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Police radio system is wrong for Oahu

The Ericsson 800 mhz police radio system being used by the Honolulu Police Department was designed for flat terrain (Star-Bulletin, June 14). Thus, it will never be reliable on Oahu.

This can be confirmed by contacting other police departments on the mainland. State Auditor Marion Higa will find this to be true, and will issue another excellent report.

Robert S. Anderson
Kailua

Let's boot senators who booted Bronster

Seven of the 14 senators who voted against Bronster are up for re-election this fall. Let's get rid of them all.

Supporting our public servants' license to steal should be dealt with firmly and with finality.

Robert G. Devine
Ocean View, Hawaii

Oshiro was better legislator than Kanno

I recently received a letter from Sen. Brian Kanno in which he apologized for failing to support former Attorney General Margery Bronster's reconfirmation. I suppose he said other things in his letter but I don't remember because I had such a negative and visceral reaction to his "apology" that nothing else mattered.

Kanno has disregarded his constituents more than once. I urge those who live in his district to remember the times you tried to call this so-called public servant on contentious legislative issues such as insurance reform or legalizing gay marriage.

Remember how unwilling he and his staff were to take a message and let your voice be heard? Remember how reluctant they were to answer questions? And if you were lucky enough for them to take down your name, remember wondering if you'd ever get a call back from the senator? I never did.

I will forever compare Kanno's performance with that of our former representative, Paul Oshiro. Now here was an elected official who treated the public well. Oshiro responded personally to inquiries, and always promptly and courteously.

Oshiro's track record shows he was instrumental in improving transportation and roadways in our congested district. It was the district's loss when he withdrew from public office. He would have made a great senator.

Laine Skiendiel
Ewa Beach

How can anyone question longline ruling?

It is shocking there can be any debate over the pros and cons of longline fishing in Hawaiian waters without observers. Go to http://www.envirowatch.org and see updated, documented observer photographs of longline "by-products" such as endangered whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sea birds, monk seals and even sharks!

Most of Hawaii's longline fleet is under out-of-state registration. The money generated by those vessels does not stay here in Hawaii, and neither does most of the fish. Wake up and smell the carcass!

Karyn Herrmann
Marine Biology Educator

Ruling won't give turtles protection

While I have high respect for Judge David Ezra and his no-nonsense approach to judicial decision-making, he apparently was not given the full picture regarding the global nature of pelagic fisheries.

They are the last, true, "free" global economic commodity that can be harvested. As such, ownership is vested upon capture by anyone who can do so.

Then, too, turtles that get hooked are not innocent "bystanders," but opportunistic feeders that aggressively go after bait like tuna. Proportionally, it is doubtful that the incidental capture of turtles by fishermen can equal the number killed by other marine or human predators or natural causes.

More significant is the lack of any restraint on the majority of fishermen who are harvesting both turtle and fish in the Pacific and elsewhere. U.S. laws have no jurisdiction over the activities of foreign fishermen in international waters.

In essence, then, the impact of a permanent or extended injunction on longline fishing will be, as was pointed out so cogently by Bill Mossman in your July 8 Insight section, a loss of household income for more than 1,000 Hawaii-based longline fishermen as well as a loss of not only primary but secondary and tertiary tax revenues for the state.

Moreover, the motivation of the fee-hungry Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund should also be scrutinized. When stripped of the emotionalism, how well does its data stand up on alleviation of actual damage to leatherback turtles by the injunction?

Rose T. Pfund

Quotables "You have to be totally prepared just to contribute. Sometimes in college, I could get away without being prepared." Heather Bown FORMER UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII WAHINE VOLLEYBALL STAR On her current role as member of the U.S. National Team in the 2000 Olympics "A settlement not funded becomes a laughingstock." Robert Swift COUNSEL FOR THE PLAINTIFFS WHO WON A $150 MILLION SETTLEMENT AGAINST THE ESTATE OF PHILIPPINE DICTATOR FERDINAND MARCOS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Who have yet to see a dollar of that money a year and a half after the judgment

Friel is wrong to criticize Lingle

Harry Friel's July 10 letter is the perfect example of misinformation. He certainly does not speak for a majority of Hawaii's Republicans.

What a shame Friel chooses to defame an intelligent woman like GOP Chairwoman Linda Lingle. When he does this, he also ignores the democratic process of the Republican State Committee.

The letter of support presented to the Board of Education on anti-harassment was the decision of the entire committee, not just Lingle. I would not respect her if she acted like a dictator.

If Friel chooses not to agree with the committee, that's his choice. But he might think before choosing to accuse Lingle of such a brazen, high-handed act.

Carolyn Martinez Golojuch

Alcohol ban would make for safer skies

Regarding your July 6 story, "Flight crews sound rage alarm," the solution is obvious: Don't sell alcohol on airplanes. Drinking alcohol results in a number of effects -- it makes some drinkers feel like Superman, while others become belligerent and hostile.

When smoking was outlawed by airlines, there was no problem because there was no economic impact on them. But selling alcohol means extra revenues, so the flight crews and fellow passengers lose out.

The airline industry had better wake up before disaster happens.

Henry Pundyke
Kaneohe

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