Those going 10 over aren't the problem

The police are arresting more speeders and are wondering why they are not stemming the slaughter on the highways. The answer is so simple. You can arrest all the 10-15 mph over-the-limit drivers on Oahu but that will not help the situation because the carnage-on-the-road problem stems from excessive speeders — the 80 to 100-plus mph drivers.

Stop harassing the good guys and go after the REAL bad guys.

There's no 'dignity' in assisted suicide

Last month, Democratic leadership of the Hawaii House of Representatives fast-tracked the so-called “;Death with Dignity”; bills, House Bill 587 and HB 806, re-assigning them from both the Health and Judiciary committees to just one, Judiciary. Physician-assisted suicide is an issue that intimately involves the medical community, in addition to affecting the public. Bypassing the Health committee and not allowing this legislation to be considered by health experts shows ignorance and disrespect on the part of House leadership for the health care community and people of Hawaii.

Legalization of physician- assisted suicide irrevocably transforms the role of the physician-healer from one of preserving life to one of ending life. It leads to deterioration of the doctor-patient relationship and adversely affects the entire health care delivery system.

We know watching Oregon and the Netherlands that physician-assisted suicide leaves society's most vulnerable — the poor, sick, elderly and disabled — subject to abuse and coercion, regardless of proposed safeguards. Once the door to doctor-facilitated death is opened, the expectation arises that certain population segments have a “;duty to die”; because they are “;less useful”; and “;over-users of resources.”; This leads to genocide, eugenics and abuses of the worst kind.

Why should gays have to pay more taxes?

Equal justice under the law means equal criminal and civil rights; it does not mean that people are all supposed to earn as much as their neighbors. I think something that is overlooked in the debate about civil unions is that many gay couples cannot file a joint tax return. This is flat-out discrimination against gays.

Suppose you have two couples, both with no children, and just one wage earner in the couple. One couple is gay and the other is heterosexual. Under current laws, the straight couple can file “;married,”; filing a joint return, and the gay couple would have to file “;single.”; Suppose further that each couple had a taxable income of $90,000. The straight couple would pay $15,194 (using 2008 IRS tables). The gay couple would have to pay $19,185 to the IRS.

This does not include the numerous credits that are usually more available to married couples than they are to singles.

Senators refused to hear tort testifiers

I nearly died from lack of access to medical care as a tourist on the Big Island. Recently, I flew from my home in Washington state to testify at your state Legislature, at my own expense, supporting medical tort reform. Just before I was called to testify, the Senate Health Committee chairman, David Ige, and committee member Sen. Rosalyn Baker, left the room. I had very important things to say and it was a huge slap in the face to have them walk out. They patiently listened to the lawyers, why couldn't they listen to me? There was a doctor who flew in from Texas who was very informative, whom they walked out on as well.

Following the testimony, Ige deferred the bill without allowing the committee members to vote. There were four members for the bill and only two against it. This is not democracy!

Hawaiians might need divine intervention

After sorrow is expressed for wrongdoings, such as taking something that doesn't belong to you, precedent calls for returning the items in order to demonstrate sincerity of the apology. So selling what was taken, like ceded lands that belong to native Hawaiians, doesn't illustrate sorrow, it adds insult to injury, an action that cries out for justice to punish those who support this crime. Since these lands were confiscated, the state of Hawaii lacks clear title!

In a perfect world, the Supreme Court would order; 1) return of the ceded lands to native Hawaiians and 2) restitution by confiscating the homes of those who support selling ceded lands, and auction of those homes with the proceeds going to help homeless Hawaiians. That's justice!

Beware the Supreme Court, which is comprised of many legal minds that were appointed by men like George Bush, who served the best interest of business rather than all the people so justice may not be served. You may want to ask your Supreme Being to influence the Supreme Court. Thunder and lighting would be good!