Leave snow alone
Leave snow alone
The shrinking and all-but-disappearance of (Lake Waiau) should not be taken lightly; from the cultural significance to the ecological impact, the losses would span generations. All we have to do is look at the failures and ignorance of the past to learn and protect the future.
The snow on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa is beautiful, rare and should be considered a natural resource and protected as such, like we protect our oceans and lands. No, not by selling it to millionaires who fence it in, scrape it and build mansions, but by education, awareness and enforcement.
(In the article that provided a) hypothesis of why the lake is dry, there was not one mention of people bringing yards upon cubic yards of snow off the mountain! It is essential on the mountaintops to support the environment up there! … You want to shovel snow, move the the mainland! Look at what your actions are helping to destroy!
Come on, people. Wake up!
Dustin M. Devera
Honoka‘a
It’s ‘fair’
I have friends who oppose same-sex marriage.
They have asked me, “I believe in equal rights, but where do we draw the line?”
Here’s my reply: “ I draw two lines, actually — to form the equal sign.”
It is that simple. Equality means fairness for all, to simply be who they are, and wed who they love.
Jeri Gertz
Hilo Hawaii
‘Behind the curve’
I was very disheartened to read in the Tribune-Herald that Rep. Clift Tsuji would likely vote “no” on the marriage equality bill, citing the volume of opposition against SB1 and the argument that the people should decide by putting this civil rights issue on the ballot. When is it ever a good idea to put civil rights to a public vote?
“Let the people decide,” is a catchy sound-bite, but true political courage would be to stand up for civil rights in the face of possible majority opposition. Should voting rights for black Americans have been decided at the ballot box in the 1960s, when the voting population then was predominately white, or should the Emancipation Proclamation have been put to a vote in the 1860s instead of just being signed by a single political leader?
What if there was massive public support today for a ballot measure to outlaw inter-racial marriage, or to require Christianity to be the state religion? Majority opinion doesn’t always translate to proper public policy, or else we could replace legislators with instant polls.
SB1 doesn’t prevent anyone from believing in “traditional” marriage as being between a man and a woman. Traditionalists can still view marriage as they wish, and their churches can sanctify only unions that fit their definition of marriage. SB1 simply allows gay people to marry if they wish, as allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court and many other states. Society is changing, and Hawaii is behind the curve.
Gary Kitahata
Hilo