Ojai Day good for going to dogs
10-16
To the editor:
As Ojai is a dog town, the following may seem obvious, but I
want to encourage dog guardians to bring their favorite furry
friend to Ojai Day! Socialization is a very important part of
dog life and downtown Ojai on Saturday will be a wonderful chance
to meet and sniff and explore. Every time you take your dog out,
though, you are setting an example for responsible guardianship.
Please use good manners! Pick up after your dog, no matter how
far off the beaten path so he may heed the call of nature.
Even if your dog is OK off leash, use one during celebrations
such as this. It will keep your friend close to you in the crowd
and make others feel more confortable. Be aware of what's going
on around you and don't assume that everyone knows the proper
way to approach a new dog. (Always ask the guardian's permission
before petting a dog!)
And please use common sense. If your dog is nervous in large
crowds, maybe Ojai Day isn't the right place for him or her.
Likewise for brand-new puppies. If you were just a wee thing,
towering humans and lots of noise would be overwhelming for you,
too! For both of these dogs, smaller, less confusing situations
will get them used to being out in the world and allow them to
develop good social skills.
Animals are a vital part of our lives, providing companionship,
assistance and unconditional love. I hope to see you and your
companion enjoying Ojai Day this Saturday!
"B" Dawson
Noah's Apothecary
Ojai
'Guys' producer offers money back
10-16
To the editor:
As the producer of the Ojai Art Center's production of "Guys
and Dolls," I wanted to take a moment to thank the OVN and
Renita Alldritt for her rave review of our show. I also wanted
to let the community know that there will be a matinee performance
this coming Sunday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m.
Otherwise, "Guys and Dolls" plays Fridays and Saturdays
night at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. through Nov. 10. Call 640-8797
for reservations.
I also wanted to let everyone know that I offer my personal money-back
guarantee for this show. If you do not enjoy the production,
give me a call at 640-9659 and I will return the price of your
ticket.
Leonard Klaif
Producer of "Guys and Dolls"
Ojai
History shows parallels with Iraq
9-26
To the editor:
I have concern that the people who want "hard evidence"
of Iraqi misconduct, believe that if U.N. inspectors are allowed
to return, Hussein will personally conduct guided tours to all
his laboratories, pointing out they are hard at work on nothing
but benign projects, pharmaceuticals and the like, not biological
weapons. If any nuclear work is going on, it is solely to create
electrical power for industrial purpose.
After the Gulf War, humanitarian employment practices were put
in place to help the country's economy. Eighty-five new palaces
were built for Hussein with "oil-for-food" money. Hundreds,
if not thousands, of bodies of Kurds - men, women and children
- were left to rot in the streets of the northern Iraq towns
where they were murdered by Saddam's troops. He set the Kuwait
oil fields afire, causing untold environmental damage which will
take many, many years to heal. It is also said he killed many
of his defeated "Elite Republican Guard" after they
returned home, for surrendering. A couple of his sons-in-law,
"ratted" on him to the U.N., then fled to Jordan. A
year or so later, Saddam told them all was forgiven, they could
safely return home. The idiots took the bait and went home. They
died within weeks after their return. Saddam pleaded ignorance,
saying some unknown radical group, was responsible - a man of
unquestionable integrity, to be sure.
There might be a somewhat Churchill-Roosevelt parallel between
Prime Minister Tony Blair and George Bush sharing Iraqi intelligence.
In the beginning years of World War II, President Roosevelt foresaw
we would have to become involved. But the American public wanted
nothing to do with Europe's problems with Hitler. He tried two
or three times between late 1939 and 1941 to arouse the nation
to join forces with England and France. At least twice, possibly
three times, he placed American warships (destroyers) in harm's
way in the North Atlantic. The intent, I'm sure, to create a
"Lusitania incident" that would provoke America to
join the war in Europe. The challenge was ultimately met. As
I recall, two vessels were fired upon (not necessarily in the
same time frame) and sunk by U-boats. America didn't take the
bait. The pacifists held sway, saying those boats shouldn't have
been out there in the first place.
American cryptographers broke the Japanese "purple"
(diplomatic) code in September of '41. The British had broken
it several months earlier, but the U.S. and Britain were not
yet sharing those secrets. Obviously, Roosevelt and Churchill
were privy to those intercepts, which leads me to believe Roosevelt
and Churchill knew full well a Japanese attack was imminent in
the Pacific area. Precisely where, was speculative. First thoughts
were directed to the Philippines, as that area was closer to
the Japanese homeland and it was known that Japan's warships
were not designed for extended time at sea. I don't think Pearl
Harbor was as much the "sneak" attack historians would
have us believe. Roosevelt had to let it happen to rouse America.
