Posted on: Thursday, August 7, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Litigation a weapon to chase Army away

Your July 30 editorial concerning the Army's treatment of Makua was somewhat off the mark.

First, the Army has done a fantastic job of taking care of that valley. It has spent several million dollars on environmental protection and propagation of native species. You will not find abandoned refrigerators, cars, batteries or tires littering the 'aina as you will in other places nearby.

Second, despite the best-laid plans, the controlled burn got out of control. It was a shame, yet let us be thankful that no human life was lost. But let us remember that the intent of the burn was to allow access to some of the very sensitive areas for environmental research.

Last, groups like Malama Makua and EarthJustice have a strategy. They will endlessly litigate using the environmental laws until they finally frustrate the military and the military leaves and looks for another place to train.

That is the real story here: The environmental laws are being used as a ruse to chase the Army out of legitimate historical training areas. That is why the military is seeking relief from these environmental laws.

Marijuana has some serious side effects

The letter entitled "You can't compare marijuana with ice" (Aug. 3) is more pro-pot propaganda by another misguided marijuana advocate, Jay Cavanaugh of California.

He says speed produces symptoms from paranoia to physical deterioration, and cannabis does none of these. Oh? Last month, a 17-year-old here told police he smoked marijuana before breaking into a home on O'ahu, and when the homeowner returned, the youth shot him with a .45-caliber handgun, seriously wounding him.

Mr. Cavanaugh says pot doesn't produce paranoia. Dead wrong, and it also produces a strong dependence, complete with psychological and emotional withdrawal effects. Marijuana unquestionably produces short-term memory loss and impairs other vital brain functions. Put simply, smoking pot makes smokers stupid, and smoking pot is bad news for more reasons than there is room to list here.

Mr. Cavanaugh's letter was prompted by a Lee Cataluna column in which Ms. Cataluna wrote that arguments that pot eradication efforts fueled the ice epidemic here are ridiculous. She was absolutely correct, but what she and others may not see is that widespread marijuana use has in fact led directly to the ice epidemic in Hawai'i.

Certainly people like Mr. Cavanaugh fail to face this indisputable fact: 30-plus years of marijuana smoking has emphatically sent the message that if you disagree with a drug law, it's OK to break it. The generations that have grown up in this environment see drugs — crystal meth, crack cocaine, marijuana, black tar heroin — as substances you smoke to get high, period.

Finally, the most obvious marijuana danger pot advocates like Mr. Cavanaugh refuse to acknowledge is that inhaling anything into the lungs other than fresh air (and some prescription medications for pulmonary disorders) is bad news.

Hotel-room tax plan is just a smoke screen

I see the Legislature was able to get an endorsement of its proposal from your newspaper. Shame on The Advertiser for not seeing through this smoke screen.

The Legislature, in its need for more money, has settled on taking the whole hotel-room tax, thus not imposing any additional taxes on the residents of this state. Instead, the county officials will be left to take the heat for any taxes they may impose. A smart move on the Legislature's part.

Let's see how comfortable mayoral candidates, current City Council members and City Council hopefuls are with this proposal. I know Mayor Harris will leap at the opportunity, but then he's a lame duck with a doubtful political future. He can do what he wants to bail himself out of the financial crisis he has created and not suffer any political repercussions.

City must cut spending to prevent bus strike

I don't believe it's right for the city bus drivers to cripple the island because of some labor dispute.

I live in Kailua and attend school in Honolulu, and because I don't own a car, I have to take the city bus to school and my volunteer work. That's four buses times five days. That's 20 bus rides a week, 80 a month, just for the bare necessities.

Yes, I understand the city is trying to make quarters out of dimes. But cutting the most needed services isn't going to help anything. Cutting unnecessary spending like new bus shelters, island beautification projects, etc., can help free up money for bus service.

If the bus drivers do go on strike, then how are people going to get around the island — by chickens pulling sleds, maybe?

If bus advertisements save money, jobs, do it

If placing an advertisement on the side of city buses saves me money on bus fare, saves TheBus employees' jobs and generates $100,000 in revenue for the city and Oahu Transit Services, then I say, go for it!

And to those who worry that the bus ads will lead to billboards on the side of the highway like on the Mainland: They certainly don't have to. Couldn't an ordinance be enacted limiting this type of advertising strictly to the side of TheBus? Where there's a will, there's a way.

Chinese showdown story was irresponsible

Shame on you for your sensationalized front-page story on July 31: "China-Taiwan showdown feared." It was irresponsible journalism at its worst.

Quoting a Pentagon report on Beijing's alleged increased missile procurement, your story is an uncritical rehash of the government spin on a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Coming on the heels of the White House manipulation of "murky intelligence" in its single-minded focus on invading and occupying Iraq, the uncritical publication of the Pentagon report shows your paper has not learned the lesson of the need for objective reporting.

Why not put the report in proper perspective by revealing that the United States is the world's largest stockpiler — as well as the foremost user — of tens of thousands of weapons of mass destruction and has in fact threatened to use them against 60-plus nations whom the White House occupier considers to be hostile to U.S. interests?

