May 1, 2008

Letters

Media's military experts

Dear Editor: After reading Harry Rosenfeld's article ["Military experts raise ethical questions for media," Tuesday], I decided to reverse the scenario he described about military officers who provide "expert" opinion to news programs and newspapers. The New York Times in recent history has either fired their editor or one has resigned for articles published whose content could not be substantiated or for blatant errors in their reporting.

This undermines the credibility of their editorial board, whose integrity we rely upon. If you believe Rosenfeld, The New York Times is the final authority and should not be questioned. One should question the integrity of reporters who utilize sources that are only in line with the editorial board and parrot the political views of the editor-in-chief. If the newspaper published their unembellished sources or minimally substantiated their claims about the military and the operations in Iraq, they would be more credible.

The New York Times is one of the nation's most prestigious news-gathering organizations and should be informing the public with unbiased information so that the reader can make up their own minds. To criticize the military for trying to have the public made aware of its point of view seems disingenuous because they do not have the bully pulpit of The New York Times to put forth its own ideas.

Juan D. Ruiz,

San Mateo



Oppose rate increase

Dear Editor: Like most other citizens of Palo Alto, I just received my "notice of utility rate change." Ostensibly this increase is to "recover the costs of buying and distributing water and collecting refuse." I urge all residents of Palo Alto to carefully read this notice. In particular, note that the increase in water rates is only a small portion (if any) of the increased fees and mostly unknown since the [San Francisco Public Utilities Commission] has not set the new rates. This is yet another attempt to use the city-owned utilities to support a bloated and fiscally irresponsible city government. You can stop this increase. Write a letter of protest to the Palo Alto city clerk before June 9. If a majority of ratepayers protest (in writing), the increase will not happen. Send that letter now.

Donald C. "Smokey" Wallace,

Palo Alto



Rev. Wright's comments

Dear Editor: In his speech Sunday to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Rev. [Jeremiah] Wright claimed that African-Americans and European-Americans learn with different parts of their brains: African-Americans are right-brained (creative, intuitive); European-Americans are left-brained (logical, cognitive). Isn't this what the white segregationists of the 1950s were telling us - that whites and blacks were fundamentally different and shouldn't be in the same classroom? And weren't these theories thoroughly discredited long ago? I thought so. But if one is to judge by the enthusiastic reception given to Wright's remarks, these theories still enjoy currency - among members of the NAACP no less. What's next, separate but equal? (For those interested in "context," or the lack thereof, the entire Wright talk can be seen and heard on YouTube.)

Bob Kantor,

Palo Alto



Israelis and Palestinians

Dear Editor: Jagjit Singh [Letters, April 24] calls the Israeli "occupation" one of the worst in history. What other occupier provided universal health care to all residents of the "occupied territory" and built dozens of schools and even colleges like Israel did?

Israel ceded much control to the Palestinian Authority, which has squandered more than $1 billion in foreign aid. Under full Israeli rule, the territories flourished. Unemployment dropped to almost zero; literacy rates increased significantly and infant mortality dropped as well.

The disaster that exists in the territories now is the result of the corruption of the Palestinian Authority and the willingness of Hamas to make martyrs of the 1.5 million Gazans. Look at the standard of living in the territories from 1967 to 2000 and compare those numbers to the situation after Palestinian self-rule, and particularly to what happened after the second Intifada and the increased terrorism against Israel. Most of the problems today are of the Palestinians' own making.

Gil Stein,

Santa Cruz