The top secret JN-25, Japanese naval code, was also compromised.
In early 1942, indications were that Midway would be attacked.
Midway was called on the land line and told to radio, in the
clear, that they were running low on water. Soon after, Japanese
radio traffic informed their fleet commander of a water shortage
at Midway, confirming it as the target. This enabled Admiral
Nimitz where to direct his forces to lie in wait for the Japanese
fleet.
I think there is analogy in the preceding paragraphs and the
situation with Iraq. Don't underestimate! I'm not a particular
fan of "Duh-bya," but I do believe sufficient intelligence
prevails for him to argue good points for a pre-emptive strike.
Rest assured, Hussein has not been idle in the four years since
evicting the previous U.N. inspectors. It may be Hussein is intent
on avenging his defeat in the Gulf War. I don't think Bush can
supply evidence without compromising his sources.
Nuclear threat is minimal. I doubt Iraq has any. If it does,
it has no delivery system that would carry beyond the Mideast
area.
The more dangerous are biologicals. They are cheaper and do not
require the technical support necessary for nuclear weaponry.
Imagine a suicide-oriented martyr, infected with some some virulent,
respiratory disease, prior to boarding a flight to anywhere;
or carrying thousands of plague-infected fleas sewn between the
linings of his clothing and released after the plane is airborne.
There would be no visible evidence to prevent his passing through
security. Whatever the disease, it would infect numbers of passengers
whether the vector is the air-conditioner or the fleas. Upon
deplaning, the passengers would unknowingly infect a population
exponentially before the source of the scourge was discovered.
Another scenario: smuggled vials of deadly toxins dumped into
critical water supplies throughout the country.
During the Gulf War, surplus naval cannons were packed with explosives,
fitted with very hard noses, delayed-action fuses and dropped
as bombs on buildings known to contain laboratories. These bombs
had the weight to penetrate the buildings down into the hidden
laboratories many stories below ground level, before detonating.
And those were only the labs we knew about.
Bear in mind the old adage, "He who has not learned history,
is condemned to repeat it." The League of Nations couldn't
stop Hitler and it doesn't look like the U.N. will fare any better
with Hussein. We cannot allow another "Pearl Harbor."
George Marshall
Ojai
Times too perilous for passivity
10-9
To the editor:
Fifty people gathered in the recreation room of the El Sereno
Mobile Home Park in Ojai to hear Irit Umani speak about the impact
a U.S. war with Iraq has been having on the people of Israel.
Irit is Israeli-born and here on vacation from her job as coordinator
of Bat Shalom, a feminist peace organization which focuses on
providing a safe haven for Israeli and Palestinian women and
children who are victims of domestic violence. There has already
been costly preparation to protect the residents of her shelter
from poison gas attacks. She recognizes how that money could
have been used to provide more basic needs and stresses that
she remembers how the gas masks passed out in the 1991 war were
proved to be totally ineffective and another great waste of money.
That is one direct effect that the threatened U.S. war on Iraq
has already had on Israel.
Another is to realize that Israel has been chosen by the weapons
manufacturers to be the first to test a newly configured missile,
now called the Arrow, which is supposed to shoot down any Iraqi
incoming missiles. Of course, there are no guarantees that it
will work, so everyone in Israel is endangered.
Irit reminded people that while it is wonderful to have inner
peace and spirituality, the times are too dangerous to be passive.
We must all act out in every way possible to stop allowing the
U.S. government and the corporations who are abusing power all
over the world trying to convince us that the way to stop terrorism
is by using more and more violence.
She stressed that while she does not condone the acts of individuals
who have indiscriminately destroyed innocent people from 30,000
feet or with a suicide bomb, she can understand the desperation
which would lead someone to do this. The way to peace she advocates
is to give people what they need and to use negotiations and
humanitarian means and to be courageously nonviolent in standing
up for what we believe.
Questions and comments from those gathered were broad and ranged
from how to get the media in the United States to accurately
report on what is happening in other countries, such as massive
anti-war, anti-U.S. demonstrations, the real opinions of the
rest of the world about this unilateral threat, etc, to how important
it is for each one of us to call our representatives and tell
them that support the efforts of those who want to pursue a peaceful
resolution of this issue.
