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City employees should drive akamai, too

Few people will argue that we should all "drive akamai," as the city-sponsored anti-road rage campaign advises. But forget about squeezing a stress ball.

Instead, Mayor Harris should be preaching the basics of Drivers Education 101: buckling up, keeping both hands on the wheel, and paying careful attention to other vehicles and pedestrians.

Furthermore, Harris should remind city employees to set a good example for the general public. Case in point: Tuesday morning I drove on Beretania Street behind a car with City and County of Honolulu license plates.

I saw the driver lean toward the center of the car and briefly thought he had taken ill. Then he straightened up a bit and I saw the ubiquitous cell phone plastered to his ear, so perhaps he had leaned over to dial.

We turned down Punchbowl and stopped at the light before turning onto King Street. While waiting for the light to change, the driver put down his cell phone and put on his seat belt. Later I saw him driving on King Street near Stadium Park, cell phone back in hand.

Driving akamai? Well, at least he wasn't squeezing a stress ball in his other hand...

Kerry A. Krenzke

True Democrats support the people

At their recent state convention, the Democrats had difficulty agreeing what a Democrat is or is supposed to be.

The following profile is offered to help them search the party and identify a few surviving members of this beloved and endangered species: A Democrat promotes the interests of the people, social justice and dignity, equal rights and opportunities and the fair distribution of wealth and health care.

Richard Y. Will

GOP offers solution to political cynicism

Daily letters to the editor bemoan the status quo and our lackluster leadership from the lethargic Democratic Party machine.

On the other hand, the Republican Party of Hawaii challenges our citizens to work together, on a nonpartisan basis, for a higher quality of life.

The GOP wants to evaporate widespread public cynicism through grassroots hardwork and enthusiastic creativity.

We have witnessed enough corruption, selfishness and greed at the expense of our future. In Hawaii, the all-important future rests in our elections this fall.

Harry J. Friel
Republican Candidate
U.S. Senate

Menor was good choice for Senate opening

I applaud Governor Cayetano's selection of Rep. Ron Menor to the state Senate in the 18th District (Waipio Gentry, Mililani). And, as a 24-year resident of Mililani, I take exception to Sean Lester's unfair comments in his June 1 letter about Menor.

The new senator has continuously worked hard for us -- advocating better schools, transportation, crime reduction, quality of life and the environment. As the former chairman of the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, Menor has worked tirelessly on behalf of consumers, ensuring the proper balance to any legislation in favor of the majority of people in our state.

Again, congratulations to the governor for his excellent choice.

Lloyd Nakahara
Mililani

Medicare regulations have been disastrous

As a Registered Nurse, I was saddened to read your June 3 front-page article stating that HMOs will be withdrawing from Medicare. Saddened but not the least bit surprised.

The same thing happened in 1997 after the "Medicare + Choice Bill" passed. More than 400,000 elderly and disabled Americans were forced to find new insurance carriers.

Price controls inevitably lead to shortages, whether the product is food, oil or health care. Under Medicare, the bureaucrats and politicians set prices for medical services. These prices are always below the actual cost of medical services -- sometimes as little as 25-50 percent of cost.

The politicians in Washington then burden the health-care industry with endless forms and paperwork, costly inspections, and confusing and often foolish regulations. Doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and now insurance companies are crippled by Medicare.

Medicare is a complete failure. The elderly now pay twice as much (in 1998 dollars) as they did in 1965 when Medicare began, yet the program's bureaucrats deny an amazing 20 percent of decisions made by doctors.

In November I will be voting for Libertarian Party candidates who want to repeal all government interference in medicine and insurance.

Gerard Murphy

Who decides which dogs may skip quarantine?

I am concerned about changes to your quarantine laws ("Amended rules let assistance dogs bypass quarantine," May 26). One day, my family and I would like to return to live in Hawaii, but my son's service dog shouldn't be sent to quarantine.

Your legislation defines a service dog as one that is "trained and certified by a nationally recognized service dog organization to assist a person with a disability in performing essential activities of daily living."

It continues: " 'Service dog' means any dog that is individually trained to: alert a person with impaired hearing to the presence of people or sounds; assist a person with disabilities involving mobility by pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, or otherwise aiding the user in accomplishing a variety of tasks..."

The phrase "aiding...(with) a variety of tasks" appears to expand the ruling to people who use dogs for mobility support. Yet section 4-29-20 refers to "certain service dogs and certified guide dogs." That implies an intent to discriminate.

The U.S. does not require certification for service dogs, so how can Hawaii require such a thing? And who decides which service dogs are allowed?

ReBecca Bennett
Fredericksburg, Va.

