Can you believe our elected officials (crybabies) in Sacramento who do not want their pay to be cut even though other state workers have taken several cuts? These people make three to four times the average income in California, where do they get the gall?

I would be ashamed to say anything. Not only is this state solving no problems, but they are chasing businesses out of the state due to taxes and hidden fees such as taking a 10 percent income tax from people who can’t afford it. I guess our crybabies are exempt.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/927966.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/927966.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:39 PST Cuesta did celebrate

In response to Gordon Marshall’s letter (Nov. 17) about how Cuesta College didn’t properly celebrate Veterans Day:

The campus did celebrate Veterans Day. There were numerous school clubs that held events to commemorate those who have been in and who are in the U.S. military. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/927960.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/927960.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:34 PST Indeed there was: The hill our two congregations share was ablaze and the United Methodist church was completely engulfed. If you lived in San Luis Obispo in 2001, you may remember that fire!

When the United Methodist pastor called the Lutheran pastor, his request for chairs was met with an invitation. “Come worship with us.” And they accepted. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/926491.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/926491.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:47 PST Compromised bill

The recently approved health care bill has been so compromised that it joins other critical legislation supporting war funding, bailouts, environmental constraints, etc. in channeling money from consumers up to corporate entities without genuinely addressing critical issues.

It seems clear that our health care system is broken, but the proposed legislation compromise only locks in changes that will benefit the industry. Start again with transparency and real public debate.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/926489.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/926489.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:44 PST More differences

So many more differences.

When a liberal doesn’t want an abortion, she doesn’t get one. If a conservative doesn’t want one, then no one else should be allowed to get one.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/925074.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/925074.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:38 PST Absent coverage

I am a daily subscriber to The Tribune, but supplement my news with internet news sites. I just realized that I have not seen any coverage of Fathima Rifqa Bary in The Tribune. I figured I just missed it, which is quite possible as I do not read the paper cover to cover every day.

So I went to The Tribune’s Web site and typed in “Rifqa.” No search results. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/925062.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/925062.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:32 PST Knowing that aging brings ongoing losses — friends, family, health, mobility and resources — can generate a feeling of despair. I wondered how I might reframe those losses to avoid that negative feeling.

An article I read on joyfulness intrigued me. In a study of 100 people who described themselves as happy, some had major health problems, others had grave financial problems. The author said that inherently some of us see life more joyfully than others. Yet, she contended that we are not limited to the degree of joyfulness assigned to us at birth.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/923747.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/923747.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:57 PST • Plastic: Two water bottles, one sports drink bottle, five food and energy bar wrappers, a cup and a water bottle cap.

• Aluminum: Three beer cans and a soda can. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/923746.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/923746.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:57 PST The obvious answer

Letter writer Rex Thornhill (Nov. 9), arguing against extending government-run health care, asks why Medicare is going broke while private insurance companies are making a profit.

The obvious answer is that private companies accept no one who is likely to cost them money, frequently dropping customers who do develop expensive health problems. Medicare’s only clients are people who for-profit companies would consider uninsurable, like the elderly, who are sooner or later almost certain to have extremely expensive health care needs. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/922445.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/922445.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:40 PST What we deserve

When I read your article on Nov. 8, “GOP raises multiple objections on the Hill,” my initial response was to laugh. After all, the behavior of Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., was really rather silly and didn’t deserve to be taken seriously.

This was followed by anger. Anger that a chosen representative of the American people would behave like a third-grader on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/922438.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/922438.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:47 PST Your disregard for the high school community where I work was an insult to the hard work and dedication of staff, students and parents. A more professional approach would have been to report the story for what it was, an act of violence. Shame on you.

— Stan Cooper, teacher, Paso Robles High School]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/921606.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/921606.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:21 PST Together we have passed voter initiatives to discourage new oil facilities, supported moratoria on new leasing and fought legal battles in court. In particular, the residents and elected representatives in San Luis Obispo County have been leaders in preventing oil development off its shores.

