State should readjust its anti-liquor attitude

Your May 25 editorial advocates giving the job of liquor inspector to the police. Exactly what immunity pill do police officers consume that would guard them against the same sort of temptations that apparently were overwhelming to the current crop of inspectors? Probably only RoboCop could turn down an easy $1,000 or so. As reporter Rob Perez reported, police officers are already much too busy "enforcing the law" against strippers ("Raising Cane," Star-Bulletin, May 19). I doubt they could handle much more of a workload.

Instead, the government should re-examine its antiquated Prohibitionist mindset and eliminate the need for a Liquor Commission.

James Ko

Naya's argument isn't convincing

The article by Seiji Naya ("Forbes gave distorted view of Hawaii's economy," May 27, Star-Bulletin) proves the point he is trying to rebut.

As director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Naya is hardly an objective observer. He reports directly to Governor Cayetano and would likely be fired if he deliberately attacked Cayetano's abysmal record. But, ignore the spin -- just look at the facts he cited in trying to defend his boss' failure to fix our economy:

>> Honolulu has one of the highest costs of living in the nation.

>> We're a union-controlled state.

>> We're the only state foolish enough to force employers to pay for medical insurance for part- or full-time employees (those working 20-plus hours per week).

>> It's very expensive to transport goods to or from this state.

>> Our permitting processes are "onerous" and developers are moving to the mainland.

>> We have the fourth-highest state income tax rate in the country.

After this damning list of anti-business problems not corrected by Cayetano, Naya concludes, in a burst of understatement, "There are things we could be doing much better."

Enough is enough. Let's elect a governor this November with fiscal common sense. Let's get our economy rolling again.

Jim Henshaw
Kailua

Corky's cartoon tells the whole story

I'm not sure which organizations recognize the work of political cartoonists, but an "Oscar" should go to Corky Trinidad's cartoon in the Star-Bulletin May 26. Copies -- enlarged, colored and framed -- should be sent to the FBI, CIA, the White House and others involved in the fight against terrorism.

We have always lived in a world that harbors fanatics. We know that terrorist acts will occur somewhere at sometime throughout the world. If enough self-styled prophets make enough prophecies about enough events, in time one or more of them will statistically occur. So what does that make them? Nothing. In the meantime, America undergoes an encroaching paralysis.

You want information from those taken into captivity? Then don't ask them with a pretty-please posture. Just get it. I wouldn't give credence to a single word that comes out of their mouths voluntarily. Corky's cartoon tells it all.

Gerald Bohnet
Laie

Signs should have warned of jellyfish

On Friday my wife received a painful jellyfish sting at Kailua Beach. On Saturday we observed a young boy crying because of a painful jellyfish sting at Kailua Beach. We saw no warning signs posted about this jellyfish invasion. The Sunday paper had an article about a box jellyfish invasion of Kailua Beach, stating that their stings are more painful than the more common Portuguese man-of-war stings.

Kailua beachgoers should have been warned about the increased risk of jellyfish stings via the posting of signs on the beach, or by other means.

Jeffrey J. Sol
Kailua

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