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Amid gun violence,
ATF lacks a leader
My heart broke as I read the article entitled, “18 kids killed in school shooting” published in the East Bay Times on May 25 (Page A1).
As a pediatrician practicing in the Bay Area, each year I have treated children affected by gun violence. The truth is, over 1,300 Americans were killed in mass shootings between 2009 and 2020. One in four of these mass shooting victims were children and teens. Yet these numbers are just a small portion of the lives forever changed by these events.
The last several years, the federal government’s main agency for enforcing gun laws and holding the gun industry accountable has lacked leadership and direction. I plead with our U.S. senators to confirm Steve Dettelbach as the next ATF director. By confirming him for this role, ATF can work to keep our communities safe — giving each child a chance for a safe future.
Soniya Mehra
Pleasanton
COVID-19’s U.S. toll
shows leaders’ failure
Your recent articles on the grim statistics of our nation’s and state’s responses to the pandemic (“COVID-19 has killed 1 million Americans. It didn’t need to happen,” Page A1, May 15 and “1 million COVID-19 deaths understates enormity of loss,” Page A7, May 20) makes it painfully evident that the choices our government and health officials made to mitigate the risks were severely inadequate.
South Korea, with a population 25% greater than California, has had about 23,000 deaths compared to California’s 90,000. When in Korea everyone was wearing masks, our officials were telling us that masks weren’t effective. But they didn’t understand the science of masks and reversed themselves far too late to stem the health and economic damages. Virtually no part of the Korean economy has been shut down, with the exception of schools very briefly, and occasionally a few bars and nightclubs.
This is yet another of many examples demonstrating the lack of competent leadership at the local, state and federal levels. The coming elections are a great opportunity to remove the incumbents.
Dick Patterson
El Cerrito
Supporting doomed HSR
is a far cry from courage
Re. “Opinion: Let’s find the courage to complete high-speed rail project,” May 20:
East Bay Times readers know that question phraseology determines poll output. Writers state a slight majority approve high-speed rail. But when all current issues are presented, (homelessness, inequity, racism, fires, etc.“]) high-speed rail doesn’t garner a mention.
Cherry-picking shows our Merced-Bakersfield segment costs less than two other lines now under construction. They further claim that additional freeway lanes would cost much more. Electrifying personal transportation does not have to bank on unreliable train passenger traffic, and cuts more GHGs in the process. When arriving, how does a passenger get from the station to his/her final destination? Not all are urban.
It’s obviously Rod Diridon’s job, as former chairman of the rail authority, to promote this boondoggle.”] Support for our high-speed rail failure is as far from “courage” as you could get.
R. Cote
Castro Valley
15-week rule could
quiet abortion furor
The current Roe vs Wade crisis would not exist if the fetus would give a sure sign at the point that it had developed sufficiently to be recognized as human. But it doesn’t, so we humans must figure it out. However, the only thing we can all agree on is that after it’s born, it’s human.
Yet there is indeed a point earlier than this in the fetus’ life when it’s developed sufficiently to be recognized as human, about 15 weeks after conception when brain activity can be detected. (Brain activity is necessary for life; when it disappears, you are dead.) Fifteen weeks is also late enough after conception that almost all current abortions are done by then, even though Roe vs Wade allows up to 24 weeks.
So we should compromise, use scientific knowledge and allow abortions up to 15 weeks.
Brendan Bazemore
Concord
Source: www.mercurynews.com