ID THEFT

CREDIT FREEZE ONLY WAY TO PROTECT CONSUMERS

Hawai'i's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is wasting our tax money on public service announcements about stopping ID theft. Lee Cataluna's Friday column "Aunties: Don't trust strangers" was amusing but also worthless advice. There is only one way to stop ID theft; Hawai'i must pass a security freeze law like California has and promote it on TV.

About 20 states have new pending legislation that would force credit bureaus to give consumers the right to freeze their accounts. This stops instant credit; current credit cards are not affected. If required you can get new credit granted, but it would take a few days.

Credit freeze is the only tool consumers have to 100 percent protect themselves from ID theft. Nearly 10 million people are hit with identity theft every year and currently there is nothing consumers can do ahead of time to prevent ID theft. Security freeze law puts a lock on your Social Security number.

The only time you need new credit is buying a house or a new car. Besides that, your Social Security number should be locked up by a security freeze law. ID theft can ruin your life, but big corporations or the state of Hawai'i could care less; it's the cost of doing business!

KAPA'A QUARRY ROAD

SIMILAR NAME EXISTS FOR KAPALOA DRIVE

In looking over the proposed road names for the Kapa'a Quarry Road ("Ineligible road names included in final list," Sept. 21), the name "Kapaloa Drive" caught my eye.

The name Kapaloala Place in Pauoa Valley has existed for more than a century. On street maps up to at least the 1950s, the name was often listed as "Kapaloa Place." "Kapaloala Place" is listed in "Hawaiian Street Names" (Honolulu: Aloha Publishing, c. 1989) with its definition noted as unknown.

It is my understanding that a good part of Pauoa Valley consisted of taro patches, so the definition provided in the article does make sense. However, I question the wisdom of considering "Kapaloa Drive" for the Kapa'a Quarry Road when another similar street name exists on the other side of the Ko'olau Range.

PREPARE BETTER

REALISTICALLY, HOTELS WILL BE TOURISTS' SHELTERS

As a very frequent visitor to O'ahu, I find the recent ongoing commentary in both newspapers concerning a hurricane touching Hawai'i very informative. And, during all of my visits, I am very aware of how vulnerable I (as well as all tourists) would be in the event of a major hurricane. However, the comments about airlines flying tourists off the Islands to the Mainland is very misguided, and the Hawai'i newspapers and the airlines should immediately quell any talk of that.

Keep in mind that those planes departing every day are filled with passengers who are already scheduled to depart as part of their normal return to the Mainland and Japan.

And, after flying between Philadelphia and Honolulu nine times in the past couple of years, I can attest that there are very few, if any, available seats when these planes depart Honolulu. Plus, consider the fact that the airlines will stop any departing flights from the Mainland into Honolulu for many hours prior to a storm hitting O'ahu. That means for a short time there would be even fewer planes available than normal.

There is no doubt that the hotels would become the only shelter choice for almost all tourists. However, emergency officials and especially the hotels, must provide tourists with more information than is presently being done if an event should occur. Directing hotel guests to look in the hotel room telephone book for instructions in case of an emergency is not acceptable.

Be assured that on my next visit, which is coming up soon, I will be making inquiries with the hotel management for some specific information on how they intend to handle this situation if it should happen.

HARBIN UPROAR

THIS IS ALL IRRELEVANT IF HIRAKI COMPLETED TERM

It is just amazing to see the uproar of the Democratic Party criticizing the governor for her appointment to fill the seat of Rep. Ken Hiraki even though the governor and her chief of staff, Bob Awana, admitted that they would have decided quite differently had they known of Bev Harbin's financial woes.

But let's not forget that this would never have come about if Hiraki would have completed his political obligation that he was (and narrowly won) elected for. Would you think that the voters who chose him would not feel abandoned? Incidentally, he was not the only Democrat that pulled this move this year.

So yes, voice your concerns about the governor's decision, but also thank Hiraki for his disregard toward the office and the people he was elected to serve.

TRAFFIC JAMS

PLEASE GIVE LEEWARD RESIDENTS A WAY OUT

I think we should have another route to get from the beginning of Nanakuli to Wai'anae without so much traffic. They need to not close the whole road and only work in a small section. We need a quicker route. People are on the road waiting because of traffic. My family and I would really like this new adjustment.

(Similar letters were received from many other students at Maili Bible School.)

CONCERT BOYCOTT

SHAME ON EAGLES FOR INFLATED TICKET PRICES

I'm with Perry Stevens of Kailua ("Eagles ticket costs out of this stratosphere," Sept. 20). My husband and I have loved the Eagles' music for as long as we can remember. We really were looking forward to seeing them perform here. We think their music is still as great as ever.

However, my husband stood in line, only to find out that we'd have to pay $250 each plus a service fee to get a good seat on the floor level, like Perry said.

