Posted on: Tuesday, March 16, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Windward O'ahu roads are in terrible shape

I am deeply concerned about the condition of our roads in Windward O'ahu. It is good news that work on the Wilson Tunnel is coming soon. Hopefully there are plans to resurface the entire Likelike.

My concern is about when the tunnel is closed to do the work. The traffic from the Likelike will be diverted to the Pali Highway and the H-3. The Pali is in such bad shape, I hate to think what the increase in traffic will do. Kamehameha Highway from the H-3 to Castle Junction is coming apart. The Castle Junction intersection is almost undrivable. The stretch of the Pali from Castle Junction through the tunnels is crumbling. I hope the bridges are OK. The road through Nu'uanu Valley, from Waokanaka to downtown is terrible. It will be undrivable by the time the work on the Wilson Tunnel is started unless something is done now.

It is an embarrassment to this city and state that our roads are in such disrepair. Besides the safety issue related to bad roads, it is also an economic issue and a quality-of-life issue. The citizens of this state deserve good roads.

Newspaper is pushing pro-homosexual agenda

Last December I submitted a letter (not printed) to this paper concerning the same-sex marriage issue and the biased coverage in support of such.

Michael Golojuch Jr., Ken Scott, Martin Rice, etc. continue to be the poster children of immoral propaganda, illogically attempting to justify their wrongful lifestyle with claims of protection under the U.S. Constitution. Meanwhile, the laws of God and man are defiantly being broken, while the vast majority against such actions are labeled as intolerant right-wing fundamentalist homophobes.

What constitutional rights do you have eroding morality? And you want us to be tolerant?

Grant Merritt (March 4) states, "God made gays, too." No, he made man and woman to be physically and spiritually bonded together to perpetuate the species through marriage. Homosexuality is your choice. God loves everyone but disapproves of the sins.

The opening lines of Mel Gibson's current movie pointedly tell it all, whether you want to believe it or not.

Development sustains the Hawai'i economy

I always read Lee Cataluna's column because I enjoy it, but I rarely agree with her. I have to strongly disagree with her Sunday column about fighting development in Hawai'i.

We would all like to have a pristine Hawai'i with few buildings and none higher than a small coconut tree, beaches with sand that are rarely disturbed by footprints and roadways free of traffic and only two lanes wide. It's just not possible.

The people of Hawai'i need jobs, and tourism is probably the only industry that can sustain us. It is foolish to have a knee-jerk reaction to every development. We need development in Hawai'i, and with careful planning, we can retain the essence of our beautiful Islands.

It's wrong to target people by their names

I read Yasmin Anwar's column ("No-fly list knows no bounds," March 14) and could not believe people made comments that Yasmin should have expected she would be on the list because of her name. If the United States thinks it is going to find terrorists by their name, it better think twice.

During World War II, the United States rounded up everyone with a Japanese name for fear of them being spies. Didn't that turn out to be wrong? Remember that Hitler, too, went around Europe and if anyone had a Jewish last name, he would round them up — even if they were not Jewish.

What's in a name? Not much. Take the name "Hannemann," which may have originated in Ireland. Does Mufi Hannemann look like he is from Ireland? How about "Bishop." People who do not know the history of the Bishop Estate will assume it is a large Caucasian estate that formed a school for Hawaiian children.

Besides, do you really think a terrorist who believes his name might send up a red flag will use his real name or a style of a name that the United States is targeting? For all we know, the one we let slip past will hold the name "Smith."

Spelling bee contestants all deserve grand prizes

Your spelling bee Sunday evening was as exciting as most movies I have seen and would cause an author great difficulty to describe. The drama, passion, terror and joy exhibited by those wonderful youngsters in your spelling bee was on a grand opera scale.

Although it has been many decades since I was a teenager, I cannot believe the poise and politeness these young men and women exhibited. And, probably the most important part, they could spell. Now and then a chair was vacated, and my heart broke for the boy or girl who had to rapidly exit the stage.

If it were within my authority, they would all win a grand prize. They truly deserve it, and I hope their families and friends and teachers appreciate just how marvelous they were.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to take these children, in a few years, and have a spelling bee and include some of our sports stars who have just gotten millions of dollars in contracts? It shows us where our priorities are. If I owned Nike or Microsoft, I would sponsor these intellectual games. It may just prove out that these kids are the more valuable.

Aloha and thank you, Honolulu Advertiser.

Youths' kindness was heartwarming

Riding the bus last Friday to teach my evening class, I noticed an elderly woman sitting across from me. She looked frail, but had a consistent, small, perceptible smile. We were on our route for some time, and I began to wonder if anyone would meet her at her departure point.

