Where are weapons of mass destruction?

Considering in one day the United States just bombed the capital of Iraq, Baghdad and the surrounding area with more cruise missiles than used in the entire first Gulf War, I'm wondering: If Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, why haven't they used them yet?

Mel McKeague
Ewa Beach

Challenging politicians is not unpatriotic

Good grief! Letters to the editor are saying Jesus supports war and that to challenge a politician is both unpatriotic and shows you hate freedom.

Calm down, folks. Bush the Junior is not calling forth the Second Coming, he just wants to recreate the Roman Empire.

Jesus was pretty clear on violence: "Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone." Maybe when Bush disarms, he will have the moral right to demand it of others.

The essence of our democracy is to speak up in defense of life, liberty and justice for all. It is courageously patriotic to do so in the face of tyrannical attempts to squash rights, stifle freedom and intimidate dissent -- attempts like the Patriot Act and conservative control of the press.

It is politicians and ill-considered wars of conquest that are being opposed -- not the country, not the Constitution or the principles our ancestors and elders fought to guarantee. No matter how Bush wraps himself in flags, he is still nothing more than a politician.

Truth is powerful. It is up to you to educate yourself and your neighbors. Be patriotic for our democracy and remember, Jesus would never hurt anybody.

Daniel Grantham
Haiku, Maui

Oahu needs more traffic solutions

Kudos to whoever finally pushed through the realignment of mauka-bound traffic on Keeaumoku Street at Wilder Avenue, a long-time pet peeve of my neighbors' and mine. It almost makes up for the ridiculous roundabout Mayor Harris installed 100 yards mauka.

While the state, city and a multitude of other groups debate the islandwide mass transit issue, it's clear that traffic today has outpaced yesterday's stop-gap measures. Some similar common-sense solutions could save a few hundred headaches and road-rage fantasies every day.

Parking hours on major streets need to be tweaked. Half of Wilder's capacity is yanked away in the middle of peak traffic each evening because "no parking" hours are too short. Kapiolani Boulevard and South King Street could use similar relief. For evidence, one need only look at how well traffic on Keeaumoku flows -- even past the infamous Wal-Mart superblock -- when street parking is banned during the Christmas shopping season.

Similarly, HOV lane hours need to be extended to reflect the fact that "rush hour" is now more than three hours long. H-1 is still a parking lot at 6 p.m.

And, of course, qualified use of the lanes should be enforced. I wonder if folks would have protested a CarpoolCam?

Ryan Ozawa

Editorial advanced 'donkey-dumb' idea

On March 21, the Star-Bulletin ran an article that insinuated my legislative actions on behalf of Wahiawa General Hospital and its Pacific Health Center development created a conflict of interest. It provided a provocative story but misrepresented facts and opinions. Amazingly, three days later, an equally absurd and dimwitted editorial demanded that we "forbid legislators from voting or introducing bills that would benefit groups to which they have ties."

Readers should know I requested and received an Ethics Commission opinion dated March 19 that declared that I did not have a conflict of interest regarding legislation that would help Wahiawa hospital and my community. Since I did not receive compensation for assisting the hospital and merely exercised my legislative duties, I did not violate any code of ethics.

The opinion stated that nothing in the State Ethics Code "shall be construed to prohibit a legislator from introducing bills and resolutions, serving on committees or from making statements or taking action in the exercise of the legislator's legislative functions."

Advancing the interest of Wahiawa's largest employer and the only hospital for Central Oahu and the North Shore makes both ethical and common sense.

A March 18 Ethics Commission letter to Sen. Les Ihara that was mentioned in the story is inapplicable to legislators who serve on nonprofit boards.

The letter, interestingly shared with select legislators and reporters, explicitly referred to conflict of interest for "state officials" or "employees" who might take official action affecting a nonprofit corporation on which the official or employee sits as a board member. It says nothing about legislators and conflicts of interest. Zero. Nada. Not one word.

The reason is simple. There are 76 legislators with specific constituencies assigned by the Hawaii state Constitution and state law. Not voting always disenfranchises someone. Unlike other state officials, only a legislator can vote and represent his or her own constituency. Excusing a legislator from voting due to a conflict of interest should be a rare event. Certainly, mere nonprofit board membership alone should not disqualify a legislator from performing his or her legislative duties.

The editorial's idea to prohibit legislators from "voting or introducing bills that would benefit groups to which they have ties" is the most donkey-dumb idea I have ever read in this newspaper. It would mean that once elected, legislators should advance only those proposals that do not benefit "groups to which they have ties." That's absurd and anathema to representative democracy. It would be tantamount to "election without representation" and flip former U.S. House Speaker Tip O'Neill's truism that "all politics are local" on its head. All politics would be nonlocal. But considering the bias normally expressed in this paper, it is quite plausible or maybe the affects of too much ink fumes and bad gas from the printing presses.

Rep. Marcus Oshiro
D, Wahiawa-Poamoho

Editor's note: The Star-Bulletin twice requested that Rep. Oshiro make available to our reporters the opinion he received from the State Ethics Commission. He did not do so.

Hawker really works the crowd in Kaneohe

Just want to tell you about one of your newspaper "hawkers," Dave Benderbrink, who almost on a daily basis makes life a little more enjoyable for us.

We first encountered him at Castle Junction one afternoon after delivering our granddaughter back to her mother. We were impressed with how much he seemed to be enjoying his work; in fact, we looked forward to being stopped at the red light so we could talk story with him. We have home delivery of your paper already, but normally would buy a paper from him anyway. I guess you could call that real salesmanship!

He has since moved to the intersection of Kamehameha and Likelike highways, so we still see him regularly and look forward to his friendly greeting and aloha spirit.

You've got a winner there -- take good care of him.

B.J. and Chuck Schrader
Kaneohe

Makapuu trash makes lousy impression

It is quite embarrassing to show visitors the area around Makapuu Lookout. That place is literally trashed. Why? No garbage disposal cans are available. Wouldn't it be a good idea to start here to keep our beautiful state beautiful?

We are spending all that marketing money overseas to advertise Hawaii. At home should be the place to start!

Dieter Thate
Dieter's Tours

Digital crash analyses shorten road closures

As House Representative of District 43 and a longtime resident of the Ewa Beach area, I endure the traffic jams every day and know how frustrating they can be.

This 2003 legislative session I introduced House Bill 1309 HD1, which would reduce prolonged closures of traffic lanes caused by traffic accident investigations. Through the use and acceptance of photogrammetric computer systems, which analyze digital photographs of accident scenes at an off-site location, on-site investigation time is reduced.

For example, the California Highway Patrol now uses digital photographic traffic accident management systems and MAIT (Major Accident Investigation Team) programs to account for decreased times of lane and road closures. The CHP average for lane closures now ranges from 30 minutes for major collisions to 60 minutes for fatal accidents. In contrast, the average length of time for lane closures in Hawaii ranges from two to four hours for major traffic accidents and upward of eight hours when a fatality occurs.

Something needs to be done about traffic jams, and our voices must be heard.

Rep. Romy M. Mindo
D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point

How to write us The Star-Bulletin welcomes letters that are crisp and to the point (150 to 200 words). The Star-Bulletin reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length. Please direct comments to the issues; personal attacks will not be published. Letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number. Letter form: Online form, click here E-mail: letters@starbulletin.com Fax: (808) 529-4750 Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813