Country riders get hand-me-down buses

The city Department of Transportation Services, with the approval of the Hannemann administration and the City Transportation Commission, have been providing rural Oahu bus riders with inferior and older buses. When the city purchases new buses, they are immediately given to the Middle Street Bus Company and then the older buses are given to the Pearl City Bus Company.

Why are country bus riders given the hand-me-downs? We pay the same amount of taxes or more as the folks in Honolulu, why are we treated like second-class citizens? It is time for the city administration to recognize that residents from all parts of Oahu should be treated equally.

Being nice won't get job done in Congress

Louis Maytorena's Oct. 22 letter to the editor worries me. He indicates that he is not supporting Mazie Hirono for Congress because he imagines that she was not friendly enough at a stew and rice dinner while she was running for governor. Is that a good reason?

Our state and our country face serious issues. The situation in Iraq is appalling, and the president still wants to privatize Social Security. Republicans in Congress cannot seem to grasp the basics of ethical behavior. Ultra-right groups want to impose their own narrow views of reproductive rights on women across the country. We need to focus on what is happening today, not what may or may not have happened four years ago.

Bob Hogue may be a nice guy, but he would rather spend hours shaking hands than 10 minutes talking about the issues. That is not how we should be choosing our leaders. Mr. Maytorena needs to realize that he is not choosing a buddy to come over and watch the next University of Hawaii football game. He is picking a representative to Congress.

Hippie vibe won't work on Iran and N. Korea

There is too much at stake in the world and in Hawaii to elect a member of Congress who appears to be living in her own delusions. Mahmood Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong-Il want to destroy America, and obtaining nuclear weapons is their first step in reaching that goal. Kim's last missile test might have been aimed at Hawaii. Mazie Hirono's answer: a Department of Peace. The thought of her representing us in Washington scares me.

Did Hirono forget we already have a Department of Defense? It is the strength of our armed forces that gives us the only chance for peace. Images of chanting hippies only inspire terrorists to believe we are weak. Hirono apparently wants to make those hippies a permanent department of the federal government.

I cannot vote for someone who really believes that a Department of Peace will persuade the terrorists to stop attacking us. I will not stand by and let the far left take over the leadership of this country with their hare-brained ideas that don't stand a chance in the real world. Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve better. On Nov. 7, I am casting my vote for Bob Hogue.

Rhoads has needed experience for House

I work in Palama/Iwilei and have frequent talks with area residents and small-business owners about issues affecting them. With different backgrounds and viewpoints, we don't usually all agree on any one solution. But I have noticed recently that area voters are near-unanimous in their support for Democrat Karl Rhoads as their next state representative.

It's easy to see why. Rhoads has a decade-long record of community service and leadership: he has worked in the U.S. Senate and Hawaii Legislature, and as a member of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, Pacific Gateway Center Board of Directors, Chinatown Citizens Patrol and Honolulu Tower Board of Directors. That might sound impressive enough, but residents and shop owners gush more about all that Rhoads has done at the street level to combat graffiti, prostitution, illegal dumping and unsafe housing conditions.

Rhoads' opponent, Collin Wong, is a nice young man with an Ivy League education and a bright future ahead of him. He does not, however, have enough experience and accomplishments to merit entrusting him with the well-being of thousands of people and businesses in the financial and commercial heart of Oahu (District 28 runs from Kapalama Canal to Keeaumoku Street).

I hope voters in District 28 choose Karl Rhoads on Nov. 7.

Thielen has done more for the environment

I am amazed and outraged that the Sierra Club decided to support Sen. Dan Akaka. He voted in favor of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He voted to support the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which gives billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas industries. After 16 years in the Senate, he has never even voted to raise fuel efficiency for ordinary cars.

The Sierra Club vote is based on a promise from Akaka to visit Alaska next summer and "maybe" reconsider his position. Message to Sierra Club: Cancel my membership.

I am an independent voter -- neither Democrat nor Republican. In my judgment, Cynthia Thielen is this state's best hope for protecting what the Sierra Club calls the "endangered species capital of the world" -- Hawaii.

Thielen has a proven track record of promoting alternative energy sources. She opposes Arctic drilling. She will continue to advocate aggressively for local alternative energy development that will lead to a cleaner environment and greater energy security for Hawaii.

Ward flier wrongly implies Ka Iwi support

In his campaign against A.J. Halagao for the state House, candidate Gene Ward mailed a flier to Hawaii Kai voters featuring a photo of the Sandy Beach-Ka Iwi Coalition banner and members of our group.

Unfortunately, the photo gives a false impression that the Ka Iwi Coalition is supporting Ward.

We want voters in East Oahu to know that Ward included the photo in his flier without the Ka Iwi Coalition's knowledge or consent.

Candidate A.J. Halagao opposes "vacation cabins" on the Ka Iwi coastline and has directly supported our efforts.

The Ka Iwi Coalition welcomes support from all candidates and public officials to keep the scenic Ka Iwi coastline in open space in perpetuity.

Bush's catchy slogans aren't too accurate

Acting more like an advertising firm on Wall Street, the Bush administration decided to stop using the phrase "stay the course" in Iraq. Seems the death toll is causing them to reflect.

Their other catchy slogan, "Mission Accomplished," and splashy aircraft carrier landing years ago were a bust, too.

They still must sell this war to the American people with midterm elections coming up. October is shaping up as the bloodiest in three years and there's no end in sight to the violence.

Bush said he'd continue this war even if only supported by Laura and his dog Barney.

By the national election in 2008, when Democrats control both houses and the presidency, he's right on the money.

Take it as a lesson to be prepared

Pretty much everybody was shocked Oct. 15, not expecting that a disaster would come at a moment's notice. Communication was unavailable, and Hawaiian Electric Company tried every effort to come back to normalcy. However, it was blamed for inefficiency.

Humans had nothing to do with it. It was an act of God, an unavoidable natural disaster. The blame is unwarranted and it seems politically motivated.

Are we disaster ready if it strikes again? If not, it was a lessons learned -- have your disaster kit ready at all times, purchase an extra flashlight and a portable radio powered by a battery ready to grab just in case there is another earthquake. Who knows?