MUCH ADO ABOUT HARMLESS OIL SEEPAGE

Good grief, enough with all this disproportionate, ignorant eco-extremism, already! Though the oil seeping from the USS Arizona is essentially harmless, it is priceless as far as its symbolic representation of the life's blood of those sailors who are entombed within its decaying hull. It's a vital fluid of the Arizona and vivid reminder of their sacrifice.

"Environmentalists" need to learn more about oil and the natural environment. First, all the oil in the ocean naturally biodegrades via the salt water, sun and oil-eating microbes. Don't they know this? (Since they don't seem to know CO2 is plant food, maybe not!)

Second, millions of barrels of oil seep up out of the ocean floor cracks around the world every year without destroying the "environment."

Leave the Arizona oil memorial alone. Let her bleed.

Gerald Wright | Pahoa, Hawai'i

JUDICIARY

SHAPIRO MISGUIDED ON MOON, HANABUSA

David Shapiro (Volcanic Ash, July 22) accuses Chief Justice Moon and Senate President Hanabusa of conspiring to abolish mandatory retirement for judges and keep Gov. Lingle from appointing judges.

Shapiro is fundamentally misguided. The Judiciary took no position on mandatory retirement. Regarding the appointment of judges, Hanabusa proposed, and Moon essentially supported, an idea to help the state's budget by leaving vacant judicial positions temporarily unfilled. There was no sinister plot, as Shapiro insinuates. Many states are considering this solution to save money.

There is nothing in the constitution or laws that could keep the governor from filling judicial vacancies. Moon and Hanabusa simply answered Lingle's call to help address the budget crisis. Their sole motivation was to ensure that the public's needs are met within the constraints of present limited fiscal resources. They considered a plan for the Judiciary that substantially mirrored the governor's own hiring freeze for the executive branch.

Sometimes a good idea is simply a good idea. No more and no less. Perhaps Shapiro thinks it sells newspapers to distort a proposed temporary fiscal solution into "political manipulation," "chicanery," and "corruption" of constitutional proportions. In so reporting, Shapiro dishonors the chief justice and senate president and woefully shortchanges the readers he is supposedly informing.

Susan Pang Gochros | Director, Intergovernmental and Community Relations Department, Hawai'i Judiciary

MICHAEL JACKSON

MUSIC, PHILANTHROPY, TRULY INSPIRATIONAL

On June 25, 2009, when Michael Joseph Jackson passed on from this earth, something I had long forgotten was brought into poignant clarity: that music could make me happy. Yes, I had forgotten. Forgotten that I loved Michael Jackson, that in a childhood and adolescence and even early adulthood filled with pain and turmoil, he could change all of that, even if for just a moment or an hour, or a song. For that I will be forever grateful.

But I did forget. I forgot during his times of pain and turmoil, and for that I will be forever regretful. I'm remembering now, too late for him, but in time for me.

Michael, you are a gift that keeps giving — and you always will be. I hope that you knew that, you deserve to know that you were and are loved, for who you are, for all that you have done for and given this world. What more can you give, but all of you, and that's what you did.

Gave your music, your money for charities, your time for those less fortunate, your heart. You've inspired me to do more for our world, like you did. I wish I might have had the chance to tell you this while you were still alive, but maybe you are hearing me now.

Rest in peace, and happy birthday, Michael.

Alicia Hanta | Honolulu

HEALTH CARE

Do we know what changes will mean?

It's too simple and unquestionably common to just give in to Obama's arguably free health care for everyone. Do the people who support Obama's health care really know what it is all about? Has the president explained what it is and how it works and what it will really cost the American people in dollars and care? Do the people of Hawai'i want to give up their HMSA, HMAA, UHA or Kaiser plans that cost them next to nothing and are supported by some of the best docs in our country?

If they think they are going to keep their local private insurance while the rest of America goes on Obama's health care, think again.

The government will offer private businesses a plan that is a lot cheaper. (And why not? The feds print their own money.) And eventually our local private insurance companies will go out of business. Then the feds will decide what coverage you will or will not get. That is a fact, not a scare tactic.

Steven Norstrom | Honolulu

UNIONS

TAXPAYERS SHOULD BE ALONGSIDE LINGLE

Recent front-page articles on the ongoing battle between the governor and several labor unions painfully show how out of touch HGEA and other unions are with reality. Take it from a small-business owner, no contracts or customers, no income. No income, no pay, no alternatives.

I believe Lingle is doing the right thing, actually shrinking our oversized, over-budgeted state government to reflect a slightly leaner model built for the times. It's quite amazing that this state is so entrenched in organized labor that even when there is no money and layoffs are imminent that a union can claim they need to be consulted before cuts are made.

Once upon a time the UAW was intent on controlling labor in Detroit; the end result is what you see today: bankruptcy and government bailouts. Labor costs mixed with sub-par production killed the American auto industry, and now these once mighty unions are scrounging for scraps because they have no choice. The unions killed giant companies through greed and, unfortunately, government has even deeper pockets to go after.

As taxpaying voters we should all be standing alongside the governor showing them all out the door.

Brian K. Holmes | Kaka'ako