Letters to the Editor

Good care homes have nothing to fear

Congratulations on the excellent job of investigating and reporting the problems of abuse and neglect of the elderly residents of Hawai'i's board-and-care homes.

There is something grossly wrong with a society that can't or won't protect some of it's most vulnerable citizens. And there is something drastically wrong with a state government that can't or won't enact and enforce appropriate regulation of the board-and-care industry.

Good board-and-care homes have nothing to fear from unannounced inspections — bad ones should be made to clean up their acts, or be put out of business.

Allan Rachap
Koloa, Kaua'i

Legislators are tardy in protesting on Iraq

Legislators have deemed themselves important enough to impact world politics by deciding whether or not to pass an "anti-war" resolution.

I would like to know where they were when Saddam Hussein was torturing tens of thousands of his own citizens because they disagreed with his political views?

Where were they when Saddam Hussein dropped chemical weapons on his own people in Iraqi Kurdistan, killing thousands of children, and leaving thousands more permanently disabled?

Where were their protests when Saddam Hussein was killing what the British government estimates to be over 500,000 innocent Iraqis over the past 20 years?

When will we all wake up?

Kep Green
'Ewa Beach

Pre-emption doctrine won't bring us peace

Our nation is about to enact the doctrine of pre-emption: the idea that we may legally attack a nation that is not an imminent threat, but may be an imminent threat in the future. If the U.S. attacks pre-emptively, a precedent that advocates peace through violence will be enacted.

A pre-emptive strike against Iraq or any other nation would only worsen the situation. The concept of pre-emption contradicts the very definition of peace. Peace is not the absence of violence; peace is the ability to resolve differences without the use of violence.

Pre-emptive war violates international law. If we as a nation do not adhere to the "rule of law" — the very foundation that our nation is built upon — how can we expect other nations to do so?

During the 2002 State of the Union, President Bush announced his three goals for America. He said, "We will win this war, we will protect our homeland and we will revive our economy." President Bush has not captured Osama bin Laden. The war in Afghanistan is not finished, yet he is determined to pre-emptively initiate a second and much more dangerous war with the so-called "axis of evil."

In a Feb. 12 Senate floor speech, Sen. Robert Byrd pointed out that this administration has been slow to provide adequate funding for homeland security, has been reluctant to better protect our long and porous borders, has squandered a large projected surplus of $5.6 trillion, and has fostered policies that have slowed economic growth.

Norman Kukona
Mililani

'Care Plus' insurance proposal best so far

Your Feb. 12 editorial "Long-term care: Some don't need state's help" really hit home for us.

My wife and I are fortunate enough to have private long-term insurance, but like most others, we waited until we hit 70 to buy it. After being turned down by two companies because of chronic health problems, I finally did get insured. My policy, however, is not as good as my wife's coverage, and the two policies together cost us more than $5,600 per year. You have to wonder, how many retirees can afford that kind of expense?

The governor's proposal for tax credits for people buying such insurance would do nothing for us, as we generally pay no state income tax. And, as I understand it, only about 6 percent of people have long-term-care insurance, so the tax credit idea would leave most people needing such care out in the cold. This care is very expensive, and, after using up savings, people would have to turn to Medicaid — if they could qualify.

I agree completely with your editorial that "Care Plus" is the best idea we've yet come up with, to provide some financial help to the great majority of Hawai'i citizens who need long-term care. Gov. Lingle, please give this idea some further thought.

Tony Lenzer
Kailua

Four friends worked to better the Islands

Once again, Hawai'i has lost a treasure — George Chaplin, former editor of The Honolulu Advertiser.

Four friends — George Chaplin, Herbert Cornuelle, Dr. Fred Gilbert and Dr. Robert Nordyke — often shared ideas and brain-stormed together, providing remarkable dedication to broad interests in community service to improve life in these Islands.

A few years ago, George wrote a memorial to Bob Nordyke, quoting Voltaire:

"Men who are occupied in the restoration of health to other men, by the joint exertion of skill and humanity, are above all the great of the earth. They even partake of divinity, since to preserve and renew is almost as noble as to create."

This statement reflected the work of each of these leaders to "restore (community) health" and to "preserve and renew." These friends shared a goal to make the world a better place for mankind.

Using their visionary, keen minds and pooling their energies, they applied their knowledge of writing, business, medicine and religion to effect lasting repercussions in education, government and health for the benefit of the people of Hawai'i.

Eleanor C. Nordyke

State is inconsistent on Hawaiian issues

On the issue of Hawaiians and our land, I see great inconsistencies in our state administration. For example, two important recent events prove the irony of it all:

• State sheriffs forcefully evicted and arrested Hawaiians living on homestead land on the Big Island for "deliberately" not paying what they supposedly owe the state for the use of that land and its water.

• The state paid the Office of Hawaiian Affairs a small portion of the long-overdue ceded land revenue it owes to the Hawaiian people for the use of land that the Hawaiian people rightfully own, not the state.

The state has been in arrears to the Hawaiian people since the former governor, Ben Cayetano, deliberately stopped making payments to OHA during his administration. Now where were those state sheriffs when our former governor stopped making those payments?

Shana Fischer
Ka'a'awa

Portable classrooms are good for education

Regarding the Feb. 16 Focus section "After Deadline" column, "Photos failed to match story on portable classrooms": I am currently employed by the Long Beach, Calif., Unified School District. For the past decade, I have watched our enrollment grow and classrooms become overcrowded.

Our school sites contain portable classrooms and, if I am not mistaken, at least two sites are totally made up of portables (double-stacked) and look like regular school sites.

Our district's goal was to build at least 12-plus new sites to accommodate our growing student enrollment. This, I believe, saved the district money that could be used for the education of our children without making the district look tacky.

I am proud of the accomplishments in providing uncrowded classrooms for our children with portables.

Martha Ann Gogue