Letters for Tuesday, January 23, 2007

• I can see for miles and miles

• Pay comparison for box stores

• Killing two birds …

• Tied to the whipping post

• Arguing impeachment

• ‘Aikea’ about show

I can see for miles and miles

As a local Kaua‘i home grown experiment, not needing millions of government dollars for this study, I asked myself, what would 280 cars in a line look like (the Superferry’s transporting payload) disembarking on Kaua‘i streets? I don’t think anyone to this point actually saw it laid out on the street … so I tried.

I looked at Kapa‘a traffic stopped near Coconut Grove Shopping center. I counted 18 cars over a quarter-mile span stopped on the southbound side of the road. Doing the math — Superferry’s load of 280 cars would then stretch almost four miles. How long is four miles of bumper-to-bumper cars? I clocked that — it’s as long as from Kintaro’s in Wailua to the north end of Kealia Beach. Has anyone stopped to do the math before?

Even if the Superferry is half full, that’s two long miles of cars and trucks. Each time Superferry arrives half full, there would be a two mile line from Superferry and a two mile line going to Superferry.

Superferry officials in their ads and Web site say they have done their own studies to adjust times to ease Kaua‘i traffic. Their “adjusted” plan is to arrive at Nawiliwili at 5:30 p.m. Can you see an extra 2 to 4 miles of cars on your way home?

If that’s Superferry’s version of doing their own studies to help us isn’t it best if the residents hold Superferry to an independent EIS being proposed by Gary Hooser and others? I don’t feel I can trust the Superferry, on its own, given its way of helping traffic here.

Check out the Web site for more info on EIS action: www.superferryimpact.com Once the Pandora’s box is opened by Superferry, we can’t take it back.

Anahola

Pay comparison for box stores

During the Kauai Planning Commission public hearing Jan. 9, several residents testified that Wal-Mart allegedly treats its employees poorly with low pay and meager benefits.

The hearing was scheduled to consider proposed legislation to limit the size of buildings on the Garden Island to 75,000 square feet of space. Wal-Mart plans to expand its Kaua‘i store into the state’s first Supercenter that would occupy more than 200,000 square feet of space.

Two of the commissioners asked for a comparison of pay and benefits at Kaua‘i’s Big Save markets, Wal-Mart, and Costco.

According to information obtained from Kaua‘i employees at the three businesses, the statistics are:

Big Save: Starting pay $7.15 per hour (minimum wage).

Wal-Mart: Starting pay $8 per hour.

Costco: Starting pay $10.75 per hour, $11.50 after 90 days probation.

Kaua‘i employees for all three businesses indicated that they are satisfied with the benefits.

The Big Save employees were paid for the five hours they spent attending the Planning Commission public hearing Jan. 9.

Some Garden Island senior citizens work part-time for Wal-Mart primarily to obtain medical benefits for themselves and their families.

Lihu‘e

Killing two birds …

I understand that a cross-island march is scheduled on Kaua‘i to coincide with anti-Iraq War marches and rallies throughout the nation. If my information is correct the march begins in Waimea and proceeds to Lihu‘e. Could everyone that is planning to attend the march please carry a trash bag and help beautify Kaua‘i so your march isn’t a total waste of time and effort.

Lihu‘e

Tied to the whipping post

It is very hard for me to imagine that there are still citizens who cannot see that Lt. Ehren Watada has become the right wing’s whipping boy. Does he question our strategic and political reasoning? Damn right he does. Question authority, again and again? Hold their feet to the fire? Our brave men and women are killed and maimed, for what? Did Iraq attack us on 9/11? No. was Saddam Hussein a member of Bin-Laden’s Al-Qaeda? No.

We are the only superpower on our planet. Let’s act it. This is a withdrawal, not a defeat. Honor and respect those that gave of themselves for this adventure, those are truly heroes all. But we have to always question our leaders’ decisions and motives. Many don’t want to open this can of worms. Pilau in there.

Kapa‘a

Something stinks

I’ve been to Kaua‘i once. Loved it and am coming back. My concern is for the people of the island. Something seems off kilter when the gas here in Indiana is $1.79 a gallon and still dropping, but the gas there is over $3 a gallon yet. I own a convenience store with gas here in Indiana, so I am not completely dumb to the scene.

Perhaps a stink should be really made.

Fort Wayne, Ind.

Arguing impeachment

We now have 130,000 troops in Iraq. Muqtada al Sadr has 20,000. George W. could use these troops to depose Maliki and disarm al Sadr. He could then encourage the Kurds, Sunnis and Shia to form a tripartite government without partitioning Iraq, and constitutionally guarantee a secular Iraq with true religious freedom for all Iraqis. Without drastic action, Maliki will continue to jerk us around and people will continue to die.

There is little hope that President Bush will do this, because it will be an admission that the election that resulted in Maliki’s rise to power was premature and did nothing to establish true democracy in Iraq. The daily death toll of Americans and Iraqis will continue to rise until the Bush administration is out of office. We have two choices to effect this change. Nancy Pelosi can put impeachment back on the table, or we can wait for the 2008 election to do the same thing. The question is, with the number of peoples’ lives that hang in the balance, will the Democrats accept the moral challenge to impeach, or will it be politics as usual?

Lihu‘e

‘Aikea’ about show

I am a born and raised a Maui girl. I am away at college right now, but extremely concerned with a new reality show put out by MTV. The show entitled “Maui Fever,” includes a group of young individuals poorly portraying the life here on Maui. The aspirations of these young individuals are not positive ones. The aspirations include attempting “one night stands” with visiting female tourists while the show presents heaps of underage drinking. I feel ashamed to state that I am from Maui to people who have seen the show. Hawai‘i is a place like no other, we have one of the richest cultures in the world. The show should be pulled from MTV’s seasonal line up. It gives everyone in the world the wrong impression about the Maui lifestyle and Maui people. Please see the show for yourself and I’m sure you will agree it makes for great television drama, but it disrespects the people of Maui and Hawai‘i.