West Maui lacks disaster shelters

I attended the hazard preparedness meeting at the Lahaina Civic Center. The speech was given by the advocate of the American Red Cross. She stated clearly that no safety evacuation structures have been identified and certified as safe; however, they hope to have some in the future, and they will try to notify us as to which buildings are acceptable when they notify us of the impending hurricane.

She stated that they will try to notify us with the same radio system that broke down during the Pali brushfire and that had left West Maui without communication with the rest of the island. She said that there are no provisions for the malahini (visitors); that you should stock up with food and expect to be on your own for two weeks; that CERT-trained personnel will not be able to assist prior to the cessation of the hazard; and that the Red Cross will try to help out only after the disaster.

I commend her for giving us the straight story instead of the story that we would like to hear.

I suggest that the county immediately identify and mark certified safety evacuation centers with Civil Defense symbols and the words “Evacuation Centers,” as well as stock them with the necessary provisions.

Also, I recommend that the new Civil Defense director to be hired have disaster experience in his or her resume.

PAUL LAUB, Former President, Maui County Veterans Council

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Alcohol is the worst drug

A letter in The Maui News on July 9 stated that nobody, according to the DEA, has ever died from Cannabis. However, 88,000 people per year die from alcohol use, and over 15 million suffer from Alcohol Use Disorder (suffer from diseases caused by alcohol). Yet our “experts” at the DEA, FDA and DOH fight legal painkillers like the devil.

Does anyone ever realize that the money spent on caring for alcohol victims exceeds by far the taxes taken in from the sale of it?

Our governments (federal, state, counties) kill people on purpose. The purpose being collecting taxes, which will be spent (and then some) on caring for alcohol problems.

How about needing a prescription for alcohol? You won’t get one, since it has no medicinal benefit except for external disinfection. As it is, you can buy as much as you want as long as you are 21.

What did Yakov on the TV series “Night Court” (1980s and 1990s) always say? “What a country!”

JOHN BLAHUTA, Lahaina

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Skip bookstores and go to the library

Barnes and Noble is losing business. Amazon book department, you are in jeopardy, too!

The Lahaina Library can provide all the books we need on Maui. If you have not gone to our library, you are missing a great experience. You can get books, magazines, books for your tablet, audio books, movies and music – all for free!

It is truly a delightful experience. Located on the harbor, it is reminiscent of your childhood library – just charming. Plus the staff is fun and efficient; they are a pleasure to visit.

You can search a book on the Internet, request it, and before you know it, you have an e-mail stating the book is waiting for you. You can get the newly released bestsellers very fast.

Give it a try. Donate the money you used to spend on books to the Maui Humane Society

ALLY HARNEY, Launiupoko

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Developers and government don’t respect sacred sites

How can we respond to global atrocities? Could we be the change so desperately needed?

NIMBY is the acronym for “Not In My Back Yard,” currently a term used for people considered to selfishly protest development.

Developers are required to provide archeologists that report to the State Historic Preservation Division. Archeology is the study of human history through the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.

Understandably, archeologists sometimes don’t discover or identify sacred places. How could they? “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we don’t see.” (Hebrews)

Through decades of neglect and abuse in Hawaii, archeological evidence has been destroyed. Oral history and documentation is ignored. It’s evident in Lahaina’s Kahoma development.

A cultural history overview of Kahoma was produced for the Corps of Engineers in 1979 (see http://www. dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a128221.pdf).

Stanford Carr’s Kahoma Village subdivision is currently under construction. Does it seem right that the county issues permits for the project when the Maui Planning Commission is a party in a pending court appeal?

It’s typical protocol in Hawaii. Before judgment is rendered, the damage is done. How are Hawaiians supposed to protect their culture and history? How do you restore what’s been destroyed?

“Consider Him (Jesus) who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Change happens when “NIMBY” becomes our response to injustice, oppression and suffering. Imagine everyone in their area of influence practicing the “pono policy” – do what is right!

