Should we legalize everything people do?

In his Feb. 4 letter to the editor, Phil Robertson indicated he does not know why people are opposed to gambling in Hawaii "when it's already here, on the Internet and in the underworld of society." But in addition to gambling, so are drugs, kiddie porn, money laundering and tax evasion. So what's his point?

Jack H. Scaff Jr.

Overdevelopment is ruining Hawaii Kai

Where were the city planners when developers decided to build 2,200 new condo units and homes in Hawaii Kai? (Three projects are now under construction and another is planned.) Do we have anyone overseeing the havoc raised by such gross overpopulation in our area?

Hasn't anybody noticed that Hawaii Kai is already stretched beyond its maximum limits? The schools are bulging; traffic is terrible; parking lots are congested; our grocery stores run out of essential items on the weekends, and we already have water rationing. The sewage treatment plant was not built to meet the new demands placed upon it.

Have we blindly forgotten the warning of Thomas Malts, "The power of the population is far greater than the power of the earth to produce subsistence"?

Soon there will be no open space left in our valley community, while developers continue to carve out more and more of the hillside. Such reckless building threatens the sustainability of the marina and causes increasing risks of landslides and erosion. What was once Henry Kaiser's vision of a pleasant island suburb has become just another mimic of a crowded southern California city. Let's see what happens when the Mariner's Ridge homes start tumbling down upon us due to the zealous, fast-buck, low-interest home sales of an irresponsible development plan.

Karyn Herrmann
Hawaii Kai

Workers can be proud of Ala Wai golf course

I recently played at the Ala Wai Municipal golf course and was pleasantly surprised to see the world's most-used golf course in such excellent condition. The fairways and greens have certainly improved and are very well maintained. Superintendent Clarence Nakatsukasa and his staff are to be commended. Great work! Mahalo!

Tom Shimabuku
Kailua

We can make recycling easier for everyone

I think there should be more recycling done on the federal, city and state level. I work at Kapiolani Community College and we do not have recycling here. The University of Hawaii-Manoa has recycling, so I take my white and colored paper and newspapers there from my office about every two months. The university also takes glass bottles. If all the state, city and federal offices did their recycling like this, there would be a lot less waste at the landfill.

For residential areas, what if there was a designated spot with special recycling bins on each block, where people could drop off glass bottles and aluminum cans? I wouldn't mind walking over once a week and dropping them in. I don't have that many, so I don't go to the recycling centers we have now. But people don't want to keep recyclables for long before taking them in because they might attract roaches and ants.

Belinda Lee

Domain name dispute has logical solution

Regarding all the fuss over the internet domain name hawaiiconventioncenter.com (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 10): The cheapest way for the Hawaii Tourism Authority to resolve this dispute would be for it to go online and register hawaiiconventioncenter.org. Let the Hendricksons of Maui keep the dot-com address and save all the taxpayers and the Hendricksons thousands of dollars in legal and court costs for something that really should not be an issue.

After all, isn't the Hawaii Convention Center a nonprofit? If so, it should be a dot-org and not a dot-com anyhow.

Robert "Rabbett" Abbett
Kailua

Cockfighting isn't necessarily Asian

Another animal cruelty bill is shoved aside (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 7). Ronette Kawakami, deputy public defender, defended cockfighting. She said it is rooted in Asian culture.

Are any Asian people offended? I am. Can anyone use the words "cockfighting" and "culture" in the same sentence?

Barbara Ikeda

Salvinia molesta takes another hit

A letter writer suggested that we use a couple of hippos to eat up the green veggies (salvinia molesta) that have invaded Lake Wilson (Star-Bulletin, Feb. 10). Before anyone tries anything, beware -- the lake is deep with cliff-like shorelines that fall like a bear market in a Bush administration. Those hippos may need an underwater craft, or at least snorkels to survive.

Star-Bulletin columnist Charles Memminger took a shot at explaining everything from A to Z about it, but surprisingly had no solution. So how do you get rid of the Lake Wilson weed? Piece of cake: Leak the rumor that whenever this weed is dried out and lighted, the high is even higher than Mauna Kea and Pakalolo combined. Don't forget your life vests!

Ron Rhetrik
Mililani

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