Bicyclists must be safety-conscious
The cars go fast
as they race past
those on bikes
with their little tykes.
"How do you do it?
Aren't you afraid of being hit?"
"Yes," I say.
Defensively is the way we play.
The rewards are many, you see,
so I won't give up easily.
Slow down is my plea.
Drive more cautiously.
Natalie Iwasa
Hawaii Kai
Bush administration does it again
The Bush administration has turned over our Southern border to the Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican army. So, what is the problem with turning over our shipping ports to Muslim extremists?
Ronald L. Edmiston
Honolulu
Neighbor isle vets need care near home
With more and more of our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, our veterans administration facilities will need to expand to the outer islands the program to help those who suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). To come to Honolulu to be treated might cause financial hardships for them and their families. They need facilities that are nearby and on the same island, if possible.
Congress has to provide the funding to aid those, on Oahu and the neighbor islands, who fought and did their duty in those Mideastern countries. We owe them that!
Roy E. Shigemura
Honolulu
'Native' class will cause infringement
Proponents of racial purity should realize it is too late to jump on the Hitlerian bandwagon. That war was lost in 1945. One of the greatest cons of our generation is the movement of ethnic nationalism under the guise of indigenous or aboriginal rights. As communism of the Stalin era needed victims to succeed, so does ethnic nationalism. Instead of victimizing the wealthy on the pretense that it will benefit the poor, the non-natives are the victims and boundaries clearly marked.
In the case of aboriginal rights in the United States, the people owe the aborigines their welfare in perpetuity. Anyone in this country who is not "native" will pay for the welfare of all those who can claim "native" and the criteria to qualify if the Akaka Bill passes will be fairly simple. The people will be taxed without representation, impoverished by the burden and discriminated against for their race. It might not be evident now for many who support this movement, but eventually everyone will become a victim.
Indigenous or aboriginal rights have given racism a new name and legitimized it on a global scale, supported at the level of the United Nations. Rights are for the living and no group should have the power to infringe upon man's rights. The redefinition of aboriginal as a "right" and the legitimization of such is a crime against humanity.
Hana Johnson
Aiea
ABA 's endorsement shows consistency
The
American Bar Association's endorsement of the Akaka Bill last week is significant in that it dispels arguments that Congress lacks constitutional authority to provide federal recognition and self-determination to native Hawaiians or that such action was somehow erased by the overthrow of the Hawaiian government. Moreover, ABA's position that Hawaiians be granted the same rights as American Indians and native Alaskans underscored the following attributes shared by all three groups: they were here long before any European explorer ever set foot on the North American continent or the Hawaiian archipelago; they lived according to their own government structures on their homelands long before the U.S. federal government was imposed upon them; and the United States historically acknowledged their existence as distinct nations.
As a nonpartisan and highly respected organization, the ABA is in a position to help Hawaiians to obtain the same constitutional authorities given to America's other native and indigenous peoples; i.e., to govern and to provide for the health, safety and welfare of their members.
William J. Fernandez
President,
Native Hawaiian Legal Defense & Education Fund
Don't appoint McClain without a search
It would be a terrible mistake to appoint David McClain as president of the University of Hawaii without a thorough national search, as it appears the Board of Regents wants to do (
Star-Bulletin, Feb. 18).
Above all reasons for not appointing him is the need to ensure that regent activities are open and transparent and in accord with BOR policies on a national search for president. Appointment without a search confirms the view that everything important that occurs at UH is done in secret. Discussing it openly after the fact is not transparency. Conducting a national search, bringing candidates to UH for public interviews and seeking input from the community would be the essence of transparency.
For many years, the presidents of UH have been besotted with mediocrity. No wonder the UH is ranked either in the lowest quadrants of most rankings or, at best, as mediocre. We have not progressed at all in McClain's first two years.
If McClain must be kept as interim president while the BOR conducts a search, so be it. But please use the next two years to find the best and the brightest, no matter where that search may lead.
Joel Fischer
Professor, School of Social Work
University of Hawaii
Use care in review of moving billboards
The Outdoor Circle is attempting to persuade the Legislature to revisit Hawaii's law banning billboards to close the loophole that has allowed the creation of a business selling advertising on large, moving signs driven around town on the back and sides of large trucks.
I have no problem with continuing to ban billboards. However, I caution the enactment of any law that seeks to outlaw a currently legal business as the result of its passage.
Without debating the merits in this particular case, there is a responsibility that comes with this action.
If the Legislature does force this company out of business, the Legislature and perhaps even the Outdoor Circle should be mandated to reimburse the company for any and all losses as the result of the revision of the law.
Dave Reed
Honolulu
Should we lower our standard of living?
No business can survive without a profit. We all know that, do we not? If you owned a business and found a source that could give you a product of the same value for less money, wouldn't you seek that source to fulfill your needs?
To get to the meat of the coconut, the only way to lessen or stop outsourcing is to lower our American standard of living.
Who'd want to be the first to volunteer to do so?
Tetsuji Ono
Hilo