Rules get broken, but we still need them

The main argument against prohibiting alcohol at Aloha Stadium during University of Hawaii football games seems to be, "They're going to do it anyway." Well, that's a great way to look at things. In fact, let's just apply it to our other problems.

First, let's get rid of the pesky speed limits. After all, people are going to speed anyway!

Second, let's just legalize crystal meth because people are going to do it anyway!

Third, let's make it legal to physically and sexually abuse children. Why not? People are going to do it anyway!

And finally, let's get rid of the age limits on drinking, buying cigarettes and purchasing guns. After all, kids are going to drink and smoke, and people are going to carry illegal weapons anyway. Why bother actually doing something about it?

Why? Safety!

Dissenters were right about transit tax

Taxpayers and voters should applaud the votes of City Council members Charles Djou and Barbara Marshall against the transit tax. As Djou said, passing the tax is putting the cart before the horse. There is no idea of the construction cost of rail, no idea if rail will decrease traffic, no idea about environmental, maintenance and labor costs.

Hawaii is considered to be one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation. Are voters ready for a 9 percent or 10 percent transit tax down the road when there are cost overruns in the rail project and another tax increase is decided by the politicians?

Some acts of war can be forgiven

Mary K. Woodlief stated that she has issues with "forgiveness" and Japan's "Forgiveness Day" (Letters, Aug. 12). Forgiveness is sometimes difficult to extend. Perhaps a change in perspective could give us empathy, so at the risk of being misquoted as Ward Churchill, this is how I try to understand another's perspective in this matter.

Some wars, like our current Iraq war, are unavoidable, and, like the bombing of the World Trade Center, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were also civilian targets. But like many Americans, I'm unable to forgive the 9/11 terrorists for choosing civilian targets in their war against the United States. So with this perspective, I'm humbled by the ability of the Japanese people to forgive the United States for choosing non-military targets, killing thousands of innocent civilians, to end a war in which they were probably just as divided as we are in ours with Iraq.

World War II, like any war, was terrible, and people on both sides did things that were inhumane (have you ever heard of a humane war?). Both sides should apologize and leave the wound alone. The United States and Japan have enjoyed decades of peace and good relations. Why gouge open this wound to debate the politics of that war only to avoid an apology? Who would this benefit?

Is there no justice for Hawaiians?

Auwe on the John Doe case! Plaintiff attorney Eric Grant has stated he may ask the courts for money for damages for the "indignity of facing discrimination, for the lost educational opportunity and potential higher income and to punish the schools for deliberately violating his (client's) constitutional rights."

What a perversity of justice. What do I tell my five kids of Hawaiian ancestry who, like me and many of our people, have been displaced from our island home? What about our educational opportunities and our rights?

Hawaiians have historically and systematically been invaded and oppressed. Now we have some people use the laws and courts for their advantage, while our rights as indigenous people were disregarded and trampled over in the past.

Yes, a perversity of justice, indeed.

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