Bush views on life betray his hypocrisy

President Bush exercised his power of the presidential veto, his first in five and a half years, by nullifying Congress's passage of federal funding for stem-cell research.

With the stroke of his pen, Bush stymied research by scientists into debilitating and life-threatening diseases, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, MS and cerebral palsy.

That same stroke of the Bush pen OK'd the war in Iraq, costing $300 billion and 100,000 lives. What insight into the human condition.

As Israel and Hezbollah exchange missile attacks with no peace in sight, I wonder if Bush knows the difference between a frozen embryo and a living human being?

President's morality defies all logic

Yes, we finally got the first veto from President Bush and it's all over stem cells and his version of what "murder" is, and what his moral compass will allow. I can only think of what my relatives in Europe must be thinking, since his moral compass is not an area that the rest of the world sees as being operational.

We have a president who murders civilians wholesale with weapons of mass destruction, builds secret prisons, tortures captives and denies them protections under the Geneva Convention, spies on Americans, blocks access to information for his own Department of Justice, undermines our intelligence network, undermines our National Guard, undermines our electoral system, ignores the Constitution ... and now Bush calls stem cells in petri dishes crime scenes! I believe that we have surpassed the Kubrick picture in madness.

Jones Act helps keep prices high in Hawaii

Since Senator Akaka is such a huge supporter of the Jones Act, that means he drives an American-made car, only buys American-made products from American-owned businesses and holds stock in only American-owned corporations, right?

We should be encouraging healthy business competition. I think it's safe to say all consumers (aka voters) in Hawaii would benefit from lower-priced goods and services on the island.

Views of Hawaii dim behind dirty windows

After four wonderful visits to Oahu and being of an inquiring mind, I have many questions about life in this beautiful place. For now, one dominates: Is there a single city bus with clean windows? If so, we have yet to board it.

We need to prevent Tantalus-type killings

Three people would be alive today if the well-intended but misguided laws governing the treatment of seriously mentally ill people were amended. The current criterion for treatment is "dangerousness to self or others." Unfortunately, by the time the dangerousness manifests itself, three people are dead.

After the Xerox incident of several years ago and now this unfortunate event on Tantalus, perhaps it is time to revisit the laws governing the treatment of severely and persistently mentally ill people. Incarcerating Adam Koon Wai Mau-Goffredo in prison for the rest of his life is not a meaningful answer. It will not prevent the next incident.

Local official handled tsunami warning badly

The tsunami-related deaths of at least 550 people in Java point once again to an egregious failure to communicate by government bureaucrats.

When are these people going to learn that in times of crisis and natural disasters, the use of the news media -- particularly radio and TV -- can be the single most effective and efficient way to broadcast lifesaving information to mass populations?

Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, stated that Indonesian officials "did the wrong thing" by not alerting the people after he had contacted them 45 minutes before the deadly tsunami struck the Java coast (Star-Bulletin, July 19).

No, Dr. McCreery. You did the wrong thing by relying on government bureaucrats, rather than the electronic news media, to get the word out.