Jun 7, 2008

Letters

No more jails

Dear Editor: Was it simply a coincidence or purposeful planning by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to sell the piece of property adjacent to the existing women's jail in Redwood City after the elections of June 3? To my knowledge, Mark Church, Adrienne Tissier and Rose Jacobs Gibson, each up for re-election this past week, did not come forward to meet with Redwood City City Council members or do outreach to neighborhood associations, community groups or even the Redwood City/San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce prior to their re-election vote. Their election materials did not mention the issue of a new jail in Redwood City. This obvious "hidden" agenda to construct a building to house up to an additional 700 inmates has obviously been in the planning for quite some time. The vote to sell this piece of property will be held on June 17.

I challenge the residents of Redwood City to gather together and give a loud voice to this issue. Let the city council hear our disappointment and disapproval of their actions. It is truly discouraging that these actions came from people who "claim" to care about our community and its residents.

The community was not informed nor given a chance to "voice" its opinion at "open" city council meetings. Redwood City residents need to say, "No more jails!" Stop taking up our land and our potential tax base off the tax rolls. The community's voice must be heard.

Cristen Renken,

Redwood City



Presidential race

Dear Editor: As I watched John McCain refer to Barack Obama as "that young man" on CNN recently, and then at one point break into a forced, gigantic, show-'em-all-your-teeth smile, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, thinking, whoever wrote the speech for McCain must have also written, "This is the point where you stop, look up and smile really big."

Furthermore, I'm disappointed that Hillary Clinton didn't win the Democratic nomination for president. Now we wait and see if Obama is astute enough to select her as his running mate. It is clear that McCain is going to attack Obama's lack of experience and age. Obama surely understands he didn't win by a landslide. Many millions of disappointed, disillusioned Democrats, including women and minorities, and even Republicans who supported Clinton are watching and waiting.

Toni M. Villa,

Mountain View



Veterans' suicides

Dear Editor: To shield the Bush administration from its ongoing deception and minimize the ire of the American people, Dr. Ira Katz, head of mental health services for the Department of Veterans Affairs, knowingly understated the number of suicides of returning U.S. veterans. In 2007, Katz testified before the House of Representatives Veterans' Affairs Committee that the number of suicides for all of 2007 was 790.

An incriminating e-mail from Katz to a colleague has since surfaced: "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before somebody stumbles on it?"

CBS research showed that more than 6,250 Americans in the service took their own lives in 2005, and, according to Pentagon records, 2006 saw the highest rate of suicides in 26 years. This is yet another sad episode that demonstrates the utter lack of compassion toward war veterans fighting internal demons heaped upon them by our government.

Tej Uberoi,

Los Altos



Mideast conflict

Dear Editor: Israel gave up Gaza two years ago. What have the Arabs "developed" there? Nothing but more hatred. They destroyed the infrastructure Israel created solely out of their blind hatred for Jews and Israel. Even when they broke down the barrier and went into Egypt for supplies, the Egyptians hastily pushed them back, secured the border and said "no thanks" - to Arabs. Arabs currently focus most of their energy externally in hatred of Jews. If they would turn that focus inward and examine themselves, their leaders and their dreams, and put that energy into positive, constructive actions, what a better place the Middle East could be.

Julie O'Neill,

Mountain View



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Dear Editor: Michael Barton's prescription for peace for Israel is so idyllic, it could have been written by Lewis Carroll [Letters, Tuesday]. Suggesting that Israel can have security by building "an impenetrable wall, with watchtowers and machine guns on their own land," is a view from another era.

Missiles ignore walls and watch-towers. Machine guns only work against people storming the wall.

The central problem is that the fundamentalists who dictate Arab policy in the world by bullying their own people and us believe Judaism is a religion and not a people. Ironically, they conclude a religion is not entitled to a country. The irony is that it doesn't stop them from asserting there is such a thing as "Islamic land" that they claim the Jews are occupying.

The comparison between Hamas and the Irgun and Stern gang is equally lame. The alleged massacres of which Arabs accuse pre-Israel Jews are not supported by the historical record. Things that happen during wartime are not pretty. But Israel's record in avoiding civilian casualties speaks for itself.

The only formula that has had qualified success is one where the Arabs realize they have more to gain from peace than from war. When the hatemongers leave Arab schools, you will know something good is happening. Until then, blood will flow, punctuated only by meaningless political pronouncements and vacuous theories.

Desmond Tuck,

San Mateo