Contra Costa Times July 10 letters

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jul 10, 2008 | by Letters

The city of Concord is playing the shell game again, hoping that if it maneuvers things just the right way it can get what it wants at the expense of the rest of us.

In November 2006, the City Council wanted to allow the Navy to sell the Concord Naval Weapons Station to Shaw Group to develop.

When then-City Manager Lydia du Borg gave her report on the matter advising against Shaw, Councilwoman Helen Allen was openly hostile and repeatedly attempted to get du Borg to rephrase the report to support Shaw and the Navy.

A huge public outcry and a swing vote by Michael Chavez stopped the deal. Shortly thereafter du Borg was forced to resign as city manager. Can anyone say they were surprised?

Chavez was voted to the City Council because he favored open space at the weapons station. When he died, each council member decided to put Guy Bjerke in his seat despite that the residents of Concord rejected Bjerke twice on the ballot for the council seat.

Bjerke is a big supporter of developers. Anyone surprised?

The City Council does not want the 70-80 percent open space that the majority of Concord residents support.

So if the City Council drags its collective feet long enough its redevelopment authority will be revoked and the Navy can sell to Shaw or another developer, effectively removing the threat of 70-80 percent open space and giving the City Council what it wanted all along. Sadly, can anyone say they were surprised?

Sandra Johnson

Concord

Is NASA needed?

I've always thought I'd make a terrible politician.

I am too honest, tell it like it really is, and I have common sense. So with that in mind, I'd love for my elected officials to tell me how NASA helps the American people. NASA's budget is in the billions.

I challenge the American people to speak out in the name of common sense. Does proof of possible life on Mars feed our needy? Does space dust and planetary alignment lower gas prices?

Does putting someone on the moon improve education? Does the international space station keep people out of foreclosure?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no," then we really need to get our priorities in order. But when has bad priorities ever been a problem with our government?

Kylan Patterson

El Sobrante

Stick to facts

For pure blarney and obfuscation, a recent Thomas Sowell rant against Barack Obama should have been titled "No need to know facts."

While acknowledging that active military and veteran suicides are up, he falsely claims the rate is below the general population's, thereby blithely bludgeoning Obama for asking the secretary of defense what is being done about reducing it.

Who are we supposed to believe? Sowell, crassly claiming a problem doesn't exist, or Dr. Ira Katz, head of mental health at the Department of Veteran Affairs, who reports, "Suicide in America is an epidemic, and that includes veterans."

According to CBS News, Dr. Steve Rathbun, acting head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department at the University of Georgia, found that veterans were twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets.

The facts Sowell hides are these: Suicides per 100,000 vets, 18.7 to 20.8; and the general American population, 8.9.

The numbers triple among those aged 20 to 24 years (those who serve in Iraq); suicides per 100,000 are 22.9 to 31.9 for vets versus 8.3 for non-vets.

Sowell needs to desist. He is entitled to make up his own opinions, but not his own "facts."

Ed Chainey

Richmond

Survey response

In response to the article on the religious survey (June 23), I was quite surprised with the results. However, it certainly lines up with the words of Jesus: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it." (Mt. 7:13-14).

Jesus also said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." (John 14:6).

Good hard-working people of integrity are to be commended certainly; however, this does not earn them eternal salvation. It is a free gift and can only be received through saving faith in Jesus Christ who earned it for us.

Mary Christ

Walnut Creek

Beware

As a gun owner and a member of the NRA, clearly I am pleased that the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment provides Americans with the individual right to keep and bear arms. What is troubling is that four out of nine of the justices voted against this decision.

Anyone who has read the Constitution and Bill of Rights and has studied our history should understand without a doubt what our Founding Fathers intended when they crafted these documents. They sought freedom from an oppressive government and expressed those unalienable rights to which we were entitled. Always remember that the Second Amendment protects all of our other rights from our enemies, both foreign and domestic.

Beware of politicians who propose "reasonable restrictions" on our basic human right of self defense.