BO ban on bus would be bias

I've heard it all now. Will it rain frogs now? It's blatant discrimination to deny anyone onto a mass transit system for his or her hygiene. Personal hygiene is just that, personal. To me the act of decency is, yes, a measurement of who in your near surroundings is offended for any reason.

I've lived in New York and Los Angeles, and let me say, if the stench of a person were to have him or her banned from any public transit, ridership would drop noticeably. So, does a veterinarian deny a dog help because it's covered in mud? Or what about that impeccably dressed gentleman who keeps flatulating a foul odor from a previous meal? All these scenarios exist all over the world.

Given global death, disease, famine, the very unhealthy national and global economies, health care crises, etc., I can't believe such a stupid and very discriminatory idea has even been mentioned. Gee, Hawaii's got it good if odorous people on buses make the news.

Limited gambling would help isles

I have been paying taxes in Hawaii for 45 years. During those years, I have observed that we have no solution to the problem of homelessness or the larger problem: the poverty of many of our unfortunate brother and sister citizens.

I am sick and tired of hearing about our political and social leaders wrangling about raising taxes and/or imposing other penalties. There is no solution to those problems. The best we can do is try to successfully cope with them.

We must assert our freedom to govern our state and local government.

We must establish bingo and poker parlors on each island to be operated by the island governments, and a state lottery under the control and management of an elected lottery executive. We must continue to oppose casino gambling.

Yes, we can create jobs, and cope with the problems of poverty — and care about our neighbors as well as ourselves.

Statehood foes ignore benefits

I feel sad for that minor group of people of Hawaii who oppose and despise statehood. There are many of us in these islands who benefit from statehood.

We became first-class citizens of the highest-class nation on Earth. We are the strongest and leader of democracy. We don't have to worry about our pension and security because the U.S. will never go bankrupt.

Our children can be leaders in any field or endeavor. They can be commissioned in the armed forces. If Barack Obama was born before statehood you wouldn't call him Mr. President right now. Those are a few of the benefits of statehood.

But let us respect those who oppose. I hope they see the light from the dark tunnel they are in now.

Kudos to Hirono for participating

Nick Nagel's letter (”;Isles' reps hide behind AARP,”; Sept. 3) accused Rep. Mazie Hirono of hiding behind AARP and failing to remain in Hawaii to hold “;real town hall meetings”; on health care, instead choosing to participate in an AARP telephone conference.

That same afternoon, I, along with several other members of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), met with Rep. Hirono in her Honolulu office, to discuss our concerns and issues and to ascertain her position on issues, including health care. So she had not run off to Washington as Nagel assumed.

I applaud Rep. Hirono for taking the time to meet with us and AARP for holding the telephone conference. Like Mr. Nagel, I also support health care reform but tumult and shouting is no way to achieve it.