Calling out Trump’s lies Instead of gadgets, Apple should make iMasks
Concerning “Watch this: Apple’s first big 2020 launch” (Business, Sept. 15): Since this year will be remembered for a devastating health pandemic and raging wildfires, I’m disappointed that Apple, famous for its innovative watches, smartphones and laptops, won’t be announcing the creation of a revolutionary type of face covering. This betterthanN95 product could be called the iMask. Regarding “Climate change still off Trump’s radar” (Sept. 15): After listening to President Trump claim that our state’s lack of forest management is the cause of unprecedented wildfires, and not acknowledge that sciencebase climate change has anything to do with this crisis, I wanted to shout back (as a GOP congressman once did during a health care speech by former President Barack Obama): You lie!
And if the only words of consolation that our prevaricatorinchief has to offer fireweary Californians who are being endlessly plagued by unhealthy air are “It’ll start getting cooler,” he should consider applying his selfdescribed stable genius mind to being a fortune teller or a weather forecaster after he leaves the White House.
Belinda Davis, San Francisco
A lack of respect
It’s unfortunate that Gov. Gavin Newsom feels that he needs to keep his working relationship with President Trump propped up. It may be necessary to keep aid flowing to California, but when he says he knows that Trump respects the difference of opinion out here as it relates to climate change, he starts to sound obsequious. Everybody, including Newsom, knows that Trump respects no one and nothing except his own cracking shell of an ego.
Rocky Leplin, Richmond
Paranoia is alarming
So according to “Trump adviser warns of revolt” (Sept. 15), the assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, Michael Caputo, accuses career government scientists of engaging in sedition in their handling of the coronavirus, and warning that leftwing hit squads are preparing for armed insurrection after the November election? If this paranoid individual is considered a vital part of President Trump’s response to this pandemic, our nation is in even bigger trouble than I imagined. Caputo, along with QAnon conspiracy followers, is turning our country into the laughingstock of the Western world.
Karl Gustaffson, Half Moon Bay
A solution for transit
Regarding “Expand transit system to unify Bay Area” (Letters, Sept. 14): Wow! I’ve lived here 78 years and have seldom read a better statement of the transit needs of this region. BART should have gone in to Marin and San Mateo counties years ago. The Bay Area is a transit ecosystem. Shortsightedness created a mess and there is no indication that any changes will take place any time soon. CalTrain, SMART, blah blah blah. Not likely that the poor decisions of the past will ever be fixed but it’s nice to see that some people actually understand the problem.
Ted Sullivan, Santa Rosa
Not just the president
Reading the letters makes me think people are missing the mark. People blame President Trump’s incompetence, his ignorance, and/or his selfabsorbed purposes for his mishandling of the pandemic, but he has not done all of this damage alone by any means, he has had a lot of help. Many people have used Trump in various ways to further their own interests here and abroad.
Note that a hedge fund manager recently opined that Trump gave (us) an incredible gift by keeping financial markets stable long enough for investors to reposition their portfolios and protect their wealth. Never mind the body count or the economic damage to Main Street and the working class. His supporters will still be here even if he is defeated in the coming election. They know that, and we must as well.
Terry Allan Clark, Bayside
Great learning hubs
After reading “‘Big, big relief ’: Learning hubs open to offer support for parents, kids” (Front Page, Sept. 15), I had a big, big smile. Current school closures not only prevent our kids from having daily interaction with their teachers, but also with each other. These city learning hubs will offer many students the opportunity for socialization, an important part of their overall development, as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Let’s face it, staring at a computer screen for hours and hours day after day is not going to make youngsters feel healthy or happy.
Lydia Del Santos, San Francisco
Impact of clearcutting
“Warming, forest growth converge in fires” (Front Page, Sept. 14) was an informative look at historical decisions about forest management that, along with climate breakdown, have set the stage for our current wildfire catastrophe. Of note, the 1910 decision by the Forest Service to “double down” on fire suppression, versus emulating the Native Americans practice of prescribed burns, turns out to have been disastrous and has resulted in excessive fuel buildup.
Morris observes, however, that even if prescribed burns are more widely used going forward, it will not solve the wildfire problem because many of the worst ones have not even involved the thick older forests of the Sierra Nevada. In fact, many of the worst fires (Camp, Creek and Bear, for example) were in areas of previously clearcut forests where same age, monoculture trees were planted to replace those logged. Forests ecologists have determined that these plantation” trees burn hotter and faster while dense, mature, biodiverse forests burn at the lowest densities.
Any discussion about changes in forest management must address the deleterious impact of clearcutting on wildfires. The time has come to ban this extreme logging practice if we are to prevent the state from going up in smoke.
Jennifer Normoyle, Hillsborough
Let the Earth heal
The article about high forest density gave us a good understanding about how our forests have many more trees, which due to warmer and drier winters, are fuel for ever more damaging firestorms. But the article does not mention another crucial factor: the damage caused by more than a century of indiscriminate logging and the removal of large trees. Very little natural forest remains on the West Coast. Logging has traditionally been followed by replanting in rows, which was merely replacing a natural forest with something more akin to a cornfield, with many small trees with shallow roots all competing for water in the dwindling snowpack.
Natural boggy areas in the woods that provided moisture were planted over with a commercial product. Of course fires were suppressed; we didn’t want them to burn wood that was meant for us to chop down and sell! So it was only a matter of time before wildfires consumed these damaged forests. Only when we stop seeing the planet as something from which we should extract as much as possible will the Earth stand a chance of healing.
Holly Hadlock, Mill Valley
GOP stuck as minority
Concerning “Representation of GOP” (Letters, Sept. 13): The excellent letter written by Michael Doud in response to John Diaz’s Sunday column regarding the Electoral College deserves to be commended. The GOP is a minority group because as stated, the majority of voters do not want a deregulated small government. Period.
Barbara Krings, Sacramento