Corporations deserve rights

I am getting tired of this newspaper posting letters about the complaints that corporations should not have some of the same rights as everyone else. According to the laws, even before the last Supreme Court ruling, corporations were considered persons, or “;separate legal entities.”; This is partly because corporations are taxed on their income; afterward the shareholders are taxed again on the dividends they receive that were already taxed at the corporate level.

If you all do not want our corporations to have the right to free speech, then stop the double taxation that corporations are currently paying. Then I could watch my retirement grow exponentially. I would not mind one bit. Then your precious labor unions will have the same rights as corporations.

City response on rail was public disservice

Ordinarily, one would not expect to see an exchange go beyond two articles. But rail transit is the biggest project the city has ever undertaken, and it's crucial that our leaders and our people be really informed. The article by city Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka (”;Using old OR&L path for rail not practical,”; Star-Bulletin, Island Commentary, Feb. 25) was a real disservice to the discussion.

Readers should know that I really have spent a great amount of time researching this. I've walked most of the Oahu Railway & Land right-of-way. I've passed my work by about 20 American Institute of Architects members and their rail experts, receiving input. I haven't fudged on anything, or neglected to say things that are important. These are the facts, as honestly as they can be put forward. I think it is important for the discussion to continue.

(Editor's note: This letter prefaced a new commentary submitted to counter Mr. Yoshioka's piece, which had rebutted Mr. Dudley's original piece.)

Furlough Fridays could be saving lives

As seen recently in the news, the American Academy of Pediatrics has a new policy stating that the hot dog is a hazard for kids, associated with more choking deaths among children than any other food.

“;If you were to find the best engineers in the world and ask them to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, you couldn't do much better than the hot dog,”; said Dr. Gary Smith, lead author of the AAP policy statement.

It also cites nuts, popcorn, grapes, seeds and raw carrots as “;high-risk foods.”;

Each year, it estimates, up to 77 young people die from hot dogs (out of our population of 310 million). All of this may be prevented, the academy says, with warning labels and the “;redesign”; of risky products like the hot dog.

As hot dogs are a common element of the government-funded school lunch program, it is therefore clear that the Furlough Fridays, by lessening the exposure to this dangerous activity, is actually saving lives. Think how many more lives would be saved if furloughs could be extended to other days, too!

Also, our government should insist on genetically modifying and redesigning the macadamia nut, too. After all, it's for the children.

Let's lay off doctors, not state workers

In a letter to the editor, Dr. Rhoads E. Stevens advocates layoffs for state employees to balance the budget (”;Layoffs better than fund raids,”; Star-Bulletin, March 5). I propose we make the same offer to Dr. Stevens: Instead of HMSA or Kaiser raising their rates, we should lay off all those doctors and medical professionals who are causing us to pay more for health care.