The Legislature’s continued reluctance to support a living wage is surprising and disappointing. One would think that in a state dominated by Democrats, we would see more understanding for the tens of thousands of Hawaii residents who are just scraping by. What’s going on here?
I believe our so-called Democratic legislators are like those anywhere else — just follow the money. We see huge tax breaks for developers putting up condos for the wealthy (or at least the well-off). Where do most of the campaign donations come from? Why, from those same developers, along with architects and construction unions. (Solidarity? Hardly.)
I urge all voters to find out where their legislators stand on a living wage and vote accordingly. Otherwise, economic stress will continue to tear at the bonds of aloha we need to keep Hawaii livable for us all.
Stuart Allan
Waikiki
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Nuclear power holds promise for Hawaii
There was a very interesting item reporting that Russia has built a small modular reactor (SMR) on a barge and is taking it to the Far East (“Nuclear plant takes to the sea,” Star-Advertiser, April 29).
I advocated SMRs for Hawaii and our nation more than 10 years ago in a speech to an energy summit in Washington, D.C.
With an SMR’s excess capacity, the reactor at no additional cost can produce energy to desalinate water and eliminate fossil-fuel cars by replacing them with clean, affordable nuclear-generated electric cars. SMRs in Hawaii and in our country can overcome the degradation of our environment by the collection and use of fossil fuels.
Remember, more people have died in one coal mine accident than in the history of nuclear energy in America. For more than 50 years, Honolulu has had probably the largest number of reactors in the nation because of nuclear submarines in Pearl Harbor.
Several SMR barges could revolutionize energy generation in Hawaii. Let’s put clean, safe nuclear energy to work for Hawaii.
Fred Hemmings
Kailua
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Homeless should move out of sight
It seems only common sense that if the homeless want to stop being harassed and moved around so much, they should find some place out of general sight. The state and city might leave them alone, at least for a while longer.
So many homeless want to live in tents and campsites. That may be their choice, but then they should find some place less visible. You move them out of a park, they camp on the sidewalk. Move them from the sidewalk and they go across the street.
This is just a vicious circle, and of course the state and city only conduct infrequent sweeps. The state and city are failing us and we look so silly to the world. I talked with a visitor from a foreign country recently and she was amazed at how a country so rich and strong has so many homeless.
Clifton T. Johnson
Waikiki
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Trump has fueled animosity of liberals
It amuses me when Republicans attribute all this continued blistering scorn for President Donald Trump as simply a case of liberal indignation over having lost the election.
I don’t remember nearly as much animosity toward George W. Bush when he won the presidency against Democrat Al Gore.
Gore supporters were somewhat disgruntled at first, but Bush had such a decent, agreeable nature that it was hard to stay mad about it.
And the members of his administration were equally capable, respectable, intelligent people, unlike the current prevalence of truth-twisters, scoundrels and misfits.
Many people came to fiercely resent Bush for the Iraq War, but let’s face it: Given all the flawed intelligence that led to that invasion, any other conscientious president might have made the same mistake. I would gladly accept Bush back into the White House over what we’re presently dealing with.
Kevin Johnson
Kakaako
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Base gun control on facts, not fiction
Some corrections are respectfully submitted to Anthony Chang’s letter, “Hawaii’s excessive focus on gun control” (Star-Advertiser, May 4).
First, I am not criticizing Chang, but the people in positions of information control like professors and journalists who lead others like Chang and community leaders to believe their “false facts.”
The statement that “Hawaii has never had a school shooting” is not true. In 1988, a 17-year-old student shot a teacher at an Aiea High summer school. In 2011, an eighth-grade student fired a handgun in Highlands Intermediate School. Fortunately, no one was killed in these two incidents.
Another bad statement was that “the last mass shooting,” November 1999, “with seven deaths, was a relatively low count.”
Actually, at the time, the shooting was one of the worst mass killings by a single person with a handgun.
Decisions on gun control should be made on real facts.
Russel A. Noguchi
Pearl City
