Fish Rap We envy the neighbor of the woman with eighty birds [Squid, Sept. 12-18]. The laws of Monterey in their majesty allow only four birds per household but apparently unlimited numbers of dead fish. Despite our appeal and opposition by the Monte Vista neighborhood assoc. the city is allowing our neighbor to run a wholesale fish delivery business out of his house here in what the real estate people call the "prestigious Peters gate area." Pee-ew!

MARILYN ROSS/MONTEREY

The Dream is Over

I just wanted to snap a photo of the Dream Theater sign before it disappeared. I had missed the earlier dismantling of the marquee and by God wasn''t going to miss this.

In retrospect, I realized that the big sign''s last day was a dank Friday the 13th, though of course there could be no significance to that, no, none whatsoever. On the morning of the 14th, the grand dame of funky bijous was sighted again at the corner of Laurel and Congress in Pacific Grove.

The father of the man with current custody was outside, and says it''ll have a good home alongside a few others of its era. We must trust that to be the case. Trust is important these days.

I''m a transplant, but I know history fading away when I stumble across it. That newfangled place makes for a better pun (Osio, can you see?) but that is not likely to make up for a certain bit of Americana anytime soon.

GEORGE STATION/PACIFIC GROVE

Saddam: George I''s Monster

I find it intolerable that this administration berates Iraq for its human rights abuses, which it used to ignore. What about this administration''s own human rights abuses unleashed upon the elderly of this country, which denies them medical coverage for medicines that can keep them alive longer? Millions of elderly will now die prematurely, quietly, unseen, unheard and unfelt as a result of the cutbacks so cruelly implemented by a government that makes sure its own medical aides are intact, as well as its pay hikes.

Are we really going to allow the Bush administration to pull the world and ourselves into a war because [his father] blundered a once-flourishing friendship with Saddam? It is imperative we look deeper into how the US and Iraq became so estranged. The fact is President Bush I betrayed Saddam when he told Saddam that the US would not interfere in the invasion of Kuwait, and then bombarded his country with deadly depleted uranium when he did.

Kuwait was once Iraq''s only fresh-water port until the British divided up their boundaries. Saddam saw a chance to regain something most precious to his country. Realizing he was friends with the world''s greatest superpower he announced his plans to invade and to his probable amazement Bush said it wasn''t our concern. This obviously was a go-ahead to Saddam and he made his move. If Bush had told Saddam that there would be zero tolerance for such a move, I feel certain Saddam would not have invaded, and Operation Desert Storm could have been averted.

There needs to be some accountability from the Bush camp--some humbleness, a lifting of sanctions, some amends made for the betrayal. Yes, Saddam is dangerous, but we made him so.

KAY WAGNER/MONTEREY