Announcements of the regular gatherings of People in Black in
Ojai (Fridays from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. in front of the pergola
at Libbey Park), and Ventura (Fridays at 5:30 p.m. at the Montgomery
Ward, corner of Mills and Main), Citizens for Peaceful Resolution
(first Sunday of the month at 3 p.m. in the Topping Room of the
E.P. Foster Library), as well as how to sign the Not in Our Name
Resolution (notinourname.net).
If our prayers and actions are successful and war is prevented,
Irit will be moving back to the United States and will be available
to speak on this and other issues in February of next year. The
gathering was closed with a Sufi Moslem prayer for peace recited
by Anat.
Margot Eiser
Ojai
Testing does not teach humanity
10-9
To the editor:
I've been teaching a brief 23 years and my only advice is to
always have plenty of duct tape - the day-to-day benefits have
been proven by scientists - whereas my thoughts on testing have
no basis more reliable than my own experiences.
In the past few years we've established new and higher standards
with the purpose of improving our children's education. With
this has come an increased and intensified testing atmosphere
in our classrooms. There is no question that the teaching of
language arts and math skills is essential and that all students
must be given the opportunity to meet and exceed them. However,
recently there seems to be some concern as to the purpose of
all the testing.
While testing can serve as a valuable assessment tool for educators
and a learning device for students, I do feel the pendulum has
swung too far to that side. The state of Texas has already felt
this and is reporting that although test scores are way up, other
skills needed to be a well-rounded student have suffered, areas
that are not on the test. Results from tests used to improve
instruction are very valuable, but is that we're doing? More
often it seems the scores are used as bragging rights, punishment,
or for increasing the value of real estate. We should be proud
of the statistically 30 percent who get the scores to go to a
major university, but what of the scores of the other 70 percent?
Many of them are great citizens and talented individuals. Does
everyone benefit from high-stakes testing? Rather than what has
Johnny mastered, his score is 50 percentile, which means he scored
either better or worse than 50 percent of the test-takers.
I'm concerned that in our effort to constantly raise test scores,
we may be making a sacrifice that we'll regret in the future.
Academics are vital, but even more important in our current world
are common sense, self-esteem, tolerance and humanity, and they're
not on the test.
Life is different than it was on Sept. 10, 2001. Some terrorists
are well-educated. A note from Haim Ginott: "I'm a survivor
of a concentration camp and I've seen gas chambers built by learned
engineers, children poisoned by educated physicians, people shot
by college grads. So I'm suspicious of education. Academics are
only important if they serve to make students more human."
It is increasingly more difficult to find the time to teach anything
but the three R's. The arts, sciences, creativity, common sense
and humanity must be squeezed in as time allows. What is on the
test is important, but let us remember that dreams are more powerful
than facts, imagination is stronger than knowledge, humanity
more potent than test scores, and duct tape is the answer to
many problems!
Kent Houston
Ojai
Crying wolf on traffic wrong
10-9
To the editor:
With amazement I keep reading in the local press the many negative
comments, innuendos, and, yes, right-out falsehoods regarding
Ojai's Traffic Initiative, Measure C. Included are disparaging
remarks about the CPO, Ojai's long-standing environmental group.
It seems Measure C has driven out of the woodwork a host of self-serving
individuals under the pretext "We know what is best for
Ojai." They are crying "wolf," thus trying to
control Ojai's destiny.
Measure C was drafted to fill a dire void. Our elected officials
on the City Council and their appointed planners failed to react
to the needs of the community. Ojai's traffic problems were and
are being ignored in favor of a variety of projects within the
city. In contrast, the county of Ventura has a policy, Section
4.2.2-5 of its General Plan, prohibiting development in the Ojai
Valley until the traffic on Highways 33 and 150 is mitigated.
Of course, Ojai's Redevelopment Agency receives an unending flow
of tax-diverted funds, some diverted from public schools, for
which projects have to be found. The magic kettle keeps boiling
and the overflowing porridge must be used.
Aren't the proponents of discretionary developments within the
city, without addressing the traffic problems, killing the goose
that lays the golden egg? If Ojai's traffic continues to increase,
the state of California will have to intercede. The latter has
every right to convert Highway 150 through downtown Ojai into
four lanes, eliminating parking on both sides. I know many local
residents would favor such a solution. Of course, gone will be
Ojai's uniqueness and the tourist dollars.
The CPO was founded in the '60s by a group of east-valley residents,
one founder still being alive today. Soon the newly created CPO
was expanded to include residents of the entire Ojai Valley.