Although we would like to support the Eagles in their "Farewell I Tour" into retirement, we think it's arrogant of them (or their promoters and them) to ask such inflated prices — at a time when the victims of hurricanes are trying to piece back together their lives, when gas has been almost $4/gallon, and when so many families work two and three jobs just to make ends meet.

How much money do these guys really need? Especially when so many other great artists charge so much less so that more people can enjoy their music.

Shame on you, Eagles. You won't get our money any time soon. We'll be spending our money to support hurricane relief, our troops and so many other worthy causes.

In fact, in addition to boycotting your concert, we plan to stop listening to your CDs. You have lost some of the greatness we thought you had.

SOVEREIGNTY

AKAKA BILL WOULD BE BLOW TO HAWAIIANS

In the Sept. 15 letter "No to Akaka: Apology resolution didn't state the truth," the writer refers to the Morgan report (1894) as the basis for his belief regardless of the facts.

Morgan never set foot on Hawaiian soil prior to his submittal of the "Morgan Report." How can one complete an investigation without being at the scene of the crime? Morgan was vocally pro-annexation; his report definitely had no "objectivity."

James Blount, on the other hand, spent months to complete his investigation. He, like President Cleveland, had nothing to gain by their disclosure of facts.

In a speech to Hawaiian nationals, Morgan stated that the Americans wanted only to secure them "from foreign aggressions" and to protect them from "the Chinese" when the only threat to Hawaiian independence came from the United States itself.

The catastrophe (should the bill pass) will not be for the state of Hawai'i or America as claimed. But it will be one of the final nails to the coffin that contains the inherent sovereignty of the descendants of Hawaiian nationals.

How so? Let me quote from the Law of Nations (1758):

"Proof can be had from the works on the natural law that liberty and independence belong to man by his very nature, and that they cannot be taken from him without his consent ... But the whole body of the Nation, the State, so long as it has not voluntarily submitted to other men or other Nations, remains absolutely free and independent."

It's just crazy to further develop Kaka'ako coastline

It boggles the mind to think that the Kaka'ako area will be further developed with residential and retail properties. By far the biggest issue on our island is traffic with the government raising taxes to build, maintain and protect a rail system that will run who knows where. And yet they want to cram another neighborhood into the Kaka'ako area?

I suppose the most disturbing aspect of this development was the minimal amount of public input and the preposterous lack of urban planning on an invaluable coastline site.

Why in a sane world would you want to create a retail development in between the triangle of Ala Moana Center, Ward Centre/Ward Warehouse and Aloha Tower?

Don't any of our city/state officials and urban planners drive down Ala Moana? And this is before the three residential high rises currently being built bring thousands more to live and work in this area.

If city and state officials are trying to increase population and traffic densities to justify the proposed rail system, they are doing a wonderful job!

Weren't the much-discussed biotech and science centers slated for this area supposed to slow the brain drain?

Retail and service jobs will be plentiful with this new development but will these workers be able to afford Honolulu's astronomical housing costs? And who on the Hawai'i Community Development Authority is making these monumental decisions for our city?

Ultimately it is the true lack of urban planning that dooms Honolulu's future — one series of developments after another without any cohesive, long-term initiative or blueprint. Where are our leaders? Former Mayor Frank Fasi didn't do it and Former Mayor Jeremy Harris poured as much cement as he could. Is Mayor Mufi Hannemann up to the task of managing our great city?

Meanwhile, we still don't have curbside recycling and our public schools bask in mediocrity and a host of other problems that we, the constituents, continue to tolerate. Maybe the problem isn't the politicians after all, but the people electing them.

RELOCATING KAILUA HIGH WILL ADDRESS 21ST-CENTURY NEEDS

What's good about relocating Kailua High School? The proposed relocation of Kailua High School has a positive aspect that outweighs the negative impacts of the construction of new homes and a new school.

The proposed school is not simply a replacement of what currently exists: a facility to promote 19th-century educational policy.

The proposed school will address the needs of children for the 21st century. And this important fact outweighs both the potential loss of a disaster shelter and the economic reality of owning land and building new homes.

The question people in Pohakupu need to consider is how a new school will affect the quality of life for children the school will serve. The most important characteristic to consider will be the self-esteem of children who will be told that their lives are important: "We are building a new school for you because you are important for the state of Hawai'i."

And since the proposed school will reflect a society of the 21st century — global in scope, human in nature — children will begin receiving the kind of education that has for 20 years been promised in political campaigns: a high-tech, second-to-none, world-class education for participants of a global society!

Of course I do not live in Pohakupu — but I do live down the road — and therefore I will not be sacrificing the small-town atmosphere that 200 new housing units will disrupt.

But isn't that sacrifice offset by the fact that children from Waimanalo to Kailua will be provided with an opportunity to develop their potential to become participants of the society that is shaping their future?

When the lights go out at night will we not be comforted by the fact that children are falling asleep in excited anticipation of the next school day rather than the thought of another boring day in a hot, stuffy classroom?