Letters to the Editor
Let your voice be heard on Iraq issue
The anti-war protesters are right. The war supporters are also right. Yet how can two completely opposite camps both be right?
Simple: Both groups are right because they are both made up of people who care enough about the future of this great nation to take a stand and to participate in this grand experiment known as the democratic process. As long as intelligent people can freely express their opinions — no matter how controversial or unpopular — then there is hope for our country.
When that freedom is curtailed for any reason, then dictatorship and tyranny will surely follow. Those who love America most are the ones courageous enough to get involved in steering her along the correct path.
Don't like what you're hearing out there? Then do something about it. Get involved. Write your congressman. Contribute to organizations that speak for your beliefs. Vote your conscience. Let your voice be heard.
Mike Bender
Using third parties for torture appalling
It was with incredulity that I read the article in Sunday's Focus section by Jonathan Turley ("Evidence mounting that U.S. contracts for torture").
I insisted that my teenage son read this appalling description of what the power elite are capable of doing when the masses are not vigilant, and he shuddered when he returned the paper to me.
Can this be the same United States that I experienced as a teenager in the 1960s? I actually felt embarrassed for our country. This is precisely the kind of tyranny that our Founding Fathers despised — an empire that considers itself morally superior and self-righteous, requesting other nations to do its "dirty work" so as not to "technically" be in opposition to the U.S. Constitution.
In the end, this self-aggrandizement can only end in self-destruction.
Monica Soroka
Anti-terror measures aren't all that inspiring
I am a bit amused by the state's defense of its anti-terrorism measures, particularly concerning the safety of Pearl Harbor.
I know it was ages ago, but didn't a Chinese airliner fly within a couple of hundred feet of Century Center? And didn't we hear a whole lot of comments from the powers that be that there was nothing illegal about that but that it wasn't typical?
By the time that plane was spotted by the people in Century Center, it was in position to crash into any of the major buildings in Honolulu or into Pearl Harbor. Was the pilot detained? Was he reprimanded? Were fighters scrambled? No.
Were new regs written to specify acceptable approaches to Honolulu International? Not to our knowledge.
Maybe Pearl Harbor has active AA, like Phalanx gun systems or whatever the current AA missile is, but would they have used it in time to save the First Hawaiian Building or the Sheraton Waikiki?
Andrew Rothstein
Overthrow assertion is revisionist history
I must take exception to Thurston Twigg-Smith's ludicrous assertion that the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by a handful of foreign-born, greedy, self-interested traitors has the same legitimacy as the French or American revolutions.
The point that Mr. Twigg-Smith ignores is that the vast majority of the Hawaiian people did not feel oppressed by their queen but, to the contrary, loved and worshiped her. The only "oppressed" people were members of the Annexation Club, a treacherous gang of planters and businessmen, led by Mr. Thurston's great-uncle, Lorrin A. Thurston, who sought to control the kingdom politically as well as economically by plotting the overthrow of the queen and annexation to the United States.
Mr. Twigg-Smith asserts that the United States played a minimal role in this illegal overthrow. This allegation stands in stark contrast to President Cleveland's words to Congress: "But for the lawless occupation of Honolulu under false pretexts by the United States forces, and but for Minister Stevens' recognition of the provisional government when the United States forces were its sole support and constituted its only military strength, the queen and her government would never have yielded to the provisional government."
Surely it is time for Mr. Twigg-Smith to forego his attempts at revisionist history and come to terms with the illicit activities of his great-uncle, who, along with the other traitors, should rightly have been hanged for treason.
Michael Lafreniere
State gun-control laws do not work
Shane Mark is a perfect example that Hawai'i's gun-control laws do not work. He is in clear violation of several that I am aware of.
He is also a perfect candidate for the "three-strikes law," as stated by U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo. What most people are unaware of is that the "three-strikes law" was first proposed by the National Rifle Association. I believe that it was introduced into the Hawai'i Legislature but wasn't enacted upon because it was an NRA idea and therefore unpopular with key legislators.
The people of Hawai'i must realize that many bad people like Shane Mark exist — bad people willing to harm and kill good people like officer Glen Gaspar and without a second thought.
Vernon Okamura
Finger-pointing over library cuts disturbing
I am disturbed by the recent finger-pointing over how the state librarian has decided to deal with budget cuts. Instead of really looking at the current sad state of funding for our public libraries, the governor and some state senators go on a witch hunt to levy blame. The state librarian, in reducing library hours, is taking the only course possible to meet budget cuts.
Despite the predictions of many high-tech devotees that libraries will go away due to the expansion of the Internet, our public libraries are still heavily patronized and provide valuable services with minimal fiscal support. Staffs are stretched thin, vacant positions remain unfilled and funds are insufficient to keep up with public demand for best sellers and other current material — material such as current computer books that help workers retrain themselves into the information age workforce so highly sought after by current and previous administrations.
