Riding rail is best way to avoid all that traffic

Regarding Saturday's letter by Paul Guncheon on traffic and trains ("We need synchronized lights, not costly trains"), I'm a Kaneohe resident, too. But I support the mayor's efforts to build a rail system for exactly the same reasons he cites.

We need another way to get around downtown and beyond. And the answer is not more roads and more traffic lights, synchronized or otherwise. An elevated rail system won't be affected by cars and traffic jams, bad weather, or intersections and stop lights.

I take rail transit whenever I'm in the San Francisco Bay area or in San Diego, maybe twice a month. And it's more convenient, easier and cheaper than driving.

Honolulu should build a modern rail system, too.

Lingle shouldn't veto pure-vaccine bill

By putting Senate Bill 2133 on her list of legislation to veto, Governor Lingle has put us all on notice: You may continue to receive a neurotoxin in your vaccine, without your knowledge (Star-Bulletin, June 28).

SB 2133 would ban mercury in vaccines. Most flu vaccines contain 25 mcg of mercury, well over the EPA limit for an adult, but it is available in a mercury-free version. The flu vaccine is now recommended for pregnant women and children starting at 6 months of age.

Under the bill, if the mercury-free version is not available, people may be given mercury containing vaccines, with informed consent.

Mercury has no place in our vaccines. It is a 70-year-old technology, made unnecessary by cleaner manufacturing of vaccines. It is a known neurotoxin and can cause neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Public perception of the safety of vaccines has a direct impact on immunization rates. Let's reassure the public that they will not be getting mercury in their vaccines unless absolutely necessary, and restore public confidence in vaccines.

Golfer's score hardly a 'disappointment'

I could not believe my eyes yesterday when I saw the above-the-fold, Page 1 headline over a picture of Michelle Wie: "Another Major Disappointment." I understand that this is supposed to come off as a clever pun on the word "major," and that anything that has to do with Wie is going to sell newspapers, but seriously, have you no sense of perspective?

How is it that a 16-year-old girl who enters a competition against the greatest golfers in the world and comes in third, two strokes behind the leaders after 72 holes, and walks away with $150,000 -- a lot more money than any of the headline writers at the Star-Bulletin are likely to make in a year -- can be said to have suffered a "disappointment"?

No, she didn't win the tournament outright, not this time. But she played terrific golf, dug herself out of the holes she got into, kept her composure and defeated all but two of the best players on the planet. That sounds more like a triumph than a disappointment to me.

Chicken hawks should go roost in Iraq

I am amazed that people are still complaining about 1st Lt. Ehren Watada not serving honorably or not living up to his commitments. What about the federal government? Does it not have a responsibility to be honest with the American public? Does it not also have an obligation not to send our troops into a war that cannot be won? Did we not learn anything from Vietnam?

World War II taught us that just following orders is no excuse. Soldiers have a responsibility to live up to a moral code, which it appears is just not being followed in Iraq. This is not to say that all soldiers serving in Iraq are without honor or ethics. However, too many are serving who have no honor or ethics, and this should stop.

I suggest that people who still support President Bush and this war enlist. Then soldiers with morals and ethics can come home. Frankly, the chicken hawks of this administration should be placed on the front line.

Church volunteers clean up Moiliili

We of the Moiliili community owe a debt of gratitude to the HOPE 968 (Pastor Joel) folks. Last Wednesday, 14 members of this Moiliili-based church spent an afternoon painting over graffiti on bus stops and public property. It was a great time of sharing and giving back to the community. One bus rider even took a brush and joined in!

HOPE 968 would like to extend this service to all Moiliili store owners. E-mail us at rnlockwoodohana@yahoo.com with the store name, address and we will try our best.

Supporting this effort also were Old Town Moiliili Business Association, KCAA Mother Rice Pre- School, a paint store and the McCully-Moiliili Neighborhood Board's Outreach Committee. And, of course, we would welcome more volunteers.