Holiday spirit chases away prisoner's Grinch

I have seen several Christmas holidays pass while in prison. I really don't know how many, but I do remember I was 30 years old when I started using cocaine. I am now 46. I have actually been in a self-imposed prison all along.

As I sit and watch the other inmates decorate a tree with found and fashioned ornaments, I am thinking, "Bah, humbug."

Murder, attempted murder and robbery are just a few of the faces that seem enchanted with the Christmas spirit.

"Bah, humbug," I repeat as I return to my cell.

For several days now, I have witnessed cardboard boxes mysteriously changed into stockings and holly. Magazines and used computer paper are cut and connected to become chains. Eager hands and paint spawn their Christmas joy.

"Bah, humbug," is my response. Why should I be cheerful?

I am then suddenly compelled to reach out and touch a crayon. I move closer to the tree. I am no longer afraid of it as I feel a tear struggling to be set free. My pride overwhelms emotion; my tears do not flow.

How selfish I have been, thinking only of myself.

If I were not here I would be on the street stoned -- or committing crimes to get stoned.

These cardboard stockings hold no gifts, this Christmas tree shelters no presents. But the spirit of Christmas yields much fruit. The cell block is aglow with busy hands and caroling voices.

I can give my family some joy this Christmas by being drug free. I am grateful for all and full of hope. I thank the Lord for this gift to me (imprisonment).

This is the Christmas miracle. I am in prison but I am free.

Michael Spiker
Inmate
Oahu Community Correctional Center

[Quotables] "He obviously had some substantial personal problems." Thomas Phillips Maui County police chief, on the mental state of the police officer who is under investigation for perpetrating a hoax by shooting himself. Officer Donald Nakooka had said he was shot in the chest during a traffic stop. Nakooka, who was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the shooting, received a bruise on his chest from the impact of the bullet. "It's good to be home. This is what it's all about. This is why you go away, so you can come home to this." Andy McCartin Lieutenant commander, Golden Eagles VP-9, on being surrounded by his wife and children after arriving Tuesday back at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The squadron flew surveillance and other patrols while participating in the war against Afghanistan.

Traffic cameras raise questions

Police are best judges of traffic violations

When police officers patrol for traffic violators, they use both specialized training and common sense to spot people and situations that pose a danger. Traffic, pedestrians, road conditions and weather are all factors in the decision to cite a particular driver.

When an officer allows traffic to flow at 45 mph in a 35 mph zone, sometimes it's not only safe, but a public service as well. It's hard enough to get anywhere on Oahu's roads these days.

With automated enforcement by camera and speed limits set to accommodate for the worst possible conditions, judgment is no longer a factor in law enforcement.

We are now just sitting ducks for a profit machine that is out of touch with the people it is supposed to serve.

Police officers, who put their lives on the line every time they make a traffic stop, don't receive commissions on the citations they issue. How will they feel now that a small group of chair-warming bureaucrats will get to split the profits? People of Hawaii, we are being sold out.

Michael Hartenstein
Kaneohe

Big shots' photos could be weeded out

Unless the technology is far more advanced than I think, the traffic cameras will not have the ability to differentiate between vehicles driven by average motorists and police cars, city buses and other government vehicles or those driven by legislators, City Council members, judges, and state and city department bigwigs.

It appears that the powers that be may already have some concern about this. Between the lines of the recent utterances of the Department of Transportation are indications that the plan calls for a visual review of every photograph taken to ensure that a violation actually has occurred before any citations are mailed out.

Translation: Let's make damn sure that all pictures of cop cars and the like are destroyed before anyone sees them.

Solution: Citizens who are at all concerned about this should file Freedom of Information Act requests every single day that this abhorrent plan is in effect so that such evidence will not be destroyed. The evidence should be analyzed, and photographed violations should be compared with citations actually issued and fines paid to insure that all violations are consistently handled. Otherwise, this scheme will result in a massive assault on the constitutional principle of equal protection under the law.

Jack M. Schmidt Jr.
Kailua

Traffic cameras erode personal privacy

Regarding the story "Windward Oahu residents say new traffic cameras will boost safety," (Star-Bulletin, Dec. 9). Sure, why don't we also install hidden cameras and microphones in our homes, as well? (Reference to Orwell's "1984.") I'm sure that would stop a lot of crime, too.

Greg Kingsley
Prescott, Ariz.
Former Waipahu resident

Let politicians hold a humble-pie bake sale

What the government of Hawaii needs in these poor economic times are some creative fund-raising ideas. I heard about a city on the mainland that boosted revenues by charging citizens $10 to vent their frustrations with a sledge hammer on old abandoned cars.

In Hawaii, a pie-in-the-face event for our "favorite" politicians might be more appropriate. At $10 a toss, we could easily raise millions in mere days to run both our city and state. Forget about expensive traffic ticket cameras. Humble pie might do the job.

Michael Van Dorn

---

Letter guidelines The Star-Bulletin welcomes letters that are crisp and to the point on issues of public interest. The Star-Bulletin reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length. Please direct comments to the issues; personal attacks will not be published. Letters must be signed, must include a mailing address and daytime telephone number. Letter form: Online form, click here E-mail: letters@starbulletin.com Fax: (808) 529-4750 Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813