Letters

Editor,

More Palestinians were killed the past few days in Gaza, some of them innocent civilians, as rival gunmen from Fatah and Hamas battled in the streets. It is truly sad when violence terrorizes the innocent. But what should we expect from a culture in which Mickey Mouse teaches its children that murder is the means to martyrdom?

Scott Abramson

San Mateo

No specific plan

Editor,

Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), a subsidiary of Sutter Health, wants to build a major hospital in San Carlos. I am concerned that PAMF’s promises about providing charitable services to San Carlos are only as good as those of its parent corporation,Sutter Health.

Sutter runs many facilities in Northern California, and in 2004 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors issued a resolution calling upon Sutter to double its rate of charitable giving in San Francisco. This resolution quoted a finding by the San Francisco Department of Public Health that California Pacific Medical Center, a Sutter Health

Affiliate, had the lowest rate of charitable services of any hospital in San Francisco, even though the facility accounts for 40 percent of alllicensed hospital beds in San Francisco. Is this what we can look forward to from PAMF in San Carlos? Is this what Sutter (PAMF) considers to be good neighbor in San Carlos? I oppose the PAMF San Carlos facility because it is unneeded and will bring negative impacts, but I think everyone in San Carlos and in the County deserves to have our leaders win a specific, binding and dependable charitable giving plan from PAMF/Sutter.

Sol Kutner

San Carlos

Where does

Caltrain money go?

Editor,

Recently, Caltrain reported that it had slashed $2 million since February from its projected deficit, and it still faces a $3.7 million deficit. Someone needs to do an extensive audit to see if Caltrain is telling us the truth.

Starting about three years ago, pleading the same "deficit blues,” Caltrain started a program of raising the fares. If you compare today’s fares with what they were three years ago, I would venture to say that they are more than 200 percent higher.

When you combine this fact with the fact that every year Caltrain brags that its ridership is "way up,” due to the marvel of the bullet trains, where is all the excess money going? When you have a one-third increase in ridership, and a 200 percent increase in fares, this translates to a lot of money. How much money? Why don’t we have an auditor examine this subject and tell us? Caltrain continues to project that its ridership will increase year after year, which can only mean that the deficit will gradually be wiped out.

Or, is there a different story? Since Caltrain started raising the fares, have they been paying their employees more and more, not to mention their administrators? Why should their employees or their administrators get one dime of increase in salary, if they face a deficit? This is certainly no incentive to balance the budget.

Caltrain is in essence a public utility. It serves the public interest, and the taxpayers of San Mateo County have paid for 20 years (Measure A) into the coffers of Caltrain to keep it going. And yet towns such as Atherton have their service during the week completely cut off, with no rational explanation. We need an outside audit to explain why the cheerful picture of huge fare increases and huge increases in ridership have not made a difference. Is this just another story of money down the rat hole?

Michael J. Brady

Redwood City

Choice should

be morally right

Editor,

I believe that one should do to others as one would want done to one’s self:

1) To be allowed to be born and have the opportunity to experience life.

2) To declare a marriage only between a male and female as nature and God intended.

3) Etc., etc., etc., etc.

I believe that God’s commandments are a good guide. Also, our conscience tells us when we’re wrong. God says "Love me first and then each other.” This would certainly bring peace to the world.

Louie Girabaldi

Redwood City

Fixing the problem

Editor,

Pet overpopulation is a tragic societal disgrace. According to SpayUSA, a program of the North Shore Animal League, for every 100,000 humans born daily in this country there are 700,000 puppies and kittens born. We’ll certainly never adopt our way out of this horror. No one can seriously deny the proven effectiveness of mandated spaying and neutering in areas where it has been enacted. Opponents of this bill should stand in a municipal animal control euthanasia room for just 30 minutes, particularly in large cities such as Los Angeles and New York, then tour the shelter facilities and ask the staff and any cooperating rescuers who may be present what they think of mandated spaying and neutering. Those of us involved in rescue are invariably shocked at the prevailing ignorance on the part of many people concerning the importance of spaying and neutering. Let’s face it, these excessive births shouldn’t be happening. Controversial issues such as early spaying and neutering, governmental intrusion, the danger of leading to no dogs and cats, the illusion that rescuers and TNR feral cat practitioners alone can make a sufficient difference all pale in comparison to the abject cruelty of the status quo.

Joseph Pastore

Flushing, N.Y.