Adding money won't help prison problem

Sen. Will Espero said he was pleased with what he saw while touring the Arizona prisons currently housing nearly 1,900 Hawaiian inmates (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 4). Yes, it is a good thing that the prisoners are safe. However, the cost is astronomical: the $95 million price tag for the new prison, plus the $50 million contract with Corrections Corp. of America, equals $145 million. The cost to taxpayers comes to approximately $76,000 per prisoner. Granted, the prison construction cost is "one-time" (at least until it is full and another is needed), and the CCA contract is "fair market value" for incarceration services these days.

It is mind-blowing how cavalier and out of touch Espero and other political leaders are with the real cost and value of such huge amounts of taxpayer money. When will our leaders learn that the "just keep throwing money at the problem" model does not work?

End the hypocrisy over use of N-word

So Dog Chapman used the N-word and his son is the one who sold him out to the National Enquirer for a few bucks. Now everyone is bent out of shape, crying outrage and A&E has pulled his show.

You know what I am bent out of shape about? The fact that it is such a double standard. One white guy uses the N-word and gets a national outcry, but yet the entire black "entertainment" industry can freely toss the same word around openly in music, comedy and movies, and have ZERO repercussions about it. How many rappers start off a "song" with "yo my niggas"? A Google lyrics search shows 394,000 references to songs with the word "niggas" in it. That of course does not include other spelling variations.

As long as it is acceptable for blacks to refer to themselves as "niggas," we as a society will never be able to eradicate the word. So until you pull all of those other entertainers you should put Dog back on the air. Equality, right ?

No, I am not a racist. What I am is someone who hates hypocrisy.

What makes one word worse than all others?

This Dog Chapman issue is just a media frenzy. The private phone call was not meant for the media. His son and his girlfriend should be scorned for taking the 30 pieces of silver. Dog had their characters pegged right, they did exactly what he complained about to his son.

Everyone says things at home they would never want revealed in public. However, no word that is in the dictionary should ever be forbidden to say. Otherwise, ban it from the dictionary.

Blacks use the N-word as a crutch and a tool to control other people's choice of words. They do not have a patent on the word. There are hundreds of bad words, is one worse than another? By reading and discussing this issue, I said and used the N-word more than 10 times today. Does this make me a racist?

If Caucasians demanded we should never say the "haole" word, would we be lockstep lemmings and ban it also? And if you use the H-word, are you racist? Some words come from history, for the good and the bad, history cannot be changed to appease a select group. And cancelling a show or program because of ill-chosen "words" is idiotic.

Djou looks out for Hawaii Kai residents

City Councilman Charles Djou has proven that he has the best interest of the Hawaii Kai community in mind.

It was Djou who, in 2004, drafted and then fought for Resolution 04-198. This resolution supports retaining the current urban boundary in Hawaii Kai until at least 2020, thus preserving Kamilonui Valley in agriculture.

Djou's fight to preserve Kamilonui Valley proves that he has vision beyond the year 2007 and that he fights urban sprawl in Hawaii Kai.

Djou has fought residential home developers that want to move the urban boundary deep into Kamilonui Valley so that they can replace the 23 farms whose zoning is preserved until 2020 with more of their tacky houses.

Djou has taken a stand against these developers. This is what the Hawaii Kai community wants and needs.

I believe Djou's support of Bill 47, which increased the building height, is a trade-off for a greater setback and more open space. I believe that this kind of trade-off should always be the exception and not the rule.

Djou has shown his cards of support for the community against the interests of the big landowners and developers. Hawaii Kai is fortunate to have Djou represent us.

Pets, owners enjoyed day at the park

I wanted to send a belated mahalo to the City & County of Honolulu for granting the Hawaiian Humane Society a one-day exception to allow pets at Ala Moana Beach Park for its annual PetWalk on Sunday, Oct. 7. This was my second year attending the event, so Hoshi and I were excited for another day of fun in the sun with friends. For many of us, our furry companions are really a part of our family, so the PetWalk is a wonderful opportunity for responsible pet owners to get together in support of a more pet-friendly community. Hoshi and I are already looking forward to the sixth annual PetWalk!