Posted on: Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Letters to the Editor

There's a whole range of products to be capped

Implement gasoline price caps now. Once in place, we can begin to address the most blatant example of consumer gouging and corporate profiteering in Hawai'i: the price of bottled water. I have paid as much as $2.50 for 16 ounces of this life-sustaining liquid. That's $20 per gallon ... for water!

The state Legislature must address this important matter. Like gasoline, the money being ripped off by these greedy pirates of H2O is leaving our state to buy mansions and jets for their unscrupulous CEOs.

Ever notice how all the brands of bottled water are the same price? If that is not in violation of some anti-trade law, call me crazy. I want to see price caps put on bottled water and tied to the price of bottled water in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. I figure since they have a lot of water, it must be cheap.

Let's not stop at price caps for gasoline and bottled water. Imported beer is too expensive, and have you seen how much portabella mushrooms cost?

Our work has just begun.

Quite simply, the world is running out of oil

The recent Focus commentary "25-year boom in cheap oil about to end" correctly points out that the price of oil will steadily increase in the future.

There might be temporary swings up and down for the coming years, but the trend is upward. High prices are not the real problem. Europeans pay up to $6 per gallon at the gas pump, and they still drive and enjoy life.

Future shortages will have a more serious effect. The world is rapidly approaching the peak in oil production, which might happen as early as 2010. Existing wells are depleting faster than new wells can be developed. There are fewer and fewer large oil discoveries since 1980. We are currently consuming five times as much as we are discovering. Outside of OPEC, almost all major oil-producing countries have peaked or are producing at full throttle, including the United States, where the oil peak happened in 1970. After the oil peak, there will still be plenty of oil in the ground, but we cannot produce as much as today.

The Middle East has only small excess capacities to make up for the decline, and the Middle East will peak in a couple of years. The coming oil peak is not controlled by politics and economics, but by the rock formations, which hold the oil and make production increasingly difficult and costly, with increasing field depletion. The future economy will have to succeed with less but more costly oil.

The only short-term solutions are significant conservation efforts and speedy development of alternative energies. If we opt to stick with oil, we will not be prepared for the consequences of an oil peak. The realization will be painful, and we will know within five to 10 years whether or not we have missed our opportunities.

There's hope for those with Meniere's disease

I was saddened to hear of the circumstances surrounding the fire involving Joanna Miranda and her children (Advertiser, March 24).

Speaking as someone who was affected with severe Meniere's disease, I would like to let people know that there is hope.

Though there may be no cure for Meniere's disease, there are treatments and procedures that can eliminate the symptoms and return you to normal life. I would encourage people to research the options available.

Thanks to Dr. Kaku of the Ear, Nose and Throat Department at Straub Clinic, I was referred to the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles (www.houseearclinic.com) and had a surgical procedure that eliminated the vertigo, dizziness and related symptoms. The effects of Meniere's disease are physically and mentally debilitating. I credit Dr. Kaku and the House Ear Clinic with returning my life to normal. There is hope!

Richard Clarke should now be editorial target

Regarding your recent hard-hitting columns that blame the president for the 9/11 attacks: I'm looking forward to your equally scathing editorials on career chair-warmer Dick Clarke and his callous and cynical peddling of his kiss-and-tell book over the bodies of the 9/11 victims.

Nice that he "apologized," only 2 1/2 years after the fact. Maybe your follow-on analysis will discuss Dick Clarke's invisibility and total inaction during the eight long years of the Clinton beach party. The 1993 World Trade Center attack, Khobar Towers attack, the 1998 embassy bombings, the USS Cole attack.

Dick was supposed to be in charge of counterterrorism issues, but where was he? Asleep at the switch? Come to think of it, back then we never heard or saw much of him. Maybe you should focus on Clarke's lying under oath. His testimony — under oath — telling us that "fighting terrorism was a high priority in the Clinton administration" does not match Dick Clarke and Bill Clinton's counterterrorism inaction of those eight long years.

Executive pay raises on the backs of workers?

I find it interesting that the state is trying to save money by laying off certain people, even though those people are permanent workers with 10 or more years working for the state. And yet the state has the gall to want to give the executives pay raises?

So what the state is saying is, the heck with the little people who have families, mortgages and responsibilities; cut their positions but give pay raises to the higher-ups. Give me a break.

Public worker benefits package is astonishing

I'm not vehemently opposed to the recent arbitrated HGEA pay increase, although it will be interesting to see how it gets paid for. Some of my good friends work for the government. They are professional and hard-working, and I believe they deserve a pay increase.

However, what I find astonishing is their more than generous vacation and sick-leave benefits package. If you add up the 21 days of paid vacation, plus 14 paid holidays, then sprinkle in a good portion of their granted sick leave, it is not unrealistic for any HGEA member to work only four days a week for the whole year. Wow!

Now that it's out in the open, hopefully people will stop wondering why government is stereotyped as being inefficient.

