China defense pure propaganda
Kenneth Beilstein’s letter, (Aug. 19th China a great Power that can be trusted”) shows he has obviously been living in the communist China influence for too long.
His letter sounds as though it has come straight from the Chinese propaganda ministry. He is not aware of the Chinese incursions and threats they make to other nations to “not interfere with our dealings with other nations.”
They have no human rights policies, other than they will do as they please. They use money and political influences to gain access to other countries’ political parties in order to make the outcome favor themselves.
No, Mr. Beilstein, China cannot be trusted and must be watched very closely, everything they do has an ulterior motive.
Dennis O’Connor
Australia
Remove seeds of illegal overthrow now
The struggle for Maunakea precedes the rhetoric of today’s talking heads, including my own. It’s not about Hawaiians against science as some would want us to believe. The roots of this struggle can be found in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government and its current occupation.
It’s time to remove those roots and replant the seeds of kapu aloha. It’s time that the government, developers, Hawaiian-at-heart transplants, American public, kamaaina, and kanaka maoli stand up together to demonstrate that Hawaiian culture matters — meaning it matters to Hawaiians and it should matter to everyone who call the Big Island home.
Aloha matters. Pono matters. Hooponopono matters. Preserving a sense of place matters. Doing the right thing matters. Can’t remember the last time you did the right thing unconditionally for others? Here’s your chance.
Perhaps it’s time to stop grading each other’s papers and move forward with constructive Hawaiian-centric solutions. It’s easier said than done; however, I remain optimistic that the right thing will prevail.
Likeke Bumanglag
Kailua-Kona
TMT compromise options sorely needed
There have been “Island Voices” columns and multiple letters to the editor nearly every day for months about the TMT controversy, but I want to focus on two of them: A possible compromise; and the risks of a billion-dollar lawsuit from the TMT organization if a compromise is not found; both published on Wednesday, Aug. 14 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
In the first letter, I suggested that a possible compromise in the TMT construction matter is for one or more of the five telescopes that will be decommissioned, be decommissioned now, and the TMT built there, rather than taking up any new space on Maunakea. (The area now planned for TMT could become/remain a Hawaiian-determined sacred site and conservation area.)
The second is a letter by Brian Heidenfeldt explaining the likelihood that if TMT is not built here as approved, it will result in a billion-dollar lawsuit by the TMT consortium, another reason to reach a viable compromise.
This will not solve the many issues that the Maunakea protectors are calling attention to, but perhaps it will suggest ways to proceed more comprehensively as well.
Richard Stancliff
Makiki, Oahu
