Pleasanton Weekly bloggers are pretty
much fed-up with illegal immigration policies and those who bray about xenophobia
We are heartened to see
that some Pleasanton residents get it.
Of course, we are a country of laws. Unfortunately, we are also a country that
refuses to enforce those laws. It appears, however, that usually uber-tolerant
Pleasanton residents are beginning to realize that not all immigration is good
and that illegal immigration is destructive to the fabric of our society.
Thorne missed the point of Proposition 98
We could not disagree more with Vice Mayor Jerry Thorne’s assessment of
propositions 98 and 99. He said in a May 30 letter to the Pleasanton Weekly
“Proposition 99 is eminent domain reform with no hidden agendas.”
There was, of course, a hidden agenda in Proposition 99 and that is: it is no
reform at all. It is a vanilla measure that does nothing more than the current
eminent domain law. In short, it was designed only to thwart Proposition 98.
Sad that politics has sunk to such lows. Sad also that Mr. Thorne has joined
the looney left including the League of Women Voters California, environmental
groups, and city and county government bureaucrats to perpetuate bad laws, bad
public policy.
Better listen to Robert Allen about BART
In a March 13 letter to The Independent, Robert S. Allen addresses BART to Livermore
costs for ballasted double track line at grade and suggests that they are far
less than were reported in the Herald and the Valley Times articles of February
6. If Mr. Allen is correct, $12.6 million per mile, we had better review I-580
HOV plans before the freeway median is taken up with Sierra Club lanes that
cause aggravation and air pollution and do little, if anything, for mass transit.
Some people just do not get it
Global hunger cannot and will not be ended by the United States of America,
the United Nations, or anyone else for that matter. This year or ever. Margie
McLaughlin, in her Pleasanton Weekly letter of February 1, suggests that our
election this November should be about ending global hunger as well as the economy
and the war against terror.
This is akin to Miss Congeniality wanting world peace.
While eradicating hunger is an admirable goal, it is naïve to think that
we effect it now or even in the foreseeable future. Anyone who believes that
it can is living in a fantasyland. Ms. McLaughlin said “Every three seconds,
a child dies from extreme poverty.” One answer is to stop having children
if you cannot provide for them and that is more likely to prevent children from
dying.
Look in the mirror for the energy crisis culprit
Anthony Gentile of Pleasanton hit the nail right on the head in his April 25
letter to the Valley Times. He said, “For years, we as voters have supported
legislators who have stymied attempts to drill at certain U.S. coastal areas
and Alaska where vast oil deposits have been located.” He did not say
but it is certain that he also feels that those we elect have also blocked nuclear
power plants—that produce safe, non-polluting energy.
So, when you are watching the digits flip over rapidly on your gasoline pumps,
remember to look in the mirror for the reason why.