Mar 3, 2007

Letters

Say 'no' to Tasers

Dear Editor: I sincerely hope many people speak up about arming the Palo Alto police with Tasers and do not leave it to a committee.

After reading the pros and cons about these devices and learning that more than 100 fellow citizens have died from being Tasered, and considering that Tasers have been widely used to torture people, I can't help but wonder why the Palo Alto Police Department wants to buy them. Haven't the police of the world managed to do their work without Tasers for a very long time? Do we really look forward to being approached by officers armed with these devices? Can we continue to take part in peaceful demonstrations without fear of being zapped on the streets in the name of "crowd control"? Since when have Palo Altans become such potentially threatening people?

Fellow Palo Altans, I urge you to speak against arming our police with the equivalent of electric cattle prods.

Dana St. George,
Palo Alto


Medical project

Dear Editor: I have lived in San Carlos since 1946 and am strongly opposed to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation project in the city. As stated in the environmental impact report, five major intersections in our city will operate at unacceptable traffic levels and the freeway traffic will be significantly impacted. This will cause gridlock on four main intersections in the community.

Currently, our neighbors from other communities enjoy shopping and dining on Laurel Street. Increased traffic in midday peak times will cause a downturn in revenue to our wonderful restaurant and retail establishments. On the one hand, Palo Alto Medical Foundation states in the environmental impact report that its project will bring restaurant and shopping business to Laurel Street and then in another section, states that visitors and employee trips from the hospital would be limited because of in-house food service.

Please reject this environmental impact report proposal. Consider the possibilities for the future of San Carlos for the good of our community and for the next generation.

Janie Cox,
San Carlos


Global warming

Dear Editor: Remarkably, some readers are still confused over the facts of global climate change. First of all, attacking Al Gore won't make it go away. The research he reports has been done by thousands of scientific experts from all over the world over the course of several decades.

There are natural cycles that contribute to periodic warming and cooling caused by eccentricities in the earth's orbit and tilt as well as solar activity. None of these natural phenomena have the power to account for the speed and degree of change that is now occurring. It is not as if the legions of professional climate experts studying climate change have overlooked something so basic.

Small particles, such as those emitted by volcanoes and soot from smokestacks, actually cool the planet by preventing a certain amount of solar radiation from reaching the surface. It is thought that the current temperature rises would even be greater if it were not for this "global dimming" effect.

The absence of a thermometer in the years before 1593 by Galileo Galilei (the mercury thermometer in 1724 by Gabriel Fahrenheit) does not prevent scientists from discerning historical temperatures through tree rings, ice core samples and various other means.

You may not like Al Gore, but that does not mean what he is saying is not true.

Bill Hildebrand,
Sunnyvale