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Halting foreign aid hurts
U.S. as well as world
I am outraged that in a Friday night pronouncement, the Trump administration issued a “Stop-Work Order” for all U.S. foreign assistance programs. This action is catastrophic for communities around the world and undermines U.S. credibility internationally.
Overnight, people are losing access to lifesaving medicines and treatment. Prenatal care, safe childbirth and nutrition assistance for malnourished children will be compromised. HIV-positive people will lose access to medication and new infectious diseases like mpox can flourish and spread. Programs to combat human trafficking, to provide shelter for war victims, and for nutrition, water and sanitation will evaporate.
U.S. assistance has made America safer, stronger and more prosperous. Stopping all aid without warning takes the United States backward and will have devastating impacts around the world.
Susan Wright
Oakland
Apartment dwellers
need charging stations
I want to bring attention to the issue of apartments that don’t have electric vehicle charging stations. As a result of the lack of these chargers, apartment renters are forced to either charge in public places such as grocery stores or not own an EV.
If apartments were required to provide EV chargers it would help prevent global warming and incentivize renters to make the switch to electric vehicles. Charging at home would likely cost less, allow for charging overnight, and assist in the fight against climate change especially since almost two-thirds of California renters live in mid-sized to large apartment complexes.
In short, electric vehicle chargers would benefit all Californians by reducing carbon emissions.
Aaron Rudnick
Pleasant Hill
Trump’s call to clear
Gaza echoes dark past
Re: “Trump calls for clearing of Gaza” (Page A1, Jan. 27).
As I read this article, I was very disturbed by the words, “You’re talking about probably a million-and-a-half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.”
My first thought was if my sewer line is backed up it needs a “clean out.” My second thought was if my house had a roach infestation, it would need an exterminator “clean out.” And my third thought was if my house had a rat infestation, it would need a vermin “clean out.” I am sure that Trump knows exactly what the code words “clean out” mean. He probably wants Gaza “cleaned out” so he can build a Trump golf course and condominiums on the excellent Gaza beachfront property.
My disgust and loathing for Trump has just reached a newer, higher level.
Rocky Fort
San Lorenzo
Trump’s crypto embrace
harkens to age of kings
Re: “Trump’s crypto venture divides the industry he aims to support” (Page A4, Jan. 26).
Donald Trump has declared a currency with his name on it: $Trump.
In olden times, people were forced to use currency established by kings and emperors. This did not sit well with people because often the currency was established by fiat, meaning it had no intrinsic value. Has our nation finally returned to the age of kings?
It would seem so.
Kathryn Jordan
Berkeley
California farms should
brace for crackdown
I see that Donald Trump’s deportation plan is in full effect. I only hope that he knows what he is doing.
When I lived in Arizona, then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio did the same thing, and between the workers he deported and the ones who left the state of their own accord, when it came harvest time, there were no workers to pick the crops. Needless to say, the farmers ended up tilling the crops under and quite a few went bankrupt because of no income for that year.
Maybe the farmers and vineyard owners in California should think about taking out some kind of insurance to prevent that from happening here.
Bob Klink
Antioch
Executive orders reveal
Trump’s phony populism
As I observe how Donald Trump’s intention to reverse any programs that benefit us commoners but are not needed by his plutocrats, I am reminded of an old Turkish proverb:
“The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.”
Jim Adams
Livermore
Dictators hobble their
countries and people
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If Donald Trump could look past the glory of power, he would realize that the dictators he so eagerly wants to emulate are actually destroying their countries by subjugating their citizens.
The real shame of this lies in the fact that, of those who are in a position to draw the line and call a halt to his plans, not one has the spine to do so. They are cravenly aiding and abetting him while they throw their constituents to the wolves.
They will dither until it’s too late to change the outcome, and then God help us all.
Nancy L. Morris
Walnut Creek
