Letters To The Editor
Not guns
Regarding the recent letter “Never disarm” from Gordon Kitsuwa, an apparent AJA:
The writer erroneously implied that the 120,000 West Coast Japanese were interned for the purpose of disarming them and rendering them defenseless against the U.S. This is a gross misstatement!
The interned Japanese were primarily hardworking farmers, small-store owners and everyday ordinary people who were interned because they looked different from other Americans, including Germans and Italians. The internment had nothing to do with guns or disarmament, liberals or conservatives.
Do not bring up the subject of World War II internments in any argument for or against guns.
Richard Endo
Honolulu
Union avarice
As the great recession gives signs of winding down, hope for Hawaii’s dismal, long-term budget forecast would seem to be in order. Unfortunately, as is always the case, Hawaii’s public worker unions already are eyeing potential revenue increases with barely concealed avarice.
I’m in a quandary over a choice of similes for our unions. My two top choices are “like pigs in a trough” or “like a pack of jackals.” I’m leaning toward the latter. Whereas big, fat pigs will greedily consume everything they can, a pack of jackals will not hesitate to strangle and eviscerate any source of food they come upon.
In the end, either choice should help us all realize the perverse situation that has developed: Public workers no longer work for the public. The public works for them.
Ron Kienitz
Kailua
A real pearl
Reading Don Chapman’s column “A Love Story Amid Social Changes,” about Jane and Wally Yonamine, made me smile and brought back memories. In the early 1980s I was teaching at a university in Yokohama, Japan, and had the pleasure of meeting both Jane and Wally. It seemed that every woman I met in the foreign community knew about Jane and her amazing pearls. So I tagged along one day to Roppongi when friends were going to buy their pearls. Not only were Jane and Wally (who happened to be at the shop) very gracious to us, their less-than-prominent clients, but Jane is so knowledgeable that anyone going to her shop received a real education about pearls. I saved for months until I could buy my “Cream Rose” necklace and earrings, and 30 years later still treasure them and that wonderful experience. Thank you, Jane!
Sue Goodman
Waipahu
Bowled over
Regarding Don Chapman’s comment that the loudest cheers at Pro Bowls past were for the freshly crowned Super Bowl champions – in the days when the Pro Bowl was played a week after Super Sunday:
With six San Francisco 49ers chosen for the Pro Bowl this year, and with so many 49ers fans in Hawaii, imagine the ovation they would have received if the game were played in its traditional time slot.
Daniel Lee
Downtown
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