When the first CPO board was formed, I became its corresponding
secretary. We board members were a congenial, well-functioning
group, and there were about 600 dues-paying members. The CPO
had been in existence for some time when Patricia Weinberger,
a local benefactor, joined the organization. I ardently hope
that the anti-C zealots would quit using this fine lady's name
by falsely stating that she is the founder of the CPO.
Anyone enjoying Ojai's natural beauty and livable environment
can be grateful to the hard, dedicated work of the CPO members.
Throughout the years, and especially in the '60s, they preserved
the Ojai Valley from becoming another San Fernando. Please, no
one to forget!
Maria Studer
Ojai
'Mayor' Roland, in his own words
10-09
To the editor:
Since he lost a city council race two years ago, Bruce Roland,
who is currently running again, has often sounded more or less
like a candidate with mainstream ideas. In the letters he constantly
sends to the Ojai Valley News and the Los Angeles Times, he informs
us where crosswalks ought to go, that he's had trouble giving
up cigarettes, or how the smog system in our car works.
To locate Bruce's real, unvarnished views, we have to go back
to the years before he decided that being a gadfly wasn't enough
- that holding office was his real calling. The letters he wrote
then contained some pretty peculiar ideas. Here are a few:
· Bruce thinks the steelhead trout is a "mutant"
fish, "an aberration of nature" whose protection as
an endangered species will help "paralyze progress"
(OVN, Aug. 27, 1997).
· He became especially agitated over the establishment
of the Ojai Meadows Preserve, a permanent greenbelt between Ojai
and Meiners Oaks (OVN, Nov. 17, 1999, June 7, 2000). When invited
to the opening ceremonies he declined to come, saying he didn't
have any interest in open space. While 250 citizens donated money
to make the preserve a reality, Bruce dismissed protection of
open space, wetlands, and habitat as "voodoo environmentalism"
and "anti-growth" (OVN, Jan. 30, 1998).
· Bruce wants "the city of Ojai to revisit its opposition
to building a highway suitable enough for the amount of traffic
the valley generates" (OVN, June 7, 2000).
· He regards electrical energy conservation as "financial
suicide" (OVN, June 6, 2001).
· He thought the successful 1997 Ojai school bond measure
was "a bad idea" proposed by a "pandering"
campaign, and that it "needs to be defeated" (OVN,
Oct. 8, 29, 1997). He called public educators "'lifer government
agency spendthrifts" (OVN, Jan. 21, 1998).
· Also in 1997, Bruce instructed his readers that "each
special election" proved the proposition that one should
"never underestimate the power of stupid people in large
numbers" (OVN, Dec. 19, 1997). Bruce seems to harbor a real
suspicion of what he calls "the excitable masses" (OVN,
Jan. 30, 1998).
Then there was the string of letters he wrote a few years ago
that vilified some of the most prominent women in our community
because they happened to disagree with him. Taking issue with
a highly respected longtime city councilwoman, for example, he
called her "blathering" and declared his satisfaction
that she was retiring (OVN, July 24, 1998).
There is more - a lot more, because Bruce has written enough
letters to wallpaper the inside of a small house. The voter may
think, "Well, we've survived candidates with cockeyed ideas
before, even elected one or two." But Ojai has never elected
anyone with ideas like Bruce's. The job of mayor rotates among
the council members. Imagine this: Mayor Roland.
Back in 2000, Bruce was asked at a candidate forum what he wanted
the future of Ojai to be. He appeared dumbfounded. The question
really stumped him. When he announced a few weeks ago that he
was running again, Bruce hinted that he'd recently been thinking
about the issue. Ojai isn't Shangri-La, he said. It is just one
more bedroom community. "Someday," he told the OVN
(Aug. 9, 2002), "I'd like to leave Ojai."
Whenever that time arrives, Bruce should consider El Segundo,
Canoga Park, or Fontana. He can give up letter writing if he
moves to one of those places, because he probably won't want
to change a thing.
John Broesamle
Ojai
LWV never makes endorsements
10-14
To the editor:
The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization. It
has come to our attention that Jeffrey Ketelsen, an OUSD school
board candidate, has been handing out campaign literature with
the league's name on it. This leads to the impression that we
might support him. This is completely untrue. We want the citizens
of the Ojai Valley to realize that we never support or oppose
any candidate.
Julia Vinecour
Ojai Unit Leader
League of Women Voters,
Ventura County
© 2002 The Ojai Valley
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