COMMUNITY NEEDS TO GET GRIP ON REALITY

My wife is a dedicated public school teacher and has been for over 20 years. The Department of Education, the HSTA and the administration negotiated the existing furlough Fridays solution to mitigate a very tough economic situation, and while we may not like it, I think as a community, we should step back and defer to their respective judgment as to what is best for the students, teachers, parents and the rest of us.
It isn't only the teachers, but the rest of our state government, that will be affected by cutbacks and furloughs. Who is to say that a lost Friday of classroom instruction is more important than other state services, also subject to cutbacks? The Legislature is reconsidering the situation. Well, surprise. Their concern seems to be a result of the public outcry and is nothing more than reactive political pandering.
Quietly, many exempt state employees have already started their furloughs, and I see no public outcry. As a community, we need to get a grip, back off, and see the situation for what it is. We have a choice. Raise taxes or cut services. Take your pick.

Mark K. Murakami | Honolulu

HOTEL UPGRADES

RECENT RENOVATIONS LOSE RICH TRADITION

They can never leave a good thing alone. There is always an interior decorator or committee out there that thinks they can improve on the existing.

Two of our finest hotels, both undergoing extensive renovations recently, have foregone their rich tradition of truly awesome ambience for a more mundane, common look in interior design. I'm referring to the Royal Hawaiian and the now St. Regis Princeville, Kauai.

The Royal is still the Pink Lady on the outside, but on the inside she has turned brown, beige and black. Gone are the rich green and magenta carpets which identified this hostelry as a one of a kind, uniquely stunning palace. Speaking of palaces, some of you will remember experiencing the Sheraton Princeville a few years back. When you entered the lobby, your jaw dropped — it was like entering a palace with furnishings fit for royalty. St. Regis has chosen to feature a different motif, one appropriate for a hotel featuring fewer stars I fear.

I guess we have to accept change, but to see true beauty lost in the process is sad.

David Free | Käneohe

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

OBAMA SHOULD WIN 'NOBLE SPEECH' PRIZE

It's just a big mistake. It was a typo. It is supposed to be a Noble Speech Prize. Obama is an outstanding teleprompter reader. He makes great speeches. He knows how to read the words like a pro. He deserves the Noble Speech Prize!

Mark Bell | Honolulu

EDUCATION

TAPPING HURRICANE FUND A GOOD IDEA

Sen. Gary Hooser's idea to use the hurricane fund to keep our children in school is a good one. The fund was created after Hurricane Iniki because insurance companies refused to give us hurricane insurance. That situation changed a long time ago. Hurricane insurance is now readily available.

Granted it would be a good thing to have $180 million sitting there to use in case there is another hurricane, but we have a crisis right now.

So let's use some of this money to stop this ridiculous idea of reducing the number of days our already under-educated children receive.

Let's put our children at the top of our priority list, where they should be. Contact your representatives and senators and the governor and tell them to do this. And, for once, can we leave politics out of it? Regardless of what party you belong to or what candidate you support, this is a good idea

Bruce Savage | Kaläheo, Kauai

TV MERGER

SILENCE MAKES MOVE SEEM EVEN WORSE

I am glad to see The Advertiser finally giving more coverage to the KGMB/KHNL/K5 merger, and the fact that it would reduce the diversity of viewpoints in local news.

Whether this merger violates FCC rules, or is a bad idea for local news, is probably debatable, and should be debated. But the existing local media have been largely silent on this matter, when they are exactly the institutions that should be promoting debate and discussion. That by itself makes me think that three stations with one newsroom is a bad idea.

Will Best | Honolulu

MOON CRASH

DESTRUCTIVE WAYS OF U.S. CONTINUE

It comes as no surprise that the country that developed and dropped the first atomic bomb is now bombing the moon.

We have poisoned and polluted Mother Earth and now are turning our attention toward Sister Moon. When will we stop allowing our government to be run by violent mad scientists with undeveloped moral sensibilities, whose first impulse is to triumph over the unknown and adversity through domination and destruction?

With our consistently destructive actions, how can we dare to speak with moral authority over what other countries may do? Would Iran be allowed to bomb the moon?

Shelly Brown | Honolulu

EHREN WATADA

MORE LEADERS SHOULD HAVE SUCH CHARACTER

The Bush administration stood before the U.N. and made a case to invade Iraq. Unfortunately, they base their invasion on poor intelligence, heresay, manipulation of the truth and distortion of the facts. Therefore, the war was immoral, illegal and unjustified.

Ehren Watada saw this and refused deployment. As a lieutenant, he is duty-bound to follow the orders of a superior officer. However, if your commander in chief decides to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no weapons of mass destruction, would you follow those orders? Ehren Watada was conflicted. Duty vs. morality. He exercised the latter.

War hawks call him a coward. Morally, he stood up to President Bush and basically said, "I don't see it." I wish more of the top brass in the Pentagon and members of Congress had done the same thing. They would have saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

Ehren Watada is a man of good moral character and fiber. Therefore, he has my utmost respect.

Robert K. Soberano | Honolulu