MAILBAG - Feb. 29, 2008

Feeding wild birds should not be outlawed

Regarding Mr. Boinus’ letter (“Wild bird feeding may attract illness,” Coastline Pilot, Feb. 22) proposing outlawing the feeding of “wild birds” in Laguna Beach, please consider the following rebuttal.

For the record I am a devout sea gull-feeding enthusiast, occasionally treating my 2-year-old grand-nephew to this endeavor at Aliso Beach. This activity is one of the grand amenities associated with living near the sea.

I also enjoy feeding my wild sparrow, dove and hummingbird friends.

Addressing the “serious public health threat” from feeding these birds; consider the facts:

1. Avian flu is most prevalent in Asia where many people live with ducks and chickens in their homes. Since 2004 there have been 270 bird flu cases reported worldwide, primarily in Asia.

2. Newcastle disease (aka Philippine fowl disease) almost exclusively affects domesticated chickens and turkeys.

3. West Nile virus is spread by mosquitoes, ticks and other arthropods.

4. Histoplasmosis is found in soil contaminated with bird and bat droppings.

I have responded to Mr. Boinus’ letter simply to point out that living is a risky endeavor with great rewards and to implore that no one on our City Council even thinks about criminalizing bird feeding in Laguna Beach.

DOUG BOWLER

Laguna Beach

Make voices heard on permit parking issue

Can we all just get along?

For several years now during the renovation of the Pottery Shack property, preferential parking debates and other mid-town issues, a very few, very shrill, mean-spirited mid-towners have behaved as if they represent the views of the many.

Again and again these few inflame the issues, shout down and ignore the input of other mid-town residents, throw out logical debate with their loud pronouncements and personal attacks.

It’s time we stand up and speak out, to condemn these tactics and take back our neighborhood.

Come to the City Council meeting on March 4 to discuss the neighborhood parking fee proposal, to make constructive comment and to make ourselves heard.

BEV CONNOLLY

DENNIS AND MAUREEN TAYLOR

BARBARA BOWLER

Laguna Beach  

Iraq war is dragging down the economy

As a local resident of Laguna, I feel a bit of activism in the area of perhaps an editorial of a blurb about the cost of the Iraq war and its consequences at home.

How long will it take for us in the U.S. of Amnesia to wake up to the possibilities if the money were better used for some of the examples below?. Some questions to raise might be: Whom are we protecting? Is/was our freedom threatened? Why haves the media suddenly broken off their coverage of Iraq, and why have they not drawn down of the obvious connection to the state of the economy?

The ongoing occupation in Iraq is sucking up the resources we need to make our economy work again. The trade offs are stark: Bombs or unemployment insurance for people laid off as the economy slows.

Consider these key facts:

 The recession is going to force states to cut back their budgets. Most likely, the cuts are going to affect the services that working families need and depend on.

 Meanwhile, the war is costing Americans more than $338 million a day. That money could be spent to help out the folks who’re hurting most now. For less than what we’re spending on the war, we could pay for affordable housing for hundreds of thousands of families, health care for children, or scholarships to help folks pay for education.

 Gas prices are close to double what they were before the war began. * The cost of oil is still hovering around $100 barrel.

 We’re borrowing $343 million every day to finance the war in Iraq.

 Our skyrocketing debt will be a bigger and bigger drag on the economy — slowing recovery and burdening future generations.

The truth is that economic forecasts are going to continue to be grim as long as we continue to dump billions into a reckless war that has no end in sight.

RANDALL BERTSCH

Laguna Beach