• Veteran recognition • Against Akaka Bill • Free speech isn’t free • Casino gambling profits • County efficiency Veteran recognition As a veteran of World War II Navy battles, I never expected recognition like that recently bestowed on me
• Veteran recognition
• Against Akaka Bill
• Free speech isn’t free
• Casino gambling profits
• County efficiency
Veteran recognition
As a veteran of World War II Navy battles, I never expected recognition
like that recently bestowed on me by an employee at Starbucks. Showing
my age, he asked if I was a veteran of that war, explaining that he has
an interest in people who served. and then thanked me with a salute!
Mahalo for this spontaneous courtesy even while busy waiting on
customers.
Triaka-Don Smith
Lihu‘e
Against Akaka Bill
I was born and raised in Connecticut, I’m pleased to say, and did not arrive in Hawaii until 1966. But, I have lived and worked in Hawaii for many years and know its history, and the lifestyles and ways of its diverse peoples. I’ve even written two books: History Makers of Kauai and History Makers of Kauai Volume Two. My point, as you must have surmised already, is that I know the score here in Hawaii.
My wife of 37 years, on the other hand, was born and raised on Kaua‘i and is of Filipino ancestry. She also has lived in Connecticut and went to college there. We are both in our late 50s.
Our son, Brett, married a Hawaiian from Anahola, so his kids, our grand-kids, are part-Hawaiian.
I don’t think those kids are any better, simply by being part-Hawaiian, than their father, grandmother, and grandfather.
Taken to a larger, more encompassing degree, it follows that I don’t think Hawaiians, simply by virtue of their being Hawaiian, deserve any special treatment or privileges in our society.
As far as history goes, yes, I have compassion for the Hawaiians. It’s a sad, unfair history, since the coming of Captain James Cook. But, in the times before his arrival, there was much in Hawaiian society that was barbaric, demonic, savage, cruel, and disgusting.
And, many other peoples have suffered much: the Jews, the Poles, the Japanese-Americans during World War II, and on and on, and on and on, Mr. Case. We all suffer.
So, without belaboring my point further, I am against the Akaka Bill.
Hank Soboleski
Lihu‘e
Free speech isn’t free
In response to the letter of March 2, it seems many people think the First Amendment gives people the right to say anything they want, no matter how outrageous, how dangerous and to advocate violence because they disagree with something.
Not so.
I wonder if Osama Ben Laden were in the U.S. would he support his right to advocate killing all Americans? Free Speech?
Would he support the free speech rights of the Palestinians to advocate the killing of all the Jews? Would he support the right of citizens to advocate killing our Governor or the President.
Free speech is a right to cherish, but it also carries a responsibility to refrain from outrageous and untruthful statements that may incite violence. I personally would love to see some of our attorneys sue Ward Churchill for slandering the names of the people killed on 9-11 by comparing them to Adolph Eichman. Many state and cities now have laws which carry penalties if you use derogatory words referring to Black Americans. Should that be protected as free speech? What about advocating that women are inferior to men? Free Speech? There is a limit to what people can say and Ward Churchill has crossed that line and is an educated idiot.
Robert Yount
Koloa
Casino gambling profits
I am writing in response to the letter on the Akaka Bill and the writer’s support of it.
It is obvious to me that the letter writer hasn’t visited many reservations on the Mainland. Every year or two we go back to visit family and friends living on or near the Potawatomi reservation in Kansas (I’m Potawatomi Indian, member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma).
They have a big fancy casino, a gas station and a cigarette outlet so should all be living in mansions and driving fancy cars. Right? Wrong. The casino money has made a few noticeable changes, namely the school and day care center, the new elder center and the fire station, a new tribal center – things that benefit all tribal members and their families. Tribal members themselves however receive approximately $3,000 a year in profit-sharing from the casino.
They still live on family lands, in older homes, federally-subsidized housing, or houses they buy or build themselves. They don’t drive fancy cars. In our travels around the Mainland, we also visit Potawatomi reservations in Wisconsin and upper Michigan, both with big fancy casinos. And it’s the same story.
My experience with tribal sovereignty is that there will be grants available for health services, scholarships and the like but those who profit the most, at least in my tribe, are those in charge of dispensing the money from the grants, not tribal members.
Grant monies too often go into the general fund and are disbursed according to the decisions of the business committee, not always beneficial to tribal members.
Mr. Smith’s statement, “Provided that the profits are equally distributed among all Native Hawaiians…” says it all.
It seldom happens that way.
Susan Campbell
Kalaheo
County efficiency
In a front-page article, the county administration bragged about a new program that “involves efficient and simultaneous review” by government agencies to expedite the permitting process. Great – efficiency in our county government – a major step in the right direction.
But then the article goes on to state that this new process will apparently be applied to only so-called “affordable housing” projects. This seems to put us on notice that inefficiency and bureaucratic bungling will remain the norm for the bulk of our citizens – efficiency will be reserved only for those projects deemed worthy by the Mayor? If the county can be efficient for pet projects, why can’t it be efficient for all?
But perhaps the new process is not really efficient. Perhaps the affordable housing project got its permits in a month because no other work was performed – setting back all other permits by a month or more. The drawing of plans for residential development is hardly rocket science. The architects and others are well aware of county regulations. Logic says that if the mayor were to assemble people from every department around a big conference table, a permit should be able to be granted in a couple of hours – not a month or a year.
This is just another case of getting things done based on who you know rather that what you know and do. And the mayor has the audacity to brag about it. Next time, brag about something that will benefit us all.
Stan Godes
Hanalei
