SUPERFERRY

GET UPSET AT COMPANY, NOT AT THE PASSENGERS

Auwe! It seems like our friends on Kaua'i have much misguided anger.

It's one thing to be upset at the Superferry. It's another thing to harass and berate the passengers.

The passengers are your fellow citizens. Would the people of Honolulu bar you from using Honolulu's hospitals? Or hotels? Or to work in the city? Of course not.

Yet we see signs like "Stupid passengers," "Go home," etc. Very poor taste.

By the way, did you make the same fuss for the cruise lines, the airlines, the barges?

Get upset at the company, not the passengers.

INCENSED AT BEHAVIOR DIRECTED AT RESIDENTS

After Hurricane Iniki struck Kaua'i, I dedicated two years of my AUW donations to be targeted at the rebuilding of Kaua'i Community College, since I am an employee of the UH system.

After seeing how "ugly" the Superferry protesters on Kaua'i were, with their wrath directed largely at passengers trying to arrive from O'ahu, the next time (not if, but when) a hurricane strikes them, I'm not going to give them a red cent.

I am incensed at their behavior toward fellow residents of this wonderful state.

KAUA'I CAN'T ABSORB MORE VEHICLE TRAFFIC

People who can't understand why the Superferry shouldn't go to the Neighbor Islands obviously haven't been to Kapa'a, Kaua'i, lately.

Every day, at all times of the day, there are massive traffic snarls. Adding hundreds of cars to the gridlock that already exists there would cripple the island.

Kudos to the people of Kaua'i for their staunch opposition. They deserve a hand for their noble efforts.

FERRY CONTRIBUTES UNNECESSARY POLLUTION

In response to Hugh N. Hazenfield (Letters, Aug. 29), I am glad you enjoyed your cruise aboard the Hawaii Superferry, but you must try to understand why a great number of Hawai'i residents and especially environmentalists do not want it to operate.

It contributes unnecessary pollution to an already over-polluted Earth, and its relatively high speeds of 35 knots threaten to kill or injure whales.

I am also appalled that you "suspect that the environmentalists just don't have enough to do or have enough about which to worry."

Perhaps you have never heard of global climate change? There are thousands of environmental issues that need to be addressed, but the people of Hawai'i choose to address this one because it is so close to home.

HANNEMANN

TIME WILL SHOW TRANSIT IS THE RIGHT DECISION

I've got to ask David Johnson ("Other mega-projects offer cautionary tales," Island Voices, Aug. 28): Is there really a rush to a project that's been more than three decades in the making?

We are fast approaching the 15-year anniversary when Honolulu last rejected federal funds for a needed transit project. One difference now is that the traffic congestion problem has worsened. The current rail proposal is about the farthest thing from a rush job.

What has been missing, until now, has been the political will and courage to see a sorely needed transportation alternative through. And that's why state lawmakers, the governor, the City Council, Hawai'i's congressional delegation and Mayor Mufi Hannemann all got on board to approve moving forward with a fixed guideway project for Honolulu.

Mayor Hannemann and his administration remain committed to being fiscally responsible. He's established a special transit fund to be sure that money earmarked for transit goes only to that specific purpose. Since taking office, Honolulu has improved its bond rating, eliminated consulting contracts, canceled unused purchase orders and received national awards for its financial accounting and budgeting practices.

Mayor Hannemann has never been afraid of making the tough decisions and will continue to do so for the public's benefit.

Yes, he wants the fixed-guideway project to move quickly, only because it's long overdue.

Time will show that his decisions to care for the city's infrastructure needs, including mass transit, are the right ones.

EXTREMISTS

IRAQ WAR JUST ONE PART OF GLOBAL TERROR FIGHT

The Iraq war is only a part of a global war — a war between the West and extremists who long for a dictatorial regime that will impose religion and values.

The West values such things as freedom, voting, rights of minorities, fair play, free speech and self-determination. The extremists — those who plowed jets into the World Trade Center towers and into the Pentagon — believe in no such things.

They want to force their standards down our throats, including standards of dress and religion.

It is a mistake to think that we can simply withdraw from Iraq and the problems will go away. If we do not fight the extremists in Iraq, we will fight them elsewhere. They will see to that.

