If mistakes were made, Telcom should say so

Your article regarding Hawaiian Telcom's difficulties in providing e-mail service to some of its customers caught my attention since I was one of those affected ("Some HawTel customers hit e-mail glitches in change-over," Star-Bulletin, April 4).

Hawaiian Telcom, to its credit, provided sufficient instructions for most people to configure most e-mail clients. Following the instructions posted online, I was able to reconfigure my e-mail client and successfully retrieve e-mail on Saturday and Sunday.

However, last Monday my e-mail program was not able to log into and retrieve e-mail from Hawaiian Telcom's e-mail server. After about an hour of repeated trying, lo and behold everything was working fine again. This suggests to me that Hawaiian Telcom was indeed experiencing problems but is reluctant to admit it.

Instead, the Hawaiian Telcom spokesperson would have us believe that the difficulties that customers were having were the problem of the customer and that Hawaiian Telcom is blameless.

I find myself agreeing with an observation made by one interviewee that Hawaiian Telcom was not prepared for the transition. The fact that its portal was still not up and running after three days gives credence to that statement.

Conflict of interest may sink tort reform

Regarding Senate Bill 3279, SD2, HD1:

I am writing to voice my astonishment and utter distaste for what I see as a flagrant abuse of power by the head of the Judiciary Committee with regard to the referenced legislative bill. This critical bill addresses granting malpractice tort reform to those physicians providing trauma care and obstetrics and gynecology services.

As I understand, Rep. Sylvia Luke, head of the House Judiciary Committee, has no intention of hearing this bill. This is clearly a conflict of interest, as she is a trial lawyer whose firm engages in malpractice law. How can trial lawyers be allowed to control bills that are in conflict of interest concerning malpractice tort reform? The situation is intolerable!

This bill is critical due to the shortage of physicians in these specialities in Hawaii. One of my personal physicians is seriously considering leaving the islands due to his exposure to malpractice suits and grossly inadequate reimbursement by local insurance carriers. Passage of this legislation may persuade him to stay the course.

Hawaii Kai zoning allowed large facility

A March 8 letter to the editor stating that the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board approved a self-storage facility being built near Hawaii Kai Marina is correct. However, further explanation is warranted.

First, that property was zoned for such a facility, and the decision on what to build is between the landlord and the developer. Since it didn't require rezoning, the neighborhood board did not have authority to determine what could be built.

Second, months prior to the self-storage presentation, the board requested that the developers meet with the community for input and feedback. They met with individuals (including many who regularly attended the board meetings) and numerous groups, including the Hawaii Kai Marina Association, Hawaii Kai Condo Managers Association, other clubs and condo associations. Feedback and comments were considered and used to incorporate into their final design.

The final design of this facility was approved at the neighborhood board meeting after those community meetings. We highly encourage all our residents to comment on matters that affect our community, city and state. They can do this by actively attending and participating in the neighborhood board process.

President needs to get story straight on debt

If everyone remembers, President Bush said in his State of the Union address that he will cut the national debt in half by 2009. Last week he blamed the growth of the national debt on the rising costs of Medicare and Social Security. Isn't that expected? How come he doesn't mention the billions of dollars spent on defense and on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? We need a more intelligent president.

With improvements, mankind will survive

Here's a short list of evils we must cure if mankind is not to perish like the dinosaurs and leave the planet to the better-organized insects.

1. Cancer
2. AIDS
3. Alzheimer's disease
4. Religion: man's most pernicious form of mental illness
5. Tribalism and racism: excessive pride in one's ancestors
6. Pollution of the earth, sea and air
7. Cronyism and corruption in business and government
8. Anti-progress politics: the right wing
9. Control by the military industrial complex (picture world peace)
10. Cell phones in public places

One day man may be plugged in permanently

According to Darwin's theory of evolution, nature has a way of altering creatures to best enable them to survive.

Does this mean that future generations of humankind will be born with either cell phones or I-pods permanently attached to their ears?