Goal of these games is a moment of peace

Let the games begin. The World Cup is an opportunity for the world to celebrate life through this uniquely global sport.

With 5 billion people doing the same thing, FIFA and soccer have the power to do more than sell shoes and Coca-Cola: They can create a moment of world peace, a single day of peace during the final match. It is nonreligious, global and free.

Don’t kill anyone for one day and you have participated in it even without doing anything. The World Cup has replaced the Olympics as the world’s biggest sporting event and it needs to show its power to enhance the global society, beginning with peace.

Homelessness needs a solution

Our lawmakers are shocked at the homelessness that plagues the leeward coast, really? That is like being shocked that gambling goes on in a casino.

Of course, you would have to actually enter the area to really know what goes on. For years,we the residents on the leeward coast have begged, pleaded and cajoled to get any one of our representatives to take notice and end the scourge that has become our norm.

This is a human tragedy, an ecological disaster and a safety and sanitation nightmare. The Star-Advertiser has been very helpful in giving voice to our concerns, yet our lawmakers wring their hands and close their eyes. That is not good enough.

Our mayor has succeeded in making some progress. However, it remains a game of "clear here, move there." This is not good enough.

Solutions have been offered, but our elected officials either lack the ability, or maybe the will to do the unpleasant.

There is no painless answer. We spend millions of dollars trying to help and we only have bigger encampments. This does not make sense. We elected our lawmakers to serve and represent us, not to give them a career. They need to do their job.

Young driver is a freeway menace

Recently, as we were returning to Mililani from Waikiki, my husband and I witnessed an appalling threat to all of us who dare to venture out on our freeways.

A female in her early 20s was speeding east on the H-I at 2 p.m. on June 4 in a small white sports convertible, weaving back and forth in her lane. She had a cigarette in one hand and was texting on her cell phone with the other. I’m guessing she has very adaptable knees that have become very proficient when it comes to steering the vehicle.

If you’re reading this today and have a wife or a daughter who fits this description, you may want to take the keys until this person is more respectful of the law and human life. At least let me give you my number so my family and I can stay off the road.

Let’s celebrate UH, HPU wins

Hawaii is on the map again. We should all be proud of the University of Hawaii’s women’s softball and men’s baseball teams. Also Hawaii Pacific University for the outstanding accomplishment it achieved in its program. Congratulations to the coaches — Bob Coolen, Mike Trapasso and Bryon Nakasone. They all deserve special recognition for all their good work. A celebration is in order.

New home tax penalizes many

The city and City Council are still trying to hoodwink us into thinking that the higher tax rate for non-homeowners is only going to affect absentee landlords, investors, and people who don’t live on their properties.

What is never clearly spelled out is that there are more than 5,000 homes on Oahu with owner occupants living on their properties and granted homeowner exemptions that are thrown into this class simply because the city put them in the non-homeowner class.

The mayor specifically requested the wording that the City Council passed last fall that puts any property with more than one dwelling into this class.

That means that people with ohana units who may well be living on fixed incomes and are trying to get by with family members living on the property, or who have guest houses that are used only for guests, or who own a small apartment building and are living in one of the units are all called "absentee owners" and forced to pay a higher tax rate.