Letters to the Editor

Traffic fix good idea, but it's pretty pricey

It's great to see that the state DOT is finally trying to do something about the traffic jams on H-1, by closing the Lunalilo on-ramp in the mornings. Anything that helps to keep the traffic moving will ultimately be a big benefit to all, even if it means a little extra time in reaching an on-ramp.

It's mind-boggling, however, to see that putting up a few simple barriers for three months is going to cost $200,000. Now I know why my taxes are so high. What's wrong with just putting some traffic cones down, as is done on Kapi'olani every day?

And while the DOT is thinking about it, why not do something in that same area to alleviate the afternoon jam eastbound at the Vineyard on-ramp? It doesn't need to be closed — just take some more cones and block off one of its two lanes so that Vineyard traffic is forced to merge before getting on the H-1 instead of afterward. The cones could stay in place 24/7 since outside of rush hour only one lane is needed anyway.

If the DOT doesn't have the resources to do this, I'll be glad to take it on for only $50,000.

Effort to make Thielen scapegoat will backfire

My goodness! The meeting in Waimanalo with the DOE superintendent and some of the school board members should have started a tsunami, what with the whining and stamping of feet. There was no indication of the purpose of the meeting in the article (March 19), nor any mention of whether anyone was there besides the quoted complainers.

It is interesting, also, that the extensively quoted annual report on school performance was prepared by a retired DOE specialist. Pat Hamamoto should have just written it herself and saved the contract fee.

It is unfortunate that Board of Education Chairman Breene Harimoto wants to put his "foot down" on BOE member Laura Thielen, but then refuses to publicly debate her after he and others at the Waimanalo meeting accused her (and the Lingle administration) of lying. It seems it would be to his advantage to have a public forum, since he thinks he has the truth on his side.

He and the other board members also might want to consider the fact that Thielen campaigned in 2002 advocating local, elected school boards. She won her seat by more votes than any other BOE candidate. There were 109,337 voters who expected her to pursue education reform and local school boards, and now she is being maligned for doing so by fellow board members.

I think this effort to make Laura Thielen a scapegoat will backfire. She has had the courage to do what she said she would and should be admired and encouraged, not ganged up on by her fellow board members. They come across like a group of taunting little kindergartners.

Drop the politics, open up to change

The bantering about the educational system is in itself educational.

I recently returned to Hawai'i after more than 20 years. I stepped out of 1981, back into 1981. The system has not changed.

For those who criticize the governor's attempts to improve the educational system, remember that it has been broken for years. Remedies attempted over 20-plus years have not worked.

I am not saying that Gov. Lingle is right. However, she is willing to propose a new solution. Critics, the ones who have not fixed the problem, say her proposal will not work. How do they know? They are hardly experts since they have not made repairs.

At this point, drop the political partisanship that has fostered this problem, open up your minds to new ideas and worry about the kids, not the Democratic or Republican image. If the governor's proposal works, praise it. If it does not, address it at the polls.

As a man once said: lead, follow or get out of the way.

O'ahu is well worth coming back to visit

An open letter to Mayor Jeremy Harris:

My friend, partner and I recently visited Waikiki and the North Shore. We were so highly impressed with our visit that you and your city deserve at least an e-mail applauding you for your amazing attention to the environment and overall cleanliness. We have traveled throughout the United States and have found Honolulu to be the cleanest, most well-maintained community. We saw cleaners every morning cleaning the streets and parks.

One day, we saw school kids cleaning up the smallest pieces of trash in the park — something absolutely unheard of where we are from. All we could think is, when can we come back ... or even better, move here?

We had heard comments on how expensive Honolulu can be. We found everything to be rather reasonable. The transit system was fantastic — affordable and efficient. We will be coming back many times, looking forward to the pride and care demonstrated by the locals. We will tell everyone to consider traveling here over anywhere else on the Mainland.

Your extra funding toward community maintenance is extremely well-noted, appreciated and admired.

Here's why live-fire exercises are bad

Before people decide whether or not to sympathize with the military over the use of Makua Valley for its live-fire exercises, they should take a look at Waikane Valley. The 190 acres that were used by the Marines for live-fire exercises in Waikane are a scar on the Windward coast that will not go away.

To view this wasteland, park on the makai side of Kamehameha Highway, across from Waikane Valley Road, and walk mauka on the road past some houses, a church and a piggery. There is a large iron gate on the right and a sign that says City and County of Honolulu Nature Park. Go around the gate on the right and proceed down the road. Soon you will see a high wire fence that runs along the right side of the road. The fence has signs warning of unexploded ordnance, and from the road one can see all kinds of junk, including an old HRT bus. The weeds have taken over the understory. The area is obviously totally useless even though the Marines agreed to return it to its original state when they were done with it.

This has happened in a culture that worships the land and results in the military's pleas for the use of Makua to fall on deaf ears. They will find little public support as long as Waikane remains as evidence of the military's stewardship of the 'aina.

