Form your own conclusion
There is a serious “smithing” problem in this country.
It is remarkable how facts can be selectively edited, mis-characterized, or conveniently omitted. After watching or experiencing something live and later seeing or reading how it is portrayed by major media is more than astounding, it is downright disturbing. Wordsmithing and video-smithing is in full force spewing half-truths, confusion, fear, hate, negative, division and pseudo-events – with underlying agendas. Facts should be presented to the public. Media proposes to intentionally form your opinion. Journalism should provide unbiased information. Joe Friday, from Dragnet, used to say, “just the facts.”
For years, public confidence in major media has been declining. People want facts. Several news sources say they have trusted news. More significant would be reliable news.
Freedom of the press is not a license to be deceptive. What or who is the check and balance of the media? Being accountable and being held accountable is on the honor system in media. One can fact-check but that may be long after the manipulative message has been delivered.
A personal experience I had in 2005 included a national newspaper. A news story was written about an event that happened at a large processing plant at which I was employed. The article said management could not be contacted for comment. I was the plant manager, and no one attempted to contact me. Anything can be said about anything or anyone and it is not validated.
I have learned to listen to, watch and read several news sources and form my own conclusion after careful consideration of what has been presented. Opinions are just that – someone else’s version (or tale) about an event.
I wish Paul Harvey were here so we could have “the rest of the story.”
Kurt L. Samuelson
Kailua-Kona
What happened to mac salad?
What happened to the holiness in today’s mac salad?
The biggest farce of my life has got to be the bastardizing of the once holy but not so holy today abuse of the Hawaiian mac salad. When I was young my Hawaiian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese aunties all made mac salad. This entailed cooking the macaroni al dente and adding the basics like shredded carrot for color and finely cut green onion for some added flavor, salt and pepper, and a dash of aji. What was available in the ice box could be added such as some, not much, thinly sliced and chopped tomato and maybe a we bit off celery.
Imagination came into play next. My Japanese aunt, Aunty Yae, would at times add a hard boiled egg along with fresh shrimp (later on as they came available using canned or frozen shrimp). As time creeped on, good canned (not the crap you get today) tuna became fashionable. Sometimes, a little chopped or slightly mashed potato was added for a binder. Of course, it wouldn’t be a mac salad without Best Foods and no other mayonnaise to complete the salad. But the mayo was added sparingly, not to be overpowering, as seen so often today. This was your basic homemade mac salad served at suppers and particularly kids lunches after swimming the morning away at Keaukaha’s Ice Pond. Today, mac salad is possibly the worst thing one can indulge in. All today’s mac salad is is macaroni (most time not even cooked well) mixed with an uka pile of mayonnaise piled on—ugh, mayo-nnaise probably the worst of all foods one could ingest into ones body … but I (we) love it! What a shame.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there a few restaurants that make an attempt to creating an acceptable mac salad here on this side of the island like Pine Tree Cafe and Manago Hotel to name but two. The best place for a decent mac salad is still in Hilo at what’s left of the mom and pop places like Kawamotos Okazu, Hiro’s Place, Cafe 100, Hilo Lunch Shop and a few others.
As a side line when is the last time you have had a really good chili on the island? (Yeh, I know Rainbow Drive Inn but that’s in Honolulu.) Hard to beat old-style. real Hawaiian chili and rice with a dab o’ mayo. That’s for broke da mouth.
Hugo von Platen Luder
Holualoa
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