Letters: Red Hill fuel tanks must shut down immediately; Building TMT doesn’t desecrate culture; Be thankful, and see the good in people

Take the Red Hill fuel tanks offline immediately. We cannot risk our health. This aged facility should have been decommissioned by the Navy many years ago.

The Navy says it is of vital military significance, but it doesn’t want to spend the money to develop an alternative, safer way of storing fuel.

Today, Navy personnel are drinking bottled water due to a fuel smell in the water (“Families blame sickness on tainted water,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 30). It’s despicable to risk the health of their own families. The rest of Oahu will be next. Please shut down the Red Hill fuel tanks.

Alison Bhattacharyya

Nuuanu

Navy must consider national security needs

The Red Hill fuel tanks are a part of our national defense system and played a vital role in World War II and in Pacific conflicts since then. An upcoming Southeast Asian military engagement will be fueled by these essential strategic fuel reserves.

It is certainly appropriate to take all reasonable steps to protect the environment, but to demand immediate decommissioning seems foolhardy, and to do so could prove dangerous. The Navy continues to explore additional safety measures, and there is no evidence for an impending catastrophic event.

What our Navy needs is an equally invulnerable location of appropriate size and security, away from all aquifers.

Constructive suggestions, anyone?

John Corboy

Mililani

Building TMT doesn’t desecrate culture

Bill Friedl said the Thirty Meter Telescope would “bulldoze the culture” (“TMT developers just want to build telescope,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 26) (culture being the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people).

Hawaii is a volcanic group of islands millions of years old that happens to have a perfect built-in site ideal for modern astronomy. It was populated by migrant Pacific Islanders and many other races over the last 1,600 years with many different cultures. There is now a remarkable Hawaiian culture (watch the annual Kamehameha Schools class song contest if you don’t believe it) that grew up with the bulldozing of the land and the building of the Kamehameha Schools campus. This shows how specious is Friedl’s claim that bulldozing for TMT will somehow harm Hawaiian culture.

Why must we keep hearing these lies? TMT brings a world-class research facility to Hawaii with the related industries of research, teaching, data accumulation and distribution, and worldwide demand for its findings. Imua!

Ron Nagy

Kahala

Okinawan sweet potato and climate change

Okinawan sweet potato (called beni imo in Okinawa) is uniquely suited for climate change resilience. It can survive hurricanes and dry spells. Sweet potatoes can grow in marginal soils and from sea level to roughly 8,000 feet elevation.

The famous Dr. Mehmet Oz listed Okinawan sweet potato as No. 1 in his list to five superfoods. Beni imo is listed in Blue Zones’ top three longevity foods of Okinawa along with goya (bitter melon) and tofu.

Okinawa has the most centenarians per capita. Those over age 65 enjoy one of the world’s highest life expectancies and Okinawan women are the world’s longest living. The American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society endorsed beni imo for its antioxidant and other nutritional properties in mitigating risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Beni imo has been an Okinawan staple for roughly 350 years. It will allow us to be resilient and to also thrive.

Dan Nakasone

Wahiawa

Be thankful, and see the good in people

The “Be Thankful” letters in the Sunday Star-Advertiser, especially the one written by Dorothy Decker (“Catching COVID: prayers and vaccine,” Star- Advertiser, Island Voices, Nov. 28), were very uplifting. What a contrast to the usual partisan rants in the daily Letters section and the constant flow of bad news.

I could not help but notice how many writers believe in the power of prayer. I’m thankful for holidays and the opportunity to read more positive expressions. It is a reminder to us all that we need to see the good in all people and not assume they are idiots or evil simply because they have different political opinions. I am fortunate to have a large group of friends who do not see national issues the same way but still remain friendly.

Also positive was the news about the group HomeAid Hawaii and its supporters. It was nice to hear of the completion of their “kauhale” project at Kalaeloa (“Home sweet tiny home,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 28). I’m thankful for people who give of their time and energy to help the homeless, and others, in such a meaningful way.

Hooray for the holidays!

Diane VanderZanden

Hawaii Kai

Hold national debate on Second Amendment

I consider myself a patriotic American and love my country, but when I saw Kyle Rittenhouse walking down the streets of Kenosha, Wis., at night with an AR-15-style rifle slung over his shoulder, I couldn’t help thinking: “This is everything that is wrong with the United States.”

How a person who killed two young men can be looked up to is beyond me. I think that this country is at a crossroads. We need to have a rational debate about the future of our country.

What kind of a country do we want in the future: a country that is armed to the teeth, or a country in which we can all live together peacefully and not have to worry about some gunman killing us?

We need a serious national debate about the Second Amendment, and hopefully we will decide to slowly disarm to make this country safe for all.

First and foremost, all weapons of war should be banned. This will be an important first step for the United States in moving away from becoming an armed camp.

David Riggs

Makiki

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