Ban the mai tai
The letter to WHT by James Donovan should be a great concern to everybody. No, not the graffiti. The letter reflects communist system ideas, like ID everybody just for buying spray paint.
I’m sure he would endorse banning the mai tai, too, so the tourists wouldn’t get drunk. While at it, why not stop renting cars to the tourists, so they wouldn’t speed either. So what’s next in the People’s Republic of Hawaii?
John Rabi
Kailua-Kona
Fishing column a great, informative read
Mark Johnston’s “Catching Up” regarding winter fishing caught my eye in the Wednesday paper as he creatively sketched a winter weather map explaining the effects of recent gale force winds on our island and our seas. I don’t normally read fishing news, but the report of taut deck lines, the sandstorm of gritty lava dirt and exploding white water, made me feel like I was reading a great novel.
Thanks Mark, for the enjoyable prose about venturesome captains battling the seas to hook a 500-pound blue marlin, as well as the scientific info about sea surface temperature charts. I’m sure the drop in the ocean temperatures and all those blustery winds contributed to the really chilly nights we’ve been having recently.
I even followed the article to page 3B and learned about FADs (fish attracting devices). The subsequent description of excited stripeys lighting up into brilliant lavender stripes of color was stunning. I learned more from your column than I would have expected and look forward to the next installment.
Pamela Wang
Kealakekua
Tax bill leaves lots to question
Will middle and low-income people benefit from the Republican tax bill? Will spending for social services such as health and education be cut when revenue falls?
Why is the corporate tax rate 21 percent and the top individual rate 37 percent in the Republican tax bill? Why do people pay more tax than businesses? How many congressional women participated in the framing of this Republican tax bill? Why was only one public meeting scheduled for a $1.5 trillion tax bill? Why is the newly elected senator from Alabama, Doug Jones, not sworn in before the vote is taken? Why is a provision opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration part of the Republican tax bill?
As an economist looking at past history, I believe that rather than trickle down to low-income people, income and wealth will gush up to high-income people as a result of this Republican tax bill.
Will you vote in the midterm election? And which party will you support?
Vivian Green
Waikoloa Village
Public education attackers
the real culprit
Civics Deficient Disorder? That’s got to be the dumbest rationale against big government I’ve ever heard. The real problem: Incompetence.
Yes, our government has grown over the years but our society and industries have also grown. This requires more regulation and oversight by the government to protect citizens from unscrupulous business practices. As far as the education system being at fault for lower voter turnout, I fail to see any connection.
What I do see is a systematic attack of public education by the religious right in laws passed to create charter schools that use public funds yet are exempt from the stricter requirements of public schools. There, they are allowed to teach non-standard subjects that are forbidden in public schools as well as having required subject matter greatly diluted. The colleges mentioned by Kerr in her column Friday were mostly private colleges and that is where most of the problem resides.
There was a very good reason our Founding Fathers wanted public education, free from political and religious influence. It was to ensure that our population was educated and capable of critical thinking in order to make sound decisions about who they sent to Congress to represent them.
Big government is not the problem here. A public education system under attack from the likes of people like Betsy DeVos is the problem. If people wish to send their children to private schools that is their choice. It is not their choice to have it paid for with public funds.
John Pierce
Waikoloa
Baby boomers let us all down
After reading your letter to the editor (Janice Palma-Glennie, early December), I simply want to state that I am of the same generation as you and hold a completely different view.
Our fathers and mothers fought and died for our freedoms during the Second World War and gave us the strongest and most privileged childhood that any generation has ever seen.
The children of the greatest generation (baby boomers) did one great thing in fighting to stop the Vietnam War, but after that it is difficult to see anything other than “me” in their outlook (the me generation)! We bear the responsibility for all the garbage you are venting about today, with today’s children being coddled and taught that everything is free and just by being born you deserve everything under the sun!
We have had years of guilt fostered on us by our leaders while they stole from us and drove us into the horrible debt crisis we face today (guilt about being a rich country) and it was surely time for a change. That change is Trump.
While the me generation was focused on themselves they, or we, forgot the lessons that our parents fought and died for. Take ownership and stop the blame game. Today is a direct result of us electing corrupt leaders on both sides of the isle and then burying our heads in the sand while we just reaped the rewards of our parents’ hard-fought victory.
On a side note, Donald Trump is a baby boomer who did not forget and is now trying to help! I suggest you try and not make unfounded and alarmist claims that that are being fed to you by an overwhelmingly biased media.
Bob Johnson
Kailua-Kona
