ELECTIONS

CANDIDATE NOT READY TO SERVE IN THE U.S. SENATE

Cynthia Thielen has a huge ego. She arrogantly accuses The Advertiser of being afraid to endorse her.

She thinks that the voters of Hawai'i are so impressed with her that we forgot that she demonstrated such a lack of decency and respect for the guys who actually campaigned for the position that she was conveniently appointed to.

The Advertiser and Senator Akaka have been gracious in not making an issue about this, but that's not surprising, because the senator and The Advertiser are not mudslingers. Ms. Thielen should be grateful that The Honolulu Advertiser printed such a nice editorial about her. Her letter made me realize that in spite of her good points, she is not worthy of an endorsement.

GAS PRICES

HAWAI'I'S DRIVERS STILL GOUGED AT THE PUMP

After seeing national gas prices drop for the ninth week in a row, I was disgusted as Hawai'i prices remained outrageously high.

When we had the gas cap, we had a weekly posting on what to expect for prices each week. The archives are still posted on the PUC's Web site.

I've watched wholesale gas prices drop to $1.455 (10/12 11:48 a.m. EST).

Our average price for Honolulu is $2.88. Someone's making a huge profit off the drivers in this state.

Take the information from the past PUC chart and do the math — WSH $1.455 + LOC $0.04 + MKTing Adj $0.18 + Zone adj $0.065 = $1.74 + $0.54 (Taxes) = $2.28. That's before retail markup of $0.12 on average.

That brings the price to $2.40. That's a far cry from the $2.88 that's the average in Honolulu. Who's making record profits off of us and what can we do, short of bringing the gas cap back? How do we look into price gouging?

We are getting robbed here, and everyone is "happy" that the prices are under $3.

DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS

SPEAKING OUT PART OF PRESERVING FREEDOM

Let me start by saying "thank you" to Mr. James Roller (Letters, Oct. 25) for 24 years of serving our great nation.

However, I am in shock, scared even, at what Mr. Roller is suggesting. For people to speak up and say that was wrong, they must first "pick up a weapon and stand a post"? Should all the citizens of our great nation who serve in other capacities just shut up and remain silent? Is this the freedom that Mr. Roller had proudly defended for 24 years?

VOTING

ONLY THOSE WHO VOTE DESERVE A PAID HOLIDAY

It's no secret that Hawai'i has the lowest voter turnout in the nation. Census statistics tell us so. Apathy and disinterest are cited as causes.

So why is Election Day a state holiday in Hawai'i if so many of us don't vote? I suggest we make one small change: If you vote and show your ballot stubs to your supervisor, you take the day off as a paid holiday. If you don't vote, you take the day off as a vacation day, or come to work. Simple.

Why reward people who gets this day off as a holiday for their sloth? Voting is easy to do! We are lucky to live in a country in which we can vote for change. Just look at what voters did on Tuesday!

If we all aren't involved in the governance process, we relinquish that right to others.

Do you really want to do that?

POLITICS

SHINSEKI REDEEMED BY RUMSFELD'S RESIGNATION

I take the recent resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as the ultimate vindication and validation of Gen. Eric Shinseki as an honorable, highly qualified, highly intelligent former Army chief of staff.

It was Rumsfeld who, in their disagreements, did not have the decency to publicly address Gen. Shinseki by his name and title. It was Rumsfeld who essentially handed the four-star general a slap in the face by publicly rebuking his estimates on the size of peacekeeping troops in Iraq.

Goodbye, Mr. Rumsfeld, and goodbye to your bumbling strategy to win the war in Iraq.

RAIL

ALTERNATIVES WON'T TAKE YOU OFF THE ROADS

I've been reading letters on traffic congestion that suggest everything from building new highways and charging tolls for drivers, to adding more bus stops to moving the Downtown business district to Central O'ahu. Traffic signal coordination and parking management have also been suggested.

While all these may merit more consideration, nothing will resolve traffic congestion if the only mobility choice we have is driving our automobiles. Buses will be stuck in the same traffic as cars, and HOT lane/toll roads just put more, not fewer, vehicles on the road.

A rail system will provide commuters with an option that is separated from our roadway system and can move about freely and reliably, especially during rush hour, bad weather or daily traffic.

Traffic will get worse as more homes are built and our population grows. Rail makes sense, and it is the right thing to do for our future. And I say this even being a resident of the Windward side — I really look forward to hopping on rail whenever I need to travel along South Shore, O'ahu, which is quite often!

HAVE NEW, LARGER-SCALE DEVELOPMENTS FOOT BILL

It's amazing to me how short-sighted folks seem to be regarding the rail: "I like to drive my car," therefore "rail makes no sense."

For a city with one prominent transportation artery, it seems as if Honolulu is a great candidate for rail.

The cost question is real, but here's one solution that might kill two birds with one stone: Heavily tax new condominium and other large-scale developments to support the costs. One would guess that the four new towers in the Ala Moana area will contribute to the already overburdened traffic system — why not hold new/similar developments accountable? It would seem that this would help keep development in check and ease the taxpayer burden at the same time.

Look at other major island metropolises (Tokyo, N.Y.C., etc.) versus ours which, like it or not, seems to continue to grow, then try to imagine if everyone in those cities got in their own separate car to go to work.