CAPPS puts residents in a no-fly zone

There is a suspiciously absent voice in Hawaii concerning the recent implementation of Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening.

CAPPS II will use government databases of information on your credit history, banking transactions and the ominous Federal Watch List to screen and categorize passengers on three threat-assessment levels: green, yellow or red.

Green passengers will be allowed to board without secondary screening; yellow passengers will be required to undergo screening; and the unhappy red passenger will not be allowed to fly at all.

Residents of Hawaii have few options to air travel. If poor credit and/or questionable banking transactions or purchases puts you or me into the red category, we will have to ship ourselves in Matson containers if we want to travel to Las Vegas for a weekend or visit relatives on another island.

Perhaps we could mail ourselves, but I haven't seen any human-size envelopes.

With the poor economic situation in this state, don't be surprised if you find yourself on the red list, which amounts to nothing more than imprisonment. CAPPS II effectively turns our beautiful islands into individual internment camps.

And this is going to stop terrorism? How?

Glen Mason

City's recycling-trash plan needs fine-tuning

I like some of the things I hear about the city's trash and recycling proposal, but I am concerned that some of them won't work very well.

Once-a-week trash pick-up is probably OK. Curbside pick-up of recyclables is good too, especially if it reduces the amount of stuff going to landfills.

I am concerned about the plan to use the same trash can for the two pickups on different days. Some people won't separate the items properly, which could impair the success of the program. Similar programs in California use cans of different colors. This greatly facilitates separation of items and makes it easier for the truck drivers to pick up the proper cans.

Finally, the $8 fee for a second weekly service concerns me. Is the billing and collection going to cost more than the revenue raised? Putting a burden on the truck drivers to know which houses have paid and which have not could be a problem. They have enough to do just maneuvering those large trucks. Adding the duty to identify houses to be bypassed could be a safety concern in some situations. Why not just enforce a once-a-week trash collection?

J. V. Pollock

Recycling plan will be worth getting used to

The city's plan for trash and recycling is going to take some getting used to, but in the long run it will help our landfill problem. Otherwise, we are going to be buried in our own waste.

We are going to have to learn to separate trash from recyclables, but that will be easy once we get the hang of it.

We should all be willing to help our community to do better. Even large families or extended ones can learn to cut back on the trash they throw out -- flatten those cardboard boxes, for example.

Kauai has once-a-week pickup and it works.

With just a little effort, Oahu residents can do it and be proud to make our island economy more cost effective, too.

H. Santos

Three things to do before raising taxes

Before Mayor Harris and the City Council raise property taxes to balance the city's budget, there are a couple of things that I would like them to do first:

>> Institute a moratorium so that no more properties go off the tax rolls.

>> Start charging taxes on all properties owned by nonprofits, churches included, since they use all of the city's services like police, fire and trash pick-up.

>> Eliminate duplication of services provided by state agencies.

After doing these three simple things, there should be no need to raise property taxes -- for those already paying taxes, that is.

Michael J. Golojuch Jr.

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