Mahalo for parade
Just got back from the veterans parade in downtown Hilo. I am a visitor to Hilo, and I felt it was an honor to be here to witness it.
What a great job done by all of the people participating, as well as the spectators.
I’m one of those guys who came back from Vietnam in 1969 and did not get that “welcome home.” But I sure got it Saturday!
Thank you, Hilo.
Tim Lynch
Hilo
TMT controversy
This Thirty Meter Telescope controversy — isn’t it monumentally captivating?
Fascinating, isn’t it, that the “chosen one,” in this case a mountain, which can’t speak on its behalf, has to have its fate decided by people?
Ironic, too, isn’t it, that the opponents of TMT are appealing a twice-approved permit, through a legal system that is not of the Native Hawaiian nation?
Not surprising, isn’t it, that a “peace park” still “needs” to be built, even if its purpose was to change the minds of the TMT protesters, who aren’t biting the bait?
Stranger yet, isn’t it intriguing that 13 telescopes were already built on Mauna Kea even before this latest, fiery fuss erupted?
And isn’t it remarkable, figuratively speaking, that the very instrument that will enable us to see the heavens clearer has become the very reason for people here not to see eye to eye?
Lloyd Fukuki
Waimea
‘False equivalency’
Sam Wallis objected to an editorial cartoon about trick-or-treating President Donald Trump (Your Views, Tribune-Herald).
I agree, it was demeaning to the president. Mr. Wallis then compared it to a hypothetical cartoon about Obama. That’s a false equivalency: The editorial cartoonist was criticizing Trump as an individual, saying his behavior has not been intelligent, while the hypothetical cartoon would have been nothing but a racial smear.
Let’s raise, not lower, the level of our public discourse.
Katie Friday
Hilo
