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So it has come to this. Not only does the vice president flout an executive order, he has the unmitigated gall to tell us what branch of government he belongs. And then his boss commutes the sentence of a convicted felon who just happens to be his vice president's former chief of staff.
It is stunning to me that the words uttered by President Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address have been trampled by the three branches of this government. Indeed, it would appear that the government of the people, by the people and for the people has now perished, if not from this Earth, at least from the United States.
— Rodney K. Boswell, Thousand Oaks
Point proved
Re: Andrew Smolik's June 29 letter, "Illegal to ban bikes from the road":
His letter proves my point perfectly. The myopic desire by some of those who are dedicated to the sport of bicycle riding care little or nothing about their own safety or the safety of others, in the pursuit of riding every road they wish and, apparently, have the law on their side. OK, I already knew that. By the way, Black Canyon is a private road and posted as such, along with the road restrictions banning bicyclists and joggers (for their own safety). I'm not about to argue the law with Mr. Smolik. Perhaps we'll meet on one of those blind curves one day and will have an opportunity to address the issue more directly, depending, of course, if there are any survivors!
— Judy McLaughlin, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrew_Smolik on July 10, 2007 at 11:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Re: “Point proved”
Using Ms. McLaughlin's logic, perhaps people of certain ethnicities — “for their own safety” and out of “respect” for others — should avoid visiting certain establishments apparently open to the public and subject to nondiscrimination laws, just in case a neo-Nazi-type there “accidentally” pulls the trigger. My appreciation for the necessity of self-defense and significance of the Second Amendment continues to grow.
Although I wouldn't know exactly what business or ownership connection Ms. McLaughlin herself might have with Black Canyon Rd., basic public travelers' resources such as MapQuest website maps (which mark the presence of private gates and toll booths on the most-zoomed-in maps) and Google searches indicate by all means that it is an ordinary public road. It is not far-fetched to suspect that signs containing bigoted or inaccurate messages that fool the gullible could have been erected by none other than a single “concerned” or uninformed citizen. Erecting unauthorized traffic devices on a road that is indeed public is illegal by Vehicle Code section 21465: “No person shall place, maintain, or display upon, or in view of, any highway any unofficial sign, signal, device, or marking, or any sign, signal, device, or marking which purports to be or is an imitation of, or resembles, an official traffic control device or which attempts to direct the movement of traffic or which hides from view any official traffic control device.”
Posted by Andrew_Smolik on July 10, 2007 at 8:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Following additional WWW research, I also can't help but wonder if the continued secrecy surrounding the Rocketdyne 1959 nuclear reactor meltdown in the vicinity of Black Canyon Rd. ( http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2... and http://www.venturacountystar.com/news... ) has anything to do with the fascist threats targetted toward nonmotorists (or just exercisers breathing heavily — not including walkers?) using (or just going up?) Black Canyon Rd. At least being told about honest, legitimate long-term health risks for exercisers would be much preferred over being told the same-old-same-old militant-motorist propaganda.
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