Temple City

Regarding "Forest Fees to Be Extended" [Nov. 30]: Officials calling the fees "popular" when compliance is coerced by threats of fines and jail time is like saying people love paying income taxes because they pay them dutifully. Such a change in public lands policy should be open to public comment, debated in Congress and voted on, not embedded in an appropriations bill. Deborah Y. Nakamoto Temple City

In her Oct. 27 column, "We're Taking Way Too Much Initiative," Patt Morrison has it exactly right. Voters are required to do the job of legislators. We elect and pay legislators to make the big decisions on altering the state Constitution, issuing bonds, raising and lowering taxes. But with 16 complicated state propositions on the ballot, I am now forced to do their job. I differ slightly with Morrison on how to correct it: Rather than have the legislators' $140 daily allowance go into opponents' campaign funds for every proposition the Legislature should have decided, I suggest each voter be given the $140 for doing the Legislature's job. If I am going to work as a legislator, I want to be paid.

Two letters were printed regarding the possibility that the Dodgers might not re-hire announcer Ross Porter, and unfortunately both were dripping with misplaced sarcasm and absurd negativity. These two guys don't know how fortunate they are. Baseball fans I know have great appreciation for Ross and his considerable knowledge and announcing skills. Have you heard some of the other announcers around Major League Baseball? Ouch! I'd hate to see the Dodgers dump Ross for some way too hip 27-year-old hotshot with too much Physioc and not nearly enough Ross, or another former player with limited broadcasting experience.

Re "U.S. Toll in Iraq Reaches 1,000," Sept. 8: It is sad to know the death of even one U.S. serviceman in Iraq. But to those who say we do not belong there, I have this to say: The war in Iraq has nothing to do with spreading democracy. We have troops there to protect our economic interests. If our nation was not addicted to oil, we would not be there. As for the young servicemen who die there, they were not drafted. They voluntarily joined, knowing that they might be killed or wounded in the course of their employment.

Re "Prison Jobs Program Just Barely Working," July 18: Why not put prisoners to work in our agricultural fields instead of importing aliens who send much of their wages out of the country. This would provide plenty of work for inmates, create a work ethic and keep the money they earn in our own economy. Carene Landino Temple City

Re "Prospect of a New Military Draft Drawing More Attention, Concern," July 14: I am old enough to have been subject to the draft during the Vietnam era. Because of a high draft number, I was never conscripted. I said then and I reiterate now: It should be an automatic requirement (instead of an exemption) that a random one-third of all representatives and senators be immediately inducted and sent to the war zone upon passing a congressional vote of war powers or a declaration of war. Now that would be "universal" service.

In taking a poll on whether it was worth it to enter Iraq (Times Poll, June 11), The Times is supporting all those people whose gaze is focused on the rearview mirror. The question before all of us in 2004, regardless of one's prewar position in 2002, is what to do now. At this time we need our leadership (governmental and media) to point out the historic opportunity that exists. Either we provide the force to ensure a transition to a stable and democratic government in Iraq or we allow the likely dissolution of the country into a base for continuing Islamic radicalism and bloodshed throughout the region.

The new workers' comp deal (April 3) is flawed because lawyers will still be involved in litigating fraudulent claims on behalf of their "injured" clients through networks of friendly medical specialists. Entire industries have been built on milking the system. Eliminate the lawyers from the system and we will have real reform. Henry Sakaida Temple City

Wal-Mart is definitely a "Big-Box Boogeyman" (editorial, Feb. 22). I beg to differ with The Times' assessment that "banning one company" won't solve the societal problems of this kind of company paying "low wages, paltry benefits and outsourc[ing] manufacturing." Being that it is the largest of those companies that would sell out their own country, Wal-Mart is the perfect one with which to start a rigorous campaign to defeat its unethical practices. We as a caring society must feel obligated, with the help of our government representatives, to root out this cancerous evil, which has spread in epidemic proportions, in terms of the harm it has done to ordinary people simply trying to make a decent, healthy living for themselves and their families.

Protection of marriage? I don't understand it. Returning to biblical values and historical paradigms? Where does this ignorance come from? The Bible sanctions polygamy, and history has perverted equality. For thousands of years, marriage was not about equality between husband and wife. It was about property. But we have progressed. There is no official asking a woman to "love and obey" her husband anymore. There is no law prohibiting interracial marriage anymore. And there certainly must not be a ruling that denies holiness to two consenting adults.