There are plenty of qualified judges
Why are we even considering an appointee to the Supreme Court with absolutely no judicial experience? I'm of course speaking about
Harriet Miers. Is it just that we're afraid the president could have done worse?
I think the American people deserve to have a qualified Supreme Court judge. If I needed an operation, I wouldn't trust it to be done by a pharmacist, no matter how qualified he was as a pharmacist. I'd want a surgeon.
A good lawyer may or may not make a good judge; we have no idea whether Harriet Miers would make a good judge. There are many qualified, sitting judges who are women. Surely one of them would be a better choice than someone with no judicial experience.
Jay Abel
Honolulu
It's not what you know, it's who you know
My God! I have little doubt there are many out there who have applied for a position in the state, city and county, inundated with countless application forms, criminal background checks, certificates of qualifications, referrals and endless interviews, only to be informed, "Sorry, you're underqualified."
I, for one, as a qualified chef with a university degree, couldn't even get a job in a school cafeteria as a trainee cook. I had the distinct feeling I didn't know the right people, and woe is me if I owed any taxes or passed bad checks.
The very nerve of Rep. Bev Harbin, wrongly appointed to the state House of Representatives, who, in total defiance, remains at her post, and everyone's powerless to remove her. What a sham. How ridiculous can it get? As a normal applicant, I doubt if she'd qualify for janitor.
John L. Werrill
Honolulu
Who needs rail? Just add 40 lanes
Perhaps I have been looking at Oahu's traffic woes all wrong. Rail transit will not work. We should knock down more high-rises, widen Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana Boulevard to 12 lanes, and widen H-1 from the airport to University Avenue to 20 lanes each way. Of course, all these cars will need places to park, so perhaps we should look at Ala Moana park or maybe the golf course near Waikiki as prime locations for a new, multiple-story garage. Then again, since these commuters are mostly working lower-income type jobs, they will not be able to afford the $500/month parking charges. I guess we will have to give them free parking passes.
Perhaps hotels and other large employers could be located in other areas of the island. That way, the workers could actually walk to work or catch a local shuttle. But that wouldn't be good, either, because then people wouldn't need to buy so much gas, the taxes would no longer be there to pay for the upgraded 40-lane freeway and, since there wouldn't be massive infrastructure needed, the contractors wouldn't have a need to donate massive amounts of cash to our potential lawmakers.
Yes, it is better to veto rail. It would ruin our political hierarchy.
Christopher Murphy
Wahiawa
There are better ways to help us save money
We are so lucky our politicians are looking out for us regarding the
high price of gasoline and other goods.
Just a few questions for Sen. Ron Menor:
» If you are so concerned about us little people, why do we have the highest state gasoline tax in the nation?
» If you are so concerned about high prices, why did you recently approve an increase in the general excise tax (which also applies to gasoline)?
» Where is the flaw in the basic economic theory of supply and demand?
I have noticed Menor has been out of the limelight lately. I would like to bring him out of his cubbyhole and hear his explanations for the above. To me it appears like the fox is guarding the hen house.
Finally, for all the people waiting in line at Costco to save 18 cents per gallon on gasoline, I laugh as I drive by. What is your time worth? If your car is on empty, and your tank averages 20 gallons of gas, and you have to push your car to the pump, you are saving a whopping $3.60. You are waiting at least 45 minutes to one hour in line, wasting at least the $3.60 you'll save at the pump. Where is your rationale? On second thought, stay in that line -- it leaves open stalls at other stations for me and my gas-guzzling Suburban.
Steve Love
Honolulu
Akaka Bill is just one step toward justice
In his
Sept. 29 commentary opposing Senator Akaka's bill, Joseph Gedan closed saying the bill would be racially divisive and contrary to our proud tradition of equal rights.
What equal rights? There were 250 years of slavery in America, followed by 100 years of segregation, discrimination, prejudice and hatred, much of which still persists today. It has only been the last 40 years that U.S. citizens have been able to vote without being murdered.
Hurricane Katrina exposed the inequality for all the world to see. The status of Hawaiians speaks for itself and cries out for justice. The Akaka Bill is just one step.
Alfonso L. Largo
Waipahu
This prison program will civilize criminals
If I were governor, I would seek to double Hawaii's prison capacity, cut costs and save land with a simple solution. Cut prison terms in half for crimes that do not involve killing or maiming, but:
» Remove TVs from prison. I lived my adult life without a TV. TV fare seems more cruel and unusual than removing it.
» Replace weight rooms with aerobics classes, and classes that combine flexibility and meditation, like yoga. That ends the production of criminals who leave more capable of violence than when they arrived. Aerobics promotes healthier hearts. Flexibility delays one terrible effect of aging, and meditation enhances the ability to learn.
» Provide only a vegetarian diet. This would be a punishment for many while benefiting them. It complements the reason to remove weight rooms, returning more civilized people to society.
» Offer classes in reading, writing, arithmetic (including trigonometry) and philosophy (ethics and logic). Trigonometry is where American children once learned to think in a context insulated from their teacher's prejudices. Trig teaches that there is a way to prove whether something is true, false, or cannot be proven yet. It is a skill I believe is lacking in most public debate.
» Give criminals one choice: Sit in your cell alone, or attend and participate courteously in any of the above classes.
Double the punishment in a helpful way, halve the sentence, save land and cost.
George L. Berish
Honolulu
Setting a man on fire shows intent to harm
I take offense to Deputy Public Defender Darcia Forrester's remarks ("
Defendant denies intent to kill driver he set afire," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 6) What is wrong with our judicial system when someone sprays another person with a chemical and sets that person on fire?
This person is guilty of attempted murder in my court. Another ridiculous statement by Forrester: "At no time did Keith Yamamoto wish to hurt or injure anyone else in the car." OK, let's review: Yamamoto did indeed (allegedly) shatter the car windows with a sledgehammer, spray a chemical to set a fire and chased Mr. Leong for blocks, not to mention terrorizing his family.
Forrester needs to go back to law school, or at the very least get some common sense.
Joe Carini
Honolulu
U.S. might revise nuke attack protocol
The Pentagon's revision of its Doctrine of Nuclear Weapons allows a commander to seek approval from the president to pre-emptively attack, with nuclear weapons, a state that stockpiles weapons of mass destruction or a state that is friendly to rogue states that stockpile WMD. The enemy might be ours or that of our allies or friends. Drafts from January and March revisions and other information can be found by Googling "nuclear weapons doctrine revision 2005."
The revisions go to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for his signature in a few weeks.
Ruth Pratt
Honolulu