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Homeless should
accept help or else
Re: “Shelter refusal may be a crime” (Page A1, March 7).
Mayor Mahan is spot on. If only the other mayors and local politicians in the Bay Area and Central Coast were brave enough to say, “Be responsible for yourself or else.”
In Santa Cruz County, they estimate nearly 2,000 people are living on the streets. Tossing public taxpayers’ money into a problem while the individual chooses not to seek help is counterproductive.
Time to enforce rules that govern our society or face the consequences.
Jeff Staben
Santa Cruz
Dog walkers need
to find their manners
What on earth is going on with folks leaving dog poo in little green bags by the side of streets.
I first saw this on trail hikes near Lake Tahoe, which is bad enough. But there are bags on my neighborhood streets regularly. The first one I saw, I picked up and discarded, but now there are more.
If you don’t want to scoop poo into bags, fine, but don’t scoop then abandon the bags for suckers like me to pick up. Get some manners.
Christine Russell
Los Gatos
Daylight saving time
downside is temporary
Re: “Experts warn of various downsides of daylight saving time” (Page A1, March 7).
I just do not agree on the downsides of daylight saving time that were pointed out in this article.
Yes, at the switch, there may be a few days to adjust, which the vast majority do. I don’t see how, after adjusting, daylight saving will still negatively impact sleep. The winter solstice has 9 hours and 35 minutes of daylight. The summer solstice has 14 hours and 44 minutes of daylight. That is a 5 hour and 10 minute difference in daylight. How does this not impact sleep? Also, on standard time, the sun would rise at 4:45 in the morning. Wouldn’t this negatively impact sleep? I just don’t buy that a one-hour time switch would negatively impact sleep in the long run.
Also, the article is not clear about the results of the 2018 vote. Sixty percent voted for year-round daylight saving time. Keep daylight saving time permanent.
William Ortendahl
Santa Clara
We must condemn
Trump’s Ukraine betrayal
So Donald Trump has now cut off all our military aid and intelligence for Ukraine. These actions make the Ukrainian people sitting ducks before Vladimir Putin’s raping, torturing and child-kidnapping army.
Why does Trump repeatedly side with the lawless invader and bully the invaded, our ally who we promised to defend? Why does Trump continue to side with dictator and war-criminal Putin over a courageous, democratically elected leader? Is Trump himself captured by the Russian disinformation campaign?
I am horrified and ashamed, and I imagine that the majority of Americans are, too. I doubt that most Trump voters want this unspeakable betrayal.
Please contact your representatives and the president to express your condemnation of the abandonment of a brave people who have too long suffered at Russian hands. Please stand with Ukraine.
Barbara Fukumoto
Sunnyvale
Fox News should be
constantly fact-checked
President Trump’s speech to Congress and the nation was covered by most major networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, NPR and the BBC.
I was pleased to see all but one fact checked everything President Trump was spewing. The one network that did not fact-check was the Fox News Channel. So, the lies continue to flow from Fox to millions of gullible Americans.
Democrats, it’s time to fact-check everything coming out of Fox. Hold them accountable to the truth.
John Beebe
San Martin
Does Rome foretell
United States’ decline?
Caligula and Nero were two of the more problematic emperors of Rome after the fall of the Republic and the rise of the rule by emperors.
Caligula was seen as a good leader for the first few years of his reign, then descended into madness and folly to be assassinated by his own guards. He was followed by Claudius, a more docile figure who was succeeded by Nero, an even more cunningly evil figure than Caligula.
The quality of the various absolute rulers of the then-expanding Roman Empire was, of course, leading to its eventual decline and destruction.
Why do I ponder these fascinating periods in human history? You guessed it: I’m looking at the spectacle of our last two leaders and wondering aloud if we’re repeating the trajectory of Rome’s historic fall. Yet we do have the benefit of studying this history and perhaps learning a bit.
Mike Caggiano
San Mateo
GOP version of U.S.
is not worth cheering
What is the USA the MAGA senators and representatives were chanting during President Trump’s address to Congress last week?
One where Vladimir Putin’s puppet, using his “brilliant” negotiating skills, seeks Ukraine’s total capitulation as a solution to the war, and then abandons Ukraine when Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the unfounded accusation by JD Vance, refuses to express thanks. Where Trump has splintered the U.S. relationship with its European allies, making Putin’s wildest dream come true. Where he provokes a senseless trade war with our North American neighbors. Where he has bestowed immense power to an unelected billionaire to drastically and arbitrarily cut Veterans Affairs’ and other agencies’ staff. Where 1,500 convicted insurrectionists go free. Where the federal government has no role in education.
The list goes on and on. This is a USA no one should be cheering on.
Kevin Cody
San Jose