Mauna Kea protesters not exempt from law

Mauna Kea protesters not exempt from law

Protesters have built rock walls and thrown boulders to block access to the public road on Mauna Kea.

Not only did these rock walls stop construction workers, they also cut off access in the event of an emergency. We were fortunate no one had a health emergency that required vehicular transport.

Thank you to the state, the University of Hawaii and the Office of Mauna Kea Management for closing the road and the visitor center. What took so long?

Gov. David Ige needs to put an end to illegal camping, building structures and rock-stacking going on for more than three months. No more planning, no more pointless negotiating. Swift action is needed now before someone is injured.

Hawaii’s laws apply to all and must be consistently enforced.

I’m waiting for the governor’s leadership to emerge with action and I’m losing patience.

Betty Dentry
Kailua-Kona

Science, spirituality are very different

Pamela Larsentheorizes that telescopes on Mauna Kea represent a culmination of Native Hawaiian cultural practice ("Telescopes actually a spiritual venture," Star-Advertiser, Letters, June 11).

However, celestial-based oceanic navigationserves a different culturalpurpose than telescopicinvestigation of galaxies.

Larsen’s underlying sentiment iscommendablebut herassumptions are self-serving, because Mauna Kea’s sanctity denotes a sui generis status that precludes scientific servitude, or usage deemed improperby Hawaiian protocol.

Furthermore, conflating scienceand spirituality is oxymoronicbecause science is based in materialism whereas spirituality exists in the supernatural realm — hence the derivation "spirit" —which isapropos,since non-materialism is a hallmark of Hawaiian culture.

Similarly, the Lakota Nation has rejected a U.S. government settlement for mineral exploitation of the sacred Black Hills region inSouth Dakota, insisting that its ancestral landsbe returned unequivocally.

Would constructing an 18-story geologicallaboratory in the Grand Canyon also be acceptable to Larsen?

Raplee Nobori
Waikiki

Camping on sidewalk attractive to some

Tommy Lorensi, the homeless man pictured on the front page of your newspaper, summed up the homeless issue in Honolulu by saying, "I knew they allow people to stay here" ("Chased out," Star-Advertiser, July 2).

As long as camping on the sidewalk is a choice, some people will choose it.

Rhoads Stevens
Hawaii Kai

Obviously it matters who wins elections

There is no definition of marriage as between only one man and one woman in the Bible.

While there are Bible verses that condemn homosexual acts, some gays argue that those were only intended for that specific time and situation and limited to the context of that particular story. In other words, theoretically, these verses may not have been meant to be universal bans on all homosexual acts.

So there may be room for compromise, reconciliation, gay marriage and, ultimately, salvation, depending on each church’s interpretation of the Bible.

Christian leaders should realize that they have to get their hands dirty and influence politics much, much more.

There should be no more of this it-doesn’t-matter-who-wins-elections-because-God-is-in-control messages to Christian voters.

Put Christian politicians in office who will choose Christian Supreme Court justices.

Otherwise, government will become increasingly hostile to Christians and Christianity.

Leighton Loo
Mililani

Coach Alika Smith a superb teacher

Having been an athlete in high school and college, I cannot understand the sterile environment to which Alika Smith has been expected to adhere ("Smith steps down at Kalaheo," Star-Advertiser, June 30).

In the final analysis, any sport is about preparing for real life.Real life has lots of warts, disappointments and setbacks, and is just plain tough. Kids have to learn to deal with it.

I once had such a bad football spring-training practice that my secondary coach said, "You stink. Leave the field, I never want to see you again."I could easily have quit, but came back the next day as if nothing had happened, and earned a starting position for the first game.

We all seemed to have survived to better face the real world after successfully engaging multiple coaching styles.

I worked at a basketball camp with Smith a few years ago.He is a superb teacher and human being.

George Smith
Kailua

FROM THE FORUM

Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.

“Thousands congest the Diamond Head Summit Trail every day,” Star-Advertiser, June 29:

>> It’s not only the trails that become degraded; it’s the Hawaii community’s understanding from whence comes the right of access to trails — from Hawaiian custom and practice which dictates that there be no overuse, that you take care and malama aina. This may mean periods of kapu or limits as to how many on the trail on a given day. With a right comes a responsibility.

>> I’ve lived in Hawaii for over 20 years and never been to Diamond Head. In your face!

>> They have “improved” Diamond Head to the point that locals don’t go.

———

“Ex-mayor back on top at Lodging & Tourism,” Star-Advertiser, June 29:

>> Great appointment. It suits him well.

>> Let us just hope he remains there and doesn’t run for office again.

———

“State lawmaker assaulted at homeless encampment,” Star-Advertiser, June 30:

>> I kind of respect this guy’s leadership problem-tackling attitude, but sometimes you have to be polite and respectful of another person’s request for privacy, even in a public area. Having said that, the attackers crossed the line too. Apologize and move on.

>> How would you like it if we came around your house and filmed you in your home?

>> Except this is not their home. It is a public space and the squatters have no expectation of privacy.

>> Where should these people move?  If you force them out of these areas, they will go somewhere else and the neighborhoods are the next place. Is that what we want? 

———

“Fireworks to mark 70 years since WWII’s end,” Star-Advertiser, June 30:

>> Let the good intention of this celebration be without rancor. The veterans of all countries, dead or alive, shouldn’t be tainted with negative criticism. Let us celebrate in peace and tranquility!

>> A real Fourth of July.

———

“Oahu plastic bag ban takes effect,” Star-Advertiser, July 1:

>> I remember when the same tree- hugger environmentalists told us to use the plastic bags to save the trees. Now we are supposed to use paper bags instead of plastic.

>> Times change, knowledge changes. Things we thought were best before aren’t the same things now. We should not disregard updated ideas just because they are contrary to previous ones.

>>  These plastic grocery bags blow around and are bad for the ocean inhabitants. 

———

“Judge strikes down Maui ban on GMOs,” Star-Advertiser, July 1:

>> When people lose faith in the courts to help them obtain justice, all bets are off. It becomes a slippery slope much like what happened to the Founding Fathers when they lost hope and had no other resort but to oppose the tyranny of the British monarchy with force.

>>  Nowhere in the Constitution has the federal government been delegated the powers to regulate agriculture in the states. It is a state’s right, and the federal government had no authority to pass laws regarding such agriculture except laws pertaining to the interstate commerce thereof. U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway got this one wrong.

———

“New law removes ethanol mandate for isle gasoline,” Star-Advertiser, July 2:

>> It’s about time. Ethanol reduces gas mileage, damages engines and raises food prices.

>> The only winners in this fiasco have  been the corn growers. This is another example of how Congress works to benefit groups that lobby them.

———

“Gabbard urges U.S. to supply weapons to Kurds,” Star-Advertiser, July 2:

>> Providing weapons to a faction in a civil war benefits just one entity — the military-industrial complex. 

>> The Kurds are real fighters and are real allies of America. Why would we not support them? Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is one of the few leaders who is offering a real solution to the problem in the Middle East. Right now there is no good strategy and she is offering one — empower the fighters in the Middle East who are already taking a stand against ISIS.

>> Foreign policy experts have been saying for a long time that trying to artificially keep Iraq together as a “nation” will never work. The borders were drawn up by colonialists with no regard to the natural divisions of the region and this has greatly exacerbated sectarian fighting in the region. The Kurds are allies of the U.S. who have shown they have the will and ability to fight, and they should be supported against ISIS.