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No guarantees, nospending cuts, no on A
Re: “Vote no on Measure A sales tax hike” (Page A12, Oct. 19).
Has the Mercury News gone crazy? I read the editorial, and it’s hard to believe that the liberal Mercury News opposes a tax increase.
I agree with the editorial. Our country is $38 trillion in debt. There will be more reductions in federal aid — and there should be. There will never be enough taxes to make up for what the Mercury News says will be a $223 million federal cut. The county politicians have done nothing to reduce expenditures, and they’ve been negligent in not telling us the truth. It’s obscene that County Executive James Williams would have asked for more in Measure A had there not been legal limits. It’s even worse that Measure A is a general tax, meaning the county can use the funds from this tax for almost anything they choose.
Measure A is an insult to our intelligence. Vote no.
Thomas BakerSan Jose
Making homes fireresilient a priority
Re: “One simple thing most of us fail to do to protect homes against wildfires” (Oct. 19).
Thank you for outlining steps homeowners can take to reduce wildfire risk. I agree with the recommendations presented, but it’s also critically important to make homes less flammable.
Fire-resistant roofs, noncombustible siding, double-paned windows and appropriately sized vents are crucial defenses against embers.
A recent UC Berkeley study found that clearing flammable vegetation within a 5-foot perimeter around homes (Zone 0) can reduce structure losses by 17%. When combined with defensible space and structural hardening, this reduction can approach 50%. The study also emphasizes that collective action is crucial; individual household efforts have minimal impact, while communitywide participation yields the best results.
In fire-prone areas, all residents must focus on defensible space and structural resilience to ensure community safety. Since necessary home upgrades can be too expensive for some, we should urge local governments, state officials and insurance companies to both support these upgrades and make them more affordable.
Jennifer NormoyleHillsborough
AWS outage exposestech’s vulnerability
Re: “Amazon cloud outage felt worldwide” (Page C7, Oct. 21).
This week’s AWS outage exposed a terrifying truth: America’s digital infrastructure is a house of cards. One server farm hiccups in Virginia and suddenly, hospitals, banks and public services across the nation go dark. That isn’t innovation — it’s negligence disguised as progress.
For years, Big Tech has stretched its systems to chase profit, stacking new services on aging foundations and calling it the “cloud.” Yet there are no federal standards, no audits and no agency charged with protecting the backbone of our digital life.
We regulate air travel, power grids and nuclear plants — but not the data centers running our defense networks and emergency systems. When the next collapse comes, it won’t be a cyberattack — it will be our own complacency.
Congress must act now: Classify cloud providers as critical infrastructure, impose oversight and demand transparency. Until then, we’re one outage away from a national digital emergency. Except Congress is out to lunch.
Raymond GrzanMorgan Hill
Don’t count on GOPto save pricey ACA
The Affordable Care Act is not affordable and never will be.
While rising health care costs, insurer withdrawals, increased benefits, hospital mergers and inflation have contributed to higher premiums, the main issue is the structure of the plan. Like all health care plans, the more people who pay premiums, the less the cost. The ACA was based on younger, healthier people joining. Not enough did, and the plan was doomed from the start.
It is not fair for the taxpayers to pay the freight. It will take a Herculean effort to save it. Don’t count on the Republicans caving.
Frank NicolettiSan Jose
We must resist Trumpfor our children’s sake
Re: “Judge blocks rash of layoffs” (Page A1, Oct. 20).
Once again, Donald Trump goes after the vulnerable. He is trying to dismantle the Department of Special Education during the shutdown.
Of course, the children who benefit from SPED are not able to defend themselves, so this is another way that Trump can fulfill his MADA goal (Make America Dumb Again). I taught school before the 1975 special education laws were passed, and witnessed that many children were not served, did not learn to read and left school with no skills to be independent.
We cannot let this wannabe dictator take education away from our children. We must keep fighting for our children.
Nancy ReddingSan Jose