MICHELE LINCOLN, Lahaina

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Trumpland

It isn’t that difficult figuring out what went wrong. If anyone has been really paying attention, they could have seen it coming from miles out – like an engorged intestine hell bent on discharging its foul waste on our planet.

Much of this never would have happened if the framers of our Constitution had included term limits in the format. I think it was Madison who said that we need some senators and House members to remain in office longer than most others, because they would be more intelligent, more visionary and be able to bind the group together as we stumbled on toward our indeterminate destiny.

This was done remembering all the while that only white, rich males who owned property could vote. Many of the founding fathers were slave owners. The entire Constitution was written to protect and preserve them in reality, and everyone else in theory. Over time, the Bill of Rights along with the Amendments to the Constitution rectified many of the injustices that either through absence or intent were not evident in the original document.

We rose to the occasion in WWII, and with FDR’s foresight and leadership, passed truly progressive social legislation for the time. He is considered by many to be one of the three great presidents along with Washington and Lincoln. Interring 100,000 Japanese/American citizens for national security was unforgivable, as was dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the good with the bad, they say! I have been to both cities and the museums; one cannot visit without crying. I am a former E-4 in the United States Marine Corps.

So, we created a middle America, the great middle class, all about manufacturing, building and working together in pursuit of our dream. It did not make matters easier that we do not live in a homogenous society. As everyone kept emigrating, just as we had, the complexion of the country changed. But now we had highways and telephones and TVs and unions and big time GREED to accompany racism and misogyny.

So rather than accept that our differences were our strengths, and band together as truly brothers and sisters, we allowed ourselves to be driven apart by business interests.

Our manufacturing base disappeared, and we concentrated on tech stuff, wanting to control the world’s electronic wizardry. In lieu of producing, we engaged in a dozen or so undeclared wars at astronomical costs in terms of lives and money, while China, the Middle East, Mexico, etc. picked up the slack. It is worth noting that in times of war, most financial institutions and wealthy families directly or indirectly bet on and finance both sides of the conflict. Money interests made a different kind of killing in Vietnam. They always have! Our economy is not national – it is global!

We turn on the tube and see a group of mealy-mouthed seniors masquerading as legislators, who long ago forgot their mission in D.C. Each and every member of Congress is owned by at least 26 lobbyists. These senators and House members are desperately trying to please their corporate masters by gutting one of the few good and decent bills advanced to help with our medical needs. What sort of kind, compassionate or fiscally responsible agenda is advanced by taking $800 billion from Medicare to give back in tax cuts to the least deserving group of folks on the planet? Given that 237 of the 535 members of Congress are millionaires, it probably makes the effort more palatable to the greedy, but it will never fly in the winds of righteousness and good old grassroots decency.

We watch these old people rife with physical and mental challenges on the tube blustering and squawking about this and that, pretending they know the issues, have read a bill or even care what we think – we being their employers, their constituents. These are not Madison’s visionaries or leaders; these are rest home candidates, most of whom cannot function without their walkers and Depends.

Then we have Trump, a president so despised that more people trust Putin than he. As a result of extraordinary carelessness, a group of voters has combined to cost this country a generation of progress, all because they had a hissy fit regarding things most do not even understand.

Eventually Trump will be forced to leave the presidency. Of course, the longer he remains in office, the longer the “clean up” will take. Whether it is political impeachment, criminal misconduct or an exercise of the 25th Amendment, he will go. Sooner than later is fine by me!

It will take containers full of fragrances to get the stink of Trump out of the White House, when the Mayflower moving vans haul off his stuff.

DAVID HAYDEN DROWN, Lahaina

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Tunnel is the only solution to West Maui traffic

Only one cure: a tunnel through the West Maui Mountains, North Kaanapali to Waikapu. Start planning now. They do it in Europe. Technology exists – just need the will and the money.

NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST