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Mailbag: Yacht critics are just mega-jealous

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I found a pretty good spot to take some photos of a yacht in Newport Harbor that some people say is too big for its britches.

The yacht, known as the Invictus and owned by billionaire Rick Caruso, stretches out an impressive 216 feet from dawn to dusk, oops, I mean from stem to stern, and features such items as six individual suites, a crew of 22, a theater, gym, expandable dining table for 20 guests, fold-down beach cabana and large sundeck with spa.

A number of local residents have exhibited disdain for the oversized ship because of its size and the possibility that it will bring with it bright lights, noise and harmful fumes while blocking some views. Standing 5 stories tall and weighing more than 1 million pounds, the ship is nothing less than very impressive, and obviously not without a bit of opulence thrown in for good measure.

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Caruso developed properties like The Grove in Los Angeles. He obviously has done very well owning and managing big properties to the extent that he is able to acquire expensive items like the Invictus.

I’m wondering, though, if people see expensive items as hubris, an extension of well-hidden jealousy because some people have and others don’t. I have a feeling that if given the opportunity to change places with Caruso, most people would in a heartbeat. Well, no matter, because the expensive water toy will not be there forever.

Bill Spitalnick

Newport Beach

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Rehab homes did good work

I was pleased to read that the diligent efforts of concerned residents have paid off.

Now we’ll be rid of those awful young people inhabiting recovery homes, where they lived without drugs or alcohol but with rules and regulations, curfews and chores as they bettered their lives. I’m sure the winter college students and summer tourists living next to you are so much better behaved.

Joe Milligan

Newport Beach

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Global warming is a real threat

Re. “Rohrabacher dismisses global warming, warns of China,” (Aug. 10) Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) considers global warming a total fraud.

The real fraud is being perpetrated by Rohrabacher and well over half of his Republican colleagues in Congress who deny that the climate is getting warmer and that human activity is one of the causes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in its 2012 State of the Climate Report, a peer-reviewed analysis by some 380 leading scientists, found that last year was the warmest on record, that sea levels continue to rise, arctic sea ice is quickly disappearing, and carbon pollution continues to increase.

The climate-change deniers will respond that not all climate scientists agree — in fact, 3% disagree. But unlike a jury in a criminal case where one member can cast a not-guilty vote and free a defendant, science works on the basis of a broad and overwhelming consensus — as is clearly the case with climate change.

When a high-tide storm some years down the road floods Main Street in Huntington Beach, maybe the congressman will wake up. By then it will be too late.

Benjamin J. Hubbard

Costa Mesa

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