Senseless

On the boulevard where the 72-year-old shopkeeper did business for more than a decade, he was simply known as "El señor de la 98." The man of the 98-cent store. He greeted customers modestly in English laced with a thick Iranian accent. He let nearby taco truck workers use his restroom. And when children rode up on bicycles offering him only a few pennies for candy, he gave them the treats for free. No one knew Fereidoun Kohanim's name. And on Monday at 4:10 p.m., apparently no one heard the fatal gunshot that followed after three men -- all alleged gang members -- entered his store in the 1300 block of West Venice Boulevard and demanded money, but left empty-handed.

On the boulevard where the 72-year-old shopkeeper did business for more than a decade, he was simply known as "El señor de la 98." The man of the 98-cent store. He greeted customers modestly in English laced with a thick Iranian accent. He let nearby taco truck workers use his restroom. And when children rode up on bicycles offering him only a few pennies for candy, he gave them the treats for free. No one knew Fereidoun Kohanim's name. And on Monday at 4:10 p.m., apparently no one heard the fatal gunshot that followed after three men -- all alleged gang members -- entered his store in the 1300 block of West Venice Boulevard and demanded money, but left empty-handed.

In case you haven't heard, California and Nevada are at war. Not an old-fashioned war with bullets and tanks, but a newfangled media battle over which one is the last best hope for entrepreneurs and businesses in these troubled times. Nevada started it. The Nevada Development Authority launched a campaign that will spend a million dollars over a year to air a series of ads enticing California businesses to move to Las Vegas. The spots boast about Nevada's low taxes and workers' comp fees and feature a chimpanzee and a really bad actress portraying a television newswoman who turns into a pig wearing bright red lipstick.

In case you haven't heard, California and Nevada are at war. Not an old-fashioned war with bullets and tanks, but a newfangled media battle over which one is the last best hope for entrepreneurs and businesses in these troubled times. Nevada started it. The Nevada Development Authority launched a campaign that will spend a million dollars over a year to air a series of ads enticing California businesses to move to Las Vegas. The spots boast about Nevada's low taxes and workers' comp fees and feature a chimpanzee and a really bad actress portraying a television newswoman who turns into a pig wearing bright red lipstick.

Re "Chronic Flaws Blamed for Fall of Texas Bonfire Pile," May 3: While the world is facing the global warming problem and other environmental issues, it is senseless to allow the burning of nearly 7,000 logs/trees in a college football pregame event to continue. PATRICK LEE Arcadia

Thanks Bill Plaschke and George Dohrmann. The Los Angeles Times' nickel and dime version of Woodward and Bernstein have not only convicted Jim Harrick before any meaningful investigations have taken place, they have tarnished the image of school rich tradition and known for playing by the rules. Senseless, arrogant journalism. For recognition, nonetheless. MATTHEW QUINT Orange

I am writing to register my protest and disgust in your reporting of the senseless murder of Los Angeles Police Officer Edward Kislow (Aug. 24-25). Kislow should be considered and recognized as a hero in our community. This caring and unselfish man gave the supreme sacrifice we unfortunately must ask of our police officers. He did so off duty, exemplifying his care and concern for our community. For your paper to bury Kislow's heroic action and senseless death among your regular reporting of (weekend)

In these times, when our downtown streets seem to be full of homeless people, what is Tom Bradley thinking of in trying to get money to build a monument to welcome immigrants? We already have one national monument to immigrants, of whom we now have too many, and whatever money is collected for this senseless purpose should be diverted to the homeless. EMMY DENNIS Carson

Your report is worrisome ("Workplace Bias Against Muslims, Arabs on Rise, Advocates Say," Oct. 3). Americans of Middle Eastern origin have become an integral part of America, just as have other groups, which is as it should be. One of the best ways to alienate any group and make it hostile to the U.S. is to subject its members to senseless bias and harassment. This treatment is wrong, misguided and counterproductive and, if necessary, should be criminally prosecuted with vigor.

