Letters to the editor: Sept. 20, 2012
Bulldoze the berm
I’m sure the engineer’s motives were virtuous when they designed the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve parking lot, but building a dirt berm to hide the cars from Espola Road was not a good idea. If the parking lot could be seen from the street it would be much more difficult for thieves to break into vehicles.
To add more insult to the design, copper wire thieves have stripped the wire from the parking lot lighting.
Let’s bulldoze the berm.
Ted Sandall, Poway
Street fair disappoints
My family and I recently attended Sunday’s Poway Days Street Fair. We were amazed at the lack of attendance and more importantly — how few family activities were available. I would guess that 80 percent of the vendors were businesses. I counted at least three solar companies alone. Another 10-15 percent of the booths were political in nature. While there is nothing wrong with this, it would seem that this event would be better suited by calling it what it is: a business fair. We left after 10 minutes; there simply wasn’t anything for us to do.
It would be great if Poway had a traditional street fair with cultural events, family fun and of course, lots of food. I am sure many people worked very hard to put this event together, but I think it’s missing the mark and not representing Poway as well as it could.
David Smith, Poway
Time for drone oversight
Every Thursday afternoon at the General Atomics plant in Poway, home of the Predator drone, the San Diego Veterans For Peace and supporters are holding a demonstration. The goal is enlightening the public on the desperate need for oversight regarding drone technology.
The Predator drone is flying over 16 countries now, loosing weapons over Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. The kill statistics would be unacceptable in any conflict but are somehow overlooked because we are at war with terrorism. Known civilians: 500-plus, known children: 65-plus, known terrorists: 25. The president has authorized the CIA to kill people with the Predator if they only suspect that they are involved in terrorist activity, clearly in violation of international law. But still the Predator kills someone about every four days. It’s hard to believe that our president has the power to kill people without authorization from Congress, or oversight of any kind. This fact should deeply worry all Americans.
On our borders Homeland Security is flying 20 of the Predator drones, and if local law enforcement wants them to surveil someone’s private property, Homeland Security is happy to help out. Video or sensor data can be collected and shared with “select” law enforcement and government officials. Clearly illegal is the Predator’s surveillance of private property here in the U.S., only it’s taken in secret and controlled by no judiciary oversight.
We can all participate in making judicial oversight happen by calling our congressmen and demanding drone legislation that protects American liberties and the lives of so many innocents overseas.
Dave Patterson, Ramona
Related posts:
- Copper thieves hit Poway Veterans Park
- Letters to the Editor – Issue of Aug. 2, 2012
- Letters to the Editor: Issue of Aug. 9, 2012
Short URL: http://www.pomeradonews.com/?p=28770
Posted by Staff
on Sep 19 2012. Filed under Letters to the Editor, Opinion.
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Ted, 95% of the people who had their cars broke into, admitted leaving valuables in plain sight. Perhaps a better idea would be to leave them at home, or put them in the trunk. Blue Sky is a hidden oasis, not a store front parking lot.
Concerning the street fair, why did they do away with the kids stuff some fairs ago? Gone are the llama and pony rides and other kid-related activities. Remember that this is put on by the poway chamber, as far as I remember, you got a substantial discount for a booth at the fair if you were a chamber member. This puts home and do-it-yourself mom and pops at a disadvantage and keeps their numbers down. The 2nd street fair of the year also used to be later in the year (november) when it was cooler but was moved to september for poway days in 2011. I'll admit that I spend less time there than I used to because there are fewer unique handcrafted items being sold and more and more businesses trying to sell you windows and solar power.