What a great state, if we can afford it

What a great state.

We are building an ugly elevated train that will further destroy the beauty of the state and benefit only real-estate developers while doing nothing to help our horrendous traffic problem (a problem that we were told initially would be alleviated by the train).

To add to the silliness, we are destroying prime farmland to build more than 11,000 dwelling places that can only increase our dependence on imported food (whatever happened to "self-sufficiency"?) and increase the already horrible traffic problem that the rail was originally supposed to help.

And, of course, the train won’t go to the university. But then, can you even imagine an elevated train going up Manoa Valley?

As I said — what a great state.

Arg Bacon
Kahala

Rail’s cost overruns will be never ending

The huge but unknown construction cost overrun is only the top of the bottomless financial black hole for Honolulu’s rail transit project.

What comes after that is the perpetual maintenance cost overruns resulting from an overestimation of ridership and underestimation of operational costs.

There will be the prospect of further permanent increases of the general excise tax and property taxes.

Will the City Council, Gov. David Ige and the Legislature take this into account?

Stephen H.K. Yeh
Hawaii Kai

Let D.R. Horton build condo towers

Oahu needs more jobs, agriculture and housing, including some affordable housing.

D.R. Horton needs profit.

Here is one wayto achieve all four.

Instead of building 11,750 houses in Ho‘opili, D.R. Horton could build 100 condominium towers, each with 120 units. The sizes of the units could vary so that smaller units could be truly "affordable," which I define as $200,000 or less.

The units could be built on, say, 30 percent of the land, including areas for parks and services such as a fire station.

The remaining 70 percent could stay as agricultural land, and people living in the condominiums could enjoy views of the aina.

D.R. Horton could provide jobs and profit from building the condominiums and we would get to keep the benefits of a large part of our best ag land.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

If current zoning does not permit condominiums, let’s change it.

Bill Quinlan
Velzyland

Chemical spraying on Tantalus is awful

I have made hundreds of journeys to Hawaii, specifically toOahu. I’ve always enjoyedthe breathtaking beauty.My favorite pastime is hiking thetrails around the island, especially on Tantalus and Round Top Drive.

In November2014, all was normal along the drive; it was lush, green and beautiful.

I returned a few days ago and was dismayed at what I saw — brown, dead grass and plants along the road.This made me angry to see such disrespect for nature.

I saw a city workerwho told methey had been instructed to spray.What about the image of Hawaii? Is this the impression that the city wants to give to visitors? What a shame this is.

Please stop the spraying on Tantalus.I hope residents will raise their voices also to bring this to an end.

Paul Urzi
Clark, Mo.

Life long ago maybe wasn’t so terrible

I differ with Richard Rowland’s letter citing Thomas Hobbes’ 17th-century belief that abject poverty was "normal" before the rise of civilization and, later,so-called free-market capitalism ("We must build on forefathers’ legacy," Star-Advertiser, March 5).

More recent paleo-anthropological research suggests ostensibly "pre-civilized" human life was not always nasty and brutish, although generally shorter than current lifespans — for some — in so-called modern "civilized" nations.

In fact, until recently, the quality of life for most may have gotten worse after the invention and discovery of agriculture about 10,000 years ago.

So both Hobbes’ and Rowland’s historical understanding may be incomplete.

Furthermore, not all, but many past "advances" in living standards have often benefitted the fewat the expense of the many — think slavery and serfdom.

Similarly, future efforts to improve living standards for all may encounter unprecedented 21st-century challenges requiring wholesale re-evaluation and possible re-invention of current political and economic systems.

Tom Brandt
Downtown Honolulu

Obama forging bad deal with Iran

Early in this presidency, President Barack Obama declared his intention to pursue a nuclear arms-free world and led a nuclear security summit.

In 2012 he vowed never to permit Iran to maintain a nuclear program and sponsored multiple UN Security Council resolutions reaffirming that principle.

Now, in the waning days of an administration, needing some tangible foreign policy achievement, the president has reversed course and is negotiating an agreement that would phase out any restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program over time.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted this when he addressed Congress, which explains the administration’s attempts to discourage his appearance.

By the time Americans realized they could not keep their doctors, the Affordable Care Act was the law.

If enough Americans listen and react to Netanyahu’s speech, perhaps this time the president will be forced to keep his word and accept the fact that a bad agreement with Iran doesn’t constitute a foreign policy achievement.

David L. Mulliken
Diamond Head