conclusion! Meanwhile the ultra-rich (with their lowest taxes in 50 years) have not created jobs, just money for banks and Wall Street. This economic debacle can be traced to the Bush administration, so let’s put the blame where it belongs!

C.R. Leslie

Los Osos

Big tax dodgers

More foolishness than usual has occupied The Tribune’s opinion pages recently. A letter writer said corporations would sink billions into public works projects on the scale of the Golden Gate Bridge to demonstrate their community spirit if only it weren’t for government health and environmental regulations. Pundit Kathleen Parker said Obama is waging “class warfare” when he suggests the rich should pay their fair share in taxes; she then sympathizes with Wall Street for suffering a “public relations crisis in the wake of the global economic collapse” — after causing the global economic collapse — and assures us that Americans can reveal “the better angels of their identity” if they just ignore the growing chasm between the rich and everyone else. And so on.

Reality check: More than 80 percent of America’s biggest companies avoid paying taxes on their U.S. profits by stashing them in offshore tax havens, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, and they’re lobbying to make that tax dodge even sweeter. That’s $100 billion in lost revenue every year. You and I have to make up the difference.

Nothing to see here ...

Joan Carter

San Luis Obispo

Credit for Court

Court Street in San Luis Obispo is one of my favorite spots. The Higuera Street side is especially pleasant. As a curious designer, I look for reasons behind success or failure. This is my take:

Multiple seating choices: Pick a bench, chair or planter, lean on the wall, sit on the steps or lean on the rail upstairs. There may be more choices.

Stores for shopping and hanging out: Uninterrupted storefronts from Higuera to Monterey streets.

Court Street splits the 260-foot city block: It shortens the pedestrian distance to another set of experiences.

Multiplicity of materials: Variable brick, large tile, small tile, colored concrete, stucco, roof tiles and sparkle at the Thai restaurant.

Sunny, safe and cozy space: The plaza varies from 4.5 to 7 human heights. With sun in the mornings, it’s safe from the street, and adults easily supervise kids.

Some choices to tie a pooch: At the bollard, a bench or a table but not a chair because the puppy will drag it to the middle ...

I will say congratulations to the designers and people maintaining the space. It is a daily treat in this small town of ours.

Vangeli Evangelopoulos

San Luis Obispo

Development dissent

A few weeks ago, the Morro Bay Planning Commission approved the development of a nearly 5,000-square-foot private residence despite the very real concerns of many local residents. For the project, public land will be usurped for private development of a much-loved Morro Bay patch of wilderness that is also a documented Native American historical site.

To make way for a private, fenced driveway, 23 mature trees will be cut down, and lava rock will be blasted away on public land. Neighboring landowners are offered no insurance against damage to their homes and property caused by blasting, falling rock, erosion due to tree removal or changing patterns of storm water run-off brought about by the massive footprint of this development on a virgin hillside. On Dec. 13, we have the opportunity to put a stop to this unfair, destructive project — which serves one individual at the expense of the many — when the Morro Bay City Council hears appeals to the permit. All are welcome to attend and voice their concerns or their support. Hope to see you there.

Nicole Dorfman

Morro Bay

Hanson unqualified

Thanks to Bill Bradlee for pointing out the errors in Victor Davis Hanson’s recent column on global warming. Hanson has a Ph.D. in classics but no training in climate science. Therefore, while he is highly educated in another field and is a political thinker, he has no qualifications to comment on climate change. As a farmer and writer on social issues related to farming, he may have a stake in denying any reason to change human behavior.

To get the facts on climate change, one must consult a meteorologist (such as John Lindsey) or someone with training in a related field. We must disregard climate change statements from presidential candidate Rick Perry and others with no training in the field. Among local politicians, Sen. Sam Blakeslee, who holds a Ph.D. in geophysics and understands the scientific method, is qualified to engage in debate on this issue.

Mr. Hanson made another error by dismissing renewable energy sources because of a recent failed government subsidy. This ignores the massive subsidies provided to the coal, oil and nuclear power industries.

Hanson’s expertise is in military history. Let’s get our information from qualified sources and be wise enough to take action to prevent further pollution of the atmosphere. Climate change is a scientific matter. Hanson wrongly wants us to think it is a political conspiracy.

Rouvaishyana

Los Osos

‘Least bad’ solution

I noted with interest your article (Nov. 1) that reported opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport Canadian tar sands oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

The opposition states this hydrocarbon source creates more pollution than green energy and even conventional oil and natural gas. While this pollution case is true, the argument is disingenuous and illogical because the U.S. economy will not reduce its total energy demand. The reasons are as follows:

• Green energy produces expensive electricity and is not for chemicals and motor fuels.

• Fuzzy logic is used to assert that stopping this pipeline will stop the production of the oil. China is eager to build a pipeline to the west coast of Canada and ship it to China.

• Pipelines are a safer and cheaper way to transport hydrocarbons than rail or ship. A break is locally contained, while ocean shipping disasters impact the environment in large multiple ways. Shipping this oil to China is not environmentally sound.

• This new oil could potentially make America more energy independent, thus cutting down our desire to meddle in the Middle East. We don’t have to invade Canada to get it!

This pipeline, while not ideal, may be the “least bad solution” and should go forward.

David Scheeff

Arroyo Grande