Here come 'da all-knowing judge

I understand that conditions in Hawaii's special education system are bad. Now Judge David Ezra will step in and take control. Similarly, in mental health, Ezra will take over to improve the standard of service and repair the deteriorating physical plant.

As soon as the judge discovers just how many sick people there are, no doubt he'll grab control of the entire Department of Health.

While he's at it, the guy in the governor's office isn't too smart. Our high-flying judge should give him the boot. All that would remain is to suspend the numskull Legislature to make all of Judge Dave's pronouncements carry the force of Judge Judy.

It will a great day when all of our needs are taken care of by the all-knowing, expert-in-every-field, ultra-savvy judge.

It will also be a dictatorship.

Michael Palcic

Public gets the bill in Zalopany case

Sydney Zalopany and another state Department of Public Safety employee won a sexual discrimination suit against the state (Star-Bulletin, May 26). Your reporting on this fiasco is very discerning, insofar as the taxpayers will apparently have to pay $4.1 million because "this poor thing" has been excluded from "The Group."

In the future why not honestly report such lawsuits as suits against the taxpayers of Hawaii rather than the government.

Pat Feyerisen

Military desecrates Makaha Valley

I have a suggestion to those who think that continuing military training in our valleys is the best thing for everyone. We should move them (and their loud, low-flying, house-shaking helicopters) to Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Pearl City, Kailua, Kaneohe, or perhaps the North Shore. Maybe if they were in your district, bombing and shooting live ammo near your homes, and your children, it would be a different story.

No one lives in the valley itself, but my family lives two minutes away from Makua and strongly opposes the military in our valley, period. If you think what they are doing has no affect on our land, look at Kahoolawe. Once green, now brown, it was flattened and trashed by the same type of bombs and live ammo used in training in Makua. They have no right to play war games in a heavily populated area. They most likely desecrated many heiau and important structures. If you don't think this is important, think about the graffiti at Punchbowl Cemetery a few years back. It's the same thing.

Monica Lee
Makaha

[QUOTABLES] "I don't think anybody runs to be lieutenant governor." Clayton Hee Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, eyeing the No. 2 spot in his "desire to be an addition to state government." "What it indicates is there is a whole new generation of gay men or men having sex with men who are not concerned about potentially getting infected." Peter Whiticar, Chief of the Sexually Transmitted Diseases/AIDS Prevention Branch of the state Department of Health, on the recent rise in HIV infections in Hawaii.

Barbs about Lingle damage all women

Isn't it curious that in our wonderful state of Hawaii, where we pride ourselves so much on having broken down barriers to advancement for all peoples, a subtle new bar is being raised and reinforced: gender inequality.

A political leader who makes strong and wise decisions is called courageous or visionary if he is a man, (read John Burns). If she is a woman, she becomes overbearing and dictatorial (read Linda Lingle). Ben Cayetano can take tough, unpopular stands and he is approvingly called strong and fearless. Lingle has adjectives such as iron-fisted or arrogant thrown her way. If a woman shows a compassionate side she is deemed too weak to hold high office. If she is Cayetano-tough, she is dismissed as autocratic or worse. No can win, huh?

To all those who would beat that drum, stop for a moment and think of what you are doing. Who besides Linda Lingle are you drumming out? Your daughters and granddaughters. If it is easy now to unfairly tar this strong woman, how much easier it will become to tar the next generation of women (our daughters) who would strive to reach the top.

The real casualties of this thinking will be all our female children, whether Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian or Independent.

Mollie Foti
Kailua

Law perpetuates economic stagnation

The people and politicians of California are stewing over the soaring price of electricity. And they have legitimate concerns about rolling blackouts that are wreaking havoc with businesses, and traffic signals as well as households. Some are worried that businesses will start leaving the state; others are rejecting moves to California. Of particular concern are high-tech Internet and communications companies such as those in Silicon Valley.

Those are the very types of businesses that we want to come here. Yet Hawaii has the highest electricity costs in the nation -- yes, higher than California's. And our monopoly power company on Oahu is not building any new capacity.

One of our power success stories here is geothermal energy, which now produces some 25 percent of Big Island electricity. But duplicating that success is impeded by one big problem: Under state law, property owners do not own mineral rights below their land. The geothermal company on the Big Island pays the state $600,000 to $700,000 a year.

This means at least two things. The government is fleecing the Big Island public with higher utility costs than necessary, and any new possible geothermal ventures anywhere are going to be severely constrained financially from investing in such plants. Why? Because their potential profit will be seized by Hawaii's government.

Hawaii's property law is Third-Worldish. Therefore we deserve the stagnation we are getting.

Richard O. Rowland
President
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Answer these questions before nixing gambling

How many Hawaii residents go to Las Vegas and lose/spend their money? How much do they spend/lose? If there were casino gambling available in Hawaii, how many would stay here to lose/spend their money? And if that money were taxed by Hawaii, what effect would it have on our state budget? How has this access to gambling corrupted our community morals? What is the difference between catching a gambling junket to "Lost Wages" and booking a gambling cruise around the islands? (Hint: In one of them, the money stays in Hawaii.)

Why haven't gambling advocates or opponents conducted these studies and published their findings? Why haven't opponents been advocating banning flights to Las Vegas?

Vernon Wong
Waiphau

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