May 23, 2008

Letters

Say 'no' to 'art'

Dear Editor: I vote to keep the fountain at the end of California Avenue in Palo Alto instead of replacing it with another piece of "art." So far, the only piece of "art" that seems to have any real meaning for California Avenue is the gigantic screw. It typifies the spirit there.

Dick Willoughby,

Palo Alto



Disaster response

Dear Editor: Edith Groner [Letters] on Saturday compared the massive Chinese government response to quake victims with the way Bush "inadequately and ineffectively" responded in New Orleans.

Two points:

One, in China, the local mayor and governor would have been executed had they failed as miserably in their duty as did those worthies in New Orleans.

Two, in China, reporters who publish criticisms of government "go away."

Walter E. Wallis,

Palo Alto



Gay marriage

Dear Editor: Much trouble would be avoided if gay people would accept a commitment called a "civil union" or thereabouts, equivalent to marriage in the eyes of the government, and leave it to individual religious bodies to decide whether to celebrate it as "marriage," which, as far back as the Old Testament, is indeed understood to be the union of a man with a woman, first ordained for the procreation of children.

The main prohibition of (male) homosexuality in the Old Testament (honored by Jews, Christians and Muslims) comes from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19. Careful reading shows that the act that Lot's (male) neighbors wished to commit was homosexual rape. Inferring God's disapproval of gentle erotic love between persons of the same sex (male or female) is a big step even for theologians.

Many gay couples raise or adopt children as part of a loving family. Soon, perhaps, there will be a tax on children, or a limit to their numbers as in China, to reduce population growth: it would apply to gay couples in civil unions as well as married couples.

My only complaint against gay people is their appropriation of the word "gay," so that innocently describing a straight young man sowing his wild oats as a "gay bachelor" is likely to be injurious to one's front teeth.

Peter Bradshaw,

Menlo Park



Bay Meadows suit

Dear Editor: The San Mateo City Council's rubber-stamping of the 20-year Bay Meadows construction project is illegal because it is based on a defective environmental impact report.

When the landowner-developer sold its "plan" to the city council, he based his project on traffic mitigation measures that included: One, three grade separations (underpasses) at 25th, 28th and 31st avenues; and two, the current Hillsdale train station being moved north several blocks, so it would be in the heart of the new development. The second of these was required because the project was touted as a high-density, transit-oriented-development, helpful to the environment because new residents would take Caltrain to work and not use their cars. The developer has no control over whether Caltrain approves or pays for these plans.

Now, there are several new "changed conditions" making the original EIR defective, useless and illegal. Recently, Caltrain stated they will not pay to move the Hillsdale train station, nor pay for more than one grade separation. A new EIR is needed to legally measure what the true traffic and other environmental impacts will be for San Mateo residents because of this 20-year construction project. Get it right, city council.

Mike Brown,

San Mateo



Religion, politics

Dear Editor: Mike Moloney, the GOP candidate for Congress, writes (Letters, Tuesday) that he makes his political decisions based on what his God wants and what the pope says. He contrasts that with Bush, who "claimed that he talked directly to God." Why is Moloney right but Bush is wrong? Seems to me Moloney is saying exactly the same thing as Bush but just coming to a different conclusion.

The moral principle that I believe in is the separation of church and state. Moloney should keep his religious baloney out of politics.

Adam Schwartz,

San Carlos