Incumbents must be kicked out of power

The ills of Hawaii are mainly due to the gross ineptness, dishonesty and greed of most of our so-called leaders. They must be voted out of office and hopefully replaced by honest and intelligent people, whose goal should be returning Hawaii to the wonderful state it once was and not the cesspool it has become, morally and physically.

Lucille Cooper
Kaneohe

Legislature lived up to its billing

The 1999 "do nothing" session is well-named. Nothing there to kickstart the economy. No help for small business, tax relief, tort reform, strong privatization, containment of fireworks or substantive civil service reform.

The Senate did "do something," however. The overwhelmingly Democratic Senate ousted the governor's top two lieutenants: Attorney General Margery Bronster and Budget Chief Earl Anzai.

The other dubious achievement is the $200-million midnight raid on the state retirement fund without benefit of a hearing on the specifics of the measure.

As far as helping the people of Hawaii get out of their fiscal plight, this session is a dud.

Rep. Barbara Marumoto
House Republican Leader

Anzai did a good job in difficult times

I was saddened to hear of the departure of Earl Anzai from the Budget Department. I'm sure he was one of the key players in restoring the fiscal health of the state budget. As Anzai put it, we live in a political environment and must adhere to the rules of that system. I feel that he did an admirable job in very tough economic circumstances.

Lloyd H. Yamase
Via the Internet

Roth should take Bronster's place

If the governor is looking for a way to teach those errant state senators a lesson, I have a suggestion. Name Randy Roth as the new attorney general.

He's highly qualified: president of the Hawaii State Bar Association, co-author of the "Broken Trust" essay in the Star-Bulletin, which started the investigation of the Bishop Estate trustees, and a respected lawyer and educator.

With Roth as our AG, the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate pawns would never get another good night's sleep at taxpayer's expense.

Keith Haugen
Via the Internet

Quotables "One thing that looks dead already is the trash collection fee. We dumped it." Mufi Hannemann City Council chairman On the Council's plan to balance the city budget with $18 million in cuts which may not necessitate a charge for trash pick-up "If we put muzzles on our dogs, we can't provide meat for our table." James Manaku Sr. Waianae hunter Testifying against proposed vicious-dog legislation

Pokemon experts clarify information

We really liked your April 26 article on Pokemon, but there were two mistakes. One was that "Meowf" is spelled "M-e-o-w-t-h."

The second is that there are more than 150 Pokemon; we know of at least 152 Pokemon because there are a bunch of secret ones, like Mew and Misingo.

Dustin Bingham, age 8
Tyler Eng, age 9
Liholiho Elementary
Via the Internet

Plenty of blaming after Colorado shooting

In the wake of the tragedy at Columbine High, we have been inundated with ridiculous solutions to the "growing problem of teen violence." Principals suggest more counselors, pastors call for more prayer, parents scream for more censorship and the president wants $12 million to directly address the problem. What a joke:

Throughout the decades, we have ALWAYS been a violent society. There will always be thoughts of suicide, arguments, threats and fights in schools as these situations are natural and in many ways necessary in the developmental process. Now, with the proliferation of guns in our society, fists, knives and bats have yielded to Tec-9 automatics and Glock-19s.
More counselors would be a waste of money. Kids who are into "extreme rebellion," which I once was, have no interest in talking to any adult figure, least of all a trained psychologist paid to befriend you. Money on more cops or metal detectors would be better spent.
Religious leaders claim that a lack of spirituality has promoted loose morals and ethics. As society progresses, children tend to question their teachings to an increasing extent. "God is the answer" is far too simple-minded for today's youths.
If we are going to start censoring violent media, where do we start? James Bond? James Cagney? Shakespeare? The Bible?
So we need $12 million to help address the problem of teen violence, but we're spending $6 billion to kill Serbs?

My advice for the worried masses: Stop being such hypocrites. And to those of you who blame the parents for not knowing -- you wouldn't know either if it were your child. Teens spend most of their waking day making sure their elders know as little as possible about their lives. The more you snoop, the less you'll know. All you can do is hope.

P. Anthony Gedeon
Student
Kapiolani Community College
Via the Internet

Hold parents liable for kids' behavior

Student drug abuse is on the rise. Test scores are down in public schools. And the editors of the Star-Bulletin are promoting metal detectors, counseling and gun control in response to the Colorado school tragedy.

It's everybody else's fault but our own. When are we going to stop blaming government and the schools for the behavior and education of our children? When will we make parents accountable for their children?

Have you noticed how kids with behavior problems many times have parents who need counseling? We are treating the symptoms (the children, schools, etc.), when the problem is the parents.

C. Watase
Via the Internet

Community pools must be kept open

The city wants to close community pools for six months over the winter. But the best reason not to close them at that time is it's when these pools teach children the skill of drown-proofing.

Have you noticed how many people drown each month in these islands? It's an appalling number!

Jean W. Schrader
Kaneohe

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