Near accident changed opinion on van cams

I, too, was at first against the van cams. Not anymore.

Days after the tragedy on H-1 with the four people slaughtered by speeding, I was driving into town from 'Ewa at about 2 p.m., and two guys were racing again. The one who got in front of me swerved and fishtailed, then went up on two wheels, then the other two wheels and finally hit the guard rail.

I immediately slowed, as there was no way for me to get around him. By some miracle he didn't roll in front of me, my daughter and 4-year-old granddaughter. When we passed the other racer, who had also slowed down, the guys in that car were laughing.

But for the grace of God, you would have been reading about more innocents slaughtered. Something must be done! Maybe the van cams will help. Any other ideas? The way they are proposed to be set up, they are in the open and there is plenty of warning. Maybe the complainants don't want to slow down?

Religious extremists want to control society

I missed reading Richard Chamberlain's March 18 letter to the editor about his 28-year relationship but I would like to congratulate him and his partner for their commitment to each other. Particularly when you consider that the straight world's divorce rate of over 50 percent along with a tolerance for spouse abuse seem to be the norm.

Gary Kunishima's remarks (Letters, March 21) condemning Mr. Chamberlain's relationship tend to remind me of extremists in all religions who want to control society's behavior and thinking based on books written centuries ago. I am thankful and proud to live in America, where the law protects people from that kind of thinking.

No, I'm not gay. I've been married to the same wonderful and exciting lady for 51 years.

Drivers: Use headlights, move for emergencies

Dear Honolulu drivers:

Just a reminder that if it is raining and you are using your windshield wipers, that means you need to turn on your lights. Just because it is daytime does not mean you are automatically visible.

Also, if there is a siren from a police, ambulance or fire truck, you need to immediately move to the right and stay there until all the emergency vehicles are well past. Another principle that many drivers seem to have trouble following.

Adhering to these two principles will bring a little more aloha to our roads.

Island graciousness was overwhelming

My wife and I just returned home following a three-week visit to Honolulu. We read your paper while on the island and commend your editorial page for speaking the truth to the great issues of the day.

We were wonderfully overwhelmed by the graciousness of Hawai'i residents. When driving around the island, it was amazing to witness the courtesy of drivers to one another. While buying a pineapple in a Honolulu store, my daughter asked a resident how to pick and prepare the fruit. The woman willingly gave of her time to instruct her in the art of picking and preparing a pineapple. Whenever we made inquiries, residents went the "second mile" to be helpful.

Wouldn't it be marvelous if all people on Earth could spend time in Hawai'i to learn how to be good neighbors to one another?

Booster seat bill must be heard

I am writing this letter in support of Senate Bill 2018. This bill, commonly referred to as the booster seat bill, was introduced in January.

It passed in the Senate Transportation and Judiciary committees and House Transportation Committee. It has been transferred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Unfortunately, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Eric Hamakawa, does not plan to hold public hearings for this bill. I have attempted on numerous occasions to contact Rep. Hamakawa, but my messages have not been returned. If Rep. Hamakawa does not hold a public hearing for Senate Bill 2018 before tomorrow, it will be dead.

Under current Hawai'i law, children under age 4 are required to be secured in child safety seats. Unfortunately, children ages 4 through 8 are not. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 85,000 keiki between the ages of 4 and 8 residing in the state of Hawai'i. These children are too small for an adult seatbelt. They need to be properly secured in a booster seat to be fully protected by auto seatbelts and avoid injuries.

When a child is not properly restrained, he or she can be severely, if not critically or fatally, injured. In the case of a child riding in a car using only the standard seatbelt, the lap belt rides up into his or her abdomen and the shoulder belt cuts across the neck.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the rear seats in an automobile, as well as the seatbelts, are not designed for children. They are designed for the average-sized adult individual. Because of this, the NTSB strongly recommends the use of booster seats for children between ages 4 and 8 and under 80 pounds.

In 2001, the Ford Motor Co., in conjunction with 26 other corporations and organizations, conducted a nationwide survey of over 11,000 parents regarding booster seats and their usage. Of the 200 participants surveyed in Hawai'i, 82 percent had heard of booster seats, but only 17 percent used them.

The cost of a booster seat is as low as $18 in our local retail establishments, and under Senate Bill 2018, the purchase of a booster seat is covered by the $25 state tax credit for a child passenger restraint system. Therefore, a financial burden would not be incurred by parents.

Across the United States, many local jurisdictions have already required booster seats for children. In fact, seven states and the District of Columbia require restraints for children under 8 years old and 80 pounds. Twenty-four other states have child restraint laws that set higher age minimums than Hawai'i. Highway deaths are the No. 1 killer of children in our nation.

I ask your readers to provide full support to Senate Bill 2018 and protect the 85,000 keiki who are at risk of becoming a statistic. Please call Rep. Hamakawa's office at 586-8480 and request that he hold a public hearing on this bill.