TMT worth support for cultural reasons

As someone who was born and raised in Hawaii, I really wish the Thirty Meter Telescope construction project had gone through.

The way I see it, the TMT isn’t going to just be some big, ugly building on sacred land. It’s going to be a way to look up at the heavens.

The night sky has been important to Hawaiians ever since the first Polynesians set forth on canoes. Why should such a long tradition of stargazing stop now?

What’s more, with the construction of this project, Mauna Kea would further cement its global significance as the best stargazing spot on the planet.

It would become a much larger platform to spread the value of Native Hawaiian culture and history, as well as provide deeper insight into the astronomical events that have amazed our ancestors for centuries.

Even from a cultural standpoint, the TMT is worth supporting.

Zachary Taira

Mililani

Let the nuns live out their lives in Manoa

I am not a Roman Catholic; heck, I am not even particularly religious.

But I am appalled at the decision to move elderly Catholic nuns who have faithfully served their church and generations of students, faculty and families, from their home.

The list of “why nots” was elucidated fully in the recent Star-Advertiser article (“Nuns none too pleased at being forced to move,” Dec. 4).

So what is the “why” that makes this unfeeling decision worth it?

I can only surmise that the presence of the sisters on campus is holding back “progress” toward some financial gain.

Let these women live out the few remaining years of their lives in the comfort of the simple home they know — surrounded by the green of Manoa, the sounds of birds and children playing — not the dry, hot, congested leeward side far from the simple pleasures that make their lives worth living.

Lives of poverty, chastity and obedience should not be rewarded with being cast aside, which certainly appears to be the case here.

Nancy Kickertz

Kailua

Obama exhibiting true leadership

To anyone who criticizes President Barack Obama’s address to the nation on how we should react to domestic terrorism, I remind them that on Aug. 9, 2001, President George W. Bush addressed the nation on the ethics of stem cell research.

This was three days after the CIA warned him of terrorism threats from Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, and barely 32 days before the 9/11 attacks.

So take your pick: One president overlooked a threat that was “blinking red” (according to the 9/11 Commission report) and chose instead to sermonize. The other looked straight at the threat and reassured us that united we shall overcome.

The lesson here is that Obama’s critics need to recognize true leadership when they see it.

Jay Henderson

Waikiki

Obama out of line to speak for God

I listened intently to President Barack Obama’s remarks Sunday evening and was taken aback by this statement:

“ … that no matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law.”

I was taken aback because Obama does not have the right to tell our nation that we “are equal in the eyes of God.”

He is not our pope, imam or head theologian.

On what authority does he know the thoughts and mind of God?

And on what authority does he proclaim the thoughts and mind of God to our nation?

He has no such authority.

Rodney Lau

Downtown Honolulu

Refugees seeking shelter can’t vote

Of the many ludicrous letters reeking with xenophobia that have muddied this forum in the last weeks, perhaps the silliest of them has come from Scott Brooks (“Open-door policy is all about politics,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 6).

Brooks suggested that our president wants to admit refugees from the fighting in the Middle East because they will vote for Democrats.

Our open-door policy, he contended, would be shut down if we determined they would vote for Republicans (that is, the ones who actually created the horrible situation these people are fleeing from).

Apparently, he doesn’t understand how our particular voting regulations actually work. These refugees will not be citizens just because we’re giving them shelter. Thus, they will not vote at all.

Andrew Thomas

Manoa

City administration neglecting potholes

I wonder if I will ever see, a road on Oahu that’s pothole- free.

With billions being spent on rail, road repair is on the tail end of a list that seems to miss the eyes of City Council representatives.

A pothole here, a pothole there, there are potholes everywhere.

Beware when driving in heavy rain: Potholes look like harmless puddles; hitting one causes tire and alignment troubles.

Filled potholes are not the answer. They merely give us okole- and headaches.

The mayor and City Council need to give us a break and pave the roads.

Maedene Lum

Makiki