Letters To The Editor

It was interesting reading your recent article (“Get to know vegetarianism,” Jan. 22). I am not a vegetarian, but am very diet conscious. My spouse is diabetic, and I am a survivor of two melanoma surgeries and a nine-month protocol using Interferon as part of the post-cancer treatment. I lost about 25 pounds during that […]

I would like to express my views on smoking in our public parks. This refers to all types of tobacco use in all of our parks. It has been proven that secondhand smoke is as damaging or more so than smoking itself. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is the fourth largest killer in the USA! This, […]

Just who appointed Mr. McCalip as czar of development in Santa Barbara County (“Just say no to leapfrog developments,” Jan. 29)? His comments on the proposed La Purisima Resort project at the La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc are inflammatory and misleading. We don’t mind that he has a personal opinion, but when the Santa […]

It’s a new year, and people have precise expectations for themselves. Some want to improve on their health, and others want to improve their savings account—and nowadays, who can blame them? Those pursuits are great, but I think people should also look outward. Recently, I signed on as a volunteer with an organization that provides […]

As the Bush/Cheney administration is air lifted off the roof of the sinking White House, giving the thumbs-up sign, we all know better. We all see the results of eight disastrous years. Who will pay? Will it be only our military families, or people losing their homes, or prisoners who have no rights, or Americans […]

Regarding Norman Mehl’s letter (“I stand by my original opinion,” Jan. 8) in rebuttal to a rebuttal of a letter from Norman: First of all, I appreciate your Armed Forces service in World War II. And also your service with the space program. Your comment about Obama was disturbing. Okay, so you are not a […]

U.S. complicity and support for the massacre of innocent civilians in Gaza by Israel must come to an end. U.S. taxpayers donate upwards of 3 billion bloodstained dollars yearly to supply Israel with the F-16 bombers and Apache attack helicopters that are currently being utilized to “teach Hamas a lesson” more for political gain that […]

Ronald Reagan’s perhaps finest moment came when he stood next to the shameful Berlin Wall and challenged the Soviet premier: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Not too long thereafter, the wall did come down, and with it the Soviet Empire. Now, two decades later, it is the U.S. Empire erecting or supporting shameful walls […]

The federal bike-to-work tax break is a subsidy to the physically healthy who already make a good living and a tax on all others, including physically handicapped, who cannot ride a bike to work. This stupid tax break should be stopped or else anyone who rides on public transportation or in car pools should get […]

The Unmet Transit Needs season is once again upon us. This is an annual reminder that the holidays are over, a new year underway, and state money for public transportation will be fought over: $14 million in Transit Development Act (TDA) sales taxes for Santa Barbara County. The South Coast transit agency, MTD, will receive […]

I agree with the government affairs director of the Homebuilders Association of the Central Coast that we are facing “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression” (“Get home buyers back in the market,” Dec. 25). Although the Homebuilder’s lobbyist and I agree that there is a problem, I strongly disagree with his organization’s statement […]

Regarding the Israel/Hamas fiasco, when the schoolyard bully beats up on the skinny kid, his friends will come to the underdog’s aid, even if he deserves a beating.     Israel, the bully in this case, has not learned this fundamental truth.