•Pay it forward •Give peace a chance •Don’t encourage illegal cockfighting Pay it forward On Monday, April 27, I was having some problems with my debit card. My number was changed without my knowing it. After I went to the
•Pay it forward
•Give peace a chance
•Don’t encourage illegal cockfighting
Pay it forward
On Monday, April 27, I was having some problems with my debit card. My number was changed without my knowing it. After I went to the bank and withdrew some money to send to my granddaughter, I went to start to shop.
I got to the cash register, did not have enough money, and was totally embarrassed. I was looking in my bags to see what I could put back — I was $19.96 over.
This lovely woman behind me in line gave her credit card to the cashier and said she would pay for the difference. I asked her for her address, but of course she wouldn’t give it to me. She said if you see this happening, I hope you will do the same. It brought to mind the movie “Pay It Forward.”
Thank you for showing me what aloha is. Only on Kaua‘i, this is da place.
James Mullen, Kekaha
Give peace a chance
The Garden Island missed some great opportunities to present a balanced view when it published two in-depth front-page installments of a series on the military recruitment of our youth as a solution to the downturn in the job market. (“Some locals look to military for a steady job,” “Residents join Army to broaden their horizons,” The Garden Island, April 19, 20)
On the previous Saturday, TGI published a front page story promoting PMRF’s latest plans for a permanent presence and pre-emptive launching site on Kaua‘i. (“PMRF breaks ground on ‘eternal memorial,’” The Garden Island, April 11)
It seems to me that TGI is doing the exclusive bidding of the all-powerful military, instead of being a watchdog of our obscenely bloated bureaucracy and empire-building military schemes.
Objectively reporting both sides of the issue would have required featuring at least one front-page story about the appearances of the distinguished Col. (ret.) Ann Wright on Kaua‘i on April 17.
Col. Wright is retired because she is one of only a few government employees who refused to partake in Bush and Cheney’s pre-emptive invasion and occupation of Iraq. She is a 29-year veteran of the U.S. Army, and spent 16 years as a diplomat in Afghanistan and other hotspots.
Col. Wright spoke to three high school classes during the day. In the evening, she spoke to a packed house at the Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center. The events were sponsored by the Kaua‘i Alliance for Peace and Social Justice.
During her talks, Col. Wright painted an entirely different picture of today’s military life than that of the recruiters and the TV ads, one in which approximately 33 percent of women and 10 percent of men are sexually attacked by their fellow soldiers. One in which thousands of young people are forced to re-enlist, and many are returning home with permanent brain injuries or missing limbs.
The needless slaughter of over 1 million Iraqis and over 4,000 Americans continues, as do the Afghanistan and Pakistan atrocities. The colonel’s recent visits to Gaza gave us a picture of the same inhuman conditions, all funded by our tax dollars and the bodies of our family members.
To all the young people of Kaua‘i, please don’t accept that military service is a solution to any obstacles in your lives. You are the hope for the future. Without you, there would be no military madness, no eternal human misery.
Bless you if you feel the need to serve your country. Consider doing something positive for the human race, and gain some great benefits, as well. There are other options like the Peace Corps (www.peacecorps.gov) or AmeriCorps VISTA (www.americorps.gov).
In the epic words of Buffy Sainte-Marie, another great woman warrior (and resident of Kaua‘i):
And he’s fighting for democracy, And fighting for the reds, He says it’s for the peace of all, He’s the one who must decide, Who’s to live and who’s to die, And he never sees the writing on the walls, He’s the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame, His orders come from far away no more, They come from him and you and me, And Brothers can’t you see, This is not the way we put an end to war.
Fred Dente, Kapa‘a
Don’t encourage illegal cockfighting
I was shocked and disappointed by the Del’s Farm Supply ad for Hawaiian Gamecock Maintenance feed in Wednesday’s edition. It is inappropriate to support cockfighting by carrying this product as cockfighting is not only cruel and immoral but also illegal.
While I have been a customer of Del’s in the past, I won’t patronize them again until they stop carrying products that encourage illegal behavior.
Susan Wortman, Princeville
