Jun 6, 2008

Letters

Jerry Hill

Dear Editor: So let me get all this straight. Jerry Hill is the one who ignores environmental concerns in the face of money received from developers, he takes a regressive stance in his votes on the [California Air Resources Board], and he covers for an incompetent crony caught with his pants down in Vegas. Are we sure he's not a Republican any more? Because when I hear about a career that values political opportunism above all else, that's where my mind goes.

Mark Corey,

Foster City



Why don't they recycle?

Dear Editor: I've heard the rumblings about the city of Palo Alto closing the landfill in the near future. Every time I've been to the dump, I see people throwing out lots of recyclable material. Why can't the people at the gate stop these morons and force them to recycle or increase their fee if they refuse to become conscientious members of society? Who's in charge here? Where is Al Haig when we need him? It seems to me if you put less into the landfill, it will not fill up as fast. Duh.



Jan Krieg,

Palo Alto



The wrong path

Dear Editor: The Yahoo takeover threat by Microsoft demonstrates how callous and destructive capitalism can be.

When I came to Silicon Valley, I thought the purpose of free enterprise was to provide goods and services to a corporation's customers, and to make a reasonable profit in the process.

But over the years, I've witnessed the takeover of one corporation after another. Sure, if a company is deemed to be doing poorly and another offers to do better for its customers and investors, so be it.

One of my companies was bought and sold every 18 months. Then it was absorbed into a mega-company simply to acquire its existing contracts. The point? Profits.

Later the acquiring mega-company was itself bought by yet another, larger mega-company.

The same process also occurs in non-high-tech enterprises.

I've seen the diminution of the quality of newspapers in the past few years. Many papers, even while returning a highly respectful return on investment, are acquired precisely because investors demand ever-higher profit margins. The result? News-gathering staff is slashed, guaranteeing a diminution of the very "product" that is supposed to be the raison d'etre of newspapers.

An informed citizenry is the essence of a democracy - cut off information sources and soon enough the population can be readily manipulated. This demand for ever-increasing profits is taking us all down the wrong path.

Ruben Contreras,

Palo Alto

Crow population

Dear Editor: I have lived in Palo Alto for more than 40 years but noticed the increase in the crow population concomitant with decreases in the mourning dove population only within the past 15 years. No doubt doves are not the only species being held in check by ravens.

Michael Svanevik and Shirley Burgett in their "Matters Historical" column May 24 wrote of I.C. Woods, who in the 1850s named Ravenswood (now a neighborhood in East Palo Alto) for himself and "the huge number of crows that inhabited the marsh."

Is it possible that this is not a new invasion but rather a sign of recovery from the holocaust of mid-20th century applications of DDT? If that is the case, it is actually a very positive sign for the environment and the chain of local wild species. This progress, however, may all be put at risk by the mandatory introduction of mercury-laden CFL light bulbs by 2016.

Our California government is beginning to address this looming problem and is considering various programs to ensure that these light bulbs somehow do not end up in a landfill. I look forward to seeing more coverage of their progress in our local press.

Jean Griffiths,

Palo Alto



Well water

Dear Editor: The drinking-water problem in the Redwood City area is very serious. I have suggested to Mayor Rosanne Foust to think about turning back the clock to the year 1846 or before, when all the inhabitants in these areas opened wells for their farm animals and for personal use. The majority of the homes in San Mateo County have wells and maybe owners of those homes do not know this. If the city council (or other city councils) would take advantage of the water in the wells for use in irrigating and watering lawns, and gardens, maybe it can help to solve this very serious problem.

Willy Alfredo Lopez,

Redwood City