Godfather II shows us our future
In the movie Godfather II, Michael Corleone takes a trip to pre-Castro Cuba to see if he wants to expand his business opportunities there. During his visit he witnesses Cubans dying in their cause to overthrow the government. Corleone then assesses that the authorities will never be able to defeat a movement where so many are willing to die for their cause.
Over the past two weeks, I had to drive past the Maunakea protesters 18 times on nine round trips from Waikoloa to Hilo. While driving at 10 miles an hour through the crowd, I could feel that most of those there were willing to die for their cause and therefore all attempts at negotiating will be futile.
Hence, Gov. David Ige’s declaration that TMT will have a two year extension to begin construction and that his state of emergency has been lifted is only prolonging the inevitable which the fictional Michael Corleone foresaw. When a large number of people are willing to die for a cause, negotiating will not succeed.
Lester Seto
Waikoloa
Hospital food a nice switch
I read in WHT July 28 that Kona Community Hospital has started a plant based from scratch menu. Locally sourced food for both the staff and the patients.
Congratulations, I am happy to see this. It gives you one less thing to worry about if you have to stay in the hospital. Many mahalos.
Sincerely,
Tom Pyne
Kailua-Kona
Maunakea offers gifts from above
Although the true summit at Puu Wekiu has rightly been preserved unblemished as a religious site for many years, the Maunakea protectors claim that in Hawaiian culture, the lower slopes (and possibly the entire mountain) are considered to be sacred and should remain unspoiled.
Yet, the Maunakea Adze Quarry, which extends to about the same distance from the summit as does the proposed TMT site, has been exploited for centuries by ancient Hawaiians. According to “Mauna Kea Ice Age Reserve” on Wikipedia, this is the largest primitive quarry in the world.
Is the removal of such huge amounts of rock considered to be a desecration? As for me, I believe that the availability of tool-quality stone, as well as that of an unparalleled eye to the universe, are gifts from God, Kane, or whatever entity one believes to be responsible for our existence, and that rejection of these gifts is an insult to that entity.
Burt Masters
Kailua-Kona
Protest pushing against wrong target
I have been watching the events on Maunakea with trepidation. Are we as a community going to drive away the thing that we have all been asking for: a high-tech workplace with high-paying, interesting jobs, where our sons and daughters can work and not have to leave the island?
Are we going to let the Canary Islands make all the amazing discoveries about new planets, black holes, dark matter and dark energy that will surely come from the TMT? I know I would be proud if the news headlines say: “Signs of Life Discovered on Planet X by New Hawaii Telescope.”
As a political activist myself, I agree with the protesters that Hawaiian sovereignty was stolen and should be given back. If they were protesting an oil pipeline, a housing complex, a shopping center, or anything else on Maunakea, I would be out there protesting with them.
But as a science teacher, knowing the value of Keck, CFHT, and the other observatories to our community and to human understanding of the universe, I believe the protesters have picked the completely wrong target. As a I heard one protest leader say; “Hawaiians are tired of being pushed around — that’s what this is all about.” I totally get that, but it would be like a person being bullied striking out wildly and hitting his own grandmother. Just the wrong target!
Please, protesters! You have made your point and people are listening and are sympathetic. Save your powder for a fight against a better target. Because, if you win this fight and stop the TMT, you will have diminished this island, alienated the majority of the public who support the TMT, and let down our children.
My son had to go to the mainland this year to get a good high-tech job. I hope that, one day, when your children or grandchildren grow up and start looking for fulfilling jobs, they won’t have to leave the island, too.
Matt Binder
Waimea