Editor:
First I would like to
commend the publisher for straightforward information concerning our valley. Her
comments are a breath of fresh air. We have not had a candid community advocate
since Fil Condit.
Secondly, Mr. Pappas should
confine his commentary to something of which he has personal experience or
knowledge. The Veterans Administration is an unwieldy arm of the federal
government and as such must follow template rules and procedures that do not
fit everyone.
“Service connected status” is not easily obtained nor should
it be. I am fortunate to have that status and it took several years to obtain.
The care I receive is excellent. The new clinic in Santa Maria is quite nice
and makes care for north County residents much easier.
The veteran who does not
have a service connected problem, or does not fit the financial condition
template, will not be considered for treatment. Those veterans receiving
treatment must be tolerant of the slow moving federal giant of Veterans
Affairs. They do move — but very slowly.
Cordially,
LeRoy C. Newsom
Dear Editor:
Perhaps you are considering giving
a cat or dog as a Christmas gift. I ask you to please reconsider. Holidays are
a particularly stressful time of year to introduce a new pet. More importantly,
adopting a pet should be a joint family decision. A pet could live 20 years, so
a lifetime commitment is necessary. Family members must decide whether or not
they’re willing to invest the time, money and energy necessary to responsibly
raise a pet.
In lieu of a cat or dog,
please consider giving a gift certificate to be honored after Christmas. At our
county shelters you can adopt a vaccinated and licensed dog that has been
spayed or neutered for approximately $90 -- what a small price to pay for years
of devotion and love. If we all adopted our pets from shelters, we would remove
the profit from both breeders and pet stores, plus pay less in taxes to house
and kill cats and dogs in county shelters. If you are working outside of your
home, it is practically impossible to properly train a puppy, so save the life
of an adult dog.
Those who insist on a
purebred cat or dog, or wish to adopt horses, donkeys, or a variety of farmyard
animals should e-mail AdoptAPETCA@aol.com. All of these animals have been
rescued; they are usually housed in private homes and dedicated volunteers care
for them. Lastly, when you do adopt a cat or dog and want it to be free of
fleas, I would suggest nutritional yeast flakes, sold at health food stores;
costs approximately $10 for 28 ounces. Give cats ½
teaspoon per day, small dogs 1 teaspoon per day and large dogs 1 tablespoon per
day. Dogs like it -- one never knows about cats. Use mounds of oat bran to kill
snails; snail baits can kill dogs.
Hazel Mortensen
Solvang
Dear Editor:
Recently I hired a local
photographer, known for his wedding photography, who advertised in the high
school yearbook to take senior pictures, to take my student’s senior portraits.
I chose him because I had met him when he was new in the business and he
happily gave me an auction donation, which might generate some business for
him. He seemed anxious for the business back then, and I was also aware that he
now had a following in the valley.
We had three-and-a-half
weeks before the deadline for yearbook picture submission. This photographer
called and canceled the appointment with no apology and no explanation. We then
rescheduled, giving us only a 10-day window to take, receive and choose the
picture for the yearbook. Four days before our new appointment, he called and,
again without apology, explanation or any kind of concern, canceled. He not only
canceled our appointment, but he canceled all other senior portrait
appointments he had that week. I found out later that he did this to take a
different job that he has a preference for.
We had counted on him to do
the work he promised to do. I found his actions to be highly unprofessional and
lacking integrity. The only correct thing he did was to give us the name of
another photographer. When I asked if she was good and capable, he replied that
she was a Brooks Institute graduate, and that he would not suggest her if she
was not a good photographer.
What a contrast it was to
have a friendly, pleasant, interested photographer. She did everything we asked
her to do, and she did it with a broken foot, and we were at a park and at the
beach. Not only was she a complete pleasure to work with, she did a very nice
job, and we were able to turn in a picture, that my student was happy with, on
time. Not only that, she reassured us that if the pictures had been delayed,
she would meet us again, use a different camera and make sure we had a picture
in time.
Her name is Linda Chaja. If
you are looking for a pleasant, qualified photographer, who is interested in
working with you, and is respectful of her clients, I recommend you call Linda
Chaja. I appreciate her stepping in at the last minute and doing such a great
job. Thank you Linda; we appreciate it so much. We will certainly recommend you
to our friends and associates. You can find Linda at: www.lindachaja.com or
588-6784.
Sincerely,
Joanne Clark
Solvang
Dear Editor:
Your paper constantly cries
about misinformation, but I find your paper to be the leader of misinformation.
For example, Mr. Sherline says the war started in 1983. Wrong. He should go
back to 1952 when England was stealing oil reserves from Iran and Iran put a
stop to it.
England then called on the
U.S. for help and we funded a C.I.A. coup of their government and put in the
Shah. In the ’70s, when the people of Iran took back their country with the
Ayatollah, we then sent Rumsfeld to Iraq and put in Saddam Hussein.
Of course, we also put in
the Taliban in Afghanistan. And when these powers decided to no longer play the
American game, it was then that we cast them as bad guys, when they were bad
guys all along. Same goes for Saudi Arabia; they’re playing our puppet right
now, which is what bin Laden has been screaming about all along. They want U.S.
military out of their country.
The Islamist fundamentalist
jump on this opportunity to enlist more help in their fight against the U.S.,
just as our government calls on our Christians and other non-Islam religions to
fight against al-Qaida. But I do agree with Mr. Sherline in that the American
people are going about their lives as if nothing is going on. We should all be
out in the streets protesting this illegal war over the privatization of the
Middle East oil reserves and really supporting our troops by bringing them all
home now.
Michael Hernandez