Thanking Oahu for aloha spirit

My wife and I just returned from eight wonderful days spent exploring much of the fascinating beauty of Oahu in our rental Jeep. In reviewing our experiences, we realized that every single person we interacted with over the entire stay—hotel staff, airline personnel, store clerks, restaurant servers, tourist attraction employees, drivers in traffic (!) and even passers-by—were courteous, cheerful and helpful.

It sounds like an exaggeration, but really, the aloha spirit is indeed alive and thriving on your enchanted island. Whoever took the initiative to establish and promote aloha as a way to impact visitors positively, ya done good!

Combined with the exquisite attraction of your island itself, the fact that your residents have so much human warmth has made me become a volunteer promoter of Hawaii and especially Oahu. Mahalo for your hospitality.

Health care bill rotten to its core

The health care bill passed by the U.S. Senate is rotten to the core. It imposes unconstitutional mandates on American citizens. It will reduce the availability of medical care and increase the cost to individuals and businesses.

All reputable polls show the American people are 55 percent to 60 percent against it, with that amount growing each day as we find out more of its content.

But our Senate seems hell-bent on cramming this down our throats. To top it off, legislators have excluded themselves from the mandates of the bill.

To make matters worse, Sen. Harry Reid has pledged half a trillion dollars of our money to bribe senators from Louisiana and Nebraska for their supporting votes. Where does he have the authority to commit taxpayer money from our and other states to pay these senators for their support? This in private industry would be considered criminal.

I ask, how could our senators, in good conscience, vote for a bill that can only survive by stealing our money to give to other states? For voting for this bill, Sens. Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka should be fired.

Why I subscribe to both papers

Friends often ask me why I subscribe to both daily newspapers. Here's why:

On Page D3 of Monday's Honolulu Advertiser there was an article headlined “;Motorcyclist who died in crash remains unidentified.”;

The first page of Monday's Star-Bulletin, however, featured the tragedy and identified the motorcyclist in a lengthy article that pointed out the need for traffic lights and stronger enforcement at that intersection where, in the past, five trick-or-treaters were hit by a car, crippling one girl and killing two others.

Now, which newspaper actually goes into the community and takes the time to report news of local concern in our state?

Monorail would be better choice

With everyone debating about rail, I wish to add my opinion toward this project that will revolutionize our transportation culture.

Why didn't the rail planners decide monorail as the ultimate solution? As I walk home from school every day, I pass through the Pearlridge mall, viewing the sleek rail technology.

According to a Discovery Channel show on monorails, the Las Vegas rubber-tired monorail runs up to 50 miles an hour, enough to comfortably transport Honolulu passengers using a similar concept. With this type of technology, nobody has to complain about obstruction of views while getting to places on time.

In addition, on a recent vacation to the Philippines, mass transit was an excellent alternative to bumper-to-bumper traffic as the trains snake through Manila's populated centers.

Once people realize that rail is faster than vehicular transport during rush hour, more people will ride on rail, causing a decline in traffic almost immediately.

As a supporter of rail transit, I have confidence in our planned 20-mile elevated system that will change the way we live.

Assimilationists risk U.N. wrath

Opponents of the recognition of native Hawaiians as a people, instead of just a population, in effect seek the erasure of Hawaiians through assimilation. Yet Native Americans and native Alaskans have received recognition from the federal government.

The Hawaiian Kingdom was a recognized, sovereign nation before its overthrow and illegal U.S. annexation. The title to crown lands has not legally been extinguished, nor has the people's consciousness as a nation been erased.

If assimilationists who oppose the Akaka Bill succeed, that would be discriminatory, and the United Nations should become involved, in accordance with the 2007 Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.