Sometimes an ass is just a donkey

Regarding the article about the Bad Ass Coffee Co. ("Not all get a kick out of isle coffee chain's 'bad name'," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 22): If my memory serves me right, the word "ass" appears in the scriptures.

Unless Samson meant "jawbone of a politician," my guess is that he was referring to a donkey.

Maybe the woman in the article should have taken her young sons to the bookstore, rather than the toy store.

Larry Solomon
Kaneohe

Knee-jerk reaction follows sniper killings

It never fails. Letter writers and others cry out for more gun control in the wake of the sniper killings in the Washington, D.C., area, a common liberal knee-jerk reaction that always follows this kind of crime. The capital has nearly a total gun ban. There are laws against murder on the books and this killer obviously ignored those laws. What makes anyone think he would have obeyed more gun laws?

England is home to some of the most stringent gun control in the world. It is also one of the most violent countries in the Western world. Crime skyrocketed following gun confiscation, which followed a national data base and registry.

A defenseless society asks for crime. The only way to stop lethal force is with equal or greater force. You can be a victim if you choose -- just don't ask me to be one, too.

Robert Thurston
Haleiwa

Most chickens don't crow all day long

Bill 71 is a bad bill targeting households with chickens. Requiring enclosures 300 feet from neighboring properties, a maximum of two hens and no roosters is tantamount to banning chickens as pets and misclassifying them as farm animals. These are pets since farm animals produce income. Bill 71 does not address wild or free-roaming chickens.

If noise control is the purpose behind this bill, why add another law when we already have the existing noise and nuisance ordinance? Chickens have always been part of the plantation landscape and a way of life for island folks. Childhood experiences of feeding chickens, picking up eggs and marveling at beautiful baby chicks are things we cannot pass down to our children and grandchildren if this bill passes.

Nature intends roosters to crow in welcoming the day. Once they are fed, they go about their business of strutting around and scratching for worms. Most chickens, fed in a timely manner, do not crow all day long. The owner of noisy pets should be cited, whether they are chickens or dogs.

Chu Lan S. Kwock

Fans should show their support for Warriors

As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Shame, shame, shame!" on fans for not turning out in big numbers to support the University of Hawaii Warriors football team.

I was at both the BYU and Boise State games, and let me tell you what our team is up against on the road. These schools have packed stadiums full of pumped-up fans cheering on the home team, and never missing a chance to give the visitors a hard time. At BYU they even tried to drown us by scheduling a nasty thunderstorm during the game. I've heard lots of excuses for why people don't turn out, like the traffic being bad. At BYU, the traffic backs up for almost 50 miles, so complaining about the traffic at Aloha Stadium is lame.

Come on Hawaii, turn off the TV and get out to the stadium to support the team. Let's not forget that the bad old days of being 0-12 with Fred von Appen were not that long ago. There's a new game in town and it's a great show. Get out and see it!

Lester Iwamasa
Seattle, Wash.
Former Hawaii resident

Watch out -- Hawaii's full of sharp objects

There is a simple solution to avoid lawsuits originating from accidents like the one at Sacred Falls and the Blowhole. Post signs in all major airports on the mainland and in Japan that say, "Hawaii is a dangerous place. Rocks are falling, and the ocean is violent and full of sharks. Stay away."

For those who still do not get the message, hire Haunani Trask to coordinate the welcoming committee at the airport. This should take care of the problem and Hawaii will return to the good old days, and we all can sit on the beach, eat coconuts and play the ukulele.

Hanni Hartmann

City should waive fee for Boat Days band

This is in response to your Sept. 30 editorial regarding Honolulu City Councilman Jon Yoshimura's bill to re-instate a $300 fee for the services of the Royal Hawaiian Band at the Aloha Boat Days arrival and departure ceremonies.

The Aloha Boat Days committee has a unique program that visitors have come to expect and enjoy. Operating largely off donations and endless volunteer hours, the non-profit organization has made the maritime visitor arrival experience one that radiates aloha. Clearly, without the music of the Royal Hawaiian Band this experience would not be the same.

The city instead should consider continuing to provide the Royal Hawaiian Band's services to arriving and departing cruise ships free of charge, as part of its acknowledgement of the vitality of the cruise industry to the state's economy and the support of the services of the Aloha Boat Days committee, which is undoubtedly benefiting us all.

Todd A. Hedrick
General manager
Aloha Tower Marketplace

Where is U.S. logic on Iraq and N. Korea?

North Korea now says it has deployable nuclear weapons. The U.S. government confirms this and begins mild responses. No new United Nations inspections are mentioned as required to verify this admission by North Korea.

The Iraqi regime insists that it does NOT have weapons of mass destruction. Although U.N. chief inspector Scott Ritter says otherwise, Iraq is deemed not to be telling the truth.

