Mr. Scott:

I find your columns in the Post very interesting and thought-provoking. Your insight into the ill effects of capitalism and a free market economy are quite refreshing to me.

One area in American society where I find capitalism very intrusive is in the use of established pop and rock music. I get the feeling that by the time I'm 50, every song I liked when growing up will have been used for commercial purposes, i.e., advertising. My favorite song in the fourth grade (1975) was an obscure one-hit wonder, "Magic" by Pilot, and I was shocked when I first heard it on a TV ad a few years ago.

I hate it when old rock songs wind up getting bought by companies for commercial use. Remember when the Beatles' "Revolution" was used in a Nike ad in the '80s? As an adult, I've grown to enjoy the music of the Who, and every year it seems I hear yet another of their songs being used in a radio or TV ad.

I was thinking about commercial radio and TV the other day, and it dawned on me that programming by these media is intended solely for profit by the stations and networks. The only reason they aim for high ratings is so that sponsors will pay them more and more money for advertising time. Corporate news media do not exist to inform the public, they exist to make profits.
Keith Bramstedt
San Anselmo

Viva Carole Hayashino!

In recognition of International Women's Day (March 8), I was compelled to write this letter in acknowledgment of Carole Hayashino's campaign for Assembly. As a Latina woman and volunteer on her campaign, I am proud that a woman of color in Marin County received 21,632 votes. She was less than 3,000 votes from the winner, and actually won Sonoma County. Her campaign was truly a working experience; it was a grassroots campaign of enormous diversity in age, gender and color. I believe that Carole received much of the women's vote, and it was great to see so many women in support of our Asian sister.

The women of Marin need to take the lead in being more progressive in whom we support and what we vote for. The large number of votes for Carole proves that progressive women can get elected. Carole was often questioned whether she thought Marin County was ready for an Asian woman. She was asked this question by Caucasian males. Carole has proven that Marin county is ready, and she and other women of color will continue to be out there with their sleeves rolled up. As a woman of color, I would be honored once again to stand out in the rain from dawn 'til dusk holding her signs and waving for people to get out and vote for her. Women of Marin need to support women who are brave enough to take that risk and stand up to the white male power structure. Women must be the advocates of progressive politics in Marin County and Carol's campaign represented that. Thank you, Carol, for being out there for us and for paving the way.

Si se puede,
Bobbie Salazar
Vice Chair
6th Assembly
Committee and Co-founder
Progressive Democrats of Marin

Taking What's Not Yours

When an employee dips into company funds for his own temporary use, planning to repay, it's called "wrongful appropriation."

In the Uniform Code of Military Justice, "wrongful appropriation" is punishable by a bad conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and imprisonment for six months.

When county supervisors Annette Rose and John Kress repeatedly dip into the wrongfully appropriate taxpayer funds for their own use, the state attorney general says it's clearly illegal, but Marin's district attorney Paula Kamena gives them a pass.

If Paula Kamena were to dip into her Lawyer's Trust Account for as briefly as a minute, she could be prosecuted and disbarred.

Why her failure to protect taxpayer funds like her Trust Account? Why her double standard, kid gloves treatment for our local "power elite" public fund dippers?
Fielding Greaves
Secretary, MUTA

Ex-Pat Pro Bike

I am one of them there natives who finally went away-in this case to Utah. When making my regular visits, I read your paper. I wish to encourage everyone to get involved with the Marin County Bicycle Coalition to make it easier for people to get around within the county on bikes. Part of the Master Plan involves opening all the tunnels. For instance, Geronimoans could cross the watershed into Ross Valley. As a kid I walked from Sausalito to Corte Madera and from there to San Rafael though the tunnels.

The traffic scene has degraded badly in the six years I've been gone; I really see it. So please look into this Master Plan. These people are doing good work.
Laurie Cruikshank
Virgin, Utah

Local People Need Housing

Jim Scanlon's style of journalism has finally put me over the edge; his baseless "conspiracy theory" type writing and scatter-gun reporting on the Community Development Agency are all talk and no walk. Mr. Scanlon obviously doesn't know what's going on, but continues to infer that Messrs. Stewart and Messagno are being railroaded. Consistently lacking any tangible proof, he's mastered the fear tactic and pejorative suggestion (he sounds like the NIMBY minority in Pt. Reyes that unsuccessfully tried to block the much-needed EAH affordable housing project with fear and non-facts expressed as "concerns." Some of them got away with calling the project a "ghetto" and then tried to pretend that they're not expressing racist attitudes. His damned-near libelous assertion that there may be an unholy collusion between French Ranch developer Bruce Burman and Marin County Administrator Mark Riesenfeld is irresponsible and cheap, as if his empty justification for his prattle is that "Marin County is notorious for being a small place where strange coincidences occur all the time." For the price that Mr. Riesenfeld paid for the house, he certainly didn't seem to be getting a deal. Mr. Scanlon may be onto something, but his rather off-handed handling of his "facts" exhibits a need for him to hone his journalistic skills. Whatever the machinations, Marin needs housing.

