Narrow-minded Americans

Please stop picking on other people of different cultures. How old are American athletes when they begin their training? Nastia Liukin's coach is her father. How old was she when she began her training? I think no matter how hard other people work, from the eyes of narrow-minded Americans, foreigners are substandard, including their kids, fireworks, construction, gold medals, air quality and work ethic. Please stop, especially for our children's sake.

– Henry Yu, Elk Grove

Bush the pretender

Why do the news media allow President Bush and company to pretend they oppose the Russian invasion of Georgia in part because the government of Georgia is democratically elected? If Bush and company were truly committed to supporting democratic rule they would have opposed the coups against the democratically elected Chavez in Venezuela and the democratically elected Aristide in Haiti. They would be talking to democratically elected Hamas. They would have expressed outrage at the difficulties faced by black and student voters in Ohio in 2004. They would be struggling to ensure that all electronic voting machines left paper trails so vote counts could be checked.

The Bush administration supports only those democracies (and autocracies) that have policies that favor Bush supporters' economic and ideological interests. We should always keep that in mind while listening to them talk about their concern for democracy.

– Carl Jorgensen, Davis

Treatment of farm animals

Thank you for your article on this important ballot initiative ("Caged hens set off battle"; Page A1, Aug. 15). As a society we have become increasingly removed from how our food is produced, with the consequence that farmed animals are treated in ways no person with a moral conscience would abide if they were to see it for themselves.

Forcing a dog or cat to live for more than a year in a space smaller than the size of a single piece of 8 1/2- by-11-inch paper would quickly result in a conviction on animal cruelty charges, yet doing it to chickens is considered good business by the industry. Such institutionalized abuse for the sake of eking out an extra cent profit per egg should no longer be tolerated.

As a society that values compassion toward others above base profit motives we must take a stand and say that there is a limit to the amount of cruelty that we will tolerate. Proposition 2 will not end all of the abuses involved in factory farming, but it will stop unnecessarily cruel practices and will prove that we are not indifferent to the suffering of those on whom we rely for food.– Lisa DeCarlo, Sacramento

A chicken in any yard

The ultimate solution to the egg industry is for government to allow housing chickens in any fenced back yard. Having one to six egg-laying pullets (not roosters) would guarantee all families fresh eggs daily at a very low cost. Not to mention chickens are great for the garden and make wonderful companions. Citizens should rally to bring food production close to home any way they can. It should be an inalienable right to produce one's own food.

– Colleen Gallagher, El Dorado Hills

California's water future

Thank you for telling it like it is ("It's time for this thirsty state to discover a new pronoun: 'We' "; David Holwerk, Aug. 17). Securing California's water future requires all interests to work together toward a solution. "We" can no longer allow obstructionist viewpoints to paralyze our efforts to reach a solution. If "we" fail to work together, then that solution will remain elusive and future generations will lose.

– Mike Wade, Sacramento executive director, California Farm Water Coalition

The joke's on us

Somehow I had the misconception that the State Capitol and other office buildings were property of the people of the state of California, not political hacks and drones (Dem banished from Capitol for withholding budget vote"; Page A1, Aug. 19). Since when does one elected official have the power to dictate who resides in a state office building, especially when it's based on voting preference? Is Assembly Speaker Karen Bass the landlord of the Capitol offices? All I see is Bass acting like a spoiled brat who didn't get her way.