endless war

Letter to San Diego Union-Tribune (published):

President George Bush's slip of the tongue regarding "winning" the war on terror allowed a rare glimmer of truth to shine on the current administration's saber-rattling ways. The war on terror is analogous to the war on drugs: an endless campaign which accomplishes little except to line the pockets of the military-industrial complex.

The Department of Defense has usurped the State Department as the United States' primary foreign policy instrument. Does any Washington politician have the gumption to stand up to the Pentagon?

BRENT McDONALD
San Diego

Children's Pool solution

(Published) letter to the SD Union Tribune:

Ellen Browning Scripps granted Children's Pool to the City in 1931 exclusively for recreational use and children's swimming, and the breakwater was constructed that same year.  Due to relatively calm water behind the seawall, seals have taken over the beach and cannot be moved without violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act. 

The solution seems simple -- remove the man-made breakwater which protects the beach.  The seals will leave on their own volition, and people will be able to recreate there -- as intended by Scripps.  Who knows -- perhaps removal of the seawall will enhance surfing conditions, creating a long left pointbreak into the Cove.

BRENT MCDONALD
San Diego