Corporations are not natural persons

Your headlinestating legislators are calling for "limits on free speech" misreads the intent ofthe legislation and the public mood ("Proposal calls for limits on free speech," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 27).

Our Constitution intended that First Amendment rights be provided exclusively to individuals rather thanartificial creations of economic pursuit such as corporations and labor unions.

The legislation, which would amend the state Constitution to limit free-speech protections to "natural persons" and exclude businesses, is more than "protest" legislation. It seeks no less than the re-establishment of popular control over government — the basis of real democracy.

The Star-Advertiser may havemissed it, but a nascent movement to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decisionis sweeping the grassroots.Citizens in several states voted in November to tell their federal representatives to approve a constitutional amendment banning "corporate personhood," following a similar resolution by the 2012 Hawaii Legislature. Please pay attentionto this popular movement rather than portraying the movement as "anti-free speech."

Ritxard Weigel
Salt Lake

Technology might outpace new jobs

Regarding Thomas Friedman’s column ("The technology revolution makes us lifelong learners," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 31), I agree with Friedman that technological change is accelerating, increasing the need for more frequent worker retraining and putting more pressure on more people to not just more frequently find new jobs but create their own, if necessary.

However, I don’t think these are new insights.I also think Friedman failed to acknowledge the possibility that more and more humans simply may not be able to adapt to these demands without damaging their physical and/or mental health.Furthermore, Friedman did not address the possibility that technological advances could begin to eliminate jobs faster than new jobs can be created, as suggested by economist Paul Krugman.

Even though most economists think this is a remote possibility, I think it is irresponsible if we, as a society, don’t prepare for this contingency.

Tom Brandt
Downtown Honolulu

Height exemptions could ruin Waikiki

In response to "Builder Seeks OK to go higher in Waikiki" (Star-Advertiser, Jan. 24), why do these non-local developers think they can come to Hawaii and ask for concessions to a building code, especially one relating to height in the Waikiki Special Design District?

This developer wants 50 feet more in height.Before you know it, we will have Empire State Building-height buildings in Waikiki and elsewhere. Envision a 500-foot condo in Manoa Valley!

Lani Johnson
Salt Lake

Plea to be polite cuts both ways

Eugene Kon Jr. complains that some bicyclists fail to be courteous ("Some bicyclists fail to be courteous," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 4).

Applying his somewhat twisted logic to automobile drivers, let me note that while I don’t mind sharing the road with them, I have witnessed not only car, but truck, bus, SUV and van drivers speeding, running red lights and stop signs, failing to yield to pedestrians, parking on sidewalks and even using the shoulder of the roadway to pass cars waiting in traffic.

If he and other automobile users want the courtesy and right to operate their preferred mode of transportation alongside others on our — by law — complete streets, then all drivers should show the respect and courtesy that he demands of all riders.

Nat Pak
Kaimuki

Bag fee not so small for small retailers

The feel-good but not very environmentally significant bag ban proposal is treated very off-handedly in your editorial ("Shopping bag fee is way to go," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Jan. 30).

As a very small retailer, we see many issues you gloss over lightly or with apparent disdain for a large part of what funds the state and our workers.

The world is a competitive place.Our visitor numbers are strong, but the competition is great.Try having a staff in a small store that can explain in English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, French, Chinese and Russian and more, "Do you want me to just put this lovely item you purchased for 25 cents or $100 in your hand or do you want to pay 10 cents for a bag?"

By the way, newspapers kill trees and are single-use. Let’s ban them and go 100 percent digital.Will that work for you, too?

Dan Muccia
Kailua

Feral cat caretakers providing a benefit

Feral cat caretakers volunteer hours of their time and often their own funds to feed and spay/neuter cats. Matthew Tuthill’s suggestion that we should stop our efforts would lead to an even larger population of ferals as cats will survive (in a much less healthy fashion) and they will continue to populate ("Feeding feral species poses risk to all creatures in Hawaii," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 4).

Feeding and fixing cats do not create bigger populations, just healthier ones.

Yes, toxoplasmosis is a problem for pregnant women and immune-compromised individuals. Can a clever biologist please invent a drug for caretakers to put on cat food, which will rid cats of the parasite? How about a food additive that spays/neuters?

Please, just help or get out of the way. Let’s attack the real culprits — those who don’t fix their pets and thereby add to the feral population.

Sara Armstrong
Pearl City