• Something smells fishy • Once a straw man… • Where will the nurses be? • ‘Blade Runner’ Kaua‘i • North Korean nuclear weapons test • Great news! Something smells fishy What is up with — or should I say
• Something smells fishy
• Once a straw man…
• Where will the nurses be?
• ‘Blade Runner’ Kaua‘i
• North Korean nuclear weapons test
• Great news!
Something smells fishy
What is up with — or should I say down — with these gas prices?! Is it only me who smells something fishy? How come three days after Costco opens with gas selling for well under $3 a gallon the prices fall 20 to 30 cents per on the outside?
Is it only me that thinks the prices could have been reduced LONG before Costco came on line? Think about this: The gas that was already in the stations’ tanks was bought and paid for already. Now all of a sudden the retail price drops to stay somewhat competitive with Costco. Hmm, I smell something fishy … why were we paying so much more until yesterday?
It’s no big secret that the oil companies are making record profits today. Maybe some of our elected officials might want to investigate this matter. I understand that Costco does not add detergents or performance enhancers to their gas so it is cheaper for them to retail.
Still, that does not explain why other stations were able to drop their prices so drastically. Coincidence? I think not. I smell something fishy.
Kapa‘a
Once a straw man…
No matter how you prop up a straw man he is still a straw man. The U.S. dependence on Maliki’s Shiite government to bring peace to Iraq is like a hen sitting on a china egg, expecting it to hatch.
He has neither the intent nor the ability to cut a deal with the Sunnis. It is late, but not too late, for us to impose an American regent over the elected Iraq government to steer the course toward an accommodation with the Sunnis and the Kurds, creating a secular state, with a guarantee of religious freedom in the constitution.
If we had done this earlier, we would not be faced with armed opposition from Muqtada al Sadr’s 20,000-man militia; but I’m sure that our troops can make quick work of him. At least they will know what they are fighting for.
This is how the mullahs who control Iran do it. It’s time that we took a page out of the Koran to establish our presence. Keep the elected government, but establish a higher power by force of arms in order to achieve our desired end.
When Sen. Jay Rockefeller says publicly that the Iraqi people were better off under Saddam Hussein than they are as a result of our invasion, it’s time for a drastic change of course for the U.S. of A.
Lihu‘e
Where will the nurses be?
As I stood alone on the corner of Wilcox Hospital holding my sign, people stopped to ask “Where is everyone?”
I explained many have other jobs now and cannot picket anymore.
The response was a dismayed, “Oh no, you mean even when it ends, we won’t have our nurses back?”
I sadly replied “I don’t know.”
Kilauea
‘Blade Runner’ Kaua‘i
It seems the letter “Local government … help” in the Oct. 20 issue is a repeat of one of Mr. Smith’s letters from just a few days ago. It could very well be that this is some kind of accidental printing. I have to say, though, that I’m starting to agree with Mr. Smith’s opinions here, but not for reasons he would probably like. It may just be the antidepressants wearing off, though.
Mankind appears to be wired to destroy everything it touches — preconditioned to extract as much natural beauty from the world as possible, regardless of what the consequences may be. So, given this predisposition, why not just give into it? We certainly don’t seem to be able to fight it. Let’s put in new roads all the way to the top of Wai‘ale‘ale from every coastal community on the island, and erect massive statues of the Hawaiian pantheon at the top to celebrate the culture — a Hawaiian Mt. Rushmore. Having the roads will then open up all of that prime real estate to build hundreds of megalith skyscrapers on the slopes of the mountain to provide “cheap” housing for anyone and everyone that wants to live here. Let’s fill in the Alakai Swamp and cut deep, habitable terraces into the cliffs of the Na Pali coast just to make sure we recover as much land as possible. Let’s erase every little bit of green space with concrete, and turn the island into a “little Tokyo” or the “New York City of the Pacific.” It’s going to happen eventually, since we seem so incapable of promoting smart growth and planning communities and development in an intelligent fashion, so why not just make the “Blade Runner” picture of society our reality now and be done with it already? Heck, I like that movie — perhaps it would make for a good living environment.
‘Ele‘ele
North Korean nuclear weapons test
The North Korean nuclear weapons test represents another dismal failure of the Bush administration’s foreign policy.
Maybe a different Congress can hold the Bush administration accountable for its dismal and dangerous failures in foreign policy, and help our country chart a new course.
Lihu‘e
Great news!
President Bush’s Prime Minister in Iraq celebrated the year anniversary of that country’s constitution Oct. 16 by congratulating the Iraqi people.
As Al-Maliki indicated, “It is your vote on the constitution that forced the terrorists … to commit horrific massacres against innocent civilians and violate the sanctity of holy places, destroy infrastructure, obstruct reconstruction and services.”
That proclamation should help the Iraqi people realize how lucky they are to have a constitution which has brought them peace, prosperity and the blessings of democracy.
Kamuela
