Editor - Regarding "Tenderloin front-window spy camera on the Web" (Dec.
6): I admit I'm a bit of a people watcher, but I don't care for 24-hour
surveillance cameras, whether they're in the name of safety or
entertainment. Remember the '60s British series "The Prisoner" and the
Jim Carrey movie "The Truman Show"? I believe in that endangered species
called privacy rights. Maybe people should focus more on themselves
(careers, relationships, diet, exercise, self-esteem, etc.) than
watching other people.
While living in the Tenderloin can be a challenge, why not make it
better? How? Obviously, shutting down liquor stores and arresting drug
offenders will do little, if anything. People can always buy liquor
elsewhere and most rehab substitutes legals for illegals
(anti-depressants for alcohol, methadone for heroin). Legalize all drugs
and decriminalize prostitution. If illegal drugs, including cocaine and
laudanum were cheap and legal, there would be no drug dealers. Moreover,
if sex work were decriminalized there'd be no pimps. Until that time,
back to the "Prisoner/Truman show" on Taylor Street in San Francisco.
DENISE JAMESON, San Francisco
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/14/EDDO14KPMD.D
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