Regarding Bob Gould's July 25 letter: The life and deeds of Kamehameha I and the events surrounding the overthrow of Jan. 17, 1893, annexation and the fraudulent act of statehood, 1959, are by no means "similar," as he mistakenly and conveniently asserted.

For one, Kamehameha I did not violate treaties, laws and the sovereignty of foreign nations. He did not commit numerous domestic and international acts of fraud — the Morgan report (1894), annexation (1898), statehood (1959), Akaka bill (2000 to '03) — nor did he commit treason as defined by the constitutions of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and United States of America.

Asserting that the overthrow and subsequent acts of injustices are "necessary steps" and "good for Hawai'i or its people" is adding insult to injury.

The United States was founded on principles and values kanaka maoli would consider pono. However, we see today in hindsight as well as in current domestic and world affairs the lies and deception its leaders employ with ease to extinguish those very rights created to protect its citizens.

It is arrogant and deceitful to imply the citizens of the Kingdom of Hawai'i are better off from the misconduct of the United States. The ends do not justify the means.

Foster Ampong
Lahaina, Maui

Native Hawaiians support Makua's use

Regarding the Makua fire: The Advertiser's Will Hoover writes, "Native Hawaiians have expressed their displeasure with the military's presence in the valley ..." He should have said a few Native Hawaiians. The activists are primarily non-Native Hawaiians who oppose having a military force in Hawai'i. Makua and the burning are incidental to their objective.

Many of us Native Hawaiians have served in the military and know the importance of live-fire training because we used it in combat. Furthermore, many of our people are serving their country today. I'm certain they are now disappointed in the few Hawaiians who would deny them the training they will need to survive in combat.

Those who relate Makua to Polynesian beliefs are expressing their own personal opinions and have no basis in fact. Hawaiians did not use the word "sacred" but rather "kapu." Historians write of how discriminating, distorted and cruel the system was, which is why Liholiho (Kamehameha II) ordered the system, along with its religion, abolished.

The activists should be forewarned that we, the majority of Native Hawaiians in this area, along with active-duty service members and their families, the Hawai'i National Guard, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and many others fully support the use of the Makua Military Reservation by our military forces.

Bill Prescott
Wai'anae

Decriminalization would aid hard-drug efforts

Regarding Lee Cataluna's July 22 column: She has conjured a straw man, saying that legalization is not the answer to crystal meth because the addicts wouldn't switch to marijuana.

Decriminalization — decreasing penalties to fines and not jail time — is proven to reduce use. Rather than busting their butts on minor drug offenders, our cops could go after the harder stuff.

Marijuana offenders fill our overpacked jails at the state's expense, $23,000 per offender per year, often serving more time than rapists. They emerge from our flawed system as damaged goods.

President Carter said the punishment for drug use must not be harsher than using the drug itself, and he saw that that was the case with marijuana.

The blame for the epidemic lies closer to home, with permissive parents and a failed drug education program with no proven effectiveness. We must scrap D.A.R.E. for a better program. It costs far less to educate than to incarcerate.

Matthew Won
Kane'ohe

Here's how the BRT will work

The Advertiser's Aug. 1 article by Mike Leidemann on the newly issued federal final environmental impact statement for the Bus Rapid Transit project helped inform the public that the first phase is funded and ready to go. The initial segment between Iwilei and Waikiki includes a combination of exclusive, semi-exclusive (shared with other buses and right-turning vehicles) and mixed-traffic lanes. Questions arising from my generalized comments to the reporter indicate it would be helpful to print the details of the alignment on a street-by-street basis.

The city intends to build the BRT system incrementally to fit needs as ridership grows. In the initial phase, no existing traffic lane will be taken out of service for exclusive use by the BRT. However, some lanes will become semi-exclusive.

Let's look at how BRT buses will be traveling through the core of our city in the initial segment:

• Downtown: Buses will travel in two directions on Hotel Street, which is currently an exclusive bus mall. From there the buses will travel on a couplet on Bishop Street (makai bound) and Alakea Street (mauka bound), both mixed traffic.

• Aloha Tower/Kaka'ako: Buses will move in two directions using Aloha Tower Drive, Ala Moana Boulevard, Forrest Street, Ilalo Street, one block of Ward Avenue, Auahi Street and back onto Ala Moana Boulevard (from Queen Street to Ala Moana Bridge) in mixed traffic, except on Auahi Street, where the curbside lanes will be shared by buses and right-turning vehicles.

• Waikiki: Ala Moana Boulevard (Hobron Lane to Kalia Road) will be widened to add one 'ewa-bound and one diamondhead-bound lane for semi-exclusive use. On Kalia Road to Maluhia Road, there is mixed traffic in both directions; then from Maluhia Road to Saratoga Road, the roadway is widened to add two lanes for semi-exclusive use by BRT. On Saratoga Road, the curbside lanes will be shared by buses and right-turning vehicles.

BRT will travel a one-way loop on Kalakaua Avenue/Kapahulu Avenue/Kuhio Avenue. On Kalakaua Avenue, the curbside lane is to be semi-exclusive from Saratoga Road to Uluniu Street, then mixed traffic to Kapahulu Avenue. Kapahulu Avenue and Kuhio Avenue is mixed traffic. Along Kuhio Avenue, almost all of the local bus stops will be provided with either a pullout area or an 18-foot-wide curbside lane that would allow vehicles to pass stopped buses. On Kalaimoku Street, a contraflow lane is added for exclusive BRT use.

The alignment for the initial operating segment between Iwilei and Waikiki was determined before last fall. The federal impact statement repeats the same information, but has been expanded to highlight what would occur under the initial operating segment between Iwilei and Waikiki. This segment received City Council approval and funding in 2002.

Future phases of the Bus Rapid Transit proposal contemplate more extensive use of exclusive lanes. Some of these lanes would later become exclusive or "dedicated" to BRT when ridership justifies it. The impact statement provides detailed documentation of the phased implementation of the BRT.

Copies of the impact statement or the BRT Progress Report No. 8, which contains additional information, are available at the Department of Transportation Services office in the Honolulu Municipal Building.