Novelist warned that it could happen here

Nobel Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis foresaw the election of an anti-establishment outsider to the presidency in his 1935 semi-satirical novel, “It Can’t Happen Here.”

Candidate Berzelius Windrop harnesses the anger of “The Forgotten Men,” white males who lost their livelihoods in the Great Depression, by scapegoating minorities and expressing admiration for foreign tyrants.

Sounds familiar. After the election he soon establishes a police state-driven dictatorship.

While it could never happen in America, it sure makes you think. Or could it?

John Priolo

Pearl City

TMT not the same as Dakota pipeline

I appreciate Hawaiian wayfinder Chad Baybayan’s support of the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea (“Eminent Hawaiian wayfinder wants telescope to be built,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 3).

The TMT will extend the “naked eyes” of the early Polynesian navigators into the universe and beyond to answer ultimate questions of mankind. Mauna Kea is sacred but this depends upon one’s definition of sacredness, as all of creation is sacred.

The interfaith religious, cultural and environmental communities also stand in support of Native Americans in Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to protect their water resources and sacred places.

But unlike the Hawaiian anti-TMT activists whose only premise is of Mauna Kea’s sacredness, the bottom line of the Dakota Access Pipeline protest is to prevent climate change and keep fossil fuels in the ground.

Chuck Burrows

Crossroads Peace, Justice and Stewardship of Creation

State harbors need to be upgraded

The future of our state is truly tied to our harbors. Hawaii is the only state in the union that is not connected to the other states by networks of highways and rail tracks.

Our highway is the Pacific Ocean. Vessels bring in 80 percent of the goods we depend on through our 10 commercial harbors. Our state operates on a “just in time” supply chain management system.

Our state has not spent any money on the redevelopment or development our vital harbor assets for more than 30 years.

The Sand Island terminals are operating beyond their designed capacities. Sand Island has a capacity of 950,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). In 2013, Sand Island handled 1,175,058 TEUs, 24 percent beyond capacity. A study by economist Leroy Laney found that the terminals would be 100 percent over their capacities in 2031.

Yes, the proposed fee increases are high (“State seeks big hike in harbor fees,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 30). But do we really have a choice?

Gary J. North

Executive director, Hawaii Harbor Users Group

Parking stalls shouldn’t be free

Anyone who owns a car should be prepared to pay for the gasoline to make it run, pay for the road on which it runs, and pay for the parking stall at both ends of the journey.

Don’t expect me to pay for your transportation needs (“Waikiki residents need parking,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 6).

Owen Miyamoto

Manoa

Taxpayers subsidize public transportation

Jeff Merz, a Waikiki resident, said that “taxpayers are tired of subsidizing drivers. Enough is enough” in reference to free parking in the Waikiki area (“Stricter parking good for Waikiki,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 9).

His complaint about subsidizing drivers is ludicrous. Apparently he has no complaint about subsidizing the bus system or the proposed rail system.

Marian Grey

Hawaii Kai

Quiksilver shouldn’t dominate The Eddie

It is disrespectful that the Aikau family has to negotiate with Quiksilver to hold Hawaii’s most prestigious surf contest, “The Eddie” (“Quiksilver surf tourney will no longer be ‘The Eddie’,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 29).

Waimea is Eddie’s home, not the home of “The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau” big-wave surfing contest.

Quiksilver has had a great run with “The Eddie” and the family wants to move on and spread the wealth now that the 10-year contract has expired.

The state needs to put a term limit on the permits awarded to these large organizations that make money off our public ocean and land.

These permits should have a five-year limit with a two-year suspension for a company that holds it for five years.

This would give The Eddie the opportunity to stand alone and not be a pawn of Quiksilver’s exploitation.

The Aikau family has spread the aloha spirit around the world. Quiksilver should step back and let them do it at Eddie’s home, Waimea Bay.

Bruce Black

Diamond Head

Rail project needs full financial audit

I’m outraged by the increasing costs, delays and serious safety issues of our rail project revealed in the Star-Advertiser.

I strongly urge Krishniah Murthy, the new acting executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, to conduct a full financial audit as well as both a construction and a technology review.

We taxpayers deserve to see a full financial audit even before the city presents a new financial plan to federal officials — before we read about another higher cost projection.

If the audit indicates that the extended funding will not allow completion to Ala Moana Center with the current plan, then isn’t it about time we changed the plan?

Conversion to a modern magnetic levitation rail system, with reduced construction costs, could enable completing the project while staying within budget.

I sincerely hope that Murthy and the new HART board consider the maglev option, a system superior to steel wheels in terms of efficiency, size, affordability, safety and sound.

Elaine Kam

East Honolulu