Oahu senators sank Big Isle judicial pick

We are deeply disappointed that the state Senate rejected Ted Hong to be a circuit judge in Hawaii County by one meager vote.

Since when does Oahu decide what is good for Hawaii? Why can't the Big Island speak for itself? It is simply unfair. Governor Lingle would never endorse any individual for any position unless that person was qualified.

Ethel C. Andrade
Andrade Ranch
Kamuela, Hawaii

Hong's veiled threats showed his faults

I had no opinion about whether Ted Hong was qualified to be a judge until I read his comments after the Senate voted down his nomination. He insinuates that the senators who didn't support him did so because of a "culture of fear" and that in November -- meaning the elections -- he's going to change that.

For someone who wants to be a judge, it is unbecoming to make veiled threats about anyone's election. I'm glad that the Senate voted him down.

Aisha Arion
Pearl City

Hong guilty of caring, doing the right thing

Thirteen state senators decided that Ted Hong is not fit to be a circuit court judge: They found him guilty.

Ted Hong is guilty. He is guilty of being compassionate and unafraid to stand up for what he believes is right. He is guilty of touching so many lives that hundreds of people felt compelled to go and testify in his favor at the committee hearing and flood his e-mail with messages of support. He is guilty of being a "big picture" man who really cares for the little guy. He is guilty of being a decisive and compassionate leader.

What he is not guilty of is supporting a cause or an issue that he did not think was fair or just. He is not guilty of silent acceptance when a "wrong" stood before him.

Those 13 senators who voted against his confirmation did a great disservice, not only to the Big Island but to each and every district they represent. As Governor Lingle observed, this did not appear to have been an objective decision.

I applaud the integrity of the Democrats who chose not to make their decisions based on party lines, rumors or innuendos, but made their decisions based on Hong's record.

Carol Okimi
Kailua

Dems want return of powers given to govs

Senate President Robert Bunda believes in equality so long as he is treated more equal than anyone else. In a March 17 letter to the editor, he said, "Anytime you have an executive branch with strong powers and a co-equal branch of government that finds its mandates ignored by that executive, you will have conflicts."

While Bunda says that the legislative and executive branches are "co-equal," he apparently believes the legislative branch should be able to impose its will upon the executive branch through mandates.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines "mandate" as an authoritative command; a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one.

I remind the good senator from Wahiawa that the power of the chief executive office did not arise overnight, but rather resulted from a series of laws passed by the Legislature to relinquish its power during the 40-year domination of all branches of government by his party.

Democrats apparently assumed that the governor would always agree with them. Now that we have a governor who is not so agreeable, the power of the governor is a great concern.

Michael Sana
Honolulu

Consistency no asset if change is needed

Just a reminder: There is a difference between "changing one's mind" and "being inconsistent." Some have accused Sen. John Kerry of being wishy-washy about Iraq. It was Winston Churchill who said, "I'd rather be right than consistent." Someone also said, "Don't confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up."

So what kind of a president do we want?

Jim and Yoshie Tanabe
Waipahu

Raise gasoline prices for SUV gas guzzlers

In Hawaii no one needs a 12-mpg sports utility vehicle to go down King Street. These yuppies don't care about the environment they ruin for our kids and theirs -- just so 6,000 pounds of useless metal can ruin our roads to carry one passenger to Longs or Starbuck's.

Buying an SUV after 9/11 should be a treasonous act. All people should realize that 9/11 was funded by our oil addiction and that SUVs accelerate the speed at which our money reached Saudi Arabia -- home of most of the 9/11 terrorists.

Taxing gas at the pump would reward positive choices and punish negative ones. Imagine a tamper-proof chip on the gas tanks. The pump nozzle would scan and read the fuel-efficiency of each vehicle and adjust the gas price accordingly. An average-MPG car would be scanned and the price of gas would remain unchanged, while an SUV owner would notice an increase of 50 cents per gallon. The owner of a hybrid vehicle would see the price go down 50 cents per gallon, just for doing his share as a patriot who refuses to be a consumer crackhead.

Todd Wetmore
Honolulu

Road closures cause havoc in people's lives

Our Honolulu Police Department's motto is "Serving and Protecting with Aloha." Its mission statement is: "We ... are dedicated to providing excellent service through partnerships that build trust, reduce crime, create a safe environment, and enhance the quality of life in our community."

