Letters to the Editor
Phony event must not be our justification
President Bush has put us into a difficult position. By mobilizing our excellent military, without having gained justification for a unilateral attack on Iraq, he has boxed himself into a corner with the time clock ticking down.
It is unlikely that a "smoking gun" proof of possession of weapons of mass destruction will be obtained in the immediate future. On the other hand, it is doubtful that we can maintain the cost and morale considerations of large, mobilized forces in the field, ready to strike, for an indefinite period. Forces now in the Gulf may be needed in other parts of the world, and summer will arrive quickly with weather that will make a delayed attack on Iraq difficult.
Historically, in this situation, many governments have orchestrated phony events to falsely justify the necessity for immediate military action without being branded as an aggressor. Fortunately, most wars started with deceptive provocation have ultimately failed.
I hope that our leaders will resist the temptation to create a fake incident linking Saddam Hussein with terrorism or weapons of mass destruction, thereby creating false justification for an attack in the narrow window of time available this winter and early spring.
Jonathan Starr
Wailuku, Maui
A healthier Hawai'i? OK the food tax credit
The state has shown us a woman donning exercise attire to jog to her mailbox; the state has shown us a man using sprinklers to shoot a cigarette from his lips. The state has shown us these advertisements in an effort to improve Hawai'i's health, but if lawmakers truly want to improve Hawai'i's health, they need to show us more.
The ads say, "You have to start somewhere." One place lawmakers can start is supporting the food tax credit. Making nutritional food more affordable to low-income residents is a necessary first step in facilitating good health for all of Hawai'i's people.
How can Hawai'i get fit if it continues to eat cheap junk food and fry everything? Our state's diabetes epidemic is a direct result of our poor diet.
I was very disappointed to see the food tax credit completely ignored by virtually all Democratic representatives in a survey printed in a recent Advertiser. Hawai'i's Republicans, it seems, are leading the way to a healthier existence for our state's poor. I applaud their initiative and say to the Democrats, "Get with it. You have to start somewhere."
Burton Yuen
Genetically engineered plants are also invasive
It's positive that people are concerned about invasive plants and animals in Hawai'i. However, not enough people are aware of the Pandora's box opened here in our state by firms experimenting in the open field with genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Pharmcrops or biopharmaceuticals are plants or animals genetically altered to produce drugs or industrial chemicals. These crops have the potential to irreversibly pollute our food supply through pollen drift and seed flow. Windbreaks do not prevent bees, butterflies or birds from spreading pollen.
As of July 2002, there were 36 open field test sites of biopharmaceuticals in Hawai'i.
On Nov. 13, 2002, the USDA revealed that 500,000 bushels of soybeans destined for human consumption had been quarantined due to contamination by biopharm corn. The biopharm corn had been planted the previous season, then plowed under. However, some came with the new crop of soybeans, and were subsequently harvested together. The USDA has refused to reveal what drug or chemical was grown in the corn, or divulge the exact location where the contaminated food crop is being held. Most disturbing, the USDA was unable to ensure 100 percent containment of the contaminated crop.
Even major trade associations are worried. The Grocery Manufacturers of America are calling on the biotech industry to cease using food crops for pharmaceutical purposes entirely.
Concerned? Log on to the Hawaii Genetic Engineering Action Network Web site at www.higean.org.
Eloise Engman
Makawao, Maui
Pet quarantine has worked, so keep it
When you compare the inconvenience and cost of pet quarantine vs. the cost to the state and individual citizens of Hawai'i should an outbreak of rabies occur, there is little room for complaint.
Just ask those same people about rabies in the places from where they are coming. Ask if every single pet has to be vaccinated regularly. Ask what happens to a person who gets bitten by an animal with rabies.
The quarantine system may be antiquated according to some people, but so far it has worked. This really is a common-sense issue, even though some letter writers are trying to make a political issue out of it.
Fred Belt
Student drug testing would do more harm
In her State of the State address, Gov. Lingle suggested random drug testing in public schools. This idea is ridiculous. The money and time spent on doing these tests could be used on better things, such as improving our public school system.
What students do at home is their business. We don't question teachers and administration about their personal lives. We understand the risks and long-term disadvantages of drug use.
Lingle also mentioned that the parents can refuse the testing of their child. Well, if some parents are curious to know if their child is doing drugs, it isn't up to the state or school to do the testing for them. Whether it is enforced in school or not, students will continue to do drugs.
I know they will pick on the Special Motivation program in our school. We are already not wanted on campus; we are the stereotypes of the "troubled" students. Students in our program would be the targets.
I would volunteer to take the test. I don't do drugs. I have nothing to worry about in this case. I just think it's a waste of time and money and that it would do more harm than good.
Heather Boyd
Student, Moanalua High School
Seniors should call themselves champions
Golf's Senior Tour has the right idea. The word "senior" does lack luster and has a negative connotation in this youth-oriented world. By changing its name to the "Champions Tour," a much more marketable name, the players will feel better and the tour should do better.
Senior citizens should follow suit and call themselves champions, too. After all, they are champions for surviving life's travails and are all finishers of the grueling rat race.
