Praise for Lingle comes with catch

Here comes a long-overdue word of praise for our governor. She knows we have a big budget shortfall, and she has to eliminate it. First she reduces expenses, and at 70 percent of the budget for labor, she has to cut there first. Of course, everybody affected cries “;unfair.”;

The decision to furlough the front-line fighting troops, the teachers, does not seem to make sense, though. Laying off many of the idle back-office paper shufflers would even improve our educational standing. Instead of being near the bottom of our national standing, perhaps we could move up. Reaching for an even higher standing seems illusory, as that would probably require laying off at least half of the Department of Education bureaucracy—and eliminating the Board of Education entirely.

On the other side, the union bosses are either in complete denial of the budgetary facts, or so enamored with their stratospheric incomes, that they'd rather sacrifice the young members of their unions instead of accepting the necessary furloughs for all of them.

With their obstreperous stance against saving our finances they tend to become an objectionable element in the welfare of this great state.

Support Wildlife Heritage Act

On Saturday, thousands of Americans across the country celebrated the 16th annual National Public Lands Day. The National Environmental Education Foundation estimates that more than 100,000 volunteers nationwide participated in this day by working to make our national forest and monuments, wildlife refuges and parks a better place: planting trees, repairing trails, cleaning campsites and picking trash out of rivers and wetlands.

For ore than 100 years, America's federal lands have helped to shape our culture, economy and natural environment, giving us clean water, air, magnificent places to play, and also providing refuge for our nation's most wondrous wildlife. One day a year simply isn't enough to demonstrate America's commitment to the stewardship of these special lands. That's why I've asked U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye to support the America's Wildlife Heritage Act. I encourage my neighbors in Hawaii to do the same.

Farm animals deserve better

Theologians have long debated whether there is life after death, but for animals raised for food, there is no life before death.

Recently published undercover investigations showed male baby chicks (unfit for egg production) suffocated in plastic garbage bags or ground to death in large macerators, pigs clobbered by metal pipes and killed by hanging, and assorted animals skinned and dismembered at the slaughterhouse while still conscious.

I reacted to these exposes by going vegan some time ago. But even die-hard meat eaters should feel conscience-bound to offer these animals a decent life, before they take it away for their dining pleasure. Yet, repeated attempts at reforms have brought no tangible improvements.

Last week, I read of an international observance on Oct. 2 (Gandhi's birthday) to expose and memorialize the abuse and slaughter of 55 billion animals raised for food throughout the world. The Web site at www.WorldFarmAnimalsDay.org offers ways that people who care about animal suffering can participate and affirms the need to go vegan.

Also, a detailed review of meatlike and dairylike transition foods and lots of recipes are offered at www.tryveg.org and www.chooseveg.org.