Hawaiian Paradise Park
Oppressive empire
Every morning, I give thanks I no longer live on the U.S. mainland. Then, I open my morning paper and almost weep. Militarism, consumerism, theology of the religious right, and the destruction of the land and the people.
Hawaii became a colony of the imperial U.S. in 1898. On the continent, U.S. yellow journalists celebrated the acquisition of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Cuba, as well as Hawaii. At last, the empire had expanded beyond North America. Only Hawaii has been allowed the mirage of statehood. The other colonies remain under the heel of the U.S., with various euphemisms for U.S. control. But don’t kid yourself. We are as much a colony as Guantanamo.
Our people and dollars are shipped to mainland prison industry. Our schools are controlled by the U.S. government through the “gift” of various grants. And the military is more heavy-handed than ever.
Meanwhile, Hawaii’s yellow journalists celebrate our island becoming a gigantic military fiefdom. Photos everywhere show glorious warriors propagandizing in the schools, sharing boot camp experiences with adolescents, parading with proper pomp and circumstance. And brigades of Marines and Army troops practice their ability to kill, on sacred Mauna Kea, creating our own Afghan Mountain Desert, complete with depleted uranium.
The “war on drugs” has given us helicopter surveillance for the past 30 years. Now we have the joy of fighter jets screaming overhead, far from any established flight paths or military bases.
With the passage of the defense bill — and allowing preventive detention, without trial or the right of habeas corpus — President Obama has nullified the pillars of the Bill of Rights: due process of law and freedom of speech.
If this law is enforced, this letter may come back to haunt me. But, at 75, I won’t have to worry about it for long.
Occupy Hawaii. Corporate America and the U.S. military certainly has!
Carol R. Campbell
Keaau
Make bay a priority
The Tribune-Herald, Jan. 15, says that the economy is among the Big Island legislators’ priorities. Hilo Bay is a natural resource that has been ignored for decades by state and county lawmakers. It is the first port for boaters from the West Coast. Sailors don’t want to stay another day in rough seas to reach Kona, but Hilo is bypassed by many cruisers because it has the fewest services and the least infrastructure.
Each time a sailor bypasses Hilo, it means lost dollars to our community. Boaters need to replenish their stores, make repairs, take a break from their boats and tour the island. Local boaters, too, are in need of boat slips and moorage but are put on long waiting lists because there is no plan for, or move toward, providing more infrastructure.
On many occasions over the decades, the boating and sailing communities of Hilo have told the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the state administration and lawmakers of the economic advantage of a vibrant marine industry and how it could benefit Hilo. All these suggestions have been ignored.
I saw no mention of bay and harbor improvements in our lawmakers’ goals. Therefore, I say that they are all “missing the boat.”
John M. Luchau
Hawaiian Paradise Park