Letters to the Editor
State committed to accuracy, public safety
The Department of Public Safety agrees with The Advertiser's Dec. 12 editorial that people who have been acquitted of criminal charges should be released in a timely manner. We are committed to a release system with reasonable constraints that ensures accuracy and public safety.
The release process is clear. We release people who have been acquitted when we receive a legal document such as a written court order. After we receive the court order, we get people out of our system as quickly as possible. We don't want to keep anyone in our system longer than we need to.
The staff at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center does a great job with a legal process that is precise and complex.
Ted Sakai
Director, State Department of Public Safety
Neither opportunist nor man who stays quiet
I would like to respond to Bob Dye's Dec. 9 commentary in which state Sen. Fred Hemmings had the gall to say that former Mayor Frank Fasi and I are "political opportunists" without "convictions or principles" and that both of us "should have retired gracefully."
First off, with the political knowledge that Fasi and I possess, we have forgotten more about politics than Hemmings will ever know.
Second, Hemmings is in no position to call anyone a "political opportunist." In 2000, he conveniently moved into my senatorial district to run a one-issue campaign against me. Miraculously, Hemmings was successful in taking my Senate seat due to his single-issue vendetta against me.
As for Hemmings' criticizing me for my views on gaming: I have always said that, if I ever run for office again, I will make gaming a part of my campaign platform. I have always been for a referendum to allow the people of Hawai'i a chance to vote on gaming at the polls, which is something Hemmings and others like him would never allow.
At the present time I am unsure whether I will ever seek elective office again. However, if Sen. Hemmings and his friends continue to write amusing accusations against me, he will be seeing me in the General Election of 2002.
Whitney T. Anderson
Conglomerate's demands amounts to 'blackmail'
In a Nov. 21 article, you reported that executives from Cendant, the international conglomerate which owns Cheap Tickets, announced that the discount ticket vendor may leave the state, essentially blackmailing the people of Hawai'i.
Unless they receive lavish subsidies from the state and city in the form of tax relief, employee training schemes and cheap land, these arrogant fellows will abandon Hawai'i and go to a site offering more attractive inducements.
Such a shameless demand for corporate welfare has become rather common in the United States since Sept. 11.
In Washington, General Motors, Boeing, Caterpillar and other giant companies are pushing Congress for $200 billion in tax cuts. Here in Hawai'i, the Cayetano government already is giving a substantial break to the airlines and is preparing a huge tax subsidy for politically connected Duty Free Shoppers and other companies.
The costs of such corporate welfare are exorbitant. We have seen this in the "Baywatch" fiasco last year.
Transnational companies today are footloose and fancy free, have no loyalties to anyone (especially their employees) and bail out as soon as another site offers a more lucrative deal. State subsidies to overseas corporations wind up reducing public revenues needed to support education and other critical public activities necessary to our economic and social revitalization. The people of Hawai'i are the losers.
If Cheap Tickets cannot operate in Hawai'i without huge public subsidies, let it leave. And let's advise our representatives and senators to vote against massive federal give-aways to corporations whose top executives continue to draw obscene salaries.
Noel Jacob Kent
Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Compliance is taking money away from state
In following The Advertiser's recent coverage of Hawai'i's cruise industry, one question keeps coming to mind: How much does the Jones Act cost the state?
According to industry figures, passengers spend an average of $83 per day on shore. Is it possible that every time a 2,200-passenger Norwegian Star spends three days going out to Fanning Island (in order to comply with the 80-year-old act) Hawai'i forfeits about half a million dollars per voyage? If our state were exempt from this act, the cruise industry could pump this money back into Hawai'i's economy by keeping their passengers in our state for the entire voyage.
I realize this view will be disputed by proponents of the Jones Act. However, the bottom line is that, for each day these ships have to comply with the law, we are keeping thousands of potential consumers off our island and out of our economy.
George Wood
Pa'auilo
New assessments come at particularly bad time
Where in the world is the city coming up with the idea that now, of all times, is a good time to raise property taxes for property owners? Talk about bad timing.
While I understand that revenues for the city are down, they may want to consider alternatives to collecting funds other than raising the taxes on property owners, many of whom, I am sure, have either lost their jobs or had substantial hours cut since Sept. 11.
As a business owner myself, I have had to cut back employee hours, not to mention doing a lot of heavy praying that business will pick up so that I might be able to pay, let's say, my business' lease payments, utilities, payroll, payroll taxes, GET taxes, and now my newly increased property taxes. Talk about kicking a person while he's down.
While many of the citizens of this fair city are down at the unemployment line, perhaps they could make a quick detour to the property assessor's office to dispute the new increase, provided they aren't running off to a job interview.
Eileen Dervisevic
Treat abandoned items at beach like rubbish
Reading the article concerning Jim Thurston and the Kainalu cooperative association reinforces my belief that here in Hawai'i people just don't like to resolve conflict. And I would bet that the cheering throngs were residents who didn't have to confront the problem themselves, but would rather vilify the cooperative association because good ol' Jim is a local boy. Well, good ol' Jim is acting as an antagonist.Ê
Granted, you cannot deny access to the beach because it is public property. But neither can you leave your personal property parked on public property as if it were your private piece of the beach.