In light of these statements, how much service and quality-of-life enhancement is happening during our closed-road situations? I have lived on Oahu since 1982 and I have not heard of road closures until the past few years.

Low levels of gas in the tank, bathroom breaks and critical medical attention -- medications at timed intervals -- constitute the range of discomforts or hazards when cars are caught in road closures. It would seem only considerate if, before the road is closed, to allow folks who would be trapped to go through until the backlog has been cleared and traffic is flowing through the alternate route. Will it take the death of a stranded motorist from a medical condition to change this traffic-flow policy?

Mary Livingston
Waianae

BOE attack on Thielen was unwarranted

I was appalled and saddened to read Susan Essoyan's article on Friday, "Colleagues accuse Laura Thielen ..." I was particularly disturbed by the quote from Board of Education Chairman Breene Harimoto that "We have one member among us who has violated not only our code of conduct, but various ethical standards." Their code of conduct nothwithstanding, what ethical standards did she violate?

Given the education department's earlier characterization of Communications Director Greg Knudsen's attack on Dr. William Ouchi as "exercising his freedom of speech," his comment smacks of hypocrisy.

Doesn't Thielen have the same right? Moreover, was she not elected to voice the wishes of her constituents? If she's out of line, she won't be re-elected. This is democracy.

What has happened to freedom of speech as pertains to the free and open debate of education in Hawaii?

Let the self-serving personal attacks stop. In fairness, each side needs to put forward their best arguments, and let the people vote on educational reform. This would be truly democratic. Anything else is a mockery of the principles on which this nation was founded.

Richard W. Griggs
Kapolei

Churches shouldn't get preferential treatment

Let's take the hysterics out of legislation. HB 537, regarding discrimination in housing, does not apply if you occupy one part of a two-family home, or if you occupy a house and rent as many as four rooms. You can discriminate for any reason in those circumstances.

However, the broad exemption in the proposed law, applicable only to sexual orientation, appears to be blatantly discriminatory, especially as it applies to any lessor who has entered into a contract with a religious organization to provide housing for students, faculty and staff. A church may discriminate in employment for the minister, but not staff. Why should any church, and specifically the Mormon sect, be allowed to have an exclusion written into state law that extends to public commerce and housing on lands they do not own, only for sexual orientation? Note that the exemption would not allow them to discriminate for other reasons, such as religion or marital status.

Just as the state should stay out of church affairs, the churches should not be involved in setting our laws.

Lance Bateman
Honolulu

After careful thought, Bush is best choice

I am writing in response to Jane Anderson Harvill's letter to the editor, and her suggestion that people voting for George W. Bush should stop and think.

Well, I want her to know that I took her suggestion and after careful consideration have decided that George W. Bush is the better candidate.

The only thing that frightens me is the thought of someone like John Kerry being elected to this country's highest office.

By the way, President Bush was not a Supreme Court choice; it was Al Gore and the Democratic Party that wanted to change the laws governing the outcome of the election when Gore lost.

Philip White
Mililani

Bush leads the nation down a trail of lies

In the 2000 campaign, candidate George W. Bush promised that his administration would demonstrate "compassionate conservatism." What he has actually delivered during the past three-plus years is a mean, arrogant conservatism.

Under false pretenses, President Bush committed the United States to war against Iraq, draining our resources for combatting terrorism.

On March 5, the U.S. Senate (which, like the House, has a Republican majority) was scheduled but failed to vote on legislation to block the Department of Labor from implementing the overtime pay take-away. Unless they are stopped, it is likely that the overtime pay take-away will be finalized by April 1. More than 8 million workers probably will lose their right to overtime pay.

While more than 10 million Americans are out of work, Bush's Economic Report to Congress calls the avalanche of U.S. jobs being sent overseas a "good thing." What country is he representing? India? Singapore? Mexico? Certainly not the United States of America.

Roger W. Moser Jr.
Honolulu

Please, bring back those van cams

My message may be unpopular, but I'm all for van cams or anything that will make our roads safer. I tell my children that we deserve to have "big brother" monitoring the way we drive. Because we have shown no self-control, so we have basically asked our elected officials to place external controls on us to stop us from breaking traffic laws.

