Former residents miss aloha -- and Zippy's
To the people of beautiful Hawaii: We miss our home and can't wait to return one day before our children grow up. This will allow them to understand what the mysterious, enchanting and friendly islands of aloha have to offer, be one of the luckiest to live there, take care of them, but mostly, make sure
Zippy's is still there, too.
Kyle Wirth
Cleveland, Ohio
Harbin a nightmare for all in Hawaii
As a result of Rep. Bev Harbin's recent press conference, Hawaii's citizens were able to catch a glimpse of her central ambition: to be "the worst nightmare (the Democratic Party) ever had" (
Star-Bulletin, Nov. 8).
What a lofty goal! Is it any wonder the people of Hawaii have grown cynical about state governance?
David Kammerer
Laie
Deception has no place in state House
Boy, newly appointed Rep. Bev Harbin got guts galore coming out with her defiant, almost cocky "if you want me, just try and get me" attitude (
Star-Bulletin, Nov. 8). I'm shocked more people, especially those in the 28th District, aren't coming out in masses and speaking out against her.
She wants everyone to believe that passing bad checks wasn't an attempt to deceive anyone. Well, it seems to me that the most important quality a person in public office has is they must have the trust of the people they are representing. Her withholding important information such as this is the worst kind of deception. I wouldn't trust her to bag my groceries, much less serve my interest in the state House.
Derrick Mishima
Mililani
News story about Iraq offered no balance
The Nov. 6 article "Democrats seize high ground" is an amazing example of opinion being passed off as a legitimate news article. There is a substantial lack of balance in the form of one-sided comments. There was no reference to what positions Democrats as well as other foreign countries took in their analysis of Iraq in the period leading up to the war. Virtually all of these had access to the same intelligence as the administration.
When top Iraqi internal intelligence sources expressed strong beliefs that their country had WMD, what prudent analyst would conclude there was little or no chance that they did not exist? The intelligence forces required to "conclusively prove" the nonexistence of WMD would never exist.
And if you could prove the nonexistence of WMD at any point, does anyone really believe that Saddam Hussein's regime would not always be looking to build the capability in the future? Pre-war Iraq was easily one of the most evil and dangerous governments in world history.
Claude Phillips
Kailua
Budget surplus should go to public schools
Why in "God's green Earth," and I use the term loosely, is our governor thinking about returning the surplus in the general fund back to the public when our school system has been starved for so many years? Our teachers are by far the lowest paid in the country when the cost of living is factored and, because of all the "innovative programs," overworked from more and more senseless paperwork. Most of our schools are in need of repair. Charter schools are becoming more and more prevalent. They are really private schools using state money to take care of special interests, which makes the problem of less funding more disastrous for the rest of the system.
Our special ed program, by legal edict and properly so, is using a third of the budget to service a ninth of the students. If the funding ratio of the special ed program was initiated for the rest of the system, it would require more than the $600 million surplus. We then would be approaching a system on par with the more successful programs on the mainland who consider education a priority and we wouldn't need charter schools. Why is it that Hawaii is one of the leaders in the nation of percentage of students going to private schools?
I have listened to our superintendent of schools, and she feels that the surplus should go to the public schools, and I agree.
Ted H. Waitt
Retired public school teacher
Honokaa, Hawaii