Furlough flailing grows tiresome

Signe Godfrey of a professional employment placement agency is correct in her letter regarding how many of us now unemployed in the private sector wish we had a state job (”;Furloughs help to preserve jobs,”; Star-Bulletin, June 8). How much better to lose three days' furlough a month than your entire job!

It is tiresome to hear the whining complaints from people who think they will have to wait 45 minutes instead of the usual 15, due to employee furloughs in state agencies. Everything has slowed down anyway, so what's the difference in businesses, licenses, etc., being obtained at a longer wait for service? Most of the complaints are from idle folks who sit home and don't have to punch a time clock.

The governor should take a much larger cut in her 35 percent raise, along with all the legislators who enjoy a lot more than the rest of unemployed people. Just try to remember all this at the polls next time you vote!

It's time to fill in the pool and move on already

To paraphrase Henry II: “;Who will rid me of this Natatorium?”;

Don't misunderstand. I'm 100 percent behind any private initiative to fund the Waikiki Natatorium's restoration and maintenance. But where are the offers? Friends of the Natatorium, Oahu Veterans Center, Kapiolani Park Preservation Society and Historic Hawaii Foundation all seem eager only to throw our dwindling tax dollars at this largest and whitest of white elephants.

Be realistic. What sane banker would loan a single dollar toward restoring a salt water pool on a beach, a pool whose design proved terminally flawed, a pool that has seen many more inactive years than active ones. And yet, we taxpayers are being asked to underwrite such a project.

As a fitting memorial to our brave World War I veterans, I'd fill in the pool and create in its place a gate ball lawn for our senior citizens to enjoy, or a volleyball court, or some other venue that would invite public use.

And somewhere on the site, I would install a pedestal and plaque perhaps bearing Laurence Binyon's poignant words from the same war: “;At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.”;

Obama insurance plan hurts those who need it

Legislation to provide universal health insurance being drafted by the majority Democrats in Congress and endorsed by President Obama includes reducing medical benefits to recipients of Medicare and Medicaid. To reduce medical benefits to the elderly and poor, vulnerable populations because of age or poverty requiring substantial medical care, is unconscionable!

This same legislation includes taxing individuals and families for the contribution for health insurance made by employers. Obama has also endorsed this proposal in spite of his strong opposition to the idea during the campaign. To substantially increase taxes on individuals and families at a time during this severe recession when people are struggling to make ends meet and are facing wage cuts will only serve to further deepen the recession and thwart economic recovery.

Duke Bainum's service will be remembered

A tragic event for Honolulu: Duke Bainum, councilman and medical doctor, has died. Bainum was a great asset to Honolulu and his untimely death will sadden many.

A renowned physician, he deeply cared about the health of Hawaii's residents. He so deeply cared about Honolulu that he gave up his medical practice to enter politics.

Hopefully Bainum's successor will follow closely in his footsteps. Rest in peace, Duke Bainum.

Many using Internet fail to stop and think

Seeing Rhonda Wong-Fernandez sentenced to one year in prison for releasing confidential medical information over the Internet (”;Woman who revealed AIDS info gets a year,”; Star-Bulletin, June 10) makes me stop to think about the many ways this electronic age has changed the face of our community.

Our lives are no longer ours to live in private. Identity theft starts off by ruining one's credit rating, and for the victim means an endless road of proving another person's deceit. This isn't the “;Big Brother”; that George Orwell wrote about. This is your next-door neighbor. It's the guy in the next cubby at work. It's the teller at your bank or, in the aforementioned case, it's the medical worker at your clinic.

Recently, I've been reading the comments at the end of the online newspaper stories. Some are interesting, pertinent comments. Many are scathing, cruel commentary. Is there a need to provide a platform for these anonymous notes?

More than anything, there is a false sense of security we all feel as we hide behind what we perceive to be the anonymity of the electronic connection. We need to remember that what goes around comes around and when it does, it usually jumps up and bites you in the behind.