Supply of fireworks should be limited
Having grown up in a Midwestern state with a strict fireworks ban, I learned two things. One, a ban was not effective as those who chose to buy them did so. Two, this law was difficult to enforce. Recently, the total ban was rescinded.Many people regard fireworks as an enjoyable part of the celebration of the season, as witnessed by the thousands of residents who used them in Hawaii this New Year's Eve.
This state is home to a number of cultural and ethnic groups that use fireworks as part of their traditional celebratory festivities. For the most part, people have shown that they use them safely.
What occurs at these celebration periods are an excess of fireworks that flood the market and cause excessive use during the New Year's period. If large quantities are provided, the public will purchase them.
What should occur is a reduction in supply to reduce the amount available for those who wish to use them.
Dan Elmore
Makakilo
Catholic Church teaches God's sacred revelations
Permit me to respond to Carolyn Golojuch's Jan. 10 View Point column concerning her decision to reject her Roman Catholic faith because she chose love for her gay son "over love for the Catholic Church of Honolulu."To justify her choice, she accuses the church of having lost sight of the greatest commandment of all, "Love one another." I would remind her that the commandment first reads, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, soul, strength and mind."
Too many Catholics today have decided church teaching (God's revelation) interferes with their choices. My will not God's will be done.
It's interesting that Golojuch finds refuge in the Episcopal Church (King Henry did his will rather than follow the church's teaching on divorce).
I am sorry she felt the need to vent her anger against the Roman Catholic Church. The peace and justice she hopes for will continue to elude us until God's will be done.
Shirley Cushnie
Kailua
Rae Loui has background to serve effectively on PUC
Contrary to George Waialeale's Jan. 12 letter about Rae Loui, Governor Cayetano's appointee to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), she can and will be a qualified advocate for consumers and workers in the utilities and telecommunications industries.One of the best young minds in our state, Hilo-born Loui joins the PUC as the only engineer. She holds double masters degrees in civil engineering from Stanford, specializing in infrastructure planning and management, and in business administration from UC-Berkeley.
Loui has 10 years experience as a senior engineer, business analyst and senior planning analyst for Pacific Gas & Electric in San Francisco. She was a director of strategic planning and budgets at Hawaiian Electric Industries, and director of the Maui Board of Water Supply.
She has been a highly effective deputy director of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management under the Cayetano administration.
The PUC law requires experience in "accounting, engineering, government, business, finance and law, or other similar fields." Loui has experience in all fields but one - law.
Charles Toguchi
Chief of Staff
Governor's Office
Sinking Jones Act would make economic sense
As Popeye would say, "That's all I can stand, I can't stands no more." Someone needs to weigh in with some common sense on the argument over the Jones Act.J.J. Arnold's Jan. 6 letter would make you think that foreign shippers use galley slaves to operate their vessels on the high seas. The truth is that able-bodied seamen are well paid by all major shippers, foreign included.
The Jones Act requires that shipping between U.S. ports be done only by U.S. carriers (i.e. Matson/Sea-Land). Also, the truth is that foreign carriers bypass Hawaii on their way to the West Coast of the United States, off-load their cargo in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle, and reload their cargo onto Matson or Sea-Land carriers, which then take the cargo to Hawaii.
Why can't these same foreign carriers, which are safe enough to go to the mainland, first stop in Hawaii to off-load that same cargo that Matson and Sea-Land then charge to on-load and retrace 2,500 miles back to Hawaii?
To follow Arnold's logic to its conclusion, no foreign carrier of cargo should be permitted in any U.S. port, let alone Hawaii. It would seem that he is more interested in union jobs than in fair competition among shipping companies.
Garry P. Smith
Ewa Beach
Aiea mill could become Arizona lookout point
An alternative use for the old Aiea sugar mill is to turn it into a lookout point for the Arizona Memorial.With 1998 marking the final year of construction at Pearl Harbor - the joint memorial for the USS Arizona and Missouri plus the Ford Island Bridge - a scenic lookout point would become a fitting addition to the historic area.
The city and the Navy could share in the construction cost. An increase in tourism traffic would help stimulate economic growth for small businesses in Aiea.
Stanton T. Gaza
Waipahu
Hawaii doesn't want to be mecca for gay marriages
Martin Rice's Jan. 13 letter ignores so many important points regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage.First, why would Hawaii want to become a gay tourist destination? Is it because we want to turn away our current traditional family visitors? That's the only reason I can think of.
Second, just because something can be lucrative doesn't mean we should promote it. If we found out tomorrow that we could double the state's tax base by opening prisons next to nursery schools, should we do it?
Our state is not only driven by its economy, but by its citizens' ethics and values. The legalization of same-sex marriage is not only bad economic policy, but bad social policy, too.
The notion that we should legalize same-sex marriage to boost our weakened economy is both worrisome and shortsighted.
Sandy Ballard
Bishop Estate Archive
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