Letters: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not spouting conspiracy theories
A letter in response disparages RFK Jr. with the conversation-stopping, thought-arresting term “conspiracy theory,” inimical to critical inquiry.
Abundant evidence corroborates the assertion that Sirhan Sirhan’s bullets did not kill Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, including Lisa Pease’s meticulously documented book, “A Lie Too Big to Fail: The Real History of the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.”
Whose interests were served by extinguishing this popular, principled presidential candidate?
As to RFK Jr.’s lifelong public interest advocacy, the left praised him back when he took on Monsanto and other corporations that pollute rivers and the food supply.
Oddly enough, once he started challenging abuses by pharmaceutical giants, he’s dismissed as an anti-vaxxer (another conversation-stopping, thought-arresting term).
His core values haven’t changed, as his well-referenced 2021 book “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health” demonstrates. Big Pharma is simply doing a better job of indoctrinating otherwise intelligent social justice promoters.
Marilyn Langlois, Richmond
End domestic violence
Regarding “The crime we aren’t talking about” (Open Forum, Dec. 10): The essay by Melissa Doiron-Min on domestic violence was gut-wrenching and appalling.
This long-standing and seldom acknowledged epidemic should be at the front end of conversation concerning violence in the U.S. and around the world.
The vast amount of the abuse of women and children is committed by men who use their physical capacity and social dominance to control women’s lives so abusively.
It is not surprising that this power is asserted in the control of women’s reproductive lives as well. Men, who have collectively never had to experience even one second of pregnancy, are always at the forefront of creating laws and social norms depriving woman’s reproductive agency.
Millions of women have suffered or died over the years as a result of unsafe illegal abortions or from the experience of pregnancy itself. Millions of other women have anguished over having their reproductive choices determined by the society or the men in their lives.
Recent laws in Texas and other states can be characterized in one way that clarifies the role of male violence in women’s lives: They in effect protect the paternity rights of men who rape women into pregnancy. Disgusting.
John Stedman, San Francisco
Parklets need rules
Regarding “Bureaucracy may kill popular parklets” (Front Page, Dec. 8): I’m a big fan of outdoor cafes and love the idea of parklets.
However, many parklets are violating Americans with Disabilities Act standards and making access difficult or impossible for people with disabilities, both inside and around them.
Disabilities weren’t suspended for the pandemic.
Furthermore, many parklets don’t seem well-ventilated, especially when plastic siding meets wooden roof without any space between them, as is often the case. That makes utilizing parklets more risky than eating indoors, where there are at least some ventilation standards.
Regulation of restaurant parklets is needed for ventilation and for accessibility.
Sheila Koten, San Francisco
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