The United States earlier proposed immediately going to war with and taking over Iraq without waiting for any further U.N. inspections or diplomatic collaborations with our allies. Now, the U.N. is going to do new inspections in Iraq after all.

This lack of basic logical thinking by the leadership of this great country is astounding!

Why are the North Korean tyrants considered to be more credible than the Iraqi tyrants?

North Korea ostensibly can blow us all up, but Iraq can only poison us, so let's go after Iraq? This thinking boggles the mind.

Phillip St. James

Democrats can make Hawaii even better

I have been privileged to have lived in Hawaii about 40 years. It is the best place to live in the world, not just health-wise as your Oct. 24 edition reported, but in most ways. Although there are problems, these problems must be corrected, and change is always needed, hence the annual state Legislature and regular City Council sessions.

We owe much to the people-oriented elected officials, mainly of the Democratic Party, who have passed laws to make Hawaii a better place to live and work. Each legislative session and City Council meeting is a new beginning, building on their good work of the past.

We should not return to the old days when the Republican elected officials' primary goal often seemed to be to protect businesses and the rich, as it seems to be the mission too often of President Bush and his team in Washington.

Mazie Hirono and the Democratic candidates offer us the best option to continue to make Hawaii even better and become a more ideal place to live and work.

D. Richard Neill
Aiea

Hirono's change is really more of same

The theme of the general election campaign is "change." Linda Lingle has been proclaiming for a long time that her goal, if elected, is "change" for the betterment of life, economics and government in Hawaii.

Belatedly, Mazie Hirono has taken up the theme, claiming that she and the Democrats in government in Hawaii have accomplished "change," at least in the last Legislature. She gives as supposed examples of change a few measures, primarily an act to make prescription medicines more affordable.

But this is really an example of how they perpetuate the same-old, same-old: The government will buy the medicines at discount and resell them to (presumably) the indigent and elderly.

This is nothing less than extending the power of government, and continuing the Democrats' philosophy of paternalism in government.

Mazie and her friends do not understand the meaning of change.

George F. Schnack, M.D.

Lingle's success brings out the complainers

The Democratic Party (Mazie Hirono) seems to be perennially whining about the success of the Republican Party (Linda Lingle):

>> Their videos are too slick (and ours are not).

>> They've raised too much money (and we have not).

>> They have too many rallies with too many people showing up (and we don't because we know nobody would show up).

>> They have enthusiastic sign-wavers (who must be paid actors).

>> Their campaign headquarters is too large and accessible (while looking at ours is an accident waiting to happen).

>> Their supporters write too many clever letters to the editor (while we have Andy Winer directing the coordinated campaign).

>> Their candidate did many things that could be criticized (while our candidate did nothing).

When did it become unfair to run a successful campaign? Perhaps it is a prelude to how they might run the government.

Mike Hu

'Business as usual' converts a Democrat

From the time I was 18, until last month's primary, I have always voted the straight Democratic ticket. During these past 41 years, my wife and I sent our two sons to private schools, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, because the state's public education system was not supported properly.

When it was time for college, our sons went to mainland schools because Hawaii's university system did not offer the curriculum and/or degrees they aspired to. This cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars, which we had to borrow.

In the '90s, I had to go to work overseas after the company I worked for in Hawaii closed because of the state's poor economy. Our sons are still working in New York because they cannot find comparable paying jobs in the islands.

I stopped voting during that decade because there didn't seem to be any viable candidates to remedy the problems. When Ben Cayetano became governor, I felt "finally, someone with vision." But what happened? The old boy's network dumped Margery Bronster, the only one to make significant positive changes for our Hawaiian people. Ahhhh, business as usual.

In the primary, I voted for the first time in more than a decade, because I thought Ed Case was someone who could bring meaningful change to our state. However, once again, the old boy's network stepped in and left us with its candidate for business as usual.

Now it's your time to be heard. You can vote for business as usual and endure what my family has for the past 40 years, or you can vote for change. Remember, if the change is not to your liking, you can vote for another change in only four years. As for me, I'm voting for Linda Lingle.

Mike O. Thompson
Pearl City

Mainland donors more generous to Lingle

It seems we are back to the old "smoke and mirrors" routine.

Knowing that Linda Lingle got her hand caught in the cookie jar of mainland contributors, the Republican reaction has been to confuse voters with misleading calculations and finger-pointing.

In the last two years Lingle has raised $729,967 from mainland donors, primarily from corporations and special interests. The Campaign Spending Commission reports that in the last four years Mazie Hirono has raised less than $61,000 from mainland sources.

