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March insults memory of Martin Luther King

Your Jan. 16 article on the homosexual activist parade, "Oahu march will champion tolerance," made a mockery of both Martin Luther King Jr. and the values he stood for.

King stood for strong moral values based on the intelligent understanding that we are all spiritual beings.

He called us to a higher spiritual understanding of recognizing that whether a person is in a black, brown, white or yellow body, within each body is an eternal child of God. Therefore, it is grossly ignorant and foolish to characterize each other according to the color of one's skin.

To take this spiritual understanding and compare it to homosexual activist philosophy, which is to follow whatever perverse desires may arise in your body without regard for morals or physical safety of others, is disgusting.

Roy Guerrerez

Homosexuals defame their opponents

I am getting tired of hearing about how homosexuals are so oppressed (Star-Bulletin, Jan. 16). In reality, it is the other way around.

Religious leaders who speak out against homosexuality are subjected to all kinds of hateful propaganda and intolerance by gay activists. I have personally witnessed the hatred that homosexuals express when a person does not agree with them.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister who taught from the Bible and believed in the words written in it.

He strongly opposed racism and people following their homosexual desires.

For gay activists to say that Christians who oppose the homosexual agenda are wrong is to say that Martin Luther King was wrong. So they are indirectly calling the Rev. Dr. King a fraud, while simultaneously exploiting his good name for their agenda. Cheap hypocrisy.

Vanessa Birang

Jackson is example of leftists' immorality

Doesn't anyone on the political left have a moral center? First, we were given Ted Kennedy, then Bill Clinton, and now Jesse Jackson.

Thank goodness President Bush nominated John Ashcroft, one of several cabinet designees with a strong moral center. Maybe over the next few years we can get the country back on course.

Jay Bauckham

City's HandiVan service doesn't keep schedule

I am a handicapped senior citizen who gets around in an electric scooter. I have enrolled in a 10:30 a.m. class at the University of Hawaii in Manoa but have met with some difficulties regarding the HandiVan.

The van scheduled for 9 a.m. came to pick me up at 9:23 a.m., having two more stops for pickups. I was the last dropoff and arrived at the UH campus after 11 a.m.

The earlier pickup is at 8 a.m. but arrives at my home at 8:23 a.m. At 9:06 a.m., I am still in Mililani -- with nine other passengers. There is no way I can reach Manoa by 10:30 since I am the last to be brought to my destination.

How does one ever get to a destination when the HandiVan is late to begin with? Am I required to schedule the van for 6 a.m. to get to my UH class by 10:30 a.m.?

How does one in Mililani ever get anywhere on time on the HandiVan? In four separate instances, I have been late for medical appointments.

When it comes to the HandiVan, does anyone ever get to a destination on time? Does anyone ever get picked up at the designated hour? What would our mayor advise the handicapped, who cannot drive themselves, to do about this?

Yetta Weinberger
Mililani

Quotables "He was not my most athletic boy. But he had determination." Jan Rowan MOTHER OF CHAD, KNOWN IN JAPAN AS SUMO WRESTLER AKEBONO Being reflective after he announced his decision to retire from the grand champion rank of yokozuna after a knee injury "They rise in plumes like a small torrnado." Gary Elster HEAD OF THE SUGAR BEACH HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION IN KIHEI On an invasion of midges plaguing Maui "Hey hey, ho ho, homopobia's got to go." Gay-rights chant SUPPORTERS OF THE CIVIL UNIONS- CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT As their parade clashed with members of the Alliance for Traditional Marriage at a downtown park

Don't criticize Wilton for not hiring Tune

I would like to ask Henry Kim, whose Jan. 17 letter criticized University of Hawaii men's volleyball Coach Mike Wilton, one question: What kind of volleyball fan are you?

Former UH player Rick Tune abandoned the Rainbows, claiming he was transferring to Pepperdine for educational reasons. Then what happened? Tune played volleyball the next year for Pepperdine.

If not for Coach Wilton, would Rick Tune have gotten a chance to show his ability as the outstanding volleyball player he is? Maybe, maybe not.

As an avid volleyball fan of both men's and women's volleyball at UH, I wouldn't appreciate having someone who left the program returning as an assistant coach for that same program.

Erin Yamashita

Don't forget sacrifices of Korean War vets

I agree with the premise of Raphael Eredita's Jan. 20 View Point, "Army's new slogan sends the wrong message." The change from "Be All You Can Be" to "Army of One" was wrong.

Eredita further explained: "Those bold and courageous veterans from World War II and the Vietnam War are a disappearing breed. They are the product of a different America when everyone served, distinguished himself with honor in combat and even gave up a life when necessary."

Yes, how true. But hasn't Eredita forgotten about the Korean War veterans. Didn't they distinguish themselves in combat as well?

The Korean War is often called "The Forgotten War" and for good reason. Last year, on the 50th anniversary of the war, the Korean War Veterans Association initiated a program called "Tell America." Korean War veterans like me visited various schools, from intermediates to universities, to inform students of our slogan: "Freedom Is Not Free."

By omitting Korean War veterans from his column, Eredita did a great disservice to them, especially the 456 local families whose sons gave their all.

The names of these heroes are inscribed on the Korean War Monument located on the Ewa side of the state Capitol. Please, let us not forget.

Ted Miyamoto
Korean War veteran
Mililani

State GOP trades principle for votes

I find it interesting that Hawaii's Republican Party, the party of Abe Lincoln, who made such a big deal in his Gettysburg address about "testing whether a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, can long endure," supports secession (the ultimate goal) by a minority group of U.S. citizens calling for Hawaiian sovereignty.

Is the GOP in Hawaii sacrificing principle -- and part of the State of Hawaii -- for votes?

Ralph Peck
Del Mar, Calif.

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