Brainstorm! Challenge

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Astrology believers are misguided

It is a delicious irony that on the same day the Star-Bulletin ran an editorial titled "Better education worth the effort," it also printed two full pages of astrological gobbledygook ("In the stars/Alice Inoue takes up the challenge of using astrology to chart personalities," Star-Bulletin, Sept. 22).

Astrologer Inoue says, "I can see clearly if someone would be a good teacher," and "I don't know how it works, I only know that it does."

Ah, but it does not work.

All studies on the matter show a random distribution of sun signs and other horoscope features among occupations and personality characteristics.

If Inoue had been educated in scientific method she would know that one must gather sufficient data to draw valid conclusions and cannot rely on limited personal experiences and preconceptions.

The astrologers' pretense to special knowledge is matched by the clients' neurotic need for praise. Of course, clients and their relatives always attest to the accuracy of astrologers' analyses because they are invariably filled with flattery and vague statements that can apply to some degree to everyone.

For the truth about astrology, visit these Web sites -- www.randi.org and www.csicop.org. Any middle-school textbook on physics and astronomy also would help.

Kurt Butler
Wailuku, Maui

Indicting mother isn't the best choice

That's right, the wisest thing to do is to seek an indictment of a mother for the "ice" death of her baby and then try her for murder ("Mom indicted in 'ice' death," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 10). This is the smartest thing law enforcement can do "to protect and serve" the people of Hawaii. What a croc!

How about sending a social service worker or a medically trained person to help the poor lady. She has a medical problem, not a criminal mind. Wise up.

A.J. Calabro
Kailua

Obstinate educators should be fired

Regarding Hawaii schools' poor academic performance ("Isle schools miss targets," Star-Bulletin, Sept. 19):

The priority for some Department of Education officials is to guard their own crony system. They make outside experts and qualified teachers from other states so unwelcome that they quit after only a year. Sometimes this network even snubs local consultants.

The ironic thing is that DOE administrators claim everyone but them lacks knowledge about local students or knowledge about education. That's ironic because they also claim they cannot overcome our state's diversity, poverty and lack of funds.

You can't have it both ways. The truth is DOE educators refuse assistance, yet are not meeting Hawaii's needs. They need to be replaced.

John Mussack
Honolulu

Perhaps it's politicians who ruin the schools

House Speaker Calvin Say, (D-St. Louis Heights, Palolo), apparently believes that all the smart kids in Hawaii attend private schools ("Forums to discuss school system," Star-Bulletin, Oct. 10). So he must believe that the majority of local kids -- those who attend our public schools -- are stupid. This is not only untrue, it's offensive.

What I hear is someone who is responsible for making our public schools work saying that they don't work because everyone in them is stupid. Maybe it's not the kids who are stupid. Maybe it's the politicians who are "trying" to run them.

Kymberly Pine
Palolo Valley

Why did White House leak name to Novak?

Those of us who lived through the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon's resignation, remember Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize for pursuing the story of political corruption and high-level lying.

Recently, White House sources leaked the name of a CIA operative to columnist and TV pundit Robert Novak. The operative's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had revealed White House lies leading up to the Iraqi war. Many people think that leaking his wife's name was part of a White House campaign of retaliation against her husband and intimidation of others who might reveal lies by the administration in pushing for war.

In the trade magazine Editor & Publisher, Bernstein was asked if he would have revealed the name. The article, headlined "Bernstein: Novak allowed himself to be used," says:

"Bernstein said he would not have disclosed the name of the CIA employee if he had been in Novak's shoes, but would have, instead, sought to find out why the name was being leaked.

"The real story here was always what the White House did in terms of going to Novak," he said. "If somebody from the White House called me under those circumstances, I would not print that she was a CIA operative. The story would be the conduct of the White House."

Sally Raisbeck
Wailuku, Maui

Krugman distorts share of taxes paid by wealthy

In his two-part "Economic Outlook" (Star-Bulletin, Sept. 21-22), economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman claimed that "wealthy Americans have seen a sharp drop in their tax burden" since the 1970s. His argument rests solely on the fact that the maximum federal income tax rate was 70 percent and is now only 35 percent.

As a practicing CPA with one of the Big Eight accounting firms in those days, I can tell you that the high income tax rate was irrelevant to any wealthy person wishing to avoid income taxes.

