From the Forum @ Staradvertiser.com

"(De)Occupy Honolulu group moves tents to Concert Hall," Star-Advertiser, April 23:

» I support most of what I gather the (de)Occupy folks claim to believe, but what do they really hope to accomplish with their crudely lettered signs propped against pup-tents on public sidewalks and in public parks? If they really believe what they say they do, they should clean up their campsites, pack up their tents and do what Joe Hill long ago demanded: Organize! And act!

» The Honolulu version of the Occupy movement is … more interested in Hawaiian sovereignty — hence the name (de)Occupy — and focusing on anti-GMO and anti-rail propaganda.

» (De)Occupy Honolulu members have lost … what little support they had to carry out their mission. They have become a thorn in the side of every taxpaying citizen and a blight on our city.

» The city should charge them rent, taxes and utilities.

» I’m a bleeding-heart liberal but setting up camp at the Concert Hall without planning to put on a concert is not sitting well with the public or me.

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"Hanabusa will run for Senate against incumbent," Star-Advertiser, April 23:

» All Hanabusa has to do is run on the platform that she is running for senator to fulfill the late Sen. Dan Inouye’s last wish (that Hanabusa be appointed to replace him in the U.S. Senate), and there is a high probability she would win.

» Schatz represents the younger, newer segment of the party versus the old guard. I find that refreshing. Go, Brian!

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"D.C. trip affirms city’s commitment to rail," Star-Advertiser, April 24:

» Yay! Another one of these "We all took a big trip to D.C. to do something that could easily have been done in 10 minutes over the phone." Do they get a free sandwich after 20 of these trips?

» The feds are paying the mouse’s share of this project, yet our mayors are always running halfway across the world to ask them if they are still "committed" to the rail project.

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"House committee shelves bill to study GMO labeling effects," Star-Advertiser, April 24:

» Mahalo, Rep. Jessica Wooley, for not supporting yet another study, which would have been conducted by opponents of citizens’ right-to-know legislation. Our legislators have been inundated with studies, … testimony and one-on-one meetings with concerned citizens, medical experts, farmers and retailers. It is only a matter of time before Hawaii residents will have the same rights as residents in more than 60 countries that require labeling of these untested, novel transgenic foods.

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"Honolulu drops to No. 2 for worst traffic," Star-Adveiser, April 25:

» Rail will provide a better alternative to getting stuck in road traffic. Go rail, go!

» Wait! Los Angeles has worse traffic than us and has trains? How do you explain that?

» What are we getting for all our taxes? Highways are the lifeblood of any city. … yet our leaders seem to give them no thought, whatsoever. So sad.

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"Protesters’ campsite cleared after complaint from TheBus," Star-Advertiser, April 25:

» Even with the public’s complaints about the ugliness, filth and, on occasion, refusal to walk on the sidewalks, it took TheBus to have these people and tents removed by using bus operations as being disrupted. … Wow! Someone in City Hall finally came up with a good reason for removal so the city wouldn’t look bad by just removing them on the first day.

» Now we have the solution for this problem. Just put a bus stop wherever they put their tents.

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"User fee might replace gas tax," Star-Advertiser, April 25:

» Government never repeals or sunsets a tax; they only add new ones. They may promise to end the gas tax to start a new one, but they will wind up adding the new tax without repealing the old one.

» All drivers don’t use the roads equally. That’s why a per-mile user fee (gas tax) is better than a flat fee.

» Why not leave the current fuel taxes as they are and change the highway tax laws to assess all electric vehicles? They use the roads and should pay for the privilege like the rest of us. Nothing is free.