Letters to the Editor
We must be patient in fighting terrorism
President Bush in his comprehensive and inspiring address to Congress correctly asked the American people for patience. It is so important that we be realistic about the complex task ahead and not place time constraints for success.
In our efforts to eradicate terrorism, America and its allies must be just as calculating and methodical as the enemy. However, unlike the enemy, we must minimize civilian casualties by attacking only fully confirmed terrorist targets.
Fellow Americans, let us trust our president and his leadership team to implement the appropriate actions at the appropriate times.
Let us also ask for God's wisdom and His continued blessings on America, its people and its allies.
Russell Stephen Pang
Newspaper's attack on Hawai'i insulting
After reading Dan Nakaso's story on Sept. 25, I felt compelled to write. My hometown newspaper is the Tri-City Herald, where Karen Spears Zacharias blasted Hawai'i in her Sept. 23 column for being unpatriotic.
I'm the mother of five Kafentzis sons who moved from the Tri-Cities to go to college at the University of Hawai'i and also play football. My family has owned businesses in Hawai'i, and nine of our 13 children have lived there off and on throughout the past 22 years. Hawai'i is home to them.
The Kafentzis family is ashamed and incensed that Zacharias would judge the patriotism of an entire state by one street corner. She not only insulted us (I have children who are living in Hawai'i), she insulted all of the good people of Hawai'i.
The next time Zacharias puts a pen to paper, she should make sure there is a brain behind her so-called "facts." My family feels she owes the citizens of Hawai'i an apology.
Bev Kafentzis
Richland, Wash.
Tri-City residents welcome in Hawai'i
Citizens of the greater Tri-Cities: You are welcome in Hawai'i, and you need not worry about your reception.
Fortunately, my parents moved to the Tri-Cities many years ago. Unfortunately, both are now frail, and none of us children live anywhere near them. Neighbors, church members, people in businesses and just plain strangers have extended themselves to help my parents.
Since the recent opinion piece in the Tri-Cities Herald, I have been explaining to people in Hawai'i that one newspaper writer spreading "stink talk" about Hawai'i's reaction to the Sept. 11 events does not represent the northern aloha spirit. So when winter sets in, come on over to Hawai'i.
If anyone asks you, "Hey, isn't the Tri-Cities the place where that nut called Hawai'i unpatriotic?" — tell them to telephone me. I'll vouch for you.
Everyone lost, everyone grieves. The best the enemy can hope for is that we waste energy fighting ourselves, hold back in fear or alter our lives. Don't help the enemy tear us apart.
Anita Manning
Waipahu
Let's give our heroes a Hawai'i vacation
As one of our legislators so ably said, "It is time to think outside the box." To that I end, I believe it is time to show the world who we are by sending out hundreds of flights from New York across our whole country to Hawai'i.
Fill these "Hero-planes" with the many everyday people who directly suffered from this terrible attack on our society and nation — these everyday heroes who immediately rolled up their sleeves and gave their all to help in this tragedy. Let us all (airlines, hotels, activity providers, restaurants and just ordinary citizens) get together and offer a special type of experience to all these firefighters, police officers, construction workers, volunteers and EMT heroes. Make this a free respite in Hawai'i to help them cleanse their souls and reinvigorate them for the much hard work that still has to be done.
Michael Barnett
Kihei
Subsidize tourists and they will come
We don't need tax credits, more unemployment compensation, etc. They won't solve the problem. We are spending tax dollars, but generating little or no income or benefits for our efforts. What we need are tourists.
The only way to bring tourists to Hawai'i is by air. We need to get people to fly to Hawai'i. Let's have the state government and the tourist industry subsidize all airline tickets for three months.
We will succeed in filling the flights, which in turn will fill the hotels and restaurants. Money is being spent, jobs are being created and retained, and tax revenues are being generated as the money flows through the economy. The multiplier will create additional taxes as workers' salaries are spent.
Tourists can't resist a good deal. Let's make Hawai'i the best travel value available.
Peter Savio
Gambling must be approved by state
We need gambling in Hawai'i immediately. There. I said it. I know I am going against the newspaper editors, the tourist entertainment businesses and the religious conservatives (who feel what's good for them is good for everyone else).
Hawai'i has just been dealt an incredible economic blow. Now is the time to allow gambling in Hawai'i. This needs to include the hotels, new casinos and the cruise ships. People who want to come here for sun and surf will continue to do so. But people who want to sit at a slot machine or play blackjack will come as well.
Why go to a hot-in-the-summer-and-cold-in-the-winter desert location when you can be in a lush Hawai'i hotel and play in its casinos? Competition for people willing to fly and travel in the foreseeable future is going to be fierce. Let them know we all know we want them to visit Hawai'i. If gambling is what you want, then we have it.
Sugar plantations are gone. Paternalistic plantation owners and bosses are history. We do not need a government to take the plantation owners' places in deciding whether we should gamble or not. Act now. The longer we wait, the more the misery.
