Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Gambling wants to get its claws on Hawaii

Are we crazy? Legalized casinos to pay for long-term care for the elderly is sure to be a loser for the state for years to come.

There is so much information available to show that gambling in general and casinos in particular are not economically feasible over the long term. The police and community organizations brought in mainland experts who pointed out why and how it is economically unprofitable. Did our legislators read the material?

The revenues roll in the first few years, then dwindle in later years when the cost of crime and social problems escalate. This includes an increase in white-collar crime, bankruptcies, domestic violence and addiction.

Even worse, until there is public funding of political campaigns, the gambling industry with its millions is poised to fund, legally and illegally, candidates who will support it. Once the state gets involved in legalized gambling, it has a tiger by the tail -- it can't let go.

States across the country are trying to find ways to roll back gambling and are finding it most difficult. Long-term care for Hawaii is overdue, but trying to pay for it by these means is short-sighted.

Grace Furukawa

Quotables "We knew how it felt to win and now we know how it feels to lose. I don't think we want to feel like that anymore." Kim Willoughby FRESHMAN UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PLAYER As the Wahine prepare to host the first round of the NCAA championship playoffs after suffering their first defeat of the season "There's got to be an end sometime. The nation is strung out." Barbara Marumoto STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND HEAD OF THE BUSH CAMPAIGN IN HAWAII After Florida officials certified George W. Bush as the winner of their state's electoral votes

Mother Nature doesn't like Warriors

While driving into Manoa on Thanksgiving, I was blessed with the sight of another of Mother Nature's breathtaking double-rainbows spanning the valley from Tantalus to Waahila Ridge.

Having been born and reared in Manoa, I've yet to tire of the magnificence of these renowned rainbows, often coming so close it feels as if I could reach out and touch them as they dance on the hood of my car.

I then got a twisted mental flash. I wondered what it would be like to no longer see stunning rainbows but large green, black and white "H's" with zig-zagged edges depicting fighting warriors hanging over the peaceful skies of beautiful Manoa. Something was wrong with that image.

We all know that we shouldn't mess around with Mother Nature and I'm gratefully relieved that she hasn't gotten the "H" message. Long live the Manoa rainbows. Go 'Bows!

Diane D. Ackerson

It's wrong to demand slave reparations

I'll bet you get some mail after Andre Wooten's Saturday View Point column on reparations for American blacks (the nationally divisive description of "African American" is not part of my vocabulary).

He fails to draw any distinction between Americans of Japanese ancestry who received some compensation for their internment and loss of properties and who were still alive to receive them, and folks like him who want to profit from the suffering of others who are now long gone. In his own words, they've been gone for "centuries."

I'll trade Wooten the "blood debt" that he says is owed him for one American Civil War and the honorable dead on both sides, which included people of a multitude of racial and ethnic backgrounds.

He may also want to look into why the tax-exempt Kamehameha Schools bars its doors to American black children (and those of pure Japanese, European, Korean, Filipino, Eskimo and other ancestries other than Hawaiian). I'm hot on that one myself.

Kevin Gagan
Mililani

---

White House
wars continue

Mob law must not be allowed to rule

The Miami-Dade County election board's unanimous vote to cease its recount was influenced by the actions of a violent mob. Worse, that mob was gathered by the phone-tree of the Republican Party.

Regardless of one's preferred candidate, this is a triumph of fascism and a stain on any associated politician.

As a citizen, I demand that our leaders give vocal opposition to this mob and its organizers --especially those who are World War II veterans. At home, this includes U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye. Among those in the offending party are former Sen. Bob Dole and former President George Bush.

To be a veteran and allow that mob to succeed is to tarnish honor. To be a non-veteran and to be silent is to betray those who served. Democracy is always but one generation from the grave, and this week our call came.

Rod Gammon

Gore is starting to sound like Clinton

Will somebody please tell Mr. Gore and his cadre of activist attorneys to pack their briefcases, catch the next flight back north and don't let the door hit them in the back on the way out. It is OVER. Mr. Bush won.

The longer this goes on, the more Clintonesque Al Gore appears: "It depends on what the word 'vote' means." Well, Mr. Gore, the rest of us regular folks in America know EXACTLY what a vote is, and we know Daley-style vote theft when we see it.

My heartfelt congratulations to President-elect George W. Bush as he begins the process of heal-ing the rift and uniting our nation again.

Gary Langley
Co-Pastor
Windward Worship Center Kaneohe

Both candidates are making nation ill

I am depleted of interest in this presidential election after the rhetoric of talking heads with legal opinions, ad nauseum. I have lost respect for both candidates, their priorities and values -- particularly with regard to "the best interest of America."

We cast our votes and punched the cards. Machines counted these cards. If people failed to properly perform that function, I would fully expect these votes to be invalidated or otherwise not be counted.

We, the public, must accept the consequence of our actions every day. Why can't U.S. presidential candidates?

David Miho

---

Write a
Letter to the Editor

Want to write a letter to the editor?
Let all Star-Bulletin readers know what you think.
Please keep your letter to about 200 words.
You can send it by e-mail to letters@starbulletin.com
or you can fill in the online form for a faster response.
Or print it and mail it to: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 3080,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or fax it to: 523-8509.
Always be sure to include your daytime phone number.