Build library on higher site

Building a presidential library on the oceanfront in Kakaako would be an insult to the president’s legacy ("Obama library would mean jobs," Star-Advertiser, June 17).

Climate scientists recently announced that a 10-foot rise in sea levels was a near certainty. That Kakaako site should be sold to gullible climate change deniers and the library should be built on higher ground.

John LeRoux
Waikiki

Divert bonuses to VA victims

A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs performance bonus based on deception, fraud or unde- served ratings from supervisory and administrative staff is stealing.

Bonuses resulting from falsified reports should suffice as grounds for the return of those monies.

Hawaii’s congressional delegation should introduce legislation that if performance bonuses are determined by the Inspector General to have been predicated on deception, these monies are to be returned.

A fund should be set up to compensate the widows and children of the veterans determined by the Inspector General to have died with any culpability attributable to delayed or denied treatment.

Money obtained under false pretenses regarding performance bonuses should go to the families of those who died awaiting medical care.

How can those who reaped pecuniary gains from undeserved self-interest, deception and fraud be allowed to keep that filthy lucre?

John Nix
Ala Moana

Seals better than veterans?

A monk seal or an injuredveteran: Which should see the doctor first?

We live in strange times with confused priorities. Veterans have been waiting for months to see a doctor, but a monk seal gets to see a surgeon in a day? And now conservatives are looking to send U.S. troops back to Iraq.

How many of thewounded veterans who were denied care because conservatives cut their benefits and funding are ready to go back to Iraq? How many monk seals can be sent back into combat?

It’s a crazy question, but not any crazier than the priorities our society has over the urgency of providing a monk seal immediately medical attentionwhile wounded soldiers who were duped intoriskingtheir lives for Big Oil or the military-industrial complex wait for months to see a doctor.

Smoky Guerrero
Mililani

Airline noise in Ewa not new

Ewa Beach residents, especially those who live on Hanakahi Street, have been dealing with airline noise for years ("Airport, DOT abuse Ewa Beach residents," Star-Advertiser, June 17).

I was raised in Ewa Beach from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. In the 1970s, it was worse than it is now. Our house used to shake, rattle and roll when the big 747s or C-5s would fly over, and back then it was 24/7.

Eventually you begin to ignore it.

People seeking a home in the area should check with their real estate agent before buying.

David Ho Jr.
Mililani Mauka

Compostability a good feature

Jennifer Milholen’s comments that compostable alternatives to food-grade foam containers can be composted, in facilities that Hawaii should soon have, makes sense ("Foam boxes ban worth the price," Star-Advertiser, June 11). But they also raise a possible double-standard issue.

Why can’t compostable supermarket bagsbe made of that same material and then disposed of in these same facilities?

Paul Perretta
Lower Manoa

‘Sit-lie’ bill will need muscle

The mayor’s announcement that he will introduce yet another "sit and lie" bill before the City Council is admirable.

Councilman Stanley Chang introduced his own sit-and-lie bill, which I championed, only to have it deferredin committee in a politically motivated move.

I hope the mayor’s bill passes, as the hobos who inhabit Waikiki need the Honolulu Police Department to remind them to get up off thesidewalkall day long. However, I fully expect if the bill passes, enforcement will be limited. The mayor lacks the political muscle to have it enforced in a way that will make substantive changes in the situation in Waikiki.

Dave Moskowitz
Ala Moana