No pain” doesn”t apply to babies killed by abortion
U.S. district court judge Jeremy Fogel put the brakes on executions in California a few months ago. He interpreted law to say convicted murderer Michael Morales shouldn”t experience pain when executed by lethal injection. This is no joke! Morales brutally beat a teenager to death with a claw hammer! Fogel and the law, however, are worried about his pain. Unfortunately, Fogel isn”t the only judge that strictly follows the “no pain for murder” commandment.
Why shouldn”t murderers suffer when they die, some people ask? Murder victims suffer when their lives are taken. Family members of murder victims suffer the rest of their lives. For 400 years, convicted killers experienced pain in America when executed by hanging, firing squads, electric chairs and gas chambers. Regrettably, times have changed.
Where do Fogel and other magistrates get this crazy new “no pain” dogma? Nobody knows, for sure. Some say they attend that new “Godless Church of Liberalism and Conformity” that”s all the rage. Liberal Mullahs of that growing worldly sect teach followers how righteous they are when they execute without pain. Many dim witted disciples have converted to this wacky doctrine. It”s more trendy every day, especially in California.
Unfortunately, the same liberal justices don”t apply their no pain doctrine to unborn babies who are killed in abortion clinics. Unborn babies are innocent. Their screams are silent but everyone knows the pain they experience. It”s quite clear, Fogel and his madcap associates practice law backwards and upside down. They adjudicate no pain for the guilty and excruciating pain for the innocent. One day, judges will regain their senses and reverse themselves. Innocents won”t suffer and human “vermin” like Morales will be speedily executed. Of course, judges who reverse themselves will be excommunicated from that goofy “Godless Church of Liberalism and Conformity.”
Darrell Watkins
Kelseyville
Businesses need a plan for protecting public in robberies
Two weeks ago, there was an armed robbery at the Middletown pharmacy. It was reported in local newspapers, but what all articles failed to mention was that there was a customer present at the time the crime occurred. That customer was me. I was at the counter when the gunman entered and demanded pills, and when the three employees hid behind a closed door, I was left out in the store, alone, with the gun-wielding lunatic. Yes, he did point the gun at me while ordering me not to move.
I am thankful for two things. One, that I did not have any of my small children — babies, really — with me, and two, that I did not obey the felon”s orders. I did move. I ran. As fast as I could. Screaming. I have had nightmares in which my brain runs through all the “what ifs”: what if I had brought one of my three children with me? Would I have been able to run — no, sprint — out of the store if I were carrying a child? And then, what if I hadn”t been able to run away? Would this person, obviously not thinking in terms of right or wrong, have grabbed me and put the gun to my head, holding me hostage for the drugs he so craved? Or, God forbid, to my child”? What if he had shot me in the back as I was running, in order to avoid being identified? I am so very thankful that none of those things happened, but they could have. These are the scenarios that play over and over in my head as I try to sleep.
And so, I urge all businesses 9 as unlikely as these incidents are 9 to put an emergency plan into action just for this type of scenario. If your business is held up at gunpoint, please just give the person what they are asking for. Don”t try to be a hero, because someone else”s life may be at stake. I am so glad that things turned out as well as they did. No one hurt. Failed robbery attempt? Guy got caught? But the point is, things might not have turned out so well.
Let my experience be a lesson to other businesses. Please appease the robber to avoid endangering others. Thank you.
Melissa Kinsel
Hidden Valley Lake
Bush is constantly on vacation
Bush has just come off a vacation in Texas; now he”s in Kennebunkport resting. Next he will have to go to Camp David to rest up from all his vacations.
I hate to harp on this but, does this president ever work? Bush needs a vacation like a pig needs a holiday.
Rome is burning and he can”t be found.
If he gets back to the White House, here”s some things he could work on. My medicines are high, hospitals are out of the question, I would like a raise on my Social Security check, quit sending my money to Iraq, never bomb anything you have to rebuild.
We have a president who Katherine Harris and the Supreme Court put into office. Sorry, Bush, I don”t care if Iraq ever votes.
Not one serviceman from the United States should have to die so they can vote.
Mr. Bush, ask Cheney for his permission to stop the war. Then you could resign by the end of the week. Make your country proud; quit.
God bless the Marines, the Army and all the special forces in Iraq. “Semper Fi.”
Robert Francisco Culver III
Former Marine, Clearlake
One of our elected officials took advantage of the system
Last week I attended ethics training at the Board of Supervisors chambers, now mandatory under AB 1234 for all elected and appointed officials. Among the topics covered were “perks.”
This brought to mind a portion of the 2005-2006 Lake County Grand Jury Report, wherein one of our county supervisors had been using his county provided cell phone for personal use and finally reimbursed the county after a citizen”s complaint brought the issue before the Grand Jury. As a result of this incident, the county now has a new phone service and a policy whereby those in possession of a county phone receive a monthly stipend and are required to pay any charges over their allowed amount.
It is disappointing to realize that one of our trusted elected officials took advantage of the previous honor system, especially when the use of public agency resources (money, travel expenses, staff time and agency equipment) for personal or political purposes is forbidden (Government Code Section 8314; Penal Code Section 424). One wonders, with the large numbers of citizens living in poverty in this county, how many of this supervisor”s constituents can”t even afford to own a cell phone, much less run up bills in excess of $200.
It is equally disappointing to note that this supervisor was not identified in the Grand Jury Report, despite the fact that other sections of the same report identified other supervisors by district, though not by name.
Will the supervisor who violated the public”s trust in him stand up and admit his error? Or shall the people request access to public records so that the violator”s identity can be revealed? Inquiring minds have the right to know, so that we can make informed decisions when this supervisor comes up for reelection.
Frances K. Ransley
Lower Lake
Please express your support for universal health care
In a historic vote, the California Assembly and Senate have voted to support a universal, public-financed health care system, the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA), to guarantee health coverage to all Californians, with comprehensive benefits, and the right to choose one”s own doctor, and save on health care costs.
The plan would be funded by drawing in current public spending and replacing all premiums, co-pays and deductibles paid to insurance companies with premiums paid to the system. As amended, the bill creates a blue ribbon panel of health, finance and technical experts to lay out the mechanics for an affordable premium structure using information gathered in available funding studies. Because of this structure, the bill needed a majority vote to pass, not the two-thirds vote needed for fiscal measures.
Supporters of the plan argued that SB 840 saves the state of California, businesses and working families nearly $8 billion in the first year, through a streamlined claims and reimbursement system reducing administrative costs, and using the state”s combined purchasing power to negotiate better rates for prescription drugs and durable medical equipment.
Four years after Sen. Sheila Kuehl first introduced her “single-payer” health coverage legislation, and after major organizing around the state by a broad coalition of groups, the bill has passed the State Senatee and is now on the Governor”s desk awaiting his signature. He has said he will veto it because it is “socialized” medicine. But isn”t it time Americans caught up with Europeans and legislated for the health of all of our people rather than for the few, the wealthy? Please phone the governor this week, (916) 445-2841, and let him know we have been waiting too long for some help with health care expenses. Health should not be privatized!
Despite the potential veto by Governor Schwarzenegger, the vote is historic in having the full California legislature go on record in support of a universal healthcare system and for the desired direction of our health care system. The California legislature has voted on and passed other major health care coverage expansions in recent years, most notably with an expansion of employer-based coverage in 2003 (SB2) which was narrowly repealed by referendum and a full expansion of coverage to nearly all children in 2005 (SB774), which was vetoed. With the vote on SB840, the California legislature has continued to make health care coverage a priority, puts forward a vision and sets an even higher marker for the coming debate next year.
Shirley Howland
Clearlake
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