MAILBAG

Smoking arguments are absurd, laughable

Community Commentaries    ( top )

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Court ruling has implications

On May 26, in Strauss v. Horton, the California Supreme Court held 6 to 1 that Proposition 8 lawfully bars same-sex couples from marrying in California. The high court’s majority opinion is harmful for two reasons: It supports group bias against gays, and it essentially removes the equal protection clause from California’s Constitution.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: Ruling could exclude more

On May 26, in Strauss v. Horton, the California Supreme Court held 6 to 1 that Proposition 8 lawfully bars same-sex couples from marrying . The high court’s majority opinion is harmful for two reasons: It supports group bias against gays, and it essentially removes the equal protection clause from California’s Constitution.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Attack steered clear of subject

Saturday’s In Theory question (“Militant approach to Christianity”) referred to a recent Newsweek article in which it reported that the U.S. military had been accused of using its presence in Muslim countries to spread Christianity in violation of military protocols. Five of the six religious commentators addressed the issue and made thoughtful comments about the conduct.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Smoking ban faces tall hurdles

In Robert Phipps’ letter (“Smoking arguments are absurd, laughable,” June 13) responding to Armineh Hovanesian’s community commentary (“Anti-smoking campaign is just that,” June 6), I think he missed the point.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Thinking of home from Iraq

As I sit here in Iraq missing Father’s Day with my family for the second time since Sept. 11, 2001, my mind wanders to the promise I made to my son the day he was born. As a former Marine who lost 241 brothers in the Beirut bombing on Oct. 23, 1983, Sept. 5, 2001, was the first time in 18 years that I knew why I wasn’t in that building.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Anti-smoking campaign is just that

If you were to be strapped down on a surgical table while four guys exhaled smoke directly into your mouth and nostrils for 30 years, you might get lung cancer 40 years after they stopped, but it’s not likely.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Water shortage is real, but it’s still manageable

There has been extensive discussion of late regarding Burbank’s water resources. On the one hand, we have been told California is emerging from several years of drought, we can only count on a limited supply from the Sacramento Delta, and population-driven demand is compelling us to make more efficient use of, and ardently conserve, our limited water supply.

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Data don’t show much water

Councilman David Gordon is playing a shell game with his water facts and figures (“Remarks were off the mark,” May 27).

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Remarks were off the mark

The consistently inaccurate comments contained in Alfred Aboulsaad’s latest community commentary (“A message to councilman: Water shortage is very real,” May 23) affords us an excellent opportunity to consider just how real the water “shortage” really is and how best to address it.

Editorials    ( top )

EDITORIAL: Persisting in tough times

When John Adams wrote to his wife in 1776 regarding the celebratory day of America’s independence, he told her that it “ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance . . . to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

EDITORIAL: Taking one for our youth

At a time when local governments are closing ranks around their municipal budgets like herds of elephants around their threatened calves, it was a pleasant surprise to see the City Council last week put up $275,000 of its own general fund money to support school youth counseling programs — often among the first to be lopped off by the budget ax.

EDITORIAL:
Full disclosure is a fact of political life

In the latest chapter of the ongoing Police Commission saga, City Council members voted to require applicants for the Police Commission to disclose any criminal background. Fine. But then they had to go and direct the city attorney’s office to keep those disclosures confidential, even though those answers will be factored into the public appointment process.

EDITORIAL:
Supplying demand for transportation

Burbank’s political appetite for all things green is pretty well-established. So when the City Council voted Tuesday to discontinue the BurbankBus’ downtown loop, you know there had to be reason.

EDITORIAL:
Odds were already against him

The City Council, in voting to remove newly installed Police Commissioner John Brady on Tuesday, only made a bad situation worse. Now we not only have a Police Department in turmoil over a discrimination lawsuit, but a Police Commission that has apparently become the latest political thorn in the side of City Hall.

EDITORIAL:
Patience with a pressing matter

Chromium 6 contamination is a scary prospect, but in the absence of any official retort, it’s easy to let imagination take hold. Until the allegations of contamination levied in a recent spate of lawsuits against the Walt Disney Co. are vetted in a courtroom, it’s best to leave the “imagineering” to the studios.

EDITORIAL:
Progress requires some give and take

Given all the headlines coming out of other cities regarding layoffs, tapping reserves and forced work furloughs, the City Council’s adoption of a balanced $774-million budget Tuesday was a relatively painless experience.

EDITORIAL:
Time to learn some lessons

The lawsuit filed this week against the Burbank Police Department on behalf of five officers purports to expose racial discrimination and sexual harassment.

EDITORIAL:
Roll with it

We know, roller hockey is way cool, or at least, it was in the ’90s. Then came skateboarding, but at the risk of sounding prudish, even that appears to be waning. Now it appears BMX bikes have taken over the youth activity landscape, right before street parasailing takes hold, or extreme hand-walking.

EDITORIAL:
Pushed around by the simple majority

On Tuesday, 18,000 same-sex married couples in California, including dozens in Glendale and Burbank, found themselves in an awkward position. Their marriages, performed before voters approved Proposition 8 last year, would be upheld, but all other gays would have to settle for domestic partnerships.

Letters    ( top )

MAILBAG

Is this really how to run the country?

MAILBAG: Pastor failed to address issues

Pastor failed to address issues

MAILBAG: Fitting time for a Fourth of July

Fitting time for a Fourth of July

MAILBAG: Questions about Police Commission

Questions about Police Commission

MAILBAG

Consider L.A. a model for water

MAILBAG

Columnist Caneday is a welcome addition

MAILBAG

Plaintiffs should ease up on Disney

MAILBAG

Comparison to Hitler was distasteful

MAILBAG

Gay marriage doesn’t mean the sky is falling

MAILBAG

Apartments improved thanks to city program

MAILBAG

Writer’s attitude is just sour grapes

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