Disputes over burial sites are overblown

After having lived in Hawaii just about all my life, and being on the mainland for the last three years, I think we make too much out of a bunch of old bones, dirt and rocks ("Judge says developer broke burial law," Star-Bulletin, Dec. 28). After all, that's exactly what it is!

I'm not advocating being disrespectful to our ancestors or the dead. We could respectfully move them some where else. We must remember that the beauty and use of the land is only for the living; the dead don't care.

David Mayeda
Las Vegas

North Korea wants meaty offer from U.S.

Did you see where the United States offered a carrot to North Korea ("North Korea rebuffs latest U.S. overtures," Star-Bulletin, Jan. 15)? That's the problem with our foreign policy! We're offering veggies, but why not something with a little meat, like a shish kabob?

Maybe if the United States negotiated a program that allowed North Korea to participate in world trade like America's old arch foes China and Russia, then the atmosphere in North Korea would be more positive, productive and cordial toward America and the rest of the world.

Offering a carrot, really. How would you feel in a world of lions and tigers and bears and bulls, if you were treated like a rabbit by a Bush?

Ron Rhetrik
Mililani

U.S. military must face up to abuses

On June 13, 2002, a 60-ton U.S. armored vehicle, part of a convoy traveling to a training exercise 10 miles north of Seoul, Republic of Korea, ran over and killed two 13-year-old Korean girls.

Upon learning of the driver's acquittal by a U.S. court martial, tens of thousands of outraged Koreans, especially youths, demanded that President Bush apologize and revise the Status of Forces Agreement. Under the SOFA, Korean authorities have not been able to investigate crimes committed by the 37,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Korea because they are immune from criminal prosecution for crimes committed against Koreans.

The prolonged uproar over the acquittal was not about nationalism or anti-U.S. sentiment, but a grave human-rights issue. As the world's leading democratic and Christian nation, the United States, its citizens and military should have a strong sense of reverence for all human life regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, physical ability, immigrant status, English language proficiency, etc.

I write this letter because I believe that until everybody's life and human dignity are revered and preserved, there will not be a genuine world peace with justice and freedom.

Alice Yun Chai
Retired professor
University of Hawaii-Manoa

Hawaii could flourish in a digital world

On a slightly rainy Saturday morning recently, I found myself rushing on an empty highway to attend a workshop being held by the governor, the mayor and the president of University of Hawaii.

The theme of the workshop was sustainability, with the key question in everyone's mind being "ability." Does Hawaii have the ability to provide a stable or more prosperous environment for the future?

I believe digital communications can provide many solutions and become a valuable industry for Hawaii. Here are three reasons why:

1. It doesn't harm the land.

2. It creates new jobs.

3. It is what our children's children look forward to.

In a digital world, any island can literally be Fantasy Island. So why can't Hawaii's remote location be thought of as "The Location for Remote People"?

If our tourism-based economy can share the gift of aloha through remote digital services, then maybe my children will never need to move away in search of work.

Maybe they could create a business for themselves, here at home, or even from a sailing yacht.

In a digital world anything is possible.

Rex Regal

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