Bottle law system inconvenient to use

The inconvenience of redeeming your bottles and cans makes the current system more like another tax.

I have recycled aluminum cans for the past 30 years, on the Mainland and in Hawai'i. It wasn't a problem to take my small bag of cans to the local recycling bins at schools and shopping centers.

Now, having been through the Hawai'i redemption center experience, I find the trip from Waikiki to Mo'ili'ili, the muddy lot and long lines too inconvenient for the small return.

I will continue to deposit my cans in the local redemption bin at my son's school and forfeit my 5-cent deposit. I'm sure the state is hoping the inconvenience of the current system will cause many more people to do the same, thereby increasing their "special fund."

Letter also sought to rewrite history

Thurston Twigg-Smith writes in his Jan. 23 letter: "There are apparently no bounds to rewriting history."

Twigg-Smith should know; he states: " ... she (Lili'uokalani) went to the Supreme Court, for example, to gain personal title to the ceded lands ... " Mr. Twigg-Smith is wrong. Lili'uokalani sued in the United States Court of Claims, not the Supreme Court. Lili'uokalani sued not for "personal title to the ceded lands," as Twigg-Smith states, but rather her complaint addressed her interest in the crown portion of the crown and government lands as follows:

"First: That the United States of America be summoned to appear and answer this complaint and be bound by the proceedings herein.

"Second: That the United States be decreed to be a Trustee of the Crown Lands herein before specified for the use and benefit of your petitioner (Lili'uokalani) so far as her equitable life interest in said Crown Lands is concerned.

"Third: That the United States be decreed to pay to your petitioner (Lili'uokalani) said sum of Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($450,000), or in the alternative that the United States be decreed to account to your petitioner for the rents, profits and emoluments derived from said Crown Lands after deducting the necessary and proper expenses of managing the same, for the period of six years next preceding the date of filing this petition. ... "

Twigg-Smith's letter typifies the snide anti-Hawaiian revisionism he seems to take great pleasure in. Hawaiians know who their queen was and what she stood for. Mr. Twigg-Smith, why are you trying to change that by offering these revisions of well-documented and easily researched history?

Native Hawaiian should be kept on

We have enjoyed the Royal Hawaiian Band for many years and have been very satisfied with the selections of music by Aaron Mahi. We feel that he has an understanding of the historical importance of the band, is completely competent in the Hawaiian language and in the music he chooses.

This band has a unique place in the United States. It is not just any marching band. It reflects a time when Hawai'i was a sovereign nation. We have nothing like this anywhere else in the country. The Royal Hawaiian Band is led by a Native Hawaiian who is a fine conductor with a wide knowledge of music. This is very important in maintaining historical perspective.

We urge the mayor to retain Aaron Mahi.

We're turning Hawai'i into 'Cuba Pacifico'

The poorly conceived and ill-prepared implementation of the bottle tax is in full swing. I wonder if the Politburo forced citizens to recycle bottles in the former communist U.S.S.R.? It is something you would expect in a socialist state.

Now the central government of Hawai'i is going to regulate gasoline prices. My guess is Fidel Castro controls gasoline prices in communist Cuba, too. Maybe Honolulu can be a sister city with Havana. We've got so much in common — palm trees and price controls.

I don't mind the politicos being in charge of education and fixing roads, although they have not shown any semblance of competency. Yet we seem so eager to entrust these same politicians with more and more authority over what should be market-driven concerns.

Here's the deal. Show me you can take care of our schools and our roads, first. Then, let's talk about turning Hawai'i into Cuba Pacifico.

Age is no barrier

I started driving at the age of 18. I am now 80 years young and do not wear glasses or contact lenses, and I can drive a car or motorcycle day or night. I truly believe you cannot prove that every person is a bad driver because of his age.