Letters to the editor 1/4

Online accountability

Please require anyone who has their letter or comments posted online to provide their real name and city, which should be included with what is posted. They should also provide their phone number and home address to you for your records and possible call-back verification.

I am seeing far too many postings on The Tribune’s website that are ludicrous, insulting and worse, which is a total abomination in today’s world.

People’s real names should always be required for posting of comments or anything else. When people sign up for an “account,” they should not be allowed to select an anonymous name so they can say anything they want without having any responsibility and accountability.

I see many comments that are totally uniformed and misleading, either intentionally or unintentionally. This reflects horribly when the real names are not supplied.

Walt Reil

Atascadero

McCarthy’s record

I have been watching Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s voting record as reported regularly by The Tribune for years. Every time there has been a bill that will help the poor and middle class by somewhat leveling the economic playing field, he and his Republican colleagues vote against it. Whenever there is abill that makes the corrupt rich and powerful of this country more rich and powerful, he and his colleagues vote for it.

If there is a bill that helps our environment, he/they vote against it. This is bizarre! Don’t the Republicans believe that having their own children breathe clean air, drink clean water, eat healthy food and escape the effect of global warming is more important than giving extra profits to polluting energy and chemical companies?

Apparently not.

In the U.S., Republicans are the party that seem to attract the most political sociopaths. Yet many of the masses still vote for them.

There is plenty of corruption, warmongering and unpopular/impractical ideas in the Democratic Party, too. A new breed of candidates is needed here. But compared to the cruelty and viciousness of the Republican Party leadership, the Mafia looks like a collection of Boy Scouts.

Gerald Manata

Paso Robles

Unchecked judges

Mr. Chuck Reasor’s letter in The Tribune (Dec. 23) was perfectly stated in terms of how judges have begun legislating by overstepping their authority and doing so unchecked.

Elected politicians have appointed and confirmed judges who agree with them politically. These appointments of federal judges are much coveted by the political party in power as an instrument for subverting our written Constitution. These politicians will naturally seek those judges who agree with them politically.

In turn, these judges will tinker with the written Constitution and in effect make it a blank paper on which to write their interpretation of what the people want and undermine the plain language of the founding fathers. Maybe they will say, “We the people (or is it “corporations”?) of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union ...”

Jerome Kapacinskas

Arroyo Grande

Thanks in transit

As we start the new year I would like to extend a special bouquet to all the great people at Regional Transit Authority, especially the friendly and professional drivers who make riding the van such a pleasure. A special thank you to the driver who took his or her time and effort to decorate one particular van. It was enjoyed by all, whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or celebrate no holiday at all.

Again, thanks guys.

Norma Fitton

San Luis Obispo

What we all want

During the holy season of hope, faith, peace and love in the traditions of Christmas and Hanukkah, I was privileged to get a head start by attending an interfaith service on Sept. 11. The program listed 16 other events, from learning 200-year-old Greek dances, Middle Eastern cooking, drumming as an expression of the circle of life, a comedy show with a Muslim, Christian and Jew, a prayer vigil with the three faiths, an open house at the Mosque of the Nasreen and other educational events.

Environmentalist Bill McKibben spoke on helping the Earth to keep it sustaining us.

An introduction to Islam was a daylong workshop. The whole country should have attended.

There were other events, ending with an interfaith Thanksgiving.

To see faith from different perspectives, to laugh together, to reaffirm the different styles of dress, food, music and ritual makes for a more interesting world, but deep down we all want hope, peace and love.

Livia Kellerman

Atascadero

Talking about opera

Is it Turan“dot” or Turan“dough”? Was it Verdi or was it Puccini? Isn’t it grand to be talking about the opera in San Luis Obispo again? I heartily second Ms. Talbot’s reaction (Letters, Dec. 26) to Sarah Kleeman and Ben Tulley’s performance with the Cuesta Master Chorale. Extraordinary! It was something for the ear to behold.

Dennis Schneider

Arroyo Grande

Don’t mock, act

Mr. Cuddy’s Dec. 25 column about Occupy SLO was based on looking at a canopy and checking a website. Then he described the movement: “motley,” “dozing,” “lack of discipline and goals.” He didn’t talk to the “slumbering” man to find out why he was there overnight, in freezing temperatures. Does Cuddy know that SLO County forbids Occupiers from having tents, sleeping bags, blankets, that protest activities are allowed only during “business hours” and that those who defy these orders are subject to arrest?

Cuddy would find Occupy more credible if it had a familiar structure. Would Congress be a good model?

