Company took elderly to the cleaners

Perhaps Roy Tamashiro, owner of City Cleaners, should change the company name to "Take-Em-To-The-Cleaners Cleaners ("Raising Cane: Families say seniors duped to buy vacuums," July 22).

While most of the time there are two sides to a story, a vacuum cleaner costing more than $2,500 and purchased by an 85-year-old with wood floors and senile dementia has only one side.

Time to take the high road.

Diane E. Myslicki

Bush won Florida fair and square

In response to Nancy Bey Little's letter on July 22, I would like to remind her that George W. Bush got 271 electoral votes compared with Al Gore's 267. Bush won fair and square. And if people in Florida can't do simple things (e.g. voting, following directions, etc.) correctly, then their vote shouldn't count in the first place.

Ronn Miyashiro
Kaneohe

[Quotables] "I am determined to put an end to these types of conversations." Dr. Randal Wada, Founder of the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank, about talking to a woman whose daughter died 10 years ago because a matching bone marrow donor couldn't be found. The service banks blood taken from the umbilical cords of newborn babies, which can be used like bone marrow. "I think (in) Hawaii you probably got a much more accurate listing than maybe some other states." Joseph Melillo, On Hawaii 2000 census data that show the number of same-sex couples who list themselves as live-in partners tripled since the last census. Melillo and Patrick Lagon are one of the homosexual couples who filed suit against the state when they were denied a marriage license in 1990.

Erin stay downtown in a couple of pubs

In answer to "Where Erin go, brah?" (Editor's Scratchpad July 23), the rundown of the year's many Ethnic Heritage Festivals at Honolulu Hale begged the question of what the Irish and Scots might be doing.

I can't speak for the Scots. They may celebrate Bobby Burns Day tossing cabers, scones and shots of single malt. Hawaii's Irish have celebrated their ethnicity around St. Patrick's Day for decades. The annual Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Emerald Ball is older than most Waikiki hotels. The St. Pat's Day Waikiki parade began in the 1960s as a grand gesture by an Italian mayor.

His successor has fully supported the parade, as well.

Thanks to Don Murphy of Murphy's Bar & Grill and Skip Naftel, Murphy's counterpart at O'Toole's, St. Patrick's Day is grandly celebrated on the Irish corner of Nuuanu and Merchant streets. This year an estimated 12,000 showed up.

With the good Saint's day arriving on a Sunday in 2002, you can expect a full weekend of Irish festivities on that same corner, complete with Irish dancers and bagpipers.

The weekend will also mark the 25th anniversary gathering of the many Sweeney families of Hawaii and the mainland. We'll be at our accustomed post at Murphy's a few days in advance of the hordes.

Now, if the editorial query had to do with use of Honolulu Hale, it may be that we are not invited there because a crowd of 12,000 might be a tad uncomfortable. We've also yet to see a decent pouring of a pint of Guinness in Honolulu Hale.

Where Erin go, brah? Downtown.

Ray Sweeney

Company's influence won board's support

I attended a meeting of the Department of Planning and Permitting on June 27. The bulk of the hearing was given to the discussion of granting an extension to AT&T in its unrelenting quest to find a site to move its grotesque antenna from our neighborhood.

The company continues to operate without the proper permits during this process. Members of the community who are directly affected by the operation of this monstrosity and who have to look at it unanimously testified against the approval of granting this extension.

I was shocked that after hearing the community testify in the negative, several members of the commission, including acting chairman Brian Yabata, voted in favor AT&T's request. This shows a total disregard for the health and welfare of the public and the lack of enough backbone to stand up to the obviously influential and powerful AT&T. These commissioners should be ashamed of themselves.

Ron Torngren
Mililani

Ratify Kyoto to help future generations

In a symbolic vote under the previous administration, not one U.S. senator supported ratifying the Kyoto protocol. As an American citizen and inhabitant of Earth, I am behind the Kyoto Protocol 100 percent.

The president wants to study global warming more. This is insulting to anyone who has paid any attention to the issue in the past 10 years. Everyone from the Union of Concerned Scientists to the United Nations agrees the problem is enormous and must be addressed immediately. President Bush's stalling helps only the industries that are contributing to the problem, and hurts everyone else on the planet.

Cleaning up our mess won't be easy or fun. Yes, some companies will need to change focus or lose money. Yes, some people will lose jobs. But it's arrogant and selfish of us to ignore the future generations of the entire world -- people, animals and plants -- because some Americans will be temporarily laid off. Every country in the world will have hardships, but every country has to give, or we will all lose big.

How can we Americans exempt ourselves, the worst polluters in the world, when 178 other countries have reached agreement on Kyoto? How can we possibly justify this short-sightedness to our children and their children?

We need to take responsibility for the role that we, more than anyone else, have had and have today in the global warming problem. Bite the bullet and ratify Kyoto.

Brodie Lockard
Kailua

Blame Pali accidents on drivers, not road

It seems that the accidents at the hairpin turn on the Pali Highway are more likely caused by drivers than road conditions. If someone told me they were driving 35 mph down that stretch and braked for the curve where the road is damp, I would scoff at them.

I would wonder why someone driving 35 mph would need to slow down. I would wonder why someone would brake right before the curve, rather than on the straight portion, when drivers are more likely to lose control while breaking on the curve. I would wonder why someone would brake so hard as to lose control right on a wet patch above a curve, both visible for some distance.

Thousands of cars speed down that road every day and brake on the wet areas. Whenever I drive that stretch, the average speed of cars is 50-plus mph. I can't recall seeing any vehicle, other than a fully-loaded truck, coming into the curve at 35 mph except during rush hour.

Drivers must travel at speeds they are comfortable with and not let the speeders push them beyond their ability to control the car. Poor tire conditions, speeding and carelessness contribute to accidents everywhere.

Ilima Morrison
Kailua

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