Letters for February 28, 2002

George “Orwell” Bush

Re “Collateral Death” (SN&R Editorial, February 14):

You are absolutely right in putting a human face on the civilian casualties of the U.S. “war on terror” in Afghanistan. “Like unseen ghosts, their deaths don’t seem to matter and their pictures don’t make the front page,” you say.

The mainstream media has whipped up a hysterical frenzy among the population to constantly remind us about the 2,800 civilians that died in New York City on September 11, as well as members of the U.S. armed forces who died on foreign soil.

Yet I haven’t yet seen Marc Herold’s report on civilian casualties in the mainstream media, including the Sacramento Bee, S.F. Chronicle or any of the local radio and TV stations. As you point out, “Herold’s report has received extensive coverage in the European media, but almost no attention from American media … ” His estimate of between 3,300 and 3,900 civilians killed by U.S. weapons would well exceed the total amount of people killed in the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the September 11 attacks!

Unless increasing numbers of people join the peace and social justice movement to oppose Bush’s “war on terror,” more innocent civilians will die as the Bush administration pursues its Orwellian campaign to create a state of permanent war by taking on Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the so-called “axis of evil.”

There is a real “axis of evil” in the world, but it’s not these “rogue states.” The real “axis of evil” in the world now is the Bush administration, the CIA and their corporate backers, whose main goal is to crush any movements that threaten U.S. hegemony, the spread of corporate globalization and sweatshops, and easy access to fossil fuel.

You are also correct in pointing out, “We aren’t saying the deaths were intentional because that would be nearly impossible to prove at this point.” However, it’s important to realize that “state terror”—the targeting of civilians in order to crush movements and governments that differ with U.S. goals—has long been a strategy of U.S. foreign policy. Witness the millions of civilians killed through U.S. military intervention in Vietnam, Laos, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iraq and Yugoslavia. As previous articles you have published explained, an estimated 5,000 Iraqi civilians die each month as a result of U.S. economic sanctions, a continuation of the death and destruction of the 1991 Gulf War.

Thanks for publishing the results of Herold’s extensive dossier of civilian casualties, as well as his university Web site. Hopefully, increasing numbers of the public will become outraged over this latest big media cover-up and begin demanding more accountability from the media and their elected representatives.

Dan Bacher
Sacramento

Story hits home

Re “No Pain, No Gain” by Chrisanne Beckner (SN&R News, February 14):

Thank you for exposing the problems associated with the company that is installing fiber optic cable in Sacramento. I had similar problems in my neighborhood.

When WINfirst contractors came into my South Natomas neighborhood last summer, I thought they would get their work done and leave in a couple of weeks. Three months later, with their army of construction equipment and workers still camped out in my neighborhood, I became annoyed.

One morning on the way to work, I was stopped by two of the workmen. Speaking broken English, they asked if they could install some kind of cable access device called a “flower pot” in my front yard. I said no, I have a small front yard and am concerned about what it would look like. When I returned home that evening, they had installed it anyway! Fortunately, after several calls to WINfirst, they removed the device from my front yard and installed it in the sidewalk where it looks like a small manhole cover. Why didn’t they just do that in the first place? Other construction problems in my neighborhood included spray paint markings on the street that look like graffiti and numerous unsightly patches in the street.

Your article insightfully suggests that this build-out may be so expensive and full of screw-ups that WINfirst could conceivably fail. Frankly, my telephone, cable TV and Internet service are fine, so I haven’t responded to their sales pitch to sign up.

Gregg Wardrip
Sacramento

He’s against us

Re “The Red(neck) Scare” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R News, February 14):

I welcome the competition from Bill Camp and his friends for the seats on the County Democratic Central Committee.

Second, the article seems to suggest that I’m anti-labor. I would like to make it clear that I’m pro-labor. I’m a job steward and an elected General Council Delegate with the California State Employees Association. I authored a resolution that put the California Democratic Party on record as supporting a pay raise for state workers when former Governor Wilson would not give us one for four years.

In the late 1980s as a member of the Sacramento Teacher’s Association, I was the site captain during a five-day strike for better pay and working conditions.

The quote “You’re either with us, or you’re against us” was made in reference to one of the incumbents who wanted to be on Bill Camp’s slate of candidates and on the incumbents’ slate of candidates. I was reporting that the incumbents’ felt that you can’t be on the challenger’s slate and the incumbents’ slate. You needed to make a choice. That’s what you do when you get elected. Make informed choices that will make Sacramento a better place for all people.

Harold Fong
Sacramento

Changing the mold

Re “When Good Mold Goes Bad” by Stephen James (SN&R Cover, February 7):

On behalf of the members of the California Apartment Association, I am writing to tell you that we appreciate the focus on mold by the Sacramento News & Review. Because of the ubiquitous nature of mold, it is certainly having a negative impact on the health of some homeowners and tenants, and it is severely damaging California’s housing supply.

We agree that mold is a serious matter that we must address. We don’t agree, however, with your inappropriate statement that “lawmakers” put off any real action on this issue nor do we agree with your offhanded suggestion that they “forgot to fund the task force.” These statements are inaccurate.

In particular, Senator Deborah Ortiz demonstrated her leadership and vision when she responded to her constituents with the introduction of Senate Bill 732. With this legislation, she provided a comprehensive framework through which the state of California can take a responsible approach to solving this problem. California’s Governor Gray Davis also did the right thing by signing the bill. Everyone who worked on this legislation (owner and tenant groups alike) understood the importance of balancing the needs of people who have mold-related illnesses with the need to preserve California’s housing supply.

We ask that you simultaneously play a responsible role in helping to eliminate the irrational fears about mold. It is important that we work together to educate property owners and tenants about mold, separating the myth from the reality. Our talents must be used to help individuals like Alex White. If we, however, use our resources to ignite irrational political action and expensive lawsuits we only exacerbate California’s housing crisis.

Despite California’s budgetary challenges, the many supporters of SB 732, including the California Apartment Association (CAA), are now working to find resources to implement this law. At the same time CAA has worked with government agencies like the California Department of Health Services and the Environmenal Protection Agency to develop guidelines to help property owners and tenants identify and eliminate mold hazards from our indoor environments.

Thomas Bannon
via e-mail

Stephen James replies:

I’m not sure how Bannon can “disagree” with or call “inaccurate” the fact that the state budget proposed by the governor in January did not provide the funding needed to convene the mold task force. And he appears to concede the point in his statement that “the many supporters of SB 732, including the California Apartment Association, are now working to find resources to implement this law,” since implementation of the law begins with the task force developing permissible exposure limits for mold. But it is also interesting to note that SB 732 requires that all “task force members shall serve on a voluntary basis and shall be responsible for any costs associated with their participation in the task force,” implying that the costs to the government should be minimal. Yet Sandy McNeel of the California Department of Health Services states that “Calling the task force will require resources we don’t have at this point,” in reference to the lack of funding in the current budget.

Bannon is correct that the mold issue will inevitably exacerbate California’s housing crisis, another reason why promptly convening the task force is an essential first step in addressing the problem.