• Audaciously hoping • Gratitude for Caren • Our apologies Audaciously hoping May this incredibly brilliant, sound, sane, reasoning young man in the White House have the courage to speak the truth. To say to the world: “Greed is about
• Audaciously hoping • Gratitude for Caren • Our apologies
Audaciously hoping
May this incredibly brilliant, sound, sane, reasoning young man in the White House have the courage to speak the truth. To say to the world:
“Greed is about to kill this planet. What you see in the Gulf is in your backyard. I will hold responsible — and send — every greedy oil man, BP and all the others, every inept lunatic overseer of government regulations, every politician who sold his soul to Mammon and allowed this dreadful incident to happen in the Gulf, to work for the rest of their lives cleaning up the mess they made.
I think every penny they have in their fat purses, which they intend to use for drilling more wells, be used to create and build factories making alternative sources of energy — windmills, photovoltaics, hydro electric plants, whatever — that people can afford. This will put people back to work, clean up the environment, and help restore and salvage our great nation.
I will, with the power invested in me, see that this is done. I will place in receivership every oil company in America who put dollar signs first, who put the safety, health and well-being of the people of the world and our beloved country at the very bottom of their list of priorities. Many people on the Gulf — rich and poor, brown, white, black and yellow, young and old — will be affected by this disaster. Their health and livelihood and happiness totally destroyed for years to come.
I have at my fingertips every bright mind in the world helping me — us — find a solution. I will bring our troops home to work with us in this sad venture. Wars run on their sleek oil bellies and that oil and that young energy will also be put to work creating new jobs. Peace and prosperity, an American right, is the goal here. We may not succeed but no one in this country, or the world, will be able to say we didn’t try.
If you chose to pray, pray. If you chose to hope, hope. If you chose to work and help, work and help. The solution to this problem is our future. This is the world’s Dunkirk and every human being who loves mankind and planet earth will be on the Gulf. If not in person, in spirit and thought and prayer. Me and my staff, too.”
I’m sure President Obama will be able to say this better than I. I hope, audaciously, he says it.
Bettejo Dux, Kalaheo
Gratitude for Caren
Anyone who knows Caren Diamond and reads the slander and personal attacks being posted by readers on the comments section of our newspaper’s website and at various other sites on the Web knows that these fomentations are the ravings of brutes and bullies — brutes and bullies hiding behind anonymous posts, believing they have influence.
Contrast their crass accusations and ridiculous taunts with Caren’s thoughtful, intelligent and knowledgeable testimony at public hearings and Council meetings. These louts don’t understand that Caren Diamond is a heroine in the sacred warrior mold, willing to subject herself to the abuse of strangers so that their grandchildren might be able to enjoy the beach as she has.
As with many on a heroic path, she is blasphemed and condemned for her work, for her views and her opinions. On the Internet her character and her livelihood, even her family are targeted, no matter the irrelevance and poor taste of the remarks.
She advocates for nature and our environment, for our neighborhoods, without any motivation for personal gain. Very often she is the only person in the debate without a vested interest in the outcome. With two Hawai‘i Supreme Court decisions in her favor and two Kaua‘i Circuit Court rulings on her side, Caren’s credibility is real, yet she is maligned viciously in this paper’s “comments” online.
She should be lauded for her tireless efforts to get the state and the county to enforce the laws designed to protect and preserve public access to Hawai‘i’s beaches and shorelines for everyone forever.
Similarly she pressed the Planning Commission to apply the Vacation Rental law equally in all cases. To stand against moneyed interests and government fecklessness armed only with her intellect and her conscience is not easy. To be fearless in this way is not fun.
She does it at great personal sacrifice, and my respect for Caren is utter and profound. Gratitude is the appropriate response, and I will say it here, no anonymity for me: Thank you, Caren. Would that we all could be as good and brave as you.
Evelyn de Buhr, Kilauea
Our apologies
I’d like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by the printing errors in the Hawaiian Telcom Kaua‘i directory. Although the directories bear our company name, this business was sold in 2007; the directories are published by The Berry Co.
The Berry Co. has accepted responsibility for the errors and is working quickly to address them with a corrected online version and a printed supplement that can be mailed upon request.
We know that our customers rely on these directories, which is why we want to ensure they have timely access to updated information, and we appreciate The Berry Co.’s efforts to support this.
Hawaiian Telcom has proudly served the Islands for more than 125 years and our employees work hard every day to earn our customers’ trust. We appreciate their trust and faith in us as we continue our commitment to serve the people and businesses of Hawai’i.
John Komeiji, Senior vice president and general counsel, Hawaiian Telcom
