Jun 8, 2008

Letters

Remembering D-Day

Dear Editor: D-Day still looms large for many different people, not only the veterans who took part in the June 6 landings. But apparently not for the editors of other local newspapers who couldn't find any room even for a brief mention. Why, I wonder?

Remembering the sacrifices doesn't glorify war. It says thank you to those who participated in keeping America free. That's all. The participants didn't ask for memorials. They did their duty and most of them came home. Duty meant something then. Does it today outside of our armed forces?

I was at my 55th high school reunion a couple of years ago. Seated at our table with their wives were Richie, who served in the Army; Billy, in the Marines; Charlie, a paratrooper; and Izzy, who flew a light single-engine spotter plane; and I was an Air Force navigator for more than four years. We were lucky; we served mostly in peace time. And we knew how lucky we were; we all had mutual friends or relatives who died in World War II or Korea. But we served nevertheless.

And we remembered our classmates who weren't so lucky.

Too bad the other local editors didn't remember. Why? Are duty and sacrifice no longer politically correct subjects for their newspapers?

Will Richardson,

San Carlos





Cluster bombs

Dear Editor: Edith Groner, berates the United States for refusing to sign a ban on cluster bombs ["Letters," Monday]. Her complaint is redolent of the same arguments that led to the elimination of napalm. Had it not been for napalm, there is little doubt I would not be here. During the Korean War, the hills around Chipyong Ni held five Chinese divisions against one encircled infantry regiment. Without napalm and artillery, we could have never held. War is a hard business. Expending ordnance is better than expending lives.

Walter E. Wallis,

Palo Alto



Energy, food woes

Dear Editor: Here is a proposal for the fuel crisis and our part of the food crisis. It is said that the use of corn in the manufacture of ethanol is causing the U.S. to divert as much as 25 percent of its corn to that use.

But who said we have to use corn? Why not use sugar cane? To quote Wikipedia, "Brazil supports ... ethanol-burning automobiles with a large national infrastructure that produces ethanol from domestically grown sugar cane. Sugar cane not only has a greater concentration of sucrose than corn (by about 30 percent) but is also much easier to extract. The bagasse generated by the process is not wasted but is utilized in power plants as a surprisingly efficient fuel to produce electricity."

Sir Richard Branson, in a recent TV appearance, said we're swimming in sugar cane - and it's not a food crop, per se, it's more of a seasoning. And didn't we used to grow sugar ourselves? Louisiana, California, Hawaii - didn't C&H stand for California & Hawaii? I'm from the Midwest, and I remember that sugar beets grew in that area.

The problem isn't lack of money or food stocks so much - it's lack of foresight. This issue was initially raised back in '73, when we were all waiting in gas lines.

Martin R. Flick,

San Mateo



City-county flap

Dear Editor: I read in your newspaper about Redwood City Mayor Rosanne Foust, whose behavior when it comes the possibility of a new jail has been irresponsible, unprofessional and quite disturbing to say the least. The mayor is trying to stir up a controversy before any plans or any site have been presented for a potential new jail. I am certain that if it were any other project in her city, she would withhold comment prior to any planning application being sought.

Then the kicker is she tries to pick a fight with the outgoing county manager by stating that two fellow council members asked her, "Who the hell does John Maltbie think he is?"

I am so shocked, dismayed and angered by this comment that I hope they build the jail and name it the Rosanne Foust Rehabilitation Facility and find an appropriate place in Redwood City to construct it.

When Maltbie retires, he will leave a legacy that may never be matched by any other county manager. He has a history of putting children first and understanding the intricacies of the county budget to get the biggest bang for our buck, along with a management style that measures program performance. That is who the hell he is.

