Letters for Tuesday — August 24, 2004

• Kerry in Economist

• Tropical bird care

• Haole in New York

Kerry in Economist

I’ve been reading a lot of news articles about Kerry lately. Interesting guy. According to the Economist , half of Americans do not know what John Kerry’s positions are. Kerry’s position on the Iraq war is that a new president will have a better chance to negotiate with countries that are frustrated with Mr. Bush. Mr. Kerry wants to tie Mr. Bush to the wealth yet Mr. Kerry has never held a job other than that of politician. Moreover, Mr. Kerry is married to one of the richest women in America. Mr. Kerry has chosen for a running mate a man who has only served one term in office and when he registered to run for that office, he didn’t know what party he was registered with. Two very interesting guys, wouldn’t you say?

Gordon “Doc” Smith

Kapa‘a

Tropical bird care

This is an open letter to people who own tropical birds, such as macaws, in a residential neighborhood. Noise issues in a residential area always spark a debate between rights and responsibilites. Sure, you have a right to let your macaw shriek and scream incessantly throughout the day and night. Here’s a few ideas on how you can be a responsible neighbor.

1. Try to keep your bird quiet in the morning. Not everyone rises at 6 a.m. seven days a week. Even if people do get up that early, most people I know like it quiet in the morning. 2. Try to anticipate when your bird will shriek – like when you mow the lawn or have visitors. This only intensifies the noise. Place him or her in a quiet area before this happens. 3. Please quiet your bird when he or she shrieks. You may love your bird but odds are your neighbor doesn’t.

To our legislators, maybe it’s time to consider some noise laws. If I had to answer the question, “what is the number one issue that affects your quality of life today?” I would have to answer the incessant noise of a macaw that lives next door. A tropical bird, such as a macaw, was not born to live in a residential area but in the jungle.

Joanne Noone

Kilauea

Haole in New York

Having been one of the troops to arrive on the Island in March of 1942 and made a number of trips back to Kaua‘i and even had lived there in Kekaha for several years in the eighties this is the first time that someone (Jon Derby) finally came out and gave the proper intepertation of the word hoale. The word Hapa Hoale means half Hawaiian half foreigner not half caucasian. I had often heard while I was there some uneducated non-Hawaiian say the hoales have the best jobs.

This to me is a sure sign of an inferiority complex.

For some reason it makes this individual feel better because he feels that because he lives on the islands that makes him a Hawaiian. Let me put it this way. I was born and raised in Manhattan but that doesn’t make me a member of the Manhattan Indian Tribe.

William Pedoty

New York City