Public transit
cutbacks unwise
The governor’s budget for next year (Page 1A, May 14) slashes funding for public transit, but he picked a bad time to cut critical support for Caltrain and VTA. I live in a part of Mountain View where many residents and families depend on public transit to access jobs, food and health care. I work at a company whose workers do their share for California’s environment by commuting via Caltrain. The governor needs to realize that public transit is core to our state’s transportation needs and has as much – if not more – value as our state’s automobile-centric infrastructure.
Steven Chan
Mountain View
Blair’s ideas good,
but methods bad
I’m willing to believe that British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s support for the Iraq war is consistent with who he is, and is not an aberration. This is a central point made by David Brooks (Opinion, May 13). It is simply wrong, however, to believe that we can advance global “interdependence,” and a commitment to shared “universal values,” by visiting violence and death on other people.
Brooks seems to be as disconnected from the reality of what the war in Iraq is really doing as Mr. Blair and Mr. Bush are. The American and British public get it. Too bad Blair, Bush and Brooks do not.
Gary A. Patton
Santa Cruz
Target deceivers,
not journalists
Linda Dahlberg’s fatigue (Letters, May 15) is understandable but misdirected. The sheer number of clergy who molest children is overwhelmingly depressing. But if she is tired of hearing these reports, her criticism should target the church, not the media. We should be grateful for journalists who shed light on those allegations that the church has taken pains to conceal.
Rob Mezzetti
and Caitlin Whitwell
San Jose
No need to rush
into executions
Once again, the Mercury News reports on the paradox of “whether condemned inmates can be put to death humanely” (Page 1A, May 16). The story says U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel called the state’s execution protocol “deeply disturbing.” But the story goes on to say that Fogel “did assure the state that the problems could be fixed.”
I am not an attorney, but this position appears to make Judge Fogel part of the death squad posse. If the issue is that the so-called “cocktail” does not ensure against a painful death, then perhaps a shot to the head of the inmate would meet the constitutional tests. Seriously, the judge should order a moratorium on executions until the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice completes its work at the end of the calendar.
Henry Organ
Menlo Park
DNA evidence
gives us pause
In light of the high number of DNA exonerations illuminating the fact that our justice system is not accurate, it is time to rethink our death penalty in California, not refine our death delivery (Page 1A, May 16).
Nancy Oliveira
San Francisco
Kids should know
parenthood costs “Having kids means pinching pennies” (Page 8E, May 13) was an excellent article, showing how much kids cost. This information should be presented to middle school and high school kids in our public schools, to convince most of them that they cannot afford kids before they finish school and get a good job.
We would greatly reduce poverty in our country if we could convince young people not to have kids until they can afford them.
Charlie Larson
Mountain View
Ethnic separation
dissolves over timeI agree with David Baldwin (Letters, May 16) that we should celebrate our community’s diversity but not encourage ethnic segregation. The process of Americanization handles that.
People from different countries and of many different races tend to identify themselves by those origins or backgrounds when they first arrive, and for perhaps a generation or two after that. However, after that, since “love is where you find it,” the process of assimilation takes over. We see it every day in the faces of those whom we encounter, as those faces reflect the homogenization of the many racial and ethnic backgrounds that we have in these good old United States.
Leonard W. Williams
Sunnyvale
War czar? We’ve
got one alreadyWhy is this administration appointing a so-called “war czar” (Page 8A, May 16) when we already have one: an individual who is almost universally recognized as such thanks largely to his unsettling temerity. His name, of course, is George W. Bush. And what an ill-named, inflammatory title for a peace-loving nation to adopt and advertise to an already skeptical world.
Stuart A. Schwalbe
San Jose
Get real questions
for the debatesThis year the presidential debates should be opened up to the American people. Instead of some media toady addressing softball questions to carefully coached candidates, tough questions should be solicited from real Americans and then selected by a vote, a la “American Idol.” Winning questions will reflect what most Americans want to know to elect the next president.
Ed Taub
Mountain View