Indeed, the headline should accurately read, "China increasing missile procurement, in the face of massive U.S. development and deployment of nukes and other WMDs."

We demand corrective action on highway

As a resident of Nanakuli, I am frustrated and angry over the driving accident deaths of the 10-year-old Ma'ili Elementary School student and the young police officer. Their lives and aspirations were snuffed out in an instant by that terrible accident, which I feel could have been avoided.

Within a month, we have seen the deaths of two Ma'ili Elementary School students by traffic accidents. The tally of deaths along our highway is increasing at a heart-rending rate. And much of it could have been avoided by technical fixes along the only entrance and exit to the Wai'anae Coast:

• Center lane concrete barriers could be erected to prevent head-on collisions.

• Guard rails could be installed along roadsides to prevent vehicles from running off the road and overturning or to prevent vehicles from hitting pedestrians walking along the highway.

• Lighting and crosswalks could be placed in appropriate areas.

And how about working on the promised "bypass road" to lessen the number of vehicles traveling along Farrington Highway?

Of course, there are people who will decry the cost of these preventive measures. But if the problem we face on the Wai'anae Coast were in Hawai'i Kai, wouldn't the state or county take immediate action? Are we, on the Wai'anae Coast, to be treated merely as "today's news," to be forgotten a few days after the tragedy becomes "stale"?

We pray to the contrary and we demand corrective action by our state and county.

Raise consciousness about littering Islands

Regarding the front-page piece on all of the garbage found by Jean-Michel Cousteau all over the Hawaiian Islands: The concept of aloha is turning into a big joke.

Our businesses here are only concerned about how aloha brings them cash and care nothing for these beautiful islands. There is not one sign anywhere in Waikiki or on any other beach or on any boat that tells people to can their trash.

I sit and watch the wind take hundreds of articles of litter off towels, blowing them right into the ocean every day. And why not? There are no signs in multiple languages urging people to protect the water and sea creatures here.

I've traveled throughout Asia and noticed there is largely no consciousness about littering. Even the beautiful islands of Thailand, which look so great from a distance, are just big garbage dumps when you get up close.

But we should know better here and not use aloha to mean just "bring your money, we'll be nice to you, and do anything you want to our lands and oceans."

Try pick up your trash

Not only are leaf blowers very noisy and polluting, they are normally used to blow one's trash down the street to neighbors, who then transport the trash farther down the street with their leaf blowers. I like your suggestion that people pick up rakes and brooms, as it is good exercise. I also suggest that they actually pick up their trash and deposit it in their trash cans.

Hawaiian solution: national identity

In a well-written July 27 column, "Hawaiian programs need new approach," Jerry Burris poses two great questions: "Should they (OHA) continue to hang their hopes on the increasingly difficult task of getting the Akaka bill passed? Or should they acknowledge reality and begin looking for a different solution?" He closed his column by asking if there were anyone clever enough to come up with a fresh solution.

I personally do not believe we need a fresh solution. "Fresh" connotes something completely new. I believe a solution rests in understanding the true history between the U.S. government and Hawaiians. The Akaka bill continuously fails to pass. How much more effort and money do advocates want to spend on it? The time has come to "acknowledge reality and look for a different solution," as Mr. Burris suggests.

The historical relationship between the U.S. government and Hawaiians during the 19th century was nothing similar to the relationship between the United States and Native American tribes or nations. The United States did, however, have a verifiable historical relationship through treaties and agreements with the government of Hawaiian nationals, the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Akaka bill itself makes mention of these treaties, conventions and agreements.

While Native American tribes or nations are recognized by the federal government as political entities, aboriginal Hawaiians exclusively never had this relationship with the U.S. government prior to 1893. Instead, aboriginal Hawaiians were recognized as members of a multi-ethnic national citizenry referred to as Hawaiian subjects, or Hawaiians for short. Recognition of this national identity allowed Hawaiians the opportunity to travel outside of Hawai'i or engage in international trade and commerce, among other things, while being protected under treaties and agreements entered into with other nation-states, including the United States. This was on the basis of national identity, not ethnic identity.

As we can see, a historical relationship between Hawaiians, through their lawful government, and the United States did exist in the 1800s. The Akaka bill seeks to establish a different relationship that never existed in the 19th century. In attempting to establish a new political relationship between Native Hawaiians (as defined by U.S. federal law) and the U.S. government, Akaka bill advocates and lobbyists have a difficult, if not impossible, task. While pursuing passage for Native Hawaiian federal recognition, they diminish the value of the efforts of Hawaiian national heroes such as Timoteo Ha'alilio (aboriginal) and William Richards (non-aboriginal, but a naturalized Hawaiian subject) who, with the assistance of Sir George Simpson, secured international recognition of the kingdom's independence.

Political leaders in Hawai'i may want to consider the idea of reverting to the actual historical relationship by recognizing Native Hawaiians as "descendants of Hawaiian subjects or nationals." Identifying Native Hawaiians as such not only honors the true national history of Hawaiians, but it clearly distinguishes Hawaiians as a political entity with a historical relationship and less of an ethnic or race-based entity with an unprecedented relationship.