Visitor may bring own shopping bags

So, let’s see. As a visitor to Hawaii, I either have to pack shopping bags from the mainland, or pay 15 cents a bag in Hawaii?

I’ve already started mailing my souvenirs back to the mainland from each island I visit since the Transportation Security Administration is such a hassle and the airlines charge an arm and a leg for checked bags.

Now I’ll have to bring my own shopping bags as well, or get ripped off.

John Miller

Rolla, Mo.

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Don’t delay in fixing Red Hill fuel tanks

The aged, behemoth Navy fuel tanks rusting under Red Hill are an extreme danger to Oahu’s water supply. A plan to fix the tanks will take more than 20 years.

Their poison has contaminated the ground beneath the tanks, which sit 100 feet above the main aquifer for hundreds of thousands of people on Oahu. The damage from further leaks will be irreparable and the horror of a poisoned water supply will be our legacy.

We must choose the safest solution to repair the tanks, independently of expense, or shut the aged tanks down altogether. Could we shut down half of the tanks today, and immediately cut the risk by 50 percent?

If the Navy can shut down the tanks it can’t fix in 20 years, why can’t it do that now? We need to look at the big picture, and take action today to save our clean water.

Alison Bhattacharyya

Nuuanu

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Complete Streets a healthy concept

It is with no pun intended that I heartily endorse the “Complete Streets” vision of designing our transportation system for moving people, not just cars.

Enabling people to safely walk or bicycle is not just good for the heart. It supports Hawaii’s status as being one of the healthiest places to live in the U.S.

It is much more enjoyable to be smelling the plumeria, feeling the trades on the face or just giving a nod to people rather than being in traffic or looking for that elusive parking spot.

It was very gratifying to have representatives from “Complete Streets” come to our neighborhood in April to walk the streets with us and gather input from the people who use them to get to work, school, shops or the beach in all modes of transportation. Engaging the stakeholders — what a refreshing idea!

Les Haldane

Kailua

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Immigration policy inhumane to families

“Above all nations is humanity” is inscribed on the Founder’s Gate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. When I first came across that sentiment in 1968, it made me feel proud that “my” university had such a beautifully inclusive and human philosophy.

Contrast that with the Trumpian cruelty of tearing children away from parents who are seeking refuge in a country that in its Constitution promises the “Blessings of Liberty.” It is almost too painful to bear how far we have fallen.

According to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the policy of separating children from parents has been implemented to discourage others who contemplate seeking refuge from doing it. According to President Donald Trump, the children deserve what they get. Unbelievable!

Donald J. Trump, please do at least one decent thing: Resign and do what you do best. Go play golf.

Sid Rosen

Hawaii Kai

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U.S. should adopt parliamentary system

David Brook’s suggestion, “Ranked-choice voting would curb political party extremes” (Star-Advertiser, June 2) is a good one.

There are many reasons to prefer multi-member electoral districts, perhaps with ranked-choice voting, over the current winner-take-all single-member- district system.

However, of equal importance is abandoning the presidentialist system that former University of Hawaii political science professor Fred Riggs showed overwhelmingly leads to deadlock and military dictatorships, and replacing it with a parliamentary system.

Then, the prime minister can be removed by the legislature when she loses its confidence, and new elections to the legislature can be called by the prime minister when politically needed, instead of artificially every four years or so.

But in truth the pre-industrial horse-and-buggy system of U.S. government — at all levels — should be scrapped and a new one invented that can effectively deal with our world that otherwise functions at the speed of light.

Jim Dator

Waikiki

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Use Hawaiian diacriticals in paper

An “Off the News” item, “Hawaiian word mispronounced at spelling bee” (Star-Advertiser, June 6), rightly pointed out the importance of proper pronunciation of Hawaiian words for proper Hawaiian spelling. The item said that if the plant name ‘a‘ali‘i had been pronounced correctly, it would not have been misspelled by a student from Texas.

Just as proper pronunciation of Hawaiian words leads to proper spelling, proper Hawaiian spelling leads to proper Hawaiian pronunciation. Proper Hawaiian pronunciation includes enunciation of the ‘okina and kahakö. (Compare pau — “finished”; and pä‘ü — “type of skirt.”

Given the importance of the ‘okina and kahakö in assuring proper Hawaiian pronunciation, I encourage the Star-Advertiser to fully utilize the ‘okina and kahakö in promoting proper Hawaiian pronunciation in our community.

Dr. Kauanoe Kamanä

President, ‘Aha Pünana Leo

Hilo