Hannemann's right -- abandon natatorium

Our mayor-elect is correct in saying that taxpayers don't want to waste money restoring a salt-water pool that would be costly to maintain and few would pay to use, especially with the most famous swimming hole in the world -- Waikiki Beach -- just a few feet away. We're tired of this lame natatorium debate.

To the City Council: Remove this eyesore; give us back the beach; preserve the memorial arch and restrooms. Even the Duke would want to move on.

Aloha toward visitors will be remembered

I visited Oahu over Thanksgiving. I have fallen in love with your island and the people who live there. Everywhere we went, people were helpful and courteous. There are too many instances to list but here are a few.

» We were out of our hotel the first day of our adventure. We knew we were going to Manoa Falls. Before we knew how to get a bus schedule or even where to begin, a gentleman in a hotel uniform asked us if we needed help. He told us which bus to catch, how much the fare was and that we would need to transfer and told us to have exact change.

» On our second day we were at a bus stop discussing our plans to go to Diamond Head and then snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. At the bus stop we learned from a resident that the bay was closed on Tuesdays. It was beyond nice.

» We were at a bus stop after visiting Pearl Harbor and a bus driver pulled over and asked us if we were going back to Waikiki. We said we were and he told us we were at the wrong stop. Again, someone unsolicited gave us advice.

I have traveled fairly extensively throughout the world and I have lived in another country, but I have not experienced the warmth and beauty of local people like I did in Hawaii. Thank you so much to your island and people. I can hardly wait for my next visit.

U.S. judicial system not worth exporting

Speaking of strange customs in the judicial system, convicted murderer Scott Peterson's mother spent 90 minutes on the stand pleading for her son's life. For what purpose?

She was speaking to the same jury that just convicted him. If I were on the jury and had to listen to the murderer's family tell me what a wonderful person he is for a couple of days, I would send him to the electric chair three times. Strange.

I also see no legal basis for the family of the victim facing and verbally abusing the murderer. What is the purpose, except to vent your own bile?

We have taken a loosely bound group of laws, put them on a sled on a steep hill and greased the runners with emotion. The sled is given a shove over the top by a bunch of police with strange interpretations of their job.

What we do on a national basis is to take our barely functional system of laws and try to export it by gunpoint to replace judicial systems in other countries with a long history of out-and-out bribery.

Peterson deserves death penalty

I am elated that Scott Peterson was found guilty of the murder of his wife and their unborn son. The jury will deliberate again today to decide on the sentence -- execution or life in prison. Peterson is only 32, his life expectancy will be in decades. It is estimated that to keep an inmate in prison, costs about $30,000 a year. So it would cost the taxpayers at least a million dollars to lock him up for life. This money could be used for productive programs.

He has asked the court for leniency. Did he show any compassion for his wife and son? I hope the jury sentences him death. May the spirit of Laci and her son rest in peace!

U.N. could use extreme makeover

Since the United States seems intent remaking the world after its own image, why do it only one country at a time? If the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights are as wonderful as we like to think they are, why keep them to ourselves? Everybody could have them if the United Nations got an extreme makeover.

Throw out the old U.N. charter and replace it with a constitution that provides for three branches of government, with checks and balances, just like ours. Membership in a legislative branch with two chambers could be determined just like we choose senators and representatives. The Security Council could merge with the International Criminal Court and morph into a Supreme Court. The idea of a "president of the world" is a bit frightening, but perhaps a tribune of presidents would assure sufficient safeguards.

It would be a good idea to relocate the United Nations as well. A new "world capital" in Jerusalem might help Christians, Muslims and Jews to think twice before continuing to try to obliterate one another.

Once done, the United States could let the world run by itself. Why on earth would the U.S. want to give up all its power? Because the Cosmic Fortune Cookie reads: "You only get to keep what you give away."

Hawaii need not fear legal gambling

It's time Hawaii legalized gambling in a selected part of the islands, such as Kapolei. This would be an attractive incentive for new and repeat visitors and contribute to our economy.

The revenues can be used to lower or eliminate certain taxes, improve schools, pay for TheBus, lower tuition at the University of Hawaii, improve roads, build light-rail, the possibilities are endless!

Some will use scare tactics to try to get residents to oppose gambling, however, Las Vegas has about 17 percent fewer property crimes than Honolulu, according to a 2004 FBI report. And that this is after property crimes were already down 11.6 percent from two years prior.

Gambling can be bad if done in excess, which makes it no different from excess eating, smoking, drinking, or sex; however, it is an individual's choice to make, not one of an interest group.