If you buy beachfront property your property line is the high-tide marker. But you won't find sailboats and canoes left in front of the houses. Why?ÊBecause theyÊare considered personal property, which can be moved from place to place with the owner.ÊWhen the owner of the personal property leaves theÊpublic beach, they take their personal property with them. ÊÊÊÊÊÊ
Then there are abandoned items, like a child's floating device, a boogie board, cans and coolers. They all pose problems to the beach-going public. Unfortunately, one of the caveats of owning beachfront property is cleaning up after others.
So here is the solution to the never-ending canoe problem: The state should provide orange trash bags that theyÊhaul off, free of charge, toÊpeople willing to clean up after the public. Most trash can be squashed or dismantled to a size small enough to be placed in the bags. Of course, other bigger things would need to be chainsawed into the appropriate size.ÊÊÊÊÊÊ
Oh, sure, you might be burned in effigy, and your answering machine might record colorful language previously unknown. But the next time someone brings a canoe to your area, I bet they will be responsible and adult enough to take their personal property home and not leave it just out on someone's backdoor.
John A. Jones
Article misquotes Tolkien's book
I was amazed to see that an article about the lasting impression of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" had a glaring error ("Movie release stirs fond memories," Dec. 16).
In the first paragraph, the writer notes that an entire generation could quote the verse "the rings to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them."
The quote should go: "Three rings for the eleven kings under the sky, five for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone, nine for mortal men doomed to die, one ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them ..."
I really think the writer should apologize to the elves for assuming that they were trying to enslave the free peoples of the world.
Carlos Hernandez
DOE, school board being intimidated by activists
Earlier this year, the Department of Education appointed a committee and told the members that they must come up with recommendations on how the Chapter 19 rule on harassment would be implemented. The DOE made it clear that the members would have to come to a consensus before they could issue any recommendations.
Unfortunately, some committee members recently got together in secret and put out a report, calling it a majority report and making it public. Normally, the DOE would strongly protest such action and throw those people off the committee. However, in this case, the DOE has done nothing and chooses to remain silent.
I am shocked to see how the DOE and school board have been intimidated by homosexual activists into allowing them to make up their own rules as they go. I guess they feel their inaction is better than having the homosexuals call them "haters" and "homophobes" for doing what is right.
Bonita Newland
Making drivers walk may be enlightening
Who'd a thunk it? Look at all these drivers who just can't be bothered adhering to the laws of their driving privilege. Absolutely incredible. I suggest we make them pedestrians for three months to wake them up. These are the people who are running the lights, and their attitude is the problem.
Michael Cashman
Violence only promotes more violence
I condemn theÊSept. 11 attacks andÊdeplore the massÊkillings and destruction that resulted. The attacks took the lives ofÊthousands of people, young and old, fromÊmany nations.ÊOsama bin Laden and his group of supporters have been blamed for this atrocious and murderous attack, and they should be apprehended and brought to justice.Ê
What is disturbing, though, is that theÊcountry and people of Afghanistan have been bombed and assaulted by massive military might. It is estimated by University of New Hampshire economics professor Marc Herold, who extensively studied and corroboratedÊall available news accounts, that more than 3,500Êcivilians haveÊbeen killed by U.S. air attacks so far.
Who can say how many more Afghans will die this winterÊfromÊhomelessness,Êsevere weather and lack of food and medicines? SomeÊrelief organizations estimate that up to 2 million people in Afghanistan could die. Will these killings and deaths of innocents in Afghanistan make up for the deaths of those in New York City or at the Pentagon?Ê
I think the victims of Sept. 11 and their families would not want further killing of innocents in their name or for their sake. Such deaths do not restore life to those killed. Instead theyÊcompound the horror and promote the cycle of violence.
TheÊso-called U.S. war on terrorism, I fear, will produce only more violence and reaction, especially if it is spread to other countries alleged to be harborers of terrorists.ÊWe must urge a halt to whatÊmay well beÊseen as state terrorism by our own government and advocate for an end toÊthe killing and destruction being done in our name.ÊÊ
To date it has cost more than $12 billion — funds that could be used much more wisely and humanely than in massiveÊretaliatory assaults and bombings.
This warÊis breeding a domestic danger: the systematic erosion of our basic freedoms. That is also anÊominous result of this type of ill-defined and ill-conceived "war."
John Witeck
100 percent proud to be an American
I did not vote for President Bush, nor am I a Republican. But I am 100 percent behind his decisions.
I am proud to be an American. Were I a young man again I would be proud to serve under him. Let us all back him up and rid our world of all these terrorists.
Tomio Hirayama
'Aiea
Kapolei High project seeks to boost economy
The freshmen of Kapolei High School Hanohano Team are doing a project called "The Greater Good" to help boost Hawai'i's economy. We are going down to Waikiki to spend money and give back to our economy/community in response to the mayor's plea.
Our teachers made us believe that we can make a difference. Mrs. Lewis, English; Mrs. Agor, math; Mr. Abe, science; and Mr. Laimana, social studies have faith that we, the freshmen of Kapolei High School, can make a difference regardless of our age.
Michelle Ferrer, Ashley Madela, Krystal Galdiano and Deanna Kaniaupio
Hanohano Team Freshmen, Kapolei High School
