Elitist left-wingers displaying hypocrisy

So Michael Moore and all of his liberal cronies are complaining about the "price tag" on the inauguration. Funny how hypocritical the left can be.

How much money was spent on the Golden Globes and The People's Choice award shows? Couldn't that money have been spent on something better like aiding the victims of the tsunami? Or maybe the righteous left could have pooled its money together to buy the body armor they say our troops aren't getting. Where was all the outrage when Bill Clinton had his weeklong inaugural events that were paid for by corporations? Al Gore had 250 of his "extended family" bused in from the Capitol courtesy of the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition. Clinton's second inauguration cost around $25 million.

Now that number may be lower than Bush's second inauguration, but you have to take inflation and the economy into account. And consider the events that were taking place during Clinton's second inauguration:

Civil War in Angola. Hundreds of thousands of Somalians starving to death. Dozens killed and thousands homeless in Tijuana, Mexico, from floods. Russia on the brink of economic disaster. Hundreds dying of starvation and exposure in Bosnia.

And all the while, Clinton and his elitist left-wing buddies partied for a week. Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd were quoted in The New York Times as saying, "Is it too much to ask that it go on forever?"

The hypocrisy of the left is staggering and embarrassing for our country. I mean, after all, George Soros, the man who vowed to do all he could to get Bush out of office, is worth somewhere around $7 billion. Couldn't he survive on a mere $5 billion and use the rest to help out the tsunami victims?

Social Security needs more than 'tweaking'

"Ponzi scheme: an investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks." — Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.

Social Security: a system in which the government gives to yesterday's workers money that it takes from people working today.

As The Advertiser notes, the reality of this intelligent design is that "Now, as fewer workers pay into the system to support those who receive benefits, it assuredly needs tweaking."

Indeed. In 1945, there were 41.9 workers paying into the system for every retiree receiving a benefit. By 1960, there were 5.1. Today there are 3.3, and by 2042, the income from workers will only meet 73 percent of benefits owed to retirees, and the trust fund will be completely exhausted.

If it were common usage to say, for example, that the conflict in the Middle East needed "tweaking," then I reckon you could say the same for Social Security.

The simple truth is that neither workers nor retirees will be secure until Social Security itself is reformed from an unstable wealth transfer scheme into a system in which each generation's future retirement benefit is actually funded.

People should clean up after their dogs

People don't clean up after their dogs at the park next to Keolu School. I think people should pick up their dog's mess because if they don't, it is against the law.

People should also pick up their dog's mess because the kids at Keolu are stepping in it. People may use plastic or paper bags to pick up their dog's mess. People may also use a "pooper scooper."

Underage drinking bill needs careful wording

Giving alcohol to minors may become a crime with automatic jail time. As stated by Lt. Gov. James Aiona (Advertiser, Dec. 29), "two of the bills would crack down on underage drinking, including giving mandatory jail time to anyone caught giving or selling liquor to a minor."

This would outlaw the Catholic Communion and the Jewish Passover services. It would also jail parents who educate their teens in the surprising effects of alcohol. For example, back in high school, my friend's father sat with his son, at home, and gave him some glasses of wine so he would know how it sneaks up on you. Remember when you discovered that? Were you at a party, in a car, or under the watchful eye of your (soon to become criminal) parents?

The governor's office will say, "Jailing priests, religious families and responsible parents is not the intent of the bill." Then don't make it in the wording of the bill. Say what you mean, please! If you mean to outlaw parenting and religion, say so. Otherwise, reword the bill so it only targets people who do harm or act irresponsibly.

Here are some steps for learning program

To implement a public early-childhood learning program (ELP) and career opportunities, I propose that the state Department of Education and the UH College of Education undertake the following:

In the first year, the DOE should: (1) select a primary school from one school district for an ELP based on need; (2) convert an existing classroom at a selected school for ELP use; (3) relocate fifth- and/or sixth-grade students to middle school; (4) relocate eighth-grade students to secondary school, and (5) relocate the 12th-grade advanced placement students to UH-Manoa and/or community college campuses. (Note, only teachers and students for the affected grade levels would move, so no construction of new classrooms would be required.)

