KIDS, GET A JOB TO RAISE FUNDS, DON'T PANHANDLE

It is appalling how often we see children panhandling on busy intersections for donations for a variety of causes (i.e. a trip to nationals). Why can't they use the old-fashioned and safer method of raising money — say holding a car wash or bake sale or even getting a job? Imagine that!

Instead, they choose to endanger their lives and the lives of others by standing on busy intersections to hold out fishing nets to get money the easy way.

Where are the parents, and why do they allow this? What if something happened to their child? This is irresponsible.

There ought to be a law against this. It is distracting to drivers, and a safety hazard to the child involved.

Kids, quit being lazy and go out and get a job or raise funds the responsible way — don't demoralize and endanger yourselves by hanging out on the street corner begging for money.

COUNCIL DECISION

MOST MAJOR CITIES LINK AIRPORT, TRANSIT SYSTEM

We like to think that Honolulu is a world-class city.

Our climate and natural resources are indeed world-class; the decision to route the new fixed-rail system through Salt Lake is anything but world-class.

A system that does not serve the airport, Waikiki or the University of Hawai'i-Manoa is doomed to failure before the first rail is laid.

Perhaps Councilman Romy Cachola has not traveled much away from O'ahu, but I have. It is noteworthy that almost all major European cities (London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva and Zurich, to name just a few) have rail links between their airports and their city centers.

London and Paris, with two major airports, have rail links from both of their airports to their respective downtowns. Major Asian cities, such as Tokyo and Bangkok, have or are constructing rail links to their airports.

Chicago's two airports, San Francisco, Washington's Reagan National, Atlanta, Boston and JFK in New York have rail links. What do the urban authorities in these places know that our City Council seems not to know?

Perhaps it is too late for the council to reconsider this matter, but should this be a possibility, I urge the council to revisit the question and to remedy this very unfortunate decision.

TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENTS BETTER USE OF MONEY

Instead of the millions that will be spent on an unnecessary fixed-guideway system, let's spend the money on more pedestrian overpasses and underpasses, more traffic lights, better-designed streets, rush-hour express bus lanes, more buses and more street resurfacing.

The only justification in an unneeded rail system is as a feather in the caps of the mayor and city councilmembers.

Ego-stroking at the cost of the lives of our citizenry?

SAFETY

HIGH-TECH IDEA SOUGHT TO PROTECT PEDESTRIANS

Education alone will not solve the problem of slaughter in our crosswalks. Most drivers observe the rules of the road, but some do not and never will.

I challenge researchers at the University of Hawai'i and elsewhere to come up with a practical high-tech solution, possibly a magnetic device implanted in the street to disable the engine of an approaching vehicle or slam on its brakes if it "crosses the line," or a radar-activated device in an approaching vehicle to produce the same result.

Until researchers and lawmakers come up with something, pedestrians should approach each and every intersection and crosswalk as a life-threatening situation.

ACCIDENTS

SENSOR WOULD DETECT OBJECT BEHIND VEHICLE

I read about the toddler who was fatally hit when a car backed over her. Auwe!

Without placing judgment on anyone involved, I would just like to urge everyone who can to install a sensor that tells you when you're about to back into something.

I have one which gives off a different sound, depending on whether I'm six feet, two feet, or within one foot away. It even detects my cat in the driveway!

Wouldn't it be nice if vehicles were manufactured with this piece of technology already in place?

HALLIBURTON

PRESIDENT AND CHENEY DISREGARD CONSTITUTION

The Bush administration approved a Halliburton subsidiary (with connections to Vice President Dick Cheney) to take over as private contractor for Walter Reed, despite an Army report that documented better cost-effectiveness with in-house care.

This after documentation of fiscal abuses with little work accomplished in Halliburton's contracts in Iraq.

Now Halliburton oil is moving to Dubai — on the doorstep of Iraq. And our gas prices are going up again. And Bush is sending even more troops, beyond the 21,000 he requested already this year. Of course, the list goes on.

Can someone please explain why Congress has not moved yet to impeach a president and vice president who repeatedly, blatantly and brazenly have betrayed the public interest of our country with blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution and international law?

RIGHTS

DEMOCRACY MEANS THAT THE MAJORITY RULES

In his letter, "Hawai'i must embrace rights for all citizens" (March 6), Mr. Karl Buermeyer makes the statement: "The majority should not hold the rights of a minority to its whims. Leadership is about doing what is right, regardless of whether public opinion or the clergy favors it."

Well, Mr. Buermeyer, this country is based on a democracy, which basically means that the majority does, in fact, rule.

That's how elections are carried out, laws are made, etc. This prevents such "leaders" as Adolf Hitler, Kim Jong Il and Saddam Hussein, just to name a few who said that they were doing "what was right," from springing up in this country.