Let's stop pointing fingers and crying wolf when there are real issues to tackle. I urge the current administration to find the funding that our public libraries need, and to provide the services the citizens of this state deserve.
Andy Collins
Bureaucracy triumphs
Q: How come the state librarian gets paid more than the state governor?
A: Hawai'i is a bureaucracy rather than a democracy. Bureaucrats get paid more than the people's representatives.
Brian Murphy
Peace being disturbed by park tour flights
My husband and I live in the country, 13 miles south of Hilo, and a quarter mile from the highway. We wake up to the sound of birds. Shortly after waking at 6 a.m., however, the sound of tour helicopters and planes begins, and it goes on all day, to well over 100 flights over our home daily, until it is dark.
About once a week we see them nearly crash into each other, and the air traffic is increasing at an alarming rate.
Recently I attended a meeting in Volcano of the Air Tour Management Program, a branch of the FAA, formed by a congressional act in 2000. Neophyte experts were brought in with slick presentations. They could not pronounce the names of the various locations their expertise would involve. Their study will measure noise in the parks, but not vibration effects. At the meeting they promised a Q&A session at the end but became aware that there were a few of us who they did not want to hear from.
This is happening all over the country at 100 national parks (seven in Hawai'i) to the tune of millions of taxpayer dollars. I tried to find their budget amount but was unable to. It is a shame this money will be spent for information locals can tell them in a heartbeat, free for the listening.
Why can't someone in the government just say no to any air traffic over any national park and be done with it?
Barbara E. Heavens
Kea'au, Hawai'i
Recycling program needs some fine-tuning
I am looking forward to the new trash program. A few questions:
- Where do we put our garbage while we are filling the trash container with grass, etc.?
- If I or my neighbors elect the once-a-week pick-up, how do we combat the smell that is bound to start up after a few days?
- How do we separate the recyclables?
July is not far away, and some of the details of this program would greatly help in making the public aware that the mayor is looking out for them as well as the county.
Howard Gantz
Makakilo
30 street parking spaces must be saved
We were deeply shocked to find notices on our cars that 30 street parking spaces are to be abolished behind Jefferson School, in our already-crowded neighborhood.
At the suggestion of the school's principal and PTA, we are loosing these spaces along Wai Nani Way after 30 or more years of use. The loss of these spaces will have a real impact on the neighboring residents and workers. They are taking these parking spaces away from the very people who support this school.
We desperately need parking. Please don't take away what is already there.
Jan Nilsson
Replacement on UH schedule a fumble
Appalachian State? You have to be kidding. Is this the touchdown UH athletic director Herman Frazier was supposed to score in replacing Akron on the football schedule?
What kind of fumblerama is this, and what happened to the big-time connections he had? Must have been too busy helping Dick Tomey get back in the pros. Way to go, Herm!
Al Smith
Hale'iwa
Transmit correct time
Since the clocks in VCRs in Hawai'i are automatically set according to time signals from PBS Hawai'i, it would be helpful if they transmitted the correct time. It seems a simple thing to ask. For years they were two minutes slow, and now they are two minutes fast.
Harold G. Loomis
Sanctions wouldn't be automatic in truancy
Based on reaction in the media, there are major concerns that the truancy bill in the Legislature is harsh and lacks compassion because it authorizes a hearing officer to apply sanctions for truancy, including community service.
One reason this may seem so harsh is the perception that the ability to impose a sanction means that a sanction is to be automatically applied. This is not true.
For example, any public school has the ability to impose a suspension on a student, but well over 90 percent of all student misbehavior is dealt with without using suspensions. Suspensions are applied on a case-by-case basis, taking into account individual circumstances.
Similarly, the sanctions proposed in the truancy bill would go unused for the overwhelming majority of students (and their parents) and they would be applied individually.
Under House Bill 277, truant students and their parents would be summoned before a "hearings" officer who would hear their reasons for the truancy. Only after it had been "proved that the person responsible for the child did not use proper diligence to enforce the child's regular attendance" would the officer have the option, not the requirement, to impose sanctions. Dire family circumstances should be taken into account and weighed against a finding that parents did not use proper diligence.
Why do I want the option to impose sanctions? There is a direct correlation between attendance and academic achievement. I want children in school. I want the opportunity to educate them and help them develop into good citizens. If sanctions, fairly and judicially applied, can improve attendance, they represent a compassionate, not a punitive, approach. If sanctions are applied, their purpose is not to punish. They are designed to motivate an improvement in attendance.
House Bill 277 does not assign blanket penalties; it merely gives the state an additional tool to address the truancy problem and help us get students in the classroom.
Scott Moore
Vice principal, Wai'anae High School
