Letters for Sunday, July 10, 2011

• The deception continues • Factually speaking

The deception continues

The front-page report on July 7 in The Garden Island, quoting Senator Malama Solomon, continues the nurturing of deceptive information about native Hawaiians.

The senator’s statement, “Every generation of Native Hawaiians since the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 has struggled with not legally being recognized as equals,” is an insult to the kanaka maoli.

It is coming from a non-native Hawaiian, who does not seem to know or understand the culture of the original people of this land. I have been meeting with native Hawaiians on a daily basis, and I have not yet met any who wanted to be equal with those who stole their land and have been occupying their country.

Of course not, because they have always been on a higher moral ground. It was not the recognition they have been struggling with since 1893, but the various limitations, restrictions and discrimination imposed upon them by their occupiers.

Non-Hawaiians tell them what to do and even how they should feel. The new bill was signed into law by a non-Hawaiian governor, and it was not designed, nor submitted by Native Hawaiians.

The genocidal blood quantum imposed on American Indians, native Alaskans, and on Hawaiians was concocted by the white men in the Bureau of Indian Affairs with the objective to make the indigenous races gradually extinct.

In Hawai‘i the biggest supporter of the bill has been the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which is an agency of the de facto State of Hawai‘i, and this agency by their oath must follow the course set out by the occupiers.

Even with passing this bill, the non-Hawaiian governor will do the qualifying of the Hawaiians. He will pick and choose those who are allowed to create a roll of qualified Native Hawaiians and others who maintained significant cultural, social or civic connections with them.

Oh, yes, there might be a few Hawaiian brothers or sisters, who have been misled or misguided by the government financed propaganda, and momentarily think that the new bill will serve them, but soon they will wake up when they, or their children marry a non-native Hawaiian, by which their children or their descendants will no longer make the blood quantum.

Is there a solution? Yes, there is. Do what the Native Hawaiians say: “We don’t need any handout, just want our independence back, and let us decide who is Hawaiian, and which direction we take, and we will make Hawai‘i a peace-loving, prosperous, independent country again. We don’t need your military here; unlike you, we’ll promote peace instead of wars.”

You want proof? Let’s collect signatures. In two days my Hawaiian brothers and sisters and I will come up with at least 1,000 signatures from Hawaiian nationals who stand behind the above statement and give their consent to publish their names and addresses.

At the other end let anyone come up in two days with the signatures of Hawaiian nationals who want the U.S. occupation of Hawai‘i to be continued and prefer the laws imposed upon them by the de facto Hawaiian state, and they consent to the publication of their names and addresses.

I can assure you that the numbers will speak for themselves, and for Hawai‘i.

János Keoni Samu, Kalaheo

Factually speaking

Mr. Gorsline, you state many “facts” about marijuana use (“There just aren’t any,” Letters, June 27), but not a single one of these “facts” has a strong bearing on whether or not Green Harvest should exist.

Your claim of the government attempting to instill fear about marijuana in the population since we were children is melodramatic conspiracy nonsense. Educated people don’t buy into conspiracies without solid proof.

Here is another “fact” for you. There is research to indicate that people who start using marijuana are more likely — I’ve seen reports of up to 100 times more likely — to use harder drugs than a person who never starts using marijuana at all.

All the “facts” you quoted may very well be true. In fact, I’ll even give you the benefit of the doubt and say they are true. I will contend, however, that you are focusing on the supposed positives of marijuana use in complete denial of the potential negatives of its use.

If the “fact” I quoted is true, then why should we not consider the government remiss in its duties if it did not try to do something to discourage marijuana use? This rises to the level of a serious public health issue, in my opinion.

When you talk about medicinal purposes, you are obfuscating the issue. Green Harvest is not about denying valid medical uses. Tell me, do you understand that there is a crisis of hard core drug use on this island?

As a former teacher, that fact honestly doesn’t surprise me one bit, because there is also a glorification of marijuana among school-age children here. I’m not claiming that there is a direct correlation, but I am not the least bit surprised that the two coexist. Hearing adults continually beating this drum makes me wonder what on earth is going on here.

The one thing you thankfully didn’t do was openly deny that marijuana is the source of a drug, and that is why many people use it in a non-medicinal sense. Of course, you didn’t openly state that it was a drug, either. In fact, that nasty four-letter word was never mentioned by you. By speaking of it only in terms of being a “medically useful plant,” we are to be fooled. I’m sorry, but I’m not fooled.

The fact is, we can quote these “facts” all day long, going round and round ad nauseum. If you think Green Harvest is costly, fine. Offer up an alternative which you can prove to be less costly and more effective in the long run. If you offer up more “facts” in the vein of legalization, then be ready to provide proof of those as well. Being educated, I’m a hard sell.

Michael Mann, Lihu‘e