In poker and investing, experts warn against continued funding of unfavorable situations and to cut one’s losses when the uncertainty of success looms large.
Our rail project provides an opportunity for us to learn the importance of accurate and realistic planning for public works projects.
The project’s cost/benefit analysis must be stated in terms that everyone can understand and include realistic and complete cost projections.
If Honolulu’s rail project cannot be completed because it is no longer financially viable, perhaps we should dedicate the uncompleted project as a monument to poor planning and execution.
It could be a major tourist attraction and an example to all city leaders worldwide of the perils of poor planning and execution of public work projects.
If we can help other municipalities avoid making the same mistakes we have made, there is a potential to save billions of dollars worldwide.
John Tamashiro
Pearl City
Rail is only solution to increased traffic
The people of Oahu will regret the decision to halt the rail at Middle Street (“The middle of nowhere,” Star-Advertiser, June 17).
One need only go to Magic Island and look mauka at all the high-rise buildings along the Ala Moana/Waikiki corridor to conclude that we must have additional means to move people and goods though the area.
The surface streets are grossly inadequate to handle the current traffic, much less the increased traffic that will result from the thousand of condos and hotel rooms under construction.
Adding lanes to the streets is not practical. Rail is the only solution.
Tony Turbeville
Makiki
Boxer and terrorist were Islam’s opposites
In recent days we have witnessed two opposite interpretations of Islam.
Muhammad Ali, although a great champion of the violent sport of boxing, outside the ring was a gentle and loving Muslim and a courageous and effective champion of justice and peace. The horrific mass murderer in Orlando was a hateful terrorist.
Further gun control is insufficient. The broader questions are what makes a person good or evil and how can America maximize the good and minimize the evil?
These are questions that demand profound thinking, by not only theologians, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists and other academics and scientists, but also parents, schoolteachers, social workers, lawyers and judges, religious leaders, politicians and many others.
Fortunately, in Honolulu they are being seriously and systematically addressed, as for example by the Center for Global Nonkilling.
Nonkilling does not discriminate; it crosses all lines.
Leslie E. Sponsel
Hawaii Kai
Talk of Muslims ban reminiscent of 1942
In 1942, my husband and his family were herded into buses and kept at a horse stable before they were transported to a remote desert concentration camp.
They lost their home, flower business and almost all their possessions. They were American citizens, but their crime was they were ethnically Japanese.
Held in concentration camps for years, when released they had practically no money, nowhere to return. They migrated to Cleveland, where his parents worked several jobs and he started working after school at age 12 to save for college.
Now a candidate advocates registering Muslims. This reminds me of 1942.
It’s wrong to generalize mass murderers and radicals as coming from a specific group. However, some politicians prey on the emotions of the masses to appeal to mass hysteria.
It makes me sad that some people who are friends support such a candidate. When voting, remember the golden rule.
Dorcie N. Sakuma
Kakaako
Organ harvesting in China highlighted
Have you heard of the atrocious practice of organ harvesting in China? It’s still happening, and the U.S. government has finally voiced its concerns.
On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 343, a resolution expressing concern regarding “persistent and credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China, including from large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.”
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who introduced the resolution, said organ harvesting is “a sickening and unethical practice (that) must stop.”
With H.R. 343, the U.S. Congress joins the European Parliament, the U.N. Committee Against Torture, and other global bodies in demanding that the Chinese government come clean on its organ sourcing practices and end the 17-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Hong Jiang
Department of Geography, University of Hawaii at Manoa
“5 players with Hawaii ties selected in MLB draft” Star-Advertiser, June 13:
>> Zero University of Hawaii players drafted. That tells me there is a talent problem and recruiting problem at Manoa.
>> Yes, but one UH-Hilo and two Hawaii Pacific University.
>> Will Hawaii ever have major league baseball? We would all go.
>> Agreed. If not MLB, maybe AAA or AA minor league baseball like the Hawaii Islanders were. Nothing like watching a baseball game outside on a warm, balmy, tradewind night, under the lights and night sky with a bag of boiled peanuts and a cold beer.
>> Reminds me of the termite palace — peanuts, popcorn, soda.
>> I’d go.
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“Time is up, Hee is told, for stalling prison term” Star-Advertiser, June 14:
>> Albert Hee needs to go straight to prison immediately. What a crook. His family should be required to pay back all money stolen.
>> Enough stalling. His family members should also be in jail for theft. The driver of a getaway car is also guilty of a crime.
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“Shooter situations can occur here, so prepare, police warn” Star-Advertiser, June 14:
>> A modern “shelter in place.” As children we drilled for earthquakes or bomb attack. Fight or run.
>> I wish I had the means to fight back. Can you say “concealed carry”? Our police department wants us to fight someone who has a firearm with sticks and stones, just like cavemen.
>> Thank God we are among the top in the nation when it comes to gun regulation. It should not be easy to get a gun.
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“Assault rifle and pair of handguns found during arrest of prison guard” Star-Advertiser, June 15:
>> An AR-15 is not an “assault rifle.” It is a hunting rifle. Assault rifles can go fully automatic, via a select-fire switch, and have long been banned from private ownership.
>> You’re right it’s not an assault rifle but to call it a hunting rifle is subjective. Anyway, the headline and story should have just used the term “rifle.”
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“Pakalolo priest’s conviction upheld” Star-Advertiser, June 15:
>> If he had just smoked a couple doobies and grew a few plants, fine with me. But he was a money grabber at the expense of others. More like a false prophet.
>> More states are legalizing recreational marijuana use and probably Hawaii will eventually be one of them, so what’s the point in prosecuting the Christies? It seems that the feds have a double standard.
>> Instead of “pakalolo priest” the headline should have read “marijuana minister.” Technically one has to be of the Catholic, Orthodox or Anglican Church to be considered a priest. But let’s not let the details get in the way of a catchy headline.
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“Embattled city ethics chief steps down” Star-Advertiser, June 16:
>> Clearly, Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration sought and succeeded in gutting the Ethics Office of the city. Vendettas against watchdog agencies are a waste of political capital and devote too much resources in getting rid of “enemies,” much like Richard Nixon did as president. If Caldwell should be re-elected, his next four years will be under a cloud where the City Council, various constituencies, the business community and unions would be hard pressed to figure out who would be next to face his wrath.
>> This is a tremendous loss for Oahu and a major win for everything wrong with local politics. Chuck Totto is a good and decent man who did a thankless but essential job with integrity and limited resources.
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“Hassinger Project to open in February” Star-Advertiser, June 16:
>> Let’s see how long it takes before an innocent person nearby is injured or raped by one of the occupants on ice.
>> NIMBY.
>> I think they should be tested for drugs every week and kicked out if they are using.
