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Not-so-astonishing liberal behavior
It's hard to believe liberal left-wing Obama supporters are getting excited over GOP vice presidential Sarah Palin's daughter being pregnant.
Now these can't be our same beloved Democrats who worship Bill Clinton for committing adultery in the White House?
It can't be the Democrat who took prayer out of our schools using her son (who is now a Christian) as her scapegoat?
It probably is not the liberals who pump condoms into our schools while promoting their sexually active agenda, is it?
Definitely not the left side who use millions of tax dollars to fund our very own American Fetal Holocaust, is it?
How about the liberal school officials in Texas who recently welcomed members of the Islamic Conference-OIC (a group linked to terror) into the school to indoctrinate students?
So could it be the donkeys who own Hollywood and MTV, promoting our country's moral decay?
The answer is "yes" to all of the above, which is why I'm so astonished! And now this has been printed in their newspaper, so now I'm speechless as well.
Mary Lapastora
Honolulu
Palin does not have your interests at heart
There are three points I think we all need to consider when looking at Sarah Palin for a possible vice president:
» As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them - shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, "news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving 'full support' to the mayor."
» Palin has close ties to Big Oil. BP was even one of the sponsors of her 2007 inauguration.
» She DID support the "Bridge to Nowhere" (before she opposed it). Palin claimed that she said "thanks but no thanks" to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."
Andrea Jaques
Kihei, Maui
Bud’s gift is actually little more than foam
Just thinking out loud, mind you, but did anyone notice the "Get in the Game" Anheuser-Busch Bud Light Hawaii full-page ad in the Aug. 31 Star-Bulletin sports section?
Permit me, between now and Nov. 30, University of Hawaii corporate partner Anheuser-Busch Hawaii will donate 25 cents from each case of Budweiser to UH to improve its athletic facilities up to $100,000, meaning all fans and backers of UH when buying beer for tailgating or any party when backing the UH teams for the next three months, be sure it's Budweiser.
Fine, but now let's look at the numbers:
» 100 cases at 25 cents equals $25.
» 500 cases at 25 cents equals $125.
» 1,000 cases at 25 cents equals $250.
» 10,000 cases at 25 cents equals $2,500.
Figuring you're going to need the Coors, Miller and Heineken beer drinkers coming over to Budweiser for three months to even hope to approach 400 cases, then it's not going to happen because the 25-cent incentive goes nowhere to coax a massive movement to Budweiser, not even to assist UH because the "donation" is piddling as evidenced by, say, 500 cases at 25 cents returning $125.
C'mon, Anheuser-Busch corporate partner, rework that one-page ad with a more enhanced donation amount. Your call!
Hank McKeague
Honolulu
Stop Rail Now met its goal in names
Your story Thursday on the signatures needed for our initiative question to appear on the November ballot was appalling. It gives the impression that we failed miserably in our attempts to get 70,000 signatures. The opposite is true. From the first we said that we needed 30,000 valid signatures and that to ensure that we would need to get 40,000 to 45,000 before weeding out the invalid ones. In the end we exceeded our goal by nearly 5,000. All that is clearly documented.
If you set out to discourage our hard-working volunteers, you could not have done a better job of it.
Cliff Slater
President
Stop Rail Now
Bill for rail system will keep coming
The big difference between toll lanes and a rail system is who ultimately pays for them. With a toll lane, or HOT lane, the actual users pay per use - the fee going toward repaying the cost of the construction. The HOT lane also removes many vehicles from the nontoll lanes, reducing traffic congestion. Over many years a toll road pays for itself, and the toll can be removed. Call them "Lexus Lanes" if you want, but they actually take cars off the free roads, thereby providing real congestion relief.
A rail system does not pay for itself. Users only pay a token fare, just like TheBus, which does not come close to covering the cost of the service. A rail system is subsidized by taxpayers forever, like TheBus. The billions spent to build the thing are only the beginning, the taxes to operate and maintain the system will continue forever.
I favor rail, but only if it is privately funded. Let a private business finance it, build it and operate it at a profit, and I'll be all for it.
Scott Noltie
Mililani