Akaka bill survey's claim unsupported

Mr. Clyde Namu'o's assertion that there is not overwhelming opposition to the Akaka bill in Hawai'i is weak and supported with statements that to the un-analytical reader can seem to be reasonable claims (Letters, July 17).

Namu'o states: "The most recent statewide survey conducted by an independent research firm shows there is overwhelming support for the effort to provide federal recognition for Native Hawaiians, as the Akaka bill would do."

Well, what "independent" firm, how many people were surveyed, what area of the island(s) was the research conducted within, and was the overwhelming support for "recognition" via the Akaka bill or for simple re-"recognition" of the inherent sovereignty of the Hawaiian Islands? Pretty crafty way of glazing the donut for the un-analytical reader of his letter.

I believe the vast majority support recognition of the truth by the U.S. government if that is the federal recognition that is being spoken of here. I suspect it is not. I would like to know exactly the questions asked in this alleged survey. The question still remains, do those surveyed actually support the pseudo-recognition that is being sold to them via the Akaka bill or recognition of the truth by the U.S. government?

Namu'o stated: "It shows the vast majority of people in Hawai'i believe an injustice was committed by the U.S. government, and it is time now to help Native Hawaiians regain our sovereign right of self-determination."

Namu'o's last sentence is the most truthful sentence in his whole letter. The problem is that his concept of the sovereign right of self-determination is incomplete. He needs to look up those words in a dictionary and then re-examine exactly what it is the Akaka bill is about. But he won't because he is being paid to tell it the way he does.

Improve campuses with teachers' lofts

Building lofts in Chinatown is meant to make Chinatown a more livable community, where people work and enjoy life within walking distance of their homes.

By the same logic, lofts built for teachers to live on public school campuses would make public schools better communities, where learning is integrated with livability.

There may even be that critical percentile of students who are more respectful when they're in someone's house. They're rowdy when no one cares but change completely in different circumstances.

The benefits for teachers of teachers' lofts would be in transportation and housing, and proving to their students what they teach by the way they live.

Cartoon on Iraq War reached a new low

The so-called cartoon signed by Dick Adair in the July 11 Advertiser shows a widow holding a baby at a grave site with the widow saying, "It seems they made a mistake."

Mr. Adair, you have reached a new high in low. We all know that intelligence information is not 100 percent accurate, but 38 nations along with the United States saw enough to decide to go into Iraq. We also know that the WMDs were there and hidden, or have been moved. After all, Saddam did have eight years during the Clinton administration in which nothing was done.

Our men and women are in Iraq fighting for a cause.

Newspaper a treasure trove for educators

Every morning, first thing, I read this paper with coffee and scissors. I am a reading specialist, tutoring and conducting workshops for children, parents and teachers, especially those involved in homeschooling.

Filled with glee, I cram envelopes for my grandchildren, sending articles to my sophomore at Kamehameha, freshman at Castle, new entrant to King and show-and-tell preschooler. Doors are opened to science projects and current events with love and 37 cents.

Piles accumulate with phonics and sentence flashcards for homeschoolers and children with reading variabilities.

They read. They research. They create.

Glossy reading systems purchased from Texas and California cost taxpayers millions in heartache and dollars. Arts funding is being undermined at political levels. Creative art that leads to creative written expression is disappearing in some public schools. The hidden disability of the millennium, vision imperception, is epidemic.

Style of font, paper background and content make a difference for bright children incorrectly diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. They need good reading tools and teachers trained to recognize and make them.

I'm sharpening my scissors for tomorrow's edition. Can't wait! Thanks, Honolulu Advertiser, for your new art format.

Article on Strykers left out important facts

This is to say that I found your Sunday article "It's show and tell for Strykers on Big Island" a good example of your paper's poor reporting practices.

For this article, which as its headline says is about the public showing of a few Stryker vehicles on the Big Island, your newspaper selected a picture to accompany it that did nothing to show your readers what the vehicle is like. And the article, which said the Stryker vehicles were on display in Waimea and would be on display in Hilo the following day, did not say where in Hilo the vehicles would be shown.

So what real service did this article serve? Whom was it written for? Instead of providing information about a topic people are interested in, by your omissions you provided your readers with pap. Useless where it could have been informative. It sold your advertising, but failed to inform your readers.

Tinman Triathlon had extra hurdles

First must be a huge mahalo to the volunteers who made the Tinman Triathlon happen. Now four suggestions for the Tinman coordinator:

• Four bathroom stalls for 800-plus people was a black eye and an embarrassment to Hawai'i. The line was over 30 people long for both men and women at 5:30 a.m., the race start time. We were told that the bathrooms were the responsibility of the Parks Department. No, coordination is the responsibility of the race coordinator. Ever heard of Port-A-Potty?

• Tear-off tags for timing? Who says the volunteer gets it entered on time or in the right order? Who says the volunteer gets it entered at all. Why not chip-time the event?

• Plastic pipes for the bike racks is amateurish. They sag, causing bikes on the end to slide into other people's areas; bikes in the center aren't even off the ground. Use metal pipes as all the other races did thus far this year.

• Bikes and runners crossing paths? Map out your course better.

This race is supposed to be the premier event for O'ahu in the triathlon calendar year, but I can't see where my excessive race fee went. The Honolulu Triathlon was much better and cost the same. It was an extreme pleasure to compete in: better mapped-out course, more police presence at more intersections, bathrooms, metal bike racks and chip-timed.

