Bill gets uninsured cars off isle roads

Senate Bill 1259, currently before the state Legislature, deserves the support of every responsible citizen in this state and their elected representatives. The bill would require that Department of Motor Vehicles or the director of finance in charge of automobile registration receives verification from an authorized auto insurer that a vehicle registered in Hawaii has automobile insurance. The bill also requires that when that insurance is cancelled, the insurer notify the DMV and director, and if there is no notice from another company of replacement insurance that the director immediately issue a notice of revocation of the registration. If the license plates and registration are not turned, the owner's driver's license is suspended.

The purpose of this bill is to get uninsured cars off the road. Far too many of us have been in accidents where the other owner does not have insurance or has a faked insurance card. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of cars on the road are uninsured. Please write, call and/or e-mail your state senator and representative in support of this bill.

Land settlement is best way to go forward

I am a second-year, non-Hawaiian law student at Richardson School of Law studying ceded lands issues, our state Constitution and the terms of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs public land trust settlement. I believe the deal is fair to OHA and satisfies the state's duty to provide past due payments.

This settlement represents an opportunity for the state to fulfill its constitutional obligation to native Hawaiians as well as creating a stepping stone to address greater and still unresolved claims, including the ceded lands. No settlement can please everyone. The many years of negotiations and litigation that went into this deal inform the current stance of the state and OHA in favor of the settlement. Now is the time to move forward.

It is in our chosen legislators' hands to act responsibly and with leadership for all of the people of Hawaii. I support Senate Bill 2733 and consider the current settlement an excellent platform from which we can begin to heal the relationship of all interested parties.

Carpooling help solve two problems at once

Hawaiian Airlines just announced that it is flying at more than 80 percent full. Imagine if the airlines flew at only 20 percent capacity. We would have gridlock at our airports and too many planes in the sky to safely manage. Our airlines would go bankrupt.

We have only a few neighborhoods on Oahu, a few traffic corridors and a few areas where most of us work. Those other drivers caught in traffic with us are going to the same places we are. Empty seats in our cars are no different from empty airline seats. If you are driving alone, make the decision to carpool. Organize carpools in your neighborhood and at your workplace. Global warming is real. This is the easiest way for us to reduce our carbon footprints. Let's do this before many of these roads, now only a few feet above sea level, are under water.

Let's hope this June gets support he needs

I read with interest the story about Rod June's recent appointment to head the Hawaii Employees' Retirement System (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 11). Mr. June should do well in Hawaii. We like people with June in their names. His "run and shoot" investment offense using alternative investments and a portable alpha strategy sound exciting. His idea of bringing on lesser-known but proven assistant coaches in the form of money managers is refreshing too.

Hopefully he'll get quicker and stronger support for his infrastructure issues than the last June did.

With FISA vote, Inouye strays from the path

Last week Sen. Daniel Inouye voted for the Protect America Act. This renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies for the wholesale warrantless wiretapping of the Internet, which the Bush administration began prior to 9/11. At certain nodes of the Internet's backbone, the entire data stream was diverted for the National Security Agency to peruse. With no judicial oversight, this was the largest violation of the Fourth Amendment in America's history. And Inouye voted for it.

As I write, the bill is before the House of Representatives, where its passage is contentious and uncertain.

Inouye has come a long way from the Watergate hearings, where he courageously exposed the constitutional violations of an administration that now seems like children in a sandbox compared to what Bush has done to this country.

And Bush perhaps takes solace that, unlike Inouye, he did not fight in a war to protect the constitutional ideals that were yesterday betrayed.

Please, let others eat their burgers in peace

This letter is in response to Wayne Johnson (Letters, Feb. 15), who wrote, "The real answer, of course, is for people to stopping eating pigs or any other animals. Better for your health, the animals and the planet."

What about people who are allergic to soy and nuts? Where should I get my protein from? Just because you are doing what is best for your health does not mean it's the best for everyone's health.

Enough with your "it's what's best for the planet" garbage. I am so mad I need a hamburger! With bacon of course ... mmm ... mmm ... mmm!

It's not physical harm, just unimaginable pain

On Feb. 14, Sen. Joe Lieberman put paid to the whole waterboarding controversy. It's not torture because "The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological."

Like the famous Chinese water torture that drove the victim mad, it leaves no visible marks. And the Soviet KGB had some clever nausea techniques that produced, according to those who underwent them, pain greater than kidney stones, a ruptured appendix or any agony imaginable -- but no physical damage.

Oh, yes! The Nazis, who weren't too concerned about physical effects, also had a whole series of "methods" which left no visible signs.

So thanks for the clarification, Joe. Just as long as the suspected terrorist or whoever being interrogated survives with no physical evidence of damage, what's done is not torture and so it's perfectly OK for Americans to use that procedure.