Stand up if you haven't sent racy e-mails

Just curious. I wonder how many of these “;racist and sexist e-mails”; were designed, crafted or produced by Rex Johnson?

I wonder how many he might have received by highly placed friends who belong to the NAACP, trial lawyers, Republican or Democrats in varied positions. Could it be that fellow members of the Hawaii Tourism Authority forwarded any or all of the scatological material to their leader?

Has Mr. Johnson apologized only twice or does he need to repeat and repeat and repeat? I don't know about you, but, gulp, I've even received some racy, off-color ditties from young to senior little old ladies!

Shocking ...

Congress failed to act wisely in war matters

George Bush is being blamed for our troops being in Iraq. He is only one man; what has Congress been doing all of this time? It could have withheld the authority to conduct a war in a foreign country. Since we now have a Democratic majority in Congress, we still don't seem to be able to bring our troops home. I cringe every time I hear of our military members becoming casualties.

We don't know for sure where the terrorists who invaded our shores came from, so to jump from Afghanistan to Iraq was not a well-thought-out strategy. Now we are increasing troops in Afghanistan, a place where we should have stayed until the job was really completed.

Considering the current financial situation in the U.S., it would behoove our government to expedite the return of our troops sooner rather than later.

We could have stopped this bailout travesty

Help is on the way to rescue the outright crooks and the dimwitted, who thought the bill would never come due. And they were right. It is you and me, brother, who will foot the bill for the insane excesses that have gone on in the new century. Banks, mortgage companies, brokers and gamblers will all be rescued with my money and yours. Without a doubt there will be mayhem when the bill comes due and we have Weimar Republic inflation and have to use a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread. With the trillion dollars or more that the Fed is printing, there is no way to avoid inflation.

As much as I cry over this travesty, I have to own up to some responsibility. I knew that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in the tank for years. When financial reporters started writing about the depth of the problem, as far back as 1997, I did nothing. I didn't call my senators or representatives or send them faxes. I didn't send a barrage of e-mails and telephone calls to my broker or the money market fund or bank where I have accounts. Nor did most citizens. My voice would have been a voice in the dark but a million voices might have turned on some light.

We shouldn't pay for hurricane risk-takers

In response to the outcry over the lack of services and supplies being given out to the people who continue to stay in areas devastated by Hurricane Ike: We should remind everyone that these people have been repeatedly told to leave the area, both before and since the storm. They chose to stay, despite the fact that there would be no water, sewage, garbage, electricity or police and emergency services for many weeks.

Why, then, should the rest of us taxpayers, whose money is already constantly being sucked dry, be expected to pay to help these holdouts continue living in a disaster zone? If you chose to live there, go ahead, but what makes you think you can put a gun to my head and make me pay to care for you?

Why aren't we required to cut back water use?

It seems we have a major drought and Hawaii is ignoring these facts. Normal yearly rainfall in Honolulu is 28.41 inches; so far the entire rainfall for the year is 3.43 inches. We should have about 19 inches by now. The weather section in the paper says normal for this time of year is 10.66.

Hydrologists, how bad is this drought? I notice the palm trees at Ala Moana Beach Park look bad. Where are the statewide water restrictions? Where is the law that golf courses only use reclaimed water instead of clean potable water? They waste millions of gallons a day! Where is the law banning watering or at least restricting it to before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.? Is this drought from climate change? What water restrictions will help save water? When will statewide efforts to save water start?

Hawaii fans want more West Coast football

Open letter to our local TV stations: Am I the only football fan who wonders why on Sunday we receive all this East Coast coverage of teams, and seem to rarely receive the West Coast coverage? I realize there are time difference issues, but please, most of us are far more interested in Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Denver ... can you please do something?