In the first, second and third years, the College of Education should: (1) obtain federal, state and private training grants for student internships and work-study; (2) award these training grants to secondary level and college students who wish to pursue public learning career opportunities in Hawai'i, and (3) if the need exists, expand ELP at other school districts.

People dying daily for false reasons

President Bush's inauguration was paid, in part, by those companies hoping to reap commissions from the elderly, if Social Security is changed. Social Security is not broken, but we will be bombarded with lies just as we were with WMD.

The other morning on "Democracy Now," 'Olelo Channel 54, Howard Zinn, author of "The People's History of the U.S.," spoke of the contrast of the inauguration of Bush after his hypocritical statements made on Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration day, Jan. 17. Zinn stated that:

"Bush represents everything that Martin Luther King Jr. opposed. Bush represents the most violent nation in history. We have already had two wars under Bush. What King said in 1967 about the U.S. certainly applies today. People around the world are mourning the ascension of Bush. A lot of work has been done to cover up the actual policies that have been going on. Bush is ignoring the pleas of those in need of medical care and help with their children."

All across the country there were demonstrations against the war and against Bush policies. Was much of it covered by the media? In New Orleans, a "Jazz Funeral for Democracy" was part of the anti-war demonstrations. Here in Honolulu, I was proud to be part of a group of young and old who marched to the state Capitol to protest the charade in Washington, D.C., that unfortunately Gov. Linda Lingle was part of.

People continue to die daily in Iraq and Afghanistan for false reasons, or I could just say outright lies, on the part of the Bush administration. What was there to celebrate, Linda?

Why not teach them not to drink?

Gerald Nakata (Letters, Tuesday) writes, "Teenagers must be taught to drink responsibly, and this has to be done before they are legally able to obtain alcohol for themselves."

Perhaps Mr. Nakata should teach his teenagers not to drink. They would avoid all the medical issues linked to drinking, save money and not have to contend with recycling centers.

Start leaving children behind

He said it on Oprah or Dr. Phil or Larry King or — I forget, but he said it. And he was president of the United States. What he said I'll never forget. He said he admires spouse Laura because she's "smart and a teacher."

This had a big impact on me. Because I'm smart and a teacher too. Therefore, surely this president is interested in what I suggest. OK, I'll tell him:

George — may I call you George? — here's what I recommend. You should tout an education plan entitled Mo' Childs Left Behind. I'd sure support you, because every year as an eighth-grade English teacher, I expect to meet eighth-graders on the first day of school. (What a wild expectation!) Instead, I get 35 percent who read and comprehend English at the fourth- through first-grade level.

That's right, a third aren't even half eighth-graders. Every year. What's up with that? Well, I can only conclude that no child is left behind, and we need to start leaving 'em.

In the old days — presumably — an eighth-grader was actually an eighth-grader. Now they're third-graders — but brimming with self-esteem. George, if a president would recommend that teachers begin retaining (aka failing or leaving 'em behind) students like crazy, well, I'd sure appreciate it. Right now, public school teachers are urged or intimidated by administrators and parents not to do so. A teacher recently told me, "My lowest grade is a D because giving Fs is just too much trouble."

Of course, failing all the students who deserve to fail would improve (lower) my student-teacher ratio. I fully realize that seventh through first grades would be more crowded (with all those retainees), but that's OK, because I basically just care about myself.

A chief component of the Mo' Childs Left Behind Educational Plan should be the outlawing of Moronic TeleVision (aka MTV).

You're probably wondering about my rationale. OK, here it is. I've spent almost a quarter-century in the eighth grade. Usually, I hand students a Xerox on day one. I tell them it's a test, thereby lying and speaking the truth simultaneously. Students need to write their names, silently, in the upper righthand corner. For the "test," students need to write what city, state and country they live in. They have very little time. Only two minutes. And no cheating. Because I collect those papers in a jiffy.

George, would you believe that over 80 percent of my eighth-graders can't do this?

I can hardly believe it, either. So I do it every year just to shock myself. Thanks to my thoroughly unscientific survey, I discovered that the same 80 percent do watch MTV. If this isn't conclusive evidence, I don't know what is.

One last thing, George, we should do away with geography teachers. Oh, that's right, I forgot, we already did.