Luckily, through the efforts of fair-minded citizens with common sense, and the assistance of Supervisor Kinsey, there's finally some affordable housing coming around in our district. Scanlon suggests the Kinsey campaign will receive election support from developers, but conveniently forgets that over 1,000 people voted approval for affordable housing in West Marin. Scanlon also selectively forgets that Steve Kinsey assisted in the empowerment of the people of West Marin via his assistance in establishing KWMR Radio 90.5 in Pt. Reyes Station, which has plans on the table to link up with Stinson Beach and Bolinas and possibly the towns of Marshal and Tomales. Our sister station in the Valley, cable Geronimo radio, has also discussed programming exchanges with KWMR. (These political opinions are mine and not those of KWMR.) How is it that creating community radio in West Marin is rolling over to the big boys? Mr. Kinsey's "competition," Mr. Nuyens, who seems to have an almost xenophobic fear of personal contact with his potential constituency (he wants us to approach him on his website to find out what he thinks), also fails to mention the positive contributions Kinsey has made. Nobody want rampant development in West Marin, but Mr. Nuyens is not a convincing steward of the land with his Cliff Notes treatment of issues as he enlists the use of buzzwords like "oblivion" and "utopia." We're real people and we need real talk and real contact, Luis. Your soundbyte, uneducated comments about Mr. Kinsey's imagined creation of divisiveness in the Pt. Reyes community over the EAH affordable housing project is ludicrous. A minority of people disagreed with, and were over-ruled by, a majority. Did Kinsey come in and hypnotize us all? This irresponsible, nebulous treatment of issues is also found in Judy Borello's writings. She claims to "agree to disagree and respect each other's opinion and right to nay-say it." I suppose that's why she made a personal attack on me in these pages by calling me a "sniveler" because I stood up for affordable housing. Is that respect? (I either spend money or work in Pt. Reyes Station almost every day.) Always a pusher for more commercial development over fair-priced housing (read: cater to tourism), Judy is a "more country than thou" gal who seems to prefer electronic cows over the real ones. Hopefully, she and her cohorts will never be fully successful in turning tourist-oriented Pt. Reyes Station into "Udderland" or "Cowland" (like Disney's "Frontierland). You know, drive more real working people out with draconian land price hikes and then use all the right-sounding names to invoke the spirit of a working cowtown for the benefit of the visiting city folk. Her use of words like "quaint" to describe Pt. Reyes Station is clearly overshadowed by her obvious preference for tourism over the housing and other needs of local workers. Check the out-of-town traffic. The tail wags and the mouth growls. Obviously she and her buddies in the Pt. Reyes Village Association have a curious strategy for avoiding the Carmelization of the town.

As for the Pt. Reyes Village Association, they'll probably gain a little more credibility when they stop acting like the old San Francisco Olympic Club and get out of the "legitimization" business. The Association's exclusive way of defining the Pt. Reyes community is an ill-conceived urban approach to a rural community. The Pt. Reyes community simply does not exist only between a couple of green signs that some county agency arbitrarily stuck up on Highway One and Sir Francis Drake Blvd. This pragmatic self-serving type of "over the hill" community identification is curious for those who pitch themselves as locals who wish control and voice in local issues. Curiously enough, Pt. Reyes was happy to greet those with open arms who live outside the little green signs when it needed help with the dump issue. If we'd used Village Association reasoning, we would've said, Yawn.... The dump is in between the little green signs-do it yourself." This would've been inappropriate, because it's the waters that connect us around the Tomales Bay area. The people who fish, grow oysters and abalone a well as run kayaking businesses have just as much right to vote on a Pt. Reyes issue where the cleanliness of the water is concerned. Now, incredibly enough, the village Association does not (at this writing) even have the growing garbage issue in West Marin on its agenda!

Why is it that those who are always the first to mouth warnings about avoiding "divisiveness" are always the first to do the dividing? Come on, already-shake hands with the competition, stop insulting those who disagree with you, and for God's sake, get your nose out of the air when you pass your neighbors because they refuse to let you cut the organic whole that is the Pt. Reyes community into fragments. Like my take on religions, I don't care what your rap is, Jack, I'm looking at what you do. I've never in my life closed my heart to any person, though obviously I take serious issue with some peoples' ideas. I really appreciate the dignity of four guys in Pt. Reyes who've either marginally or wholly disagreed with me over the housing issue, yet will still share a greeting with me 'round town. This means more to me than I can express. We all have a chance to grow through our political engagement. Are we up to the challenge?

* * *

Since you curiously went to press earlier than usual (couldn't let too much pro-Kinsey stuff in your "free" press to balance out the obvious hate job you're trying to do on him), you can toss my recent letter and keep the $5. For a rag that runs conspiracy items about Big Pink, you seem to be building Nuyens quite a little journalistic dais (in conspiring against Kinsey).

Going to press to early, especially for an opinion rag (around election time) is gross manipulation. It's as bad as a bus arriving and leaving its appointed stops too early.

I'll send another letter in soon, when are you going to press for April-the Ides of March?
Charlie Morgan
Inverness
Dillon Beach
Tomales

Nuyens' Campaign Thanks

I am writing to thank those who worked in support of Louis Nuyens for 4th District Supervisor of Marin.

