PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA

TIME TO HO'OPONOPONO WITH NATIVE HAWAIIANS

Hawai'i-born President-elect Barack Obama will be great for Hawai'i, this country and the world.

The media emphasizes this election as an historic event, the first African-American presdient. How about the first brown American president?

He is half white. Maybe the politics of fear and injustice will stop. Global warming should be a priority.

"Drill, baby, drill" is the mantra for offshore drilling. How many more holes do you want on the ocean floor? The ocean is struggling to breathe. How about "change, baby, change." Find another way for a brighter day.

President-elect Obama has powwowed with Native American Indians in Montana and New Mexico.

Now he can ho'oponopono with Native Hawaiians.

The state of Hawai'i, DHHL, OHA: Remember your responsibility to indigenous people of these islands — Native Hawaiians.

A NEW REMINDER OF HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS HERE

In Hawai'i, race is not so much a negative as it is the loving focus on kidding one another. Differences are seen as just that. We all know we are unique from one another. And that's OK.

This is the environment in which Barack Obama was raised. Should it be any surprise that he sees himself a man of "America" more than black or half white or any other race? It's the multi-ethnic culture of Hawai'i, during the formative years of a great man, that helped set the stage for the president-elect of our country.

Sometimes we take for granted the beauty of this land. Like leaving and coming back home, we have just been reminded how beautiful it is in Hawai'i.

ELECTION 2008

LINGLE'S EFFORTS FOR MCCAIN WASTE OF TIME

The Republican Party now has only six in the state House of Representative's and two in the state Senate after a few Republican incumbents were ousted by Democrats.

I'm sure the Republican Party was not happy with this outcome. When questioned whether these Republicans could have used her help during the campaign and consequently possibly averting defeat, Gov. Linda Lingle said that candidates are responsible for the success or failure of their own campaign.

If that is the case, her campaigning across the United States for John McCain, weeks before the general election was really a waste of her time.

As a lame-duck governor, it's quite clear she will be perceived as hoping a national appointment position would be offered to her if the McCain/Palin ticket was successful.

HOMELESSNESS

B&BS CUT INTO SUPPLY OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Which is it going to be? Help "hidden homeless" or "license B&Bs" as stated in two of your editorials? It can't be both if you want more affordable housing.

The more houses taken from the supply of long-term rentals and turned into B&Bs, the more homelessness there is.

Studios, bedrooms and houses that were rented to locals are now rented to tourists because it is more profitable. Because the lack of Department of Planning and Permitting enforcement is understood among owners of illegal vacation rentals and documented in your articles about the atrocities at the Gulick Avenue property, homelessness will only get worse until the DPP proves it can enforce the current laws and protect the citizenry of O'ahu.

Passing a law to allow more B&Bs will continue to sell our communities to the highest bidder, which was proven by testimony to the Planning Commission.

Using Lanikai as an example, it was shown that 56 percent of illegal vacation rentals were owned by nonresident investors from the world over. So who are we helping if those operations become legal?

Will The Advertiser use its editorial power to insist the DPP enforce the existing laws to close illegal vacation rentals, putting those accommodations back into the local rental market, or use it to support the profiteers that could care less how many people live in plywood and tarp shacks on O'ahu?

WE MUST CARE FOR ALL MEMBERS OF SOCIETY

Now with the benches gone and with the new stools at the bus stops, where will the homeless people sleep when it's raining?

I am a long-time visitor in Honolulu. I am here because my husband works here. When I am walking in the streets and see the homeless people, it hurts me deeply and I feel very sorry for them. They are human beings like all of us. They are ill, they have mental health problems and might have substance abuse problems.

We have to take care of each other — that is what a society is all about.

And it's a shame on all of us when there are homeless people.

Where is our aloha spirit? Doesn't it include all people?

GMO CROPS

KIM'S VETO PROMOTES REASON OVER FEARS

Hawai'i County Council passed Bill 361, which would ban genetic engineering research on taro and coffee. Wisely, Mayor Harry Kim has vetoed this bill, asking instead that the County Council set up an advisory commission to discuss this controversial issue before passing a law based on fear and misinformation.

Genetically modified organisms have many benefits. I have a member of my family who is taking synthetic insulin that is produced by GMOs. If you eat cheese in the U.S., you are almost certainly eating the product of GMOs. If you are eating processed foods made of wheat, corn or soybeans, there is a 70 to 90 percent chance that you are eating products made from genetically engineered crops.

Are they safe? GE crops are highly regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture. They are tested for possible allergens, and are not approved for commercial use until they have been shown to be "substantially equivalent" to non-GE crops.

According to the National Academies of Sciences, GE crops, once they have undergone this rigorous scrutiny, are as safe as non-GE crops.

Thank you, Mayor Harry Kim, for promoting reason over unjustified fears on the Big Island.

TRANSIT

FORWARD THINKING NEEDED IN RAIL SYSTEM

Now that the voters have spoken, let's hope the city will be forward and modern thinking in the design and operation of the rail system.

If they build an ultra-modern, aesthetically pleasing and well-run system, as in many foreign countries (i.e. Singapore and Sydney), it will be both clean and quiet.

This opportunity offers a myriad of ways to eliminate traffic, reduce pollutants and increase economic activity. Let's hope there is consideration to placing free parking areas near suburban stations that will offer free charging for electric cars.

Think about it! It will not only motivate the public to use the transit system but spur economic development in the electric-car industry.

Taxi drivers should rejoice, they will be rewarded by the public looking for rides to the transit stations. If done correctly, it could be great. If done wrong, God help us.

It's all on the shoulders of our leaders. Now that you have the vote, please don't blow it.

MILITARY

WATADA'S ACTIONS SHOW GREAT LOVE FOR COUNTRY

I'm sorry that in his Oct. 28 letter Norman Nishiki chose to criticize Ehren Watada for his actions ("Sad day that Watada cannot be tried again").

Norman should be proud of him instead, because what he did was the most courageous thing, benefiting all of us in the U.S.

His actions showed great love for his country and he would have served his country well as an officer.