Candidates should focus on real issues

Richard Borreca’s column on the election was insightful and frightening ("Same-sex marriage foes flex muscles in election," Star-Advertiser, On Politics, July 13).

I hope voters will be very wary of candidates who are running because of one issue. Same-sex marriage was not going to go away, was going to happen, and courts have ruled in favor of it. Over and done with. Forget it.

I did not like having a special session, only because of the cost. However, it did save time for the regular session to pursue the issues that really affect us, including taxes, jobs, environment, education and crime.

Those are the things you need to look at when selecting a candidate to vote for.

Make sure they are running because they care and are knowledgeable about the many truly serious issues facing our state, and that they are capable of objectively dealing with them.

Shirley Hasenyager
Kailua

Tourism up, even with the homeless

Saturday’s news article said that there were inaccuracies in calculating visitor spending, and that we actually have $100 million more than we thought, and in reality are on track for a new record high.

Well, this is a little embarrassing, isn’t it?

I mean, after all, we all just got comfortable blaming the homeless for the drop in tourism and passed all these laws to criminalize the homeless. Now we find out tourism revenue actually is higher than it has ever been.

Quick! We need to come up with or invent a new problem to blame on the homeless.

Curtis J. Kropar
Executive director, Hawaiian Hope

Israel should show more self-restraint

It is clear that the Hamas fired the first salvo in this latest battle between Israel and the Hamas. Hamas has fired more than 1,000 rockets into Israel. Most of these have been destroyed by the U.S.-financed "Iron Dome" shield. The rest have safely landed away from population centers.

Not a single Israeli has been killed by these Hamas slingshots. Yet Israel has chosen to bomb Gaza in retaliation, killing more than a hundred Palestinians.

As a self-proclaimed civilized country, Israel’s image to the rest of the world would have been better served if it had exercised self-restraint, at least until any of its citizens was actually hurt.

This Israeli reaction is excessive in nature. It reminds me of David and Goliath, except this time David is not Jewish.

Pradeepta Chowdhury
Hilo

Hawaiians risk losing designation

No one can undo the overthrow, annexation and statehood. If a Native Hawaiian government is not recognized by the United States, if "indigenous people of Hawaii" status is not confirmed, the crises could soon begin for programs that are for "Hawaiians first" and "Hawaiians only," putting them at risk of losing those designations through legal challenges based on racial discrimination. And the Nation of Hawaii will remain unformed.

Please do not allow this opportunity for recognition to slip away because it may never come again ("Consensus would end U.S. effort," Star-Advertiser, July 13).

Light a very big candle rather than continue to curse the darkness.

Anne Sabalaske
Kuliouou

Will labels explain why GMOs are bad?

I admit it. I don’t get it. What is wrong with genetically modified food?

Is it bad for me healthwise? If anyone has shown that such food will make you ill, I haven’t seen it. There are already many chemicals, antibiotics and pesticides in our food that are allowed. So why the uproar about GMO?

I can understand that GMO food should be labeled as such to simply notify the consumer. If organic food is labeled as such, GMO food should be labeled. But I get the impression from the anti-GMO protesters that they see this as something far more sinister and dangerous.

Preventing salmonella, e-coli, botulism and other food-bourne diseases makes public health sense. But GMO? I don’t get it.

Lunsford Phillips
Kailua

Red tape burdens small businesses

Small businesses are big in Hawaii and many of them are family-owned enterprises. So it may help our state and county leaders to read the article, "Red Tape Blues," in the July 5 issue of the Economist (available online). Essentially, it’s about the best and worst states for small business. Hawaii receives a grade of F.

What is surprising is that rather than complain about the taxes they have to pay, most owners of small businesses nationwide abhor the red tape they encounter in conducting their business.

Melvyn Masuda
Waialae-Kahala

Ban traffic from N. Shore beaches

Have any of our smart government people thought about banning cars altogether from the North Shore beaches?I visited Zion National Park, where visitors are taken from the parkingarea to the park by a non-pollutingtrain. We could do a similar thing, say, from Laie to Haleiwa.

Unless you are a resident of the area, or with a special sticker that indicates you are passing through, you would not be allowed to drive through. This will eliminatetraffic, parking and minimize pollution in the area.

Obviously the state or city should provide a parking with security as pick-up points.

The last time I traveled through this area, I could not believe thetraffic jams and people crossing the streets as they wish.

Rosita R. Sipirok-Siregar
Makakilo