Letters to the Editor

Use negative ad funds for charitable causes

Call me naive or idealistic, but wouldn’t it be amazing if the big money that was wasted on negative advertising were apportioned instead to a cause or foundation that was doing something positive for people, such as community health centers forced to close due to lack of funds, a homeless fund for people struggling to make ends meet, or food banks?

Imagine, if instead of a negative ad, a candidate was able to say, "We donated such-and-such amount to the Hawaii Foodbank." Or maybe supporters could donate on behalf of a particular candidate. Then you would have candidates falling all over each other to give more money than their opponents. Imagine that!

U.S. must pressure Indonesia on rights

I find it incredible that one of the most controversial issues coming out of President Barack Obama’s visit to Indonesia is the first lady’s handshake with a supposedly conservative Muslim leader.

While relations with Islamic nations are critical to U.S. policy, American leaders have let Indonesia literally get away with murder for far too long. Human rights abuses committed by the military and police are widespread throughout Indonesia, as evidenced by numerous videos that have surfaced recently of military personnel torturing civilians in the region of Papua, West New Guinea. Indonesia is a fledgling democracy, but if the United States wants to truly support representative and just governance in Indonesia, then it needs to take a hard line against abusive and murderous leadership and pressure President Yudhoyono to observe basic human rights.

Use GET to help pay for rising sewer fees

Now that the shock has worn off and I have picked myself off the floor, I reread the latest water/sewer bill that I received. Water: $50.93. Sewer: $293.72. Total: $331.16. In the paper I read that tourists spent $880 million this past September. Please don’t groan, but I thought if we had a .005 percent tax added to our general excise tax designated for the water/sewer systems alone, then maybe we wouldn’t have to have a sewer charge on our individual water bills. We know how bad our sewer system is and will continue to get worse. Why shouldn’t our visitors to the islands help us pay for its repairs and upkeep?

OIA’s decision correct on Kahuku football

The Oahu Interscholastic Association is on solid ground regarding the disqualification of Kahuku High School from participating in the state football championships. The National Collegiate Athletic Association deals with this situation all the time.

Does anybody remember that UH forfeited the national championship in men’s volleyball a few years ago in a similar situation?

I feel sorry for the kids at Kahuku but rules are rules and they have been rigorously enforced in the past and should be into the future. If you don’t like the rule there is a way to change it but that would apply in the future, not retroactively.

NOAA’s fishing rules onerous, expensive

The National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration is now requiring that all saltwater fisher- men fishing three miles or more offshore to register with it at no cost (this year). Exempt are those paying for charter-boat fishing and those fishing within the three-mile limit. This rule includes everyone on board your boat, regardless of whether or not they are fishing.

Just imagine the cost to implement this action from initial registration to monitoring the results.

At a time when our country is in its present financial straits, who on Earth could dream up such an expensive undertaking?

Heaven help us!