Musical denigrating to the Mormon faith

I erroneously attended "The Book of Mormon" musical in San Francisco, the self-proclaimed capital of inclusion and tolerance. The denigration of nearly all tenets of Mormon faith and the traditions they hold dear should be unacceptable to anyone and, especially, people of faith.

Excluding a limited number of good-natured spoofs, it was filled with mean-spirited depictions including their holy book in a rectum. The simulation of intercourse during a Mormon baptism achieved through missionary deception was incredulous.

This musical is no different from entertainment denigrating the Jewish faith in Germany during the 1930s.

Tolerance theologians exclude Mormons and people of faith from their orthodoxy, exposing their hypocrisy. I am not a Mormon, but I greatly admire their commitment to family and citizenship. How many prison inmates and welfare recipients would exist if their behavior was the norm?

Where are the defenders of the Bible, Torah and the Koran in denouncing this musical?

By the way, the musical also depicted an African wanting to have sex with a baby.

Don't support this production.

Ed Miller


Curfew sends wrong message in Oakland

Setting a curfew in Oakland will send the wrong message to our young people in Oakland and surrounding cities. It sends the message that Oakland wants to punish the majority of the young people for the mistakes of the few.

Also, it will give OPD the right to violate and profile young people who are out late for legitimate reasons. For example, the young people who have jobs and the ones who play sports.

The main group of young people who will be targeted will be African Americans and Latinos.

In those areas where there is a high crime rate, it will only put more distance between those communities and local law enforcement.

What about the surrounding cities? How will this help them? Oakland should come up with a better plan to reach out to their at-risk youth rather than trying to make them feel like criminals. Like maybe having a place the youth can go until 10 or 11 p.m.

Markeasha Keeton


The truth about Common Core

The real reason the state of California does not want the results of Common Core testing published? Because in states where the test was administered, scores dropped by 30-50 percent.

There's a $5 cost for the Star Test versus an estimated $25 for Common Core testing. California's estimated budget for Common Core implementation is $1.6 billion.

The state signed onto Common Core Standards and requirements sight unseen -- no open forum discussion with parents and hiding the nuances of Common Core from the public.

With a consortium of mega-corporations making huge amounts of money, Common Core is very expensive: the cost of purchasing new text books; computers on every student's desk; and new test development.

The result will be lower educational standards for California. And the collection of psychological information on every student will result in the loss of freedom for my children.

Ten states decided to shelve Common Core, a rotten, underhanded scheme, and the cost to implement it.

Denise Pursche


Consumers and the free market

In a recent letter, Ed Chainey commented on insurers who have canceled individual policies, stating they did so to add to their profits.

Unfortunately, Chainey's statements aren't factual. He says insurers could have added Affordable Care Act provisions into their existing policies but chose to cancel policies, forcing the insured onto the ACA.

Covered California has a signed contract with insurance companies precluding them from offering any existing policy with a change in coverage after Dec. 31. Changing a policy is an automatic void of that policy, so none of the provisions of the ACA could ever be offered in a new policy.

The idea of the ACA was to force individuals out of their policies and into the government program. It wasn't intended that individuals could keep their existing policies. President Barack Obama knew this as early as 2010. Yet, he continued to lie to the public about keeping their policy.

Government has no right to tell consumers what is "substandard insurance." Consumers can choose what works for them and should not be forced to buy insurance with coverage they won't use. It's called the free market.

Philip R. La Scola