Ads near 9/11 stories insensitive

Why was there an advertisement of a happy clown-like character from Cirque du Soleil meshed with the article "Ceremonies strike subdued tone" about the 9/11 ceremonies (Star-Advertiser, Sept. 12)?

I’m not an advertising guru, but as a reader of this paper I thought it was insensitive to one of America’s saddest days.

Noreen Santiago
Ewa Beach

Seniors will pay for good bus service

As a senior, I certainly would like not to pay anything to ride the bus. I have little spare money.

But, as a resident of Oahu, I feel that I would rather pay more money to ride. The present annual cost is way too small.

At $10 a month, it would still be a terrific bargain, compared to the rest of the world.

If an increase in the cost to me, other seniors and non-seniors would help with increasing the service and routes, I’m all for it. The present situation isintolerablefor seniors and everybody else riding.

Michael LaGassey
Makiki

Windmills a blight on Waimea views

I am greatly saddened that my view around Waimea Bay now includes large windmills. How could this have been allowed to happen? One of the most beautiful things in the world has now been destroyed. It makes me ill and ruins my day.

Les Brinkley
Sunset Beach

Joni Mitchell right about development

Chris Jansen couldn’t have said it any better when he named Joni Mitchell’s "Big Yellow Taxi" as the official theme song for the city Department of Planning and Permitting ("Song captures isle policy trend," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 12).

What we need in these islands is more sustainable local farmland and less of the traffic that results from overdevelopment. It would be one thing if it were for actual affordable housing, but we all know how that turns out. Our homeless situation is a result of this poor government planning.

Mitchell actually wrote this song in 1969 while on vacation in the Hawaiian islands. As she gazed out her hotel window in Waikiki, she noted our local government’s careless disregard for preserving land responsibly, with land being sold out to the highest bidder (or briber).

Sadly, Mitchell’s line, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot," rings true today more than ever before.

John Bertrand
Kapahulu

Woman must have right to choose

A dear Republican friend said she could not vote for a pro-abortion Democrat.

Pro-abortion?No one is in favor of abortion — not women, not doctors. Abortion has existed for thousands of years and the law was passed to save the lives of desperate women. Every abortion is a loss, but the woman who is forced to make this choice is the one who will live with the consequences in either case.

It is her right to choose what burdens she must carry. If society were more enlightened, contraceptives would be available by machine in all public restrooms, as they were here in Honolulu during the war years.

Prevention of unwanted pregnancies is in all cases preferable to abortion, but medical abortions is always preferable to back-alley abortions.

Tough decisions must be made in the head, not the heart.

Carol Fanning
Honolulu

Remove crosswalks in middle of blocks

Regarding pedestrian safety: While all crosswalks need attention, one major improvement rarely mentioned is simply to remove mid-block crosswalks and expect crossing only at controlled intersections (with signals or stop signs).

Mid-block crosswalks in Honolulu are the most dangerous pedestrian condition I have ever seen. No matter how careful a driver is, it is impossible to see through large vehicles that obscure side visibility in heavy traffic. Mix this with stop-and-go conditions and it is virtually impossible to know when a pedestrian has entered a midblock crosswalk and now becomes a new reason to pause.

It is not too much to ask a pedestrian to walk maybe one minute to a controlled intersection to assure traffic safety for all. I expect this when I walk in every other city in the world, so let’s stop thinking like this is a small town and risking lives in the process.

Matt Gilbertson
Nuuanu

Too much litter befouls Oahu

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending eight days on Oahu. I traveled all over the island. As always, the food was terrific, the public-access lagoons breathtaking, and the North Shore was as bustling and as carefree as ever.

What wasn’t so breathtaking were the tremendous piles of rubbish, garbage and debris discarded anywhere and everywhere by the inhabitants of this beautiful island. Both the rural and town areas fell prey to this disgusting habit of leaving one’s garbage wherever one pleases.

Surely the citizens of Oahu have noticed this trend? Where is the respect for the land? Why aren’t citizens banding together to stop this awful practice? And, finally, what are the elected doing to curb this problem?

Karen Gatton
Davenport, Iowa

Hawaii has changed but aloha remains

I first visited Honolulu 40 years ago, and though I have returned a number of times, my current visit is my first for almost 25 years.

Waikiki has changed incredibly in the intervening years, and it has been interesting and nostalgic finding those places that remain from that first visit.

However, what hasn’t changed is the friendly and welcoming nature of our hosts, the people of Honolulu.

Meno Toutsidis
Adelaide, Australia