Donations well spent on dog rescue

I read with interest in a short article reprinted from the Star-Bulletin in our local newspaper about the rescue of the dog Forgea ("Tug crew coaxes canine into cage," April 27).

A comment from a man interviewed regarding the cost as being "a waste of money" that could be used to take care of all the animals in the Hawaiian Humane Society for their natural lifetime is off base. I volunteer for our "no kill" shelter in Florence, Ore. There is no way $50,000 could take care of all the animals in our little town of 7,000, let alone in Honolulu.

This money was privately donated specifically for this type of cause, as is the right of the donor. There are many great organizations in need and people who contribute must be secure that their money is being spent exactly as indicated. No one has the right to dictate where, when and for what cause we as individuals give our money.

Ceci Lindo
Eugene, Ore.
Former Hawaii resident

Compassion for dog brought peace

It gives me great peace and fulfillment to both practice and observe charity through compassion and love. This was expressed by so many people who participated in the saving of the dog Forgea from the tanker Insiko 1907. Whether dog or man, we are all God's creatures.

Both the Humane Society of the United States and the Hawaiian Humane Society have been on my donation list. As the result of their demonstration of charity, they can be assured of my continued and more frequent donations.

Animals that must be euthanized are not the fault of these organizations, but of people who bred and/or owned them, and then discarded them.

Maile Oshita Nicholas
Hawaii Kai

Column showed typical anti-Abercrombie bias

In the stunningly successful, nearly 30-year political career of Neil Abercrombie, the Star-Bulletin has never supported him in any election, and has supported his opponents, whomever they have been. So it is no surprise that Star-Bulletin contributing editor John Flanagan has flailed him for having a 91-foot boat named in his honor.

Had the tugboat been named the "Not Neil Abercrombie," I'm sure that would have been all right with the newspaper. In his diatribe against the congressman, Flanagan managed to point out to readers that Abercrombie, the ranking member on the Armed Services subcommittee on Military Installations and Facilities, wears a beard and a ponytail, may be anti-military and a draft dodger, has somehow managed to serve all these years without being indicted, and that he is "cheeky."

For the record, he is not cheeky, and his ponytail went several years before Flanagan became a contributing editor at the newspaper. Flanagan needs to get out of the 1960s. During the past 40 years, Abercrombie has become one of Hawaii's best-producing citizens.

It is about time for the Star-Bulletin to join the rest of the community in recognizing that.

John Radcliffe

We need a bottle bill, but not this one

The bottle bill now working its way through the Legislature is probably needed in some form or another. But when an additional one-half cent or 2-cent nonrefundable fee is added it becomes a tax, not a deposit.

There are other things to consider. Many fund-raisers include the collection of aluminum cans. Now that each can is worth a nickel instead of 5-7 cents a pound, many people no longer will donate their cans but will instead keep them for return.

I'll bet no one has considered how to implement this law. Will a merchant be able to require you to have your items being returned in a certain kind of container, or will you be able to just dump a bag of stuff on his doorstep and ask for a refund? Will the merchant be able to require you to purchase something when you return this stuff? Will he have to add staff in order to operate a state-mandated recycling center?

This law shouldn't be passed until someone can tell the public how the program will work. Like they say, the devil is in the details.

Bill Nelson
Haleiwa

Taxes significantly hike cost of gas

Our legislative leadership acts outraged over the 20 to 30 cents a gallon in profit earned by oil refiners, and wants to put price controls on this alleged price gouging. But is there a whiff of hypocrisy in these self-serving fulminations? Why aren't these same politicians denouncing the 60 cents a gallon in taxes squeezed from the taxpayers? Perhaps we should put "re-election controls" on this much greater price gouging.

Jim Henshaw
Kailua

Radar-wielding cops skew DOT road test

Several weeks ago, Marilyn Kali explained to me that the Department of Transportation was surveying roads islandwide to determine at what speed 85 percent of the drivers on any given road drive. These data are supposed to be used to set our speed limits more realistically. Federal standards and other state governments regularly use these criteria to determine speed limits.

On Monday, Tuesday and yesterday, I saw three of the speed-measuring devices set up along the Likelike Highway. Each of these days, when I passed these devices, I have seen police officers with radar guns, slowing traffic down and pulling people over. Gee, do you think this may affect the results of the DOT's survey?

Michael Hartenstein
Kaneohe

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