Why start race for rail all over again?

Why is City Councilman Gary Okino pursuing rail transit? Is he trying to bankrupt Honolulu? Does he have a burning desire to increase our property taxes? Does he have a few hundred million dollars laying around that can't be used for other city programs? Rail loses money in all the cities where it has been installed. All of these cities have larger populations and tax bases than Hawaii and Honolulu together.

A rail system will cost us more than $400 million dollars to start, not including the amount of money it will cost to operate. The city will be saddled with a bill that it won't be able to pay. We neither have the population base to support a rail system nor do we have the ridership to support a rail system. Why is it that our representatives keep trying to reinvent the wheel?

Guillermo Colon
Mililani

Beleaguered librarian is just doing her job

Congratulations and thanks for your editorial defending the actions of the state Librarian Virginia Lowell (Star-Bulletin, March 7).

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that Governor Lingle called Lowell unprofessional. For tying to cope with huge budget cuts? Then when some members of the Legislature called for her resignation I was really baffled. I am responsible for a community college library and, as you probably know, California and its community colleges are experiencing a few budget problems of their own. I have had to drastically reduce the hours our library is open. This is not something any of us wanted to do or that we did without thinking of the students affected.

I have been through the post-Proposition 13 budget drought in California and have followed Hawaii's recession with interest. There are no good answers at times like this. You are provided a bunch of lousy options and you try to pick the ones that affect people the least and be willing to try something else if your first choice doesn't work. Good luck to Hawaii and its public library system.

Tom Foster
Former Hawaii resident
Grossmont College
El Cajon, Calif.

Iraqi war is now the new reality show

I am sick and tired of listening of those who want war saying that Iraq and the terrorists of 9/11 are one and the same. To make matters worse, Fox News Channel is now referring to the possible war in Iraq as "The War on Terror." The Bush administration is so determined to go to war, I expect it will say whatever it wants to justify its agenda. But now our news media are focused on swaying the public. I'm not saying that the news media are in favor of war, but war is drama and it seems our 24-hour electronic news sources are trying to become more like the reality TV shows littering the airwaves.

Maybe Saddam Hussein can be the next "Bachelor" or how about "Survivor in Iraq?" That's being ridiculous. But so is linking Osama bin Laden to Saddam to get a few more viewers or fulfill an administration's agenda.

Ted Obringer

War will devastate Hawaii's economy

The March 14 Star-Bulletin article on the lower growth forecast released by the Council on Revenues emphasized the difficulty Hawaii is experiencing just meeting budget shortfalls.

If the governor has cut only $24 million of the $40 million necessary, and now has to find $60 million on top of that, it will be hard to maintain even our current level of funding for essential social services.

The report described the impact of a second Gulf War on the state's vital tourism industry as "unknown." Certainly jobs will be lost and families will suffer. Gas prices also will soar, and who says they will go down again any time soon?

The best investment that Hawaii's people, businesses and government can make would be to very strongly urge the federal government to seek a peaceful resolution to the international crises it now faces.

Hawaii profits from peace, not from war.

Larry Geller
Manoa

Delaying action only endangers our troops

While some of us believe that the coming war in Iraq is half about Israel's interest and half about oil interest, there is no more time for delays or debate. We must support our military now and vent our support or opposition in the 2004 election, not in the streets.

While the politicians are debating, our troops are cramped aboard ships and in a small country (Kuwait), open to a pre-emptive strike of chemical or biological weapons by Iraq.

This not only hurts their morale, but leaves our troops open to massive casualties. Any delays may cause more casualties because of the approaching hot weather. Our troops will be dropping like flies from heat exhaustion if they have to wear chemical warfare suits in the desert heat.

Everyday we delay only turns more people against this coming war instead of for it.

France will veto anyway, so why wait? The control of this mission should have been given to our military long ago. When and how should only be decided by the military commander in charge of this mission.

This war was decided on long ago. It is time for the politicians to just cut off funds to the United Nations, kick it out of America and to shut up already.

Ronald L. Edmiston

Money drives policies on energy and war

CNN reports that our bought and paid for vice president is within one vote of getting the OK to drill for oil on protected Alaskan lands. To what end? Isn't the invasion of Iraq enough? Will anything be done for the people while President Bush is in office?

From what I've seen so far, I doubt it. In the name of common sense, let's put a stop to all this big money nonsense.

Robert G. Devine
Ocean View, Hawaii

Let's use the original wording of the pledge

This is regarding the March 8 editorial on the Pledge of Allegiance court ruling saying the use of the phrase "under God" is unconstitutional. I think that the Pledge of Allegiance should be the original that was written by Francis Bellamy. As your editorial stated, the part "under God" was added into the pledge. It is sad that when it was first changed, he had protested but was ignored.

The second change, though he was not around, would have angered him; that change would be "under God" being added. His own granddaughter even said that he would have opposed that change.

I think if we use "under God," then people of different religions should just substitute "God" for the deity they worship such as Satanism, Buddhism or other deities.

Trisha Kuznicki
Kailua

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