We finally came to a stop just off the Farrington High School campus. She got up and toddled slowly off the bus, carrying several white plastic bags. No one did meet her, and she just stood on the sidewalk, looking around as if in a daze.

At that point, several adolescent females passed her and gave her a quick glance. I began to wonder how this woman was going to carry several heavy bags to her final destination. Just then the girls turned around and offered to carry her bags. She handed them over, and ever so slowly all walked down the sidewalk.

This act of kindness lifted my spirits in an otherwise ordinary day. I just wanted to acknowledge those considerate adolescents. Your actions were most thoughtful and epitomize the aloha spirit.

City has allowed downtown deterioration

I agree with Karl Rhoads (Letters, March 7) and support House Bill 1828. If the downtown area resembles a "Third World country," it's because the city has allowed it to become that way by permitting criminal acts and lewd behavior.

Things are allowed to go on and on in the downtown area that would never be allowed in any other neighborhood. Kamali'i Park at Pali/Beretania is a favorite bathroom stop for bus riders coming from the Windward side. The park smells when the sun beats down on the urine (and worse).

The people who live and work in the downtown area do not go to other neighborhoods and shishi on their bus stops and in their parks. The downtown folks deserve the same respect. There are a lot of restrooms in the downtown area, if people weren't so lazy to go to them. As well as the police station on Hotel Street, there are available restrooms at Aloha Tower, the public library, City Hall, satellite city hall, etc.

The people who live and work in the downtown area deserve a safe, clean and decent neighborhood.

Decentralization works, and legislators know it

Our state majority legislators of course cannot pass legislation to decentralize schools in Hawai'i. Well, at least not during the current administration.

It doesn't take a little birdie to let me know that if the bill passed while Gov. Lingle is in office, the belief would be that the Republicans would get all the credit and that certainly wouldn't reflect well.

However, if she is defeated in the next election (blamed for not getting legislation passed), then they can easily shove the bill through and hooray for the Demos ("we did it for da kids")! But, if she wins re-election, no worries ... da kids can wait a little longer!

Oh, one last item. Decentralizing the school system will still be flawed if the true focus of power remains where it has always been — with school boards, central office staffs and state authorities. See you at the polls.

Bringing back the van cams is a dumb idea

I have been reading that there are a few new movies and TV pilots being filmed on O'ahu. I have heard a rumor that one is another sequel to "Dumb and Dumber." I hear it will star Councilman Nestor Garcia as "Dumb" in a plot to bring the outrageously incompetent, money-wasting van-cam issue back to Hawai'i.

I am waiting to see what other council member will co-star as his sidekick, "Dumber," by supporting this ridiculous idea.

Bring back van cams

Kudos to Councilman Nestor Garcia for his efforts in trying to implement the return of the van-cam system. It is beyond comprehension the irresponsible philosophy of those opposing it.

The increasing number of fatal accidents on our highways speaks for itself.

Washington hindering democracy in Haiti

The March 11 editorial "It's time to pay attention to Haiti" misses the larger point and context of this small island nation; that is, that democracy, left to its own, would flourish unfettered. But, influenced by larger powers, the United States and France to name but two, democracy has but a hair's-breath chance of succeeding when put in a perspective of "global alignment."

Haiti was, as the excellent commentary of Feb. 29 by Tracy Kidder pointed out ("Why Aristide should stay"), the first democracy in the Caribbean. I visited this nation in 1982 when "Baby Doc" Duvalier was still in power. I was warned by our friends working there for the Peace Corps that we shouldn't say anything against Baby Doc, whose picture was everywhere, lest we be "detained" by the military police.

Upon Baby Doc's ouster, hopes were raised in our country that, at last, a democratic leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Catholic priest and champion of the poor, would be able to govern this island nation at last. But, alas, he was forced to leave in 1991, only a year after his being overwhelmingly elected by the people of Haiti.

Finally in 1994, Aristide was allowed to return with the help of our government (why it took this long to help him regain power is beyond me). Since then, our government has actively supported his opposition, including the likes of Guy Phillipe (a CIA-trained operative and police chief) and Louis Jordel Champion (trained by U.S. Special Forces, No. 2 operative for FRAP, the death squad under the Duvalier regime). With "friends" like this, is it possible for democracy to exist?

I suppose it is time, finally, for our government to admit the obvious: that we support democracy when it is convenient for us but oppose it when other elected leaders do not agree with our administration's positions on global trade, equal rights, environmental protection, workers' rights and many other criteria.

So, as tragic as the situation in Haiti is, I suppose we should rightly assume it is, at least in part, of our own making. When the American people are willing to admit this, we, collectively, can assume the role of "arbiter" of democracy worldwide — and not until then.