• Your blood and your heart • Westside radio blues • Mahalo for mongoose capture • Women don’t belong on submarines • Serve up more Mixed Plate, please Your blood and your heart It was saddening to read the letter “No
• Your blood and your heart • Westside radio blues • Mahalo for mongoose capture • Women don’t belong on submarines • Serve up more Mixed Plate, please
Your blood and your heart
It was saddening to read the letter “No longer supports Alalem” in Friday’s TGI. Not because its author decided not to support James Alalem’s actions. Support is an individual decision and the result of different perspectives.
But to base your support or the withdrawal thereof on the presence or on the absence of certain type of blood in another human being is not what the Hawaiian culture has been for.
Is it not the actions and commitment for the cause that determines a person’s character? Yes, it is.
What you do for your nation, either born into it or adopted by you, and for your fellow human beings determines what you are, not the blood that you inherited.
Your heart’s actions and your oath can make you Hawaiian too. Do you know that since Hawai‘i became constitutional, foreigners were capable of becoming Hawaiian nationals through naturalization or denization?
Do you know that according to the last census done in the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1890 the number of Hawaiian nationals of foreign ancestry was 7,495 which was 15.6 percent of the total population?
And do you know that the blood quantum used today to determine who can be regarded native Hawaiian was invented by the U.S. Congress in 1921 without any Hawaiian participating in the decision? Do you know that it is a tool of colonialism to undermine Hawaiian sovereignty issues and to abet Hawaiians to claim that they are better Hawaiians than the others because of the quantity of inherited blood?
Do you think that the Americans would accept if the Hawaiians wanted to determine who can be considered American?
It is not what you can claim by ancestry, but what in your heart is and what you do for the Hawaiians determines if you really are Hawaiian — he Hawai‘i mai ka pu‘uwai.
János Keoni Samu
Kalaheo
Westside radio blues
If you live on the Westside and/or work at PMRF you are stuck with one choice for your listening pleasure on the radio. KUAI AM 720 is the only station that you can receive AM or FM. In the past week or so someone in charge has made the decision to change their format to all country music 24/7.
Now I like country music now and then, but as a full-time format it gets old fast! Every person I’ve talked to at PMRF is already tired of it and wish that KUAI AM 720 would return to its old format or maybe go all hip-hop or maybe all rap, anything but country!
It was nice to have a mix of Hawaiian, rock and country and news at the top of the hour.
Please take pity on Kaua‘i’s Westside and change back!
Jon Hare
Kekaha
Mahalo for mongoose capture
Mahalo for your article on the recent capture of a mongoose in Nawiliwili (“Second mongoose nabbed in Nawiliwili,” The Garden Island, July 11).
The story provided a great illustration of how members of the community work together to protect Kaua‘i from harmful pests. Mongooses, rats and mice threaten our native species, and the people of Kaua‘i set an excellent example for people throughout Hawai‘i to follow.
Since their introduction to Hawai‘i, mongooses and rodents have caused serious harm to native plants and animals.
Mongooses eat ground-nesting birds, sea turtle hatchlings and eggs, and invertebrates.
Rats, in particular, are opportunistic feeders, not only in residential areas, but also in conservation areas. They eat the adults, chicks and eggs of seabirds, waterbirds and forest birds; sea turtle eggs and hatchlings; and kahuli tree snails.
In addition, rats and mice compete with native birds for plant seeds, fruits and flowers and harm native plants by stripping bark and eating stems.
Some Hawaiian species that are on the brink of extinction – such as the kahuli tree snail and the honu ‘ea (hawksbill sea turtle) – are also common prey to rodents.
On a larger scale, rodents can change the species composition of native forests and other natural areas, altering entire ecosystems.
The impacts of mongooses and rodents to natural resources also affects Hawaiian cultural practitioners. Gathering material to continue the perpetuation of Hawaiian customs is proving increasingly difficult.
Thank you to the people of Kaua‘i for being diligent stewards of the environment.
Lida Pigott Burney
Kaua‘i representative,
Conservation Council for Hawai‘i
Kalaheo
Women don’t belong on submarines
Mixed crews of men and women on U.S. submarines is a bad idea for several reasons.
It is intended that these women will be commissioned officers. In other words, they will be allowed to socialize with other commissioned officers, but will be off-limits to enlisted personnel.
This gives us a situation similar to the one I experienced as an enlisted man in World War II in which the Red Cross girls were allowed to socialize with commissioned officers only.
I see nothing wrong with an all-girl crew on a submarine. In my experience of going to sea, I have found women to be excellent sailors.
Although today’s nuclear subs are larger and roomier than the diesel electric subs that I worked on at Pearl Harbor, it’s hard to avoid physical contact between crew members in some of the rather tight spaces that exist.
In cultures less puritanical than ours women serve alongside men both on deck and below. The Russian merchant service is a good example of this, with women serving as both officers and crew.
I can see women officers and enlisted personnel serving on aircraft carriers, cruisers and battle ships where proper accommodations are possible to ensure the personal privacy of crew members.
I wouldn’t recommend this for smaller ships such as destroyers.
Another good reason not to mix sub crews is that many of the men have wives and families at home. Separation is bad enough without the worry of your husband or wife being tempted while at sea.
Harry Boranian
Lihu‘e
Serve up more Mixed Plate, please
Mahalo to the organizers of the “Mixed Plate — Live Music” event this past Tuesday evening! As part of the Koloa Plantation Days Celebration, this event provided locals and visitors a chance to listen to live music in a beautiful, outdoor setting.
The event was held in the outdoor museum area behind Crazy Shirts. The local artists who were showcased wowed the crowds and, by the end, had many attendees up and dancing. In addition, a few of our local restaurants were able to sell food and drinks.
What a concept: making use of an underutilized, historic location by providing locals and visitors a place to enjoy our local flavors of music and grinds.
Great job to whomever was involved for bringing us this opportunity.
Please don’t stop with just this one. How about a summer series? This could be the start of something that is a real benefit to our community.
Ryan Buhk
Koloa
