Danute Mazeika

Your editorial is excellent. I am concerned with primary focal points. Human rights in the Soviet Union as covered by the Western media has been distilled to one human right: emigration. Millions and millions of indigenous people inhabit the Soviet Union. Ancient indigenous populations are attempting to continue their religious, national, ethnic cultures against the wishes of the oppressive, atheistic, Russian government. When will human rights violations closely tied to regional conflicts in the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Central America be elevated by the West to the focal point they should have?

Inside the home of Danute Mazeika, a facsimile machine sending documents to Eastern Europe hums noisely amid the din of children playing and the telephone ringing off the hook. Mazeika answers the phone with a curt "hello." Then, when she recognizes the caller's voice, she informs him of the events taking place in Lithuania thousands of miles away. "We got a report that soldiers from Moscow are in tanks driving in Vilnius and damaging buildings, street lights and everything," Mazeika says.

Inside the home of Danute Mazeika, a facsimile machine sending documents to Eastern Europe hums noisely amid the din of children playing and the telephone ringing off the hook. Mazeika answers the phone with a curt "hello." Then, when she recognizes the caller's voice, she informs him of the events taking place in Lithuania thousands of miles away. "We got a report that soldiers from Moscow are in tanks driving in Vilnius and damaging buildings, street lights and everything," Mazeika says.

Your editorial is excellent. I am concerned with primary focal points. Human rights in the Soviet Union as covered by the Western media has been distilled to one human right: emigration. Millions and millions of indigenous people inhabit the Soviet Union. Ancient indigenous populations are attempting to continue their religious, national, ethnic cultures against the wishes of the oppressive, atheistic, Russian government. When will human rights violations closely tied to regional conflicts in the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Central America be elevated by the West to the focal point they should have?

Scouting is not a business but a fraternal organization. It is a way of life--locally, statewide, nationally and internationally. Take God out of Scouting, you take the heart, soul and the spirit away. God belongs in Scouting, as those who do not believe in God belong out of Scouting. The beauty of the U.S. is its diversity. The challenge is to the Randall family to start their own atheist boys organization. No one is forcing them to associate with God-loving people, as no one would stand in their way to associate with godless-believing people.

Hours after President Bush opened full diplomatic relations with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, a Mission Viejo couple and their three small children visited Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles to offer prayers of thanks to the children's great-grandparents--Lithuanian freedom fighters who died without seeing their country liberated.

A year and a half ago, a band of Southern California residents advocating freedom for the Baltics met at a downtown Los Angeles hotel. The air crackled with excitement at that Baltic-American Freedom League meeting; Lithuania had declared independence, and apprehension ran high about a Soviet crackdown. That night, the group heard from Curtis Kammen, deputy assistant secretary of state. What a difference the sudden tide of history can make.

Despite signs of growing concern at the White House over the Soviet crackdown on Lithuania that killed 14 people and injured dozens more last weekend, Orange's County's Baltic-American leaders on Monday expressed outrage that President Bush has not "punished" Soviet leaders for the acts of violence.

Tripe stuffed with animal blood and rice. Noodle soups. Guava salads. Baklava. Those were some of the non-traditional Thanksgiving dishes served along with turkey Thursday in various ethnic households around Orange County. Both longtime residents and new arrivals celebrated the 370-year-old American tradition of giving thanks.

On Monday--before the champagne, before the polka bands, before the folk dancing and speeches and toasts--Danute Mazeika went to a cemetery in East Los Angeles with an armful of chrysanthemums and two long-awaited words. "You won," the Lithuanian-American activist said silently to her grandfather's grave.

From the bucolic grounds of Stanford University to San Francisco's City Hall, the Bay Area was abuzz with anticipation Tuesday over the distinguished visitor due to arrive here early next month. President Mikhail S. Gorbachev will become the first leader of the Soviet Union to visit the Bay Area in 31 years. One day after news of the visit surfaced, academics, local officials and business executives already were gearing up for Gorbachev's arrival.