Unless the above items are addressed, visitors to the Islands would be better advised to compete in the Honolulu Tri next year. This Tinman was an embarrassment to our lovely state and our sport.

Selling deep-ocean water is just a fad

We read with amusement that some entrepreneurs are making a fortune selling bottles of "nutrient-rich" desalinated deep-ocean water (DOW) from the state's Keahole intake to consumers overseas ("Seawater on track to be Isles' top export," July 13).

Hawai'i may as well enjoy whatever small proportion of the profits as the entrepreneurs decide to share with us. However, it is important to point out that the Keahole intakes were constructed (at great taxpayer expense) to pursue the much more serious goals of reducing Hawai'i's (and eventually the world's) dependence on fossil fuels, and of increasing marine food productivity.

Hawai'i has been the foremost center of technological development in ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), which was developed to make use of DOW for energy production. Other DOW applications such as land-based aquaculture, open-ocean mariculture, cooling, agriculture as well as fresh-water supply are being developed and tested.

The "nutrient-rich DOW bottled water" frenzy will fade away as quickly as it emerged. We would urge that any profits the state gets from this scheme should be reinvested for further research and development of OTEC and other DOW applications. Let's encourage the state government to get serious about supporting real technological developments that make meaningful contributions to true economic development and environmental conservation for our Aloha State.

Mahalo to precious few politicians in uniform

Councilman Charles Djou and state Reps. Mark Takai and Tulsi Tamayo are the only elected officials in all of Hawai'i who are in the guard or reserves.

You're kidding, right? Out of over a hundred politicians in our state, only three volunteered to serve us when the call to duty comes?

If you want to know why our politicians are out of touch, this has got to be one of the big reasons. We have such a big military presence in Hawai'i, it is almost unconscionable that Djou, Takai and Tamayo are the only elected officials who volunteered to serve with their lives in the reserves along with their mouths in politics.

Mahalo to Djou, Takai and Tamayo for their service to our community and country; shame on the rest of the politicians who have never spent one day in uniform.

Driving with aloha — or not

Politeness should never become dated

Mike Leidemann's article on "nice driving" Monday reads like a requiem for the aloha spirit. Politeness, consideration, aloha should never become dated.

Has the author ever driven in pouring Hilo rain on a dark night? Street lights are few, and one doesn't want to turn on the high lights, as they would blind oncoming drivers.

If you are so anxious to make that extra dollar, get up 10 minutes earlier, set your watch 10 minutes ahead, work harder, or all three.

Our lifestyle, as well as our safety, is too precious.

Stop talking trash about Philly driving

Having recently relocated from O'ahu to just outside of Philadelphia, I found myself slightly surprised to read in Monday's top story that my new home state is ranked No. 1 for aggressive drivers. I have not found this to be the case.

I must admit that before I began driving here, I was a bit nervous about it, being an "island girl" and fearing much more aggression on Northeast roads. Happily, I have found the opposite to be true. Knowledge of the rules of the road, being a defensive driver and showing courtesy go a long way to making any length of drive a pleasant experience. It has been my experience that drivers here (and in the tri-state area of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey) are smart drivers.

Unlike many drivers in Hawai'i, drivers here generally observe the rule of left lane passing/faster drivers and right lane/slower drivers. I have not been tailgated once in the three months I have been here and not witnessed one obscene gesture from other drivers.

People are friendly, on and off the road. People do give a little thank-you wave, contrary to what I had heard about Northeast drivers while I was growing up and living on O'ahu. They also merge wisely, and no one takes it personally when other cars happen to pull in front of you. They do it in a safe manner and keep on moving.

Last, not once have I laid eyes on a "suped-up" Honda or Toyota drifting in and out of traffic, racing at breakneck speed; whereas in Hawai'i, this irresponsible, reckless and downright ignorant behavior was part of everyday life on the roads.

Hawai'i drivers don't need to be aggressive

I cannot agree in any way with your Monday article "Nice driving can be bad habit."

Hawai'i drivers are way too aggressive already, and because of that, the quality of life has deteriorated a lot. This is the Aloha State, not New York City.

I have seen little kids stuck at the stoplights when they had the green light because cars would not stop to let them cross, older drivers unable to enter the freeways, emergency vehicles unable to enter the intersection because of aggressive drivers. The list goes on.

It's not a matter of time in getting to your destination that is more important as it is the quality of life.

Let police control the flow of traffic

I and most others dislike tailgaters, yet the people who are in the fast/passing lane(s) should reflect on the following:

First, there could be law enforcement or emergency personnel in an unmarked (with no light or siren) vehicle responding to a call.

Second, there could be someone with a true or perceived emergency. Let the police handle this.

Finally, it is the duty and responsibility of the police to maintain control and enforcement of the traffic flow. They are trained professionals. Aloha.

Go with the flow to really show aloha

I don't know if this is the right forum, but I wanted to comment on Monday's "nice driving" piece by Mike Leidemann. I agree that too many drivers allow people into lanes, slowing traffic, because they think they are driving with "aloha."

I drive from the North Shore every day to work, and at the same spots people are letting in drivers from the right while the rest of us in line are trying to get to work. It irritates me when the drivers on the right get a green light and I am left at a red light by some moron's thinking of driving with aloha.

Move traffic along and then you'll really be driving with aloha, not to mention a few "Thank the Lord" comments on the side.