Letters To The Editor
March 10, 2010 - MidWeek
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Del.icio.usIn praise of scouts
Bob Jones can choose to live a God-less life, to associate with homosexuals and anti-Americans, and to promote a secular way of life, but he should not condemn an organization that promotes faith in God, heterosexuality, patriotism and the ethical and moral behavior taught by the Boy Scout code.
Instead of condemning, he should praise the Scouts as one of the most positive influences on young people in America. I know they have been a wonderful influence in the lives of my two sons.
Janet Lee
Honolulu
Making Hilo proud
As a Hilo native, it was wonderful to read about someone from our little town, Darren Kimura, doing such hugely important things in the area of renewable energy in our world today. Thanks to MidWeek for the story, and to Mr. Kimura for making us proud!
Leslie Araki-Lum
Manoa
True isle tradition
I am responding to a letter in the Feb. 3 MidWeek from James Metz. Our friend here chooses to ridicule a part of my letter, without understanding the whole of it. The point of my letter stressed the problems of the permit system. This system was created in the early 1980s because of constant complaining by fireworks haters, such as Mr. Metz and others. Permits in turn brought about the rise of illegal fireworks, which our complainers are concerned with now. I agree with the complaining public about illegal fireworks usage.
But we still need to protect and tolerate our little tradition of firecrackers, which if you’ve noticed is all but gone now. New Year’s Eve nights are now rocked by illegals rather than firecrackers. Our lawmakers, who by raising the amount to purchase permits, are actually contributing to the problem of more illegal fireworks. Maybe their efforts should be enforced by Customs at our harbors. Hawaii was a unique place and firecrackers were a big part of what made us so special.
In my recent letter, and in this one, I am trying to convey a message about protecting cultural diversities. By the way, the Hawaiian people also had a form of firecrackers. It will be a sad day when Honolulu will be transformed into just another U.S. city.
Derek Costa
Kaneohe
The way of BART
In regard to Paul Miller’s letter on rail transit funding, he says that BART funding is based on ZIP codes. Now, I grew up in San Francisco during BART creation and construction, and I never heard of that. Furthermore, the History and Facts section of the official BART Web site mentions nothing about ZIP codes. What I remember is that it was county-based. If you lived in a BART county, you paid the BART tax, even if BART didn’t serve your particular community yet. Mindful of this, BART set up an express bus service to connect outlying communities in Contra Costa and Alameda counties to BART. Eventually some (Pittsburgh, Pleasanton) received BART extensions while others (Antioch) still wait.
Dexter Wong
Waialae
A weighty topic
I am only in Hawaii four months each year and look forward to MidWeek for stories, columns and ads.
Just read the column by Amy Alkon and she is so on target, from my perspective. Please let her know that her insight into the male response to significant weight gain in a female companion was like reading my mind.
Ed Doherty
Waianae
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Aloha Derek Costa:
It is not the Chinese who set off a string of small firecrackers on Chinese New Year’s Eve, or at a wedding reception that are the problem. Those are cultural traditions.
It is the wannabe terrorists who build and detonate bombs to terrorize their neighbors for months leading up to the haole New Year’s Eve, none of which has anything to do with the Chinese tradition.
I hope you realize that the Chinese no longer allow firecrackers or fireworks at any time in China’s cities. They are willing to give up their tradition in the interest of public safety.
A total ban is more enforceable than what we now have. And if we confiscate the ships and planes that bring in the illegal bomb-making materials, we could soon solve our problems.
And we could still allow the Chinese to set off a string of firecrackers on Chinese New year’s to frighten away the evilspirits, legislators, terrorists, bombers, et al.
Posted by Cordell on 03/11 at 04:42 AM