New traffic cameras may incur our wrath

So our lawmakers are pondering the use of fixed cameras and auto-mailing of speeding tickets, despite the justifiable hue and cry over the recent use of van cams?

Frankly, if yellow lights are timed correctly, and true red-light violators (giving well-meaning drivers a quarter of a second leeway) were ticketed using fixed cams at problematic intersections, I would not object. But unless posted speed limits are changed to reflect the reality of the safe median flow of traffic, which is normally 5 to 15 mph over the posted limit islandwide, and if the state starts violating commuters by using us as another source of revenue to fill its coffers, lawmakers are going to once again have a lot of angry constituents.

And if our Legislature takes the attitude of "So, whatcha gonna do about it? We make the law, you obey or else ... " Well, just remember that all of those commuters who are traveling with the flow of traffic and then receive tickets in the mail have the power and ability, when angered as before, to vote you right out of the legislative seat you heat.

So legislators, I respectfully request you consider carefully the consequences of a new law you account for in the "aye" column. Consider the harm you inflict on the average driver who is just trying to get to and from work safely and efficiently, and the reaction such legislation will once again incur.

Why didn't Bush tell us the truth in first place?

Finally, the Bush administration is telling us the truth about the Iraq war. It's now saying that "Saddam was a bad guy. And, the world is better off without him."

So, why didn't it tell us the truth from the beginning? It could have said: "Saddam is a bad guy. He's not a threat to anyone but the Iraqis. He's not involved with al-Qaida. He has no nuclear weapons. He has no weapons of mass destruction. He has no biological or chemical weapons delivery systems. He's not an imminent threat to us or his neighbors. He's a shell of his former self due to the '91 Gulf War, sanctions and U.N. inspections. He's fundamentally in compliance with U.N. resolutions. So, we're invading Iraq now to take him out because he's a bad guy. The world will be better without him. And, it'll only cost you 600 dead American service men and women and a couple of hundred billion dollars to start."

Now, how could any red-blooded American not support that?

What's a life worth?

Regarding Judge Susan Mollway's ruling on live-fire exercises: Good thing for Wai'anae activists that Congress didn't ask the courts to make national security a higher priority than endangered species. Don't want to risk a fire that might harm endangered species or cultural sites just to provide training for some Marines who might need it to save their lives and our freedoms.

Gibson followed scriptural text

Being a conservative preacher who has preached and written about the Bible's accounts of Christ's "Passion" for over 40 years means I looked at Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ," with an open mind and critical eye. (And eyes full of tears!)

But, unlike many who claim to be religious experts who've found so many things to criticize this movie about, I have nothing but praise for the entire movie.

First, I want to praise Gibson for using the Bible's four Gospels as his primary source of facts about Jesus' betrayal, arrest, trials, suffering and death. Except for his taking a few artistic liberties for dramatic effect — like some of his flashbacks or personifying the invisible evil forces (Satan and demons) at work behind the scenes — he adhered to the scriptural text to the letter when it came to all the key events.

And I am shocked to see that all the criticisms that I have read so far are not for any of Mel's artistic additions but for his following the biblical account too closely on crucial revealed facts and for not blending its inspired truths with non-biblical religious and secular historical records. This criticism is unwarranted for two reasons:

• The four Gospels are the oldest, most complete and only reliable historical account — being from credible eyewitnesses and inspired by God — of the life of Christ. They are the original historical record. They are, as noted historian Sir William Ramsay said, "history of the first rank."
  
  
• You can't get more than a few lines about Christ from all the non-biblical secular historical accounts put together. And the non-biblical "gospels" are not in the canon for very good reasons. Seems like modern critics of Mel's sticking to the "truth" about Christ have the same problem of recognizing "truth" as did Pilate (John 18:38, 17:17).

Second, I want to praise Mel for his accurate biblical portrayal of the Jewish religious leadership as being primarily responsible for Jesus' arrest, mock trials, beatings and execution. It is beyond dispute that these Jews were primarily responsible for Jesus' death, and that Pilate was manipulated by them to overrule his decision that Jesus was innocent and vacate his oft-repeated desire to release him and was secondarily responsible. (Herod came to the same conclusions.)

Jesus said this was so (John 19:11); Peter said so (Acts 2:23, 36, 3:13); Stephen said so (Acts 7:52); and the apostle Paul said so (I Thessalonians 2:14-15).

And again, the non-biblical histories have very little to say about Pilate's dealings with Jesus. To deny this is to deny the truth about the criminal acts of these Jewish leaders and their followers on one hand, and on the other to deny the full and final physical punishment that Jesus said was to be imposed upon them in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (Matthew 23:29 through Chapter 24) and his offer of spiritual redemption through his death as per Acts 2:23-47.

This truth sets men free. And thanks to Mel for sticking to it in this movie.