UH coaches should trade paychecks
Justice plus magnanimity defined -- University of Hawaii football coach June Jones swaps salaries with basketball coach Riley Wallace.
James B. Mullis
Kaneohe
Bush administration tries to rewrite history
It is sadly ironic that President Bush condemns others for rewriting history when his administration has made it standard policy to change facts for its own advantage. This president has no credibility to stand on, much less criticize others.
His administration was responsible for providing the misleading intelligence relied upon by Americans to erroneously follow him into war. When Vice President Cheney continues to mislead Americans by insisting upon an al-Qaida-Saddam Hussein connection and the existence of WMDs even after all credible evidence disproved it, it demonstrates this administration's disrespect of the truth. When the vice president continues to urge the use of torture while the president denies that torture is ever committed by our nation, there is a serious disconnect between the two most powerful people in the administration.
Despite the president's implication that questioning his actions hurts the troops, we must not forget that criticism of a sitting president led to the end of the Vietnam War and the saving of countless American soldiers, and was clearly a patriotic act.
One day history, faithfully and objectively written, will describe this administration as one of the most corrupt, incompetent and institutionally untruthful of any in the past 100 years.
Francis M. Nakamoto
Honolulu
Bush, Cheney owe Marine an apology
Congressman John Murtha, D-Pa., spent 37 years in the Marine Corps, earning a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. Yet Vice President Cheney says he's "irresponsible" and has "lost his backbone." President Bush says Murtha wants to "surrender to terrorists."
Why do they attack Murtha? He pointed out that the Bush administration went into Iraq with no plan to govern or exit, that they can't end the killing, that our soldiers are too few in number and inadequately equipped, and that the operation was based on lies from the beginning.
And while Murtha was serving in two wars and earning five decorations, where were Bush and Cheney? One was campaigning in Alabama, and the other was getting five deferments because he had "other priorities." The only thing they know about war is how to send other people to fight one.
Murtha and our military deserve an apology from Cheney and Bush. And the American people deserve to get our sons and daughters back from Iraq right now.
Dan Lindsay
Hilo, Hawaii
Gulf Coast residents appreciate your help
This is a letter of thanks to all of the good people across the United States who helped, directly or indirectly, with relief, care and compassion during the aftermath of one the most devastating storms in our nation's history.
I am a resident of one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. Though we lost our home and all of our possessions, I feel fortunate that my family is alive and well. I am amazed at the outpouring of generosity and kindness from those who came to our aid. Many church groups, community groups and private individuals provided for us (and continue to do so) what we could not for ourselves -- food, water, clothing and even shelter. There is so much more that so many have done (including law enforcement, medical personnel and road-clearing crews) that there is no true way to thank all who helped.
This overwhelming response to a disaster was not just the work of a few good people, but that of the collective compassionate soul of our nation. We are ever grateful to those in your area who played a role in assisting us and continue to help us as we rebuild our communities. Please, look around at your friends, your neighbors, your community -- these are the people who gave to help us, and these same people deserve all the thanks and recognition that we can give them.
I'll never forget the generosity of our nations people, nor will the residents of the Gulf Coast.
Thank you.
Peter M. Lucore
Waveland, Miss.
Report cards should be computerized
With all the current technology today in computers, one would have thought the days of preparing report cards
by paper and pencil were a thing of the past. Yet it is noted in the news article that "The department also announced it would make $308,000 worth of supplies and funds available for schools willing to continue with paper versions of the grade reports."
Wouldn't this money be much more useful if the Department of Education applied it toward creating a standard computerized report card template for all schools to use?
Maybe we ought to revisit the issue to see who would better lead the Department of Education, the current leadership, who cannot even come up with standard computer-assisted report card system, or current school administrators and their staff, who seem to be able to create a simple template for report cards?
Back to the days of paper and pencil -- this is just incredible!
Herman Young
Long Beach, Calif.
Former Hawaii resident