Mandatory service could unite nation

Based on letters and commentary in this newspaper and national news stories, the divisive atmosphere that characterized the 2016 election will very likely carry into 2017 and risks unraveling the social fabric that has kept this nation together for more than 200 years.

What can be done to prevent this from happening and to restore a calming measure of civility again? Although there may be no simple solution, one approach would be to establish a national service. This would require everyone to serve time, one to two years perhaps, in either the military or in a non-military (e.g., the Peace Corps) capacity.

Perhaps diverse individuals working side-by-side to solve common problems would demonstrate cooperation, compromise and civility not evident in society today.

Michael Bornemann

Hawaii Kai

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Obama betrayed Israel relationship

Carl Zimmerman suggests that in return for protective U.N. votes, Israel should heed the U.S. about settlements (“It’s time we stop shielding Israel,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 2).

In other words, Israel should stop doing whatever it deems to be in its own best national interests and do what the U.S. thinks Israel should do. As former Israeli Prime Minister Manachem Begin said when he was similarly criticized for destroying an Iraqi nuclear reactor: “Are we a banana republic?”

There are reasons why both Democratic and Republican administrations have supported Israel. The interests of Israel and the U.S. coincide. They include democracy, religious freedom, justice for all, a desire for peace and personal liberty. These values should be enough to cement a U.S. and Israel supportive relationship.

President Barack Obama’s decisions and rhetoric has betrayed that longstanding relationship.

Mathew R. Sgan

Nuuanu

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Ben Shapiro a fount of misinformation

I really must object to Ben Shapiro’s column last week (“Obama’s foreign policy legacy is failure around the world,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 29).

While I have not been a supporter of much of Obama’s foreign policy‚ Iran being the exception — Shapiro offers little but misinformation based on his own bias rather than facts.

Particularly appalling is Shapiro’s paragraph concerning Israel, which illegally and brutally oppresses Palestinians.

No, Israel does not have the right to exist in Palestine, nor is it a reliable ally in the Middle East.

Shapiro offers nothing of value to Star-Advertiser readers. He is just another Zionist spouting without integrity.

Patricia Blair

Kailua

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Helicopters buzz Pearl Harbor, too

Echoing Sunday’s letter regarding Kauai tour helicopters (“Tour helicopters ruin Kauai coast,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 1), the same applies to Pearl Harbor.

As a USS Missouri tour guide, I see an alarming increase in tour helicopters flying over and around the ship, often at dangerously low altitudes.

Up to three helicopters will circle, slowly pass, or hover around the ship. With 3,000-plus visitors a day, conducting quality visitor tours is impossible due to the noise and distraction.

The same goes for hundreds of military ceremonies aboard the Missouri annually.

Nearby, any peace and quiet for reflection are destroyed on the Arizona Memorial. Safety is a concern too, considering the 2016 fatal crash in the harbor by a tour helicopter.

It is incomprehensible that responsible authorities of this strategic facility are OK with allowing tour helicopters access to this airspace.

Is another 9/11-like event impossible? This makes a mockery of other base security measures.

John Fernie

Kailua

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Facts still argue against rail transit

“The same old propaganda from rail opponents that we’ve heard before” (“Rail opponent makes same old arguments,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 29), are the same actual facts that have been true from the time the rail project was first considered.

Randall Roth provided us with a clear, succinct review of those facts (“Still time to turn rail woe into bus way,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Dec. 25). The consequences of proceeding despite these facts have become more obvious every day.

Taxes will be collected and spent without the citizens of Oahu receiving the services they desperately need.

Julia Allen

St. Louis Heights

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Hunting good for ecosystem, families

I am thoroughly appalled by a letter-writer’s malicious depiction of hunting (“State’s promotion of hunting disturbing,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 30).

Would he rather see mass starvation of animals because the land’s carrying capacity is over its limit? For several generations my family has hunted responsibly, helping to manage introduced game species for the good of Hawaii’s habitat.

Ka ‘ike a ka makua he hei na ke keiki. All that I know of hunting I learned from those older than me.

He should know that family- oriented hunting creates precious memories and stronger bonds, not only between immediate family but with others in the hunting community.

The social aspects of hunting go far beyond the hunt itself. When we prepare the meat and share it with friends and family, it brings people together.

While my family and I eat free-range, non-GMO venison burgers, others eat hormone-injected beef from a cruelty-ridden, mainland slaughterhouse.

Mackenzie Plunkett

Hauula