What a blast it would be to be called a champion instead of a senior. One's self-esteem would soar to be given a "champion's discount" instead of a senior discount. And when one forgets where he parked his car in the shopping mall, it's much more comforting to realize that he is having a "champion moment."
Champions, née seniors, could help finance Medicare by licensing advertising slogans. For example: Geritol, All Bran and Viagra would bid millions to be designated the official breakfast of champions.
Richard Y. Will
A three-part solution to traffic problems
There is a lot of talk now about spending hundreds of millions of our tax dollars on a mass-transit system and for a double-decker freeway. We all know that putting in more lanes or more highways hasn't improved the traffic problems. It has only gotten worse, and our beautiful Islands are disappearing under cement and pollution.
Here is a three-part solution to traffic problems:
- The states raises the driver's-license age to 18 — when a person becomes a legal adult. This would eliminate the "school rush," reckless racing and needless deaths.
- The insurance companies would be required to immediately inform the police when people cancel their insurance and the police would impound the vehicles until proof of insurance is given. This would remove uninsured motorists from the road, reduce traffic and lower the insurance rates for everyone.
- The existing "Zipper Lane" could easily be widened to two lanes for buses and multi-passenger cars. This would ease traffic flow and not cost hundreds of millions of our tax dollars.
Let's use our tax dollars wisely to improve our quality of life, educate our children and work for a truly "beautiful and sustainable" Hawai'i.
Harold T. Irving Jr.
Schatz' comments were worth reading
My comments go to Rep. Brian Schatz, D-25th Dist. (Makiki, Tantalus) for his most eloquent remarks in Sunday's front-page article "Democrats poised to follow Lingle ... " If only all representatives would follow such leadership. I just can't stop reading one whole paragraph over and over:
"We all draw lines in the sand in the campaign season, and then we find a way to work together when it's not election time. ... All of us together are on the line, (and) I think we have to look at what's best for the people of Hawai'i, and not what's best for our chances of re-election."
It just makes me want to go out there and support this guy in whatever he does. Keep it up, Brian.
David Niau
Highway Samaritans came to the rescue
We would very much like to thank the young men for helping two women whose car had a flat tire recently on the Pali Highway, just before the Honolulu-bound tunnel.
Justin Miller, Benjamin, Kimo and Kawika Kuahine and Joshua Jackson Sr. were driving on the other side of the highway, going toward Kailua, when they saw me standing outside my car trying to get help. They turned around and drove to my car to help us. They not only changed my tire, they also helped direct me from that parked area onto the highway and followed me for a while to be sure all was well.
Sharon Fu
Kane'ohe
KHET should get rid of Mike McCartney
Your recent article on Hawai'i Public Television was compelling. To better reach its goals, I have one suggestion to the board of that station: Get rid of Mike McCartney.
Recall that this is the same guy who put his politics ahead of objective journalism not only locally, but nationally.
When the Lingle-Hirono debate was aired, the moderators had mistakenly thought they were out of time and called for a concluding statement from both candidates. When they discovered their mistake and noted that they had more time, they offered another question to each candidate. Later, when Mazie Hirono viewed the finished product, apparently she didn't think she'd done as well in the last question as Linda Lingle. Her campaign proceeded to pressure Mr. McCartney to refuse to air the debate again.
As a luminary in the Democratic Party, he was more than happy to oblige. In fact, he even refused to allow national news outlets that make all state debates generally available to air the tapes. As such, he has clearly demonstrated that he is unfit to head a serious media company, particularly one that is funded by the public.
I'm sure Mr. McCartney would just as soon have everyone forget this little indiscretion. Let's not — any more than we should forget the Marjorie Bronster vote.
Ron Kienitz
Kailua
Abandoned, burnt-out car shells litter O'ahu
As a twice-a-year visitor to Hawai'i and having just returned from O'ahu recently, I wanted to mention my shock at a sight all over the island. During our drives around the island, I saw dozens of abandoned and burnt-out car shells littering the sides of the highways. The scenery in some areas looks like Harlem did in the 1970s.
What is going on? Has the system broken down so badly that it is now OK to just dump vehicles wherever and have them looted and burnt? As an island that depends on tourism so much, the view that this generates is not one to inspire the visitors you do have to return.
Yes, O'ahu has a lot to offer — the people, the ocean, the ideal weather, etc. — but my hope is that someone (state or local government) will tackle this problem before it gets worse.
Also, I would like to comment on the Jan. 22 story regarding the "cold" weather in the Islands. As I'm writing this from home, the outside temperature is minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit with a cool windchill of minus 44. As they say, it's all relative.
Michael Dever
Montreal, Canada
Leasehold property owners being gouged
Regarding Treena Shapiro's Jan. 11 article on real property valuation for tax assessment: In 1996, I appealed the assessed value of my leasehold condo, which was $283,000. I had a current appraisal stating the value at $208,000, so I thought my over-assessment was obvious.
I lost the appeal and went to the Real Property Assessment Office to find out why. Eventually an appraiser explained that leasehold property is valued as if it were owned fee simple. His response to my questioning of this procedure was something to the effect that that's just the way it is done.
The point is that assessed value is supposed to be market value — what the property would sell for. For 25 years now, I have been paying tax on something I don't own. I wonder how many other leasehold property owners are not aware of this.
G. Brown