If one wants to use percentages to make comparisons, Lingle's campaign has taken in 1,190 percent more from mainland donors than Hirono's campaign. In other words, Lingle has taken nearly $12 from mainland contributors for every $1 received by Mazie's campaign. In an apple-to-apple comparison, there is no question which candidate is beholden to mainland donors.

Norma Jean Nicholl

Clinton's feathers will taint Democrats

The Democrats, always espousing "family values," are praising former President Bill Clinton coming to speak on their behalf. That should tell you where their family values are coming from. An impeached former president, convicted of perjury, is another feather (vulture) in their cap.

Joanne Fichtman

Streamlining courts will save tax money

On Oahu, approximately 10,000 people are subpoenaed by the prosecutor's office to testify each year. This means more than 830 people a month must come to court to say such uncontested things as, "I didn't give permission to enter my house and take my property," or "Yes, it's cocaine."

In addition to the inconvenience to those who have to take time off work and find child care and transportation, we taxpayers pay (more than $500,000 per year in the prosecutor's office alone) for overtime, process servers, witness and juror fees and expenses. We do this once at the grand jury/preliminary hearing stage, and then we do it all over again for trial.

Information charging (ballot question No. 3) is an alternative that lets these cases enter the system without all these people being inconvenienced and these exorbitant costs being accrued more than once. A judge reviews written statements instead of live testimony and makes a probable cause finding.

This is not an experimental or radical concept we are dealing with; Hawaii is one of only a handful of states with systems as antiquated as ours. Hawaii needs to join the rest of the nation in bringing our criminal justice system into the 21st century.

Jean M. Ireton
Division chief Career Criminal Unit
Department of the Prosecuting Attorney

Reward signwavers by casting ballot

My apologies to the commuters and the residents of the Waianae Coast. I am among the political sign wavers along Farrington Highway.

My commitment to my candidate is deep. The hours of waving are long and tedious. Be it early morning or late evening, I am there. My goal is to get my candidate elected. I am committed.

After a hard day's work, sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, inching along to get home, sign wavers are the last people you wish to acknowledge. Like you, we are getting burned out. But thanks to all who honk their horns (even if it's for the opposition). At least I know you are aware of our presence.

You will probably see me after the general election, waving to say thank you for going out to vote. Please make my efforts worthwhile -- vote.

Vida Day Keala
Age 18
Karen Awana supporter

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Pro and Con on ballot question No. 2

Bonds would harm public education

I read your editorial of Oct. 12, "HSTA off the mark on bond proposal," and felt once again the anguish of public school teachers of Hawaii somewhere deep within my inner being. Once again it feels like we (the public school teachers) are the only ones in this state who are committed to the education of all Hawaii's children.

If the Hawaii State Teachers Association is off the mark, I want to know who changed the target. While it might be legal to provide bonds to private schools, or tuition tax credits and vouchers to parents, is it really good education policy? Are we now deciding that we want separate education systems in our country based on religion, economic status, ethnicity, ability or disability and gender?

I thought one of the foundational strengths of our democratic nation was our public school system. But we are doing everything to undercut the commitment to public education in our state and, yes, throughout this country.

We need a quality education for all children where they learn not only the academic, but the social, civic and democratic skills towards living in a diverse, global and changing community while still valuing their religious and cultural heritages.

We may not be there, but that's what I thought we were committed to as a state and country. Our state Constitution was written with that commitment to public education. The Constitutional Amendment 2 proposed would further erode that commitment to the ideal.

And while 16 percent of the children educated in this state might benefit from this proposal, I suggest it is not for the greater good of our state, our communities and certainly not the vast majority of children who are still waiting for us to truly commit to them.

I hope the citizens of Hawaii not only reject the amendment but rather reassert their commitment to our public schools. The teachers cannot do it alone.

Karolyn Mossman
Director for Hawaii
National Education Association

Teachers are myopic on bond question

The teachers union (Hawaii State Teachers Association) and Karen Ginoza, its leader, are sponsoring an ad telling voters to vote "no" on the constitutional amendment granting bonds for private schools. They really need to remember that when they were on strike, they appealed to the public to support teachers. They made no distinction between parents and teachers of private schools and the rest of the population. They asked for everyone's support.

Now they stand against private schools. Those of us who have an interest in private schools will remember this betrayal. Now, when we need help, the HSTA abandons us even though these bonds do not take away money from public schools.

Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto has shown great leadership and a sense of fairness when she holds that students in public and private schools deserve the best educational environment. She supports a "yes" vote because the amendment doesn't harm public schools. I salute her and the legislators who have come out in support of the amendment.

If public schools are to become better places of study, and if they want to raise their educational performance and standards, they need a teachers union and a union leader who does not suffer from jealousy, hatred or tunnel vision and who cares enough for the students to make those drastic and necessary changes outlined in Linda Lingle's "New Beginning."

Jason Q.Y. Wong

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