So, when we talk of the Iraq war, let us remember that it is part of a global war, and we must fight that war no matter how long it takes us.

If we do not, we could lose just about everything that we truly value.

We must go after them and kill them where they are, or they will come after us with terrible consequences.

JUSTICE

PADILLA WAS SUBJECTED TO UNJUST TREATMENT

Regarding the guilty verdict in the Jose Padilla case, the true loser is the American justice system.

In 2002, Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was sent to a Navy brig as an enemy combatant accused of plotting a "dirty bomb" and had no access to an attorney for two years.

Conditions in the brig included extreme isolation for years and sensory deprivation, among other illegal practices under the Geneva Conventions.

As the Supreme Court was about to rule on the constitutionality of his captivity recently, the original charge was dropped for lack of evidence and he was handed over to a civilian court.

He was charged with three lesser counts, the most serious of which was the filling out of an application form to attend an al-Qaida training camp.

Even if he is sentenced to life in prison, his shameful treatment in the brig is already a worse punishment that cannot be tolerated in a just system.

GABBARD

ISLE DEMOCRATIC PARTY SHOULD HAVE SAID NO

The Democratic Party of Hawai'i should have said, "thanks, but no thanks" when State Sen. Mike Gabbard offered to switch his party membership and leave the ranks of Republicans.

He's a divisive, polarizing figure. The Democrats already have an overwhelming majority in the Senate, so why do they need to bring Gabbard into their tent?

The Democratic Party may be inclusive, but there should be no room for people like Gabbard, who practice the politics of division to get elected.

SUPREME COURT

DISCIPLINE DECISION FOUND TO BE DISTURBING

I was very disturbed by the Aug. 19 article on parental discipline and convictions being overturned.

There is something seriously wrong with a state that has a parental discipline law. This law is effectively condoning child abuse. You don't have to cause substantial bodily injury etc. to be abusive. There is always a negative psychological impact to being hit in any form by someone you trust and rely on for your very life and who is generally bigger than you.

In working with hundreds of children and adults who experienced various levels of punishment and are continuing to struggle with its effects, I have seen that it creates nothing more than fear, resentment, vengeance and low self esteem, but never true respect for parental authority. Indeed, seeing your parent lose control only serves to make the parent seem less trustworthy or worthy of respect.

I am sure that most parents do not want to frighten their children and create horrible memories, but just may not know what to do. Parents who yell and hit must eventually up the ante as children use more and more deceptivity to avoid getting caught making normal mistakes or because they are doing something out of vengeance.

There is information available on how to parent children without using force, and I hope all parents will help themselves and their children by learning more about true discipline vs. punishment.

When The Advertiser writes stories like this, I would ask that you consider doing a community service by also publishing the numbers and names of agencies like PARENTS Inc., 235-0255 or Parents and Children Together, 847-3285, or Prevent Child Abuse Hawaii, 951-0200.

READER REACTS

MUTTS NOT LAMEST COMIC STRIP IN PAPER

A big mahalo to The Advertiser. I used to think Mutts was the lamest comic strip around, but since The Advertiser added Little Dog Lost to the comics page, I now know I was wrong.

COUNTRYSIDE

LIT CIGARETTE BUTTS CAN BE SERIOUS FIRE DANGER

Your Aug. 21 editorial about the Waialua fire began with "It's too soon to determine what caused the ravenous Waialua wildfire."

Consider this: My wife and I are driving home to Hale'iwa on Monday night, Aug. 20, at about 10 p.m. The fire is almost completely out but the air still smells of smoke. In the light of a half-moon, from our car on Kamehameha Highway, where we often spot ghostlike pueo in the night sky, what we see instead is a huge black blanket of scorched earth — and then, not once but twice, the burning ember of a cigarette butt flicked from a car in front of us. The callousness and stupidity involved in such an action, at such a time, is inconceivable.

I once was involved in creating an advertising awareness campaign urging smokers to "Keep Your Butts To Yourselves" because cigarette butts are the only litter that street-cleaning vehicles can't pick up.

This remains a major problem in urban areas, but it's nothing compared with the potential damage an unextinguished cigarette butt can cause in the drought-dried countryside.

Maybe now the time has come for another awareness campaign: "Smoking Can Be Harmful To the Life of the Land."