Wie headline was rude and in poor taste

Your choice of words for the headline of an article written about Michelle Wie's failure to make the cut is in extremely bad taste ("Wie, Wie, Wie ... all the way home," July 9). If you were trying to be funny, it isn't funny at all. I, for one, am not laughing and neither are thousands and thousands of Michelle's supporters. I am surprised that you would stoop so low to get a few laughs.

My first impression was that the Star-Bulletin was making a mockery of Michelle's attempts to play with the "big boys," and when she failed again to make the cut, you were saying to her, "Poor Michelle, did not make the cut again, so go crying 'wee, wee,' all the way home."

Wounded pilot inspires others to soar

Thank you for printing the story about Capt. Tammy Duckworth (Star-Bulletin, July 3-5). I also would like to thank her for sharing her story with the people of Hawaii.

Losing both your legs is a tragedy regardless of how you lose them, whether in an accident or in the service of your country. Her story of sacrifice touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

I hope that she will be successful and given the opportunity fly a Black Hawk again. But if she is not given the opportunity, I want to say to her that she is already flying again because she has not allowed her physical limitations to limit her dreams. Her story is one of inspiration to me, and I offer her my sincere thanks. Because of her service to our country, she has made the world a better place for me and my ohana.

As for wanting to always please her father -- that's done.

Lingle's veto will hurt injured workers more

I am an injured worker who thinks Governor Lingle made a mistake when she vetoed Senate Bill 1808, concerning workers compensation (Star-Bulletin, July 12).

First, under the new rules, more doctors will not take workers' comp cases. Doctors now must follow strict treatment guidelines or they don't get paid. They're not allowed to use their professional judgment about what is best for their patients. It's insulting.

Second, the average worker cannot go through the system by himself. He will need a lawyer much earlier, which means more cost to the worker, who's already losing a lot of money. Remember, he didn't ask to be hurt.

Third, the company and the injured worker will fight each other even more, instead of trying to find ways to get the worker back to work sooner.

The new rules will hurt injured workers more than they will help them. The Legislature should override the governor's veto to stop the administration from using the new rules.

Terrorists probably aren't after our buses

As a former Maui resident, I always wondered why the security lines at the Maui airport were three times longer than the lines at Washington-Reagan or at New York-LaGuardia. After reading the article about increased security on TheBus following the London bombing (Star-Bulletin, July 9), I figured that it was either paranoia or nothing else to do. I really don't think that terrorists have any great interest in the Kaimuki bus ... or Maui for that matter. Maybe they should concentrate efforts on the Molokai subway.

Recycling isn't really getting any easier

I have seen a number of reports claiming that recycling bottles and cans is getting easier because more sites are being opened or more reverse-vending machines are being made available. However, all of these additions have been made available weekdays before 5 p.m.

How is recycling being made easier for those of us who work full time? If I want to recycle, I still need to endure long waits during the scarce weekend hours, take off time from work or use my lunch break.

"Easier" would mean being able to recycle at all major supermarkets during regular store hours. Let them pay us using some of the deposit funds they collect when they sell us all those cans and bottles. Have them periodically present to the state the records of what they have paid out, along with whatever extra funds have been collected. To cover their costs, them keep some part of the bottle fees collected in excess of the five cents we get back.

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