• White as the Prince of Wales • Honor cruelty? • Unworkable solution • Hidden political agenda • Try wait White as the Prince of Wales Linda Estes, in her recent anti-Tea Party letter, is troubled by its number of
• White as the Prince of Wales • Honor cruelty? • Unworkable solution • Hidden political agenda • Try wait
White as the Prince of Wales
Linda Estes, in her recent anti-Tea Party letter, is troubled by its number of “white” participants.
I can assure Ms. Estes that the Tea Partiers I know couldn’t care less about the racial pedigree of their candidates. They only ask that politicians abide by the law that governs their law-making, i.e., the U.S. Constitution.
But since you brought up the issue of race Ms. Estes, who is your choice for governor? Is it Duke Aiona, the native son of Hawaiian heritage? Or an aging ex-hippie draft-dodger, who’s as “white” as the Prince of Wales?
John Burns, Princeville
Honor cruelty?
I am Italian, and a long time ago we used to feed Christians to the lions. Should that be my cultural heritage?
Cockfighting is inhumane and this way of thinking is history.
Nazira De Marchi, Koloa
Unworkable solution
Ron Agor’s letter, championing the furlough ideas the governor announced to the news media, is mistaken on several counts.
First, it’s not true that the so-called “non-essential” employees play no role in the classroom. Most of the members of HSTA whom the governor doesn’t want to bring back to school are resource teachers. They may not be assigned to a particular classroom, but they bring their skills and talents directly to the schools and provide a range of resources and support to students and their teachers.
Mr. Agor sees some DOE workers as essential and others as expendable. The HSTA and the State Board of Education have a different view: if employees are needed Monday through Thursday, they are needed on Friday.
The governor’s plan Mr. Agor is promoting calls for the use of special funds. In fact, it calls for taking $62 million (not $30 million) from either the Hurricane Relief Fund or the Rainy Day Fund, even though the latter is desperately needed by social service providers to deliver services to disadvantaged children, the elderly and the mentally ill.
Contrary to Mr. Agor’s inference, the BOE-HSTA agreement, does not specify a funding source, only the amount it will cost to end furloughs. However, the House and the Senate have both agreed to use the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund, which was designed to provide hurricane insurance (not disaster relief) but was closed in 2001 and is no longer needed because private sector companies continue to write hurricane insurance policies.
Mr. Agor fails to mention the biggest item missing from the governor’s plan, which is more than $10 million in operating expenses. In other words, her plan will bring back a skeleton crew to run the schools but not provide money to turn the lights on, run computers, copy machines or any electrical equipment. It wouldn’t pay for the food served in the cafeteria or anything to for students to drink, including water. Does Mr. Agor truly think the governor is presenting a workable solution?
Wil Okabe, President, Hawai‘i State Teachers Association
Hidden political agenda
The great conceit of government is that it provides free services.
It doesn’t provide any free services. All services are paid for through taxes.
Thus, I strenuously object to the idea of a trash collection surcharge being added to my property tax bill. Unless some unseen benefactor has donated the trucks, their fuel and maintenance to the county and the trash collectors work for free, I am pretty sure that I am already paying for my trash collection through my property taxes.
I see the idea of creating a separate fund for trash collection on our tax bills as part of a hidden political agenda. Such a fund would enable the easy “privatization” of our trash collection.
A lucrative contract could then be let out through “competitive bidding” to the politically connected. It’s a business dream come true — provide a compulsory service and have the government collect the money for you while also guaranteeing your profitability.
We could then have rate increases, the dropping of unprofitable routes, subsidies for the needy and so on and so on.
Aran Sendan, Kapa‘a
Try wait
A short while back a letter appeared in TGI wherein the writer bemoaned the fact that northbound drivers in the left turn lane at the intersection of Kuamo‘o and Kuhio Highway were constantly turning in front of her when she was attempting to turn right onto Kuamo‘o from the southbound right turn lane at that same intersection.
I meant to respond at the time and advise her that for drivers traveling that route on a regular basis, it has become the custom for the right turning vehicle to yield to the left turning vehicles as a courtesy, given that making the left turn is always difficult under the best of circumstances. Alas, something came up and the letter never got written — until today when I believe I encountered the writer of the letter.
So, to the lady in the small blue car I offer an apology if I caused you some degree of consternation when I turned in front of you. I would, however, respectfully offer a suggestion. The next time you are preparing to turn right onto Kuamo‘o and see a car turning left — try wait.
Arnie Breyer, Wailua Homesteads
