Regarding comments on the use of Kawainui Marsh as a “recreational area” (“Michael Wilson,” Star-Advertiser, Name in the News, Aug. 14): Recreation is not the primary value of Kawainui Marsh.

As a wetland, it filters runoff before it enters Kailua’s public beach. It is an endangered waterbird habitat easily disturbed by hikers and dogs. It is a federally protected historic site, one of the oldest Hawaiian settlement areas on Oahu.

We have many recreational areas in Kailua, including Kaiwa Ridge (the Lanikai Pillbox Trail) and Maunawili Falls Trail. Locals and visitors know these trails have been “rec-ed” and overused.

Let’s not “rec” Kawainui Marsh.

Pauline Mac Neil
Kailua

Now maybe some work will get done

Lee Cataluna certainly makes this outrageous situation perfectly clear (“Video-streaming ban might free state workers to do jobs,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 14).

The fact that supervisors feel that the problem with state employees watching TV during their workday is that it reduces available bandwidth, goes directly to the heart of persistent state incompetence and personnel mismanagement.

No wonder Hawaii has twice as many employees as are needed: They’re busy watching movies! In the private sector, these employees, as well as their supervisors, would be promptly out the door.

Now that video streaming is banned, perhaps we can even hope that state employees with little else to do may find time for some grudging occasional service, fewer mindless delays, periodic prompt attention, phone calls sometimes returned, and so on.

But I won’t bet on it.

John M. Corboy
Mililani

Crosswalks blend in too much with roads

Crosswalks should be more visible. The zebra black-and-white stripes adopted years ago are outdated. These colors just blend in with the roadways.

An inexpensive way for increased crosswalk visibility and safety is to replace the white paint with a neon-yellow color, just like the colors of our crosswalk signs and construction worker T-shirts.

Also, we should prohibit commercial vehicles from driving in the fast lanes of our freeways. This can improve vehicle flow, just as it does on the mainland.

Last, have the city allow police officers to accept credit-card payments. When a citation is issued, the officer can give the driver the option to pay immediately with a credit card.

This will create a faster influx of revenue, among other positive results.

Rick Serafine
Kapolei

‘God Bless America’ should be anthem

From time to time, the suggestion comes up that we should change our national anthem.

“The Star-Spangled Banner” is difficult for most to sing, and many often mangle it, adding dozens of notes, probably causing composer John Stafford Smith to roll over in his grave.

Maybe we should replace it with “God Bless America,” a great song by a great American composer, Irving Berlin. The song is well known and more easily sung well. Most Americans already know the song.

If there is concern about using the name “God,” we could simply lower-case “god,” and that could work for people of any and all beliefs, regardless of the name they use.

There are hundreds of names for “god,” many even in Christianity, including Yahweh, Elohim, El Shaddai, Jehova, Allah, Abba, Ishwar, Bhagavan.

Interestingly, Muslims accept the use of “God.”

Cordell Keith Haugen
Nuuanu

Cato Institute a shill for the plutocrats

A recent letter to the editor cites a Cato Institute study questioning the wisdom of today’s social programs (“Reward work and you’ll get more of it,” Star- Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 11).

The report does not encourage an increase in the minimum wage to a living wage. Its conclusion was that “the most promising reform is to cut benefit levels substantially.”

Another Cato Institute study argues that raising the minimum wage is not the answer, claiming that raising the minimum wage has an adverse effect on employment. A thorough report on this debate comes from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. It concluded that the “bulk of the best statistical evidence” shows little to no effect on employment when the minimum wage goes up.

The Cato Institute is a mouthpiece for the plutocrats who have forged the most unequal distribution of wealth since the Great Depression. It’s unsurprising it would argue to cut our already-thin social safety net. If it’s concerned about welfare, start by cutting corporate welfare.

Kevin Batey
Kailua

Not everyone’s death is a ‘tragedy’

When is a death not a tragedy?

Frank Gifford, the all-star football player and award-winning sports broadcaster, died recently at age 84. His wife, Kathie Lee, said his death is not a tragedy because he had lived a long, incredible life and left an incredible legacy. His life, she said, was a triumph; his death not a tragedy.

On the other hand, we just learned that an 18-year-old woman named Kortney died in a car crash on the H-1 freeway (“Woman, 18, dies in H-1 crash,” Star-Advertiser, Aug. 14). Her short life is over. Her tomorrows are gone. We’ll never know what her life could have been. Her death is a tragedy.

Bob Lamborn
Nuuanu