Page 6 - Sonoma County Gazette 3-19

LETTERS cont’d from. page 5
And now comes the strange
part: District Attorney Jill Ravitch and Deputy District Attorney
Robert Waner have taken no action despite (1) the victims’ submission
of full medical reports and actual photographs of their injuries, and (2) a police recording of the phone call
in which the young witness reports, in real time, the violence taking place right before her very eyes. And how does Ms. Ravitch respond to this evidence? “Evidence?” she shrugs, “What evidence?” (I paraphrase). Apparently, at some unidentified moment in the past, crime photographs ceased to be evidence. Another major problem, Ms.
Ravitch says, is that she is unable to “corroborate the victims’ statement.” So why does she refer to “the victims” if she has no evidence that they were victims? And how can she be “aware of the 14 year old’s [sic] statement” but claim, “We do not have an eyewitness.” So what was the 14-year-old girl if not an eyewitness? Furthermore, according to Ms. Ravitch, “the suspect has witnesses to corroborate his statement.” Let’s get this straight: There never was a “the suspect.” All four members of the family participated in the assault, and if one is a suspect, all are suspects. It would appear that District Attorney Ravitch is not even familiar with the details of the violent attack that has terrified an entire neighborhood, yet she reassures us about “the work that we have put in to try to build a case.”
Unfortunately, I am not at liberty now to say how I learned about Ms. Ravitch’s comments. Full disclosure may depend upon how many citizens question Ms. Ravitch about her conduct of this case.
Green New Deal
Today I joined a group of other activists to present Congressman Mike Thompson the gathered petitions for a Green New Deal. It’s really disturbing that Democrats are going to such great lengths to not mention that the Green Party has been pushing a solid Green New Deal for a decade that they (Democrats)
are starting with an outline, with their media cohorts trumpeting that it will take years to formulate the full plan. This is a red flag. If this was truly about caring, they would be moving forward with the Green Party version, but instead they’re going to drag this out so that they can pretend the Green
Party wasn’t involved. We don’t have time for this. The minorities and working families we are trying to advocate for don’t have time for this.
jobs that can support a family. We are destroying our people, as well as our planet.
you’re going to reduce this amazing Jeffersonian Democract ‘new blood’ to initials, at least say them correctly.
Ronald Hennessey Santa Rosa
We are also not being told that the #1 polluter in the world is the U.S. military. U.S. hegemony in Africa, Asia, Central and South America
are not just killing people who were never a threat to the United States and destabilizing governments in places we have no business in being, it is literally destroying our planet.
AOC Racism
Have the respect and cultural sensitivity to say “Ah-O-Cey”. And, if you think this racism is limited to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, ask California Senator Harris how to say her first name.
I went there with the intention
of calling Mr. Thompson out for
his pro-military votes and for anti- environmental votes such as voting three times to weaken the Clean Air Act. When we got there, we realized he wasn’t there, so we spoke to his staff instead. I left him A) what I had written to read to him B) Another copy of my letter challenging him to debate and C) A copy of the Green Party version of the Green New Deal. Here is a copy of what I had intended to say to him:
Mr. Thompson, you have voted for this destruction every time you have voted to increase military spending. You have also voted to pave Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, to erode the Clean Water Act (several times) and to encourage hunting trophies from threatened species, such as the polar bear or African elephant.
In Spanish, AOC is pronounced, “Ah-O-Cey”. Far different than
the English version. If you said the Congresswoman’s initials in English to one of her constituents who only speaks Spanish (and, remember
“Today our planet is in grave danger, not just from nuclear war,
but it is being destroyed as we speak by deforestation, oil drilling, not
just in the middle east but in the
Gulf of Mexico, South America and Canada. Fracking is causing millions of pounds of poisonous acids to
be dumped into our ground, and therefore water supplies. Meanwhile Flint, MI’s water supply has been poisoned for 5 years, while Nestle has been allowed to take public water from nearby Lake Michigan and sell it back to the public for billions of dollars in profits.
WE are the threatened species
now, Mr. Thompson. Our planet
will recover, with or without human beings, but we ARE making it uninhabitable. And it will remain so for thousands of years if we don’t do something fast. This has not just been allowed to happen, by the federal government, it has been encouraged. And this has been a bi-partisan effort, which has gotten worse over the last few decades. The construction of more and more weapons, for sales to the Saudis or to Israel, has only made things worse.
that one of America’s greatnesses is that we, unlike every other country, have no official language) that constituent would have no idea who you were talking about. Say her initials correctly, in Spanish, it is likely her constituent will light up in understanding. At that point you have made our Country and Democracy stronger.
Our best protection against the poisoning of our atmosphere are our rain forests, which convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. But we are deforesting our rain forests, just as sure as we are deforesting Angwin. The rain forests are being destroyed, not just for agricultural products such as palm oil, but also for animal farming, which is another major source of our planet’s woes. Animal farming accounts for a massive amount of our planet’s pollution, but we, the people, are simply not being told this.
It’s not too late to do the right thing, Mr. Thompson, but it is getting down to the wire. I urge you to support the Green Party version of the Green New Deal, which is very detailed. Thank you. “
What I’m curious about, what drives this Country to distraction, is the reason why English speaking media have adopted “Aayy-Oooh- Cey”? Answer: Racism.
These are just a few of the issues that I thought we should discuss when I first challenged you to debate in 2018, during the primary, but most recently in a letter that was sent to all four of your offices and printed in at least four of this district’s newspapers. Some might think you have positions that you cannot defend.
Second, audio/visual media’s approval of using AOC, and pronouncing it in English, nakedly shows institutional racism is part
of our Country. Even media stars of color, women and Spanish speakers on English TV, who know better and will call out any hint of racism, even in circumstances when none exists, pronounce Ocasio-Cortez’ initials incorrectly. Happily, most Spanish language broadcasts use the Spanish initials.
If you want to read the Green Party version click here: gp.org/green_ new_deal
Is the diminution of her name
just coincidental, or because
she is a woman? Of color. Are broadcasters frustrated by the correct pronunciation of her name, or are they dismissing Spanish as a valid American language? Are broadcasters pronouncing her initials in English because it’s ‘easier’, or, do they think it unimportant to pronounce her initials in Spanish?
Jasno Kishineff
Media’s witty, catchy denigration of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ name to the initials “AOC” clearly indicates how deeply embedded racism is in our National fabric, our National DNA. This opinion from a Citizen who agrees with most of the Congresswoman’s criticisms of our shared Country (heck, we were even both born in the Bronx), but vehemently disagrees with her plan to get there.
Chris Berkheimer
LETTERS: email to: vesta@sonic.net
COMMENT on our website articles: LOGIN to our website @ SonomaCounty Gazette.com
We do NOT have cookies and DO NOT sell your data!
6 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3/19
As all of this destruction has been occurring, the poor and working classes in this nation are struggling more and more because federal spending into the economy always seems to favor the very wealthy
First, AOC, is usually pronounced in audio/visual media in English sounding letters -
or more military spending, which
is still favoring the very wealthy. Government assistance, social security and veteran’s benefits need a raise. And the people need jobs. Not part time, low benefit jobs, but good
“Aayy-Oooh-Cee”. Ms. Ocasio- Cortez is fluent in at least two languages, English & Spanish. Spanish is the American language she uses most. Consequently, if