It was an amazing effort, bringing together the positive energy of wonderful individuals from all parts of the district, which means virtually all of Marin County.

Although we did not win the election, your support allowed us, in just two short months of activity, to reach over 10,000 people!

Five thousand of these received enough information that they voted in support of our efforts to aim Marin's 4th supervisorial district toward clean government and clean environment.

Many of these voters will continue to be aware of the directions being taken by our county government and the concerns raised by our campaign. This will result in greater watchfulness, and an increased likelihood of success in a future challenge.

I, and the others who worked on this campaign, intend to stay active. Most immediately, we shall watch the upcoming Grand Jury investigation results with interest. We hope you will, too.

We will to keep you informed on our continued efforts.

Thank you once again for your support!
Louis Nuyens

Transportation, Not Wetlands

To Alex Hinds
Community Development Agency Director

Please let me know:

1. What is the dollar amount targeted for the proposed sales tax (or other tax) for the Transportation Expenditure Plan?

2. Please confirm that the Governor has budgeted $13.8 million for the return of Hamilton to wetlands (per Terri Nevins of the California State Coastal Conservancy, fax 510-286-0470).

3. Please confirm that a total of $55.2 million will be requested by Novato through the above agency for the return of Hamilton to wetlands.

4. Please confirm that the above amount ($55.2 million) has no allowance for the maintenance of the proposed wetlands.

5. While items 2, 3 and 4 are not under your supervision, I think they must be addressed in any ballot measure. As a related request, once you have confirmed the above, will you request to Congress, the Governor, the County, Novato and the California State Coastal Conservancy that no further money be allocated to the Hamilton project until the voters have agreed to fund a suitable transportation measure?

The point of all this is that as taxpayers, we are being asked for our approval of the Transportation Expenditure Plan, but we have never been asked to vote on the Hamilton Wetlands Plan.

Won't you please use your position to have the Hamilton expenditures postponed until we have paid for transportation improvement?
Jeffory Morshead
Larkspur

Brutalized Marijuana Prisoner Asks For Help

My name is Mike Hodges, Jr. For 19 of my 39 years I was part of the workforce in California paying taxes without much question as to how they were being spent by the government. My wife and I lived in a beautiful home in the Sierra foothills just north of Auburn with our two children. I was a tow truck operator on Interstate 80 in the Donner Summit region and received many letters of recommendation for saving lives and rescuing people in blizzard conditions. I served the public and was an asset to my community. My wife worked as a merchandiser at Raley's and BelAir supermarkets. Her outstanding personality and job performance gained total respect and admiration from her fellow workers and customers. As mother and wife she is the model of excellence.

On December 3, 1996, Placer County sheriffs forced their way into our home past my terrified wife without a search warrant and tore our place apart right down to going through my wife's underwear drawer and throwing them out on the floor. This took place after we refused to sign a consent to search form for them. Through a Star Chamber- like judicial process, including threats, coercion, blackmail, illegal suppression of evidence and blatant violations of our Constitutional rights under the Fourth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, the District Attorney, Miss Bailey, gained a conviction before Judge J. Richard Couzens in the Placer County Superior court. I was sentenced to seven year, four months for under two ounces of marijuana.

I arrived at the CDC Deuel Vocational Institution at Tracy on November 19, 1998. On December 15 I was feloniously assaulted by four prisoners at the behest of CDC Officer Duran in G Wing at DVI. My head was forcibly shaved, I was struck repeatedly in the face and head with a broomstick, and was threatened with having my throat cut while Duran was looking on. The officer involved allowed inmate Baxter into my cell on December 14 when I wasn't in it, and all of my commissary items were stolen. Inmate Baxter threatened to stab me many times before and after this incident occurred. He had stabbed several inmates before and was in a cell by himself for that reason, but Duran would still allow him to keep his cell door open. On December 15 Duran let his tier tender inmate John Delong enter my cell as I was on the toilet, sick from the contaminated water at DVI. Delong threatened to stab me and took all of my stamped envelopes and two pens my mother had just mailed to me. He then stated, "I told you that I have a lot of pull with Duran. He sent me up here to tell you to get a haircut or you will get a 115." I went downstairs and asked Duran to move me to another wing, and he stated, "That would be too easy on you, and I want to make your life miserable here." It was at this time that Duran allowed inmate Delong and his four homeboys to assault me in the dorm of G Wing at DVI.

Please help me. I am trapped within this corrupt system without any assistance of counsel. I need representation to insure that there is no future injustice put upon me, to also guarantee my safety and well being and to protect me against any further civil rights violations. I would like for you to read my six-page detailed report of the incidents at DVI and my two 602 appeals. It is my sincere hope that you will not allow these incidents to be covered up.

Any reasonable person would agree that nobody should suffer what I have recently and most definitely not for having 49 grams of marijuana. There is a stark contrast to be looked at in all of this, and it shows NO JUSTICE. I am confident that no decent person would raise their hand to say they are served by this sort of administration of the law. Especially when you consider it is costing the tax-paying public over a quarter of a million dollars just to incarcerate me for this sentence. I am asking you now, is this justice?

