Long Beach letters

What more can we do?


To the Editor:
We wish to thank Joe Kellard and the Herald for the informative front-page article “Another heroin death” in the Jan. 28-Feb. 3 issue.

We have been deeply saddened this past month about the most recent loss of a Long Beach High School graduate. Over the last four months, we have had four graduates die from risky behaviors associated with alcohol, drugs and heroin. While illness and tragic accidents do occur, we are particularly concerned about the actions that have caused such heartbreak. We do not have the answers, but know that as a community we must seek solutions that will keep our children safe. The question before us is how to galvanize our community to stop our children from dangerous activities.
The Long Beach School District, Project Challenge, Circulo de Hispanidad, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center and Long Beach Recreation Center all provide after-school and evening activities to keep our students engaged. Counseling and health classes are available to all of our young people through teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and psychologists at school, Long Beach Reach and the Long Beach Hospital. These measures are apparently not enough.
Let us make this a public conversation, not one where we use only hushed voices and move on. The time has come for us to seek meaningful ways to deal with the growing alcohol and drug problems. Talk to your friends, family and neighbors about how best to deal with these urgent issues. Let us make a difference so that another one of our precious young people is not lost!
We welcome your ideas and input. E-mail us at lbhsptsa322@gmail.com.
Linda Morgenstern
Cathy Musk
Co-presidents
Long Beach High School PTSA

Enviromentalists’ claims are melting

To the Editor:
How unfortunate that the Herald printed Scott Brinton’s latest global warming screed the same week that the U.N.’s Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change was forced to admit that two of its most important “findings” have no scientific basis at all (“Haiti and the global warming connection,” Jan. 21- 27).
Brinton must be red-faced that he relied on the IPCC’s claim that global warming strengthens hurricanes on almost the exact day that the IPCC was forced to admit the claim is totally baseless. The IPCC was also forced to admit it had no evidence to support its claim that the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035, but none of this will deter Brinton and his fellow travelers from their Chicken Little routine.
Consider the irony of Brinton mocking “deniers” for confusing weather with climate while at the same time claiming “decades” is a geologically significant measurement of time. The absurdity of such arguments is even clearer in light of recent revelations that the top global warming pushers falsified their research and relied on defective computer models to reach their pre-ordained conclusions.
Brinton criticizes the U.S. for not wanting to sacrifice “an iota” of economic growth, but even he knows that in order to have any effect on global mean temperature, we would have to revert to 19th century levels of energy consumption. The levels of poverty and suffering this would entail are staggering and the effect would be minuscule, but the environmentalists couldn’t care less because global warming is not about the environment — it’s about power.
Neil Flynn
Lido Beach

Blue-eyed people are ignored

To the Editor:
In the Jan. 28-Feb. 3 issue, the Herald ran an article about a gay community center which really got me thinking (“Creating a face and a place”).
I did some research and discovered that in Long Beach there is no organization for the support and advancement of blue-eyed people. In the gay, straight, religious and senior communities, and the community of people of color, there are blue-eyed people. Still there is nothing that addresses the diverse problems and needs of this minority. Blue-eyed people have their own distinct needs, as well as medical problems, yet these things remain unsupported.
I feel sure that if a center for this type of support were available, blue-eyed people would also flock to Long Beach. We need to stop being silent in this matter, and stand up in support of the blue-eyed people of Long Beach.
Can I take my tongue out of my cheek yet?
Jim Clark
Long Beach

Block the block vote

To the Editor:
At some point in 20005, the Remo administration began a process to block-vote. I won't go into the ridiculous reason for it here, but I voiced my displeasure with it then and I am still against it.
This procedure to introduce a motion at the end of each council session continues, with the majority asking to block-vote and then voting 3-2 in favor of the motion. It doesn't matter whether there are three or 10 items on the agenda, once block voting is approved you either vote to approve or disapprove of the entire agenda. Block voting disenfranchises the voters of this city, since they have no idea why a council member voted for or against an item. We, the voters, would like to hear each council member voice their position on each item.
It's time for this practice to end. It undermines the democratic process and it prevents the individual council member from expressing the will of their constituents.
Larry Benowitz
Long Beach


Suggestion was not anti-free speech

To the Editor:
What’s Alan Symons reading? (“Freedom of speech comes first,” Jan. 14-20). In my previous letters, I have lauded my good neighbor Rich Boodman for his civic activism, thanked him for getting stop signs placed in our neighborhood, and agreed with him that more needs to be done to slow down traffic.
I merely suggested that he consider taking down his signs because they were counter productive to his goal. They unnecessarily politicized the issue and unfairly suggested that local Republicans don't care about the safety and well-being of the community. I don't remember local Demo- crats supporting him on stop signs. This is a nonpartisan issue that is best dealt with by gathering facts, forming consensus and organizing support from all sides.
Regarding free speech, the city is attempting to use an irrelevant ordinance to force Boodman to take down his signs. Bad move. He has the right to be offensive. Political speech is protected by law. In fact, I believe the most offensive speech requires the greatest protection. In a perfect world, the city would rescind its summons and Boodman would take down the signs because he has accomplished the goal of getting the city to hire an independent traffic expert to evaluate stop sign placement. Ironically if the city persists in demanding the signs come down by citing ordinance, they may force him to keep the signs up to fight for his/our free speech rights. He will have my support.
I thank Mr. Symons for citing history to remind us to be vigilant of "slippery slopes" that lead to the erosion of our most vital right, but let's control the hyperbole: there is no need to reference dictatorship in this situation, or to imply that my suggestion that Boodman take down his signs down
enables it.
Neal J. Monteko
Long Beach

Let Nickerson Beach take v-ball

To the Editor:
As our summer population consistently swells to over 50,000, I, for one, prefer the idea of Nickerson Beach hosting a volleyball tournament this summer (“Olympic-caliber volleyball coming to L.B.?” Jan. 28-Feb. 3). Our commuity would then get an economic boost without further burdening our city's already stretched resources.
Barbara DuBow Bernardino
Long Beach