DOG ATTACK

OWNING A PET COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITIES

Another dog is euthanized due to aggressiveness. My heart goes all the way to the family of Iokepa Liptak. I also feel very upset with the decision to euthanize the dog. This is clearly a no-win situation.

Folks, adopting a dog, especially a certain aggressive breed, is like adopting a child. It comes with a whole lot of responsibility. You don't just put the dog in the kennel and expect it to behave well. It needs training, training and training — and exercise and love.

Too many incidents such as this have happened and it should not be. It becomes more important if there is a baby around. Dogs are territorial by nature, no matter what breed.

Please, please…think twice before getting any pet. If you do not have the time to train and exercise them, then don't get one.

NUISANCE LAWS

CONSTANT BARKING MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

A neighbor has more than 10 barking Chihuahuas. Neighbors have notified the Hawaiian Humane Society and recently, in frustration, we called the police.

The sympathetic officer explained that the police are too busy for dog nuisance complaints but are needed for "real crimes." He explained they must hear the dog barking for 10 to 30 minutes to give out a citation, and don't have time to sit in front of the house to witness barking.

Can someone explain why being harassed by a barking dog is not a "real crime?" It causes emotional and physical stress and leads to illness and is illegal. Maybe authorities feel just as helpless dealing with barking complaints as we do. There is no true solution with barking dog complaints because current laws are set up to fail.

I advocate initiating programs that would prevent incompetent people from owning dogs; a higher dog license tax to pay for training programs, cleaning up dog waste and other related issues; and that dog owners who violate the law be sentenced to licensed training programs.

We need to acknowledge that being subjected to constant barking is a "real crime."

PRESIDENTIAL RACE

DO WE REALLY WANT A MAVERICK AS PRESIDENT?

Do we really want a maverick for a president? The president, as the leader of his party, has to represent his party's views to get things done.

If someone has the reputation of being outside the mainstream, he/she may enjoy that role, which will bring chaos to governing. How about two mavericks on the ticket?

Gov. Sarah Palin refers repeatedly to "Wall Street corruption." What is she referring to and why? Is there "Wall Street corruption" and does she think it is responsible for our present crisis?

This was the free market at work. The problem was created by decisions that were perfectly legal and immensely profitable for a long time. Should the government, or the investors, decide that these decisions are too risky? In any case, it would help to understand what the problem really is.

ECONOMIC ISSUES AT TOP OF CONCERNS NOW

SCHOOLS SHOULD TEACH 4RS, ADDING RECESSION

Besides the three Rs that should be taught in school (reading, writing and arithmetic) now would be the perfect time to add No. 4 — recession. What better time to teach our children how to save, invest and spend our hard-earned money wisely.

It is important that we learn to live within our means. Equally important is that our leaders and government spend within their means. Hopefully, the next generation will have a better grasp on financing. I know our current leaders don't.

AMERICANS CANNOT LET FEAR GUIDE DECISIONS

I enjoy watching war movies because they often tell stories of courage and persistence.

One of my favorites is "Saving Private Ryan," where action determined honor. War and business run close parallels. It's the reason Sun Tzu's "Art of War" has held a following for centuries. The victor will have displayed courage and determination.

Every issue can be simplified for quick action. Consumer confidence triggers spending, which is critical in a good economy. Why, then, do we let fear affect our confidence, and ultimately our economy?

The next time Joe Analyst appears on the daily morning show with panic in his voice — "liquidate your stock portfolio" — think back to that decision in "Saving Private Ryan" when Cpl. Timothy P. Upham, frozen with fear, allowed the German soldier to move past him and kill Capt. Miller. Be a Tom Hanks instead. Let honor, not fear, guide your decision.

We will beat this financial crisis because we have enough strong-minded Americans in this great country, but your actions directly affect just how bloody this "war" will get.

COLLAPSE OF HOUSE OF CARDS IS WHAT'S NEEDED

You may remember, I wrote a few short weeks ago of how timely the current recession was. But, I never dreamt I would see this day.

Politicians who have spent their careers idolizing so-called "free markets" have acquiesced to paying out up to a trillion dollars to effectively nationalize America's largest investment banks in a move that must leave Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales laughing out loud. Yes, this is a historic occasion, and what historians will write about our times is that 2008 saw the first presidential election in America's post-liberal era.

All rational persons can now agree that what the past 30 years of economic debauchery in the U.S. and its inevitable conclusion in 2008 proves is that free-market capitalism (corporate control over the political and economic lives of citizens) is an equally extreme ideology to socialism (state ownership of the means of production — factories, banks, etc.) and that both should be rejected in favor of the broad middle ground, which we can agree to call political and economic democracy.

Yes, the short-term transition shall take some getting used to, but the long-term reform of our political economy is too precious to place a price on. The collapse of this house of cards is exactly the medicine needed to resuscitate the patient and rescue America's moribund democracy. Long live the new reality.

UNDEVELOPED LAND SHOULD GO TO AG USE

When Petaluma, Calif., had to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to win the right to define how it would develop — as a small urban cluster from the center out — the real estate developers believed that they had suffered a major defeat.

With the lost of credit for funding and the holding of large tracts of mortgaged lands, developers are rushing to sell these holdings at bargain prices in order to claim a tax loss this year to earn a hefty refund. Consequently, the shift "from developing huge swaths of land in the exurbs, to building smaller developments closer to metropolitan areas," (Wall Street Journal, Oct. 3) has become a developer's economic salvation.

For O'ahu this makes the "second city" into a small town surrounded by agricultural land. If mass transit starts, it should take metropolitan residents to the airport, Downtown, Ala Moana, Convention Center, Waikiki and UH-Manoa. Carpools and feeder lanes using buses could bring rural residents to these stations.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kamahemeha Schools and the city should buy up the undeveloped former plantation lands and develop them for agriculture to feed the residents so that self-sufficiency means more than energy independence.

This will make it possible for residents and visitors to survive here now and in the future.

CLEAN ENERGY WILL BRING GOOD JOBS TO U.S.

A clean-energy economy will create millions of new green jobs that America desperately needs — jobs that can't be outsourced and use the skills of today's workers. Green jobs aren't just the jobs of the future — they are the jobs of today.

We need to take back this country and repower America by letting our leaders know that we want this new clean-energy economy now.

Americans are ready for bold action. We can revitalize our economy with good jobs, clean, renewable energy and a healthy climate.