Michael S. Murray,

San Mateo



The scene in Iraq

Dear Editor: It is too bad that we don't get any real news about what is happening "behind the scenes" in Iraq. We are in the middle of negotiating with the Iraqi government a "security agreement," also called a "status of forces agreement," due to expire at the end of this year. Basically, we want a vaguely worded agreement to keep forces there indefinitely - to protect their country, of course. Now our puppet government headed by Nuri al-Maliki is willing to go along with the program, but most of his parliament and the vast majority of the people are, of course, against it. There have been numerous peaceful protests involving thousands of united citizens in downtown Baghdad, and many vociferous members of parliament who just won't hear of it. They are presently "stuck," with no resolution, despite the fact that this agreement is one of our most important "benchmarks."

Al-Maliki this weekend is set to visit the president of Iran to see if he can help out - his second visit this year. This displeases the U.S., but what options does al-Maliki have? After all, the Iranians were helpful last year in brokering a deal between the two leading Shiite parties in Iraq.

We no longer live in a democracy. We live in a plutocracy or a corporatocracy, so you probably haven't heard about any of this. Lots of luck making an intelligent, well-informed vote in the next election, not that it will make much of a difference anyway.

Don Havis,

San Mateo







Two McClellans

Dear Editor: George McClellan was a pompous Civil War general who was reluctant to engage the Confederates.

Scott McClellan is a former press secretary who was an incompetent communicator.

George whined about inadequate troops when his forces often outnumbered the Confederates two to one.

Scott complained about the fairness of the press corps despite his poor credibility.

George would make excuses to the point that President Lincoln would ask him "General, if you do not want to use the army would you loan it to me?"

Scott would fumble and bumble to the point he had to be replaced by Tony Snow.

As a general, George claimed to understand the federal mission of reuniting the United States.

As press secretary, Scott defended the Iraq mission for both WMD and liberation.

George bordered on insubordination with communications to President Lincoln.

Scott's new book purports insider criticism of decisions prior to Scott's own timeline of involvement.

George ran for president in 1864 against Lincoln on a Democrat appeasement platform.

Scott is cozying up to the very Democrat factions he opposed as press secretary.

Mark Lindberg,

Mountain View





Diversity

Dear Editor: This letter is prompted by Peter Bradshaw's response to mine [Letters, May 26].

The older I become, the more convinced I am that 90 percent of our problems are due to one individual or group trying to tell another individual or group how to live. We cannot accept the fact that we have one life to lead, our own, and so we persist in dictating how others should live according to our parameters.

If everyone lived their own lives and kept their noses out of the lives of others, a great deal of our problems would be solved. It is not as if these people who try to live others' lives have figured out their own lives yet. They are just as muddled and confused as those they are trying to "straighten out" or enlighten. Whether people are gay, atheist, liberal, conservative or whatever is their business and no one else's. Whatever value they place on life, born or unborn, is their business.

There is diversity in all things living. No matter what we do, this will never change. Accept it and lead your own lives, not someone else's.

Scott Simmons,

Portola Valley



Noisemakers

Dear Editor: Thank you to Stanford graduate students Everett Meyer and Bryan Bai for proposing a "noisemaker" for electric cars ["Making some noise," Tuesday]. I am not blind, but I do lack eyes in the back of my head and cannot count the number of times one of these stealth vehicles has startled me from behind.

I propose this: The sound should resemble a car, it should be standardized and should reflect the car's speed, just like combustion engines do now. Complete quiet is great inside the car, but people nearby need to know it's there. Particularly in parking lots.

Larry Rippere,

Mountain View



School support

Dear Editor: We're writing to thank the Palo Alto Unified School District community for its enthusiastic support for Measure A and for PAUSD schools. To our dedicated campaign team too numerous to mention individually, thank you for the thousands and thousand of hours devoted to this campaign. To the hundreds of donors, our thanks for the funds carefully used to communicate our message. To the realty firms who allowed our callers to use your offices, thank you for opening your doors to our efforts. To the thousand endorsers, your names in support made a big difference in our momentum. To the thousands of voters who voted "yes," our gratitude for your investment in the future of this community.

This is a wonderful community, and Measure A reminded us again of the dedication and caring of its members. Thank you all again for your support of schools and students.

Jon Foster, Mandy Lowell, Kathy Schroeder and Samir Tuma,

Strong Schools for a

Strong Community