Lately, it appears that any time a small group of people do not agree with what the majority of the citizens of our state or country feel is correct, or at least fair, those groups run to the lawyers who then run to the courts to push their selfish beliefs.

Personally, I'm tired of having to bend over backward just to appease the small groups that didn't get what they wanted.

CIA LEAK

SCOOTER LIBBY VICTIM OF A D.C. WITCH HUNT

Kudos to The Advertiser for publishing the comments of Charles Krauthammer (March 12) regarding the witch-hunt conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff for having a faulty memory based on the "convincing" testimony of the NBC News Washington bureau chief, Tim Russert.

Russert's memory has been shown to be anything but reliable, and his venomous anti-Bush bias is vividly apparent to anyone who watches him on TV.

Like so many special prosecutors who find themselves dancing in the limelight, Patrick Fitzgerald soon became obsessed with obtaining some kind of conviction — any kind of conviction — and facts be damned.

Fitzgerald knew all along it was not Scooter Libby, but the State Department's Richard Armitage who had leaked the name of some low-level CIA flunky to the press. Armitage was never charged with anything.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton's national security adviser Sandy Berger clearly did endanger national security — probably committed treason — when he stole and destroyed sensitive documents from the National Archives. These documents directly related to the Clinton administration's non-response to eight years of terrorist attacks against U.S. property and citizens. Berger destroyed sensitive papers that 9/11 commissioners would certainly have studied in assessing blame.

Libby may get jail time, while Berger copped a plea to a misdemeanor, got a tap on the wrist and walks today as a free man. Go figure.

Is it any wonder terrorists figure we're ripe for the plucking?

PAPAYA

GMO FOODS ARE SAFE AND THOROUGHLY TESTED

Contrary to what Laurie Steelsmith stated in her article, "Genetically modified food not labeled in U.S." (Island Life, March 1), genetically modified foods produced for commercial purposes are thoroughly tested and safe to eat.

As a farmer growing papayas for more than 30 years — and for the last eight years a genetically modified papaya variety resistant to the papaya ringspot virus — I have not experienced any complaints from any of my customers.

In fact, the papaya grown now is the same as previous varieties, but by all indications is much improved in terms of plant vigor, taste and productivity.

We take extreme pride in producing high-quality fruits that consistently draw loyal customers who make repeat purchases on a weekly basis.

Further, Ms. Steelsmith implies that GMO foods may contain material that may pose allergy threats.

I remind her that certain individuals have specific allergic reactions to specific allergens, i.e. lactose intolerance in milk products, hay fever from mango flowers, gluten intolerance in wheat products and so forth. Should we label milk, mangoes and bread as unsafe?

HAWAIIAN CULTURE

HAOLES HAVE TROUBLE ACCEPTING RACE TERM

Haole is a nice name given to Caucasians.

Hawai'i is a culture comprised of a multitude of ethnic groups. All confined and tightly integrated on a speck of land in the middle of the Pacific.

Each ethnic group has always had its own Hawaiian race descriptor.

We've all grown up since childhood to accept our cultural Hawaiian race description. We've never considered it as racial. That was just Hawaiian style.

It is just the group of Caucasians who find it displeasing to have a race description.

They are the only race that has difficulty accepting and integrating this name given by the Hawaiian culture.

This problem that they have had within themselves has been going on for decades. It is not racial, it's our culture.

NUISANCE

GAME BREEDERS HELPED WITH CROWING ROOSTER

My initial excitement of moving into a new residence quickly dissipated after being awakened as early as 1 a.m. by crowing feral roosters.

A friend showed me an article on Pat and Jose Royos of the Hawai'i Game Breeders Association. After one call, they responded to my request for help and set up a cage in my backyard.

They made the trip almost daily from their home in Waiahole Valley to mine in Kamehameha Heights to pick up the chickens. It took 10 days for all 14 chickens to be captured and removed.

With the Royoses' help, I experienced my first restful night since moving into the neighborhood last November. If it had not been for the Hawai'i Game Breeders, I would have had nowhere to turn.

Mahalo for your professionalism, care and the much-needed service you provide to our community.

DOCTORS

TORT REFORM CRITICAL TO FIXING HEALTHCARE CRISIS

When are we going to realize how critical the healthcare crisis is in Hawai'i?

How many people must die or lose a limb because of a lack of doctors before the Legislature passes tort reform?

When you are injured or ill, you need medical care immediately. We cannot drive to a nearby state that has passed medical tort reform.

Caps on pain and suffering work to decrease malpractice premiums and increase the number of physicians.

The Legislature has killed the bill for tort reform, but it can still do something this session.

However, I doubt that a Legislature dominated by lawyers will pass a law that will decrease the huge payouts to a few individuals rather than ensuring access to care for thousands of people.