‘We can’t keep on desecrating’
All people of faith, whose god is not the dollar — Catholics, Methodists, United Church of Christ, New Hope, etc. — need to stand in solidarity with Native Hawaiian practitioners in prayer and action for the sacred temple, Mauna a Wakea (Mauna Kea).
Kaliko Kanaele of the Royal Order of Kamehameha put the matter sharply in reference to the $1.4 billion, 18-story Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) planned for the Mauna when he said: "We can’t keep on desecrating."
Kaliko’s words of wisdom apply not only to Mauna Kea but equally to the continued bombing at Pohakuloa, the drilling into Pele for geothermal energy, and the overall profit-driven pollution of the planet causing a global climate crisis.
It is time for all people of faith to come together and put the sacred before the almighty dollar and demonstrate through our actions what god or gods to whom we pray.
Stopping the TMT on Mauna Kea would be a good start.
Jim Albertini
President, Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education and Action Kurtistown
Say’s heart truly in Palolo Valley
If Palolo Valley ever needed a mayor, it would be Calvin Say ("House is asked to determine Say’s eligibility," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 7).
I don’t care if Say is from Mars. His heart is truly in Palolo Valley. He is always at our Palolo Neighborhood Board meetings, not because he has to be but because of his concern and sincerity for our valley. He truly reaches out and touches us all in the valley. He has my vote.
Ray Horita
Palolo Valley
We need more peacemaking
Peter Adler’s commentary is very timely and appreciated ("Public meetings can once again be constructive," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Oct. 8).
In our conflicted times, we need to expand the culture of peacemaking to include community training that strengthens relations between opposing groups and undergirds collaborative problem-solving dialogues in public forums.
Fortunately, Hawaii has a plethora of private individual peacemakers and nonprofit organizations that can aid in training citizens in peacemaking skills. These include the local Association For Conflict Resolution, the Judiciary’s Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, the University of Hawaii’s Matsunaga Institute for Peace, the Mediation Center of the Pacific and the alternative dispute resolu- tion section of the Hawaii State Bar Association.
With appropriate peacemaking skills and training, we can have more dialogue and cooperation and less friction between opposing groups on the myriad complex public-policy issues we face in Hawaii.
Tom DiGrazia
Director, Mediation Center-Windward Oahu Kailua
Training areas well cared for
I don’t agree that resumption of live-fire training in Makua Valley would be too high a price to pay as noted in "Find balance for Army in Hawaii" (Star-Advertiser, Our View, Oct 8).What is and has been costly is having our military to go off island for live-fire training.
Regarding criticism by protesters concerning sacredness of the land, of contaminants there and destruction of cultural sites, past and recent studies show none of them are valid.Makua Valley along with the rest of our federal training areas used by our military are exceptionally well cared for.
We, Hawaii’s Veterans of Foreign Wars, therefore loudly echo what our late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and former Hawaii National Guard Maj. Gen. Robert Lee said about Makua: Let them train!
Bill Punini Prescott
Nanakuli
Our kids have to move away
The elections in November could prove to be pivotal for the future of Hawaii.Some politicians would have voters believe that higher taxes and more programs will pull citizens up into prosperity.
Our membership believes that it is more important to reduce the cost of living in Hawaii and make it possible for our children to afford a home of their own and keep more of their own money to let them decide how they want to live.This can only be accomplished if the leaders we elect will not raise taxes for more programs or continue programs that are not useful or accomplishing the original intent.
How many of our kids do we have to send to the mainland so they can afford to live before we realize the solution is to elect new leaders?
Carol Thomas
President, Oahu League of Republican Women
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