Letters to the Editor
Pre-emptive war with Iraq is unnecessary
During the Cold War, the cornerstone of American national defense was deterrence. It kept the Soviets at bay for 40 years. They knew we had their mailing address, and if they attacked us, their homeland would be destroyed in a massive nuclear counterattack. No one advocated pre-emptive war against the Soviets. It wasn't necessary.
Pre-emptive war against Iraq is unnecessary for the same reason. We know where they live. Whatever you think of Saddam Hussein, he is no fool. He understands the concept of massive retaliation, and he has never attacked America.
It was al-Qaida, which has no home, that attacked us in 2001, not Iraq. Either President Bush isn't thinking straight about the need for war against Iraq, or he isn't being forthright with us about his real motives.
Richard Maxwell
Ha'iku, Maui
Library Bookmobile essential to education
The decision to mothball the State Library System's Bookmobiles further erodes Hawai'i's ability to educate its young.
In 1949, Kailua on O'ahu was a rural area. Our elementary school was a clump of Quonset huts perched on oil drums. The school was classified Non-English Standard, which meant pidgin in the classrooms. Had there been no Bookmobile with its magic cargo, I wouldn't have been spurred on to eventual higher education, wouldn't have known such a thing was possible and would be speaking only pidgin today.
In the ongoing debate over education in Hawai'i, two facts should be considered: First, at last count, 13 percent of the teachers and administrators in the school system send their children to private schools. Would requiring all Hawai'i state and county employees to send their children to public schools make for a better school system over time? It might.
Second, does Hawai'i really want better schools? Since my boyhood, Hawai'i has evolved into a tourism-dependent economy, which needs a large pool of uneducated and unskilled workers to function. If all of Hawai'i's children received excellent education from the start through high school, and as a result their eyes were opened to the possibilities of the world according to their talents, and they went on to be all that they could be, who would service the tourists?
Can't have that, can we?
Ray Freed
Kailua, Kona, Big Island
Obnoxious messages on T-shirts are rude
Standing patiently in the long line at the post office, I'm staring at the back of the gentleman in front of me. "UP YOURS," it says in large, bold letters on his T-shirt.
Yes, freedom of speech is a wonderful thing. So is the freedom to be obnoxious, apparently. Only one of the many sordid T-shirt messages seen around town, this type of language has become common, not only among rebellious teens enraged at having to grow up, but with some adults as well.
Maybe it's no big deal, but for most it still seems rude and offensive. It probably says more about the wearer than anything else. (Why not just buy a shirt that says, "Hey! Look at me! I'm a crude and immature fool!")
The point is, if you wouldn't say it out loud in public with your mom, then don't say it on your shirt, either.
And parents, try a little moral guidance with your kids once in a while. Go ahead, it won't hurt. (But ditch your own sleazy T-shirt first.)
Michael Van Dorn
Very slow walkers should be given help
We may not like to think about it, but very slow walkers (frail elderly, stroke victims and other handicapped people) in the middle of an unsignalized crosswalk are totally at the mercy of oncoming traffic.
They cannot shuffle out of the way, and they seldom can cross the road between "breaks in traffic," as 90 percent of Hawai'i's drivers reportedly expect pedestrians to do.
Last year the percentage of total traffic fatalities who were pedestrians in Hawai'i was three times the national average, and over 75 percent of those pedestrian fatalities were elderly.
One way to give some meaning to the words "pedestrian friendly" would be to empower very slow walkers to be their own crossing guards with an issued blinkable light, a red and white glove or whatever. The first car stopped for the very slow walker, perhaps with hazard lights blinking, would give an additional signal to other oncoming traffic that a very slow walker is in the crosswalk.
It may be worth a try because people are still dying while we dream about signalizing all crosswalks or creating a large number of pedestrian overpasses.
Kent Bennett
Lingle's alternatives to fund raiding worse
Gov. Lingle's alternatives to using the Hurricane Relief Fund are wrong.
First, she proposes to take $45 million from special funds. This is just more of the same practice that has been used in the past. Second, her proposal to cut 5 percent of the budgets of the Departments of Health, Education and Human Services makes no sense in light of current events and conditions.
The Health Department needs to gear up for the fight against bioterrorism and responses to other terrorist attacks. So far, federal funds for assistance are sorely lacking.
In the Education Department, we now stand to lose the A-Plus program. Do we really want that to happen?
Like most citizens, I am very reluctant to have the state use the Hurricane Relief Fund to balance the budget. The alternatives, however, are worse.
Brice Conquest
Monarchy overthrow was good for Hawai'i
I wholeheartedly agree with John L. Kaulukou, former judge, marshal under the monarchy, speaker of the House of the Republic of Hawai'i, longtime ally of King Kalakaua and his sister, Lili'uokalani, in his statement that annexation to the United States was "the best thing that could happen for Hawai'i, both for the native and foreign population ... I rejoice heartily that it has come."
And, I also agree with Queen Lili'uokalani's entry in her diary on Sunday, Sept. 2, 1900, that "Tho' for a moment (the overthrow) cost me a pang of pain for my people, it was only momentary, for the present has a hope for the future of my people."
And, I agree with the statement by Stephen T. Boggs, emeritus professor of anthropology, University of Hawai'i, that "Sovereignty in the modern day and age rests with the people, not with any government, or any form of government."
Only in the 50th state, and the rest of the United States, are pro-sovereignty activists free to march and demonstrate, and I to opine. God bless America!
Earl Arakaki
'Ewa Beach
Motorized scooters pose a definite danger
Motorized scooters are no better than leaf blowers. The sound is annoying, not to mention that the kids who operate these things put themselves in danger.
I was told by a police officer that it's not against the law. If so, one needs to be enacted.
Bikes have to be registered, and you need a license to operate a moped, so why not the motorized scooter? Those things can go — I'm estimating at least 20-plus mph. They pose a definite danger on both the main and side streets.
Why do parents even allow their children to have such "toys"? As a law-abiding driver, I think I have enough to worry about regarding the rules and regulations of the road — and now one more headache.
Marsha Akuna
