A Memorial Day ode to a young grandson

I stood at quiet attention on this Memorial Day

as the military band played

Thoughts raced through my mind of events many decades ago as though it happened just yesterday,

Tears filled my eyes as I saw my comrades fall,

They fought so bravely to protect us all.

I'll never forget the sacrifice they made, and the honor of fulfilling their pledge.

My young grandson stood beside me on this day,

straight as a pine I'll say.

He enjoys the music the band plays and the hundreds of small flags on display

I doubt whether he comprehends the significance of this day.

I hope he will, as he grows up, and work for peace instead of war.

How Tim Chang

Honor and be thankful for their sacrifice

As Americans, we should be thankful for the honor, courage, sacrifice and dedication of the men and women in our armed forces. We should honor those living, wounded and dead who have defended our freedom and security for more than two centuries. In truth, the world and Americans themselves have held them to higher standards than any other military, and they have constantly met and surpassed those standards while suffering insults and silly criticisms along the way.

Some take freedom for granted because most of us never had to risk our lives to defend it. It is ironic that some abuse the freedom of speech in undermining the soldiers who defend it. As our soldiers were dying, it must have been painful for the military families to see anti-war and anti-American protesters still going strong and thereby encouraging the Iraqis to continue to kill Americans rather than surrender.

Most victorious armies are blamed for looting the defeated country. The huge news to the world was not that our soldiers were looters (because they were not) but supposedly we allowed the Iraqis to loot their own cities. The obvious irony was lost on so many. We were correct by initially not using force to stop the looting. Obviously, the world media were anxious to film U.S. soldiers using force on civilians. By delaying use of force, our army outsmarted our enemies because we got them to call for the use of force to stop the looting!

Leighton Loo

Cross-ownership would kill media diversity

Erika Engle's May 14 article ("New FCC regulations might affect Hawaii") pointed out that our media landscape will be irretrievably altered by rules the FCC plans to adopt next Monday.

At the Senate Commerce Committee hearing this month, issues pending before the FCC were the focus of concern relating to three principles: diversity, competition and localism.

Hawaii has a particular interest in the issue of newspaper and TV cross-ownership. Local TV stations cannot now be owned by the owners of the local newspapers. This rule seeks to ensure that diverse views are represented in each community.

If one party or special interest could control local print and TV news, democracy itself would be threatened. Yet the FCC is considering a rollback of this rule to give TV-and-print cross-ownership a pass. If it succeeds, one or more of Hono-lulu's TV stations will acquire or be acquired by one or more of Hawaii's daily newspapers. As a result, fewer local voices will be heard, and fewer perspectives will be offered to our citizens regarding local issues.

It's time to remind our elected senators and representatives in Congress that Hawaii needs diverse media to retain a free marketplace of ideas and to build our local communities with liberty and justice for all.

Sean McLaughlin
Puunene, Maui

Inmate education is a good idea within limits

This is in response to Tom Foster's "Offer prisoners chance to succeed in education" ("Gathering Place," Star-Bulletin, May 23).

I do believe in allowing inmates a chance to be able to read, write and be able to do whatever tasks it takes to attend a class. This gets them on a level playing field. But I do not agree with allowing them to go past an associate degree (AA/AS), because this is being paid by taxpayers who would like to go to college on the taxpayers' dime but are not willing to break the law to do so.

I think it's a great idea to put a vocational-technical program in place. This would allow inmates to leave prison skills they could find more pride in than being "criminals." I don't think taxpayers want a "criminal" to be able to seek a higher position on the outside than themselves.

Donna Bingham

U.S. acting too late on 'mad cow' disease

The U.S. ban on Canadian beef and cattle imports, following on the heels of a "mad cow" disease case in Canada, represents too little too late. The USDA claim that there have been no confirmed cases of "mad cow" disease in the United States rings hollow.

Too little, because U.S. authorities test 20,000 animals for "mad cow" disease each year -- only 0.05 percent of the cattle slaughtered -- and Canada does even less. Europe tests that many animals every day.

Too late, because last year the United States imported 1.7 million head of cattle and more than a billion pounds of beef from Canada. Consumption of infected beef leads to development of the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob dementia in humans.

It's getting harder every day to trust the judgment of USDA officials to tell fact from fiction. If I were a meat eater, I would try out some of the great new meatless food products that are widely available today.

Aliaska Brozen
Kihei, Maui