Letters to the Editor
CLIMATE CHANGE
DENIERS FOCUS ON GORE INSTEAD OF ON PROBLEM
The opinion piece you published in the March 25 Focus section by Jonah Goldberg, "At the Center of Controversy" — was aptly named.
For those who can no longer ignore the fact that the climate is changing and never mention the fact that CO2 has hit levels not seen for at least 300,000 years, their "talking point" is to focus on Al Gore instead of the problem.
It was interesting to also find in the same edition the article on climate changes this year in Europe, with crops coming in early and blights of wheat in Germany from mites surviving a warm winter.
Yes, there are economic opportunities in changing how we generate and use energy — but as it would negatively impact the investments many of the deniers hold, they seem to flop around in an attempt to convince us we're not fouling our planet.
Dip in the Ala Wai, anyone?
Lance BatemanHonolulu
INFRASTRUCTURE
LOTTERY COULD SOLVE MANY FUNDING WOES
I have lived here for many years, and I have heard many complaints about monetary requirements for education, the homeless, transit, aging and the poor.
Let's look at some lottery statistics:
Why do our politicians neglect this option? Some say this is gambling. Our politicians are gambling with our tax dollars anyway. None of them owns a crystal ball!
Look at our roads, homeless, transportation problems, education woes, infrastructure problems. So why not?
Richard ChepkevichWaikiki
CROSSROADS
KAILUA MUST REMAIN RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY
Kailua is indeed at a crossroads. Are we to remain a residential community, or are we to morph into a resort town?
Many people in Kailua over the years have sacrificed much of their time nurturing a sense of community. They have strived to ensure that Kailua remains a safe and healthy residential community in which to raise our families, a place where we care and look out for each other and preserve our environment. A refuge away from the hustle and bustle of resort development. From its very beginnings, the Kailua Neighborhood Board has been a great ally in this endeavor. I am grateful to its past and present members for the many hours of work to help Kailua survive as a residential community with a sense of place.
The candidates for the neighborhood board put up by the multi-million-dollar illegal vacation rental and B&B industry are now threatening to unseat incumbent members who are not in agreement with their agenda of transforming our family-oriented community into a high-end resort destination.
I hope that my fellow Kailuans will stand by those who have worked hard to make our community the envy of other communities, and who have helped preserve some of the not-so-bad values of the 1950s.
Ursula RetherfordKailua
HUMAN COST
IRAQ WAR WILL BANKRUPT US FINANCIALLY, MORALLY
Various sources agree that by now the Iraq war has cost the lives of more than 3,240 U.S. military, 257 coalition soldiers, 665 defense contractors and 146 journalists. More than 24,042 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in action. One in five veterans suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The long-term medical care and benefits for veterans is projected at $127 billion.
More than 5,965 Iraqi soldiers and police, as well as 70,100 to 601,000 Iraqi civilians, have been killed.
Iraqis suffer epidemic levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, and a generation of children is growing up in terror. More than 1.8 million Iraqis have fled as war refugees to other countries, while 1.6 million have been displaced within Iraq. U.S. federal expenditures on war and reconstruction in Iraq exceed $409 billion so far.
The U.S. national debt is $8.8 trillion, and there are severe cuts in government spending on medical research and healthcare, infrastructure maintenance, environmental protection and other domestic needs. The deployment of reservists to Iraq has cost the U.S. economy nearly $16 billion.
How much longer can this war be sustained before both the U.S. and Iraq are bankrupt not only economically, but also socially, psychologically and morally?
Leslie E. SponselHonolulu
