• More on letters policy • Kaua’i’s energy future • Enjoyed article and acts of kindness • Enough is enough already More on letters policy Elaine Dunbar (8 Feb GI) expresses her “disgust for the … disregard” of a previous
• More on letters policy
• Kaua’i’s energy future
• Enjoyed article and acts of kindness
• Enough is enough already
More on letters policy
Elaine Dunbar (8 Feb GI) expresses her “disgust for the … disregard” of a previous editor’s letter-publishing protocol. She seems to prefer a policy of “one letter a month per writer” and that “monotonous, hot-air letters be edited or not printed.” Apparently she believes this allows for “timely response and coordination.”
But who is to determine if a letter is monotonous or full of hot air? You? Me? If the editor censors letters based on his personal agenda, then The Garden Island will no longer be an “outlet available to residents for voicing island concerns.” He should, instead, print all letters as long as they are not offensive or libelous. That would make the paper a true outlet for all residents.
Also, a policy of “one letter a month per writer” would not be conducive to the “timely response” that Ms. Dunbar desires. Many of the responses to my own letters over the past year have contained several distortions … claims that I had said something I didn’t really say. Ms. Dunbar’s letter is an example of this. She suggests that I “take (my) own advice and go to the library.” While I certainly do encourage regular visits to the library, this was not what I advised in my previous letter. The truth is that I advised Mr. Austin to “treat the newspaper as you would a library or a book store. You don’t have to read everything in it.” As anyone can see, this is significantly different from the twisted version Ms. Dunbar presented. If I were not allowed to respond until next month then people would think her letter was the truth and they would have forgotten all about what had been said by the time a response appeared.
Ms. Dunbar asks if I was “writing a letter to the editor complaining about other letter writers to the editor as (I was) accusing Mike Austin of doing.” Well, no, I didn’t accuse Mr. Austin of writing such a letter. He did write one. Just read it. My letter only pointed out the humorous irony of his letter.
Finally, Ms. Dunbar suggests that I “don’t seem to have a lot to do with (my) time.” Actually, I have plenty of things to do … and expressing my opinion about social or political issues is one of them. Personally, I don’t care about the bike path. I don’t own a bicycle and I don’t live in an area that will be affected by it. However, I certainly don’t begrudge other residents of Kaua’i the opportunity to express their concerns on the bike path. In fact, I would love to see an even larger section of The Garden Island dedicated to the opinions of its readers. I think it is sad that the GI has a regular daily section for sports, comics, and astrology, as well as a weekly section for food and religion … but nothing for science or education. The least we can do is to discuss these subjects in the Letters to the Editor section.
Kaua’i’s energy future
It was fantastic to read Mr. Wright’s recent letter concerning Kaua’i’s energy future. How do we get more information about the Apollo Kaua’i group?
I would think Hawai’i is in about as good a position as any state in this country to champion alternative energy efforts, and on a number of fronts — particularly in solar energy, but also in ethanol fuel.
Brazil, one of the largest sugar cane growers, is already leading the way with converting sugarcane into ethanol for fueling automobiles — more than 80% of all the new cars sold in Brazil run both gasoline and ethanol. Ethanol fuel is supposedly about half as expensive as gasoline there, and is very popular with motorists.
Seems we could not only do something to improve the environment, but we could rebuild the state’s sugarcane industry to provide more jobs (encouraging growth in areas outside of tourism would benefit the state).
With the many complaints about gas prices and the gas tax, wouldn’t it be great if we could break our dependence on gas completely with a renewable fuel source that is made right here in Hawai’i?
Enjoyed article and acts of kindness
What a “breath of fresh air” to read Friday’s article on Seth Kujat’s Volunteer Roofer Aims for 50 roofs in 50 states, Hawai’i being the 43rd — indeed, “Random Acts of Kindness.”
Enough is enough already
I want to thank Edwin Ramos for his letter to the editor. The feminist movement is an excellent example of a good idea gone badly. It has created an enormous double standard between men and women. And the double standard is growing larger every day as society becomes more exquisitely sensitive to the wants and needs of women while ignoring how this affects our male population. War has been declared against all that is male in this country. And men are doing nothing to defend themselves.
The techniques and purposes of feminist reeducation are appalling and terrifying. The establishment feminists have now turned on a more vulnerable target, entrusted to them by their parents: boys. The catechism is more or less simple: “Girls, good; boys, bad.” Even the propensity of boys to run and jump, let alone engage in rough-and-tumble play, is now suppressed in many schools, to the point of its becoming a movement to abolish recess. The reason, indeed, is that the boys behave differently from the girls. This cannot be allowed. We find establishment feminists forthrightly stating that boys should be raised like, and should be like, girls. The work of Carol Gilligan, who became famous for her theory that women’s moral reasoning is different from that of men has been exceptionally damaging. Women are supposed to be more concerned with compassion than with the application of abstract moral rules. On the principle, “girls, good; boys, bad,” this has resulted in the educational promotion of a “non-judgmental” ethics where only feelings count but that, of course, those feelings better be politically correct.
We have to ask the question “when will it be enough?” The pendulum has swung so far to the other direction that boys now find themselves denied and oppressed while establishment feminists use a strange female “logic” to justify their continued oppression and exploitation. They continue to speak as if nothing has changed. Men, it’s time to step up to the plate and contact your Senators and Representatives and tell the established feminists “enough is enough already.”
