•Obama would make Gandhi proud •NTBG should be more accessible •Community support great for multi-use path •TEA day rallies a success Obama would make Gandhi proud The conservatives have decided that they are going to attack President Obama no matter
•Obama would make Gandhi proud
•NTBG should be more accessible
•Community support great for multi-use path
•TEA day rallies a success
Obama would make Gandhi proud
The conservatives have decided that they are going to attack President Obama no matter what.
Newt Gingrich is upset that Obama shook hands with Hugo Chavez. Being polite to others does not mean weakness. Open communication does not mean appeasement. Communicating with one’s opponent is strength. These conservatives should read about Mahatma Gandhi and his tactics.
Gandhi was very nice to his opponents and oppressors, saw them as human beings, and appealed to the nicer sides of them. It worked. He did not believe in bully tactics.
He was one of the strongest persons history has ever known. He got independence for India with his humanity, and not with the nation’s blood.
The Mahatma would be very proud of President Obama if he were alive today. I am very proud of my president.
Vi Herbert, Kilauea
NTBG should be more accessible
Recently good friends of mine visited Kaua‘i for the first time. Charlie, a fellow senior citizen, is severely walking impaired but does just fine in a wheelchair or shuttle bus. He and his wife Susan were looking forward to a shuttle bus tour of the South Shore’s National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Unfortunately, Susan was told by NTBG personnel that the NTBG didn’t provide either wheelchairs or shuttle service from the parking lot to the garden tour shuttle bus stop. This resulted in their not being able to tour the gardens.
I hope that NTBG will rectify this situation so that in the future my friends and similarly disabled visitors will be able to enjoy this national treasure.
Peter Nilsen, Princeville
Community support great for multi-use path
I attended the North Shore bike and pedestrian path meeting on April 9 and was encouraged to see the overwhelming community support for a multi-use path on the North Shore of Kaua‘i.
It’s hard to imagine a community project that would better serve the people of our island. In tough economic times, many residents and visitors are looking for low-cost alternatives to traditional car travel and the path would offer this much-needed alternative. In many other cities across the country and the world, people have already abandoned their vehicles for bicycles and upgraded from their oil-consuming, sedentary cars to healthy, fun, inexpensive bicycles.
The country is heading in a new direction these days, out of sheer necessity, because we are facing some very real challenges: reliance on foreign oil which leads to global warming, ballooning health-care costs due in large part to obesity and economic collapse which is leading to widespread unemployment. These issues are particularly salient to us on Kaua‘i.
The Obama Administration is looking for viable solutions to these difficult issues and the path addresses each one with a relatively simple idea — bike! Imagine if the children and teens of Kaua‘i could get around on their own in a safe and healthy way, just think of the impact it would have on childhood obesity on Kaua‘i not to mention the defrayed health-care costs.
Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, understands the importance of creating vibrant walking and biking communities and pledges to make bicycle and pedestrian facilities a central part of the new transportation authorization. His valiant effort on the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) of 1998 opened the door to potentially $3 billion of government aid for well-planned cycling initiatives.
At this time of national paradigm shift and government stimulus I can’t think of a better-suited project to confront the issues facing our island that would have more of an impact on the quality of life of so many Kaua‘i residents.
Lindsey Heddleston, Hanalei
TEA day rallies a success
I want to thank all those who participated in both the morning and the afternoon TEA day rallies last Wednesday.
The turnout was significant, considering it was a workday and was put together in not much more than two weeks time. There were about 40 people at the morning rally and more than double that at the afternoon rally.
I also want to say mahalo to those who helped in putting the rallies together.
Plans are already bring made for the next rally.
Kent Gibboney, Kapa‘a
