Overthrow remains an open wound
In response to all the Corboys and Burgesses who believe we should just forget the injustices of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and go on, let me remind you that if you do not remove the pus from a sore, the sore will not heal. It will keep returning and the boil will get worse.
If we want our Hawaii, our country to once more become a beacon to this world, we will have to deal with the infection.
It is futile to say "It was long ago and we were not involved in the overthrow." Our forefathers may have been the sinners, but they are gone. We are here now. I hope we will not leave the infection for our children to deal with, but unfortunately it seems our generation is doing just that.
We cannot escape the mess our forefathers left us, but we can face up to it and support the Akaka Bill.
Imperfect? Too many compromises? Perhaps, but let us start somewhere.
James Tanabe
Honolulu
Akaka Bill will create harmful cultural divide
Please set the trees in the Akaka Bill debate forest aside, and remember the yet unborn who will pay for our choice.
Humans have only lived on Hawaii's islands for 0.0000025 billions of years, but we will live here for another five billion before the sun burns out.
Let those yet unborn be born as equals and neighbors. Let them inherit "local" and "American," whose magic is that both designations are open to all and denied to no one by bloodline -- anyone who adopts their principles and respects their neighbors is welcome.
Don't condemn trillions of Hawaii's future people to a land partitioned by bloodline.
My reasons are simple -- Croatia and Serbia, the slaughter of one African tribe by another, Nazi persecution of Jews, and so on throughout all of humanity's short cruel history.
When people live as one people, there is peace and prosperity. But as Abraham Lincoln brilliantly warned, a house divided cannot stand.
George L. Berish
Honolulu
Clinic for homeless needs additional help
We at the John A. Burns School of Medicine appreciate the
Star-Bulletin's May 31 coverage of our free clinic helping homeless at the Kakaako shelter.
A point of clarification: The $390,00 federal grant received by the homeless project is for administrative expenses, including insurance coverage over three years.
None of it is available for patient services, such as bandages or lab tests. That's why UH medical students are actively raising money through bake sales and other activities. And that's why we are seeking a variety of donated medical equipment.
The Homeless Outreach and Medical Education (HOME) project has launched a Web site that contains more information: http://www.hawaiihomeproject.org/
Gregg Takayama
Public Relations Director
John A. Burns School of Medicine
Ferry service isn't rocket science
What's the big deal on the Superferry? A total of $20 million has been set aside. Ports and islands exist.
Other countries in the world have used ferries to ply their waters for years -- going to work, commercial transport, tourist travel or just general getting about.
Take Greece, for example. I've been visiting Greece for 35 years. It has the old, huge, slow clunker ship ferries carrying cars, commercial lorries and people. You can book a deck seat or an overnight cabin if it's an interisland trip. You call up to book all of these types of travel, now you can make reservations on the Web sites. Each trip allows a certain number of cars and commercial vehicles. This isn't rocket science. They also have super-fast ferries, moving people, cars and trucks; and then Flying Dolphins, fast hydrofoils for people and their baggage only, yet subject to wave and wind conditions more so than the other types of heavier ships.
Why can't Hawaii figure out the same type of travel that Greece has proven is a very efficient way to go island to island?
Private cars line up at the dock before departure on one side of the docks, commercial vehicles on the other side. The space down the middle is for off loading vehicles. There are restaurants and bathrooms there to keep everyone happy and fed before departure.
Cars and people get off; people and cars go on. Each trip has vehicle allotment, so the military wouldn't be able to hog all the space, they'd just be factored in like every other class of vehicle. Empty space not booked is filled up within the last hour, on a first-come basis.
For goodness sakes, if Hawaii government officials can't figure it out for themselves, they should get on a plane and see how they do it in Europe. It's been done before; you all are NOT reinventing water travel.
Jeanne Elizabeth Blum
Kihei, Mau