MYTHS

STOP BLAMING PIGS FOR TRYING TO SURVIVE

It's good to have concerns for our plants, but how about the animals? Pigs are peaceful and intelligent creatures — more intelligent than dogs. So why should they be treated differently than dogs or cats?

Where was the Hawaiian Humane Society when the media and the hunter's organization decided that pigs needed to be slaughtered? Could it be that there seems to be no one standing up for the pigs, therefore their existence (or death) is ignored?

As for the "dangerous and the most invasive" claims, they are far from the truth. Pigs do not attack unless they are cornered. Besides, we all need to eat to survive, and it's certainly unfair to blame them for being hungry.

Within the next 30 years, 90 percent of mammals on this Earth reportedly will be extinct due to the expansion of the human population. Please tell me which species is the most dangerous and invasive one?

BLOOD QUANTUM

ABA'S SUPPORT FOR AKAKA BILL MISGUIDED

What Bishop Estate power broker William J. Fernandez wrote on Feb. 23 concerning an American Bar Association vote to support the Akaka bill demands correction.

The Akaka bill is really about changing the federal quantum rule that has been in existence since 1920 of from pure to 50 percent blood to one drop in 10,000, thus exterminating Hawai'i's genuine aboriginal Native Americans and replacing us with lineal descendants of Asian/European immigrants.

In 1920, Congress did exercise plenary power over Native Hawaiians when it set the blood quantum rule recognizing the nearest kinship group having 50 percent and more aboriginal blood. Congress does not recognize immigrants as Native Americans or Native Hawaiians. An immigrant cannot be native.

The most unjust, despicable lies imaginable are being promoted in an unethical lobbying effort seeking to gain undeserved sympathy for lineal descendants of immigrants. Two such lies are that Congress never did exercise its plenary power involving native Hawaiians of the blood, and that the ABA vote reveals it now has that power. Utter rubbish.

I want to see a bill in the state Legislature mandating that these opportunists take a DNA test to prove they biologically are native to Hawai'i; not native to Japan, China, Korea, Portugal, the Philippines, Samoa, etc.

POSSIBLE DANGER

STAY OFF CELL PHONE WHILE REFUELING CAR

The latest warning to be ignored by the public is the "No cell phone use while refueling."

Like stop signs, people seem to take these warnings as advisory in nature, or not applicable to them. It seems as if every time I go to fill up, there is inevitably someone talking on his or her cell phone while pumping gas. I am not sure if people are aware of the warning tag on the pump or arrogantly disregard it as their "right." If you are putting other people's lives in danger, it is not your "right"!

Doing some research, I found the major source of accidents at the pump is people getting back into their vehicle while pumping gas, building up static electricity and then touching the pump handle where vapors have accumulated and the static electricity ignites the vapors. However, the following statement is from the Petroleum Equipment Institute Web site: "PEI has not been able to document any cases of cellular phones causing a fire at a gas station. However, we do not recommend using any device that might cause distractions while refueling."

That being said, there still is a concern for the use of cell phones while refueling. Apart from never re-entering your vehicle once you begin fueling it, be a vigilant, concerned citizen and get off the phone while you are refueling.

ACCIDENTS

SPEED BUMPS WOULD SLOW RED-LIGHT RUNNER

An article in the paper caught my attention: "Pedestrian crosswalk should have a light." I have read about this idea numerous times, have seen traffic lights installed and then I've seen the red-light offender run through them.

Traffic lights do not solve our pedestrian crosswalk problem. Drivers don't fear red lights. The chances of getting a ticket for running a red light are small. Police are not sitting at stoplights ticketing red-light offenders.

One solution that would make a difference in pedestrian safety in the crosswalk is speed bumps. Where is the only place on the road besides a huge pothole that mostly all drivers slow and occasionally stop? Speed bumps!

The fact is that running a speed bump immediately affects the driver, therefore creating a realistic fear. No tickets needed, no expensive stoplight, no excessive speeding over a large bump and no crossing-pedestrian-related accident.

Speed bumps are not for all crosswalks, though; they should only be at high-rate pedestrian accident sites.

REPEAL IT

GASOLINE PRICE CAP FAULTY FROM THE START

Sen. Ron Menor "argues that prices would be even higher without the cap" (Advertiser, March 6). His gas cap was to bring Hawai'i more in line with the Mainland, but we see on TV daily that Hawai'i's gas pump prices are still the highest nationwide. Menor's thinking was faulty from the start.

How can you fix Hawai'i wholesale gas prices based on the cost of oil from Mainland sources when Hawai'i's source is not the same? Take an extreme example of Mainland oil prices being lower than Hawai'i's. Would any rational person expect that Hawai'i refineries would buy their oil and at a higher cost and sell gas at a loss?

The only way to regulate pricing is if you have accurate data on the refinery's cost, including the cost of oil and refining and markup, and then you could dictate a "fair" percentage return.

Repeal a bad law and do more homework before attempting to control pricing.