Mayor takes trash off Waimanalo streets

Mahalo, Mufi Hannemann, for giving us regular bulky item pickup for the Waimanalo community. Before, we had to call up and schedule a pickup. Sometimes we had to wait for months.

Now, we can already see the kind of big opala that used to be dumped in vacant lots, streams and way up in the valleys is being left for pickup at curbs all over the coast. The city workers have picked up everything, and we appreciate their work.

So mahalo nui loa to everybody involved. Keep up the good work.

Taxing residents won't make traffic lighter

It is totally amazing to me that the people who have been elected to various positions forget about the people they represent when they get into office. The tax and fee increases being proposed by our state Legislature this year are a travesty. We are already the most taxed and regulated state in the nation. Does the Legislature want to kill our economy completely?

These new taxes and fees are supposed to help traffic and improve the availability of affordable housing. This is not going to work. Any 12-year-old who has a semblance of common sense could figure that out.

Very few people will ride the proposed rail system. We will not give up our cars, and if the people in the Legislature would look at things in a logical way they would be able to figure this out.

Congressman Neil Abercrombie testified at the Legislature that anyone who did not agree with the tax increase had only half a brain. I contend our legislators who are supporting this measure are lacking in brain function.

Second-hand smoke caught up in red tape

The headline of William Moake's April 11 letter to the editor, "State health officials aren't doing their jobs," should also read "because of all the bureaucratic red tape."

Can you believe it has been more than 35 years since former surgeon general C. Everett Koop stated that smoking was the No. 1 killer in the United States, and our state indoor quality inspectors do not have any guidelines to measure the hazards of second-hand tobacco smoke (aka ETS or environmental tobaccos smoke)? Their first reply was that they have no guidelines to follow.

When I mentioned the guidelines from second-hand smoke consultant James Repace, they changed their tune to say the Environmental Protection Agency has so many guidelines to choose from and they aren't sure what to follow.

That's bureaucratic red tape in its highest form. Almost 500,000 die each year in the United States from tobacco products while the EPA decides what guideline to follow.

Japan should atone for war crimes

Thank you for Monday's Associated Press story of the disruption in Beijing over the textbooks' noncoverage of the Japanese World War II atrocities. It is a shame that Japan is too cowardly to admit to the war crimes it committed against the Chinese people and to atone for them.

If Japan continues to hide from its past, a real disruption is likely to occur. The Chinese already have warned Japanese living in China to be careful for their safety, and the Chinese have warned that the upcoming Olympics being held there will likely have large demonstrations against Japan. The disturbing 1997 book "The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang spells out these atrocities -- 10 to 19 million Chinese civilians murdered by heinous Japanese war criminals, 300,000 in Nanking alone during a six-week period.

Japan has a chance to avert a major problem and it should admit its crimes, apologize to the victims and offer compensation for its deeds. The German government has done so for the Jewish people. Isn't it time for Japan to do so also?

Courts treat molesters better than Martha

My heart goes out to the Florida family of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was allegedly brutally murdered by sex offender John Couey. Later Couey then buried her body 150 yards from her home.

What will it take for our courts and judges to start ordering ankle bracelets placed on people like John Couey instead of on people like Martha Stewart?

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