Brainstorm! Challenge

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Legislators too free with taxpayers' money

It is totally amazing to me how irresponsible our Legislature can be with our money. The Legislature, controlled by the Democrats, seems to think we don't need the money we earn and the lawmakers can have it.

So far this year legislators have allotted themselves $90,000 to finance their campaigns, they have taken around $56 million from special funds, they have increased the motor vehicle tax by $10 (and this right after the city and county made an increase), they are authorizing the Hawaii Tourism Authority to hire its own attorney at our expense even though we already pay for the Attorney General's Office and its staff of attorneys, and they have proposed a tax on all cell phones.

I think it is time for the people of Hawaii to take back their state and kick some of these spend-happy Democrats back to the private sector to learn how to work for a living. We need the cost of government reduced, not increased. The government is responsible for protection and education; all other matters should be left to the private sector.

Clarice Johnson
Honolulu

Inspectors don't care about personal items

Regarding the woman who was all aghast at the thought of airport inspectors handling her "personal" items during a search, would she rather a bomb get through and the plane blow up? Everyone for miles would see her personal items then. It's not as though she were in the items at the time of the search! With all that is going on with terrorists today, I can't believe that someone can find this important, especially when she was not even present to be embarrassed.

Loretta Allen
Ewa Beach

Dolphins were loved, cared for at Kewalo

I recently found out about the Hiapo's death ("Last dolphin dies at marine laboratory," Star-Bulletin, Feb. 26). I was once a participant at Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory and I can tell you those dolphins were happy animals. The lab was in the process of negotiating the construction of a larger, bay pen facility.

I know those animals were loved dearly. For any activist to say these animals were abused or not well cared for is appalling.

Akeakamai and Phoenix died of cancer. Hiapo's death can only be attributed to a broken heart. I hear that the University of Hawaii took over the facility two weeks before Hiapo died. Hiapo was healthy and happy while in the care of the Kewalo Basin staff. But once he was put under the care of strangers, when he most needed his Kewalo family, Hiapo died. He needed the people he knew and they were taken from him.

The Kewalo Basin staff took excellent care of their dolphins, paying close attention to the moods of each one. They have lost their children. Ake and Phoenix were there for 25 years. The staff loved those dolphins more than anyone.

Katie Barrett
Behavioral biology student
University of California, Santa Cruz

Cheney in the Bush worth Kerry vote

I'm tired of being Bushed by the Cheney of events that has my country dissed around the world, my medical and prescription costs rising and my income dropping well below the struggling "Muddled Class." What we need is to choose to Kerry forward to an America we can be proud of.

Marjorie Scott
Kailua

Good works, high morale in Iraq, too

I read letter after letter about how horrible things are in Iraq. I watch how the news is manipulated to show how horrible things are in Iraq. Then I read an article in your paper about three young wounded and recuperating soldiers who are itching to get back to their fellow troops and the Iraqi people (Star-Bulletin, April 14).

They have experienced first hand the good things that are happening in Iraq and provide witness to the attitude of the Iraqi people toward the American liberators. They are the truth. The news that we are being fed is negative, narrow-sighted and politicized. Our president is correct in his resolve to stay the course, to ensure that Iraqis attain the freedom they deserve.

It is just so sad that so many Americans are being misled. Are sacrifices being made? Of course, as is necessary in any struggle for freedom. But there is hope and good things are happening in Iraq. I just wish the news media would spotlight more of it, instead of hiding behind the stories that "sell."

James Roller
Mililani

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] Hawaii is popularly known as "The Aloha State." What might be a better slogan? To get started, think about what you might see around the islands -- rainbows, waves, sand, traffic jams, homeless orangutans ... Send your ideas by April 21 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or by mail: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Or by fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750