SUPERFERRY

WHALES WILL SEEK SAFER WATERS IF FERRY RUNS

John Garibaldi, the Superferry's president, told the state Senate that "suggestions such as significantly slowing ferry speeds would be a deal breaker."

Anyone can understand why Superferry cannot slow down and still maintain a schedule, but the fact is that whales are going to die regularly with such a large ship operating at 40 mph. The two cannot coexist.

Whales are intelligent (and mobile) creatures, and when they and their babies start being killed within their traditional calving waters around Maui, biological imperative will necessitate their finding a new, safer location in which to have their young. They will not stick around to negotiate.

As everyone knows, tourism is the lifeblood of the Islands and one of the big attractions for tourists and eco-tourists is whale-watching. Is Hawai'i willing to lose its whales and the tourist dollars they bring in order to enable Superferry to be profitable, or as Gov. Linda Lingle proffers, so Hawai'i has more transportation options?

Once the whales are scared away, they will not come back. The argument put forth about a few whale deaths being "acceptable" did not take into account the fact that it will not be acceptable to the whales, and they will just go away. And then we will have to fly to wherever they go if we ever want to see them again.

Yes, that certainly should be a deal breaker.

ALL ACTIVITIES ON OCEAN WILL AFFECT THE WHALES

It seems that people who are opposed to the Superferry are mainly concerned about humpback whales and the environment.

If this is the case, we need to stop all ocean activities. No ships, boats, barges, surfers, divers, swimmers, nothing enters the ocean until we get permission from the humpback whales.

O'AHU FOLKS KNOW HOW TO KEEP KAUA'I GREEN

M. Mulhall of Kapa'a, Kaua'i, (Letter, Oct. 16) appears to be a self-appointed authority on how we on O'ahu live and what we want.

Some of us enjoy visiting Kaua'i because we were born and raised there. Some of us visit our 'ohana, whom we love and miss. Some of us go to Kaua'i because we are invited or to attend a wedding, funeral, family or class reunion, or take part in sports or other meaningful activities. In doing so, we also can contribute to the businesses there who are more than willing to accept our money.

We don't have to be preached to about keeping Kaua'i green and pristine. When on Kaua'i, we honor and admire its beauty and return to O'ahu knowing that we are blessed to be able to enjoy the 'aina and leave it the same way we found it. No one has the corner on caring.

We will visit Kaua'i any way we can no matter if some on Kaua'i are trying to stop the Superferry. Our Hawaiian islands belong to all of us. The present divisive views are destructive and unacceptable to the rest of us who care about all of our beautiful Islands.

To our 'ohana on Kaua'i, don't let M. Mulhall, and others like him, speak for you and cause a rift we cannot heal. Malama ka 'aina

CAMBODIA

GENOCIDE WAS WIDELY KNOWN, DOCUMENTED

The articles regarding Cambodia's genocide were well written, but I don't agree with the comments that imply that Americans didn't know about the genocide carried out by Cambodian communists, and that we didn't do anything about it. That's not true. The Cambodian genocide was widely and repeatedly reported on and commented on in the American press and in TV news reports.

Many of the Cambodians living in Hawai'i and the rest of the U.S. are here today because Americans sponsored them, brought them into their homes, gave them jobs, took them to their medical appointments, took their children to schools, and got them started in their new lives in America.

'LOST'

CARTOON STRUCK UNFAIR HIT AGAINST WHOLE CAST

I wanted to write to you to show my objection to the Dick Adair cartoon on Oct. 28 depicting a vehicle with the vanity plate "LOST" with a clearly drunk driver behind the wheel.

This seems to be an indictment of the entire cast of the show. Granted, three cast members have been caught driving intoxicated, but I wonder how many off-duty police officers or local politicians have done the same thing but didn't get the same kind of media exposure.

I have personally worked on the show "Lost" many times and can tell you that the cast members are very professional and very personable people who respect the islands of Hawai'i and the people here.

The fact that Daniel Dae Kim took responsibility and apologized to the people of Hawai'i should be enough. There is no need for a political cartoonist to take potshots at someone who made a mistake but owned up to it.

KEILLOR

COLUMNIST'S WORK LACKS IMPORTANCE

One would think that the Focus section of The Advertiser provides serious discussion of issues of importance to the newspaper's readers. One would think that, until exposed to the Garrison Keillor commentary. His commentaries begin with some folksy discourse on, say the fact that the crab apple trees are blooming late this year, and end with the inevitable diatribe against President Bush, who is usually derisively referred to as the "Current Occupant."

Keillor has called one of his state's senators a "boot licker." One of his kinder descriptions of President Bush is "this small dim man." The president was a popular, twice-elected state governor and is a president serving his second term; Keillor, on the other hand and in another time and age, would be wearing multi-colored tights and a funny hat with bells, keeping some medieval court in stitches.

Move Keillor's nasty and mean-spirited commentary to the funny papers or preferably to the bottom of a bird cage and make better use of the space.

GAS PRICES

MANAGED ECONOMY IS NOT THE WAY TO GO

Just a quick thought for all those who still advocate return of the gas cap: Under the cap, we'd have somewhat higher gas prices than (or about equal to) California, where they are now higher than gas prices in Hawai'i.

As the Soviet Union's failed experiment clearly showed, a managed economy is not the way to go.

KAMEHAMEHA

COURT'S BENT WOULD NOT ENSURE HAWAI'I JUSTICE

Attorney David Rosen tells us that it was Kamehameha Schools' decision to settle the Doe case rather than risk an adverse U.S. Supreme Court decision that prompts him to seek new plaintiffs to challenge the schools' admission policy.

He argues that the trustees should have allowed the case to be settled by the "highest court in the land," and that had that happened, it would have settled the matter for him.

Such reverence for law and judicial process would be much more respected in the Hawaiian community if it didn't come more than 100 years too late.

If Mr. Rosen doesn't understand that (Kamehameha) Schools and the resources of the Princess Pauahi's lands were designated for our lahui when we were still a nation-state and constitutional monarchy, before we were invaded and occupied by the United States and before a foreign government was imposed on us against our expressed wishes by an American Congress that supposedly respected the rule of law, he might ask one of our high school students to educate him.

But Rosen's admonitions appear more cynical when one realizes that he wants a ruling from a high court with an ideological bent even more favorable to his thinking than the one that ruled against the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in 1999.

Rosen thinks that Kamehameha should seek a just ruling from a bench that has reached a peak of conservatism and from a federal system that has been distorted by right-wing politics under George W. Bush. Personally, I'm glad the trustees are not that stupid.

AIR SHOW

LETTER WRITER'S HARSH CRITICISM UNWARRANTED

As a citizen of the United States and the proud mother of three intelligent and wonderful boys, I was extremely insulted and dismayed by Daryl Greaser's letter (Oct. 25).

Our society is getting so politically correct to the point that even children cannot innocently play without being judged unfairly.

I was one of those parents who allowed their children to pose in front of the firearms. The children were playing and acting as all children do. And as parents, we allow them to play pretend in a healthy manner and not demonize weapons. It is the intent of the person using weapons that we should be concerned about.

As parents, we do not encourage killing or violence. We teach our children that we do not agree with people who use weapons to be aggressive towards others, or kill animals for pleasure.

Perhaps Mr. Greaser has forgotten what it is like to be a little boy. The air show and display at the Kane'ohe Marine air base was spectacular, and I think the military personnel were exemplary in the way they answered questions from both adults and children.

We really appreciated being invited onto the base to see what our military is about and be proud of them.

Please do not let criticism such as Mr. Greaser's letter change future military shows. All of our friends and families who went enjoyed it immensely.