Task force suggestions constitute a lot of hot air
When is a tax increase not a tax increase? When it is the main recommendation of the Democratic-sponsored Economic Revitalization Task Force.To balance the budget, you either cut government spending or increase revenue. Since there is no apparent outline from the task force on cutting spending, one concludes that revenue must be increased.
But the task force says we are to:
1. Increase the tax on hotels (less than 50 percent are profitable). This tax money will be taken from hotel revenue to help increase hotel revenue!
2. Cut a portion of the TAT (hotel room tax) that goes to the counties. The revenue shortfall to the counties is not addressed.
3. Lower the income tax brackets and raise the general excise tax by 37 percent. The income tax decrease will be greater than making every product and service in the state more expensive. Right!
With reasoning like this, the task force is going to be a major contributor to global warming. All this hot air of tax decreases offsetting tax increases on everything else smells like the rotten seaweed that sometimes plagues our shores.
Anthony C. Mondello
Kula, Maui
(Via the Internet)
Convention center doesn't exude Hawaiiana at all
Why are we not surprised that the Convention Center dropped the Hawaiian consonant called an 'okina in favor of an English punctuation mark called an apostrophe (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 23)? Perhaps it is what we have come to expect from people who just don't care.I was the Hawaiian language consultant to the successful bidder when they were putting together the bid to build that center. A review of my 1994 correspondence shows that, among other things I suggested 1) Hawaiian names to be used for every room and area, indoor and out, 2) that the Hawaiian be spelled correctly, 3) that all signage be in Hawaiian with English translations, and 4) that we need to have "all the names and words double and triple checked."
I offered the help of resource people who could proof everything before signs were made. I never heard from them after the contract was awarded. It appears they no longer felt the need for help with the Hawaiian language.
Although I have not been in the center to see if they used the concept or any of the proposed names, I can see through the glass that the signs visible from the outside are in English and that my recommendations were ignored. And now we see that they misspelled the Hawaiian names that they did use.
From what I have seen through the glass, I doubt that the new center has any Hawaiian sense of place at all. The landscaping looks great, but the center looks like a very haole (foreign), sterile, concrete-and-glass edifice, not too unlike what you might expect in Seattle, where the center's sign makers hang their shingle.
Keith Haugen
(Via the Internet)
It's politically correct to attack Christians
After following the furor surrounding the removal of the cross on a military base, I have reached a conclusion that Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church has intentionally selected a deceptive name for its organization. A more accurate name would be "Hawaii Activists for the Abolition of Jesus in Public Life."It is specifically Christianity that is targeted by this group, not "church" in the generic sense. A group sincerely opposed to public religious expression supported by government funds would be actively seeking the immediate removal of every heiau (sacred places of worship in the ancient Hawaiian religious tradition) on public lands and would vehemently protest a single dollar being spent to reroute an interstate to protect such sites.
The hypocrisy is obvious. To bash and demean Christianity is chic, while reverence for "native" religious expression is politically correct.
Substitute a Star of David on public property (which would be fine with me) and think about what you might call a group seeking its banishment.
Gary Langley
Associate Pastor
Windward Worship Center
Kaneohe, Hawaii
(Via the Internet)
Taxpayers save a lot with removal of cross
Elbridge W. Smith seems a little confused about some recent events (View Point, Nov. 1). He, and apparently a few others, feel that one's personal practice or endorsement of religion has been threatened by the removal of the taxpayer-supported cross at Kolekole Pass.This is not the case. What was challenged was the blatant governmental endorsement of one particular religion. Please understand that without icons of similar magnitude representing other religions, any reasonable observer, when viewing the cross, would be led to believe that this is a favored symbol of a favored religion.
According to the last federal census, Christians account for just 35 percent of Hawaii's population. This, of course, has no bearing on the civil issue at hand, but it does add insult to injury.
Let's tell our elected officials that we must show dignity and respect for all religions, not just the most vocal.
Michael Quinn
(Via the Internet)
How sad that prostitution is so popular in Hawaii
I was shocked to read the Nov. 6 letter by Joe Stacy condoning prostitution in Waikiki. At first, I thought it was going to be a facetious piece. As I read further, I could see that he was serious.What an outrageous idea that single male tourists are attracted to Hawaii because of prostitution. It's so sad that true love cannot be the motive for sex. Beside, don't they know about the potential for spreading disease?
What happened to the image of Hawaii as a beautiful, friendly and pristine destination? Let's truly clean up Waikiki and its filth!
Regina Shimomura
Mililani
Bishop Estate Archive
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