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Education a way to cut
secondhand smoke
Numerous multi-unit housing residents are plagued by secondhand smoke in the Bay Area and have to suffer from heart disease, cancer and asthma attacks even if they don’t smoke themselves. Many community members don’t recognize this prevalent health hazard that threatens their homes’ safety, which is why it is crucial for multi-unit housing residents and smokers to be educated about the impacts of secondhand smoke.
Oftentimes, residents deal with secondhand smoke using ventilation systems, like air conditioners; but according to the CDC, this doesn’t prevent exposure to secondhand smoke and instead further distributes smoke throughout a unit. To pass an effective city policy limiting smoking in multi-unit housing and combating secondhand smoke, leaders need to acknowledge the needs of community members and the consequences of secondhand smoke. I implore readers to follow the lead of organizations that are committed to advocacy through education.
Samiksha Lingan
Hayward
What was point of
Pelosi’s Taiwan trip?
I have no problem with defying China. However, I also believe there should be a strategic purpose behind this defiance.
If Nancy Pelosi had one for her visit to Taiwan, it has not been made public. To make the visit with the sole intent of “poking the bear,” or in this case, the dragon, does not make much sense relative to world tensions in today’s environment.
Mitch Fidziura
Pleasanton
Voters should abandon
Democratic Party
I had to laugh when I read Steve Koppman’s letter (“Democrats waste their political capital,” Page A6, July 27) complaining that the Democrats waste their political capital by standing behind democratically untenable phenomena.
At first I thought he was a Republican being sarcastic. But that is who the Democratic Party leaders are now. It reminds me of Ronald Reagan saying that he didn’t leave the Democratic Party; they left him. Elon Musk recently tweeted something similar. Personally, I felt the Democratic Party left me in 1980.
Maybe it’s time for Koppman and other Democrats to come to the same conclusion. Californians would be better off if more people realized that the Democratic Party does not represent our common values.
Lester Price
Walnut Creek
Liberty Mutual wears
out its welcome
Well, I’ve finally seen one too many Liberty Mutual commercials with the tagline: “Only pay for what you need.”
Last year, while having my homeowners, auto and umbrella liability coverage all with Liberty Mutual (what I needed), I received a letter stating that they would no longer cover homeowners insurance in my ZIP code. Not just me, all of 94549 Lafayette.
Wouldn’t truth in advertising require their tagline to be: “Only pay for what we want to sell you”?
Peter Coenen
Lafayette
National priorities are
not in sync with needs
It’s interesting to see what our national priorities are.
CNN reports that the U.S. Army projects falling 40,000 troops short of its recruiting goals over the next two years. At the same time, DHS says it doesn’t have enough Border Patrol agents in the critical South Texas and Central Arizona sectors.
So what is the Biden administration pushing in the “reconciliation” package now in Congress? It adds $80 billion to roughly double the number of IRS agents and auditors.
Should we ask the “man on Main Street” what he thinks of this?
And almost peanuts compared to the IRS money, the bill also includes around $20 billion for a “green bank,” which would fund various promising “green energy” companies. It reminds one of the hundreds of millions of taxpayer money flushed down the drain in 2011 when Solyndra, a favorite of the Obama administration, went bankrupt.
Mike Heller
Walnut Creek
Source: www.mercurynews.com