Segway legalization races by legislators

Senate Bill 1051 would legalize the use of the Segway, defined in the legislation as "a self- balancing, two-wheeled, non-tandem-wheeled device, designed to transport only one person, using an electric propulsion system that limits the maximum speed of the device to twelve and a half miles per hour or less." The bill also would legalize the Segway's usage on sidewalks.

I find it curious that legislators are in such a rush to legalize an untested device that can potentially injure pedestrians, while at the same time trying to ban the use of scooters.

The Segway is not as safe as the manufacturers claim. It is very counter-intuitive and requires a considerable amount of training and practice.

With traffic conditions worsening each year, it would be a good idea for more commuters to be on sidewalks instead of in cars. But rushing into it like this is not a good idea, and I find it shocking that legislators are this short-sighted.

Fletcher Young

Americans who dissent are not unpatriotic

U.S. lawmakers (as well as some citizens) need to realize that voicing disagreements publicly is exactly what this nation is about. That is why this nation was founded. The majority rules, but that doesn't mean we cannot show disagreement with our government.

Whether you disagree or not with the upcoming war in Iraq, that doesn't mean you are any less of a patriot than anyone else... no matter what anybody says, even George Bush.

And showing disagreement with our nation's leaders does not mean we do not support the men and women in the military.

Charles W. Santiago Jr.
Wahiawa

Ordinary Iraqis will welcome liberators

Before U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan, demonstrators throughout the Middle East and Asia protested our planned action. After our liberation allowed thousands of free Afghans to show their true feelings and cheer the United States, the demonstrators slinked away. Now demonstrators throughout the world protest our supposed imperialism. To them, war is never justified.

Perhaps they should ask the ordinary Iraqi whose family or friends have been murdered, raped, or tortured by Saddam's security forces what they think of America's planned action.

How about all those demonstrations against the United States in Kuwait? Oh, never mind, there aren't any -- wonder why? Maybe they should ask the Kurdish men, women, and children who were gassed by Saddam. Oh wait, that won't work; they're dead.

As in Afghanistan, if we liberate Iraq from this tyrant, the people who live there will cheer their liberators. And demonstrators around the world will blink in wonder at their own immense ignorance and shortsightedness.

Jeremy Morrow
Aiea

Coble should resign from subcommittee

As a former legislative assistant for the late Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga, I thought that the mentality that allowed the incarceration of loyal Americans in World War II had long been eradicated. Senator Matsunaga, a veteran of World War II, fought long and hard to educate his fellow lawmakers about the injustices of the relocation. I thought that he succeeded.

But now comes Rep. Howard Coble, a Republican from North Carolina, who apparently never learned the truth about this shameful act of officially sanctioned racial discrimination.

Coble's insensitive and ill-informed statement that implied that the relocation of 110,000 Japanese was for their own good is frightening. His further suggestion that Japanese American were disloyal is an affront and insult to the thousands of Japanese Americans who fought and gave their lives and limbs to defend America against both Germany and Japan during the war, while their parents and siblings were imprisoned behind barbed wire fences in camps throughout the country.

How dare he challenge the loyalty of Americans of any race? What inconveniences did he suffer for his country that entitle him to demean the courage and sacrifices of Americans of Japanese ancestry?

His stupidity and ignorance requires his immediate resignation as chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee. His beliefs disqualify him to serve in this important and sensitive position, which requires the respect and trust of all Americans in our battle against enemies of our nation. He has lost any credibility to serve in that capacity.

Francis M. Nakamoto

U.N., NATO may be on the brink of failure

President Bush has put international relationships in serious jeopardy. His actions to attack Iraq have alienated much of the world and threaten the survival of both the United Nations and NATO. That happens to be only the latest of his many unilateral and harmful deeds.

One of the earliest Bush acts was to cancel U.S. participation in a global organization for family planning. He rejected an environmental treaty signed by more than 100 other nations. Bush also failed to join more than 100 countries in the International Criminal Court and similarly in a ban on land mines.

Now he threatens war against Iraq even against the opposition of much of the United Nations and its Security Council.

The potential ruin of the U.N. should remind us of an earlier failure of international cooperation. The League of Nations, endorsed by President Woodrow Wilson, received 63 nations as members. Opposition by President Warren Harding and rejection by the U.S. Senate ended it. Without us, the League had few successes and soon collapsed.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt played a major part in creating the United Nations. For more than half a century, it has been successful in international actions of diplomacy, peacemaking, communications, improving health, bettering economic conditions, and numerous other benefits.

Demonstrations by many millions of people all over the world show us the breadth and depth of world anger against attacking Iraq. Our hasty rush to war is a central issue. The Bush go-it-alone actions will greatly weaken and possibly destroy the United Nations while isolating the United States from the rest of the world.

Jerome Manis

Keep the 'Sunshine' on City Council

The state Legislature should kill the bill providing an exemption from the Sunshine Law to the City Council. I was disgusted by the whining and complaining of certain Council members in support of this bill. It was bad enough that the legislators exempted themselves, but to reverse the course of good government and let the Council get away with this should outrage all of us.

Steve Holmes
Former Honolulu City Councilman

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