Brainstorm! Challenge

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Don't blame 'outsiders' for high cost of homes

Greed made in Hawaii is what drives up Hawaii's ridiculous prices, not outsiders' ability or willingness to pay them ("Outsiders driving up isle housing costs," by Leilani Haywood, Letters, Dec. 2).

The greed and arrogance of Hawaii's "haves" are killing what's left of the middle class, turning the "have less" into the "homeless" and driving the survivors to exile.

J.P. Muntal
Kaneohe

Hawaii has an enemy and it's not the U.S.

In his letter, Eric Poohina says newcomers should do some research before giving our public opinion on Hawaiian matters. I would really like to know what Hawaiian matters he is talking about. He doesn't mention anything, other than what everyone already knows: Yeah, the U.S. overthrew Hawaii in 1893. Yeah, the U.S. apologized for it in 1993. So what now?

He says the U.S. is the No. 1 enemy against Hawaiians and the Hawaiian nation. If he really believes that the U.S. and not terrorism is his enemy, then he's got his priorities mixed up. Let this "newcomer" educate him. I'll start close to home:

>> A terrorist group calling itself "Arab Organization of 15 May" detonated a bomb aboard a flight from Japan to Honolulu in August 1982, killing a 16-year-old boy and injuring 14 other passengers.

>> Bombing of U.S. Embassy in Beirut, April 18, 1983: Sixty-three people were killed and 120 were injured in a 400-pound suicide truck-bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

I was in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, when al-Qaida bombed Khobar Towers, killing 19 servicemen and wounding 515 brothers and sisters. So, yeah, I've done my research.

Do I even need to mention Sept. 11, 2001? That, my friend, is your enemy. It happened in New York City, it happened in Oklahoma City and it happened here. What more proof do you need? The people responsible for these acts are your true enemy.

Please. It's about time you deal with the overthrow of Hawaii and accept that you are an American.

William McCoy
Honolulu

Letter writer lucky to live in America

Reference Eric Poohina's letter declaring the United States as the enemy of Hawaii (Star-Bulletin, Dec. 1): Isn't it ironic that living in Hawaii, which is part of the United States of America, he can say whatever he wants about our government, and that right is protected by the government he hates? If he were from the countries of his heroes Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and made remarks concerning the government, he would be dead.

American men and women (some from Hawaii) are dying daily to help give the same to people of Iraq and protect his right to speak. Could he had spoken out if the aliis were still in power? Probably not.

At one time I supported people like him and his cause for Hawaiian sovereignty. Listening these past years to words with no aloha, no kindness, no caring -- just greed, I have come to believe that in his world the "H" in Hawaii stands for HATE. Something I was not taught growing up in Hawaii. God bless the U.S.A. and God bless Hawaii.

Lee Laquihon
Bellevue, Neb.
Former Hawaii resident

Should Bishop's will be followed strictly?

In her will, Bernice Pauahi Bishop named as beneficiaries friends, family, servants, even queens Emma and Liliuokalani. But to her credit she directed that the bulk of her enormous wealth be devoted in perpetuity to the education of the children of Hawaii.

She chose her words carefully and made it unmistakably clear that it was her wish to establish "two schools, each for boarding and day scholars, one for boys and one for girls, to be known as, and called the Kamehameha Schools ... and to devote a portion of each year's income to the support and education of orphans, and others in indigent circumstances, giving the preference to Hawaiians of pure or part aboriginal blood."

She also stipulated that her trustees should "provide first and chiefly a good education in the common English branches, and also instruction in morals and in such useful knowledge as may tend to make good and industrious men and women." Further, she directed that "the teachers of said schools shall forever be persons of the Protestant religion" and that "the number of my said trustees shall be kept at five ... (with) the selection to be made from persons of the Protestant religion."

While we may or may not agree with her political and religious views, there is no doubting her intent, and were she alive today I wonder how she would feel about the faithful execution of her bequest.

William King
Kula, Maui

Shall we bring back foot-binding, too?

I am responding to Steve Klein's Dec. 1 letter that supports tradition and giving credence and careful deliberation to the position of our forefathers regarding marriage. Klein is concerned that redefining marriage flies in the face of thousands of years of historical precedence.

I agree that we should give careful deliberation to any changes we make in our laws. But I don't agree that tradition and historical precedence are reasons not to make changes. Given that argument, girls and women in China would still have their feet painfully bound, resulting in disabling disfigurement. Women in the United States would have no place in church or government.

At one time, anti-miscegenation laws in the U.S. prevented interracial marriages. Countless marriages that exist today would be considered illegal.

Klein also asks the question, "Are we so much smarter than those who came before us?" I don't know if we are much smarter, but I think we know a lot more. We know that children with disabilities can be educated. We know that people of different races can marry each other. And I do hope that we are more open-minded!

I'm not saying that churches should conduct same-sex weddings if they are opposed to them. But I do believe that all people should have equal rights under the law.

Inga Park Okuna
Honolulu

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] Dirty gutter talk Those orange rolls that highway engineers have been shoving into storm drain openings -- there must be a more efficient or practical or attractive way to filter out road debris. These things are about as useful and pleasing to the eye as huge, discarded cigarette butts. Send your ideas, drawings and solutions by Thursday, Dec. 17 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Burl Burlingame Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Burl Burlingame 529-4750