Homeless left out of ‘life of the land’

The recent Thomas Square upgrade visually ties the park to the adjacent Blaisdell Concert Hall and Honolulu Museum of Art, highlighting it as a hub of cultural and historical importance.

The main focus is a statue of King Kamehameha III near a central flagpole, this recalling the 1843 flag-raising ceremony where Adm. Richard Thomas restored the Hawaiian kingdom’s sovereignty (“Statue dedication at Thomas Square to celebrate historic day,” Star-Advertiser, July 28). The site memorializes the King’s Hawaiian language response that later became our state motto, usually translated as, “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

Nice work, but we should contrast the design’s high-flown cultural and social references with the very real squalor and political hypocrisy manifested through the area’s perpetual homeless population. If we can spend millions refurbishing the park and yet will not fund effective solutions addressing the poor who populate it, the area actually shows righteousness in short supply and today’s life of the land slowly dying.

Dan Binkley

Makiki

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‘Be Change Now’ would buy LG office

I am disturbed by the large sums of money being spent by “Be Change Now” to defeat a well-qualified candidate such as state Sen. Jill Tokuda to pay her back for her positions in the Legislature.

Political action committees (PACs) such as this have little regard for the public good, but zero in only on their issues.

If voters study the record, they will realize that Tokuda is the only candidate to vote for because of her broad and deep well of experience that has served and will continue to serve Hawaii well. She clearly understands how Hawaii state government works and she will make the lieutenant governor’s position viable in partnership with the governor.

Don’t let a Super PAC buy the lieutenant governor’s office.

Joan Lee Husted

Makiki

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Ige and Fukunaga instead of super PAC

A super PAC’s endorsement of U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa only confirmed my vote for Gov. David Ige. The “Be Change Now” super PAC is basically a henchman for the powerful Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters union. They attack, discredit and ruin an opponent’s reputation using negative ads. Their main targets are Ige and City Council member Carol Fukunaga.

Remember Ben Cayetano’s bid for mayor against pro-rail Kirk Caldwell? Pacific Resource Partnership’s super PAC endorsed Caldwell and attacked Cayetano’s character to defame him. They admitted it later in court, but only after Cayetano, who opposed the rail project, had lost. And in return, look at what Caldwell did for the rail.

Can Hanabusa win on her own merits, or does she need a Super PAC’s continued mudslinging of Ige? The Super PAC’s tactics makes her look bad.

I’m voting for David Ige and Carol Fukunaga.

Clarence Chun

Kalihi

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Bag fee will drive shoppers to internet

So our new 15-cent shopping bag law is causing a shoplifting headache for retailers? Is this a surprise?

Anyone with common sense would have known this would happen. Did our astute lawmakers think about this when they passed this bill? Did they also stop to think that this law will increase shopping online rather than in local stores?

To me, providing a shopping bag is a service by retailers as a “thank you for buying at my store.” Now more than ever, I’ll prefer the convenience of buying clothes, shoes and items online. It’ll be delivered at my doorstep, nicely packaged. This will save me from walking around Ala Moana Center while trying to carry what I bought in my hands in the event I left my reusable bag in the car.

Our local retailers can thank their lawmakers for lost sales and an increase in security costs.

JoAnn Kam

Waialae Iki

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Shopping bag fee pays for better world

I’ve read several letters about Honolulu’s shopping bag laws.

One about liberals caving to environmentalists while ignoring President Donald Trump’s policies for big business. He relaxes environmental rules, which leads to more pollution.

Another about a money grab by retailers. Another refusing to pay 15 cents and will carry his items.

Sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control. It drives us nuts, but we suck it up and adapt. Some refuse to change. Some whine and complain. But in the end, it’s what we can do to better our world, and determine what kind of planet we leave for future generations.

Plastic bags flying all over the place, getting into our oceans and into our food sources? Did we forget about Hokulea’s Malama Honua? For me, it’s a no-brainer. I use reusable shopping bags.

Robert K. Soberano

Moiliili

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Voting systems hacked via Wi-Fi

Vicki Viotti’s story on election security provided some interesting information regarding the allocation of resources toward identifying threats to our voting system (“Election security,” Star-Advertiser, Insight, July 29). Recently, such stories have focused more on the vulnerability of registration rolls than on voting machines, citing the machines’ lack of internet connection as protective features.

However, CBS News recently reported that, at the annual Defcon Hackers Convention in Las Vegas, within an hour and a half, a professor at UT-University of Copenhagen successfully cracked into a voting machine, specifically Advanced Voting Solutions’ “2000 Win Vote” machine through its Wi-Fi system.

Many county voting commission don’t have the money for expensive upgrades. Isn’t the obvious solution the simplest? Either return to all paper ballots or produce a paper receipt/printout with each vote.

William E. Conti

Waikiki