TOURISM

SOLVE NCL'S PROBLEM BY ALLOWING A CASINO

With all due respect to Sen. Daniel Inouye, rather than applying a rule that may significantly curtail visits to Hawai'i by foreign-flagged passenger cruise ships, let's take a more sensible approach to protect the last remaining U.S.-flagged cruise ship in Hawai'i. Just allow a casino onboard the "Pride of America."

Some years ago, I had a conversation with casino mogul Steve Wynn, who remarked that a river of money flowed from Hawai'i to Nevada's casinos; somewhere, Steve said, in the magnitude of $750 million (!) a year.

So let's end Hawai'i's phony, puritanical obsession with prohibiting gambling in our state (except for chicken fights, Chinatown gambling parlors and office betting pools) and provide NCL the one resource it really needs to keep "Pride of America" full on a consistent basis.

We're not talking a land-based casino at Ko Olina or slots in laundromats.

Allow that casino on the "Pride," which won't open until the ship hits international waters, and NCL's problem will be solved for good.

RULE CHANGE WOULD LIMIT CRUISE INDUSTRY

In his April 20 commentary, Sen. Daniel Inouye seeks to further limit the cruise industry in Hawai'i by advocating changes in the Passenger Vessel Services Act. The rule change would require non-U.S.-flagged vessels on roundtrip itineraries that originate in U.S. ports to spend at least 24 hours in a foreign port.

The revised draft is deliberately crafted to apply only to Hawai'i and not to other U.S. cruise destinations such as Alaska. It is aimed at roundtrip cruises from the Mainland that circle Hawai'i. If the rule change passes, these cruises will likely end.

Over the years, Sen. Inouye has managed to pass legislation that effectively gives Norwegian Cruise Lines a monopoly on Hawai'i interisland cruising. With the pullout of two American-flagged NCL ships, the sole survivor is the "Pride of America."

In attempting to protect one ship against "unfair foreign competition," the number of cruise visitors will decline dramatically. Consider the impact on local tour companies, excursion guides, port shops, commercial establishments, bus and taxi drivers, and cultural attractions, many of which depend upon the cruise business to survive.

Our legislators should be promoting cruise tourism rather than restricting it.

ARMY

AN INDEPENDENT DU EXAMINATION NEEDED

I am outraged by the Army's decision to leave its depleted uranium in Makua Valley and Schofield. Depleted uranium is hardly safe. While it has limited radioactivity, it has been proven chemically toxic. The Gulf War syndrome that mysteriously affected (and continues to affect) thousands of U.S. soldiers during the first Iraq war has been linked to depleted uranium, which was used extensively in many of the munitions.

Future movement into the water table and ocean is unavoidable over the long term; its effect on the plants and animals (many of which are endangered) in the last relatively undeveloped ecosystems on O'ahu demands that action be taken to clean it up and not merely be left alone.

Not to sound too paranoid, but having the Army conduct its own investigation and its subsequent seemingly whitewash "not to worry" conclusion about DU, is somewhat akin to the Bush administration's now famously fraudulent "intelligence" about WMDs in Iraq. Both do not pass the smell test.

At the very least, an independent Environmental Protection Agency examination is warranted, and hopefully all the contaminated areas declared a Superfund site for cleanup. Hawai'i state officials should not rubber-stamp the Army's conclusion and easily give pass to such a horrible permanent toxic stain upon the 'aina of Hawai'i.

FOOTBALL

SETTLE DISPUTE WITH COACH JONES FOR $1

June Jones was a state employee who stopped getting paid on the day he resigned.

The $400,000 the UH is trying to collect is a penalty for taking another football job before the end of his contract. This dispute shouldn't be settled strictly on the legal merits of the case.

People forget that he sacrificed NFL-size paychecks to come here. He took UH from 0-12 to a $4 million Sugar Bowl payout.

In between then, he won some ball games and brought an immeasurable dollar value in publicity for the University of Hawai'i and the state. I'd settle the case for $1.

HONOLULU SYMPHONY

DON'T FORGET EFFORTS OF MAESTRO CATINGUB

In an April 23 letter, Ruth Shiroma Foster mentioned six performing artists who were not only showcased by the Honolulu Symphony but were highly impressed with the quality of the orchestra.

In her honorable quest to seek help to keep our magnificent symphony orchestra alive, she credits (rightfully so) renowned conductor Andreas Delfs for being a part of this artistic movement.

For the sake of clarification, of the six performing artists she mentioned (Renee Fleming, Monica Mancini, The Caz, C&K, Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, Keali'i Reichel) five of those artists were solicited, prepared with the necessary symphonic arrangements and secured by our "forgotten" Pops conductor, Matt Catingub.

If you will look at the records of attendance for all concerts, you will find that the Pops concerts sell the most tickets.

I do not mean to take anything away from the classical base of our grand orchestra. A city without a symphony orchestra is not a city, it's a town or a village. That's how I see it, but I do want to have credit given where credit is due.

If you think the symphony is in trouble now, imagine what it would be like without all the ticket buyers for the Pops seasons for the past 10 years that Maestro Matt Catingub put together.

Andreas Delfs is marvelous, but don't underestimate the community-minded and artistic endeavors of our Pops conductor, Matt Catingub.

FOOD, ENERGY CRISIS

'PERFECT STORM' ABOUT TO HIT HAWAI'I SHORES

A "perfect storm" is about to hit Hawai'i. It will bring tremendous devastation, the most scary of which will be a pervasive food shortage.

Food riots in Third World nations are spreading. Even the U.S. is affected, as certain staples (like rice) are already being rationed in parts of the country.

Hawai'i exists precariously dependent on importing everything, rendering us as vulnerable as a Third World nation. We are not years, but weeks away from a total food and energy breakdown. The coming storm will slam our reality from striving for the good life to struggling to survive.

Increases in oil prices affects everything; all goods and services, including public safety, healthcare, and the most vital of all — food (85 percent is imported by ships or planes and trucks — burning enormous quantities of fossil fuels).

Recent events such as the Molokai Ranch closure, the collapse of two major airlines (within the same week), the worsening housing crunch, dropping real-estate values, the falling U.S. dollar, are blasts of the siren warning us of the approaching storm.

As conditions worsen, Ha-wai'i's tourist-based economy will be crippled, pushing Hawai'i over the brink into the abyss. When this happens, can Hawai'i feed and sustain 1.2 million people? Is there a plan in place?

The alarms are going off! If we don't respond and shift to emergency mode right now, the coming "perfect storm" will do it for us, and the people of Hawai'i will suffer the terrible consequences.

BEACH ENCROACHMENT

SIMPLE PROBLEMS NEED NOT BE SO DIFFICULT

I recently watched a segment on a local TV station dealing with growth on O'ahu's beaches. There was footage of beaches with people having to wade in the water to get around the growth.

In some cases, the beachfront homeowners were intentionally planting and inducing the growth of vegetation on what are public beaches. The sad thing was the comment that the state hasn't decided what should be done.

This is so typical of every problem we have: The state or county can't decide what should be done.

In this case, the solution is obvious. The homeowners should be given notice to cut the growth back to the high-tide level. If the homeowner refuses, the state should remove the growth and charge the homeowner.

This would seem to fall in the same category as a homeowner allowing weeds to grow between the sidewalk and street in front of their home. Why do the state and county make simple problems so difficult?