‘Inhumane Gestapo tactics perpetrated by ICE’ must be stopped, says Bee reader | Opinion
Keep alerting ICE raids
Whether true or not, we need to protect our co-workers, friends, neighbors and employees from these inhumane Gestapo tactics perpetrated by ICE.
Kudos to Council member (Miguel) Arias and anyone else who publicizes these illegal, unconstitutional raids.
Nancy Schultz, Fresno
Trump engages in terrorism
Masked, unmarked agents dressed for war kidnapping people off the street, then deporting them to parts unknown: ICE raids are exercises in terrorism.
The Trump administration is clearly using violence and threats of violence for political aims; no reasonable mind questions this. ICE agents are domestic, state-sponsored terrorists. We the people have the constitutional right to keep and bear arms to protect ourselves against this tyranny. We have the right to protect our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
If our municipal police and county sheriffs will not stand between the people and these domestic terrorists, we the people not only have the right to fill this gap, we have the duty to do so.
This letter is not a call to violence; rather, it is simply a definition of the terms before us. Resistance is the highest form of patriotism. We the people are called now to Resist.
James Redfern, Coalinga
High-speed rail costs
TV’s Bill Maher asked Gov. Newsom how many people would ride high-speed rail between Bakersfield and Merced. Newsom couldn’t answer, but said he was doing it for people of Central Valley even though they were behind the recall.
Facts:
1. Cost: $35 billion
2. Yearly maintenance: $1.75 million per mile ($300 million yearly).
3. Estimated 6.6 million one-way trips yearly (18,000 per day)
4. Current Amtrak usage yearly 700,000 (2,000 per day)
Just to cover the cost of maintenance, you would have to charge on average $90 per round trip. Very close to the state estimated $86. You also need to increase ridership by 900% (16,000 per day).
Does anybody really think this is going to happen to save 1 1/2 hours on trip between Bakersfield and Merced? What a waste of taxpayers’ money, both state and federal.
Ian Choudri (Rail Authority CEO) disputes all the negativity. I would too if I was getting paid $400,000 a year on a project that will never make money and will not even operate for another eight years
.Newsom will be gone in two years and will just wipe his hands of project. Pull the plug!
Mike Killus, Visalia
Animals deserve freedom, too
As we celebrate the Fourth of July with friends, festivities and flags, basking in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, let’s pause to consider those denied even the most basic freedoms — not just people, but animals.
Whether hunted in the wild, confined in laboratories, imprisoned in zoos or circuses, caught in traps or caged, raised and killed for their fur, skin. feathers, flesh, or by-products, animals have no freedom.
Consider farmed animals: Billions live in confinement, deprived of autonomy, dignity, and joy. Chickens never spread their wings, pigs never root in the soil, and cows never feel the sun on their bodies. They’re bred solely for exploitation — caged, mutilated, and killed, with no say in their fate.
If freedom is a value we truly cherish, shouldn’t it extend beyond our own species?
Choosing a plant-based lifestyle is one powerful way to put our values into action. On this Independence Day, let’s widen our circle of compassion. Liberation shouldn’t stop with humans — it should include every living being who longs to live freely.
If the roles were reversed, wouldn’t we want the same?
Will Finnibrec, Fresno
Don’t sell what’s ours
According to a recent article written by Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post, Sen. Rand Paul wants to sell off the electric vehicles intended for use by the United States Postal Service. These vehicles were paid for through the Inflation Reduction Act.
As a letter carrier for 33 years, I drive a vehicle which was manufactured in 1987, the year I graduated from high school. The long life vehicle, as it is called, was intended to be on the road for a little more than 20 years. So obviously, these vehicles, manufactured between 1987 and 1994, are well past their shelf life.
As one who lives in the San Joaquin Valley, I share the misfortune of breathing some of the dirtiest air in the country. The USPS operates the largest government vehicle fleet. Continuing the use of LLVs, which get roughly nine miles to the gallon, doesn’t help our air quality, nor is it efficient for the postal service’s bottom line. Nor were the LLVs meant for today’s delivery model, where parcels make up a higher percentage of deliveries.If Congress allocated money to modernize an aging postal fleet, then it should be used for that purpose. Period.
Eric Ellis, Fresno