Those who sue schools act like spoiled brats
With so many other schools available, I look with wonder at these continued lawsuits to get non-Hawaiians into the Kamehameha Schools, which were intended to help disadvantaged children of Hawaiian descent (
Star-Bulletin, Dec. 6).
It's like the situation where a child wants something more because he can't have it, and throws a tantrum to get it.
Ted Chernin
Honolulu
Everyone wins with solar-incentive law
Hawaii has an ideal environment to make solar power an alternative energy source to decrease our reliance on fossil fuel, reduce the high cost of electricity and help slow down global warming. So why don't we have any net-metering laws?
Forty states have passed net-metering laws, which give people incentives to invest in a grid-tied solar power system. With the grid-tied solar power system, the sun is the renewable energy source. If there is a day without a lot of sun and you don't have enough solar-powered energy, you can buy electricity from the power company; you will never be out of power.
Also, with the grid-tied solar power system, if you generate more electricity than you need, you can sell the excess back to the power company. You win because the power company pays you for the energy. The power company wins because it has reduced its reliance on fossil fuels for energy. The planet wins because you've helped slow down global warming.
Camille Watts
Kailua
Troops not trained to fight others' civil wars
I may be a minority voice on this, but here it is anyway: The United States won the war in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was thrown out of office by our military. What is now happening is, our forces are caught in a civil war between various religious factions. Our military is not trained to occupy foreign countries and fight internal civil wars. We won the war -- it is time to bring our troops home.
James Borden
Hilo, Hawaii
Send Civil Defense warnings to phones
Civil Defense alerts -- sirens, radio and televised -- often seem to go unheard or be out of reach when one is away from home.
However, everyone has a cell phone. Let's allow Civil Defense to trigger all cellular antennas to ring all phones, perhaps with a special ring, as an alert. More detailed broadcasts could then be made available on radio and television once they had everyone's attention.
Everett Peacock
Paia, Maui
Aloha much more than a word to veterans
I read your paper online every day, without fail. I live in San Gabriel, Calif. In 1965 I was stationed with the 1st Battalion 5th Marines; we were on are way to Vietnam. We trained at Kaneohe Bay. I loved it then and have returned so many times with my career in the Marine Corps.
Aloha is not just a word in your paper. I see the concern shown as the war in Iraq continues. Hawaii still treats the military like family. God bless you and yours!
Jim Davlin
U.S. Marine Corps, retired
San Gabriel, Calif.
Rail is a necessary alternative to driving
As an Aiea resident, I know too well what can happen when our highways and roads are blocked. This can be because of a traffic accident, bad weather or in the case of Sept. 5, when the H-1 was shut down by the damaged pedestrian overpass.
Yet traffic continues to grow, and more cars are on the road every day. The sensible solution is a mass transit alternative. Rail would give people a choice to take transit instead of being stuck in traffic.
Many modern cities have good highway and road systems, but also have good rail and bus systems. Not everyone will take rail, but at least we will be given a choice in the future. The alternative is gridlock that will keep us tied up on the highways and waste hours and hours of our valuable time and money in traffic.
Stan Sagum
Aiea