Cerebral palsy doesn't hinder volunteer
Star-Bulletin sports reporter Dave Reardon wrote a
great article Dec. 23 about Brian Kajiyama, a young man with cerebral palsy who edits videotape for the University of Hawaii Warriors. The Sports section most often covers super-athletes who are physically buff beyond anything mere mortals like us could ever hope of obtaining. Despite their fortunate circumstance, they often squabble about mega-million-dollar contracts or take illicit drugs to get a competitive edge.
Then there are guys like Kajiyama who for no reason have brain illnesses at birth, and enjoy selfless volunteering to assist others to do as well as they possibly can.
It's articles like these that bring us back to earth and maybe should be required reading for super-jocks. Again, great work, Mr. Reardon.
Timothy Fern
Kaneohe
9/11 comparison insults all in military
How dare Pat Blair (
Letters, Dec. 27) equate U.S. military personnel with those who attacked the World Trade Center, and state that "seeking peace through acts of war is never achieved"? If it were not for U.S. military forces' actions following Pearl Harbor, she would be using Japanese yen now -- and would not have a free press in which to get her letter to the editor published. Her continued nonsupport of our volunteer military might lead to her eventual wearing of a burqa.
She owes a sincere apology to all U.S. military personnel -- past, present and future.
Frank Genadio
Retired lieutenant colonel
U.S. Air Force
Kapolei
Watada decided not to make a difference
(Re: "10 who made a difference,"
Star-Bulletin, Dec. 25): How did Ehren Watada make a difference? Last time I checked, there is no draft. When you join the Army, you are volunteering; you do not get to pick your wars. Opting out of Iraq and requesting Afghanistan is asinine, and an officer should know better than any other.
Watada is a disgrace and brings shame to all of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, especially Japanese Americans from the World War II generation. Watada made a difference? What a joke.
Jeff Dexter
Petty officer first class
Navy Reserve
Camp Lemonier
Djibouti, Africa
Women's groups skew the data on wages
Several times a year, the Star-Bulletin publishes a story about a "wage gap" between men and women, where the wages from women working part time and the wages of men who work full time are compared to claim that these poor female part-timers don't earn as much as their male counterparts working full time.
I hope people know that some stats, like those stated in the Dec. 25 New York Times article, are shamelessly manipulated by women's coalitions to claim that women are sexually discriminated against. Nationally this misrepresentation of data has given women's coalitions multimillions in federal and state dollars and wide political support, thus pushing women's issues above all others.
The "wage gap" will never go away as long as the same women's coalitions keep skewing the math.
Gerald Nakata
Kapolei
Down-and-outers scare away tourists
My husband and I spent November on Oahu. This was our fifth time in Hawaii. The climate, scenery and people are what keep us returning to Hawaii again and again. However, this time we noticed that the homeless people were really "in our face." We were accosted for money, had to step over vagrants sleeping on the sidewalk and were not able to sit under the canopy by the ocean due to street people sprawled all over with their carts. We even saw one fellow brushing his teeth on the sidewalk, then spitting into the man-made pond. It was disgusting. He then crawled under a bush by the beach for the night.
We talked to people from cruise ships who were greatly disillusioned by what they saw in Waikiki. Especially those on a first visit.
Someone is going to have to decide if Waikiki is to be a destination for the homeless or a destination for tourists.
We might give Hawaii one more chance, but I wouldn't, in all honesty, recommend it to my friends anymore.
Oh, did I mention that somebody is stringing up their hammock for a nice snooze each night right beside the police station?
Maureen and Don Provencher
Red Deer, Alberta
Canada