Letters to the Editor

Hawaii not cordial enough to military

Is it time for our military services to find a new, more hospitable home? We restrict the Army and Navy’s ability to do live-fire exercises and they have to go elsewhere to get the needed training. Now the Army has to go to the mainland to get high-altitude training.

I realize that Hawaii needs the military dollar, but does the military need us? The Air Force is mostly out of Hawaii. Can the Army and Navy continue to afford to stay here?

Jimmy Gotcher
Ewa Beach

Residents abusing Lanikai sidewalks

The residents of Lanikai have long blocked public parking on the unimproved sidewalks in front of their homes with rocks, trees and other obstacles. Mokumanu Drive is a particular problem because almost every resident on the street is blocking the sidewalk. The city has helped to preserve access to the beach by retaining that property for the use of all citizens. After many phone calls and emails, including calls to City Council member Ikaika Anderson, nothing has been done to improve the situation.

Although I have sympathy for the residents who must deal with a steady flow of visitors to their neighborhood, protecting access to our beaches for everyone is so much more important. After all, these homeowners chose to live next to one of the world’s most popular beaches. What is the use of the public rights-of-way if there is nowhere to park?

Lanikai Beach and the unimproved sidewalks throughout the neighborhood are not private property. It is time to remove these illegal obstructions and let all Hawaii residents enjoy Lanikai Beach.

Andrew Beh
Kailua

UH ranks 277 in world survey

I was disappointed by the University of Hawaii’s response to a recent article regarding the absence of UH-Manoa from the Princeton survey. This survey, based entirely on a poll of students, is valuable information for prospective students, but there are other rankings that take a more comprehensive look at how a university is doing.

Among the best of these is the World University Rankings, which uses a number of objective measures and includes universities from all over the world. In the latest (2010) rankings, UH-Manoa ranks 277 in the world. That might not sound impressive, but the number of universities being ranked is very large, and the UH ranking is above such well-known schools as Brandeis University and two of the University of California campuses.

I think the public will be interested to know this and should take some pride in the result.

Peter Dobson
Honolulu

Super-rich goal is control everything

It was hilarious to read the letter accusing President Barack Obama of "class warfare" ("Class warfare talk turning into art form," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 8), when it’s by now blatantly clear who is really waging class warfare against the rest of us: namely the super-rich, who want total control of everything, from the Supreme Court to Congress (and the White House in 2012, as they demonize Obama despite all his concessions) as well as our media and all other aspects of our lives.

The writer’s reference to the "50 percent" who supposedly don’t pay taxes actually includes lots of people who pay payroll, sales and other taxes. It also reflects just how wide the income gap has become between the super-rich and the rest of the country. So-called "entitlements" are sometimes all that the poor and elderly have these days, thanks to an economic elite that is refusing to hire people or pay their fair share of taxes.

David Chappell
Kaneohe

Cal Thomas wrong to trust S&P ratings

Cal Thomas discusses Standard and Poor’s downgrading of U.S. treasuries as if S&P was a competent credit-rating agency. The 2008 financial meltdown demonstrated S&P’s corrupt ineptitude. Like its fellow incompetents (Moody’s and Fitch), S&P gave AAA ratings to billions in mortgage-backed collaterized debt obligations that were obviously junk. S&P was largely responsible for the financial meltdown that still haunts the U.S. economy.

The bond market has treated S&P’s downgrade with total contempt. If bond traders had taken S&P seriously, they would have raised the interest rates on Treasury notes. Instead, they drastically reduced those rates in the days following S&P’s downgrade, from 2.6 percent to 2.1 percent for the 10-year bond.

Thomas evidently didn’t notice this absurd anomaly.

Charles Griffin
Honolulu