Global positioning unit can save boaters' lives
Condolences to the families and friends of the two men who were recently lost while fishing alone at sea. Personal EPIRBS, a beacon that provides instant positioning information when the unit is activated, are inexpensive and easy to carry while fishing alone.If a solo fisherman hasn't purchased one, maybe his/her loved ones should push the issue. Clip on your EPIRB brothers, the interisland air captains will hear you probably immediately or at least every hour.
Jay Trennoche
Kapaa, KauaiScientists need help to set ethical limits
As a former scientist, I disagree with the Star-Bulletin's June 12 editorial that called for an end to federal restrictions on stem cell research. Science is not inherently righteous -- indeed the Nazis based their genocide on the then widely accepted "science" of eugenics. Science must be constrained within ethical boundaries. And scientists are not the proper people to be setting such limits because they have plenty of vested interests that ought to disqualify them.
Mike Rethman
Kaneohe'Fahrenheit 911' shows sins of both parties
An infant in their arms, a young couple hurry into an afternoon movie. As these parents squeeze into the few remaining seats in a packed theater, their nearest seat-mate is an venerable retired professor of Chinese language and literature.Similar scenes greeted movie-goers at "Fahrenheit 911" on Saturday. Latecomers missed all this social drama as they wandered up and down the aisles in search of a seat.
The movie is more than a story of Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell, Wolfowitz and corporate investors.
Early in "Fahrenheit 911," viewers see Al Gore in November 2000 in his final act as president of the Senate. Gore cuts off Rep. Patsy T. Mink and African-American congressional representatives, squelching their challenge to the purging of blacks from Florida voting rolls.
Fast-forward to the Iraq war. Bush and his advisers could not have done this by themselves. They needed domestic allies.
And they got them. Thus viewers will not miss the pliant statement and vote by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D, South Dakota).
Plus fans of Dan Rather, CNN, Fox News and embedded journalists will squirm in their seats as these anchors and reporters gush enthusiastically and explicitly defend their "bias."
Sen. John Kerry is understandably uncomfortable about "Fahrenheit 911." He should support the Bush administration campaign officials who wish to suppress this film.
If teenagers are permitted to view the R-rated aftermath of battlefield violence, young people will think twice before enlisting.
Vincent K. Pollard
HonoluluParents shouldn't have to pay for textbooks
On June 25 Gov. Linda Lingle allowed a bill passed by the Legislature to become law without her signature that would require parents to pay for their children's school books.Instead of putting another tax on parents, couldn't the Legislature and governor simply cut what is clearly a bloated Board of Education bureaucracy?
Let's see how many times we can charge the parents: once for the regular budget, again for the initial issuance of books, a third time because someone didn't order the right stuff and yet again because we bought into a new curriculum. And in a few years time, another new curriculum will come along.
But why should the governor or Legislature worry? It's not their money.
Bill Nelson
HaleiwaHilo welcomes ship with open arms
Hele Mai, Norwegian Cruise Lines' "Pride of Aloha." The ship's docking in Hilo brings needed money into our Big Island economy. So many on our island are unemployed. Our businesses are slowly closing. Our children are leaving home. We need the opportunities the cruise line offers.I find the hiring of Kamehameha Schools' 1969 graduate Wayne Chang as a cultural lecturer as confirmation of Norwegian's desire to uphold and preserve our Hawaiian culture. Very few can upstage Wayne and his vast knowledge of Hawaiiana. Wayne is "Mr. Aloha" personified. With Wayne's expertise one can rest assured that our culture is not being exploited. He would not allow it. Wayne is pono. He is one of the leaders who strive for the preservation of our mana'o, our Hawaiian values and culture.
Norwegian has provided a venue for Hawaiians to educate the visitors to our islands. A floating museum, a relaxing atmosphere to sink into and absorb the mo'olelo of our people.
To gain understanding and support of Hawaiian issues, we must educate our visitors so that they can return home and spread what they have learned. In Wayne's hands, one can be sure that they are receiving the true story in a truly Hawaiian way of sharing.
Melissa Haa Moniz
Hilo, Hawaii
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