Staggering traffic cheaper than rail

In response to "Transit forums seek environmental concerns" (Star-Bulletin, March 28): During the spring break one will notice way less traffic on our highways. So what I suggest in regard to the traffic problem is staggered working hours. Change and stagger the starting times for students and workers from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Using spring break as an example and the fact that there is less traffic while students are off the highways is proof that my traffic strategy works.

Spending exorbitant sums of money on a transit system when all it takes is a little independent, creative reasoning is the favorite pastime of a fool or money-hungry politicians, real estate developers, bankers and building contractors.

Growing Leeward areas needs rail

Our roads are getting more congested each day as more homes are being built, especially on the leeward side of Oahu. You can't stop progress but you can have good planning.

The city is planning a mass transit rail project, and once again it seems the same group of people is questioning whether or not it will work.

I think most are getting weary of this negative thinking. They are at it again, asking the same old questions: "Will it cost too much, who will ride it, what guarantees do we have?" The only guarantee is that if nothing is done, things will only get worse. It's time for action, not talk.

We need a first-class rail system to deal with our traffic problems. And we needed to build it yesterday.

UH athletic director dropped the ball

Warrior fans are anticipating the most exciting football season this year especially with the return of quarterback Colt Brennan, probably the most celebrated player to play for the University of Hawaii. However, there is one damper -- the schedule is yet to be filled, with two open slots. The person responsible is UH athletic director Herman Frazier (Star-Bulletin, March 25).

For weeks, Frazier has promised to fill the remaining spots and for weeks, we fans have been left with zeroes and lame excuses. Who knows why the schedule is incomplete or why he is taking so long? Isn't he supposed to be the man in charge? Isn't he supposed to know what he is doing? Or is he just plain incompetent?

At this late date, we are left with the scraps to choose from, teams like Charleston Southern, which will hardly draw any raves and respect around the country and will certainly not help Brennan's chances of achieving the Heisman Trophy. Brennan sacrificed this season instead of opting for the NFL where he could have ultimately made millions. It's a shame that the athletic director fumbled the ball and let Brennan, the team and the thousands of fans down. He should resign or simply be dismissed.

CIA trained bad guys it now wants to fight

The CIA recruited at the University of Hawaii at Hilo for the first time earlier this month. The recruiter said that he thinks about people who want to attack America all of the time. Didn't the CIA play a role in the bad intelligence that led us into the war in Iraq? Didn't the CIA have a role in training both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein?

As much as the CIA claims it wants to prevent the "bad guys" from attacking us, it sure is doing a good job of making the world ripe for terrorism.

Founders didn't base U.S. on Christianity

Christians in favor of in-school Bible study would like us to believe that Christian beliefs led to the creation of the U.S. government. A little unbiased research will show that this was not the case.

Our most influential Founding Fathers broke away from traditional religious thinking. Although they supported the free exercise of any religion, they also understood and wanted to protect against the dangers of a religious state. Most believed in deism and attended Freemasonry lodges, which were strong advocates of religious freedom. The First Amendment stands as the bulkhead against an establishment of a religious state and at the same time insures the free expression of any belief. The Treaty of Tripoli, an instrument of the Constitution, clearly stated our non-Christian foundation. We inherited common law from Great Britain, which derived from pre-Christian Saxons rather than from Biblical scripture.

That being said, I support the study of the Bible in schools as long as it is accompanied by a comparative study of all major belief systems -- including "secular humanism." There is no denying that religious belief plays a major role in politics. We owe it to our children to help them understand the situation better.

Hawaii needs its own modern-day Houdini

Harry Houdini was world famous; a "celebrity" produced by the then-new phenomenon of a worldwide network of daily newspapers: enter mass media.

How interesting that Houdini was an illusionist, gaining his fame performing acts of trickery -- deceiving the eye and the mind to perceive something other than what would be knowable through individual observation using critical analysis. Yet, Houdini also was a debunker of hoaxers.

Houdini used his celebrity to attack the charlatans of his time: those advocating Spiritualism, which included as believers other widely known people, such as Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame.

Who would he be debunking today if living in Hawaii? My candidates are Kamehameha Schools; our congressional delegation; the attorney general; the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; the City and County of Honolulu corporation counsel office; non-Hawaiians using "Hawaiian" culture to promote their agendas; and the City Council and mayor of Honolulu because these are some of today's equivalents to the Spiritualist hoaxers of yesteryear.

Our hoaxers deserve debunking for their performance in distorting what is real as determined by the U.S. Constitution through staging political magic tricks involving native Hawaiians and Hawaiians.

Alleged copper thief received swift justice

Why is the Department of Transportation so concerned about about someone getting electrocuted while trying to steal copper wires from under a freeway overpass ("Copper death leads to 3 suspects," Star-Bulletin, March 16)? I'd certainly prefer HECO's brand of justice over our judicial system. Lest you judge me to think life is cheap, I do not. As a parent of two, I can tell you it is very expensive.

If the latest recipient of HECO's judicial powers, in his fifties, had lived, how much do you think that would have cost, aside from the repair of the wires? A full-blown police report, medical treatment involving EMS, an ER visit along with multiple diagnostic tests and physicians with follow-up appointments for who knows how long?

And if he were permanently disabled, guess who would foot the bill for the rest of his life? Then figure in a run through the backlogged judiciary system, again using up valuable time and resources, only to be put back on the streets so the cycle can continue well into his sixties!

Now multiply all this by the inevitable number of times this person has been arrested and you can see life is not cheap at all.

Inevitably these state and city funds will trickle down from the programs that need them the most. The ones for the poor and needy, people who are desperately trying to keep their lives together with government assistance.

So when copper is stolen so are hope, need and trust.

All that pork and nothing for Hawaii

As part of their mad efforts to destroy George Bush by requiring an untimely troop withdrawal from Iraq, congressional Democrats got the majority they needed by buying votes with pork-barrel handouts.

One California congressman got $25 million for spinach farms in his district. A Georgia congressman got $75 million for peanut storage, and Louisiana and Mississippi got $120 million for shrimp fishermen.

All told $20 billion in pork was handed out to get the needed votes. But apparently Hawaii Congress members Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono came away empty-handed.

Next election, let's send some people to Washington who can get down and dirty in the best Democratic congressional tradition and bring home some bacon while "supporting the troops"!