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Oakland must increase homeless resources
I am from Oakland, and I have witnessed homelessness firsthand. When I worked at McDonald’s, I often saw individuals experiencing homelessness asking for food or money, sometimes to buy alcohol. From those experiences, I understood that homelessness has long existed for many different reasons, including substance use, lack of family support and financial hardship.
I am writing this letter to highlight a critical policy issue: the severe shortage of affordable housing, which is contributing to rising homelessness. This growing crisis is driven by rising rent and home prices, and stagnant wages.
Homelessness is very complex. There is no short answer to fix the problem. However, there can be more resources from the city to help individuals experiencing homelessness transition into stable living. I believe one potential solution would be to renovate vacant or underutilized buildings and transform them into single-room occupancy (SRO) housing, similar to developments seen in Chinatown.
Naomi BluntOakland
Reward drivers for reducing their speed
To deal with climate change and gas prices, we need a voluntary program that rewards those who agree to limit their speed on freeways to 55 mph.
Right lanes would be designated for use by drivers who qualify. Those who qualify would have their annual vehicle registration fee eliminated.
To qualify:
• The vehicle must be either gasoline-powered or a hybrid.
• The vehicle would have to spend a significant annual percentage of freeway driving (say 80 or 90%) at less than 55 mph.
• No credit would accrue when overall traffic flow averages less than 55 mph.
• The program would only be available to vehicles that are driven more than, say,15,000 miles a year.
We’re so good at AI these days, it seems entirely possible to design a program to meet those requirements. Even the manosphere would benefit with slowpokes confined to the right lane.
Jim WolpmanWalnut Creek
Unbalanced Trump should not represent US
I am so relieved that Donald Trump lived up to his moniker TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out), and didn’t commit mass murder on April 7. Like his previous ultimatum and the ones before it, TACO talks tough, then thankfully, he pulls back.
And so we wait for the next ultimatum — possibly within two weeks. That gives Congress, or the Cabinet, two weeks to depose this demented madman. Threatening genocide is a war crime. Changing his reasons daily, sometimes hourly, for starting this pointless military waste indicates mental instability. Destroying our country’s reputation and goodwill, alienating our allies and depleting our defense stockpiles is treason.
Impeachment or 25th Amendment? Whatever works.
Trump shouldn’t represent the United States. This crazed narcissist should not command our military forces.
Bruce JoffePiedmont
Trump’s words, deeds show no value for life
Now that Pope Leo has remarked that President Trump’s words that a “whole civilization will die tonight” have gone too far, we all need to take a big step back and look at the words Trump said. This is the president of the United States, threatening mass destruction of Iran. Think about that for a long, long time.
In addition, Trump is threatening to target power plants that both civilians and the military use. This is to get around the war crime of targeting civilian infrastructure. So we’ll bomb civilian water supplies and power plants? And how many civilians will die? Trump cares as much for their citizens as he cares for ours, which is that he doesn’t.
Hopefully, the irrational threats of the president will have subsided by now. And if he does commit war crimes, may he be held accountable by the International Criminal Court, because Republicans won’t.
Lisa RiggePleasanton
US must repair fractured NATO relationship
Re: “Europe done bowing and scraping to Trump” (Page A7, April 14).
A growing disillusionment is evident among European leaders with Donald Trump’s erratic conduct and his disregard for NATO alliances.
His inflammatory threats, lack of consultation and repeated insults have not only strained NATO relations but also undermined America’s reputation as a reliable partner. Leaders like Emmanuel Macron, Giorgia Meloni and Keir Starmer now openly resist his pressure, signaling a shift toward independence and diplomacy. It is vital that we recognize the consequences of our unilateral actions and encourage a return to respectful international dialogue. The world cannot afford reckless rhetoric and unpredictable leadership.
Now that Viktor Orban has lost the election in Hungary, the EU will be able to help Ukraine with funds and ammunition to ward off Russian drone attacks.
Mohan RajSan Jose