Public wanted veto to be reversed

I want to thank the legislators who boldly took a step in the recent override of the governor's veto of the bill raising the age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age. Being the first Hawaii Legislature to have ever taken that position took courage on both sides of the aisle.

It's an example of what can happen when legislators are thinking of the welfare of the people rather than by party lines. Know that you did the right thing and we congratulate you!

Theresa Bigbie
Laie

Laws should ban political donations

The City Council and state Legislature should pass bills to disqualify any business or agency that makes a $9,999.99 monetary or in kind, singly or in combination, contribution to any political campaign ("Harris funds questionable: His big donors were the beneficiaries of large city contracts," Star-Bulletin, June 24) .

That way, everyone will avoid any appearance of any unethical funding practices.

Carolyn H. Walther

[Quotables] "(I) pretended the hole was an old substitute teacher." John David Harwell, Marine corporal who successfully hit an 8-inch hole with a paper airplane from 50 feet away to win an $84,000 Humvee donated by Mike McKenna Windward Ford/Humvee during the annual Kaneohe BayFest carnival. "I feel I've got to do it and see where it goes." Russell Blair, 51-year-old district judge and former state senator who is stepping down from the bench to study math and chemistry at the University of Hawaii.

Harris parties while the water mains break

The invitations from Mayor Jeremy Harris' office keep coming. In the past few weeks I've received invitations to the first birthday of the Kapiolani Bandstand, the Brunch on the Beach kickoff and, just yesterday, I received an invitation from the mayor to attend the festivities at the soon-to-be opened Central Oahu Regional Park. Note to Harris staff: I didn't vote for this mayor. Take me off your mailing list, please.

I was reading the latest invitation at about the same time the TV newscaster was reporting the water main break, and resultant sink hole, in Waianae. Then the picture shifted to the massive traffic tie-up along Farrington Highway -- yet again. Then it hit me! Why doesn't the city spend the money on fixing our problems instead of on promoting a candidate?

Let's face it, no reasonable person would think the mayor and his ardent supporters (read that: relying on their guy to stay employed, so they stay employed) are conducting all these expensive endeavors just out of the kindness of their collective hearts.

The money spent for the bandstand bash, the beach brunches and now the regional park, not too mention the cost of designing, paper, printing and mailing of all those invitations, could have been better spent if it was used on preventative maintenance of the infrastructure before it broke. Technology exists that allows underground pipes to be inspected without having to dig a hole, or to repair one after it suddenly appears. These funds could have paid for the inspections.

Instead of concentrating on monument building the city administration should concentrate on the well being of all its citizens. The people on the Waianae Coast deserve no less than those in Waikiki and East Honolulu. I hope the Leeward voters remember this inattention to their needs when the next election rolls around.

Jim Fromm

Navy would destroy history at Ford Island

Regarding the July 14 article about the Navy's plans for development of Ford Island: As a surviving crew member of the USS Utah (the forgotten ship at Pearl Harbor) I find the entire notion very disturbing. There are numerous historical sites on the island. The USS Utah Memorial and the ship itself is sacred in the hearts of many Utah survivors and descendants of Utah personnel killed in action on Dec. 7, 1941, and others killed elsewhere during World War II and Korea, as well as those who have subsequently been called to the staff of the "Supreme Commander."

According to Navy brass, the military activities on Ford Island have been so sensitive for 60 years that they have found no way to open the USS Utah Memorial to the general public. Yet, in one fell swoop they are ready to redevelop the island into everything but a military base.

William Hughes

Second Amendment refers to militias

Concerning Eric Terashima's July 9 letter about the Second Amendment to the Constitution, where in the right to keep and bear arms is it supposed to be a collective right but not an individual right?

Because gun advocates have always deleted the first half of the Second Amendment, here it is in its entirety: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms should not be abridged." The people, when part of the militia, have the right to bear arms. This makes it a collective rather than individual right.

The purpose of the amendment was not to protect individual citizens against disarmament by the states but to protect state militias from disarmament by the federal government. The Supreme Court has ruled at least 43 times that the intent of the Second Amendment is strictly for states to have well-regulated militias.

The need for a militia no longer exists because states have established National Guard units. The private citizen has given his de facto consent for the states to arm its military units and, in doing so, eliminated the necessity of individual arms.

As you can see, the Second Amendment addresses the states' right to maintain armed militia units, not for individuals to keep and bear arms. This being the case, the Second Amendment is a collective (state) right and not an individual right.

Robert M. Rodrigues
Former Hawaii resident
Melbourne, Fla.

Arctic oil development would cause little harm

Every time I pass a gas station these days I simply shake my head. Gas prices and energy brownouts aside, I know there is much more to the Artic National Wildlife Refuge Development than help at the pump.

The area under consideration for development represents 8 percent of the refuge. According to the Department of Interior, less than 1 percent of the coastal plain would actually be affected. This development would create some 735,000 jobs throughout the entire country, and it could reduce our oil imports by $14 billion a year.

The way to develop ANWR is carefully and responsibly, but develop it we must.

Ken Raupp

Union's Rutledge is a sore loser

Tony Rutledge is acting like Al Gore over the hotel union election; a crybaby and a loser.

Donald Allen

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