7,700 tons of Aloha?

SOURCE: Ken Taylor (taylork021@Hawaii.rr.com)
SUBHEAD: The navy nuclear killer submarine USS Hawaii welcomed to Hawaii by Governor Linda Lingle.

By Jim Albertini on 30 July 2009 for the Maui Aina Center -
Malu ‘Aina Center


image above: Aloha ceremony welcoming the USS Hawaii to Pearl Harbor. From http://hawaii.gov/gov/govtube/photogallery/2009/uss-hawai-i-arrival-ceremony

On Friday, July 24, 2009 the Hawaii Tribune-Herald published a photo (see below) of a blue and yellow lei draped USS Hawaii as it entered its new homeport of Pearl Harbor. Governor Linda Lingle was there for the greeting and the nuclear-powered and armed sub was given an Hawaiian blessing. Can you imagine such blasphemy and desecration of the culture and language of Hawaii and all creation? Dr. Glenn Paige, author and retired professor at UH Manoa wrote a letter to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. It is reprinted below. 
I wonder how many readers were shocked by the Star-Bulletin's July 24 welcome to the nuclear submarine USS Hawaii with the banner heading, "7,700 tons of Aloha." According to the Pukui-Elbert dictionary, "aloha" means "love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy, pity, kindness" and more.

By all accounts, the USS Hawaii, with sponsor Gov. Linda Lingle's initials inscribed on a keel metal plate and a Hawaiian blessing by a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard, is the most murderous war machine yet devised by the lethal ingenuity of mankind. Its presence in Hawaii does not make the islands safer, but a target, as did the ships at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Much greater safety must be sought in developing the applied multidisciplinary science of nonkilling security in Hawaii, the Asia Pacific region and the world Furthermore, despite celebration of the boost to Hawaii's economy, the cost of the $2.6 billion killer submarine constitutes what President Eisenhower in 1953 called "theft" by warships and guns from those who are hungry and poor."
image above: USS Hawaii in Pearl Harbor wearing giant lei draped over conning tower.From http://honolulunavyleague.org/theusshawaii/

Please note that the USS Hawaii is able to launch Tomahawk nuclear-armed missiles far more powerful than the atomic bombs which destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The USS Hawaii can also deliver comandoes in violation of other nations sovereignty. The Navy acknowledges discharging 4,843,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste into Pearl Harbor from nuclear-powered submarines as of l973.

 Since then they have withheld data about such discharges. The Navy also admits to dumping over 2,000 fifty-five gallon steel drums of radioactive solid waste on the ocean floor off Hawaii's shores. (Source: The Dark Side of Paradise, p.l8) What effects such pollution may have on marine life and, in turn the health and safety of Hawaii's people is simply not clear.

But it is commonly accepted that there is no safe level of radiation, and even low-level doses of radiation accelerate our aging process and may cause cancer. And let's not forget the confirmed military radiation contamination in Hawaii from weapons training that has yet to be fully assessed. End U.S. Occupation: Military Clean-Up NOT Build-Up! 1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc. 5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Jim Albertini Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O.Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai’i 96760 phone: 808-966-7622 email: JA@interpac.net website: www.malu-aina.org

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