Thursday’s Letters to the Editor

Go back to court

EDITOR: It is time for Sonoma County to push back on court orders that allow camping on public spaces unless we provide free housing and free storage of personal items. Let’s go through the court system again and get the misguided Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Martin v. Boise overturned. I doubt the new Supreme Court majority would agree that there is a constitutional right to free camping on public land or free housing and storage at taxpayers’ expense.

JIM HAYES

Rohnert Park

Keeping parks clean

EDITOR: I am starting to grumble among my fellow dog walkers at Franklin Park in Santa Rosa, and find I am not alone in my irritation. We religiously pick up after our dogs, which keeps the field clean for soccer players. But the kids practicing leave recyclable cans and bottles as well as trash at the sides where they sit, and viewers in the stands leave the same all about. We are considering boycotting the poop pickup to see if that would make a difference.

Maybe city parks could put recycling containers at the seating area and each trash can site in the picnic areas as well. On the weekends, the cans are filled with what can be recycled. Isn’t it past time we all know about this?

SHAWN GUTSHALL

Santa Rosa

A pointless trip

EDITOR: I do not see the purpose of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan. I think the statement was that she was confirming U.S. support of Taiwan against any attack. First, she is not the president, so that statement is meaningless, and second, U.S. support has been there for more than 75 years. It does not need any further confirmation. The only apparent reason is to “poke the tiger,” i.e., China. China responded by conducting military exercises around the shores of Taiwan.

There was no talk (or need to talk) about trade, so the whole event was jingoism, saber rattling. Pointless. It brought the rest of the world a bit nearer to the edge of their seats. Ukraine is already doing that. Never mind politicians’ words, the U.S. is not the slightly bit interested in peace. We are constantly preparing for war, not with defense but with aggression.

IAN ELLIOTT

Sebastopol

Moral complexities

EDITOR: Kudos for Emily Wilder’s July 31 feature on religions and abortion (“Not so simple”). Wilder’s interviews with representatives of Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions provide illuminating insights for the moral complexities of today’s post-Roe world.

The representatives universally expressed respect and compassion for those struggling to reconcile conflicting moral concerns. Notably, for this Vatican II Catholic, each representative affirmed that discerning the way forward is rarely clearly cut. Likewise, each confirmed that a wide spectrum of factors may contribute to a decision, including, for example, the particular tradition’s approach to the entire spectrum of life issues. Importantly, each emphasized the importance of acknowledging and respecting the individual’s conscience and lived experience, as well as doctrine. No representative categorically dismissed abortion.

Though no Roman Catholic representative was interviewed, the church’s apparently across-the-board anti-abortion pronouncements are well known, as politicized by some bishops who have dared to condemn as “pro-abortion” politicians with whom they disagree. Apart from their having impermissibly entered the political arena, can these bishops realistically expect their “pro-life” position to be taken seriously, especially by their flocks, when their silence on guns and capital punishment is deafening?

KATHLEEN WALSH BEIRNE

Santa Rosa

What’s in a word?

EDITOR: What is the big deal with wrestlers at the fair using the term “Midget Wrestling Warriors”? Being referred to as midgets doesn’t seem to offend them. It is their prerogative to be called what they are comfortable with and what brings in the crowds. They are entertainers. They are athletes. The “rasslers” have trained many hours to learn a variety of moves, holds, falls and how to avoid serious injuries. They develop a character the fans like (heroes) or despise (heels). It is a job and obviously one that they enjoy.

Robert Broom said calling them midgets was denigrating (“Exploitation at the fair,” Letters, Aug. 7). He can call them “little people,” “people of small stature,” etc. But, at the end of the day, it is their call.

RONALD CROWLEY

Cotati

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