Posted on: Friday, May 14, 2004

Letters to the Editor

Politicians, bureaucrats should ride TheBus

Isn't it obvious that those who need to be patronizing DaBus each and every day are:

• City elected politicians.

• State elected politicians.

• Employees in the city and state bureaucracies (particularly Cheryl Soon in the city Department of Transportation Services and Rodney Haraga of the state Department of Transportation)?

Wow, if all of them had been required to use DaBus as a prerequisite for employment, traffic congestion would not be an issue today.

Compare prison abuse to lynchings in the South

Regarding Kathleen Parker's comparison, on the May 11 editorial page, of the prisoner abuses in Iraq to Farrelly Brother films and frat house hazing: Let me offer a more accurate analogy — lynchings in the South.

Both are manifestations of racism, fear, hatred and ignorance. Both were carried out by small-town Americans, most likely not well educated. Both often were boastfully captured in photographs taken by the culprits.

It is true blindness for Americans not to use this moment to look at our country's ugly traditions of bigotry and see that they still continue to this day. The premise that the soldiers responsible were fundamentally motivated by comedy films is the kind of denial that undermines our ability to address any meaningful change.

Guards should have been warned earlier

The newspaper and television news has been filled with articles and pictures of what has been occurring at the prison at Abu Ghraib, Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been blamed for the behavior of subordinates far down his chain of command, and who may be obscure to him. President George Bush has spoken openly against this detainee treatment, and world opinion seems against it.

Though not yet on active duty, as the current judge advocate in the Reserve Officers Association, Department of Hawai'i, I am a Captain (0-6), USNR, and have had the opportunity to recently review my copy of the "Uniform Code of Military Justice," at home. It is interesting to note that Article 2 lists the people who are subject to this chapter, which not only includes reservists on active duty, but also "prisoners of war in custody of the armed forces." Also, that Article 93 says that "Any person subject to this chapter who is guilty of cruelty toward, or oppression or maltreatment of, any person subject to his orders shall be punished as a court-martial may direct."

It would seem an easy thing to focus pressure on those responsible, by the Army's Judge Advocate General branch. However, to be fair to those involved, it seems best to warn them directly of what they are doing, and order them first to desist.

Professors: Leave UH out of personal letters

I am not sure which aspect of James H. Spencer's May 13 letter ("Public misunderstands threat to our soldiers") gets me more down: his use of position at UH to reproach The Advertiser for speaking to "our naivetŽ and obsession" over prisoner abuses in Iraq, or the fact that he is an assistant UH professor with the apparent view that:

• None of these recent events should be at issue because ...

• U.S. soldiers should not be in Iraq, because ...

• History tells us that war is socially and psychologically damaging and so ...

• We should not have wars.

Please, professors: Although we the public are paying for your classrooms, we did not vote you into office. I wish you would leave UH out of your personal correspondences to the public, and I hope you show less bias in front of your students.

Thanks for the thanks for being a veteran

Last week, a random act of kindness was committed, which I think is worth sharing. Upon returning to my car at Kahala Mall, I found an envelope containing a card under my wiper blade. It read:

"Aloha! I noticed your veteran license plate and I'd like to thank you for your service and commitment to our great country. Thanks to fine people like you, we can all enjoy our freedom. Thank you for such a priceless gift, you really make a difference! Take care, and Mahalo!"

To the anonymous author, and on behalf of all other veterans, I thank you deeply.

Michener experience reflected in housing bill

Forty-five years after renowned author James Michener and his wife fled Hawai'i due to the racism that they encountered here, The Advertiser featured a letter on May 5 by former state representative Cam Cavasso praising the Legislature for failing to pass HB 537, which would have protected sexual minorities within the state from discrimination in housing.

The parallels between what happened to Michener, the recent legislative action and Cavasso's letter are transparent and disturbing.

In Michener's case, he said, "To hell with this; I'm not staying in Hawai'i," after he and his wife were denied the opportunity to buy a house in Kahala because his wife was Japanese American ("Author opened Hawai'i, but found it closed to him," Advertiser, Oct. 17, 1997). The fact is that Michener's wife, Mari, had no more choice over her ethnic background than gay or lesbian individuals have over their sexual orientation.

Yet she and her husband were denied their right to equal protection under the law — the same way we continue to deny equal protection to anyone who is not heterosexual. How tragic.

And how little we seem to have learned from our past misdeeds.

Bottle bill money-maker

Every day as I walk to the beach, I see plastic and glass bottles and cans, all from people who threw them there. I think to myself that I should pick them up. The problem is that there are too many of them. I can't wait for the bottle bill to go into effect. I'll be rich!

