Letters To The Editor
May 09, 2007 - MidWeek
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Del.icio.usBeautiful music
What a fantastic story by Steve Murray on the 25th Infantry Division’s band traveling around Iraq to inspire and entertain our troops, “And The Band Played On In Iraq.” The photo of five of them playing their instruments with automatic weapons at their feet said it all.
Charles Yasukawa
Pearl City
Hurtful parents
Jade Moon’s column “Warring Parents Sacrifice Kids” should be mandatory reading for parents going through a divorce. I’ve seen it so often with acquaintances and co-workers. When one parent says bad things about the other, it hurts their children far more than the other parent.
Janice Lee
Honolulu
Novak on Bush
I know Robert Novak is supposed to be a conservative columnist, but as a Democrat I’ve been impressed with how often he has been critical of the Bush administration - such as his “Bush Goes Behind The Barricades” last week. Give him credit for being honest.
That said, his reporting gives me even more reasons to doubt the so-called leadership of this president, and to hope the damage he can do in the next year and half can be severely limited by Congressional leaders.
That is the best hope for America.
Dave Ornellas
Nuuanu
Reconfirm senators
Dan Boylan and Larry Price nailed it - the state Senate Democrats who “executed” Peter Young during reconfirmation hearings should have to go through the same thing if they want to be re-elected. You want to see mistakes and poor leadership - those hearings could last for months!
Denise Ackerman-Wong
Honolulu
Good old days? Not
Jerry Coffee’s column “Why We Don’t Need the Akaka Bill” is so right on. It should be sent or e-mailed to every member of the U.S. House and Senate
That includes Sen. Akaka himself - I don’t think he understands how terribly divisive his bill will be to the people of Hawaii should it be passed.
The Hawaiian people have more rights and privileges today than they ever had under the rule of the kings and ali’i. We now govern ourselves, without fear of stepping in someone’s shadow. We now own our own homes and land. Women, who had virtually no rights before Ka’ahumanu stepped in, well, today ... we can eat bananas!!!
For an interesting historical/fiction account of what life was like back in the “good old days,” take a look at Billie Beamer’s The Royal Torch. You try to separate the history from the fiction. It’s a challenge. Anyone who thinks sovereignty is for them should read this book.
How quickly one forgets, and how greedy one can become, but how much could be lost.
We must not throw away what was so hard to get. Don’t forget how the commoner once lived. We are now equal under the law, the Constitution of the United States, with all the rights and privileges that guarantees.
Lehua Ecumene
Kailua
Wrong on gun laws
Jerry Coffee needs to do a little more research when he writes about gun laws.
He refers to Congress’ failure to renew a law that banned automatic weapons, but this law (the Federal Assault Weapons Ban) had nothing to do with automatic weapons, which have been heavily restricted since the National Firearms Act of 1934.
The Assault Weapons Ban merely banned semi-automatic weapons with certain features (such as bayonet mounts, flash suppressors and folding stocks) considered to be dangerous by gun control advocates.
Steve Robinson
Waialua
Body and mind
I’m sure you’ll hear from people who think the human body is pornographic, but I wanted to say what a great job you did with the MidWeek swimsuit issues. These young men and women should be praised for having such healthy bodies, and for healthy attitudes about those bodies. Apparently these people never go to the beach!
Reena Young
Kaimuki
Pure porn
I do not want my children looking at pornographic images - which you forced me to do twice last week. Fortunately I was able to throw away your so-called swimsuit issues before my sons, ages 10 and 12, could come home and see them. Please stop this sinful practice.
Alice Murakami
Honolulu
Political pay off
The recent letter about state Sen. Will Espero getting paid by a firm that stands to profit mightily from the rail plan proposed by Espero was very enlightening.
I wonder how many other of our elected officials, both city and state, take money from people and companies they should be legislating.
As I recall, former Sen. Donna Ikeda was employed by an insurance company - an industry that relies heavily on favorable legislation.
Can you say “Tip of the iceberg”?
Steve Kalama
Hawaii Kai
Saluting Mr. Coffee
For over a year, I’ve considered writing to express my thanks for articles written by Jerry Coffee and Susan Page. After reading some critical letters to the editor, that desire increased - especially the one where “haole” was used as a pejorative and the writer questioned Mr. Coffee’s right to an opinion about Hawaiian issues.
Can you imagine anyone getting away with that if the person addressed was of another hue?
And, isn’t this a state where all citizens can hold and express their opinions? I hope that the writer of that letter, still holding grudges for decades against people long dead, doesn’t represent the attitude of all Hawaiian people, else we have lost rightful representation of all the people.
Mr. Coffee’s points of view are thoughtfully expressed from a core belief system which, however we may disagree on any point, are presented from a decidedly right-side-up perspective. His column is the first page I turn to.
Gloria Starkgraf
Honolulu
Tales of Don Ho
Belated thanks to Don Chapman and Eddie Sherman for their remembrances of the great Don Ho.
Reading their columns as well as other writers in the daily papers, it hit me that one of the measures of Don Ho’s greatness is that there is no such thing as a bad Don story. We should all be so fortunate, eh?
Michael Dela Cruz
Aiea
Send your letters to MidWeek Letters, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 500, Honolulu, HI. 96813; by fax to 585-6324, or by email to dchapman@midweek.com. Please include your name, address and daytime and evening phone numbers. We print only the letters that include this information, but only your name and area of residence will appear in print. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.
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