Delve into wisdom and joy of Bhutan exhibit
The Feb. 23-May 23 exhibition showing of "The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts Of Bhutan" at the Honolulu Academy of Arts is fascinating and
mesmerizing. It brings the visitor viewer into the mysterious Buddhist world of Bhutan, a "Thunder Dragon Land" of steep ranges, deep valleys and dense forests by Nepal, Burma, Tibet and India. It displays the Buddhist Bhutan cultural arts of 110 paintings, sculptures, textiles and ritual objects.
This is a Himayalan country that has an official policy of "Gross National Happiness" rather than "Gross National Product." I want the Bhutan "dorje" (wisdom) and "drilbu" (compassion)! Bring me into Bhutan's Buddhist world of Arhats, Bodhisattvas, Padmasambhava, Stupas and Mandelas!
Franklin "Frankie" Kam
Honolulu
Why hire experts, then ignore their advice?
The reason an expert panel on transit was established was because our public servants at City Hall, including the mayor, realized they didn't have the expertise to make the best decision. A panel of highly qualified experts to assist in obtaining an unbiased decision was hired at the Council's decision and the expense of the taxpayers, and the experts submitted their recommendation.
Why did the Council vote to dismiss the recommendation of a qualified panel of experts on the largest public works project in Honolulu's history, once again delaying progress for our state? If Council members vote for alternate technology, they will go against the opinions of the hired experts. If they finally decide to yield to the recommendation of the experts and vote on a steel-on-steel system, then they will have continued to waste time, money and valuable resources critical to this project.
If you invest taxpayers' money to pay for expert advice, then take it. Otherwise, don't waste our money. In any case, tax money has been wasted because the Council thinks it has more knowledge than the experts it originally hired.
Kim Wood
Honolulu
Council should listen to transit panel
I don't understand why the Honolulu City Council members think they know better.The expert panel members gave their best recommendation based on their collective background and experience: They recommend steel rail. The panel already considered magnetic levitation, rubber on concrete and steel technology, including noise, rust, cost, etc. Their recommendations were credible, logical and made good sense.
These experts have no stake in this project, so why doesn't the City Council believe them? It is obvious that no matter what the experts say, some Council members are only listening to what they want to hear. It sure looks like certain Council members favor the Phileas bus system: Who and why?
Joseph Lee
Honolulu
Don't blame all dogs for a few bad owners
Star-Bulletin news editor Stephanie Kendrick's March 9 commentary, "Bad dog owners are the problem, not bad dogs," is right on the mark. Nearly every Oahu hospital welcomes pets into patient rooms to comfort the sick and elderly, but our taxpayer-funded City and County refuses to allow leashed dogs on public park sidewalks. Sixty percent of Oahu households have pets and consider them part of their families. Restrictive city policies cater to a vocal minority rather than the responsible majority and show how a very small number of irresponsible dog owners attract a disproportionate amount of media attention.
In a recent article, the Parks & Recreation Department blamed its ongoing problems with dogs in Ala Moana Beach Park on the Hawaiian Humane Society's annual charity walk, PetWalk, which includes not just dogs, but all pets. It stated that it gives our charity a one-morning-a-year exemption to allow leashed animals and their owners to walk together on a one-mile stretch of paved city sidewalk, and that this has created year-round chronic abuse of parks by dog owners.
Again, a small number of irresponsible dog owners are the problem, not the Hawaiian Humane Society's 20,000 responsible supporters whose No. 1 mission is to teach responsible pet ownership.
So we agree with Kendrick -- there is no such thing as a bad dog, just a small number of irresponsible dog owners and a misguided city Parks Department policy that fails to recognize the great majority of our Oahu population are good pet owners.
Pamela Burns
President & CEO
Hawaiian Humane Society
Obama is as white as he is black
Whatever Barack Obama might be, it is directly attributed to his upbringing. He was raised in what he has admitted was a harsh environment. And he was living in Hawaii when this all happened. There are no black people in Hawaii. I exaggerate slightly but not much.He was brought up by Caucasian people. They mainly have been throwing the kitchen sink at the man for two weeks and he is one of their own!
They can't blame this one on we black folks. They can't blame Rev. Wright, Al or Jesse for this. They got sidetracked and confused because he doesn't look like them. But they can't hold us accountable for anything he might be. Blame his grandma!
Brenda Drummond-Squires
Philadelphia, Pa.