Thanks for helping feed the needy

Hawaii Foodbank is a blessing to so many of our residents. Hawaii Foodbank is able to do the good work it does thanks to the thoughtfulness of so many of our citizens.

Showing their aloha spirit, the seventh-grade students at Hongwanji Mission School organized a food drive for Hawaii Foodbank for three weeks in November. The Early Act Club, which is a partner with the Rotary Club of Waikiki, asked for students to ask parents, family and friends to donate cans of meats, tuna, soups, vegetables and fruits. At the end of the drive, 881.8 pounds of food had been collected.

Congratulations to the students at HMS for taking a leadership role in helping the people in our community have a Happy Thanksgiving!

People with phobias shouldn’t fly

I have no qualms about having a full-body scan at the airport before flights, and if I have to submit to a pat-down, then so be it. It makes me feel more secure and safer flying. If these protesters don’t want to undergo any of these screenings, then they should not be allowed to fly. They can go by boat or swim, for all I care. Don’t put my life in jeopardy because of your phobias.

I’m sure if a plane exploded because of laxness in screenings, these same people grumbling about the screenings would be the first to sue the airlines and the Transportation Security Administration for not doing their jobs. Get real. Things are not the same since 9/11. There are people out there trying to hurt us.

Shapiro column right on target

As I sat down to read the morning paper, I heard cheers in my quiet Kailua neighborhood. I was dumbfounded until I opened the paper and read Dave Shapiro’s eloquent and accurate column about the Target controversy in Kailua ("1 giant store to replace another in Kailua, ho-hum," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 24). Finally, a voice of reason!

The noisy, in-your-face demonstrators who have recently captured the media’s attention about Target coming to Kailua do not represent most of us in our beloved town. Hopefully Shapiro’s column will help drown out their voices once and for all.

Please drive and walk with aloha

At 4:30 p.m. each day, I walk from King Street to Lusitana Street on Punchbowl Street to meet my wife after work. I witness near misses with cars all the time.

I’ve seen children daring each other to race across the crosswalk with inattentive parents nearby. I’ve seen big trucks turning left on a red light while pedestrians are in the crosswalk. I’ve seen bicyclists and pedestrians rush across crosswalks when those red numbers have counted down close to zero. I’ve seen vehicles speed through yellow and red lights while seniors have entered crosswalks illegally, trying to get a head start.

And these were all on the same day.

It’s not a question of right or wrong; it’s a question of dead or alive. Please drive and walk with aloha.

History proves futility of war in resolving our disputes

Every Sunday, the church where I worship prays for those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the names of American soldiers are read, and as we offer our thoughts of respect, gratitude, remembrance and sorrow, we also pray for a peaceful world.

Then, when I read conflicting accounts of how their lives were either a sacrifice for freedom or wasted in a futile war, I am reminded of the division within our country and exactly how difficult it is to solve our disagreements.

It seems that humanity has not learned from the historical failure of wars to manage our problems. Violence only generates more violence. Killing only leads to more killing.

We need to develop the moral courage that will provide peaceful, life-affirming solutions; sharing resources rather than competing for wealth; accepting our differences rather than fighting for power; acting with care, not hostility; speaking with kindness, not anger; and living with aloha, not hatred.

Cultural anthropologists can identify times and places in history where communities were based on cooperation and compassion — before they were transformed by violence and greed.

Which kind of community do we want for Hawaii?