Re: “ ” (Page B1, Dec. 10) The Pleasant Hill Police Department and Central County SWAT’s abysmal handling of this standoff in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood demands an immediate independent investigation. To place the residents of this historically marginalized neighborhood in grave danger over three days is unconscionable.
Re: “ ” (Page A1, Nov. 15). Thanks to the East Bay Times for the excellent coverage of tragic baby deaths due to Fentanyl and the follow-up with Santa Clara County stating they tried to prevent the babies from going back to homes that had drugs.
I would also like to point out all the other children left in horrible homes by child protective services (Sophia Mason in Alameda County ) where excuses have been given about all the missteps done and how it was “avoidable. ” When is the state of California going to criminally charge those at the county government for these avoidable children’s deaths? I believe that is what needs to happen for it to stop. Re: “ ” (Page A3, Dec.
9). I have always been a supporter of both Israel and a Palestinian state. However, I am dismayed by the Dec.
8 U. S. veto of the U.
N. resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. This was the only veto of the 15-member Security Council.
Joe Biden’s repeated words without any teeth against Israel’s killing and destruction in Gaza and the United States’ continued unrestricted financial support for Israel’s weapons and war have made me distraught and embarrassed to be an American. Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government will never bring about peace with justice. What Hamas did on Oct.
7 was horrendous. But what Israel continues to do is unconscionable. Seventeen thousand five hundred (mostly women and children), the destruction of most of their homes and country, the population squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces, no food, water, safety, hospitals, cholera and other disease spreading, etc.
This is appalling. I’ve never loved vegetables, but upon arriving at college, they’ve, ironically, become my forbidden fruit. It wasn’t until I found myself eating frozen Trader Joe’s meals for 90% of my calories that I truly missed my mom force-feeding me broccoli.
Agriculture doesn’t immediately come to mind when you think of Berkeley. A different type of green, maybe, but certainly not farming. I hope that changes.
Of course, urban farming bears the obvious benefits of making produce more accessible, given the frequently cost-prohibitive nature of organic produce. However, urban farms also address another problem: public space is disappearing. From a lack of public toilets to privatized parks, we’re becoming more insulated — both spatially and socially.
We’re allowing ourselves to relegate groups to “otherhood. ” The collaboration of urban farming provides an opportunity for us to break bread as we break common ground. I’d love to see it blossom.
Donald Trump’s lawyers are raising an important question challenging the heart of our democracy: Is a former president immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office? Trump is claiming so, which would mean a president could do almost anything, and be immune from legal consequences. America is based on a three-part pyramid of power: president, Congress and courts. Each limits the other two.
Our founding patriots feared too much power in any part of government. If Trump is right and a president’s powers are unchecked, why couldn’t President Biden, if he loses the next election, simply say he won’t leave office, for the good of the country? The preservation of our democracy is much more important than the politics of its occupant. Even Richard Nixon knew he was limited by the courts and Congress; that’s why he resigned.
Re: “ ” (Page A15, Nov. 12). Related Articles Why, if one of the president’s top priorities is to decrease civilian deaths from semi and automatic weapons, do we provide federal money and federal lands to an ammunition plant that “has pumped billions of rounds of military-grade ammunition into the commercial market”? Ammunition which has been linked to “crimes, murder and mass killings in nearly all 50 states.
” One reason given is “to keep production lines humming, which can surge in case of conflict. ” With all of our ongoing conflicts in the world, production is already up to capacity without the need for commercial production. The government receives a “10- 15% discount on ammunition by allowing commercial sales.
” No discount can be justified which contributes to innocent civilian deaths including children. Both the military and the Lake City plant know they are complicit. Sales started in 2011 and need to end now.
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From: eastbaytimes
URL: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/12/12/letters-1527/
