Reports: Security forces kill 34 protesters

Myanmar security forces dramatically escalated their crackdown on protests against last month’s coup, killing at least 34 protesters Wednesday in several cities, according to accounts on social media and local news reports compiled by a data analyst.

That is highest daily death toll since the Feb. 1 takeover, exceeding the 18 that the U.N. Human Rights Office said were killed on Sunday, and could galvanize the international community, which has responded fitfully so far to the violence. Videos from Wednesday also showed security forces firing slingshots at demonstrators, chasing them down and even brutally beating an ambulance crew.

California must guard against others’ reopenings

The governors of select states in our union have made dramatically irresponsible proposals to roll back common-sense steps to combat COVID-19. While we as Californians have limited direct capacity to influence their local regulations, it is clear our elected officials must take steps to protect our state’s citizens and the hard-fought gains in case count we have won through shared sacrifice over the past several months.

Our elected officials in Sacramento should immediately make clear that travel restrictions to and from states that won’t abide by the most simple of safety precautions (e.g., mask guidance) shall take effect and deny those irrational actors and their constituents access to travel to California and interact with the nation’s largest state-level economy.

— Nick Collins, Menlo Park

Vaccine effort discounts patients’ limitations

Our vaccination plan reminds me of Hurricane Katrina. Even though the residents of New Orleans were told to evacuate, many suffered and died because they did not have the means to evacuate.

Similarly, even though many of my friends are eligible and want to be vaccinated, they have many obstacles in their way. Some are older and are not proficient at the internet or able to wait on hold for hours to get an appointment. Many times the appointments are across the county and, if they go, they wait in line for hours. I can imagine the same holds true for minority groups and people who have to work and who do not have the skills or the time to get an appointment or get vaccinated.

Similar to what happened during Katrina, the vaccination planners have not considered the abilities and resources of many of the citizens.

— Joseph Rich, Santa Clara

Vote-by-mail system could solve EDD fraud

About $11 billion to as much as $30 billion was lost to fraud in unemployment claims. Many people are now worried about fraud in these coronavirus stimulus claims. How about we use our mail-in voting infrastructure to disburse the stimulus checks?

Claimants can sign and mail in their claim application just like they voted and in return they will get a check mailed to their registered address. We don’t need to worry about fraudsters filling in bogus addresses as our voter registration system has already verified that all addresses are genuine. As a bonus, anyone who has not yet registered to vote will also register for that.

— Sumitro Samaddar

Cupertino

Biden taking wrong path with airstrikes

I am very disappointed that President Biden, who ran on ending wars and not escalating conflicts in the Middle East, authorized a round of airstrikes in Syria last week. The bombed facilities were used by Iranbacked militia, but such a raid is not going to accomplish anything, especially if we want to restart nuclear talks with Iran.

The public should be outraged. I am worried that Biden’s national security team is using force when they could be using other means. Time and time again, history has shown that violence begets violence.

— Barbara Kyser, Los Altos

Asian community needs support in face of crimes

I felt compelled to respond to the recurrent issue associated with hate crimes against the Asian community. In entering a familiar Bay Area neighborhood, I witnessed an active police scene where San Francisco police were swarming the area to serve a search warrant. Eventually, I discovered that the assailant was involved in the fatal attack of the 84-yearold man. It’s truly shocking how the Asian community has faced thousands of attacks that haven’t received appropriate media coverage. Support, activism and protection of the Asian community are needed.

As a resident of San Bruno, it’s truly inspiring how many youths from the Peninsula gathered in resistance to anti-Asian hate crimes (“Rally to halt hate crimes, violence against Asians draws hundreds,” Page B1, March 1). Many protective actions have been taken by Asian community members as a result of being targeted for nearly a year, therefore, it’s necessary to continue advocating and speaking out in hopes of change.

— Tanya Daley, San Bruno

We must come together to support single-payer

The editorial “Single-payer bill is a big waste of legislators’ time” (Page A6, Feb. 23) declares AB 1400, the California singlepayer bill, a waste of time, citing the lack of a financial plan.

On the contrary, the bill proposes an affordable framework by utilizing existing funds — insurance premiums plus costsharing — and a federal waiver to fund the program. Furthermore, the bill prohibits implementation until financing is established, the plan for which may arrive in a companion bill similar to that of SB 840 in 2005.

We know single-payer works. Authored by Christopher Cai et al., a UC San Francisco analysis of 22 different studies found a consistent pattern of affordability in a single-payer system, with 19 of the studies finding savings within the first year.

Single-payer is in California’s best interest. Thus, it is in all of our interests that we come to the table and voice any concerns in partnership, not in opposition.

— Meriam Ahmad, San Jose