Re "Louisiana Drivers Given License to Kill," Aug. 14: Just sit back and think about all those innocent people in California who have been slaughtered by carjackers in the past few years. Nearly every week there is another story of someone missing or a body found. Perhaps the "good ol' boys and girls" of Louisiana have hit upon a solution to stop this senseless carnage, since it is quite apparent that nothing else is working. Let's give it time and see if the ends justify the means.

In East L.A., in the Palisades, in Watts, in Pasadena and Long Beach, if you're a parent, you tell yourself a lie. You tell yourself that your child is safe. No car accident will take them, no illness, no violence. You know it's not true because the news is filled with the deaths of young people, but you close your eyes and put your faith in the percentages. But then there's a horrible story in your own neighborhood, and it punches holes in your shield.

The latest effort to push illegal immigrants further into the shadows of civic life comes from an unexpected quarter. Not from those who would gladly deport every single person residing in this country without permission, but from advocates who profess to have their best interest at heart. The National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders is urging illegal immigrants not to participate in the 2010 census. The group's supposed logic?

Kudos to state Senate committee members for approving a bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) that would force phone companies in the state to stop charging for an unlisted phone number on land-line phones. ("Panel OKs ban on phone fees," April 2.) I have paid these fees for 40 years and always wondered why it would cost me anything for an unpublished number. It would make some sense to pay to have your number listed, as with the Yellow Pages. Every time we "deregulate" anything, the corporations pick our pockets.

Prodded by complaints from viewers about offensive television, the Federal Communications Commission has put increasing pressure on broadcasters to keep a civil tongue. In the most extreme instance, the commission issued an order in 2004 declaring that some expletives were so indecent, they could not be uttered on air, even fleetingly, before 10 p.m. An appeals court struck down:8080/isysnative/RDpcT3BpbnNcT1BOXDA2LTE3NjAtYWdfb3BuLnBkZg==/06- 1760-ag_opn.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Undefeated was punched in the mouth by unbelievable. Immortality was dragged to the ground by impossible. History was then kicked across the desert by hellacious, and today the football world is red-eyed and hoarse from soaking in its dust. You want perfection? I'll give you perfection. The unbowed New York Giants came back in the final two minutes Sunday to whip the unbeaten New England Patriots, 17-14, in the Super Bowl.

Some immigrant rights activists are afraid that the new citizenship test unveiled by the government two weeks ago will create a new and higher barrier for people who want to become Americans. They're wrong. Far from being an exclusionary tool, the new test, which will be given to legal resident aliens who apply for citizenship after Oct. 1, 2008, is actually a rare mechanism for immigrant inclusion, the kind our country needs more of.

Why does Ice Cube need to exploit a pointless division between the East Coast and West Coast -- a rivalry responsible, in part, for the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG -- to sell his new album ("Rapping for a Little West Coast Respect," by Soren Baker, Dec. 6)? I realize that gangster rap, and glamorization of gang life, isn't solely responsible for the senseless murders that wreak havoc on urban communities throughout our country, but photos and rhetoric like this sure don't help.

It was with dismay that I viewed the picture and captions dealing with your story on the Groundlings troupe ("Hit the Ground Laughing," by Susan King, Sept. 23). I believe I have a reasonable sense of humor and appreciation for the theater, but I fail to find the humor and entertainment value in two men holding small pistols to each other's head. With the recent and recurring gun deaths that we are experiencing in our communities and nation, surely you must be aware of the terrible, traumatic grief that senseless gun death and injuries cause.

They were killed within an hour of each other, one as he stood in his driveway, the other while paying for groceries at a convenience store. Both were 34. They were killed in the same part of town, and police suspect gang members in both shootings. And as best as anyone can tell, neither was doing anything more than minding his own business.

WHO COULD BEAR to write an epitaph for Ethan Esparza? Ethan was celebrating at his 4th birthday party Nov. 19, playing with a new toy car in the frontyard of his Pomona home, when a gunman stepped out of an SUV and began spraying bullets into the crowd of children. After being shot, Ethan lived long enough to scramble to his mother's room and spend his last moments gasping for breath in her arms. There are no words strong enough to express her agony or the depths of a community's sympathy.