The left

As evidenced by David Gooler’s letter (May 21), the “progressive” left engages in epithets instead of dealing with the merits of criticism of the lockdowns. It is not true that the criticism constitutes “constant disparagement of any efforts to combat the terrible toil of COVID.” Nor does anyone “overlook” the tragic deaths from COVID. Nor does anyone deny the reality of the epidemic.

The issues include the (1) enormity of the lockdowns and the societal costs associated with them; (2) arbitrariness of decisions as to closures and the disgusting indifference to religion; (3) censorship of dissenting views in the “scientific” community and elsewhere; (4) lack of honesty about masks and the appalling spectacle of the thousands of “scientists” who said they could be dispensed with for a political protest; (5) suppression of therapeutics; (6) staggering harm to businesses; (6) dishonesty regarding the vaccine regimen; (7) staggering harm done to our youth; (8) etc. The political and scientific communities have not been transparent or trustworthy.

I suspect Mr. Gooler detests Florida and Sweden, did not lose his job, was not prevented from visiting a dying loved one in the hospital and does not have kids whose lives have been adversely affected. We could have had a policy of sequestering the elderly and those with co-morbidities, with greater freedom for everyone else. As for “risk,” the politicians and “scientists” never adequately evaluated or disclosed relative risk. Mr. Gooler doubtless drives a car and takes a “risk” that others will harm him, and society accepts many thousands of deaths each year. Contrary to former Governor Cuomo, we cannot structure society to “prevent one death,” because that is impossible and there are countervailing costs which need to be taken into account.

— Rich Mason, Altadena

Otherworldly

I appreciated your coverage of the SETI conference. It would have been good to include a brief discussion of the “Drake Equation,” since this was the first serious treatment of the probability of extraterrestrial contact. It is significant because that probability is strongly driven by how long a technological society can exist without destroying itself. Most poignant given the current state of world affairs.

— Tim Woodington, Glendora

The governor

Gov. Gavin Newsom may see an opportunity to get things done on housing, but I see new opportunities for corruption. Some projects being more equal than others will be able to bypass some of the rules and we all know how those decisions are made.

— James King, Covina

Metro safety

Re “LA Metro OKs more security spending” (May 26):

I took the Gold Line from Pasadena then transferred to another train to Long Beach. The seats on the trains were filthy and I felt so unsafe that I took an Uber back to Pasadena.

Seats on trains in Asia are stainless steel. Seats on San Francisco Muni buses are hard plastic. All easy to clean and disinfect. On Metro trains, the seats are covered in fabric and filthy.

Mentally challenged passengers with no shirt and in bare feet are walking up and down the cars yelling at passengers, smoking and throwing cigarette butts at passengers. Not a single Metro cop or employee in sight.

Why would I want to risk my safety and take another ride on a Metro train?

There should be a Metro cop on every train who is actually walking and patrolling the cars.

— Andrew Ko, San Marino

Supreme ethics

The Supreme Court has a serious ethics problem, and the latest revelations about Clarence Thomas should be alarming to every American. For 20 years, Thomas has accepted high-end, all-expense-paid vacations around the world from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. He also sold three properties to the billionaire and never reported it on his financial disclosures. Supreme Court decisions impact every facet of American life. A court with no legitimacy only hurts the American people. It’s time for Congress to pass a Supreme Court code of ethics to bring legitimacy back to the court.

— Yolanda Berumen, Baldwin Park