I need your help, please. I have a wife, two children and a 70-year-old mother who is in poor health. My whole family depends on me very much, as I am the only man left in our family since my father's death in 1991. More harm has and will continue to come due to the disproportionate sentence, corruption and injustice in my case. I am 100% committed to gaining remedy through all channels available to me, and hence this letter to you.

Your genuine concern and assistance will matter much to all and is deeply appreciated.

"Remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them. And remember those who are treated badly as if you yourselves were suffering." - Hebrews 13:3
Mike Wayne Hodges, Jr.
P19019
California State Prison
Bldg. 17-224L
POB 4000
Vacaville, CA 95696-4000

Killer Cops

So the gang of cops, including their instructors, consider that pulling your wallet out after being accosted by them on your own doorstep at night under the cover of darkness, in their predatory paranoid minds, espouse such action of innocent people to be "life threatening" to the cops. So such "law" enforcers murder the person in their "fear" after they approach such people, who could be any one of us, and start intimidating and demanding that you act as if they can brutally do whatever their deranged minds want to do to you. Of course, that includes assaulting you and murdering you in cold blood by shooting you through the soles of your feet even after they have already killed you in their murderous rage, such being the modern age of "law enforcement."

Never fear, 'your "protectors" are there/here roaming the streets and hills to find the next victim that they can dehumanize with labels such as target, suspect, etc., and such is what you should expect, as they have, via the assistance of the D.A.s of the government, made very clear, blood-red clear. Of course, they have practiced at "law" for decades in the "courts," so that they know how to manipulate juries from the so-called prosecution (or defense if you are one of us people, and not a cop) and the "high" chair of the "benched judge," and combined are practiced in slinging the sludge. Nor will such dastardly petty tyrants willingly budge from their stoops.

Oh, they may say in mock sorrow, "Oops."

People of life, don't you feel the hellish chill?

How does anyone stay still for such treacherous ills? Especially when it kills, kills in more ways than only the physical form, as the cops-and-courts con forms, forming the operational totalitarian rule of bilious brutality-some form of nationality!
Mark Andrew Hall
Napa State Hospital Prison
Napa

Protect the Giant Sequoias

I write from Dunbar, John Muir's Scottish birthplace, on behalf of the John Muir Trust, founded in 1983 to conserve our few remaining areas of "wild land." You will note that I avoid the word "wilderness"; none of our landscapes is pristine enough to stand comparison with the American "wilderness." By 1945, over 99% of Scotland's original forests had gone. Our ancient history echoes to the sound of the stone axe on wood; the forests were shrinking long before Caesar's legions marched into Scotland. By the Middle Ages over half our ancient woods were gone and with them went the bears, the wolf, the wild boar, the beaver, the wild ox and the lynx. The blast furnaces of the Industrial Revolution burned most of our oaks, and our Scots pines lined the trenches of the Somme. Today we have fewer trees than any country in Europe and our ecology and wildlife is drastically impoverished as a result.

If America does not find a better vision for the sustainable use of its forest resources, this may be a foretaste of your future. It took 2,000 years to reduce Scotland to its present near-treeless state, but California has already felled a much greater proportion of its old-growth forests in just 200 years. Almost 80% of the Sierra forests have been felled since the Gold Rush; the millions of giant sequoias which once existed have been reduced to a tiny remnant of just 30,000 survivors. Half of these are protected in Sequoia National Park, but the rest lie within Sequoia National Forest, where clear-cut logging is still allowed on the watersheds which feed the sequoia groves. Logging the trees around the sequoia groves disrupts the groundwater flow and may kill the big trees just as effectively as cutting them down.

John Muir was born too late to save the forests and wildlife of his own country, but he devoted his life to saving the green treasures that he found in his adopted homeland. Arguably, the finest landscapes and forests which Californian's enjoy today are the legacy of this visionary Scot, whether they lie in the National Parks of Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, or within the National Forests, which Muir did so much to foster.

President Teddy Roosevelt once said: "We must take thought for the future-we are not building this nation to last for a few decades-but for centuries." I would ask you to consider California's long-term interest. Tourism and recreation are among the greatest sources of your state's wealth. Every visitor to California has a handful of images in mind when they cross the Atlantic: San Francisco's Golden Gate, Chinatown, Napa Valley, Yosemite and the Giant Redwoods. I have visited California six times in 20 years, and on every occasion I have been drawn to Yosemite and the sequoias as if by some magnetic force. Millions of other tourists have made that same pilgrimage to stand in the silence of these primeval groves.

America has an international responsibility to conserve these biological treasures, which existed millions of years before the United States was dreamed of. These forest giants were old before Christ was born. Empires have come and gone while they have grown in silence: Romans, Egyptians, Mongols, French and British -all have faded into oblivion. By comparison with the sequoias, England's ancient cathedrals seem like temporary creations of yesterday; their gargoyles and stained glass will fall into dust long before today's sequoia seedlings are mature. These mountain redwoods, the largest organisms on Earth, are an infinite resource which will bring rivers of tourist dollars to the Golden State for centuries to come, if they are only protected as they should be.

