Natividad: Health Hole
The point that readers like Marjorie Atkinson and Angela Jordan miss regarding Natividad Hospital is that the hospital is horribly inefficient and is a poor steward of the public trust. I don't quarrel with the need to provide medical care to Monterey County's poorest citizens, I do have a problem with the manner in which that care is provided.

This hospital has failed to accurately bill customers for care, it has willfully neglected to bill many for services, and, an outside audit revealed, the hospital failed to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in workers compensation monies.

It has been documented that some Natividad workers have counseled patients with health insurance to "...say you don't have health insurance and you won't have to pay..." thus contributing to the financial morass the hospital endures and at the same time helping to bankrupt Monterey County.

Yes, we need a county hospital to care for the poorest of the poor. However, we do not need a money-draining financially reckless "black hole" that Natividad allowed itself to become.

Mark Carbonaro | Marina

Taxes: My Money
Marjorie Atkinson, who argues that compulsory charity is necessary, makes me fear for the future of freedom [Letters, July 10-16]. Initiating force is never acceptable, it victimizes innocent people. That's why any involuntary tax is morally wrong.

Wake up, Monterey! The system that forces people to pay for someone else's dream is called slavery. Although slaves receive free medical care, housing, food, and clothing, they have no right to their labor. To stop this injustice, the United States passed the 13th Amendment to prohibit involuntary servitude. Unfortunately too many people can't see that government is the worst offender, by taxing the wages and expenditures of working folk.

Olivia Werner | Carmel

Angel: Metal Moron
To hell with Johnny Angel! In regards to his review of Dio's Stand Up And Shout: The Anthology, any comparison of "Holy Diver" to '80s hair metal, or to assume that Black Sabbath's "Neon Knights" was in some way influenced by the Ramones, is totally asinine.

This review felt more like someone skimming the liner notes and skipping from track to track, rather than playing it in it's entirety and understanding it as an overview of an artist's career.

I fully understand that fantasy-type lyrics and imagery are not for everyone. But if Mr. Angel is not a fan of Dio's music or a fan of heavy metal in general, then he should not come across as an authority on a form of music he knows nothing about.

Angelo Tringali | Monterey

Jesus: Banish Bush
It was Jesus Christ who said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." However, in accordance with the dogma set forth by the Holy Apostolic Church, I am now sinless and thus free to cast stones willy nilly as I see fit. And thus, I must cast stones towards our own president George Herbert Walker Bush, a disgusting infidel if ever there was one.

If William Jefferson Clinton's improprieties with a hefty young woman were enough to consider him fit for impeachment, I can only assume that Bush's lies that have cost hundreds of American lives and thousands of Iraqi lives will guarantee his permanent exile from our tremendous land.

Andrew Wallace | Carmel Valley