The Jasmine Trias controversy

'Idol' judges provided impetus for support

We want to thank Simon Cowell (The Great Know-It-All), Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul for the impetus their scathing remarks gave to our "American Idol," Jasmine Trias, which lit the fire of Madam Pele in the hearts of Hawai'i Tuesday night, along with all Americans, who detest such outspoken "trash talk" by these three judges.

Not often is the opportunity of rebuttal so sweet as the moment Ryan Seacrest said "Jasmine, you are safe."

Mahalo, judges!

Way to go, Jasmine, you made us all proud

To Jasmine and her family: Congratulations, you made the three M's proud: Maryknoll, Mililani and music.

Of course, the state of Hawai'i is very proud of you, too (Camile as well).

You and your family personify the American Dream: hard work, family strength and support. Being in the top five of "American Idol" is only the stepping-stone to great things.

Thanks for being a role model and making these past Tuesday evenings enjoyable to watch you sing.

Show must address the abuse of voting

Dear "American Idol" producers,

I am a resident of the island of O'ahu and am very proud of our only standing contestant in "American Idol." However, being honest and real to myself and my conscience, I must protest the final results where our own contestant, Jasmine Trias, was allowed to move on to the final three.

This is a gross injustice to LaToya London's obvious greater talent than Jasmine's. For some reason, the voting has turned into a popularity contest instead of what it is supposed to be — voting for the best talent, which has been placed on the back burner.

My suggestion to you for the next season of "American Idol" hopefuls is that you arrange with the phone companies that text messaging can only be used once per phone number and the same for dial-in folks. If you don't do this, then the integrity and point of this contest are in jeopardy and become a joke.

Part of the problem is the attitude of the Hawai'i public, which always seems to be "left behind" from the rest of the United States for most recognition on anything, and the residents here may feel this is their way of getting what they want for their people without regard to the reality or honesty of what your show really wishes to produce — the best talent and not the most votes due to attitudes, wishful thinking or otherwise.

For the sake of the truly best talented who are depending on honest vote call-ins or text messaging, please address this problem or people just may decide to turn you off as many of us have in regard to "reality shows."

We have to support our young people

I am so proud of the people of Hawai'i and Jasmine Trias. We have to support our young people in their dreams. Do not let anyone push them around or think they cannot succeed in pursuing their dreams.

There are so many young people dropping out of school, doing drugs, committing crimes, writing graffiti or getting pregnant. Here is our chance to say, look at Jasmine, she stayed in school, she had a dream, she pursued it.

Win or lose, singing or surfing, we have to support our youth in the pursuit of their dreams. Whether they succeed or fail, we have to give them as much support as we can.

Go, Jasmine, fulfill your dreams. I support you. I hope Hawai'i continues to support you.

Latest "idol' results are embarrassing

I am embarrassed to be from Hawai'i. "American Idol" has shown the world the type of mentality that permeates our state.

As in our political elections where people vote based on party and not on platform, we constantly hear that you must vote for Jasmine Trias. If you don't, you're not a "good Hawai'i citizen." We have people who are unwilling to abide by rules that already give Hawai'i an unfair advantage. We get two hours to vote almost exclusively and yet we have people voting before the show even begins. Verizon Hawai'i announces that it is reconfiguring the system so that additional calls can get through.

The worst thing is how proud these people are to be doing this.

"American Idol" producers have been stacking the show from the beginning. Allowing Camile Velasco to last as long as she did was the first obvious sign. The early exit of Jennifer Hudson with LaToya London and Fantasia Barrino rounding out the bottom three was another. Even though I enjoyed John Stevens, his staying on as long as he did was just a way to keep one segment of the audience satisfied.

Jasmine Trias is young, and with some help could be a fine singer and performer, but she doesn't belong on that stage, and her being there is only a marketing ploy; it no longer has anything to do with talent.

Treatment by judges, audience a travesty

I support everyone from Hawai'i who strives to excel with their talents, here and elsewhere in the world. Whether it's Akebono, Konishiki, Musashimaru, Jerome Williams, Benny Agbayani, the guys in the NFL, The Rock, Kelly Preston, Kelly Hu, Michelle Wie or anyone else, I support them because they work hard to succeed in what they do and, the most important thing, they never forget where they came from. Hawai'i will always be home and will always be a special place to them.

And Jasmine Trias is no exception.

What Jasmine went through this week with the totally outrageous remarks by the judges and the boos from the audience was a travesty. Let's remember, she's still an "amateur" trying her best to perform in a venue very new to her. Hawai'i cried with Jasmine, because she certainly didn't deserve those outrageous comments by the judges.

Jasmine, don't worry about the stupid comments and don't let the boos get to you. Hawai'i loves you, and you are our Idol! That is a trophy only you can behold this week, next week and the following week — no matter what happens on the show. Let the Spirit of Aloha be with you in reaching the impossible dream.