I would ask you to support President Clinton in protecting these natural wonders. California leads the rest of the United States in matters of social and environmental awareness. The international community expects California to display equal boldness and vision by protecting the environmental wealth that is John Muir's enduring legacy. It is only through such leadership and vision that a sustainable society can be created for all Americans, whether they be loggers, tourism operators or conservationists. Please give your support to President Clinton's proposal for a Sequoia National Monument.

Write, fax or email him at:
President Bill Clinton
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
(202) 456-1111(Comment Line)
Fax 202 456-2461
e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
Graham White
The John Muir Trust
Dunbar, Scotland

* * *

To President Clinton

The staff of the Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University is in agreement with your great idea to protect all 400,000 acres of the giant sequoia's forest habitat and mountain watersheds, not just the 35,000 acres of sequoia groves themselves. It should be nominated as a World Heritage Site due to its natural and cultural value. It is an international genetic resource treasure. Thank you for your support of conservation of the Earth's bio-diversity.
Dr. Victor Kuzevanov
Director
Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University,
Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia

From: GrahamWhiteUK@aol.com

* * *

Dear President Clinton,

I heard from Dr. Graham White in Scotland about your proposal on saving the giant sequoias in California. From my point of view it is very important to save those trees. The suggestion from Dr. Graham White is correct. It can be understood very well by the public. I strongly support your good proposal and the suggestions from Dr. White. I believe that your people are clever and your policy makers are capable, too. I hope a large reserve will be set up and the trees can be saved.
Professor He Shanan
The Senior Director of Nanjing Botanical Garden,
Chinese Academy of Sciences;
Jiangsu Province
email: shananhe@public1.ptt.js.cn

Asset Forfeiture Wrong

An open letter to the elected officials of the United States:

Are you aware of the illegal procedure of Civil Asset Forfeiture used by law enforcement agencies ? Authorities in more and more states are abusing this by taking citizens' property and not charging them with a crime, leaving in most cases no legal recourse for the return of the property.

Whether taking the car from one accused of DUI in Maryland, or the confiscation of all real estate and property from an accused drug dealer, local police agencies are making a financial killing in this process. Court action for the return of property is not financially viable to the majority of victims.

States, counties, and cities seizing people's property are in direct violation of Constitutional Amendments 4, 5,and 14. In plain words, the authorities cannot take a citizens' property without a warrant describing the property to be seized. The state can not deprive one of personal property without just compensation.

In the 1980s, the people of our nation felt that it was ok to take the property of drug dealers and other criminals without realizing the loss of constitutional rights accompanied with it. Our country's forefathers turned over in their graves on that day.

I pray that you as an elected official will champion this cause of restoring the freedom of the people to be secure in their rights of liberty and property. Our federal government must enforce the integrity of our constitutional amendments.
Christy Wood
Colorado Springs, CO

Ashamed About Prop. 22

Today, I am ashamed of myself. I used to be a political activist all through the late 70's on into the 80's. It was an inspired time. Women's rights were at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Equality under the law was still being sought for Blacks and Chicanos. Back then we fought for rights for labor, farm workers, prisoners, Indians, the disabled, and yes, gays and lesbians. It was easy to rise up against the injustices against gays then-Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone were recently assassinated for their alliance with gay concerns. Queer bashing was commonplace. We fought for our lives against all of the hatred, violence, and crimes against man and womankind, no matter what form it took. Now we sit back in our armchairs and praise ourselves for a job well done. I won't sit back anymore.

On Election Day Californians voted against equality for gays and lesbians, again. "It was a personal choice to vote for Proposition 22," one voter would casually say, leaving the polling booth. Is it, I wonder? The supporters of the Knight Initiative declared that marriage needed to be preserved for heterosexual men and women alone, if it is to have any meaning at all. Well, let's have a look at the legal meaning of marriage, shall we?

Marriages were set up as recognizable sanctions by the government for the sake of offering rewards to coupled partners in order to assist them with taxation reductions and a variety of special services. Some of these services include legal access to combined real property and other financial assets, state resources, and reduced costs for healthcare. The other major benefit was the shared claim to, and responsibility for, children.

The best way for straight couples to understand the real advantage of a legal marriage would be for them to examine how vulnerable their own lives would be without it. This simple certificate automatically grants the bearers hospital and emergency access to their loved one, medical power of attorney in the situation of life or death decision making, visitation with incapacitated partners, inheritance, shared joint property, adoption, educational enrollment for children, and participation in the custodial process of parenting. Gay and lesbian couples are taxed as single individuals. This makes our burden in taxation far greater than that of a heterosexual couple. Not only do we pay more than our fair share to the government in taxes, we derive far less than our fair share of the services we are paying for! Why is that?

