Worthless Chinese folklore Feng Shui to be added to the California State Building Code?

To the Editor:

So State Assemblyman Leland Yee wants to add his "Feng shui" notions to our already massive State building code? Brilliant. Why stop with adding this ancient Chinese folklore to our California building codes? Why not go on and add traditional astrology and require that building construction be required to start only under the three month periods of zodiac Earth Signs (Taurus, April 20th - May 20th; Virgo, August 23rd - September 22nd and Capricorn December 22nd - January 19th)? While we're at it, we could require that all front doors of buildings face Mecca, Saudi Arabia (approximately six degrees south of due East). And we could require that residential builders and new home owners make plantings of certain herbs and shrub and trees such as Elderberry (Sambucus nigra), Garlic (Allium sativum), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum), Silver Fir (Abies alba) and Vervain (Verbena officinalis) around their houses to protect against the presence of witches, demons, vampires and other evil spirits.. Actually, Assemblyman Yee's proposal is a just plan to create make-work for worthless Feng shui consultants. If he wants to create "harmony with the environment," how about simply constructing fewer buildings and thereby destroy less of remaining natural habitats?

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

31 January 2004