RAIL

How much is this project worth to you?

I was shocked to hear Councilman Charles Djou state there is a gap between the estimated total cost of rail transit construction and the amount of revenue funding.

This gap has the potential of bankrupting our city and placing the tax burden on all of us for a long time! Those who are in favor of rail transit should be asking this question: Are you willing to pay the billions of dollars needed to fund this project? And how long are you willing to pay?

EDUCATION

NO SUPPORT FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS FROM THE BOE

A recent study of Native Hawaiian students shows that their standardized test scores improve over time when they attend Hawaiian-focused charter schools ("Native Hawaiian students bloom in charter schools," Nov. 15). By contrast, the study also shows that in the regular public schools, test scores decline among Native Hawaiian students.

The study adds to the growing body of evidence that Hawai'i's charter schools are succeeding. Yet the Board of Education (BOE) continues to make it difficult for charter schools to operate by under-funding them, creating administrative hurdles for them and working to limit the number of charter schools that can be established.

Furthermore, the BOE recently fired Jim Shon, the director of the State Charter Schools Office, even though he was supported by the charter schools themselves. The BOE did not give a reason for the firing, but those who are close to the issue believe that, in the eyes of the BOE, he was doing too good a job of advocating for the charter schools.

Could it be that the BOE doesn't want the charter schools to succeed because it would highlight the failures of the regular schools — and the BOE? Could it be that the BOE is more interested in maintaining the remnants of its public image than in improving the quality of education?

DEATH PENALTY

PUNISHMENT DOESN'T FIT NAEEM WILLIAMS CRIME

When you first published the federal government's decision to seek the death penalty in the Naeem Williams case, I found it difficult to understand. Here is a father who allegedly killed his 5-year-old daughter, a crime so unbelievable that every thinking person suspects that the defendant must be mentally unbalanced.

I could not believe that U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo would seek the death penalty, and The Advertiser's front-page article on Nov. 12 confirmed my suspicion.

If the thesis in your article is correct (the Bush administration's desire "to spread capital punishment to non-death penalty states"), this is simply another example of the administration's arrogance and insensitivity.

The federal government should seek the death penalty, if at all, only in the most egregious cases of intentional criminal activity (e.g., hired killers) and not in such sad circumstances as the Williams tragedy.

This action imposing the administration's views on morality upon the people of Hawai'i is the same attitude that has gotten us into so much trouble with the rest of the world during the last four years. Won't they ever learn?

QUOTES

GEORGE, DICK CAN LEARN FROM HONEST ABE

One of the most remembered quotes of all time came from President Abraham "Honest Abe" Lincoln:

"You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all the time — but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

Yet there still seems to be men today who think they can fool all of the people all of the time. Maybe "Honest Abe's" quote is something President Bush and Vice President Cheney need to think about, instead of quotes such as "Mission Accomplished," "Bring 'Em On" and "Cut and Run."

IRAQ

BLAME PRESIDENT BUSH FOR LIES, NOT LT. WATADA

This is in response to recent letters in The Honolulu Advertiser against Lt. Watada, especially one titled, "Get real: Watada did the wrong thing."

Why is it that those of us who know Bush lied and attacked Iraq based on those lies are the ones that are misunderstood?

Why is it legal for a leader of a company to lie about another country and then attack that other country?

President Bush lied over and over about Iraq. He then attacked Iraq based on those lies.

No soldier should be placed into harm's way because of lies. No soldier should have to give his or her life because of lies.

I'm a Vietnam veteran and am proud of Lt. Watada for his refusal to go to Iraq and fight in Bush's lie-based war.

To those who think this is a legal, necessary war, I say wake up and smell the roses.

ROAD SAFETY

HPD CRACKDOWN ON SPEEDING MUCH NEEDED

I think it is great what the police are doing to curb speeding. In the past week, I've seen at least four or five vehicles stopped on the H-3 which I suspect is for speeding since Chief Correa announced HPD's holiday season deterrence. The H-3 goes from 45 mph up to 60 mph and yet I have seen many cars commuting faster than that. Just this morning there was a four-car accident in the tunnel. I think 60 mph is a pretty good speed and even if I mainly drive on the right side of the lane, I still feel rushed to drive faster by those behind me edging me on.

Sometimes I wish that the police were there to catch those speeders in that moment but, for the most part, I find that I am so grateful that I arrived at my destination in one piece. Keep up the good work, HPD. I think it's working.

AKAKA BILL

INDIAN RESERVATION WOES A CAUTIONARY TALE

I am vehemently opposed to the Akaka bill. I have been visiting Hawai'i since 1972. I lived here in 1985 through 1987 and came back to live here again in May 2005.

I would like to challenge Mr. Akaka and Mr. Inouye to visit the Indians in reservations in Montana who live under tribal laws and chiefs. Only a very few (2 percent) are filthy rich from oil and casino royalties. The rest live in abject poverty and squalor.

I believe only a select few will become very rich under the Akaka bill and the majority who live under the Akaka bill will be no better off than the Indians. This situation may impact tourism, the only major industry in the Islands. If that goes, everything will revert to the days of the monarchy.

The pineapple and sugar industries are gone. Our good fortune now comes with many problems such as overpopulation. Why do so many people want to live here? We've got it good here, even with the problems. Why change it?

IN MEMORIAM

I read with sadness that Clinton T. Tanimura died on Oct. 25 and private services were held. His pioneering public service to the people of Hawai'i and his commitment to honest government deserve to be remembered.

I first met Clinton Tanimura in 1970 through my mentor, David Trask, the HGEA executive director at that time. As a 26-year-old neophyte trade labor unionist, I was unaware of the great privilege it was to be in the presence of and to work with this truly dedicated public servant.

Mr. Tanimura served as our state's first legislative auditor. He established the highest of standards for the office, which continue today. He was a watchdog who earned the respect of everyone in government and the public he served.

It was an exciting time for public service. The nation's first statewide collective bargaining law for Hawai'i's public employees was on the horizon. And Hawai'i was proud for being the first state to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Mr. Tanimura's passing closes a chapter of Hawai'i's exciting government and political history. He follows Herman Doi, Yukio Naito and Alvin Shim.

SMOKING

THE TRUTH ABOUT SECONDHAND SMOKE

The smoking law ban perpetuates the myth that second-hand smoke is a health risk to nonsmokers.

On May 17, the respected British Medical Journal published the results of a 39-year study of nearly 120,000 adults in California begun in 1959 by the American Cancer Society. In 1972 the ACS turned its study over to UCLA, which completed it in 1998.

The study's objective was "to measure the relation between environmental tobacco smoke, as estimated by smoking in spouses and long-term mortality from tobacco-related disease." Risks and deaths from coronary heart disease, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases were measured.

The study focused on people who never smoked who had a spouse who smoked and concluded that "the results do not support a causal relation between environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco-related mortality." In fact, the conclusion also stated that "the association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and coronary heart disease and lung cancer may be considerably weaker than generally believed."

Hawai'i's new smoking ban is punitive to smokers and businesses and will surely affect visitors and tourists negatively. The public deserves the truth about secondhand smoke and not the deceptions and distortions that currently pass for science.