Bailouts condone their acts of greed

Do you remember when a little newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, published the story that helped remove the thieves who unconscionably controlled and used the funds of the all-powerful Bishop Estate? Nobody else had the courage to do anything about it.

Is there anybody today with the same know-how and the guts who is willing to do something about the thieves who dare to ask for our money - our children's taxes of possibly two generations to come? And the money has been granted to them. Now those wealthy robbers refuse to give any accounting of that money, our money, the money our children and grandchildren must earn for them. Alas, a self-serving Congress condones.

What has happened to our “;land of the free and the home of the brave”;? We are now the land of the greedy, self-serving thieves.

2008's biggest winners were Hawaii's people

It's often at the end of the year that we find ourselves reading articles that identify the biggest winners and losers or those who made the greatest difference. But I believe, as we head into 2009, we would be remiss if we did not say that the biggest winners of 2008 were the people of Hawaii. Amid all the things that went sour or wrong, despite the challenges of gas prices, a slumping economy, domestic violence, even storms, the people of Hawaii overcame them and showed resourcefulness, courage and love.

I am so thankful for Hawaii's people and their aloha, people like my friend Sarah who told me in the midst of one of my darkest moments this year that we are all here for each other and that though the world might change, the most important things - friendship and family - stand firm forever. It's people like her and especially all of you who prove once more that the future will be bright because we will build it together.

This year all of you are the winners and the heroes for overcoming and keeping love in focus. It's not what we did wrong that counts; it's what we did right. What did it mean to live in Hawaii in 2008? We learned “;ohana values”; through tribulation; everyone is ohana and everyone has value. We stood for love, again. For that, mahalo nui loa, Hawaii, and may you find great joy and success in 2009.

Darkness brought feelings of alarm

Friday night around 8 p.m., I was reading the Honolulu newspapers in our Ainahau Vista's first-floor recreation room near a table of our residents having a social get-together when the lights suddenly went out. I greeted this unexpected occurrence with mild surprise, quizzical disbelief and later panicky shock, especially when I went to the elevator area and the elevators wouldn't open up. Fortunately, Randi Allmon, our resident manager, walked down nine flights of stairs and opened the first-floor locked stairway for me with instructions to be careful in the darkness walking up to my sixth-floor apartment and then to remain safely in my apartment.

When I was finally safe at home, my wife, Heather, had some candles burning on our kitchen table, and that helped a lot. We both took our showers by candlelight and went to bed not knowing if this Waikiki blackout would end for us. Holiday cheer returned Saturday with power restored. Shaka no ka oi - and we wait optimistically for 2009!

Want more visitors? Try being nice to them

During our recent visit to Hawaii, I was surprised to read that the state's economy is suffering due to a decline in tourism resulting from the global economic crisis. To reduce suffering, those in the industry might want to actually smile at visitors and make them feel welcome!

I have traveled the world but never before experienced the arrogance, rudeness and feeling of unwelcome that I now find is common among visitors to Hawaii. We were relieved to reach Sydney and transfer to an Australian airline where the hostesses actually give passengers a big beaming smile and make you feel like it's their pleasure to have you on board.

In Waikiki I felt that the overall objective was to rip off tourists and send them home disappointed. It's obvious many of your hospitality workers have had it far too good for too long!

On the plus side, two bus drivers delivered fabulous entertainment at minimal cost, and one of the budget side-street tour operators gave excellent service arranging tickets to a fantastically enjoyable luau at less than 60 percent of the price the hotel activities desk quoted. If more of your hospitality staff focused on delivering value and friendly service, you might find visitor spending would get your through the tough times with relatively little pain.

The death of outrage evident in Honolulu

Guam gets hit by a typhoon, and their power is restored in four hours. Lightning strikes Oahu, and the “;remote area”; of Manoa is without power for more than 16 hours.

Portland builds a 20-mile light rail in four years for $1.4 billion. Honolulu plans a 20-mile heavy rail system projected to take 12 years to build and cost $7 billion.

Is anyone bothered by this?