Oh, the absurdity ADVERTISING Oh, the absurdity I’d like to comment about the legal challenges brought against Judge Riki May Amano by the anti-Thirty Meter Telescope crowd. She is being accused of being unfair and biased, and the process by
Oh, the absurdity
I’d like to comment about the legal challenges brought against Judge Riki May Amano by the anti-Thirty Meter Telescope crowd. She is being accused of being unfair and biased, and the process by which she was appointed has been described as an “outrageous violation of public trust” (Abigail Kawananakoa, Hawaii News Now, April 18).
Gosh! What has this honorable and respected judge done to be accused of such an egregious violation of public trust?
She is a member of the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. Can you believe it? Not a board member or a trustee. Just a regular member like thousands of others in Hilo.
What a terrible secret to be part of an organization “developed in the mid-1990s by a team of educators, scientists and community leaders who understood the need for a comprehensive educational facility that would showcase the connections between the rich traditions of Hawaiian culture and the groundbreaking astronomical research conducted at the summit of Maunakea” (‘Imiloa website), and strongly advocated by Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.
It is such a terribly biased institution that it has a Native Hawaiian garden and teaches star navigation.
So Judge Amano, because of a $60 per year couple membership, is an outrageous violation of public trust? I wonder what else is hidden in her past? Maybe she attended the Merrie Monarch Festival. Maybe she bought some laulau from a halau fundraiser. I wonder if she ever bought Girl Scout cookies. All of these things would be classified as outrageous violation of public trust, I suppose, as they would signal her support for biased organizations.
The anti-TMT movement might be rooted in deeply held beliefs and in a desire to protect indigenous values, but this personal attack is wrong, unnecessary and, frankly, brutal. She is being accused of being biased and a fraud, because she made a small contribution to an organization aimed at promoting dialog.
It says a lot about the final goal of the protesters.
Luca Rizzi
Waimea
Stop animal cruelty
I am appalled with the recent failure of Hawaii Senate Bills 2263, 2270 and 2273 as reported in “Animal cruelty bills die” in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and West Hawaii Today on March 5. Now, the widespread problem of cruelty to dogs in Hawaii will continue.
Dogs fulfill an essential need for many people as companions and as guide, therapy and assistance dogs. They add an immeasurable degree of happiness to countless lives. Treating them with anything but respect is criminal, and people who neglect, torture or kill their dog for food should be punished.
As a dog owner, I realize how valuable my Sammy is. He provides me with unconditional love, keeps me from being lonely and cheers me up when I’m stressed or sick by licking my cheek and being playful. Similarly, I make sure he’s properly cared for and loved like a family member. Sadly, however, I often see dogs that are not as fortunate: They are chained outside 24/7 without shelter, confined in filthy, wretched enclosures and treated like soulless objects. These injustices must end.
We need to help strengthen Hawaii’s animal anti-cruelty laws. Concerned citizens can contact Sen. Gilbert Keith-Agaran, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, at senkeithagaran@capitol.hawaii.gov, and Rep. Karl Rhoads, House Judiciary Committee chairman, at reprhoads@capitol.hawaii.gov, and let them know that barbaric acts of abuse are rampant in Hawaii and should be punishable by law.
Let’s rally together to protect dogs and demonstrate that they are indeed “man’s best friend.”
Jye Leong
Hilo
