May 4, 2007

Letters

Unsafe places

Dear Editor: I am very sad to know that our schools, colleges and public areas are unsafe places because early screening is not done by health departments or families are hiding certain facts from educational administrators. My suggestion is to have open discussion and then make some change in the school curriculum. We need to encourage people to sense the common good. Each day in Berkeley and Oakland, I see graffiti painted in colors that won't erase easily. We have a right to be helpful and respectful to others but we have no right to hurt or kill others. Is there a way of teaching social studies that awaken fellow-feeling among us?

Romila Khanna,

Albany



Guns and drugs

Dear Editor: We are not allowed to drink and drive. Such laws not only protect the drunk person behind the wheel, but the innocent people on the road. Having laws that prohibit the mentally ill from buying weapons is a good start, in my opinion, but I don't believe it goes far enough.

I propose that no person should be able to purchase a weapon who is on, or has ever been on, psychotropic drugs. Psychiatric drugs have a known and documented history of causing erratic, violent behavior, as well as suicide. The existing black-box warnings from the Food and Drug Administration are not good enough. People on these drugs should not have access to weapons. How many more Virginia Tech incidents do we need to have before America starts waking up to the awful truth - drugs are causing the violence, not curing it. And all the while, the pharmaceutical companies are quietly making billions of dollars in the sidelines.

Marsie Sweetland,

Los Gatos



Under the influence

Dear Editor: We all understand that if you have three beers, you are most likely under the influence of alcohol and shouldn't be handling firearms or driving a car. If someone snorts some coke, we know that they can't be fully trusted and that their behavior can be wild.

Then why do we just accept that a person taking mind-altering anti-depressants that have black-box warnings for side effects that include "suicide" or "unusual behavior changes" is OK? Shouldn't someone on these medications be considered under the influence also?

The reports of murder and mayhem while under the influence of anti-depressant drugs are getting thicker and thicker. Let's get it under control before your child is killed.

John Allender,

San Jose




Middle East conflict

Dear Editor: Some letters to the editor suggest that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian struggle is simple; i.e., an end to terrorist attacks on Israel. While some of the particulars might be simple (e.g., suicide bombings are bad and West Bank settlements are bad), even a cursory closer look reveals profound complexity that has been seriously challenging to resolve, as evidenced by the fact that many impressive minds have sought solutions with few tangible results, most of which have not prevailed. What is true is that the ongoing conflicts, in all of their forms, pose a continuous and immense drain on energy and resources that are needed to address environmental, economic, health and educational needs, to name a few, in the U.S. and around the world.

However, if writers insist on spinning the history and news for their own ends, I would ask that they clearly cite their sources. Statements like "the New York Times reported [that] government-run [Arab] radio stations broadcast orders for Israel's Arab residents to 'vacation' with relatives to make it easier for the Arabs to kill the Jews" are not easily verified, if they can be at all, and they can actually be irresponsible and damaging.

Bruce England,

Mountain View



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Dear Editor: Michael Barton (Letters, April 26) is confused about the meaning of the word terrorist. A terrorist deliberately targets civilians with violence for the purpose of advancing a political cause. Palestinian terrorists who blow up Jewish children on a school bus or families at a pizza parlor are hardly comparable to someone who fought against Nazi soldiers or who targeted Arab terror leaders.

Barton is also wrong about the bombing of the King David Hotel. The hotel was being used as the British Military headquarters in Palestine and it was bombed in 1946 (not '47) by a Jewish splinter group called the Irgun. Targeting military infrastructure is not terrorism. The Jews had no intention of killing anyone. They made three telephone calls warning the British and those nearby. The British thought it was a bluff and tragically didn't evacuate. The main Jewish organizations condemned the bombing.

Furthermore the Philistines were not Arabs, but Aegeans. The name Palestine is a Roman invention. The Holy Land had been known as Judea for a thousand years, but when the Jews revolted against Roman occupation in A.D.130, it so infuriated the Romans, they punished the Judeans by renaming their land for an ancient (1,500 B.C.E.) people whom the Jews loathed. The name had nothing whatever to do with Arabs who came much later to the land.

Lee Green,

Redwood City



Stop the war

Dear Editor: The president is not listening to the millions of voices of the citizens of the United States. This war is a waste of lives and a monetary burden for all Americans.

This war is not about terrorism but it is about the invasion and destruction of another nation that didn't invade us. This war is not about terrorism but it is about power and oil. As a consequence of this war, there will be a permanent stain of blood on our flag. Other countries' opinion about the U.S. has changed in a negative way because of the actions that the president is taking about this war.

We are not winning, every day we are losing lives and the internal political affairs of Iraq are not getting better but worse.

I have confidence that the Democratic Party will continue to listen, support and fight for the American people.

Stop the war and bring our troops back.

Flavia Kreis,

Mountain View



Impeachment

Dear Editor: Our leaders are elected to look out for and protect the interests of the country as a whole, and they must not be allowed to benefit disproportionately as a result of their "service." The personal interests of Mr. Cheney constitute a major conflict of interest. He has used his position and influence to line the pockets of his friends and business associates, not to mention his own. Impeachment is critical to send a message to the current administration as well as to the world that unethical conduct such as his and the president's are neither appropriate, nor are they acceptable to Americans. We need to regain the global respect this duo has squandered.

Patricia Taylor,

Redwood City