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Suicide should not be glorified
I don’t think it’s appropriate for city officials to fly the flag half-mast for a police officer who committed suicide. Nor should a memorial of candles be set up at police headquarters (“City mourns death of officer,” Oct. 31).
Anyone who knows about the act of suicide will tell you that the one thing you don’t want to do about such a deed is glorify it.
The officer did not die in the line of duty. He was under FBI investigation. If anything, by taking his own life, he leaves the impression of guilt.
BRIAN CROSBY
Burbank
Stimulus money has helped many
Although I agree with Joseph Di Sante some (“Stay independent, Burbank,” Oct. 17), I think we should be thankful for the stimulus package from the government. The only person who gives money to the government and doesn’t always get a guarantee where it’s used is the taxpayer.
I believe the federal stimulus package has helped a lot of communities. This recession has been horrific, and just after we think we have a hold on it, it nose-dives.
The unemployment figures are not good; they seem to be the worst statistics. In fact, the jobs available in the future may alter and may not be the same as now. That will require adaptability by the working men and women in the future.
In the meantime, I think we should use certain stimulus for projects that Burbank considers worthwhile and tell the U.S. government to keep the rest for other projects in our economy.
The consulting firm to assist the city (“Consultant to search for funding,” Oct. 3) in finding ways to use federal stimulus money may be a good idea.
WESLEY GREENE
Burbank
Be responsible with your water
It seems that we rarely have the good fortune of receiving rain in this drought-prone area.
However, even during a rainstorm, everyone should be mindful of the severe drought California finds itself in.
All water conserved during a rainstorm is water that will remain in the reservoirs for use another day.
The other day on my way to the airport, I noticed several homes and businesses with their sprinklers running during the rain.
It is so disconcerting to see lawn sprinklers running during the rain and the resulting abundance of water runoff finding its way down streets and gutters and into the storm drains, destined for the Pacific Ocean. Whenever it rains, and for a reasonable period of time after the rain stops, all residents should turn off their automatic sprinkler systems, and discontinue the use of water outdoors because the vast majority of our water consumption is for outdoor landscape irrigation.
CLAUDE W. SODERSTROM
Verdugo City
Get ‘Curveball’ before Polanski
Regarding the letter “No impunity for Roman Polanski” on Oct. 24, an extrapolated perspective: If the Swiss can hold and extradite someone to the U.S. for prosecution of a decades-old sex charge in which the now mature victim is virtually begging for it not to go forward, then, per the extradition treaties in force between Germany and the United States, our two governments can surely find a legal reason for the Germans to hold for extradition to the U.S. their notorious informant “Curveball,” whose less-than-10-years-old weapons-of-mass-destruction lies indirectly helped lead most of us — Barack Obama, when he was an Illinois state senator, being a notable exception — into supporting the ill-fated U.S.-led invasion that started our morbid tar baby of a war in Iraq.
So, how about our Department of Justice draw up a warrant, sent to the attention of Germany’s counterpart department, charging him with criminal negligence, at the very least? He deserves to face the U.S. justice system — on behalf of the almost 5,000 U.S. troops, et al, killed in the Iraq war — at least as much as Polanski does, if not much more so.
HARVEY PEARSON
Los Feliz
I don’t think it’s appropriate for city officials to fly the flag half-mast for a police officer who committed suicide. Nor should a memorial of candles be set up at police headquarters (“City mourns death of officer,” Oct. 31).
Anyone who knows about the act of suicide will tell you that the one thing you don’t want to do about such a deed is glorify it.
The officer did not die in the line of duty. He was under FBI investigation. If anything, by taking his own life, he leaves the impression of guilt.
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Burbank
Stimulus money has helped many
Although I agree with Joseph Di Sante some (“Stay independent, Burbank,” Oct. 17), I think we should be thankful for the stimulus package from the government. The only person who gives money to the government and doesn’t always get a guarantee where it’s used is the taxpayer.
