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Cayetano's commentary was self-serving

As I read our governor's article on the front page of the July 8 Insight section, I have to admit -- after living in Hawaii through the Democratic Party's rise to power -- I thought he was writing about the state of "Euphoria," not the state of Hawaii.

But I must ask your editors a question. Immediately to the right of Cayetano's article, in banner-size type, was a word in another headline that I thought was quite appropriate about what he wrote. Was it sheer coincidence, or quite on purpose, that the word was "shibai"?

Ray Thiele
Kailua

Governor wastes time being vindictive

Malia Zimmerman, investigative reporter for Pacific Business News, has been fired. Her weekly PBN articles detailing the state's widely known disregard for our business community rubbed Governor Cayetano the wrong way.

Killing the messenger demonstrates power-mad pettiness and vitriol. Energy wasted on vengeance won't get us out of the quagmire of a decade-long recession.

Cayetano has an opportunity to finish his term with accomplishments for which he'll be remembered. Rather, he continues to waste time wreaking vengeance. Who else has he muzzled? Other than the Star-Bulletin's incisive June 30 editorial regarding the freedom-of-the-press aspect of this ludicrous situation, where is the media's outrage?

Interestingly, the PBN editor who fired Zimmerman listed herself as co-producer of an article that won Zimmerman a writing award and which detailed the governor's well-known retaliatory tactics. So why wasn't this "co-winner" also fired?

Those who ride on successful coattails will soon suffer the lash..."Ben" voyage.

Linda Ryan

Quotables "Although the governor and I have a difference of opinion, he actually shares these concerns. He doesn't have an interest in hurting the disabled community." Mazie Hirono HAWAII'S LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR Disagreeing with the state's actions in challenging the Americans with Disabilities Act in a U.S. Supreme Court case "I realize now it was a mistake to vote out Margery Bronster when she was investigating the trustees." Brian Kanno DEMOCRATIC SENATOR Apologizing to constituents for voting against the attorney general in 1998 when she was investigating the Bishop Estate. Kanno is up for re-election.

Judge Fong should step down from the bench

Three big cheers for Ian Lind's superb front-page piece on Judge David L. Fong (Star-Bulletin, July 6) and three bigger boos for Fong. His behavior is reprehensible, and his denials are preposterous. Fong should resign immediately from the bench.

Whether he does or not, the Commission on Judicial Conduct should investigate his actions at least as thoroughly as your reporter has.

The Hawaii Code of Judicial Conduct states that judges must "avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety."

Yet from 1991-98, Fong owned a building in which a person was shot, several women were arrested (and later convicted) for prostitution, unregistered employees were hired, and there were numerous complaints about drug dealing, gambling and sexual solicitation.

During that same period, Fong represented New Secret, one of his tenants, in a legal case arising from citations issued by the Liquor Commission charging New Secret with failing to prevent prostitution.

Judge Fong, chairman of the Hawaii State Trial Judges Association, says he "was never aware of anything illegal" happening in his building. Not only that, he denies even an appearance of impropriety. His responses are as ridiculous as his behavior is repugnant.

David T. Johnson

A happy Fourth thanks to renovated bandstand

Mahalo to Mayor Harris, his team and all of the entertainers for a wonderful dedication of the Kapiolani Bandstand on the Fourth of July. The watermelon was ono!

J.D. Nielsen

Man's activities are part of natural selection

Snail darter vs. electric power generation. Spotted owl vs. timber harvesting. Monk seal vs. lobster fishing. Turtle vs. longline fishing.

I am tired of the environmentalists and their political agenda: to deindustrialize America. As far as I'm concerned, extinction is a natural process whether initiated by man or natural phenomena, such as climate and weather.

I've never seen any of these animals in the wild except I do see more turtles today in shallow water than I did 30 years ago.

I don't believe government statistics; they're all lies anyway. And none of these animals have helped me pay my bills. So to hell with them. We should shoot 'em, eat 'em and make shoes and jackets out of their skins.

Bruce Wong

It's easier to credit God for human genome

The recent mapping of the human genome has been hailed as the greatest scientific accomplishment ever. The amount of information is staggering: over 3 billion letters in the DNA code. Imagine, all of this information in every tiny cell.

I wonder what my high school biology instructor, Mr. Stater, would make of all of this. He was an inspiring teacher with a barrel chest, warm smile and keen wit. He taught us the theory of evolution and we all became believers.

But can we still believe? Are we really the result of chance, somehow evolving from a mass of protoplasm?

I remember watching a film of these tiny creatures magnified by a microscope. Looking at them then, it didn't seem too difficult for life to begin at this stage, given the right chemical ingredients, environment and countless opportunities that billions of years provide.

Yet what Mr. Stater didn't know is that this microscopic amoeba has a genetic code too complex to fit on the hard drive of my Pentium PC.

When we see a beautifully designed and planned building, we admire the creative genius of the architect. So when we watch a beautiful sunset or learn of the incredibly complex information stored, in every tiny cell of life, what prevents us from recognizing the architect?

I'm sorry, Mr. Stater, I can no longer believe. It takes too much faith. It makes more sense to believe in God.

Tom Tanimura

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