SENIOR CITIZENS

WHY INEQUALITY IN BUS STOPS ON QUEEN STREET?

Someone has made a giant error!

On Queen Street, diamondhead of South Street, there is an interesting comparison. On one side of the street, bordering a senior citizen building, is a covered bus stop. It once had two benches that seated at least three people each. It was a convenience for the many seniors who ride the bus.

Now there are only two small, low cement stools that look like they may have been transported from a children's playground. They are, for the most part, inadequate for the seniors' use.

Consequently, seniors, some with canes and some on walkers, must stand unprotected in the sun, wind or rain while waiting for a bus.

Directly across the street, in front of a newly constructed high-rise condominium building, is a covered bus stop. It has a bench that seats at least four people, also a cement bench that seats another three.

I am not saying that the others are not deserving of the comfort that that bus stop provides. What I am saying is that seniors across the street are deserving of the same.

In my opinion, there is something very wrong with this picture.

ARMY

HARD TO BREATHE EASY OVER DEPLETED URANIUM

Three and half years after depleted uranium was found in Hawai'i, who knows if we're breathing it? Not the Army — they haven't started the air testing set for last summer. Not our Health Department — in nine months they haven't replaced broken air-testing devices. And both Army and health department devices may be the wrong type to detect airborne DU compounds.

The health department says it is doing background radiation readings. But readings with portable instruments only run five minutes.

The Army said DU can't migrate far because it's in "large fragments." But now they admit the spotting rounds exploded on impact and the DU is "fine particulate matter." In New York state, DU was reported in air filters more than 25 miles from a factory using DU. The Army reported only about 700 spotting rounds in all of Hawai'i. But the Sierra Club said there might be 2,000 at Pohakuloa alone. Now the Army admits more research is warranted.

The Army reports spotting rounds only in four small areas at Pohakuloa. But they admit "no range was specified in the available historical documents." And they admit radiation detectors can't find DU under lava outcrops.

Army officials told Hawai'i Island citizens to work through politicians if they're unhappy about Army policies. But when our county called for a halt to live-fire and practice bombing until the Pohakuloa DU is assessed and cleaned up, the Army said "It's just a resolution."

It's hard to breathe easy.

CEDED LANDS CASE

LINGLE NO LONGER CARES ABOUT HAWAIIAN LANDS

In 2002 when Gov. Linda Lingle aspired to governorship, she met with the I Mua group to highlight and perhaps stress her inherent kinship with Hawaiian causes.

Lingle made clear the unique value that the Israel homeland represents to world Jewry, with bindings of history, culture, ancestry and genealogy, a profound relationship beyond simple geography or real estate.

She articulated clearly her parallel appreciation of the singular reverence that the 'aina invokes in kanaka maoli, from whence is imbedded their connections of culture, religion, common beliefs, customs and mores.

Lingle now ignores those sentiments. She no longer feels any advantage flowing from her earlier, and hopefully forgotten, political calculus. We were fooled. Shame on us.

Lingle now dances a different jig. The plight of Hawaiians and Hawaiian land preservation are no longer worthy of her serious attention. Previous calls to "preserve the culture" have morphed into "control and sell the ceded lands."

She ignores the voice of the Hawai'i Supreme Court, and entreats the national court to abet her land theft.

Her brief tenure on the national stage has apparently corrupted her into a Sen. Jon Kyl think-alike. See how Lingle easily bends, how she gracefully spins, how she cleverly twists. She shames herself. Auwe.

PIRATES

USE OF DEADLY FORCE SHOULD BE LAST OPTION

Regarding Richard Halloran's Nov 23 column, "Focus turns to maritime security as piracy soars."

Before we get carried away with a pure military and use-of-force approach to the problem of piracy, we should evaluate the results of a recent unfortunate incident in the Indian Ocean off Somalia.

The Indian navy announced that it had sunk a pirate "mother ship." However, it turns out that what it sank was a Thai fishing boat that had been hijacked by pirates.

Apparently the sinking killed all but one of the bound hostages and allowed the pirates to escape in small boats.

The last thing this situation needs is trigger-happy navies or private security forces prowling the high seas in search of "pirates."

Indeed, this incident is an excellent example of why the use of deadly force against pirates should be the last option.

KALOKO

DON'T MAKE PFLUEGER A SCAPEGOAT IN DAM CASE

With all due respect to those who lost loved ones in the Kaloko Reservoir Dam calamity, whether Jimmy Pflueger did wrong or not — and that is up to a jury to decide — this all may have been avoided.

The state was very much remiss in its dam inspection. If the state inspectors did their job and if there was a violation, it would have been discovered, a citation issued along with a fine and an order to correct the alleged wrongdoing, thus avoiding the catastrophic event.

Let's point the finger in the right direction instead of making James Pflueger a scapegoat for the state's procedural lapse in policies.