Historically, we might understand the value the State gave heterosexual couples by better understanding property laws. Basically, men were the "haves" while women were the "have-nots." But the saving grace of women was their ability to bear children, and be the sole source of knowledge as to who fathered these children. Since we were a nation dependent on the laborer, children had real value as property, as laborers. Marriage was a government relief contract specifically designed to ensure the multiplication of the workforce, a direct benefit to the country. The government wished to make it more affordable for couples to bear children.

The second interest in adopting marriage contracts was to protect the rights of the child, insuring him or her maximum economic and emotional benefits from the resources of two parents. Today it is estimated that some 50 percent of heterosexual marriages end in divorce and of those parties, many remarry over and over again. Statistically, most marriages in America today do not result in having children. At the same time, a significant percentage of lesbian and gay couples do have and raise children. The simple fact of the matter is that our children are refused the rights of protection under the law that married couples' children are granted automatically. Lots of straight people like to respond to this discrepancy by saying, "Many children are born out of wedlock-your kids are no different then these." The difference is this: We do not have the option of giving our children or ourselves the benefits marriage would provide. This, by the very definition of democracy, is wrong.

The "personal choice" that Californians made on their ballots on Tuesday had nothing to do with democracy. It had nothing to do with the best interests of the government. It had nothing to do with the best interests of the children. It had to do with fear. Straight people have feared the gay community since the introduction of Christianity. They say gays and lesbians are choosing their own lifestyles and therefore have the option to "choose" a heterosexual one instead, thus gaining access to straight-only rights. Every application of reason rejects this notion as simplistic and grossly uneducated. It falls right in there with the theories promoted during the Holocaust concerning Jews' inferiority and deficient brains, or used against Blacks in order to justify slavery, claiming they were too simple-minded to manage their own lives.

Discrimination feeds off of fear and frenzy, and we as a nation have stood witness over this phenomenon again and again throughout history. We have watched as the dominant culture has fired away at every minority group that we have ever had. Even now, Mormon, Catholic and fundamentalist churches lead the way to bar equal rights to some 15% of our entire national population. They blatantly disregard the fact that gays and lesbians have always existed in high numbers throughout all cultures, throughout all time, and we that we rarely "change" any more than do heterosexuals. They disregard all non-biased scholastic studies, psychological evaluations, and other legitimate scientific findings which conclude that we are inherently what we are, just wired differently. And we are good.

Proposition 22 was a moral issue, to be certain. So what is the moral question voters are asked to consider when entering the polls to create governing policy? Is it to express "personal" opinion concerning the moral ethics they'd like to suggest this nation's constituents live by? Is it to promote a spiritual agenda? Is it even to secure their own way of life, voting in a way to ensure that the world they know and love never changes? If it is, Californians have done their duty.

But stop and consider this. If our founders had shared those same intentions, life and liberty for most of us would never have become secure. Instead, "survival of the fittest" would have dominated this nation's policies. Selfishness, greed, religious fervor and prejudice would have become the dominant factors by which our nation would be defined. Our brilliant leaders sought after a goal of equal representation, equal access, and general equality for all because they were not focused on creating policy they liked. They were focused on creating a government based on higher principals of integrity and humanitarianism, in hopes that it might see all future generations through times of great diversity, transformation, and crisis. They understood that to represent only independent perspective and moral dictates would be to compromise the highest good their leadership might invoke, and place our unity as a country in peril.

As long as American voters insist on making their "personal" desires and opinions the thing from which they develop all policy, we will slide back from all the advantages derived from this eloquent edict: Justice for all.
Robin M. Stuart, MFT
Occidental

George's Flaws

It's official. George W. Bush will be the Republican candidate for president. His candidacy does pose a logistical nightmare for campaign managers-how to hide George W.'s politically incorrect flaws from the American public. He's dead in the water if you don't. George W. opposes abortion, gun control and environmental regulation, and supports tax cuts, school vouchers and the death penalty. All the positions he holds are divisive to the country, and yet George W. keeps talking about unity.
Ron Lowe
Nevada City, CA

Transsexual Seeks Help

I am a Male to Female Transsexual. I live on SSI/SSDI and I am one of the last few transsexual girls here in Minnesota to qualify for the state to pay for my sexual reassignment surgery. As it stands, I have passed all of the tests and meet all of the requirements the state demands. I have the two letters from two psychologists that the state and the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care for Transsexuals require recommending me for the surgery.

These two letters were sent to a Mrs. Susan Stiller at Care Delivery Management Inc. for her consideration of payment by the state of Minnesota. I was approved on January 12, 2000, and the approval letter states that it is up to me to find a suitable surgeon. Nowhere in this letter does it say that I am limited to a surgeon here in the state or that the state will not pay for an out-of-state surgeon.

Yet the system insists that I must go to a Dr. Jon Pryor at the University of Minnesota, that there is a ruling that says that I must go to a doctor in this state only

Now, if there were two or more surgeons in this state that do the surgery, I would have a choice, but there are not. There is only Dr. Pryor, and as far as I can find out, he has not studied these surgical procedures. I have tried to research this doctor and learn how many procedures he has done, and all I am able to find is his record with the AMA as a urologist and an article on-line about his male infertility studies. I have tried speak to his office staff on this subject and no one can or will tell me anything about him.

