Don't make everyone else a sitting duck
The "Red" Star-Bulletin's editorial staff has shown its hypocrisy.
On Nov. 8, your editorial urged pressure on Pakistan to restore constitutional rights to its citizens. In another editorial on
Nov. 15, you urged the Washington, D.C., gun ban to be restored, denying constitutional rights to American citizens.
The Constitution guarantees rights which are "inalienable" from governmental intrusion. The Founding Fathers wrote the Bill of Rights with individual rights as the subject; why would the second amendment be any different from the other nine in the bill? Does the right to free speech belong only to an individual in a group? Does the right against unlawful search and seizure belong to individuals in a group?
The fact is the D.C. gun ban has been a miserable failure that has assured the criminals that the citizenry is unarmed and defenseless, hence D.C. has one of the highest murder rates in the nation. Restoring constitutional rights to those Americans who wish to exercise those rights is critical and for those who believe the Constitution grants the right to bear arms only to a "militia," they can continue to be victims.
Robert Thurston
Haleiwa
Don't ban guns, just control them
The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, have altered our concepts of defense and self-defense. Nowadays, we cannot take our toothpaste and penknife on many commercial airplane flights. Most people do not protest because they know the security is for the mutual defense.
The "right to bear arms" has applied to the militia for the last 68 years because of the Miller case in 1939. What arms can we bear now? Nuclear arms? Biological weapons? Penknives? Toothpaste? I think there is a strong correlation between strict gun control and lower homicide rates. Here in Hawaii, we have strict gun control and a low homicide rate statewide.
I think we have a right to defend ourselves when attacked or provoked. With computers, we can keep track of all the weapons and guns. If these people want to bear arms for peaceful and lawful purposes, then what is the matter with requiring them to register the weapons?
Guns have their place in our society when used properly. I think it would be naive to think we could eliminate crime by eliminating all weapons and arms. Total gun bans do not work, just like the bans on illegal drugs and alcohol. I think we would have a safer and saner country if we had some sane gun control laws and taught people to take their disputes to court rather than the back alley.
Phil Robertson
Honolulu
Leeward commuters know rail is needed
Tuesday's "
Gathering Place" column by Cliff Slater gives away that he does not live on the Leeward coast. If he believes that "One of the primary reasons given to building a rail transit line is that rail uses less energy than a regular automobile," he does not drive to town from my end of town!
The primary purpose of building rail is that if they build the hundreds of new houses they propose on the Leeward coast, there will total gridlock driving to town.
Try it -- stay at the Makaha Valley Golf Course hotel for the night and drive to work in the morning. Then you'll see what it's all about, or what it is supposed to be about.
Martha Reamy
Waianae
Many united against Watada's employer
I am a hard-working person for a nonprofit organization that has a positive effect in the islands. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to be employed by an agency whose business plan was based on lies and whose work orders were to cause destruction and pain to families, workers, homes and communities. Through death, injury or having to live with the psychological aftermath, the lives of service members and their families are being scarred by this illegal and immoral war.
We know that nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died. We know that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died. We know that a few corporate entities are profiting enormously from an occupation that has no official end.
I stand with Americans, Iraqis and people of the world calling for an end to the occupation, in solidarity with Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada for declaring the war is illegal and speaking truth to power.
I refuse to vote for any candidate who is not willing to immediately end the occupation. I hope many others feel the same.
Nancy Aleck
Honolulu
Put homing pigeons in state disaster plans
If homing pigeons are not included in our state Emergency Disaster Plan, then it is not complete. Pigeons may be the only way to get medicine to individuals living outside city limits, if the roads are impassible. They also can fly blood samples to hospitals for analysis just as fast as a helicopter. They might be the only ones to carry life-saving information on a flash-drive to a doctor who needs the information that is not in a hospital.
I believe the time to include the local racing pigeon clubs is now, before the next emergency happens.
We already had the Waimea landslides, Aiea overpass and sand with high surf from hurricanes and storms cover our roads. I don't have to tell you how unpleasant the situation was. If Oahu was hit by a hurricane, the situation would be worse. The better we plan for these disasters now would mean more lives we can save later.
Alvin Wong
Pearl City
More should embrace the forgiving muumuu
In
Wednesday's Star-Bulletin, letter writer Maria Klingler of Austria complained about the dearth of muumuu-wearing ladies in Honolulu. Yes, Maria, I agree with you 100 percent. More women should wear muumuus in Hawaii. What's with the unsightly bulges that so many women show off these days? Hide them!
I wear long muumuus all the time, even to tailgates, restaurants and the opera. There's a muumuu for every occasion, depending on the type of fabric and accessories such as jewelry and footwear used. We should start a campaign.
Glenda Chung Hinchey
Honolulu