We just made “America weak again” in Vladimir Putin’s eyes. The Russian president got what he wanted from the president of the United States (POTUS), who demanded an answer on whether the Russians interfered with our 2016 elections. Sure he did — he said Putin was a foe of the United States, but also insinuated that our intelligence community was wrong in blaming Russia.

This tells me that Putin has something over the POTUS in some form or fashion. Our POTUS has supported the Russians more than he has supported anything positive in America. Immigration, faulty tax cuts, embarrassed our NATO allies, started a trade war with China, met with another dictator in Kim Jong Un of North Korea.

Republicans, now’s your time to do what you were elected to do, and step up for the American people. Get over Hillary Clinton’s email server, and focus on the Russians.

William (Bill) T. Pirtle

Waipahu

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Fire safety is more than just sprinklers

The tragic fire at the Marco Polo tower does not seem to have changed the dangerous practices that contributed to the disaster. A photo on Page A7 in your July 14 article, “Building a future,” shows a louvered door among things “in various stages of renovation.” Those louvered doors were identified by the Honolulu Fire Department as one of the contributors to the rapid spread of the fire; they are prohibited by city codes and building rules.

That photo should give the lawyers for the families of the victims who are suing the condo management good evidence for their case.

More importantly, it should remind condo owners and management that fire safety is more than just sprinklers.

Tom Sheeran

McCully-Moiliili

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Ban plastic bags, but give paper ones free

For the sake of the environment, plastic bags should not have a fee. They should be outright unavailable.

Now that consumers are being charged for both plastic bags as well as paper bags, people are walking out of stores with items without bags, which is going to contribute to more theft as people are walking out with armfuls of items, which looks no different than someone grabbing items off the shelves and skipping the cash registers.

This is going to require each store to pay for employees to inspect receipts at the doors to confirm purchased items, which leads to more expense.

The free paper bags worked well. They should keep those free.

Han Song

Kaneohe

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Sweepstakes sure seems like a lottery

Congratulations to the young woman who just won $1 million in the Safeway Monopoly lottery — er, I mean, sweepstakes contest. Oh, wait. I thought gambling in Hawaii was illegal. Yet the woman said she was shopping at Safeway up to four times a day in order to get the “game pieces” with the winning numbers. How is that different from purchasing actual lottery tickets?

And what about all the poor, lower-income people preyed upon, by enticing them to spend more at the stores in pursuit of the big jackpot? Where are the protests from opponents of a state-sponsored lottery that might benefit education programs or could be applied to the rail project?

Perhaps the state should partner with a major mainland supermarket chain to make that happen. Obviously, it knows how to get around outdated laws that prevent the rest of us from doing what everyone else has been doing in 48 other states for decades.

Rich Figel

Kailua

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Bikesharing changes view on urban living

I was never the one to say to friends, “let’s go for a bike ride” — but Biki has changed the way I view bicycles after visiting Oahu with my dad for the past month.

Living in urban Honolulu is a great thing, and possibly the best part is the close proximity of everything one would ever need. Since Honolulu is such a large city, mobility is key and a car is not the smartest option because of limited parking. Biki’s cheaper than a monthly car payment. It is eco-friendly, and encourages physical activity.

Biki can be used by every local and visitor; plus, sharing the bikes relieves the stress of owning one. Visitors can use the bikes to go and explore parts of urban Honolulu and spend money in local shops.

Biki has helped me be more active during my day and has changed my perspective on urban living.

Jake Blum

Asheville, N.C.

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Streets have become an open asylum

The incorrigible homeless have taken over. We keep ignoring the challenge: The mentally ill, the drug users, the vagrants do not want to vacate the public areas of Honolulu and we can’t seem to find a solution.

Simple — stop feeding them, stop excusing their anti-social behavior, stop supporting their life-style. Build or convert a facility to compassionately restrict these people from abusing themselves. Open a building, a dormitory, a hospital, or whatever it takes, to move these people off the streets into a safe and secure facility where we can help them become productive members of society.

If transformation doesn’t work, then those who won’t or can’t help themselves should truly become wards of the state and placed in a facility where they can be supported, but, let it not be on our sidewalks or in our parks.

Tom Howes

Aiea