Mar 30, 2007

Letters

Advice for friends

Dear Editor: Recently the Friends of Alma Plaza proved that retail would be profitable there. Their next step should be to buy the property and develop it as a retail center. They will have no difficulty getting the money since they have proved retail will be profitable. Their design will be approved by the city because it comes from the neighbors. As a bonus, you'll get a new advertiser.

Robert E. McNulty,
Palo Alto



Miss Redwood City

Dear Editor: No offense to [Miss Redwood City] Ashley Miller - probably a capable, likable young woman - but how can a person who has never lived, nor will live, in Redwood City represent our city? I'm sure there are many capable young ladies living here. How can we promote city pride and a cohesive work-play environment if the people who live here are not encouraged and allowed to be a part of it - especially important events such as this?

Leota McLean,
Redwood City



Immigration raids

Dear Editor: Condemning the [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raids is ridiculous. I am glad they did it and would like to see more raids. They came here on their own and it's not up to us to pay for their stay or to learn Spanish or get a translator to accommodate them. Any problems their children face, while very unfortunate, were brought on by their parents, not by ICE. When they are breaking the law by illegally being here, they should always be aware that they might be apprehended. They should stay in their home country and keep their burdens off the American taxpayer.

Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson isn't representing all the people in her county, just the illegal ones. She should encourage ICE, which is trying to enforce the law. Those people who are voting for her and contributing to San Mateo County aren't being well represented by her.

I hope the Redwood City City Council is more respectful to their legal citizens. The illegals have groups of do-gooders with lots of money that are arguing their cause while the American citizens are kind of intimidated to voice their opinion for fear of retaliation.

If you noticed, these people aggressively flaunt their flag, refuse to speak or learn English and, in an in-your-face manner, tell us that they are here to stay. They are breaking the law just by being here.

Sally Haston,
Redwood City



Accountability

Dear Editor: Recent stories about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Bush administration resurrect words often raised in pseudo-defense: "I'm accountable." It is known who is accountable; this is defined by the Constitution and law. The concern is a lack of "credibility." Those accountable in this administration are, in the main, not credible.

When this administration leaves office, it will indeed be the End of an "error." Most regrettably, it is an error that cannot be erased and reversed.

Henry Organ,
Menlo Park



Torture of prisoners

Dear Editor: I love the seventh-inning stretch at ballgames when they sing "God Bless America." [However] I do not think God blesses a country that condones the torture of prisoners of war. On the contrary, "What goes around, comes around." Whatever good or evil we do eventually comes back to us. Torturing one individual regardless of the reasons is in fact an attack on every American citizen.

Patrick Noonan,
Woodside



World takes dim view of the U.S. and Israel

Dear Editor: Time (March 26) published the results of a poll of 27 countries regarding the influence (positive or negative) of other nations upon the world. The most admired five ranked in order were Canada, Japan, France, Britain and China. The least admired, ranked in negativity, were: Russia, North Korea, the U.S., Iran and Israel. Citizens of both the U.S. and Israel should shake off the denial and rationalizations and truly reconsider the policies of their right-wing governments. When one notices that everyone is "biased against you," it's time, though perhaps painful, to start questioning one's philosophic stance. The U.S. and Israel were once viewed quite positively and can be again - with some fundamental changes.

Gilwee Walker,
Palo Alto



Hamas and Israel

Dear Editor: Joseph Ehrlich's letter of March 23 expressed so much hatred. When my husband and I visited the West Bank (before it was locked down), I told everyone we met that I was Jewish and invariably the response was "Then we are cousins." We have learned from meeting many Palestinians since then that they want only what Israelis and Americans want: a nation of their own where they control their own land and their own water, are free of checkpoints and roadblocks, and can sell their produce abroad without having it rot at the border. Hamas did not promise to drive the Jews into the sea, as Ehrlich maintains. It won the last election because voters saw it as less corrupt and because Israel had refused to grant any concessions to the previous government. The Arab states have repeatedly offered to normalize relations with Israel in return for Israel's withdrawal to its 1967 borders. Hamas leaders have offered a long-term truce with Israel on the same terms. These offers could be the basis for peace negotiations if Israel would consider them. The Palestinians need freedom from fear that their land will be seized and their homes demolished to make way for Israeli settlements. The Israeli people desperately need security. These needs will be satisfied only by an end to the occupation and a just peace.

Rachelle Marshall,
Stanford



Testifies and lies

Dear Editor: President Bush and some Republicans think that the appropriate way to deal with possible lies about illegally firing prosecutors is to have conversations "privately and not under oath."

Wonder why they didn't come up with such a solution when the issue was whether or not Bill Clinton had lied about sex.

Janice Hough,
Palo Alto





A waste of paper

Dear Editor: What's the point of having two newspapers (Los Gatos Weekly Times/Saratoga News and Los Gatos News) cover the same community and use the same articles word for word? Is this the future of journalism? What's the point of all this besides the waste of paper? Didn't anyone from MediaNews watch Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth"? Is there not enough in your budget to hire at least one reporter to cover this region who might, God forbid, write something a little different? Maybe they'll ask different questions or receive different quotes? Maybe they'll track down a story that the other paper was not aware of? I know on the national level the news has all but been consolidated, but are we now to expect this locally too?

Adam Henig,
San Jose



Anna Nicole Smith's lifestyle filled with pain and anxiety

Dear Editor: The list of drugs found in Anna Nicole Smith's body during her autopsy is aw-fully sad: anti-anxiety, pain relief, muscle relaxant, sleeping and anti-smoking medications. Apparently, she was wracked by pain, anxiety, tension, nervousness and disease. Beautiful, rich and famous, Anna seems to have found no happiness, just increasing pain. The need to always wear a public face for buzzing paparazzi, the desire for expensive gewgaws and the surrounding attendants and supplicants that comprise such a "lifestyle" cost her an awful toll to maintain.

What does her death tell us about our ideal of celebrity? What are the personal characteristics, acquisitions and achievements that we celebrate?

Perhaps the satisfactions of being present in each moment, of being authentic in relationship with others, and of caring for and repairing our world are more celebratory.

Bruce Joffe,
Piedmont