Brainstorm! Challenge

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Join the effort to ban lay-net fishing

It's no secret to fishermen, divers and snorkelers that the near shore environment of our islands has been depleted of marine life. Where there once were fish, now they are gone, and our coral reefs are being destroyed. There are many reasons for this destruction and stopping it is not easy. But eliminating one of the primary reasons for these problems is within our grasp, as the Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing a ban on lay-net fishing.

Lay-nets are curtains of death that catch nearly everything that swims in their path, including turtles and other protected species. Entire schools of fish often are caught in a single pass -- and much of what is caught is thrown away. The proposed ban would not stop traditional forms of net fishing, just the lay-nets.

Let's join the other coastal states that have taken steps to protect their ocean resources . Support the DLNR and its proposal to ban lay-nets -- before it's too late.

Bob Loy
Waimanalo

Union solidarity masks workers' complaints

Union members can't have it both ways. They complain in letters to the editor. They show up on the TV news. They're always complaining about the striking union cement workers causing them to be laid off.

The whiners are other union construction workers: carpenters, electricians, plumbers and others. Yet they visit the striking union members at the picket lines to give them encouragement.

Either stop whining or stop giving encouragement.

Donald Allen
Honolulu

Bush isn't listening to 'voice of the people'

President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment to ban equal marriage rights to gays has proven that he is not a "uniter" or "compassionate," as he claimed to be in 2000.

Bush claims he is backing discrimination because "the voice of the people must be heard." Even if this were what the people wanted, a CNN poll shows that 58 percent don't want the Constitution amended to support discrimination.

In 2000 the popular vote didn't go to Bush, so did he hear "the voice of the people"? No, he went to the courts to fight it.

Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Americans didn't want to go to war without the support of the United Nations. Did Bush listen then? No. The cost of this hearing impairment is more than 500 American soldiers and 7,000 Iraqi civilians dead.

Instead of encouraging discrimination, Bush should be fighting for freedom and equality for all Americans -- just like our soldiers are doing in Iraq for the Iraqi people.

Michael Golojuch Jr.
Member
Hawaii Republican Party

Bush should comply with 9/11 Commission

This is in response to a reader stating that we should wait until the end of the war to comment and let the investigation of faulty intelligence find out what went wrong (Letters, Feb. 22).

Almost every government investigation has problems getting the correct information and therefore the findings of the investigations are biased.

For example, President Bush has denied the Sept. 11 Commission a complete investigation of the White House. He has stonewalled all 9/11 investigations for two years now. How accurate will the final report be if only those approved by Bush are interviewed? How accurate will it be if the Bush administration is allowed to change it before it goes public?

The Bush administration lied to the world to get support to invade Iraq. The public has a right to know now what the administration has done so we can hold Bush accountable for his lies in attacking Iraq.

David Soule
Pearl City

Sea boundaries don't have to be complicated

Trying to establish a vegetation line on any shoreline is difficult. Ocean shorelines change daily due to waves, tidal conditions and bad weather such as hurricanes.

Here are some suggestions:

>> How simple it would be if we used property owners' surveyed boundaries to determine the shoreline measuring point.

>> Prohibit land, rocks and sand from being disturbed by anyone seaward of these boundaries.

>> Allow restoration of eroded property by the owners up to their boundaries' width and elevation.

>> When allowing restoration of property on its seaward boundaries, prohibit any intrusion into state land, surface and/or underground property.

>> Require that any wall intended to prevent or to slow property erosion cannot be more than six inches above the predetermined surveyed elevation, PIN, or not more than six inches above the average land height, which is located five feet into the property from the seaward property line.

George Downing
Save Our Surf

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] Does Honolulu need a city museum, and what should be in it? Does history matter? If so, whose history? Bishop Museum is one of the leading cultural museums in the United States, but it is not a history center. Honolulu seems to be the only state capital city without a municipal museum. Does Honolulu need a city museum? What should be in it? Where should it be? Should such a museum be a collection of artifacts or a learning center? Would such a museum be geared for Hawaii education or for entertaining tourists? Send your ideas by March 17 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750