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Labor Day gives the employed honor for their work, in the form of a day when they don’t have to.
Work is part of daily life, but on this day of rest (for most of us) we also have a chance to reflect on the fact that even that is changing.
Technological unemployment — the replacement of human laborers with robots and other forms of automation — has been the stuff of research and crystal-ball gazing for years now.
Some experts seem worried, but others believe extra leisure time will ultimately be a boon — as long as there are various means of profit-sharing, or even shared ownership of those robots — enacted as policies in this brave new world.
But for the moment, merely enjoying the holiday seems like a plan.
The Grinch is about to give back Christmas
The city of Honolulu shouldn’t be the Grinch that stole Christmas trees — fresh cut trees, that is — from public gathering places.
A group of Honolulu restaurateurs, hoteliers and merchants is lobbying to change the city’s fire code, which bans the display of cut trees, including Christmas trees, in large gathering spots. The Honolulu City Council gave the second of three approvals to a bill that would amend the fire code to allow the cut trees to be on display as long as they are treated with fire retardant.
Businesses have been issued notices of violation over the years, but no actual citations involving fines, city fire officials said. Even the Christmas tree displays at Honolulu Hale are now plastic due to the fire code.
Artificial trees may be less combustible, but they are also less Christmas-y.