Letters to the Editor

<p>Reality check time</p><p>EDITOR: Sunday's article ("Bittersweet windfalls") on depreciation of Sonoma County property included a comment by Supervisor Mike Reilly that "it will give us less money to play with."</p><p>Sure, just words, but telling of the attitude of incumbents out of touch with people's concerns.</p><p>This is not Monopoly but serious business. A new reality exists for limited money that politicians have to play with.</p><p>We need politicians who are able to operate our governments efficiently within the means allocated by economic reality and don't make light of the situation through careless use of just words.</p><p>DICK LAMBERT</p><p>Sonoma</p><p>A simple truth</p><p>EDITOR: John McCain graduated fourth from the bottom of his class at Annapolis. This tells me that he was a legacy appointment on his grandfather's and father's status as admirals. This meant that a more qualified candidate was rejected from the Naval Academy.</p><p>We have had eight years of a president who was a legacy with a second-class mind. Have we learned anything yet?</p><p>When Wesley Clark, a superior man, said that getting shot down is not a qualification for the presidency, he was speaking a simple truth.</p><p>TOM KLINE</p><p>Healdsburg</p><p>Heard by all</p><p>EDITOR: The word flip-flop implies subterfuge. Everything Barack Obama says in the South is heard in the East and the West. In fact, the entire world hears what he is saying.</p><p>His move to the center has been forceful, decisive and totally transparent. Actions speak louder than words, and his move to the center is exactly what it seems, a move to the center.</p><p>You don't invite people to your table if you have nothing to offer. He is negotiating for votes. Nothing gets done when people sit on their principles to the point of paralysis. Without agility and a willingness to negotiate, we will be in Iraq for 100 years.</p><p>LISE MELIN</p><p>Santa Rosa</p><p>Relieve suffering</p><p>EDITOR: This is in response to Julia Olmstead's Wednesday opinion piece ("Chicken run") about being on the fence as to how to vote on Proposition 2 -- the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.</p><p>Proposition 2 is a specific and moderate initiative backed by the Humane Society of the United States and endorsed by the California Veterinary Medical Association, the Sierra Club and many others (see HumaneCalifornia.org for complete endorsement list) simply calling to change three types of intensive animal confinement currently used -- battery cages for laying hens, gestation crates for pregnant pigs and veal crates. This initiative would give pigs, calves and hens the ability to turn around and extend their limbs. All three types of confinement have already been banned in the European Union.</p><p>While it might not be the perfect solution to end the problems of industrial agriculture, banning intensive confinement is a step in the right direction. A yes vote this November for Proposition 2 will alleviate the suffering endured daily by more than 20 million farm animals statewide.</p><p>DIANA ROUSSEAU</p><p>Forestville</p><p>Wetland woes</p><p>EDITOR: To say that the Monday article on the Atascadero Wetland ("Neighbors see wetland threat . . .") is a disappointment is an understatement. The piece doesn't begin to address the enormity or the seriousness of the situation. To call a blue-line creek (definition: shown as blue lines on U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps, usually the larger creeks and streams) a "ditch" sets the tone of: "Here we go again, those crazy, nit-picking environmentalists are after a man just working on his ranch."</p><p>Your cursory treatment of the violations shows a clear misunderstanding of the significance of the wetlands and the need to allow this property to remain as it should be -- unique, invaluable, irreplaceable wetlands.</p><p>This article treated a serious issue lightly and failed to mention the important details of this particular property -- no mention of the community support over this last five years to preserve this land as an intact wetland, no mention that the Open Space District tried to buy this land from the previous owner for "forever wild" preservation, and no mention that Pitkin Marsh, as part of the same watershed, just received protected status.</p><p>JULIA POLLOCK</p><p>Sebastopol</p><p>Shattered idyll</p><p>EDITOR: The public was given one week over the Fourth of July weekend to submit comments regarding the planned airport expansion. What can I say?</p><p>If you live in a place where large, loud planes fly low overhead, you know that you cannot continue a conversation while they are passing. There is also the issue of air pollution, danger, and the fact that Horizon has just cancelled a flight due to lack of business.</p><p>If you don't live in such a place, then apparently you think more planes would be great for business and convenience. Since you can't enjoy an idyllic wine country experience with super-loud planes flying overhead, Windsor must be the sacrificial lamb.</p><p>Windsor residents should be very concerned about these plans. Send e-mails to cacker@sonoma-county.org. I did attend the previous meeting in Windsor, and the only response to my and others' concerns was that we knew the airport was there when we bought our homes. But we did not know it could be expanded.</p><p>LISA BOLLMAN</p><p>Windsor</p><p>Gluttony</p><p>EDITOR: Over the Fourth of July, our nation's attention was drawn to the hot dog eating fiasco at Coney Island. One gluttonous fool powered down 64 hot dogs in 12 minutes. And I wondered about the humanity, the compassion, the image we conveyed to the rest of the world. And I wondered how many children throughout the world died during those 12 minutes from hunger and malnutrition. Anyone notice?</p><p>LEN GREENWOOD</p><p>Cazadero</p><p>Corporate immunity</p><p>EDITOR: On Wednesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein voted to grant immunity to companies complicit in warrantless wiretaps. It has become obvious that Feinstein has completely forgotten where she comes from and whom she represents. I believe it's time for her to come home. Recall anyone?</p><p>ROBERT COOK</p><p>Cloverdale</p>