Mar 31, 2008

Letters

Fluoride

Dear Editor: It seems that we may be overmedicating ourselves in pursuit of nebulous goals rooted in questionable science.

Local utilities have deemed it desirable to fluoridate our water to reduce tooth decay, a decision that is vigorously supported by local dentists.

A far more compelling, contrary conclusion was published by the prestigious British Medical Journal in 2000 (more commonly referred to as the York Study) following a long-term study of water fluoridation. The results of this study found that only one in six individuals had benefitted from water fluoridation compared to approximately 50 percent who had suffered from dental fluorosis or mottling and discoloration of the teeth.

This alarming statistic offers serious doubt on the overall benefits of water fluoridation. Furthermore, fluoride is potentially toxic to our bones, brain and endocrine (hormonal) system. More information can be found in the Fluoride Action Network Web site.

Is it not time we demand a more rigorous scientific study to justify this potentially harmful practice?

Tej Uberoi,

Los Altos



Conflict in the Mideast

Dear Editor: Gilwee Walker's letter [March 13] about the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on March 3 was deceptive. Walker let readers know that one of the speakers was a representative of the Israeli government (thus suggesting nonobjectivity). When mentioning that the other speaker was a professor from the University of California, Los Angeles, Walker didn't give his ethnicity (was he an Arab, a Muslim, a Jew, etc.?). Just how objective was that?

The other deceptive note in the letter was the remark that Israel still "occupies" Gaza because it controls the air, sea and borders. Israel also left behind millions of dollars worth of functioning greenhouses, which the Gazans could have used to upgrade their economy (instead they destroyed them all); they also elected Hamas to govern them, an organization that refuses to recognize Israel and feels that Israel should be destroyed.

Would Walker have been against blockading Nazi Germany during World War II?

Saul Eisenstat,

Los Altos



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Dear Editor: Hiding rocket launchers among houses, cemeteries and businesses, the Gaza terror state rains 6,000 rockets onto Israel, and Michael Barton (letters, March 18) decries Israel for daring to attack the launchers. Israel pleads with Gaza terrorists not to bring on a disaster ("shoa"), and Barton falsely claims Israel threatens Gaza with a "holocaust."

For decades, the 22-nation Arab League has butchered the native peoples of the Middle East by the millions to steal their land, but Barton blames Arab intolerance on the Israeli "occupation" of "Palestine." Indeed, "Palestine" was carved out of Turkey - not Arab land - as a refuge for brutalized Jews of the Middle East and elsewhere, but Barton falsely claims that tiny sliver of land is "Arab." (Ironically, until 1990, Arabs disdained the name "Palestine," as "too Jewish" a term.)

Barton's rhetoric has a familiar ring to it. You'll find it in Lewis Carroll's masterpiece, "Alice in Wonderland."

Seth Watkins,

Menlo Park