Quotables "Over here, I'm just a normal person. The people and culture of Hawaii and Kyrgyzstan are very similar." Meder Jaylobaev ONE OF NINE VISITING STUDENTS FROM FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS On his experience as a foreign exchange student at Kahuku High School "I have no body to lay to rest because you saw fit to drop my child like garbage into the ocean. He was not a perfect child but he was loved." Mary Ann Tozon MOTHER OF MURDER VICTIM STEVE TOZON What she wrote in a letter to Benjamin Tandal Jr., sentenced to life in prison for his role in the fatal shootings of Tozon and Tranquilino Bati Jr., and helping to dispose of the body of Paris France

Hotels don't deserve special tax treatment

I agree with former Governor Ariyoshi and other hoteliers that Governor Cayetano should veto the 20 percent tax credit for hotel improvements.

As a business person, I sympathize with the economic challenges faced by the hotel industry in the past decade. The fact is, however, that all businesses have faced these same challenges.

The hotel industry is one that has matured. It is not a developing one. Most of the hotels calling for these credits have downsized and outsourced jobs -- so the tax credit can't be justified from the standpoint of job creation.

Although I agree that tourism is everybody's concern, other businesses such as food service, retail, automotive and health care, are also important. The bottom line is that taxpayers should not bear the burden of subsidizing the profits of hotel corporations.

Vicky Cayetano
President and Chief Executive Officer
United Laundry Services

Hawaiians represent a bona fide nationality

Thank you, Star-Bulletin! In a front-page item in your June 6 issue, your newspaper said, "A native Hawaiian group is using Kamehameha Day to reach out to other nationalities in pursuit of a form of sovereignty."

This, to my knowledge, is the first time a member of the mainstream media has openly admitted Hawaiians represent a nationality. The implications of this admission could be widespread.

If we are a nation, rather than merely a race or a tribe, then the current rush to cement in place official U.S. federal recognition sells us far short. If Hawaii is a nation, how can Hawaiians be "wards" of another nation?

Moreover, what with all the talk about the need for Hawaiian unity following the Rice vs. Cayetano decision, it's about time that all Hawaiian nationals (i.e. those who claim their allegiance to our nation) come together to determine our future course.

Our leaders need to organize Hawaiian nationals across all lines of politics, economics and ethnicity. Only then can it be said that a united Hawaiian nation exists.

Keola Kamaunu

Hawaiian sovereignty would mean independence

Why are so many people taking the idea of a sovereign Hawaiian nation so seriously?

According to my dictionary, a sovereign state is one that is "independent, and in no way limited by external authority or influence." Another one says the same thing, that a sovereign state is one "possessing independent national power."

If that is so, a Hawaiian sovereign nation would have to be independent of any other sovereign nation, such as the United States. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a sovereign nation.

If so, would a citizen of the Hawaiian nation be able to run for political office?

Elizabeth D. Porteus

Getting hit on head with hammer isn't torturous

In a June 2 letter, L.M. Hinerman wrote about the "tortuous" killing of Paul Ulrich by a hammer-wielding Monte L. Young, and decried the Supreme Court's rejection of Young's sentence (Star-Bulletin, May 25). "Tortuous" means "marked by twists or turns." What Hinerman really meant to say was "torturous."

However, a murder committed by repeated blows of a hammer to an unfortunate victim's skull, is not really torturous. The victim doesn't feel the first blow at all, since he is knocked unconscious. Anybody who has been dealt a knockout blow can tell you that.

At the most, you feel a slight, velvety soft sensation before the lights go out. You become unconscious before the pain has a chance to register.

So, even though it appeared to be so vicious, it was a merciful killing -- although a fat lot of good that does for the victim!

Ted Chernin
Pearl City

'Loyal American' definition is troubling

California Congressman Robert Matsui proclaims that Mike Masaoka's message to be inscribed on a memorial honoring the patriotism of Japanese Americans during World War II correctly conveyed that the Japanese were loyal Americans ("Memorial creed riles some Japanese Americans," Star-Bulletin, June 6).

What troubles me about inscribing the name and words of Masaoka on a memorial to patriotism, however, is its definition of what Matsui calls "loyal Americans."

The creed embraces our "nation's institutions, ideals and traditions" of 1940. Although I was not yet born, I have read and heard that these institutions, ideals and traditions were then expressed as housing discrimination, job discrimination and even racial restrictions on whom one could marry.

In 1940, when Masaoka wrote his creed, persons of Japanese ancestry on the mainland lived in ethnic ghettos defined by housing covenants. They worked as college-educated gardeners and vegetable-stand clerks, and were barred from marrying whites. Furthermore, the issei could not own land or become U.S. citizens.

It is well known that statehood for Hawaii was delayed for years due to the perceived "Japanese problem." In my book, a true American patriot fights such indignities and does not extol them as articles of faith.

As a solution to this controversy, I personally support Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's suggestion to omit from the memorial all names and quotations except the names of those who died in service to our nation during World War II (Star-Bulletin, June 1).

For more information, the Web site http://www.JAvoice.com provides comprehensive background about the memorial.

Drusilla A. Tanaka
Kaneohe

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