No ‘state bank’
No ‘state bank’
Are you kidding me? Our politicians want to establish a state bank. These are people who cannot balance a budget without raiding emergency funds.
The deposits in such an institution would not be federally insured. Next, they want to stop foreclosures in this state. That would mean buying “toxic” assets — that is, mortgages that are either in default or past due. If they take possession of the property, guess who will be liable for the deficits or losses? YUP! Us, the taxpayers.
What a great idea. Looks like quite a folly to me.
Bob Dukat
Pahoa
Mixed messages
I attended the performance of “The Shattered Vase” at the Palace Theater on Saturday, March 17, with three guests, and I left the theater feeling confused and very unsettled. The performance was wonderful and memorable. The story of Princess Ka‘iulani and the nature of the circumstances surround her life and death are both tragic and uplifting.
Kumu Paul Neves did an incredible job of presenting the story using several media, including the sacred and beautiful hula, which is what my guests and I eagerly anticipated.17-year-old Kum on Feb. 26.u Neves’ statement in the program that he intended the presentation as a “challenge to young people everywhere to speak out and act upon the issues that concern them, their families, their communities, their nation and their world” was what confused and unsettled me.
At the end of the performance, Kumu Neves, having referred to the recitation of “The Queen’s Prayer” in the performance as a tribute to the spirit and power of forgiveness, went on to make an impassioned speech that ended with the words: “We will have our freedom.”
My confusion lies with those words. Freedom from what? If Kumu Neves is referring to freedom from the U.S. government that so unjustly took Hawaii from her people, and freedom from the haole people, then I am left wondering why I spent U.S. dollars to attend, and why I felt so utterly despised for the color of my skin when I left.
Sadly, I think the message of the performance got lost in the rhetoric.
Susan Wood
Pahoa
Marvelous and free
It was a great pleasure to tune my radio to 91.1 FM at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 18, to hear the premiere broadcast of our new orchestra from the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall.
Kudos to the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, as well as Hawaii Public Radio, for making this event … available to all of us statewide. Let us hope that, as in past years, it will be possible for the orchestra to return to Hilo so that we can hear and see them in person.
Gerald DeOreo
Hilo