One of the louts Cuddy dismissed is 28 years old. His “home” is by the creek. He is grateful for a temporary $10-an-hour job. Cuddy won’t have the honor of meeting him unless he’s willing to brave the night air.

At our Dec. 22 march through the Farmers Market we carried signs in sequence: “48% of Americans live in poverty or close.” Many people thanked us for what we are doing. One person openly mocked us — Cuddy, in his hindsight.

Instead of hoping “they” will do the work of democracy, why doesn’t Cuddy shake off his torpor and do something?

Alice Welchert

Los Osos

Transportation lunacy

Forget about the highspeed rail folly in the Valley: the Central Higuera Beautification Project is our own piece of transportation lunacy.

Add the following to the countless potholes, cracked and dangerous sidewalks, temporary blacktop fixes which are crumbling away: It’s been weeks and the city of SLO has not replaced the missing stop sign at the intersection of Ferrini and Highland.

The city’s priorities are wrong, wrong, wrong.

Charles Hagen

San Luis Obispo

Not accountable

In response to Mark Hoffman’s letter of Jan. 1:

Why do you care about Mr. Dalido farming “his” land? I don’t think he has to be accountable to you for this …

Stephanie Neubauer

Nipomo

Gratitude and respect

The number of homeless people in our county has risen to unprecedented levels coincident with our country’s economic travails. Despite the downturn, SLO residents marshaled their resources and took care of their less fortunate brethren.

This year’s Christmas Dinner for the Homeless once again reinforces why we choose to live in SLO. Through the generosity of countless individuals, more than 300 SLO homeless people enjoyed a sumptuous meal with entertainment, and were given much needed winter care packages. It’s unlikely any other county can match the generosity of the San Luis Obispo community.

Tremendous gratitude goes out to: the Odd Fellows, Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, SLO Camp-n-Pack, Congregation Beth David, Temples Ner Shalom and Ohr Tzafon, the SLO Jewish Community Center, Mountainbrook Community Church, United Way of SLO, Roman Bukachevsky, the Los Ranchos School third-graders, Apple Farm Inn, Marie Callender’s Restaurant, the Talley family, San Luis Sourdough, Stephan Lamb, Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab, William Miller Pacific Energy, U-Haul, PG&E, the Claddagh School, Ride-on, San Luis Garbage and our fabulous musicians: Louie Ortega, Billy Foppiano, Franky and Charlie Paredes and Jerome Taylor.

We would also like to thank the nearly 100 volunteers who brought us home-cooked food and worked tirelessly throughout the day. We also extend thanks to the numerous altruistic members of the SLO community who give selflessly year after year in order to make life a little easier for those less fortunate.

With tremendous gratitude and respect, we wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.

Sheri Eibschutz and Naomi Blakely

Co-Coordinators, Christmas Dinner for the Homeless

Flat tax? Never

Well, here we are again in the political silly season, and the “candidates” are again rolling out the hope for a flat tax. This reminds me of the “Peanuts” cartoon where Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown to kick and then pulls it away at the last minute.

While the flat tax is a great concept, it will never happen! Why? Simple! Without the goodies to dangle before the lobbyist and special interests, where would the politicians get the money to run for office and decide how to spend your tax dollars? Maybe they could ponder how to make our country really energy independent. Now that would be a worthwhile activity rather than one more “fundraiser” for invited guests. But with a flat tax, why would invited guests “contribute”?

Consider this: A flat tax might just force a major cut in lobbying, lawyer and accounting jobs. Whole corporate tax departments, financial planners and IRS people would be thrown out of work. They would need to move out of Washington, D.C., and do real work in the hinterlands. Oh, no, can’t have a flat tax.

Lucy, you are providing a valuable service, so please don’t let Charlie Brown kick that football. We most certainly wouldn’t want to have a flat tax and make things simple!

David Scheeff

Arroyo Grande

A wink and a nod

It’s understandable that Dan Reddell takes it personally that people object to the way in which he wants to develop his land (“Building on Cerrito Peak: A novel experience,” Dec. 29). But this really isn’t about Mr. Reddell feeling berated or yelled at or whacked with a baton, or his wish to portray himself as amartyr for property rights.

It’s about the Morro Bay City Council ignoring the warnings of California Coastal Commission staff, land use attorneys and independent biologists to discover novel ways to interpret the laws protecting our coastal resources and approve a project that violates numerous sections of the city’s development standards.

I’d like to say that the City Council giving a wink and a nod and a permit for an inappropriate level of development — the rules be damned — is a novel experience. But in fact, since the election of Mayor Yates and his friends, it’s become pretty common.

Alex Beattie

Morro Bay