A friendly furball brightens the day's end
Boyd Andrade's tribute to Keokeo was heart-wrenching
(Letters, June 6). It brought tears to my eyes. Yes, to some of us, our pet is just like our own child; unfortunately, sometimes even better. I too have a furry "daughter" - and I fear that one day I will no longer have her around. But in the meantime, we enjoy each other every moment we are together. She always greets me with a great grin when I come home. It takes all the stress away from me. She sits quietly when I am doing something. She doesn't demand much, just a dinner kibble with maybe some goodies thrown in. But what she gives back in unconditional love is priceless. I look forward to weekends with her to go hiking, beaching or just go around about town.
Rosita Sipirok-Siregar
Makakilo
Corporation and state are punishing Molokai
In response to utilities scheduled to be shut down by Molokai Properties Ltd.
(Star-Bulletin, June 5) it is crystal clear what is unfolding; a malicious and twisted act to punish the people of Molokai because they chose to defend their aina from overdevelopment.
The people of Molokai are being made an example to the rest of Hawaii nei by corporate and government (state) leaders.
As this sad and perverted drama unfolds, please keep this in mind. These corporate and government leaders are not some abstract, invisible, nonexisting entity we cannot physically identify; they are real human beings like you and me.
The only difference is we, the greater public, care for other human beings more than we do about money!
I sense the Hawaii Superferry Fiasco-Matrix; and unless this issue is immediately remedied, I foresee further erosion of our social cohesion.
Foster Ampong
Kahului, Maui
Special needs students need Senate Bill 2004
The state's tort liability law sets the statute of limitations at two years for cases to be brought when a citizen challenges the state for its alleged negligence.
Why should a student who has special education needs be given only 90 days to bring a case, called an administrative hearing, against the Department of Education when a student must seek reimbursement for a private placement when the state fails to provide the student with an appropriate education as he/she is entitled to by law?
We urge the governor to sign into law Senate Bill 2004, making both the Legislature and DOE accountable for our children, who are not receiving their entitlement to a free appropriate public education, by extending the deadline from 90 days to six months and requiring the DOE to report annually to the Legislature.
Linda Elento
Board member and legislative committee chairwoman
Hawaii Down Syndrome Congress
Don't accept blight in name of progress
"People will get used to it," wrote Ted Chernin
(Star-Bulletin, April 28) referring to the changes that the proposed rail system would bring to our city's landscape. He describes how large areas of Honolulu that once had ocean views now see only the high rises, and how people got used to them, "They became part of the landscape." And those who grow up with a changed landscape will see nothing wrong, concludes Chernin.
He also notes that while in earlier days the cries of protest against the defacing of our landscapes were shushed with claims of "it's progress," the new mix of citizens is not so easy to shush down. I find that last observation the only comforting thought in the letter.
Maybe as people look at what is and contemplate what could have been, and bemoan the lack of vision in preserving precious landscapes, they rise up in defense of what is left. They redefine "progress." For that we should be grateful.
We are not the owners but only the stewards of our landscapes. It is our moral responsibility to make sure that whatever we must do to meet the needs of our time leaves behind as small a footprint as possible.
This the proposed rail system fails to do. It rides roughshod over our landscape like a defiant, arrogant conqueror squashing what people hold sacred and dear. And this without solving the problem it purports to solve, while ignoring solutions that would leave a gentler footprint.
Ursula Retherford
Kailua
McClellan was loyal, just not blindly so
Scott McClellan's book about the Bush White House exemplifies the conflict between two often competing virtues: loyalty and truth. He simply came to the conclusion that the former had to give way to the latter, for the sake of an honest and complete public record. As a result, his patriotism is under attack. But he echoes Mark Twain, who said: "Patriotism means being loyal to your country all the time and to your government when it deserves it!"
Excessive loyalty to person gets in the way of loyalty to principle.
Ralph Burr
Honolulu