I believe the federal stimulus package has helped a lot of communities. This recession has been horrific, and just after we think we have a hold on it, it nose-dives.
The unemployment figures are not good; they seem to be the worst statistics. In fact, the jobs available in the future may alter and may not be the same as now. That will require adaptability by the working men and women in the future.
In the meantime, I think we should use certain stimulus for projects that Burbank considers worthwhile and tell the U.S. government to keep the rest for other projects in our economy.
The consulting firm to assist the city (“Consultant to search for funding,” Oct. 3) in finding ways to use federal stimulus money may be a good idea.
WESLEY GREENE
Burbank
Be responsible with your water
It seems that we rarely have the good fortune of receiving rain in this drought-prone area.
However, even during a rainstorm, everyone should be mindful of the severe drought California finds itself in.
All water conserved during a rainstorm is water that will remain in the reservoirs for use another day.
The other day on my way to the airport, I noticed several homes and businesses with their sprinklers running during the rain.
It is so disconcerting to see lawn sprinklers running during the rain and the resulting abundance of water runoff finding its way down streets and gutters and into the storm drains, destined for the Pacific Ocean. Whenever it rains, and for a reasonable period of time after the rain stops, all residents should turn off their automatic sprinkler systems, and discontinue the use of water outdoors because the vast majority of our water consumption is for outdoor landscape irrigation.
CLAUDE W. SODERSTROM
Verdugo City
Get ‘Curveball’ before Polanski
Regarding the letter “No impunity for Roman Polanski” on Oct. 24, an extrapolated perspective: If the Swiss can hold and extradite someone to the U.S. for prosecution of a decades-old sex charge in which the now mature victim is virtually begging for it not to go forward, then, per the extradition treaties in force between Germany and the United States, our two governments can surely find a legal reason for the Germans to hold for extradition to the U.S. their notorious informant “Curveball,” whose less-than-10-years-old weapons-of-mass-destruction lies indirectly helped lead most of us — Barack Obama, when he was an Illinois state senator, being a notable exception — into supporting the ill-fated U.S.-led invasion that started our morbid tar baby of a war in Iraq.
So, how about our Department of Justice draw up a warrant, sent to the attention of Germany’s counterpart department, charging him with criminal negligence, at the very least? He deserves to face the U.S. justice system — on behalf of the almost 5,000 U.S. troops, et al, killed in the Iraq war — at least as much as Polanski does, if not much more so.
HARVEY PEARSON
Los Feliz
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of burbankleader.com.
Joeseph Blowe wrote on Nov 4, 2009 11:28 PM:
" Re "Suicide should not be glorified":
There's a huge difference between showing respect for a man who provided 22 years of public safety service to the City of Burbank vs."glorifying" the specific cause of his death.
There is an equally large difference between being named in an investigation vs. actually doing anything wrong.
Clearly Mr. Crosby and the Burbank Leader editorial staff (who chose to report Sgt. Gunn's death in a headline that just HAD to also mention the FBI investigation) have serious trouble with those two distinctions. "
There's a huge difference between showing respect for a man who provided 22 years of public safety service to the City of Burbank vs."glorifying" the specific cause of his death.
There is an equally large difference between being named in an investigation vs. actually doing anything wrong.
Clearly Mr. Crosby and the Burbank Leader editorial staff (who chose to report Sgt. Gunn's death in a headline that just HAD to also mention the FBI investigation) have serious trouble with those two distinctions. "
Incognito wrote on Nov 9, 2009 12:55 PM:
" Mr. Crosby, you are entitled to your own opinion, but DON'T minimize what Sgt. Gunn did for this community for 22 years. The show of solidarity was not mandatory and if you did not feel compelled to participate you have that prerogative, but keep in mind that he was a BPO and he did deserve to be remembered & honored .
If we still have a photo of Stacey Murphy in city council, we sure as heck can pay tribute to a police officer.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty? "
If we still have a photo of Stacey Murphy in city council, we sure as heck can pay tribute to a police officer.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty? "
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