The fight is not over. There are still too many platforms drilling off our coast and renewed pressure for more leasing. In the 21st century, we need to find new and innovative ways to solve old problems. Fortunately, we have come up with a plan that will end offshore oil drilling in California. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/921604.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/921604.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:20 PST The plan benefits Texas-based Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP) and certain environmental organizations — not Californians.

PXP’s self-serving and disingenuous claims regarding so-called “environmental benefits” associated with the plan are illusory and represent an attempt to mask the risky, dirty and dangerous proposal. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/921603.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/921603.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:14 PST Republican wrongs

A letter by Susan A. Margolis (Fight for the Right, Nov. 8) hopefully rallied a few Republicans to stay strong and fight. Also, hopefully, a few Republicans will remember the Bush/Cheney years and the reasons why our country is in such a mess.

That deceitful Republican administration caused unprecedented chaos financially and damaged our military structure irreparably. Obviously, the last Republican renaissance was a dismal failure.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/920889.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/920889.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:23 PST Significance forgotten?

Regarding the opinion expressed by James Costello in Letters on Veterans Day (Nov. 11), that they (whoever they are) should move Veterans Day so it could be a three-day weekend, I ask, have we as Americans lost all sense of our history and forgotten the significance of the 11th hour of Nov. 11, 1918?

The day is set aside to honor veterans, not go on a mini vacation. Congress tried that foolishly before back in the 1960s and moved the holiday to a Monday in October. Thankfully, enough concern was raised by veterans groups that Congress was pushed into moving the holiday back to Nov. 11. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/919155.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/919155.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:46 PST 32 years of hospice

With November being National Hospice Month, I couldn’t be prouder to tell you about Hospice of San Luis Obispo County celebrating its 32nd year as a volunteer hospice.

We chose many years ago not to obtain licensing, but instead to remain independent, so we could always do what our hearts and community needed us to do, and that is to provide hospice services without any restrictions. ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/919152.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/919152.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:39 PST We all make assumptions. Some are about serious topics, some are not. Do we assume that a good high school wrestler cannot be a valedictorian? Do we assume that a pampered blond socialite cannot be an effective CEO? Do we assume that Tom DeLay cannot dance?

And, what about that roller derby? Do you remember the 1950s black and white TV roller derby contests? Did it seem like it was all for show — like today’s wrestling matches? Did you believe that the women skaters then were hard-bitten and tough competitors with whom you had little in common? ]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/917878.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/917878.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:40 PST Stop ruining lives

The governor is planning to lay off more state employees in January. There has to be a better way of saving money other than putting more Californians on the unemployment roll and leaving these people hoping they don’t lose their homes and medical benefits.

This latest pink slipping has been kept very quiet. Neither the governor nor representatives are making any of these plans public. Our representatives should be taking the hit financially, not our hard-working state employees. This needs to stop. No more lives need to be ruined because we can’t spend within our means.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/917874.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/917874.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:36 PST Unfortunately, the actual MLPA concept and implementation are a great example of the paradox of the “do-gooder”; in other words, good intentions, combining with ignorance, arrogance and prejudice, leading to a bad result.

I have been a commercial fisherman since 1973, fishing albacore, diving for sea urchins and most recently adding open access ground fishing (i.e. black cod) to my means of livelihood. Over the years I have seen commercial fishing demonized regularly in the media. Almost all the publicity about fishing has been negative. We see the same tired film clips of methods of fishing that have been severely curtailed or wrongly interpreted. Over and over we are hit with the message that fishing is wrong and fishermen are greedy, shortsighted sub-humans.]]> http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/916382.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/letters-to-the-editor/story/916382.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:26 PST Get the whole story

Don’t be sheep. Remember that the “information” and “opinion” we get bombarded with via the Internet and all media is not necessarily true. Even if some of it is true, it is only part of the story. Even the choice in words is divisive, incendiary and designed to get the response of outrage.

For anything that is important, we owe it to ourselves, our friends and our country to get the rest of the story. It’s out there and it takes work, but sitting around and listening to half truths is a bad thing. Yes, that goes for liberals as well as conservatives.]]>