Ax keeps on swinging at No. 1 news station
An old adage is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but obviously the new owners of KHON2 follow more along the line of "What were you thinking?" This is worse than hara kiri with a dull sword, the Valentine's Day massacre or Custer's last stand ("KHON lays off veteran news exec,"
Star-Bulletin, Feb. 25).
KHON2's future looks more bleak than the Titanic, 10 seconds after bumping into a humongous ice cube. Bring out more bandages. The blood won't stop flowing. Someone should call the Federal Emergency Management Agency but they have problems of their own.
By the way, wasn't KHON2 News rated No. 1 in Hawaii?
Royle Kaneshige
Honolulu
Zimmerman helped KHON rise to top
So, KHON's new owners are cutting costs by eliminating all its executive news producers, including Wally Zimmerman, who is probably Hawaii's best. Along with Kent Baker (now publishing a newspaper in Iowa) and Joe Moore, Zimmerman was a major force in making KHON into Hawaii's television news leader. The audience will see the difference when Zimmerman's wisdom, perspective and passion for news is gone from the Channel 2 newsroom.
Chris Parsons
Kapolei
Something's stinky about fish legislation
To read some of the worst environmental legislation, go to
www.capitol.hawaii.gov, select "Bill Status & Docs," and look up
House Bill 2881,
HB 2587 and
Senate Bill 3047.
All appear to argue that Hawaiian waters need more scientific studies to protect fish populations, but when you dig further the only resource they will protect is the fishing industry. Some of the more egregiously self-serving actions these bills propose are: to open protected fishing grounds (where fish populations are on the comeback), protect social and economic interests (not fish or their nurseries) and protect all current netting practices (including lay gill netting). Get the drift?
Even as the Legislature itself warns of declining fish stocks and vows to take action, it is proposing more fishing, and to further weaken an underfunded Department of Land and Natural Resources established to protect this resource from extinction. Amazingly, it's all there in black and white, so please read the bills for yourself, then decide if they do indeed stink. You can write to your lawmakers at the Web site mentioned above. Click on "Senate" and "House," then "Members" -- their names are all there.
Annette Wagner
Kula, Maui
Has President Bush lost his reason?
Someone once said, "To argue with a man who has renounced his reason is like giving medicine to the dead." I guess I can attribute this same phrase to the Bush administration, which is supporting the sale of our East Coast ports to an Arab company in the country of the United Arab Emirates, which by the way do not make aggressive moves to curb terrorist activity in that part of the region.
I do love my fellow man no matter where they live, but has history taught us anything? Doing business with any country in the Middle East (except Israel) has always backfired on us.
We were enjoying a long honeymoon with Iran until they got upset with us in 1979. Now look at our relationship with them.
We helped Osama bin Laden with military hardware and money when he was fighting the Soviets in the 1980s and look what happened when bin Laden got upset with us.
We agreed to help Palestine with monetary funds due to their willingness to (at least) act sensibly. Now look who is in power -- the terrorist organization Hamas, which is set on destroying Israel.
Even many of the Afghans want us out. It's like they are saying, "Hey guys, thanks for giving our freedom back, now take a hike but please keep supporting us with money." You know deep down what is going to happen in due time.
If we are going to allow a country like the United Arab Emirates to buy our ports, why don't we just drop our nuclear arsenal on ourselves. At least that way, we will die on our own terms instead of having someone sneak a nuclear bomb in our front door.
Chico Ruiz
Honolulu
Nothing funny about pre-gas cap prices
We all enjoy "Honolulu Lite" when Charles Memminger launches an attack on mayonnaise. When Charles attempts a critique of Hawaii's gasoline price cap law and a personal attack on its author, Sen. Ron Menor, "lite" quickly becomes heavy ("Honolulu Lite,"
Star-Bulletin, Feb. 16).
To fairly evaluate Hawaii's gas cap law, one must compare actual prices against what they might have been without the cap. Before the gas price cap, when gasoline prices rose in Hawaii when did they ever come down? The answer is never, or hardly ever, because Hawaii's petroleum producers and distributors had neither requirement nor incentive to lower prices. Under the gas cap law, however, each time the regulated wholesale price of gasoline drops, retail prices fall predictably a week or so later. This is persuasive evidence that the law is having its intended effect.
Menor has introduced legislation to improve the details of the gas cap law by tweaking its formulas for greater positive effect. Consumers and commentators may want to watch for a public hearing on Senate Bill 2911.
Paul J. Schwind
Nuuanu