Seasickness might be commuter's nightmare
Hey! They're ready to start up that commuter ferry again. I remember. The last time I tried it, I got sick as a dog. The ocean was so rough that day, they had to cancel ferry rides for the rest of the day and bus everybody back and forth between town. When I got off the boat in Kalaeloa I thought there was an earthquake because the ground -- or was it me? -- was kinda rolling around. Even a couple of hours later, lunch didn't taste too good. I used to do a lot of fishing, so seasickness shouldn't have been in my vocabulary. Now what is going to happen to a bunch of landlubbers?
Royle Kaneshige
Honolulu
Firefighter's life worth more than an animal's
Massive brush/forest fire stories have two common threads. Firefighters risk, and lose, their lives to protect property. (Evacuating people is risk-free.) And property owners are prohibited from maintaining firebreaks that mitigate a fire's ferocity, and thwart its spread, to protect things like kangaroo rats. So, I have two questions:
Five billion years ago, Earth was a scorched rock and in 5 billion more will be again when the sun predictably burns out. So, on what basis did prohibition proponents decide their birth date defines the "best of all possible worlds" that can never be changed again?
Examples: Did some god decree that a slightly warmer world is not an improvement? Wouldn't making the unlimited expanse of Siberia comfortably habitable spur the evolution of new species while making room for the world's population that grew from 1.5 billion to over 6.5 billion in less than 100 years? And, wasn't it unsupervised "nature," not people, that turned the once-beautiful mountains and beaches of northwest Hawaii into underwater reefs, so warming or not, Hawaii must learn to expand its coastline or sink anyway.
Finally, since adult choices involve weighing their relative costs, may I ask how many saved kangaroo rats did prohibition proponents deem equal to the life of one firefighter handed a more ferocious fire than necessary?
George L. Berish
Kakaako
One rude TSA worker has lasting influence
Airport/airline security is essential -- no question about that. But Transportation Security Administration inspectors must be polite and respectful while being vigilant.
My wife and I went through Honolulu airport security June 30 and hit a temporary TSA agent imported from the East Coast. She found lip gloss in my wife's purse and a half-tube of toothpaste in my camera bag. She went ballistic and addressed us as idiots who didn't know "the rules." She jerked my wife's purse away from her and loudly berated the local X-ray technician who had let that lip gloss pass.
We need thorough screening, but we also need respect for passengers and use of common sense. Nobody said boo about the glass pump-spray bottle of nitroglycerin and alcohol (for a potential angina attack) I had in my pocket that day and all other days I've travelled interisland and on the mainland during the past six years of vigilance.
Bob Jones
Honolulu
A little courtesy goes long way on TheBus
Let's talk about courtesy on TheBus. As gas prices rise, ridership also will rise on TheBus.
» Blocking foot traffic at the sidewalk. Don't stare, just move aside! And trashing the bus stop area that has one or two trash cans available doesn't make waiting pleasant, especially at Dillingham and Liliha fronting Mayor Wright's! And don't trash inside of TheBus.
» Boarding of the bus where there's the shoving of others. Who are YOU? If someone gets hurt, no one goes anywhere.
» Breaking news -- there are lots of nice, roomy seats and standing room past the middle exit. You wanna be a sardine, go to the New York subway. As a typical short Oriental, it is hard for me to reach the top bar to hold on.
Mahalo, TheBus drivers! You deal with us crazies inside and outside. You make the bus experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, and still meet a time schedule as close as possible.
A little courtesy goes a long way.
B.M.L. Chang
Honolulu
Water conservation starts at the top
It really baffles me when I hear on the radio of a water shortage, not because I deny that we are experiencing one, but it pains me to hear the Board of Water Supply asking individuals to conserve when I know the residents on military bases don't pay a penny for their water use, or that public parks like Diamond Head and Kapiolani have sprinklers that are broken, leaky or shooting water on the pavement when it should be for the grass. If these systems were fixed, regulated and/or upgraded, I'm sure we could cut our water usage in half, if not more. Or what about distinguishing between nonpotable vs. potable usage so we can make better use of our water for humans and pets vs. trees, lawns and shrubs?
Population and water use per person is only increasing. Our water resources have not grown. If you talk to anyone in BWS, they know the inconvenient truth. If we don't conserve on a large scale (military, corporations, public lands), we will have to resort to sewage-to-potable water technology or salt-to-fresh water systems, all of which costs millions if not billions to build.
The average citizen has had enough. Let's see the top take some responsibility.
Roger Dunn
Honolulu