Free not to stand ADVERTISING Free not to stand After reading a couple of letters to the editor about this whole standing-for-the-anthem thing, I heard President Donald Trump say everybody must stand when it’s played. Maybe if I lived in
Free not to stand
After reading a couple of letters to the editor about this whole standing-for-the-anthem thing, I heard President Donald Trump say everybody must stand when it’s played.
Maybe if I lived in North Korea, communist Russia or Nazi Germany I would expect to hear that, and it would make sense. Fortunately, I live in a marvelous free country where even the president has no right to command my personal choice and behavior, within lawful bounds.
Unless he issues some “executive order” to the contrary, every citizen of this great country is free to exercise the liberty outlined in the Declaration of Independence — “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” — not the other way around, here in America!
Mary Serion
Orchidland
For freedom
A brief history of the world’s politics:
The conqueror rules. Time passes, and they become heroes to some, but others remember the history of being conquered.
The conquered want freedom, but the powerful will not allow it.
The struggle for freedom and independence perpetually continues all over the globe.
John Begg
Pahoa
‘Speak for the trees’
A month ago, the appearance of two brightly colored stakes signaled that someone recently purchased the corner lot at the end of my street. At the time, I was not alarmed by this occurrence since newcomers to my Volcano development generally have been respectful of the community’s vision to maintain the forested environment that exists.
Unfortunately, 24 hours after the massive bulldozer arrived, not one living tree or plant of any kind remained. This forest had become a mass of boulders and mud, a horrific eyesore and a gaping environmental wound in the center of my neighborhood.
All of the ohia trees that had once existed there were stripped of their branches and leaves and neatly stacked in piles that vanished the next morning.
How can we claim to have such a love affair with this tree — dedicating festivals, expressive arts and thousands of research hours to save this iconic symbol of Hawaiian life — and yet, stand by helplessly disempowered?
If we really care about the natural essence of this place, a concerted and comprehensive plan needs to be implemented before those brightly colored stakes appear in the ground.
We all must be willing to speak for the trees because without them our planet cannot survive.
K.G. Licht
Volcano
