Climate change report welcome

My thanks to the Star-Advertiser for bringing attention to the issue of climate change in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands ("Climate-change scientists predict sea to rise 1 foot by 2050," Dec. 10).

The study referred to that came out of the East-West Centerconcludes that a comprehensive evaluation of climate change policies and procedures is needed for better planning and management decisions.I completely agree. Traveling in the Pacific the past several years, I have seen the devastating impact climate change has hadon numerous inhabited atolls.

Hawaii is in a much better position to mitigate such problems because of how it manages its natural resources. Hawaii can lead the way and be a model for all Pacific islands.

Jim Lyon
Kailua

Case was voice in wilderness

I first met then-Rep. Dan Inouye in 1962 as a Boy Scout from Virginia visiting Capitol Hill.

In the mid-1990s, I had occasion to repeatedly visit with him in the waiting room at the ophthalmology clinic at Walter Reed Medical Center where we were both patients.

Since I moved to Hawaii in 1997, Sen. Inouye has always been quick to support programs I thought valuable to our nation. I liked Dan Inouye, and may he rest in peace.

Yet one can’t help recall Ed Case’s 2006 argument that Hawaii needed to plan for Inouye’s eventual departure from the Senate; how Hawaii needed to begin staggering its members’ tenures in Congress. Unfortunately, Inouye didn’t buy Case’s sound reasoning and instead supported re-electing fellow octogenarian Sen. Dan Akaka — who retires in a couple weeks.

So our state now has essentially no seniority in either house of Congress. This means that federal funding will grow lean in Hawaii because our state’s Democratic Party failed to plan for our state’s future.

Michael P. Rethman
Kaneohe

Stop killing kids overseas as well

Every word in President Barack Obama’s statement a week ago on the tragic shooting of school children and teachers in Connecticut rang true, and his show of emotion for the loss of innocent life was moving. He spoke from the heart expressing the emotions of a nation grieving.

What I don’t understand is that, as a nation, we do not share the same emotions over the loss of innocent lives (collateral damage) — many who are children, too — from ongoing U.S. drone strikes and war policies in countries around the world.

To the parents of the children killed by our drones, etc., the killings are as senseless, and tragic, as the shootings in Connecticut. Where are our tears for the deaths of the thousands upon thousands of innocent children killed in our name?

U.S. killings resulting from presidential "kill lists" and U.S. wars have got to stop. Otherwise, the killing we export will continue returning, like chickens coming home to roost.

Indeed, "May God bless the memory of the victims." But let us stop the killing. Let us repent of our collective violence, at home and abroad.

Jim Albertini
Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education and Action, Kurtistown, Hawaii

Tweak gun laws to halt murders

A step in the right direction to stop random shooting at innocent people would be to ban high-capacity magazines for firearms except for military and security such as police.

Why would a hunter need these when they use rifles? Why would a homeowner need these to defend the home when a handgun does the job?

Second, I would encourage gun owners to lock up their weapons at home so their kids or thieves cannot get their hands on them.

Lastly, make parents and adults responsible for any of their weapons being used in a killing. They should be responsible and legally charged with murder if their children or a family member takes their gun and kills another person.

My heart and prayers go out to the little children killed in Newtown, Conn.

Toby Allen
Kaimuki

Oshiro wrong to avoid GOP

I am so disappointed after reading outgoing House Speaker Calvin Say and Rep. Marcus Oshiro’s statements of not being willing to work with Republicans.

While the nation is clamoring for bipartisanship to avoid the fiscal cliff, Oshiro wants to avoid a "terrible precedent" of working with Republicans.

Is it any wonder why Hawaii politics are so screwed?

Jamie Samoson
Mililani