HARD WORK NOT LOST WITH COLLEGE-BOUND

"Economy downsizing college plans" (June 9) speaks of the "wretched economy" teaching a hard lesson, "You can't always get what you want," to highly qualified college-bound teens who have had to forego their dream schools. Even though accepted, the "massive debt load" requires them to opt for lesser choices.

This is disturbing in itself; however, the defeatist attitude was attributed to one young woman, as evidenced by her quote, "I told myself I could have worked half as hard as I did and ended up in the same place."

The lesson she missed is that in these hard times one must work as hard as you are able to succeed in these "unfair" situations.

Col. R. W. Molyneux | Kailua

HANSON COLUMN

ATTACK ON OBAMA'S CAIRO SPEECH FEEBLE

Victor Hanson's relentless right-wing propaganda columns in The Advertiser reached a new nadir (June 11) when he attacked what he called the president's lack of "historical competency" in his Cairo speech.

Not only did Hanson ignore the regional context of the speech, but his attempts to deflect the president's points with his own biased choices of emphasis (sidestepping European colonialism in the Middle East and downplaying the Muslim role in the revival of Europe in the late Middle Ages) reached their peak when he applauded "imposing democracy" on others (his own examples had already had it before fascism) and erased the nonviolent protests of the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s with the stroke of a pen.

Apparently, he would prefer a speech in Cairo that insulted the region instead of trying to reawaken shared and painful histories in order to try to repair some of the bridges destroyed by eight years of an administration that rejected "reality-based" visions and rhetoric?

David Chappell | Kane'ohe

MEDICAL INSURANCE

SAVINGS ACCOUNT WOULD REDUCE COSTS

Why not use human nature to reduce the cost of medical care? What is really wrong with a medical savings account? Would not the individual be more aware of whether he should spend or save the money otherwise spent on frivolous medical situations?

Why not use the very successful program that the auto insurance companies use to provide mandatory insurance coverage? They provide customers an option to reduce their insurance costs by accepting responsibility for their driving habits. Such a program for health insurance can be adopted by using the individual's responsibility for living a healthy lifestyle to reduce his individual cost of health insurance.

Another approach that could be taken in conjunction with the above is to reduce the frivolous medical malpractice suits that burden doctors and cause a tremendous increase in medical care. Doctors and hospitals will order many medical tests and procedures just to reduce their liability exposure. Why not accomplish tort reform? Why not do what is right for the country?

Phil Powers | Honolulu

DUKE BAINUM

CITY, STATE HAS LOST SINCERE, GREAT MAN

It is not often that we come across a person who goes into politics and has high ethical and moral standards and a compassionate passion to serve the community as our late Duke Bainum. There is no question that Duke was genuinely sincere in whatever endeavor he committed his time on this earth to. He did his job and he did it well.

Our city and state has lost a person who was liked by everyone who crossed his path and we thank Duke for his generous time and commitment to better our community. For those of us who have met him, we have nothing but good and fond memories of a sincere and great person.

Tom Sugita | Pearl City

GUANTANAMO

THANK GOODNESS FOR PALAU, BERMUDA

What a lift to my sagging feelings! "China demands return of 13 Guantanamo inmates." Yet tiny but courageous Palau has accepted them! Thank you, President Johnson Toribiong, for saying "it's an old-age tradition of Palauans to accommodate the homeless who find their way to the shores of Palau. We did agree to accept them due to the fact that they have become basically homeless and need to find a place of refuge and freedom" — to have an opportunity to live again after eight horrible years in a Guantanamo prison!

Thirteen human beings who the U.S. government determined weren't enemy combatants after all but "the Obama administration faced congressional opposition to allowing them on U.S. soil as free men." What is this? Are they unclean? Are they not good enough to live among us? Bermuda accepted four of them.

Thank goodness for Palauan and Bermudan soils, where people practice what they preach!

Yoshie Tanabe | Honolulu

LEGISLATURE

TRUE REPRESENTATION NEEDS TO BE THE PLAN

After reading Sunday's (June 14) Hot Seat column it has become painfully clear why there is significant displeasure with our Legislature. Sen. Donna Mercado Kim and Rep. Joey Manahan begin by suggesting that their responsibilities encompass establishing policy, laws and funding appropriations. Nowhere do they mention the need to represent their constituents.

I recall Ed Case mailing a questionnaire to the voters in his district every year to obtain constituency feedback on the issues of the day. While I may not have agreed with his voting record, I felt that my views were being represented.

My current representative does not send out a questionnaire nor does she acknowledge receipt of letters. Attending a monthly neighborhood board meeting is not adequate representation of the constituency. Had there been true representation, we would not have begun this year's legislative session with a self-approved pay increase. Just maybe there would have been a 100 percent focus on the budget.

Let us hope that in the next election, representing the constituency becomes the new political buzzword and plan of action.

Gary Payne | Honolulu

MAKUA

SACREDNESS OF SITES IS TRULY PRICELESS

Bill Prescott's assertions (Letters, June 10) about Makua Valley — the sacred sites aren't really "sacred," Native Hawaiians abandoned their religion, the religion itself was too brutal, not training in a single location somehow equates to a complete disregard of soldiers' lives — is a disingenuous exercise in inverse reasoning.

As a Native Hawaiian who actively worships na akua kupuna, I can assure you that not all Hawaiians have abandoned their faith. Moreover, if brutality were enough to drive the devout from their beliefs, Christendom would have been forsaken millennia ago. Arguably, more blood has been, is being and will be shed in the name of Christ than ever was spilled on Hawaiian altars since Ka Po Mai, the beginning of time.

Furthermore, whether the sites are "sacred" or not is really beside the point. These sites are among the last Hawaiian wahi la'a in the world, and when they're gone, they're gone. The sacredness of these sites resides not only in their spiritual significance, but also in their unique cultural and historical value.

With the millions of square miles that America controls, are the last Native Hawaiian cultural sites on the face of the planet really the most appropriate places for soldiers to train?

Joseph Kaleo'onalani Aikala | Honolulu

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY EDITORIAL BOARD

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