Letters: Name change | Wrong message | Copay accumulators | Net neutrality | Real history | ‘War on Hamas’

East Bay Times Letters to the Editor for May 15, 2024

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Port is wasting money
on airport name change

Re: “Oakland’s airport adopts its new name, sues San Francisco over ongoing dispute” (Page A1, May 11).

If the Port of Oakland is so keen on renaming Oakland International Airport maybe they should rename themselves the “Port of San Francisco Bay Oakland.”

They should save their budget fighting a trademark infringement lawsuit to promote Oakland airport as the Bay Area’s “affordable and on time” airport. Sorry, but even with the name change, it will always be called Oakland airport.

Malia Lehman
El Cerrito

Photo sends wrong
message on scouting

Re: “Scout-O-Rama shows best of what program has to offer” (Page B1, May 13).

Shame on the East Bay Times. Of all the things at the Scout-O-Rama showing children shooting is not the best of what the program offers.

Perhaps shooting is still part of scouting but using this large picture sends the wrong message in these times when shooting seems to be the answer to everything.

Diane Reeve
Benicia

State must rein in
copay accumulators

California is lagging on ensuring patients can receive the assistance they need to access medications.

Copay assistance is one critical resource, but often copay accumulators are used to block those discounts from helping patients by not allowing it to count toward a patient’s deductible and out-of-pocket maximums. The consequence for patients with chronic illness can lead to exacerbated symptoms, disease progression and even life-threatening complications without affordable access to medicine.

I serve as the Executive Director of Patients Come First in California because the mission is personal to me as an asthmatic and mother of children living with asthma. Patients Come First implores California to recognize the harm caused by copay accumulators and keep patient choice at the center of the discussion. California needs to re-emerge as the leader of patient-friendly reforms while allowing its patients to access innovative medical treatments to live healthier lives.

Julie Gill Shuffield
Executive Director, Patients Come First
Yuba City

Partisanship keeps
net neutrality uncertain

Re: “Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers” (May 9).

The article mentions the FCC decision to reinstate net neutrality rules was passed 3-2, split between Democrats and Republicans. Net neutrality should not be decided based purely on party lines. The primary concern of net neutrality should be maintaining the flow of diverse ideas. Unfortunately, when it comes to the extent of government regulation, this type of split inevitably occurs.

As the 2024 presidential election approaches, net neutrality will become an increasingly relevant issue. Depending on the election outcome, this FCC decision could quickly change, or the issue could be turned over to the states.

Desiree Luo
Fremont

Schools should teach
real history of Israel

“From the river to the sea” is chanted by students. They do not know that it means the elimination of Jews from Palestine. They do not know what Zionism means.

The history they are taught does not go back as far as 1948 when the Jews had to fight to the death to live in U.N.-sanctioned Israel. They were born after one could get on an airplane without having to take off their shoes. They ignore the Hamas murder, rape and torture of families on Oct. 7.

Hostages in Gaza are weapons of war for free Palestine? Since 1948 hundreds of terrorist attacks and invasions of Israel to “make Palestine free” are directed at civilians. “Genocide” has been hijacked to blame Jews for the terrorist tunnels under hospitals and schools where Hamas exploits pictures of injured children to justify their Oct. 7 exploits. Their schools need to teach history.

Norman Weiss
Orinda

‘War on Hamas’ doesn’t
reflect Israel’s intent

For over seven months, Israel has bombed residential apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques and other civilian targets in Gaza.

Israel has blockaded emergency shipments of food, water, medical supplies and fuel. Israel has assassinated humanitarian aid workers.

Israel claims to be fighting Hamas, but it obviously has neither the ability nor the desire to differentiate between Hamas members and Palestinian civilians.

So far, Israel has slaughtered at least 35,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children.

The phrase “war on Hamas” is a misnomer and the media should stop using it. Israel’s intentions are obvious to the entire world — the total destruction of Gaza and its inhabitants. The appropriate word is “genocide.”

Burt Bogardus
Danville