In the May 26 edition, there was a letter from William Sirvatka regarding the war in which the U.S. is engaged currently. In his letter, Mr. Sirvatka stated "it is well established ..." that FDR knew of the impending air attack on Pearl Harbor and he let it happen to sway public opinion. This is a minority opinion held by a small number of historians. It is as factual as stating that a second gunman on the grassy knoll killed JFK; while many believe that to be true, most historians do not.

Yes, most historians believe that FDR knew an attack by Japan was imminent, most likely in the Philippines, but few believe he knew of an attack on Pearl Harbor.

Also in the same letter, Mr. Sirvatka makes the assertion that "[The U.S.] declared war on Germany, not the other way around." Unlike the previous assertion, this one is factually in error. To set the record straight, the U.S. declared war on Japan alone on Dec. 8. Three days later, on Dec. 11, Germany declared war on the U.S.

C.J. Floyd

Saratoga

Simple solution
to Highway 9
concerns

Regarding Highway 9 ... leave it alone.

Tom Keeble

Saratoga

Operation Yellow
Ribbon to join
San Jose group

Last year, a small group of war veterans decided to do something positive to make life a little easier for Los Gatos men and women who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those veterans had seen service in World War II and Vietnam. A number of those veterans were members of the Los Gatos Rotary Club. They called the group Operation Yellow Ribbon, inspired by the ribbons placed on trees at the homes of WW II families who had a relative in active service. The group was led by Michael Frangadakis, a very active member of Rotary.

The group contacted families of Los Gatos service men and women, through assistance from veterans at the local post office, who handled "care packages" sent by families. The members shopped for snacks, skin lotions, razors, personal hygiene and beef jerky (donated by Los Gatos Meat Company). The stuff was packed, taken to the post office and shipped overseas. Donations to pay for the goodies were solicited and collected from Los Gatos residents. The responses from the service people were heartwarming—in the heat and the sand of those far-off countries, especially during the Christmas holidays.

This year, the group learned about a San Jose group that worked with and through the local Red Cross chapter and mailed out hundreds of pounds of care packages to the troops every month. They were family people who collected donated money and useful articles. The group not only sent "goodies" to troopers from Santa Clara County, but also sent packages to the troopers' military units. With the packages were sent letters, and the recipient troops were encouraged to write back and let the Red Cross group know if the packages arrived, and what their needs were in the field.

The yellow ribbon group from Los Gatos has decided to work with and through the San Jose group, taking advantage of their enthusiasm and efficient organization. Yellow Ribbon will collect donations of money and personal items, and pass them on to the San Jose group, that call itself Operation Care and Comfort.

Yellow Ribbon hopes to obtain sponsorship of the Los Gatos Rotary Club, an organization which is deeply involved in charitable donations to local and international groups. For example, local Rotary Clubs have donated almost a billion dollars throughout the world, except for two small areas in Asia. It is expected that polio will be wiped out worldwide by 2005.

Our sons and daughters are fighting to protect us here at home. This community is doing something to show its support and gratitude.

If you would like to participate, please call Michael Frangadakis at 408.358.3222 or email him at mike@frangadakis.com.

John Dooley, Rotarian

Los Gatos

What part does
fashion play in
women's rights?

Your article, "Risqué Business," was interesting but did not put girls fashions into the broader context of the evolutionary forces that have morphed humans into our modern form.

One of those forces has been male and female sex roles with males traditionally dominant in most social and economic arenas. The emergence of women as partners in humanity rather than submissive to men is very recent and evolutionarily earthshaking.

I believe the women's rights movement is good for both sexes in the short view of human history. In the much longer view of human evolution, the jury is still out. What is interesting, though, is the dichotomy that has developed regarding the view of women by both sexes.

On one hand, they are seen as equal to men and able to compete on every social plane by use of their wits, not just their bodies. On the other hand, they continue to use sexual allure in ostensibly non-sexual situations (like education) to attract and influence males. Girls learn this strategy at early ages, and it is quite advanced by high school.

This strategy appears contrary to the movement toward equality of the sexes. When females accentuate their breasts and hips in every conceivable social and economic interaction, it hardly seems inspired by Susan B. Anthony. Female anatomy has little relevance to education, business, banking, engineering, politics, etc. Entertainment—there is where it shines. Could entertainment be the real business of America?

But maybe sex is nothing more than one of the tools used to achieve economic and social dominance. Maybe males have simply been suckered by the women's rights movement and the appeal to fairness so that females can use sex to dominate males in this evolutionary role reversal.

In a century or so, maybe we'll know the answer.

Paul Dueweke

Los Gatos

The movement
is away from
self-esteem

Is there a lesson here about the folly of the self-esteem movement? Warped notions of freedom and tolerance have produced a generation who, in effect, terrorize their elders.

Schools now resort to having students write their own rules, and even then administrators wail that standards are hard, even impossible, to enforce. Kids laugh off authority. "You can't sag, but they don't enforce it," says one; another admits she has been "talked to" for violation of rules, but she sees no need to comply. Parents don't support tightening of rules because they know they will not be able to persuade their students to comply.

The clothes issue is just one symptom of a general discipline crisis. With punishment out and "positive reinforcement" in, children realize at an early age the worse they behave the more rewards/bribes they can earn. How ironic—this brave new world of liberation has had the opposite of the desired effect. These pampered, outwardly confident youngsters lack, of all things, self-esteem, the result of a misguided suppression of the basic knowledge that was drummed into their forbears at an early age, namely that self-esteem (then known as self-respect) results from integrity and self discipline. Discipline consistently enforced from an early age will lead to a self-disciplined adult—there are no shortcuts.

Could it be God knows something after all? Now where did I toss that old Bible?

Fay Knight

Saratoga

Letter doesn't
allow 'reasonable
discourse'

Mr. Sirvatka's letter in the May 26 edition implies the divisiveness that has been encouraged and promoted by the Bush Administration. To ask if "liberals convinced us we are not at war" shows a smug disregard for reasonable discourse. You're either with us or with the terrorists, end of discussion, thank you.

More disturbing is the implication that "Roosevelt knew of the impending attack at Pearl Harbor but allowed it to happen"; therefore, any lies the Bush Administration tells are OK? If Roosevelt knew in advance, it wasn't generally known by the public at that time. You better believe the reaction would have been different had they known.

Like Chicken Little, Mr. Sirvatka tells us to be afraid, very afraid. Must we support the Bush Administration that has squandered our treasury, the lives of our soldiers, our moral standing in the world and attacked our liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? Spending $180 billion on these shores would go a long way toward making America safer.

Our atrocities in Iraq have not made us safer, they have increased the danger to Americans at home and abroad. It is a well-documented fact that Iraq had nothing to do with the tragedy of September 11 and the quagmire that we are involved in was unnecessary!

Phillip P. Pflager

Cupertino