Letters To The Editor
January 04, 2006 - MidWeek
| Share
Del.icio.usNot the bottom half
How dare Bob Jones call me “bottom of the class”?! Why doesn’t he put his big, fat mouth where his pen is and change jobs with me for a year. Any moron can write a column. I’ll write his column and he can teach my seventh- and eighth-graders!
Why doesn’t Mr. Jones go after the politicians? They are the real problem. They listen to our union more than our union members do. If the DOE had been decentralized as Gov. Linda Lingle wanted when she was first elected, you would have seen change in our schools. Don’t blame teachers, who are busting their butts day in and day out, only to have a columnist classify them as “bottom of the class.”
Besides complaining about teachers, what has Mr. Jones ever done for his local public school? Probably nothing, just like every other grumbler about our school system. The DOE is exactly what we all think it is, underfunded (especially in the classroom), overcrowded, and overburdened with teaching students not only content, but teaching students things that should be taught at home. Try helping us out, getting us the supplies we need, getting teachers more time to teach, instead of doing other responsibilities. And stop giving us this teachers are the “bottom of the class” crap!
Michael Englar Teacher, Waipahu Intermediate School
The ‘right’ whiners
Every day the so-called “biased liberal media” bring us the angry, whining complaints of our nation’s conservative pundits. It is not enough that conservatives hold regular columns in this newspaper and others - and a faux news channel, too. No amount of “balance” can curb their drive to control everything we see and hear. To hear them talk they are the last bulwark against the decline of American civilization. If we question what they say, we are either unpatriotic, un-Christian or worse.
Actually, I am impressed by their strategy. First you set up a ridiculous straw man and attribute it to the “bad guys,” the liberals. Then you beat the heck out of it with righteous indignation. Repeated often enough you can even convince the masses that “liberal” is a dirty word. (It’s not. Look it up in the dictionary.)
J.B. Young
Honolulu
No liberal honor
Absent in the liberal nomenclature is the word honor. It is said that so few are meant to sacrifice for the lives of many, and our soldiers in Iraq and in Afghanistan have not lost their high purpose of giving what these countries’ peoples have long yearned for - freedom.
Freedom, another concept foreign to contemporary liberal thought, when witnessed throughout history, once tasted, its pursuit will never, never die. It is for this reason that, despite the falsehoods in liberal media propaganda, despite the hardships occurring in these countries, freedom will ultimately reign.
And when achieved, this current president will be known as one of the greatest liberators in history.
Gene J. Dumaran
Ewa Beach
The oldest trap
Amy Alkon’s response to a guy who got his girlfriend pregnant and now doesn’t want to deal with fatherhood was exactly what this guy and many other guys need to hear.
Whether the guy wants to hear this or not, he’s been trapped in the oldest trap used by women to trap men for centuries. He’s going to be legally obligated to that baby for the next 23 years. If he wants a relationship with this kid, he’d better settle things with the mom or sue for joint custody because he could be royally screwed by child support payments, which in some states can claim up to 60 percent of a guy’s net income, whether he can afford it or not.
Hawaii’s Child-Support Agency, which offers free assistance to mothers, is unwilling to help fathers. Fathers who’ve contacted this agency stated their only reply was for the fathers to get lawyers, which isn’t a bad idea. Suing for joint custody may be the only way to guarantee that both parents pull their financial weight. Otherwise, the guy ends up paying big-time with no guarantee to child visitations, no accountability on how the child support is spent, or that the child bears his name.
Ms. Alkon was also completely right that boys are more prone to developmental problems due to neglect.
Ryan Anakalea
Kapolei
Send your letters to MidWeek Letters, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 500, Honolulu, HI. 96813; by fax to 585-6324, or by email to dchapman@midweek.com. Please include your name, address and daytime and evening phone numbers. We print only the letters that include this information, but only your name and area of residence will appear in print. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS Comments (0) |
Most Recent Comment(s):
