Letters

Editor,

Today, many new 9/11 recordings of the victims of the World Trade Center attack were released.

To all of you who still need a "wake up” call as to what we are facing with the Islamic fascists, I urge you to listen to a woman trapped in the towers as she says to the dispatcher that she is about to die and that it is getting "warmer” and is incinerated alive.

As we approach the five-year mark of America being attacked, remember the people in the towers choosing between dying by fire or leaping to the sidewalk. Remember the innocents on the two planes as they hurled toward the towers and what horror they were facing. Remember the victims crashing into the Pentagon and of course the brave souls on Flight 93 that sacrificed themselves so that another building and more human beings would not be murdered.

Sharron Calundan

Hillsborough

Know both sides of Proposition 89

Editor,

In reading Rachael Warecki’s article on Proposition 89, the Clean Money Initiative for public financing of campaigns ("Prop. 89 debate centers on campaign refinancing” in the Aug. 19 edition of the Daily Journal). I hope readers noticed who is opposing this proven reform: all the big money special interests who stand to lose their bought and paid for influence over our political leaders, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called their "stranglehold on Sacramento.”

The opposition assertions that Proposition 89 would be a "poor use of taxpayer dollars” ignore the fact that voters and candidates of all political persuasions in both Arizona and Maine have enjoyed great success with similar systems for almost a decade. They also mislead voters when they refer to "taxpayer dollars” because, as they well know, no individual "taxpayer dollars” are involved. The system is paid for by a two-tenths of one percent increase in the corporate income tax which barely restores that rate to what it was back in 1996.

They try to scare small business people by saying Proposition 89 will limit their ability to contribute to initiative campaigns. But this would only be true if those "small businesses” were incorporated...and wanted to give more than $10,000.

Lastly they raise the specter of "joke” candidates running with public funds which Proposition 89 specifically guards against by setting strict qualification requirements involving candidate approval by voters in that candidate’s own district.

I hope readers and voters see through this bogus opposition and vote yes on Proposition 89.

Craig Dunkerley

San Jose

Jessica’s Law a

case-by-case basis

Editor,

Jessica’s Law, Proposition 83, carries emotions of fear, resentment, anger, retaliation, and hate. ("Sex offender proposition has very little opposition” in the Aug. 17 edition of the Daily Journal)

It is based on illogical, irrational, and unproductive thinking as well. I am appalled at this lynch-mob mentality. Of course, society should be protected from dangerous sexual predators. But each case should be given appropriate precautions and restrictions upon release. Jessica’s Law attempts a broad-brush, one-size-fits-all solution that has proven to create more problems than it solved in other states. Such a law needs to be rethought to specifically address only the 5 to 10 percent of sex offenders who are predators on the street. For the other 90 to 95 percent, parents need to be fully knowledgeable of how to protect their children from the much more frequent occurrence of molestation by a family member or friend.

Barbara Dever

Arroyo Grande

Who should pay for rebuilding Lebanon?

Editor,

Now we find out American taxpayers are giving $50 million to the rebuilding of Lebanon. Hezbollah, exhorted by their paymasters in Iran, began this war to annihilate Israel and ultimately are to blame for destruction in Lebanon. So why not let the Iranian Mullahs, with their oil gazillions, pay up for this? On the hand, maybe we are footing the bill: It is we in America who are bestowing upon these mullahs their oil gazillions in the first place!

Scott Abramson

San Mateo

Reveal your sources

or look elsewhere

Editor,

The AP reference in Don Havis’ letter about "how subtly our news is slanted” ("Numbers killed in fighting,” in the Aug. 16 edition of the Daily Journal) quickly caught the eye of this retired Associated Press writer.

Havis said several newspapers reported death statistics from the Lebanon war that "undoubtedly” were "pulled from a news source such as AP.” Finding these figures deficient, he then goes on to cite an "authoritative report” heard on KPFA.

Havis failed to note where the AP or the "authoritative report” on left-leaning KPFA got its figures. Army? Red Cross?

Burned a few times, I learned early that a source should always be named. The lesson here is that if you can’t reveal a source get the information somewhere else. If you can’t do that, then forget it or go to jail for contempt — contempt for the reader’s intelligence.

James O. Clifford Sr.

Redwood City

Making race-specific medicine

Editor,

I found the "Stamping out stigmas” article in the Aug. 21 edition of the Daily Journal interesting and it does a good job pointing out some of the difficulties of trying to categorize people by race and making decisions based on race. This is difficult enough with real physical tests such as blood tests and real diseases where you can show a good result or a bad result.

However, in the case of antidepressants, I was appalled to read that tailoring antidepressants based on a person’s race is already happening. There are no scientific tests for depression and no scientific means of showing whether there is a good or a bad result. I see a very small step from choosing drugs and dosages based on race to deciding that certain races have certain mental "disorders.” Man is too quick to label people based on superficial characteristics. I think concentrating on race in relation to drugs is a dangerous road to travel.

Judy Wood

San Leandro<