Generous families help fire victims
My wife and I were evacuated from our home as the Tubbs Fire encroached upon our community of Calistoga. We packed up animals and a small amount of items into our camper and headed to our daughter’s house in San Rafael, where we spent four days. The truly amazing piece of this for us and our extended family (15 of us) was the generosity extended by four separate families of the San Rafael area. Each night, another individual brought dinners for us. All 15!
What an amazing gift this was at this time of stress and concern. It opened our hearts to the generosity displayed by these amazing Marin families. From all of us, we say thank you.
Richard Svendsen, Calistoga
Lukewarm response
Regarding “Liberal blather” (Letters, Oct. 18): How typical is the issue raised by the letter writer. He claims that if President Trump had come to Sonoma in response to the fires, he would be criticized for coming too soon, too late, etc.
Well, we won’t know, will we, because he didn’t. What we do know is his lukewarm response to Puerto Rico and insensitivity toward those people, while he was oh, so supportive of the suffering of the people of Texas and Florida, where so many of his voters reside.
Marjorie Afterman, Sonoma
Disrespectful president
So now our commander in chief rebuts the allegations from the family of a Green Beret, who was killed in action in Niger, that the president’s words were “insensitive.” Our president chooses instead to enter into a verbal dispute with a Gold Star family who just suffered the loss of a loved one.
This is the same commander in chief who charged, with absolutely no basis in fact, that former President Barack Obama, along with other U.S. presidents, did not call or reach out to the families of fallen soldiers. This is the same commander in chief who mocked former prisoner of war Sen. John McCain for having been “captured” during the Vietnam War and who last year derided Khizr Khan, the father of a son killed in war, for his words at the Democratic National Convention. The same commander in chief who stood in front of the memorial wall at the CIA headquarters in Virginia, bragging about the crowd size at his inauguration.
I ask you, name me a former U.S. president who has disrespected our military more? But hey, Trump can call NFL players SOBs because they choose to kneel during the national anthem, a sign of “disrespect” according to our commander in chief.
Al Comolli, Millbrae
Autonomous bicycles
With all the hullabaloo coming at us almost daily about autonomous vehicles, one wonders: why not autonomous bicycles as well? No doubt, cyclists are far more vulnerable to serious injury than motorists in multiton steelencased objects on wheels. Moreover, cyclists are known to cause their share of accidents themselves and are an appreciable risk to pedestrians as well.
The bikes could have the usual pedals that could be used by the rider to charge the electrical needs of the motor, steering and braking systems. Riders could peruse the latest news on their smart devices, check email and text away without fear of being smashed to smithereens, while simultaneously traveling about and having a hardy aerobic experience. After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander!
Marc Winokur, Oakland
Forced behavior
Discussions of President Trump’s motives for tangling with the NFL have grabbed plenty of media space, and I won’t rehash those. He has chosen to characterize kneeling during the anthem as disrespect for our country. He has chosen not to understand what it represents to those who kneel. He has chosen to disrespect their right to freedom of expression.
I call the reader’s attention to the choice of words in his tweet after the NFL owners met with players to discuss the issue: “The NFL has decided that it will not force players to stand for the playing of our National Anthem. Total disrespect for our great country!” When an NFL rule requiring players to stand during the anthem does not appear, his desire is to force players to stand, even though their behavior is legal.
The president of our country is recommending citizens be forced to behave as he wishes. Not encouraged, not even required, but forced. Have you seen videos of North Korean citizens cheering and clapping in enforced enthusiasm when their dear leader passes by? We reveal more than we realize when we speak.
Pamela McNeilly, Lafayette