That's because even though the tax rates were sky-high there was a multitude of deductions available for the wealthy. Our big clients never paid income taxes. If you were well-heeled and well-connected you could sign up to be an investor in an oil well, not come up with a penny, and take a huge write-off. Or you could buy a luxury car on the last day of the year and deduct it from your income. Trust me, the list went on and on.

Then, in the 1980s, Congress got smarter. The tax rates were slashed but at the same time the crazy deductions were eliminated. The net result? The fun and games in preparing income tax returns are gone and the wealthy now pay a higher percentage share of the federal tax burden than ever before.

Data released by the Internal Revenue Service reveals the following: The top 1 percent of taxpayers in 2000 paid 37 percent of the total federal individual income taxes collected that year. In 1980 the top 1 percent paid 19 percent of the total. Does that sound like the rich are paying less than before? How much does Krugman want the rich to pay?

Furthermore, the top 10 percent of taxpayers paid 46 percent of the federal individual income tax burden vs. 32 percent of the burden in 1980. Have those rich folks gotten a break? (Attention Hawaii citizens: If your household made more than $92,000 in 2000, you are in this "wealthy" category and you and your peers are paying nearly half of all the individual income taxes in the country.)

Finally, those on the lower end of the income scale are paying a smaller percentage of the federal income tax burden today than at any time in history. The bottom half barely pay any taxes at all.

In direct contradiction to Krugman's assertion, the so-called rich are paying more taxes than ever before and it's unfair to ask for more. I'll concede his assertion that Canada, France and Sweden collect more taxes on average than the United States.

Good. It's very revealing that Krugman selected socialist countries for his comparison. We are not a socialist country -- yet.

Alan Fentriss
Honolulu

School bus shouldn't cost parents a penny

Parents should not have to pay for their children's bus transportation to school. The bus is part of the school system, and it should be free.

I do not understand why parents have to pay for school buses here and not in any other state. We are a military family and my children have attended many different schools, and have had to ride many different buses. Until we moved here, I never thought I would have to pay for a school bus to take my children to school.

Dawn Hoyt
Hawaii Business College Student

County land use laws need to be changed

Recent Circuit Court rulings in Hawaii and Honolulu counties clipped the wings of developers, and if letters to the editor are any indication, the public is lining up to support the decisions on the Hokulia and Koa Ridge residential developments.

These rulings prove the need to reform the counties' planning and land-use systems.

The cases show a pattern in which developers use economic conditions as pretext to end-run county policies that might ensure smart growth. Hokulia is hardly the first residential development approved on agricultural-zoned land in Hawaii County that lacked serious farming requirements. Judge Ronald Ibarra's ruling to halt work on the project is a counterweight to local pressure for short-term jobs and growth at the expense of adequate planning and livability.

Development on Oahu has been spurred by hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidized public services provided to developers. Despite a general plan mandate for full developer financing of required infrastructure, government (the taxpayer) continues paying nearly all costs for schools, parks, fire, police and other services that development necessitates.

While the Koa Ridge ruling may only prolong the process of inevitable dumb growth, public outcry over environmental and fiscal costs of development is the real hope for changing the pattern of subsidized growth across Oahu's last open and agriculture lands. Let us speak out for environmental protection, food security and fiscal responsibility.

Richard A. Weigel
Pearl City

What works for Arnold should work for Bush

Californians have elected Arnold Schwarzenegger and recalled Gov. Gray Davis. They are angry with Davis because he turned a surplus into a $38 billion deficit; he was beholden to special interests; and he lied to the voters about several issues.

Sounds good to me. Do you suppose the Republicans who spearheaded the recall campaign will now push to remove George W. Bush for the same reasons?

David Stewart
Lihue, Kauai

Top man sometimes tries to escape blame

In politics, business, athletics, or any other enterprise, when things go well, the top man gets the accolades.

Conversely, when things go wrong or not as expected prior to the action that caused the bad results, should not the top man be responsible and admit to his misjudgment?

But, alas, in top political circles, because their decisions will affect the whole nation, it must be the most difficult thing to admit to a misjudgment. Especially when an action is taken unilaterally, without the consensus of others!

