Letters to the Editor
INEFFICIENCY
DO RIGHT WITH WHAT WE HAVE, THEN THINK TAXES
Stuck in traffic again, I ponder the ability of this state to do anything right. We careen from one crisis to the next with our noses barely above the warm languid chaos that pains and paralyzes us. Hawai'i can't devise a recycling program for cans and bottles. How can it design and execute a complex mass-transit system? It can't! Our education system has an open book in its logo but won't provide textbooks for its students.
I work in a UH building where the roof has leaked on our best researchers and teachers for 30 years. The roof is one of the first human inventions several millennia ago. Birds build shelters that don't leak. How is it that we can't? The sad answer is that many people here don't care. I don't understand this, and I certainly don't support it.
Our forebears revolted because of taxation without representation. I don't want to pay a tax increase that will be absorbed by the local blob we call government. I challenge this state to take one thing and get it right! Then ask for more of our dollars!
David T. Webb | Mililani
AKAKA BILL
HAWAIIANS NEED TO BE EDUCATED ON KAU INOA
A few months ago, my 12-year-old niece asked about getting a Kau Inoa T-shirt. She just wanted the shirt because it "looks cool."
A few days ago, I saw a commercial saying something to the effect that "clothing goes in and out of style, but there's one thing that never goes out of style, but it's not available in stores. Register for Kau Inoa and receive your free Kau Inoa T-shirt."
The HawaiiMaoli.org Kau Inoa Web site, an initiative by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, states that: "The Kau Inoa process and the formation of a Hawaiian governing entity is being undertaken as a Hawaiian-community initiative completely independent of the Hawaiian federal recognition bill (the Akaka bill) currently before the U.S. Congress." But it also says that registration is necessary because "To form a new government, a list must first be compiled of those who want to participate in the formation or establishment of the government."
An April 10 Advertiser article detailed a Q&A regarding the Akaka bill. One question asked how the formation of a government would start. The answer, in part, is that after a nine-member commission is appointed by the U.S. secretary of the interior, the commission has two years to come up with a certified roll. Kau Inoa is that very roll to get a head start on registration. Even though Kau Inoa is an independent initiative, it is not completely independent of the Akaka bill.
Education, not propaganda, is needed here.
R. Kealoha Kaliko | Makiki
OHA FUNNEL
PRO-AKAKA AD WAS PAID WITH STATE MONEY
Three things angered me about Sunday's newspaper spread of people declaring support for the Akaka bill:
George L. Berish | Honolulu
WAR ON TERROR
ADVERTISER WOULD DO WELL TO BE PATIENT
The Honolulu Advertiser risks credibility by hastily seeking to exploit the brutality of the London bombings of July 7 to bad-mouth the U.S. war on terror ("London bombings are another face of terror," editorial, July 8). In what looks suspiciously like a cheap shot at our president, The Advertiser avers:
Instead of some thinly veiled suggestion that the efforts and sacrifices of our brave young men and women — who are putting everything they have on the line in our defense in Iraq and Afghanistan — are being made in vain, perhaps The Advertiser would do well to consider the advice of Lt. Col. Steve Hawley, commander of Task Force Konohiki in Iraq. This regular Army officer and USMA graduate based out of Hawai'i for the past two years is reported by Advertiser Military Writer William Cole as having recently said of our efforts to train the Iraqi army, "If you're not patient, it's never going to work. On the whole, we are making progress" ("Isle officer cites progress, says patience is needed back home," July 6).
Pretending to "back our troops" now in harm's way while casting doubt on their mission is a treacherous bit of hypocrisy. Acting as a megaphone for terrorist propaganda is unworthy of a great metropolitan daily newspaper. The Advertiser can do better than this.
Thomas E. Stuart | Vietnam veteran, Kapa'au, Hawai'i
CITY OFFICE
U.S. FLAG IS BEING DISPLAYED CORRECTLY
I wish to respond to Mr. Chester Chaffee's July 2 letter regarding his incorrect statement about how the flag is displayed at the Pearlridge Satellite City Hall.
After researching the matter, I found the flag at the Pearlridge Satellite City Hall is correctly displayed. According to the U.S. Flag Code, when displaying the flag against a wall, vertically or horizontally, the flag's union should be at the top, to the flag's own right, and to the observer's left.
The above code does address the union facing north but only if the flag is displayed over the middle of a street.
I want to assure Mr. Chaffee that displaying our flag at city facilities is treated with utmost respect and I want to thank him for caring.
Dennis Taga | Chief, Satellite City Hall Division, Customer Services Department, City & County of Honolulu
EMBARRASSING
ENOUGH, ALREADY, OF MICHELLE WIE'S GOLF
Well, home is where golfer Michelle Wie belongs, watching the men's PGA events on TV, not participating in them.
At 15 years old, she qualifies to play in the Ladies Junior amateur league, and that's where she belongs. If the Ladies PGA wants to invite her to play in their tournaments, more power to them. But what is it that Michelle and many others don't understand about the PGA being a men's professional tournament league? Michelle is neither a man nor a professional.
I have attended the Sony Open in Hawai'i the last two years, which Michelle was invited to play in to try to boost ticket sales. An embarrassing turnout at best, but more embarrassing that the majority of the gallery followed this 15-year-old kid around the course and totally ignored the top names in professional golf.
It appears The Advertiser is part of this Wie mania, in that you can frequently find Michelle's picture plastered on the front page. This is just encouraging her to be where she doesn't belong. Frankly, many of us are tired of hearing about her.
Peter E. Brown | Waikiki
ROVE EDITORIAL
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF LEFT-LEANING MEDIA BIAS
It is really astounding how quickly the liberal editorials are coming out against Karl Rove. Your editorial in the July 13 paper is calling for him to step down immediately, even before anybody has shown that he has done anything illegal.
Besides the obvious "innocent till proven guilty" part of our legal system, there is the normal double standard of the left that says Rove should step down before any guilt is proven, but never a call for Bill Clinton to step down, even after his perjury in the courts, let alone his impeachment. Just another example of the left-leaning media bias that they all say doesn't exist.
Howard David | Honolulu
