More roads means more pollution
There are still organizations and individuals not supporting the fixed-guideway rail system. They want more road capacity to accommodate more cars and frustrate more people, especially from West Oahu who have to sit in traffic for hours to commute to work.
The real reason they oppose rail is for their favorite solution, HOT lanes. How much hotter do they want it to get? According to the American Public Transportation Association study "the most powerful weapon we can use to combat global climate change may be a daily transit pass." There is not a person on this planet who is not concerned about global warming yet we have those who want more of it by putting more cars on the road and making us more dependent on foreign oil.
By supporting a fixed-guide-way system, we will come out ahead in more ways than just creating another transportation option.
Linda Lacaden
Kailua
Protesters should reset priorities
I am so happy to see that native Hawaiians were included in the crowd in the Star-Bulletin's Oct. 22 article "Kauai critics reject both bill and ferry," although not a single face in the photo seemed to be a Hawaiian.
In following the Star-Bulletin's articles on the Superferry issues, it is amazing that the critics do not see themselves as a special interest! They claim to speak for the people of Kauai or Maui. They claim to "protect the interest of the kanaka," conveniently leaving out oiwi or maoli.
If the protesters against the Superferry are really interested in looking out for the interests of the Kanaka Maoli, they should start in their own backyards and look at the displaced -- the more than 500 homeless men, women and children on Kauai, most of whom are native Hawaiians. These numbers do not include families residing with relatives. Or, are they really trying to protect their special interests under the guise of protecting the interests of the Kanaka Maoli?
Kaipoleimanu Akau
Las Vegas
Hawaii doesn't need more tourism
To Superferry or not to Superferry? That isn't the question. I was on the phone the other day with a friend just back from errands in town:
"Man, I'm getting to be just like you," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"It's so crowded and crazy out there I never want to go to town again!"
One story tells it all.
How many visitors to Hawaii this year? Last time I heard it was well over five million, and that was a month or more ago. There is only one invasive species that we really have to worry about, and we all know what it is. The Superferry will only help it spread.
The question is when are the people of Hawaii going to say, "We've got plenty of people on these fragile little islands already, thank you. Please don't come!"
I'll vote for any office-seeker who is serious about doing something to limit tourism and development, and to keep the population down. Tourism and "development" may be "good for the economy," but as is often the case, what is "good for the economy" is bad for people.
Bill Brundage
Kurtistown, Hawaii
There are better ways to handle Kailuagates
"Kailuagate" can be looked at as another clash between the values of our root culture and the values of our imposed culture ("Kailua gate halts beach traffic," Star-Bulletin, Sept. 11). Our imposed culture values private ownership protected by the rule of law and the concept of me and mine. Our root culture values stewardship and the concept of ours to collectively care for and husband.
To solve the issues surrounding beach access, our imposed culture puts up a gate and keeps people out, a solution very consistent with the values of private ownership and the concept of me and mine. It has the backing of law.
How would our root culture solve the issue? The root culture would look back for solutions to similar problems in the past and use these as a template or at least a starting point to solving current dilemmas.
When we look back we find solutions that come from both our root culture and our imposed culture. These are outlined in the article "Kailuagate affects us all" by Rich Figel, (Star-Bulletin, Insight, Sept. 16) and in Wendy Watson-Erickson's Sept. 23 column, "Let's compromise - lock it at night." These solutions gave weight to both the values of our root and our imposed culture and deftly solved a dilemma that could have split a community.
Those solutions could have been used as a start to find a solution to the new issues clearly outlined by Suzanne Jackson in Sept. 23 column "Access paths seem to invite obnoxious behavior, crime." Instead, our imposed culture dictated the solution and Hawaii again became a little less Hawaii.
Ken Ordenstein
Kailua
It's not about oil, it's about ... um ...
Regarding the "Putin suggests U.S. wants Iraq's oil" (Wall Street Journal headline, Oct. 18): Aw, c'mon, Vladimir. President Bush has said it over, and over again. We invaded Iraq to destroy Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, or because he was an evil dictator, or because we wished to bring the blessings of democracy to the Iraqis, or to establish a base to invade Iran, or to ... Where did our president ever utter a single mention of oil as a reason?
America deserves an apology from Putin for this totally unfounded accusation.
John A. Broussard
Kamuela, Hawaii