Tetsuji Ono
Hilo, Hawaii

Bush should bring troops home now

President George W. Bush has pushed policies that have been very counterproductive. He has caused the world to hate the United States. Millions of people worldwide protested the U.S. involvement in Iraq last weekend. The war in Iraq has been destructive. Bush is in a quagmire in Iraq. He can never repair Iraq and install a democracy. I agree with Rep. Dennis Kucinich that the United States must abandon Iraq and bring our troops home immediately.

Other nations do not wish to get involved in this fiasco. The United States is becoming a Third World country because of this costly war.

Rose Norberg
Honolulu

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Bus debate keeps rolling on

Hawaii may be headed the way of California

If the bus workers are not to have an increase until after the third year of their new contract and the city saved substantial funds during the strike, why was it necessary to raise the bus fares immediately?

It's hard to believe anyone anymore. Since no politicians have long-range idea, we can expect to be like California in a few years.

Auwe, maybe I should move to Vegas where there is no state income tax.

Ray Naito
Ewa Beach

Percentage increases in fares is startling

I noted that the table of bus fare increases published in the Star-Bulletin didn't include the percentage of increase for each category. Hence, let me provide the following:

Cash fares increases:
Adult: 14 percent; Youth: 33 percent; Seniors: 33 percent; Disabled: 33 percent.

Monthly pass increases:
Adult: 33 percent; Youth: 59 percent; Seniors and Disabled: Up from $0 to $5.

Annual pass increases:
Adult: 22 percent; Youth: 47 percent; Seniors: 240 percent; Disabled: 240 percent.

In addition, the cost of an ID card for seniors and the disabled goes up 67 percent.

The figures speak for themselves -- a pretty healthy discrimination against youths and senior/disabled riders.

Incidentally, I am a senior and hold a pass that expires in July 2005. Normally, I would expect the city to honor the contract established when it sold me this pass. However, I find that it will not be accepted after Nov. 1. So the city is reneging on what I considered a valid contract. Can you imagine what would happen to me if the situation were reversed? What if I entered into a contract with the city and then reneged on it?

But our esteemed elected officials apparently can do this with complete impunity. I recommend that bus riders let their City Council members know their feelings in this matter.

R. W. Parkinson
Honolulu

Greedy unions may be death of Hawaii

With the bus strike over and the police officers with a new contract that increases their pay by 17 percent, I can see why Hawaii has the highest expenses in the nation. We pay the highest taxes and fees -- all because we have to pay government workers more money every five years.

The only losers are the people of Hawaii.

There might come a day when the economy will simply collapse because residents are forced to pay so much for government in Hawaii that nobody wants to live here or come here anymore.

Let this be a warning to all unions: Please learn to be content with what you have. If you continue to demand more and more money, you will destroy the livelihood of Hawaii because of your selfishness.

Alan Kim
Aiea

It's great having buses back on the road again

Welcome back, buses! As a bus rider who commutes to work downtown every day, I have observed the following since the buses started rolling again:

>> The aisles of the downtown Long's store are packed with people (compared to being nearly empty a week before).

>> Elderly shoppers are filling Chinatown's markets, talking with one another, laughing and buying fresh produce.

>> There were 44 people boarding the 4 o'clock bus to Ewa Gentry -- at the first stop!

During the strike, there were those who booed TheBus and the strikers. But TheBus is an essential public service, not only for those who ride it, but also for businesses whose income depends on customers who are bus riders.

The hours of endless traffic caused by additional cars on the road during the strike showed us how much all of us depend on safe and efficient public transportation.

Mahalo, TheBus!

Katie Kehoe
Kahaluu

How will advertising fill up the buses?

Regarding the Oct. 10 story on lower bus ridership and higher fares: The mayor believes that more advertising is somehow going to make riding the bus more attractive? What planet is he from?

Have any of the city braintrusters thought to go to Portland, Ore., and find out how they manage it??

Oahu once had a premier mass transit system that was efficient and priced for high ridership; it was a model that other cities emulated. Now it's going down the tubes. It's time for the city to take it back; obviously private enterprise is not up to the job that needs to be done and show a profit.

New, hi-tech buses may be part of the answer. Operation of the system without regard to the profit motive might be another part of the answer.

Bill Martin

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] What can be done to disguise or beautify those hulking steel utility boxes found in parks and other locations around town? Send your ideas, drawings and solutions by Wednesday, Oct. 15 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Burl Burlingame Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Burl Burlingame 529-4750