Letters to the Editor

Muslims remembered their U.S. liberators

Not every Muslim entity has a problem with America.

Kosovo, in the former Yugoslavia, is 95 percent Muslim and loves us and wants to become a client state of America. It cannot because we are on record that NATO only took it over temporarily to stop ethnic cleansing by Kosovo's legal administrator, Serbia.

On the Fourth of July, posters of the U.S. flag with the words Independence Day scrolling across were put up on billboards all over Pristina, the Kosovo capital. The municipality sponsored a Fourth of July parade. The city has renamed the major road in town Bill Clinton Boulevard, with a five-story-high picture of him.

My daughter, Brett Jones, is a special adviser to the U.S. ambassador there and is safer on Pristina's streets than she'd be in many American cities.

The issue is not America vs. Muslims. It's about us vs. some Muslims.

Local news story was given short shrift

The topic of UH football coach June Jones' excessive salary has been well hashed over, and I see no point in adding to that debate. It is, however, very disappointing to see the lack of attention given the news that a group of UH scientists led by Dr. Karen J. Meech has received a $5 million grant as a NASA Astrobiology Institute Lead Team studying water in the universe.

This group, which is probably paid less en masse than Jones alone, has brought in a grant that will directly benefit the university, its students and our economy. Unfortunately, The Advertiser only seems to be interested to the extent of printing a very brief, slightly rewritten version of the UH press release, buried on page B5 of the June 30 issue.

To add insult to injury, The Advertiser printed a much longer wire service article about a radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which has nothing to do with Hawai'i at all, on the top of page A2 the following day.

It's sad to see how poorly some important local issues are treated by a supposedly local paper.

Here's how to relive JFK's visit to Hawai'i

Over the long weekend, I visited with a friend here on O'ahu, Scott Foster. He's an old-time Democratic Party activist, and he had something on his crowded wall: a photo of John F. Kennedy with a big, beautiful lei around his neck. Looking like Elvis.

I'd never seen this photo before. Turns out, it wasn't just one photo, but inside the frame was a 30-page booklet in near-perfect condition, published by The Honolulu Advertiser in 1964.

Kennedy had come here for a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in June 1963, for just 20 hours. The booklet sold for $1.

There are probably a lot of these booklets out there, but I thought it would be great to have an original in digital form, online. So here it is:

• In HTML form for your browser: http://www.mediasense.com/Hawaii/JFK/

• In PDF form that you can download: http://www.mediasense.com/Hawaii/JFK/JFK-in-Hawaii.pdf

Policing resources should be redirected

Hostess bar New Office was fined $29,600 by the Honolulu Liquor Commission because of various violations (Advertiser, July 9). Undercover police witnessed violations on nine separate nights during a one-month period. Personally, I would rather see these officers assigned to undercover car-theft sting operations, violent-crime prevention, drug prevention or patrolling the streets.

Occasional policing of these or any establishments is expected. However, sending officers to one club for nine nights is ridiculous. Can we recruit a citizens patrol to monitor hostess clubs? If they witness a crime, like any good citizen, they could call the police.

Given city budget cuts and increasing violent crimes, redirecting policing resources is needed. If hostess-club crimes are so serious and require this many police resources, then maybe the clubs should be closed. The Liquor Commission should monitor liquor licensing and underage issues once the corrupt undercover liquor agents (alleged extortion of bar owners) issue is resolved.

Soccer championships a wonderful experience

My family came to Hawai'i for the 2003 Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships. We were very impressed with the Waipi'o sports complex. The fields were terrific, the location was beautiful and the whole tournament was very well-organized.

We were also very pleased with the extensive coverage your paper devoted to the tournament.

We extended our stay past the tournament and had a wonderful time. Hawai'i was a great location for this tournament. We hope to return again soon.

Corporations, media are gobbling us up

Regarding former President Bill Clinton's July 2 column "Don't let giants take over" and Jim Becker's July 5 letter "Opposition to Wal-Mart more than just a 'few' ":ÊWe just celebrated Independence Day with countrywide hoopla and public display of pride and patriotism. Benjamin Franklin, one of the signers of America's Declaration of Independence, wrote, "If truth and falsities are both heard, truth will always win out." He believed in hearing from many different voices.

Consider Clinton's piece on the FCC's 3-2 vote on June 2 to raise to 45 percent big media's chance to gobble up many more local TV stations.

Consider Becker's eye-opening letter listing important elected officials, personalities and organizations with views against the already-in-building-process Wal-Mart on Ke'eaumoku Street.

These are two examples of us surely being gobbled up by big corporations and big media. Where are our watchdogs, our check-and-balance committees and agencies that make sure that elected and appointed officials do what we, the people, want?

Others also scared of bombs and death

It hurts to see how young people today are mixing up patriotism with their security blanket. Sept. 11 was traumatic, but was it scary enough to make us forget that other innocent people in this world are also scared of bombs and death? Since when did young people in America become so selfish?

Defining patriotism as "pride for your country, no matter what the country does, whether it's right or wrong, you still believe we're doing right" almost sounds like as long as we are secured and safe, it does not matter what America is doing to other human beings in this world.

America is a great country; please teach our young people to keep it that way.

Kailua stood tall on gays

I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all the good people of Kailua who repeatedly said "You're welcome in our parade" to the members of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). The aloha shown is in stark contrast to the discrimination and injustice related to the Hawai'i Christian Coalition's "Family Day" parade banning groups that support gay children.