In the United Kingdom, daily COVID-19 cases are exploding, and more than 85% of adult residents have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot. On Oahu, our daily COVID-19 cases are more than 100 again. Mayor Rick Blangiardi wants to lift restrictions as quickly as possible. Lt. Gov. Josh Green said he wanted to lower the state’s vaccination threshold to 65%. Hawaii Chamber of Commerce CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara wants us to set a date to fully open up and be done with it.

Thank goodness Gov. David Ige is maintaining the 70% vaccination threshold. Even then, the science and recent evidence are clear: We will need to continue to practice good personal hygiene and safe social interactions. The only way back to normal is to make public health a priority and a goal for all of us, not just enough of us.

Travis Idol

Downtown Honolulu

Antivaccine rhetoric will hurt Republicans

By the time a major news network (which encourages all employees to be vaccinated) and its Dear Leader (who’s also vaccinated) figure out that the virus misinformation they are shamelessly promoting is in fact culling the herd of Republican voters, it will be too late. One life lost is one too many.

The truth will protect, heal and save our democracy.

Pauline Arellano

Mililani

Kailua’s Kalama Beach needs a lifeguard

The man rescued by good Samaritans and first responders at Kalama Beach Park in Kailua in June was indeed very, very lucky, only because by the grace of God there were the right people present to pull him from the ocean and start CPR (“‘It’s good to be alive’,” Star-Advertiser, July 21). And it makes me wonder again and again why there is no lifeguard at that beach.

Kalama Beach Park is a public beach park that is an increasingly popular alternative to the overcrowded, tourist- filled Kailua Beach park nearer to Lanikai. There is even a parking stall for a lifeguard at Kalama.

We have been taking our family there for years and have never had a lifeguard.

Our mainland grandchildren have been visiting and we went to Kalama. The waves were strong, choppy and frequent, and the many adults and kids there were having a ball jumping over and under them. But there was also a strong undertow. We need a lifeguard at Kalama Beach Park.

Marcy Katz

Makiki

Big debt a big problem for lifting the economy

What’s the problem with big deficits and debt? Five things come to mind.

First, debt above a certain level retards economic growth. Second, big debt means big interest that threatens to crowd out discretionary spending on social programs. Third, big debt gives the Federal Reserve an incentive to keep interest rates low, to control problem No. 2. In turn, low interest rates create an asset bubble that makes housing less affordable and tricks some newbie investors in the stock market. Fourth, is it easy to retire when fixed-income investments pay so little? Not! Fifth, do you borrow money from your children and grandchildren? Don’t deny it!

When policymakers try to give people “Band-Aid” help for this or that expense, it is sometimes a symptom of a deeper policy problem.

Lloyd Lim

Makiki

Teach whole truth about nation’s history

Black lives matter, so does any life.

Black history matters, and likewise any history, considering the bad as well as good.

History in educational institutions at all levels needs to be objective, thorough, penetrating and just. That includes the history of the First Peoples, the original indigenous inhabitants of any region and their descendants. It encompasses Native Americans, Hawaiians and Micronesians, among many others.

African slavery, institutionalized racism and the ethnocide and genocide of indigenous peoples matter, too.

The time is centuries overdue for the United States, Canada and other countries to honestly confront the injustices in their history and make appropriate reparations for the sake of human rights and peace toward a better future for everyone.

Be realistic, teach the whole truth and nothing but the truth in history and education for humanity’s sake. History, like politics, should be grounded in reality, not ignorance, prejudice, lies or delusion.

Leslie E. Sponsel

Hawaii Kai

Open more restrooms in Chinatown area

It’s great that there are extra police patrols in Chinatown, but their presence will not eliminate human waste in the neighborhood (“New Chinatown police enforcement plan yields arrests, connections and COVID vaccinations,” Star-Advertiser, July 22).

With more patrols, it also may help to open up the Aala Park restrooms on a 24-hour basis and locate portable toilets around Chinatown. There are parks, malls and parking lots that may be used.

Keep them clean, and tourists, older citizens and children may also appreciate the convenience.

Clean and safe should be the goal, not only safe.

Leonard Leong

Manoa

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