As I understand it, Dr. Pryor is a cracker jack urologist and male infertility researcher, but the rumors I have heard are that Dr. Pryor has done only 15 sexual reconstruction surgery procedures and of those 15 he has messed up three with only one of the three being correctible by Dr. Schrang in Wisconsin, and that his first procedure took him 14 hours as opposed to the a standard four to five hours.

I have been able to research six surgeons on the Internet and each and one of them has all of their credentials listed on their sites. One of these Doctors is Eugene Schrang in Neenah, Wisconsin. He and I spoke, and I told him about my problems with the state and Dr. Pryor. told me that no one has the right to force me to go to a Doctor that scares me and that he would do the surgery. He called me when he said he would, and on his day off. off. He gave me the name and number of a girl that was on Blue Cross/Blue Shield and was being forced to go to Dr. Pryor and legally beat them back and is now having him do her surgery with them covering it all. I called her and she told me how to handle the state.

After all of this I felt comfortable enough toask for an appointment. I have a friend that had her surgery done by Dr. Schrang and she said that she would take me to him. When I told Dr. Schrang who I was coming with, he set up a follow-up appointment for her without asking her because she was due for it, and he did not want her to have to make two trips.

When I finally got there I was put totally at ease by his office. I had to pay his $75 office fee, as the state refused to even pay for this small amount. He told me how he got started doing sexual reconstruction surgery in 1983, and he laid out for me how he would do the it and all of the possible problems he might encounter. He then listened to my concerns and answered all of my questions.

Dr. Schrang called me the next day (As polite as usual.) and told me that he does not deal with the state at all and that he thought I was talking about the state's insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield) paying the bill. All costs must be paid in full by cashiers check 14 days before my surgery.

As far as costs go, the state authorized the cost of $4,995 for Dr. Pryor. Dr. Schrang charges $5,000 $5,720, the hospital charges $6,000, and the anesthesiologists charge $1,450. Grand total for Dr. Schrang's cost is $12,950 to $13,170 depending on how soon he gets the cashier's checks. If he gets them a month to 14 days before the surgery date, the lower cost is applied. If he gets them 13 days or less, then the higher cost is applied.

Keeping all of what I have told you in mind, I can't see why the state is being so pushy on Dr. Pryor. Dr. Schrang is eminently more qualified then Dr. Pryor. His cost is darn near the same as Dr. Pryor and the U. of M., and he and his staff are a heck of a lot nicer than Dr. Pryor and his staff. There is one more rumor that must be stated here and that is that Dr. Pryor is supposedly only doing these procedures to get the money he needs to further fund his infertility studies.

Just because I am a transsexual does not mean that I am a money mill for an unskilled doctor! Nor am I an experimental animal to be passed around and studied by medical students. I have my rights and I know those rights. I have studied anything and everything concerning transsexual issues, and I can provide you or anyone with all the information they would need.

I thank you for taking the time to read this letter and I hope that you will be able to help me get this matter settled.
Lady Donna Marie Royce
Minneapolis, MN
Droyce8090@aol.com

Searchin'...

This in response to the letter in March's Post by Steve & Ginger about not being able to find the Coastal Post with search engines. It has nothing to do with the way we code our HTML, but the has to do with the ineffectiveness of the search engine robots to comb our site Their robots are overtaxed, have too many sites to search, and too many are missed. I registered the Post website with all major search engines five years ago. I was told to be effective I would have to register every article every month with every search engine. This is something I can't do.

The AltaVista search engine, www.altavista.com, and the Lycos search engine, www.lycos.com, do great jobs with their robots, and have automatically indexed every article in the Post. In your example you said you could not find a Post article about Roundup in a search engine. Go to Lycos, use the advanced search, "All the Words" option, and type this in for your search: "Roundup Sterritt," and lo and behold, there is Carol Sterritt's article about Roundup. If you search for just "Roundup," there are over 199,000 matches in the search result list (10,000 for "Monsanto Roundup").

Please do not blame me that every search engine does not have all of our articles-I am the webmaster for the Post-or blame the Post; we work very hard to make the Post available for you. Blame the search engines. Searching the Internet is an form of art in itself.

The Meta Keyword HTML tag you spoke of in your letter is used to add keywords that you want the search engine to use, words that do not exist in the text of your article. For example, in the article you that spoke of about Monsanto's Roundup, the word Dow Chemical is not used. If you wanted a search engine to also match the words Dow Chemical, you would add it to the Meta Keyword HTML tag. If someone then searched for Dow Chemical, the Roundup article would come up in the search results list. There is no need to add the word Roundup to the Meta tag, because the word Roundup is in the text of the article. If anybody wants to help us by registering the URLs of every article of the Post every month to every search engine, contact us at 415-868-1600 or editor@coastapost.com. Anyone can register an article with any search engine they want anytime they want-you have our permission. It's easy, but time consuming.
Jim Fox
www.cyberthings.com

McCain Puts Party Ahead Of Country

"I'm a war hero" used to mean something. It implied that a person had the strength, patriotism, and courage to stand up and fight for what he believed in. At least that's what John McCain wants us to believe when he reminds us that he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He may have been a hero 30 years ago, but is he a hero today? I think not.

