My Turn: The difference between science and political science
Among the PhD signatories to the recent claim of “science” and “data,” (“We Expect Better” published June 25) most have been front-line aquarium trade defenders for decades, some generating many thousands in grant and taxpayer dollars to “mitigate the damage of this destructive extraction.” At least one is a licensed aquarium collector. Another, Ivor Williams, presented a status report on Maui some years ago. He took three minutes to dismiss the case for banning the aquarium trade, calling that approach “emotional.” He took two hours to describe all “the work” being done on “data management” of the trade. DLNR sponsored the visit. Mitigation funding exceeds reported gross revenue of trafficking in reef wildlife.
Letters to the Editor: July 6, 2020
Not enough turnaround time
As I See It: Time to think outside the historic box
We can learn a lot from the pandemic shutdown. Mostly what to not do. A one industry economy is unreliable, especially one as fickle as tourism. Cruise ships are going to be empty floating ghettos for a long time. Hotels will at least attract business travelers. Local business can support good restaurants. We need some other sustainable independent wealth generators.
Letters to the Editor: July 5, 2020
The time for change is now
Editorial: Hey, Mr. President: A national mask mandate would be TREMENDOUS for you
To: President Donald Trump
Letters to the Editor: July 3, 2020
Take your own logic medicine
Editorial: What did the president know about bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan?
Over the weekend, the New York Times published a shocking story claiming that the GRU — the same Russian spies who interfered in the 2016 U.S. election — paid Taliban-linked Afghan militia to attack coalition forces, including Americans. Per the report, President Donald Trump was allegedly briefed on the operation in March and did nothing.
My Turn: Tasers not a solution to all problems
Colleen (Miyose-Wallis), you sent a letter in to this paper with an article titled “Use Tasers instead of guns” published on June 25. I would submit to you that Tasers like any other weapon or come along device are not a solution to all the problems. I was a police officer for 41 years in a large metropolitan agency in California, and I can tell you right now that many of these panaceas are not solutions at all.
Letters to the Editor: July 2, 2020
Degrading the symbolism of the ‘Gold Star’
Editorial: Contact tracing’s slow start gives coronavirus time to get ahead
The surge in new COVID-19 case numbers in the Sunbelt and the West is so alarming that New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut now require visitors from “hot spot” states to self-quarantine. As the Philadelphia region reopens, the long-promised expansion of contact tracing — an essential tool to control person-to-person transmission — is just getting started. And as is true with testing, the amount of contact tracing underway is nowhere near what’s necessary to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Commentary: Governors must protect the health workers who protect us
The federal government’s response to COVID-19 has been haphazard, mismanaged and ultimately deadly. Yet the Trump administration is trumpeting the country’s “success” against the pandemic, with the vice president recently declaring that the U.S. response to COVID-19 is “cause for celebration.”
Letters to the Editor: July 1, 2020
Coastlines at risk
Editorial: California adopts nation’s first zero-emission truck rule
California, again, is leading the nation’s fight against climate change. The California Air Resources Board adopted a rule Thursday requiring that by 2045, all trucks sold in the state be zero-emission models.
Letters to the Editor: June 29, 2020
It’s the least you could do
My Turn: Property taxes a looming emergency
The County of Hawaii has a looming emergency on its hands and our elected officials, along with their staff members and hired hands, need to come to understand it quickly or our already challenged working population will be decimated. property tax.
Letters to the Editor: June 28, 2020
Masks save lives
Editorial: It’s going to be a Clark Griswold kind of summer
If Americans took our national parks for granted before, they probably don’t anymore. Long weeks in COVID-19 lockdown, it turns out, have a way of renewing your appreciation for outdoor adventure. And with air travel and resort vacations in a holding pattern, many more families will be taking road trips this summer, Griswold family style (minus, hopefully, the unfortunate death of Aunt Edna).
My Turn: We’re officially in a recession, so now what?
It’s official, the National Bureau of Economic Research recently announced we are now in a recession. What will the economic recovery look like? The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) has already been working on projects that will help rebuild the economy, as long as our funding isn’t raided.
My Turn: We expect better
Last month, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) unanimously rejected the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on aquarium collecting in West Hawaii. What is particularly distressing and demoralizing about the BLNR decision was that it clearly was not based on the best available science and relevant monitoring data. Other than a single preliminary question, neither the chairperson nor board members asked any questions or solicited any input from the four Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) staff members, including three aquatic biologists, who attended the meeting. The DAR staff certainly could have provided science-based information and background on the issues being discussed and used as rationale for the FEIS denial.
Tyler Cowen: Americans are failing the mask test
I sometimes refer to the COVID-19 pandemic as “the great psychometric test.” We are all being placed under different kinds of strain, and we have the chance to react for better or worse.
