Why all the fuss about creationism?

In Pennsylvania and Georgia, they're trying to smuggle "creationism" into the biology classroom (again!). It's called "intelligent design" these days, but it still means "God did it."

Which is fine. Even the pope has acknowledged that evolution is probably the way God did it.

Insisting that evolution is a theory is fine, too. It just happens to be the theory with the evidence.

"It's so complicated God must have done it; besides, it's in Chapter 1 of Genesis" is fine for the Sunday school classroom. It just isn't the sort of scientific evidence that belongs in the biology classroom.

One wonders just what evidence might disprove the hypothesis that "God did it." An unfalsifiable hypothesis is generally considered to also be unprovable.

The excellent Jewish poet who wrote the "In the beginning" piece that opens the Torah surely never intended his poem as a biology or geology text. His affirmation that matter and creation are good was what it was about. The competition in those days insisted that only spirit was good.

Of course, God could have told the author about DNA, mitochondria and differential population pressures, but it would have been Greek to him and he was writing in Hebrew.

Now, if Charles Darwin had just gotten William Blake to write "Origin of Species" for him, maybe we wouldn't be fretting over church-state separation issues.

Dalton Tanonaka should make apology

Regarding Dalton Tanonaka's Wednesday letter criticizing Neil Abercrombie for missing the intelligence bill vote: Obviously, Mr. Tanonaka has no family values and no respect for the loss of Mr. Abercrombie's mother, who passed away a few days before the vote. I'm sure if you were Neil and your mother passed away, you would go to be with your family rather than stay in D.C. Family is the most important thing we cherish, especially in Hawai'i.

Mr. Tanonaka, you owe our representative an apology; otherwise, you are a sore loser.

Here's another point: Be careful what you read on the Internet, too. I can easily make a Web page similar to that which Tanonaka named in his letter and have very different information. Not all Web pages tell the truth.

New energy solutions should be rewarded

Since we didn't sign the Kyoto Treaty, we must offer alternatives. The Holy Grail of energy is to develop technologies that do not release new energy and pollution into the already-overburdened environment, but that do withdraw ambient energy from it. New and enhanced solutions are needed. We must fire up the imaginations of millions of amateur inventors and professional scientists alike.

Congress should now, and quickly, legislate an overlay program of incentives, awards and recognition to the tune of $100 billion over 10 years. Ridiculous? It would be ridiculous and irresponsible not to. The legislation should bypass the expensive and time-consuming U.S. patent system and provide for direct purchase of all rights to such proven original technologies from anyone who offers them up from a laboratory, garage or spare bedroom.

The world runs on oil. It eventually must run on ambient energy. There will always be plenty of valuable uses for oil other than burning it. The income from licensing such technology could well support generations of Social Security retirees and even pay off our national debt. Let us take this dramatic action. Let us start now.

Bring troops home and end the war lie

What our troops want for Christmas: armored Humvees — and an exit plan.

I would imagine that what else the troops want is Congress and citizens with the courage to say enough: bring them home now.

Mother Jones magazine offers a good article, "America's Soldiers Speak Out Against the Iraq War": "I am disheartened and personally hurt," says an Army sergeant, "to learn the reason I went to Iraq never existed. Now you realize that the people to blame for this aren't the ones you are fighting, it's the people who put you in this situation in the first place. You realize you wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't been lied to."

How long is the lie to continue?

Mutated bacterium plaguing the homeless

The homeless and poverty-stricken in Hawai'i are currently being treated by our healthcare givers for a mutated type of staph infection known as MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that almost every homeless person has contracted and been treated for.

The problem is that Hawai'i healthcare practitioners and even the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta have no mandatory protocols for identifying this strain of bacterium before treatment, thus leading to the wrong drugs being administered to those affected. By the time MRSA is identified, the infection, in most cases, has become harder to cure or treat.

This silent disease must be addressed soon by our healthcare givers as our homeless are indeed paying the price for a lack of disease identification and culturing protocols.

Job Corps wonderful for improving lives

I was a single mother of two small children on welfare when my aunty told me about the Job Corps program. I enrolled with the goal of learning job skills in order to get off welfare and make a better life for my family.

I soon realized the Job Corps offered so much more than job training. I learned to manage time, money and my talents. The employability, leadership and social skills programs were things I never realized I needed for success at a job. My two children were cared for at the child development center right there at the campus where I attended training.

After graduation, I worked as an education assistant and took college courses. Several years later, I heard the Job Corps had an opening for a residential adviser. I knew this was the opportunity for me to make a difference in the lives of young adults and for me to give back to the program that was a huge part of improving my future. I was hired at Job Corps four years ago and have been promoted twice. My students are always inspired when I tell them I was once a student.

Thank-you, Job Corps, for believing in me!

Resurfacing critical

As a resident of Nu'uanu, I use the Pali Highway daily. I have noticed that the highway is in horrific condition. The right lane Kailua-bound between the Wyllie Street overpass and Waiakamilo Road is in the worst shape of all the lanes. Emergency resurfacing should be done to prevent damage to people's vehicles.