Democratic pols have nothing to brag about

The Democrats are already crowing about how good a job they did in this session. Outside of catering to special interest groups (unions) in the workmans' compensation bill, screwing over the police department with the drug bill and not passing the three-tiered drivers' license bill, and loading up their porkbarrels by funneling monies from the Department of Education to their voting districts, the only thing they did right was adjourn on time.

That was due primarily so they could override the vetoes they knew were coming from the governor. It appears everything they touched was flawed, and they're proud of it. I hope that this is a wake-up call for Hawaii voters to elect a more balanced Legislature next term.

Richard Pickering
Honolulu

Killing wiretap bill wasn't retaliation

Your May 4 editorial erroneously accuses Democrats of retaliating against Governor Lingle's veto of the Omnibus Ice Bill by killing the administration-sponsored wiretap bill. You also mistakenly say that the Senate and House had agreed early in the session to change the wiretap laws. That is flat-out wrong.

People disagreed strongly about the purpose, scope and specific provisions of the wiretap bill. Compromise proved impossible through six versions of the bill and three hearings. That's why it didn't pass.

The governor's bill sought a major overhaul of the state's electronic surveillance laws, affecting all types of criminal activities, not just drug trafficking. Contrary to constitutional mandate, the bill proposed that police could initiate wiretapping in emergency situations and then seek court approval after the fact. It proposed to intrude upon e-mail transmissions, electronic financial transactions and privileged communications. It sought to conform Hawaii's electronic surveillance laws to federal law on the basis that federal laws provide adequate constitutional safeguards for individual privacy rights.

However, the Hawaii Constitution provides greater privacy protections than the U.S. Constitution. To do what the governor and attorney general wanted would undermine, without the benefit of a constitutional amendment, Hawaii's specific constitutional rights to be secure against unreasonable invasions of privacy and the requirement that search warrants be issued upon probable cause specifying the communications sought to be intercepted.

All legislators are well aware of the importance of providing police with the necessary tools to do their jobs. We all want drug trafficking to stop. However, our responsibility is to balance the interests of law enforcement and the privacy rights of the innocent. We need to be thoughtful about what rights we sacrifice in our quest to catch "evil doers."

Rep. Scott K. Saiki
Majority Leader

Don't let fire reflect on recycling industry

It was with great distress that I watched the television news of the four-alarm fire burning at Island Recycling on Oahu. I realized the effect that this catastrophe could have on the recycling industry in Hawaii. It has been difficult to listen to the barrage of negative comments about Island Recycling, while hearing few positive comments.

While it is true that this was a terrible fire that created small amounts of air, soil and water pollution, Island Recycling has done more than its share in helping maintain a better Hawaii. The public should be aware that recycling is thriving in Hawaii. Island Recycling alone diverts 5,000 tons from the state's landfills each month. That is 10 million pounds per month! This has slowed our need for creating new landfills while saving precious resources.

I had a triumphant feeling for Jim Nutter when his company was open for business Monday morning after his exhausting cleanup over the weekend. Island Recycling is an asset, not only to Oahu, but the entire state. Mahalo to Nutter and his crew for their remarkable recycling efforts in the last 20 years.

Mark Hummel
Owner, Recycle Kauai
Koloa, Kauai

Witkowski family's loss brings the war home

Ted Koppel's recent solemn roll call of the fallen in Iraq, stirred up controversy on whether or not it was a political statement. Meanwhile, it put a name and a face to all the dead and suddenly, the controversy was hushed.

The Star-Bulletin's May 4 story and accompanying family photo of Spc. Phillip Witkowski from Schofield Barracks, was even more halting. Witkowski recently made the ultimate sacrifice for his country in Afghanistan. The photo shows the all-American Witkowski family. It made me lament out loud how young the Witkowskis are, and how sad and unfair it is that their husband and father is dead.

The same stories are being told all over the country. Hundreds of America's husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Witkowski's story is a stark reminder that war is hell.

Mel McKeague
Ewa Beach

Prisoners' abuse is degrading to us all

Several things occurred to me while listening to the stories about the torture of Iraq prisoners. The first is that it is stupid beyond belief to torture and publicize it when our own kids over there who could be captured and similarly tortured.

The second thing is that while it is quite believable that an officer or two in intelligence might have suggested or ordered that the MPs degrade and humiliate the prisoners, no officer in his right mind would have told them to take pictures of these illegal acts.

The third thing is our government in denial. While the public gets to see our soldiers apparently torturing prisoners, public morals are protected from actually seeing the naughty parts of the nude prisoners because seeing the naughty parts would be more offensive than the torturing.

I am ashamed of these acts, not because I am an American, but because I am ashamed of these acts no matter who is performing them.

Arnold Van Fossen
Waikiki

UH tickets should be donated to children

In the past few years, I have noticed the attendance at University of Hawaii athletic events dwindle. Sometimes there are fewer than 1,000 fans at UH baseball games. There are fewer than 25,000 fans at the UH football games and less than capacity crowds at volleyball and basketball games

To increase attendance and revenue, I suggest that UH donate tickets for every sporting event. If the athletic department donated football tickets to the Pop Warner or Pee Wee leagues and gave tickets to youth basketball, baseball, or volleyball leagues, the young athletes and their parents would attend. Although there would be no revenue from the tickets, there undoubtedly would be an increase in parking fees, UH apparel sales and even an increase in the revenue generated from refreshments.

This would be a win-win situation. The kids would benefit by attending for free; the state would benefit because there would be an increase in revenue. Finally, the athletes themselves would like to play before a much larger audience.

Jason Tani
Honolulu