News media should ignore Republicans

Thank you for not covering the visit to Honolulu by Newt Gingrich, Oliver North and Sean Hannity last week. They are part of the Republican "team" who have brought a demoralizing demise to democracy.

Media bias is cause for embarrassment

Kent Comstock (Letters, June 1) is absolutely right in spotlighting the Star-Bulletin and other media's liberal bias in the matter of the patriotic -- and charitable -- shows Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich and Oliver North brought to Hawaii.

The fact that the great majority of admission proceeds from their events are dedicated to college scholarships for the children of our uniformed services who were killed in the line of duty was especially newsworthy.

You gush at every opportunity to wring your hands and weep over "local" servicemen killed in "Bush's war," but choke when you have an opportunity to write a bit of feel-good in your newspaper. You should be ashamed! All of you! And for those of you too liberal to be ashamed, you should be embarrassed because of your lack of shame.

You can't overprepare for a hurricane

Regarding "Hurricanes happen be ready or be at risk" (Our Opinion, May 1): After last year's hurricane scare, I started thinking about being prepared. One thing that influenced me the most was the simple fact that we live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and cannot expect the kind of immediate help that I would have gotten had I still lived on the mainland. I then did what I would think most people would do, and that was to start checking on what the government recommends we do in such an emergency.

I quickly found out how inadequate the advice was. It seemed heavily weighted on the assumption that you will not have to fend for yourself for very long. So, I would suggest that if you really want to help the residents of this state, give some serious thought about the isolated position we are in and how the residents are to prepare themselves for the worst-case scenario. I don't need that advice any more, because I have since made up a list of last-minute things to do and have implemented a plan for our household.

But having said that, I cannot be absolutely certain that I have thought of everything, so any information would be helpful ... it will either result in my arriving at the conclusion that I am prepared, or it will show me that there are holes in my preparation.

Safe Haven laws help newborns survive

Since 1999, 47 states have passed Baby Safe Haven laws. Contrary to what critics say, Safe Haven laws do not strip the infants' family heritages or medical records.

Just prior to passage of the Massachusetts law, there were 13 abandoned babies. Six had their medical and familial histories made useless by death. Of the seven who survived, four lost their heritages due to anonymous unsafe abandonments. The mothers will never return due to possible prosecution.

Since our law was enacted in October 2004, there have been six safely surrendered newborns. All six have full medical histories given by the mothers. Four moms came back to sign full disclosure adoption contracts. The last two surrenders were in the last two months, and are being held as confidential. Those moms are immune from prosecution when they return to give this information.

Heritage stripping was eight times worse prior to passage of our Baby Safe Haven law. Gov. Linda Lingle's veto of Hawaii's Safe Haven law forces the stripping of heritages and medical records of abandoned newborns, jeopardizing their lives. Half of these infants will die. It's a bad decision to veto a proven life-saving law.

Kewalo Basin doesn't need HCDA's help

Your reporter Nina Wu captured most of the essence of the fight over Kewalo Basin in yesterday's story. The Hawaii Community Development Authority is trying to focus everyone's attention on needed repairs in their attempt to "privatize" this public facility, while the small business folks are trying to point out the long-term dangers of private ownership of not only the harbor, but its adjoining lands.

It is interesting that the HCDA, which has owned the entire facility for more than 16 years, is pointing to its own neglect as reason for violating the state concept of public trust lands. The HCDA is not the solution to a problem of disrepair; it is the problem itself.

Perhaps it is time for the governor to step in and return this public facility to a state agency that knows both how to safeguard public lands and operate a safe harbor.