John McCain ran on the principle of campaign finance reform in an effort to get rid of legalized political bribes where big contributors give vast amounts of soft money in exchange for favors once the candidate wins office. Now that George W. Bush has won the Republican primary, McCain has abandoned his principles to support a man who has already raised and spent almost as much money as Clinton and Dole spent in 1996 put together.

I therefore say to you, Mr. McCain, that you can't have it both ways. Don't say that you're a war hero and that your principles mean something, and then sell out and put your party ahead of the good of the country. You make war heroes look like wimps. Get up off your knees and quit embarrassing us by groveling like a coward to the Republican party machine. It takes more courage to stand up to your friends than to stand up to your enemies, and your principles are still worth fighting for.
Marc Perkel
Springfield, Missouri
marc@perkel.com

Church of Reality

I just started a new church on the Internet. "If it's real, we believe in it."
http://www.churchofreality.org

Text Missing

The second half of Steve Simac's article on pharmaceuticals is missing from at least two papers I've seen.
Jon Moore
Editor's Note: It was a brain fart. See this month's edition.

No To Unsafe Nuclear Waste Storage

On Wednesday, March 22, 2000, the United States House of Representatives will consider legislation that would establish a permanent disposal site for radioactive waste produced by nuclear power plants. The legislation would delay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) issuance of a final radiation standard at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, the proposed permanent U.S. nuclear waste burial site, and also require an agreement between Nuclear Regulatory Committee (NRC) and EPA on a final standard. The standard proposed by NRC is higher than the highest radiation standard recommended by the National Academy of Sciences in its 1995 report on standards for Yucca Mountain.

In addition, the Bill, S. 1287 (recently passed by the Senate), would establish an "interim" high-level waste storage facility while the U.S. Department of Energy determines if the proposed permanent site at Yucca Mountain will safely contain and isolate the nation's high-level nuclear waste for more than 10,000 years.

Finally, the legislation would result in the transportation of high-level nuclear waste to the interim facility and the permanent facility in Yucca Mountain, if determined suitable, affecting 43 states and putting 50 million people within one-half mile of the transportation routes at risk for exposure to potential high levels of radiation should an accident occur, as well as lower levels of radiation during normal transportation.

At its 1999 annual meeting in Chicago, the American Public Health Association adopted policy #9911, declaring the proposed national permanent nuclear waste repository site unsafe, and urged Congress to reject legislation to support the Yucca Mountain facility and instead support alternative nuclear waste research.

What you can do:

Call, write or e-mail your Representative and tell him/her to reject any proposed legislation for high-level nuclear waste storage that weakens existing EPA radiation standards or excludes appropriate scientific studies designed to protect public health, safety and the environment.

Urge your Representative instead to support funding for alternative methods to safeguard and manage the nation's high-level nuclear waste and minimize the risk to public health for all generations.

If you don't know who your representative is:

1. Go to the APHA website and click on "Legislative Issues and Advocacy" banner

2. Click on "Useful Links for Advocacy"

3. Click on "Write to your Representative" and follow the instructions.

Please provide a copy of your correspondence to grassroots@apha.org

Thank you for your participation in this important public health issue.
Linda Remy
lremy@well.com

Will the Internet End Daylight Savings Time?

Hundreds of millions of people will have their sleep and their schedules disrupted in a few days, as Americans prepare to set their clocks forward to Daylight Savings Time. Millions of Americans will wake up either late or weary on Easter Sunday, and few will have completely adjusted by Monday morning when they have to head out to work without a full night's sleep. Perhaps that's why there are more automobile accidents in the weeks following these semi-annual clock changes than any other time of year. And perhaps it's why people from all over the United States are organizing a grass roots campaign on the Internet to end Daylight Saving Time, at http//www.standardtime.com/. So far, over 90% of the people who have registered at standardtime.com have expressed opposition to changing the clocks twice a year.

"It's like getting jet lag without even leaving home. I can't understand why anyone would do that voluntarily. Plus, now I've got to find the manuals for my car and my VCR and my microwave so I can program them with the right time. It just doesn't make sense to me," said Michael Berkowitz of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a standardtime.com participant.

"I find myself exhausted for weeks after we change the clocks. One year when I was in college, I forgot to change my clocks, and I showed up an hour late for class," complained Dana Ring of Windsor, Ontario Canada, another standardtime.com participant.

Sheila Danzig, one of the organizers of standardtime.com, said "I think that it's absurd that we torture ourselves like this twice a year. Maybe Daylight Saving Time made sense before electric lights were so common, or while we were fighting World War II. But it doesn't make sense now,in the third millennium. That's why we started standardtime.com. If we can get enough virtual signatures supporting our position, the government will have to listen to us."

Whether Daylight Saving Time will ever be reformed remains to be seen. In the meantime, don't forget to set your clock forward one hour on Sunday, April 2, at 2 o'clock am. Ric Feinberg
tech1@danzig.com
Email: ric@danzig.com
http//www.standardtime.com