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White House site tries to dehumanize neighbors
Re: “This White House ‘aliens’ stunt is monstrous” (Page A7, June 11). As I read with blind rage, but more significantly, no surprise, the Trump administration’s latest depravity of posting a webpage likening human beings to “aliens and extraterrestrials,” I saw fascist xenophobe Stephen Miller’s handwriting. Referring to millions of immigrants in our country, the page reads in part, “Aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods, and interacting with us in our daily lives,” and, “…[living] seemingly normal human existences.”
I then thought of the little Berryessa street my wife and I have lived on for 41 years, where we raised our sons, and where our neighbors include old white couples like us, a Black family, numerous Vietnamese, Chinese, Latino, Asian Indian, 3 biracial families, a gay couple up the street and a few others. These are our neighbors, and they do, indeed, walk among us, attend the local schools and live normal human existences. They are us.
Barry Goldman-Hall
San Jose
Musk’s fortune begets terrifying power
Re: “Musk is first trillionaire” (Page A1, June 13). There are questions that need to be asked.
Is a man megalomaniacal enough to accumulate (not earn) a trillion dollars capable of doing with it anything that won’t screw up the world for the rest of us? What can anyone possibly do with that much money other than to accumulate power and influence and, of course, even more money? How can any one man, never mind such a man as this, be trusted with power and influence commensurate with having more money than most countries?
William Gascoyne
San Jose
Trump unlikely to learn from the war with Iran
Re: “China is currently winning the war America started with Iran” (Page A10, June 14). Kudos to our Congressman, Rep. Sam Liccardo, for his well-thought-out opinion piece on the Chinese benefits arising from the “war” in Iran. We can only hope that his stated opinion regarding this conflict benefiting China in numerous ways will reach the White House and inform their future actions.
Unfortunately, the probability is that even if they do notice it, their reaction will be negative and polarizing, to our country’s detriment. Sad.
Thomas Mueller
Saratoga
Trump, country weren’t ready for war’s effects
The pitiful thing is that Donald Trump did the opposite of preparing us for the oil cutoff.
Instead of cutting off the EV credits, the solar credits and increasing the tariffs on Chinese EVs, he should have doubled all those efforts. Increasing the credits on solar, wind and batteries for a year would have reduced gas used for power generation. Increasing the EV $7,500 credit for a year and decreasing the tariff on Chinese EVs would have amped up movement to EVs. By now, that might have already reduced our daily gas usage, and it would have reduced the impact of the gas shortage.
They’ve known for decades that any attack on Iran would probably result in the Strait of Hormuz being closed, but Trump did nothing to prepare. Instead, he did the opposite, slowing EV sales and solar and wind growth. It’s like he intentionally sabotaged us.
Barry Jackson Sr
San Jose
Valley can lead on new generation of weapons
We need a new generation of low-cost missiles and other defense systems to replace the $5 million Patriot missile and other costly, outdated systems.
Fortunately, there’s now a NatSec100 of Silicon Valley, venture-backed defense companies that are helping with this. The days of Silicon Valley companies refusing to help our national defense are hopefully over.
Ed Kahl
Woodside
Parties should compete, but do it respectfully
One of civilization’s greatest achievements is learning the difference between an adversary and an enemy. An adversary challenges you, tests your ideas, and helps you improve. An enemy is someone whose existence is considered intolerable.
Sports demonstrate this principle. Great competitors do not seek weak opponents; they seek strong ones. Victory matters only when earned against a worthy rival. The opponent’s strength gives meaning to the contest.
Democracy depends on the same idea. Political opponents are meant to be adversaries, not enemies. They challenge assumptions, expose mistakes and offer alternatives. Their presence provides a vital feedback mechanism that helps society correct errors.
When politics turns adversaries into enemies, compromise becomes betrayal, disagreement becomes hostility, and elections become existential struggles. Efforts to destroy rivals often weaken the system itself.
Strong societies are not those without competition. They are those who can compete fiercely while preserving the respect needed to compete tomorrow.
Paul Osborn
Morgan Hill
AI’s potential is stunted by GOP
Re: “AI already aids in lab research, everyday tasks” (Page A6, June 12). It’s encouraging to read about the benefits of AI, other than newly minting a few multibillionaires at the expense of all the rest of us. I find the use of AI in the scanning of medical imaging data especially exciting. I believe there’s another AI pattern-matching application that would greatly benefit fellow countrymen: tax fraud detection using AI scanning of tax returns. AI could likely identify returns particularly worthy of audits (by human agents) that could greatly increase the efficiency of tax law compliance efforts.
But don’t look for that to happen soon. Republicans have long been steadfast in their efforts to underfund the IRS, especially as it pertains to compliance. It would be neither unfair nor inaccurate to label them the Pro-Tax-Cheat Party. Hopefully, two years from now, that will change, and we will see some AI innovation making tax cheats pay their fair share.
David Baer
Concord