When van cams were by our roadsides, people drove at the speed they were supposed to, and it was easier to enter traffic and change lanes. There was more space between cars, and it was a safer environment in which to teach my teenager how to drive.

Now the roads are becoming more and more dangerous. Once we let people break simple driving rules, it empowers them to feel that they can break more and more traffic laws.

Also, if van cams come back, we should make it illegal to have anything covering the face of the license plates. What on earth are people thinking? They feel that they can get away with illegal activity by covering their identities.

Leila Lee
Honolulu

Park lacks space for an amphitheater

A 15,000-person amphitheater next to downtown Honolulu in Kakaako Park? Where would they put the thousands of parking spaces required under the Hawaii Community Development Authority rules and necessary to the success of the theater? A parking lot to accommodate these cars would require about 15 acres -- or a 15 story garage on one acre.

Together with the six to eight acres required for the amphitheater, these space requirements would consume nearly all of the 23-acre Kakaako Waterfront Park. Such a large activity center would also generate traffic demands that would clog the always-busy Ala Moana Boulevard, and entrance roads.

These most likely were among the reasons that the HCDA re-evaluated and deleted a large amphitheater from its earlier Makai Area Plan in 2002. The thought of contravening its Makai Area Plan and inserting a large outdoor entertainment venue in close proximity to the residential development HCDA is now considering for that area is at odds in terms of use. The recent conflicts between residents and noise from the Shell in Waikiki should be a guiding factor in siting a new, and larger, amphitheater.

As one group interested in the healthy and desirable future of Kakaako, the KIA hopes that this questionable proposal in properly evaluated before going any further.

Kendall Hee
President . Kakaako Improvement Association

Hawaiian Air history looks to repeat itself

Norm Caris, the institutional broker who encouraged his customers to buy stock in Hawaiian Holdings, the shell parent of Hawaiian Airlines, says the market price doesn't reflect the true intrinsic value of the shares . I believe he is right on that point, but wrong on the value.

The shares of Hawaiian Holdings are likely worth far less than the current market price, not more. In most cases the shares of a company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy are canceled in order that the company and its trustee may issue new stock to secured creditors, like Boeing in this case, in partial payment of the defaulted debt.

Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner correctly issued a warning to investors on June 16 that buying shares of Hawaiian Holdings was highly speculative, and that investors should be cautious about buying the stock. Hawaiian Holdings is a shell company that has no assets and no business operations, and exists only to own shares of Hawaiian Airlines.

The shares on the market are shares in Hawaiian Holdings, not direct shares in Hawaiian Airlines. If the reorganization plan includes divorcing Hawaiian Airlines from this shell company, as seems very likely, Hawaiian Holdings stock (Symbol HA) will be worthless. Hawaiian Airlines has more than $300 million in debt, more than $100 million of it owed to Boeing. The only plausible way to satisfy even a percentage of that debt is to cancel the current stock and issue new stock to the creditors and to investors willing to buy into the airline to provide operating capital and pay debts.

The bankruptcy trustee and judge have among their highest obligations the protection of the creditors. Boeing is a creditor. Shareholders are not creditors. They are investors. They have no protection in the bankruptcy proceedings. Boeing has no obligation to settle defaulted aircraft lease agreements in favor of stockholders.

When Hawaiian Airlines came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy 10 years ago, its shares were cancelled and new stock was issued to the creditors. Misinformed people were still buying Hawaiian stock on the day it was to be cancelled. Ironically, it is likely that history will repeat itself.

Paul Pollitt
Kaneohe

Is it safe to laugh at any speed?

Tracy Ryan's letter to the editor (Star-Bulletin, March 16) makes a great point when mentioning that "Passenger cars can operate at far higher speeds than the posted limits without excessive risk."

Most drivers travel at a far higher speeds on many of the island's highways without causing hazards to others on the road. Yet her letter led me to recall a billboard message posted right outside of a little town called Caldwell, Idaho. Changed weekly by Ralph Smeed, it once read: "Drive carefully: 90 percent of people are caused by accidents."

And if that doesn't amuse you, try this, "Hazards are one of the main causes of accidents," from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's "Safety with Beef Cattle" in 1976.

No hazards, no people, no accidents.

Stephanie Ghilarducci
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii