Letters to the Editor 7-30-2020

Age old question

Dear ER: 

Good article on my old stock boy at Hermosa Guild Drug (“Tim Kelly surf state gets a new head,” ERNews, July 23, 2020). Tim was an ideal kid. Very polite and he had a keen work ethic. Why do bad things happen to good people?.

Don Guild

Hermosa for 92 years (so far)

 

Kia kaha (Be Strong)

Dear ER:

Here is an email sent to me by Peter Shaw, a dear friend in New Zealand, bearing witness to the contrast between two countries’ handling of the Co-Vid 19:

Dearest Judy, 

I watch the awful news about how all the US commentators say people in the US are not respecting the sensible rules about social distancing and the wearing of masks. We did it obediently in Aotearoa because we had a humane and civilized leader who told us daily that we had to. We all watched TV every day at 1 p.m. during the Lockdown as Jacinda (Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern) and the Director General of Health gave detailed briefings about what was happening here. We all did as we were told. Our Prime Minister turns 40 today. She told us that we were a team of 5 million and that’s how we acted. We are safe because of her and her reliance on science. We have an underclass Maori population who obeyed implicitly because they have long memories and remember the ghastly 1918 flu epidemic that wreaked such havoc on the already depressed (colonially defeated) Maori. But poor you in the U.S. have no leader, just a self-seeking, ignorant fool in the White House. But nobody says so. Why don’t the news commentators lay the blame where it lies? Instead they avoid the issue. We watch American health experts who never name the real problem. What are they scared of? Trump is wholly responsible. If he hadn’t brazenly refused to wear a mask etc., (much more), and instead faced the health issue, then things would not have gotten to the horrible state that they are in now. It’s almost as though he’s being protected in his baleful ignorance. Well, I hope you are okay and managing. We feel so sorry for your whole country. 

Peter

(Submitted by Judy Shane, Redondo Beach)    

 

Let work reflect values

Dear ER:

It seems that many people in the South Bay, and Manhattan Beach in particular, have declared the area hopelessly racist. Many residents and businesses in the area are proudly pro BLM. I see visual signs of solidarity in windows throughout the area, Big Bold BLM signs in the windows of multi million dollars homes up and down The Strand. I also notice the workers cleaning the houses, building the houses, landscaping the houses & taking care of the children etc are almost exclusively Latino. If Black lives really matter to those people, I wonder why none of their workers are black? Could it be that the homeowners who proclaim their loyalty to the political organization called BLM are not willing to pay Black American citizens the wages they would require to do this hard work? I have also noticed that many chic retail stores are also proudly proclaiming the BLM mantra, meanwhile all of their brick and mortar stores are all located in expensive predominantly white neighborhoods. I often wonder why none of these chic shops open stores in South Central or Compton. Slogans are easy, but real change will only take place when the elites expand their resources to bridge the gap between blacks and whites. Hiring black workers in the South Bay area and offering new businesses in lower income areas are ways that the wealthy of the South Bay can make real change.

  1. Oliver 

Redondo Beach 

 

Revealing buzzwords

Dear ER:

It seems letter writer Gary Brown from Hermosa Beach could be the most patriotic and yet uninformed fellow citizen in the entire South Bay (“I want my country back,” ER July 23, 2020).   Buzzwords like “socialism,” “communism,” “BLM,” “’Marxism” and ‘white guilt” reveal a vocabulary created and repeated on television stations like Fox, hate radio by the likes of Limbaugh, the rhetoric from the Republicon party and the current occupant of the White House.  The fact is socialism is entrenched in America and people really like it. Unless Brown lives under a rock in another galaxy, he enjoys the following: military, highways, libraries, police, fire department, postal service, student loans, bridges, garbage collection, public landfills, polio vaccine, farm subsidies, The FBI, the EPA, the CIA, museums, public schools and colleges.   And this is just a partial list. In fact, when Brown flushes his toilet, he is utilizing the biggest form of socialism practiced today. Since his poop mixes with my poop, and all of the poop from other liberal, pinko, BLM loving, protesting, Confederate statue hating, fair minded, respectful, rationale, justice seeking neighbors. Socialism is taxpayer funds being used collectively to benefit society as a whole, despite income, contribution, or ability.

Gregory Moran

Manhattan Beach

 

Remindful statues

Dear ER:

I am so not impressed with the removal of our American history by people who have little if any understanding of our past. Our idols, our heroes, all had clay feet. They were raised by parent’s who had standards that over the centuries have changed. The history of the world is about the powerful nations and leaders doing their best to do what they thought best for their people. There were horrible people and great ones. That is what history is all about. You can’t white wash it and pretend it never took place. We all learn from our mistakes (we hope) and grow to be better people. In all of our history there was only one perfect man, and he was a 30 year old non-union carpenter. You can tear down these statues but you can’t remove them from our minds.  

If people are successful in cleaning up our past, future generations will repeat past mistakes

out of pure ignorance.    

Randy Thompson

Torrance

 

Wall of ideas

Dear ER:

I’m not a Pustilnikov (AES owner) fan, but this has been an ugly blank wall for years (“Will Leo’s murals drown out Wyland whale?” ER July 23, 2020). I think it is a good spot for murals. I like some of the murals, others, not so much, but I guess that is what art is all about. The city needs to get their arms around approvals as future murals could go the route of obscene or offensive. These murals are aimed at public spaces, not the enjoyment of the property owner, and the city should have some means of preventing offensive, political, or obscene murals if it does not already have the means today. We should model our regulation after whatever El Segundo does as their murals all enhance the experience of their downtown.

Jim Light

Redondo Beach

 

Safety first

Dear ER:

Children cannot learn unless they feel safe (“Manhattan Beach School District prepares ‘hybrid’ of distance, school learning,” ER July 23, 2020). Teachers cannot teach when they are distracted by contagion. Choose wisely.

Bruce Jackson

Facebook comment

 

Less tech

Dear ER:

Kids need to use technology less, not all day (“Manhattan Beach School District prepares ‘hybrid’ of distance, school learning,” ER July 23, 2020). All children are entitled to a free and appropriate public education. All online is not going to be appropriate for many students. Parents need to file complaints/litigation if necessary.

Beverly Jackson

Facebook comment

 

Outdoor schools

Dear ER:

Distance learning, especially for young kids, is ineffective at best (“Manhattan Beach School District prepares ‘hybrid’ of distance, school learning,” ER July 23, 2020). We shouldn’t be letting the governor rob our children of their education. If big box businesses can be open, so can our schools. Even outdoors is better than nothing

Angelina Sberna

Facebook comment

 

Think

Dear ER:

Get creative: get tents, use parks and rec facilities, call in substitute teachers, have the at risk teachers continue virtual learning for students who do not wish to return yet, fight the teachers’ unions (“Manhattan Beach School District prepares ‘hybrid’ of distance, school learning,” ER July 23, 2020). Education is always a priority in civilized society. Figure it out.

Jasmine Allen

Facebook comment

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