Gary Edwards
World War II battle recalls eerie humanity
As America prepares for whatever is required to counter the terrorist plague, recollections of the sights and sounds of battle in World War II play upon my mind and take me back to my days with the 100th Infantry Battalion. And this particular recall:
We, the Nisei GIs of the 100th, have been battling the enemy along the mountaintops and valleys of the the Lower Apennines almost continuously since our landing on the Anzio beachhead, south of Naples, in September 1943. It is now November, and in this encounter we find ourselves firing away at each other across a narrow ravine, the enemy positioned on one side of the sloping ridge line and we across from him.
Then in an unusual move, a Red Cross flag is slowly thrust into the air from a dugout at the lower end of the ridge. But in our exhausted condition, no one pays attention to it. The firing continues, the flag is withdrawn.
Suddenly, however, all firing comes to a stop. I look about in the almost eerie stillness. There, silhouetted against the fading light of sundown, is a long mule train of about 20 animals slowly making its way down the mountain slope, a dead soldier strapped across the back of each animal.
Transfixed, we watch the drama in complete silence as the mules, one by one, dissolve into the sanctuary of the woods at the lower end of the slope — a panorama as crushingly beautiful as it is hauntingly deadly in its common sorrow.
And thus in our common humanity, the trail of the mule train can be seen as a representation of mankind's faith that in our shared beliefs, we will continue to walk humbly with our God irrespective of which ridge line we happen to be standing on.
Ben H. Tamashiro
Makua dilemma could have been resolved
Recently a letter to the editor by a retired military officer referred to Malama Makua as a fascist organization. Fascist organizations I believe are those governments that state the rules apply to their subjects and not to the government itself.
If, for example, I were to open a coin-operated carwash, I would have to submit an environmental impact statement addressing traffic problems, solvent and cleaning solution storage and disposal as well as protection from ground water contamination. The same is true for mom-and-pop service stations, Wal-Mart and even the State of Hawai'i.
The federal government, however, has the legal defense of eminent domain, which it can use by stating it is the government and therefore exempt from the law.
The federal court and Makua's dilemma might simply have been resolved had the federal government simply and publically stated it is exempt from the law of eminent domain, or had done an EIS four years ago when it was identified as a potential problem.
R.W. Hunter
Why would anyone steal American flag?
To the person who stole my American flag flying at my Village Park residence: The flag belonged to me, a Navy veteran who served his country for over 30 years.
I served my country. What have you done for yours? What kind of a person are you who would take the American flag of another and display it as your own?
Mitford H. Dunn
Waipahu
Rising drug costs are not a partisan issue
I was amused to read the Aug. 26 comments of House Minority Leader Galen Fox, who said it is "hopeless that at the state level we can make any progress" to address the rising cost of prescription drugs for Hawai'i residents.
Far from being hopeless, states are taking action. In the past year alone, 44 states introduced legislation to reduce the cost of drugs by a variety of means — discount programs, bulk purchasing programs, expanded manufacturer rebates — including price controls. Far from engaging in politicking, a total of 30 states, including many that are Republican-controlled, now have some type of program enacted or authorized.
Responsible lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, realize there is a health crisis sweeping this country. Drug prices are soaring out of control, rising three times as fast as the inflation rate. In Hawai'i, upward of 300,000 residents have no drug insurance, with seniors on fixed incomes being the most vulnerable. Many are forced to risk their health by skipping doses or going without medicine entirely simply because they cannot afford it. In the face of this crisis, Fox's solution is to "wait and see what Washington comes up with."
It will be a long wait. The Bush administration's proposal to give senior citizens access to discount prescription drug cards does little if anything to provide relief for millions of seniors and falsely gives hope that the White House is actually coming forward with a meaningful proposal to improve the quality of health care.
Rep. Roy Takumi
D-36th District (Pearl City, Waipahu)
Log on and vote to support Hawai'i music
The 5th Annual Hawai'i Music Awards Internet voting ballots are now open to the world.
Help our local recording industry by telling as many people as you can to participate and vote in support of music from Hawai'i.
With recent events, our music industry is being devastated by the effects. This is one way to help them. Log on to www.hawaiimusicawards.com/
Good luck to all nominees.
Johnny Kai
Get out of the car and enjoy Hawai'i
Hawai'i is one of the rarest, most beautiful places on Earth, yet we all spend so much time sitting in our cars.
Every day, thousands of kama'aina sit in traffic for hours, trying to get to work and school. If you drive in traffic, you are wasting gallons and gallons of fuel, emitting harmful pollutants into our atmosphere and missing out on Hawai'i's natural beauty.
We should all try walking or biking to the places we need to go, or at least try carpooling. We might just find that we enjoy the fresh air, the gorgeous views and the peace of mind.
Matt Snow
Kahala
Flag welcome change from casket display
What a refreshing change of pace it is to see the American flag proudly displayed in the window of Affordable Casket off H-1 in Mapunapuna.
As the area council member for Mapunapuna, I received many complaints over the morbid nature of its dummy and casket displays. Since the display of the American flag, area residents call to now applaud the store's patriotism. If there was ever a time for Affordable Casket to make peace with the public and to get its support, now is the time.
I would like to go one step further and suggest that Affordable Casket lose the dummy and casket displays, but keep the flag.
Romy M. Cachola
Councilman, Council District VII
