Who do we think of as farmers? The guys down the road, sweating away on their five-to-40 acres, trying to make a living.

Randy Cabral, however, speaks for Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer Hybrid — the multibillion-dollar corporations that are “farming” our isles not to feed us, not in our interest, but those of their stockholders (“Farmers need support, not harassment,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Nov. 27).

Forget about threats to our schoolchildren’s health or crops infected by GMO pollen from nearby “experimental” fields.

Our small farmers abide by the state’s rules, but those rules are insufficient to govern the massive work being done by the agribusiness corporations.

Hopefully our informed citizenry will see through this shibai and press our legislators to enact meaningful controls on this invasive industry, and maybe do something to encourage real farmers to engage in the huge task of feeding us.

Tom Tizard

Kailua

Condo towers don’t reflect isle lifestyle

Regarding the announcement of the opening of Howard Hughes’ and Alexander & Baldwin’s residential towers, this is a big sad day (“It’s a ‘big day’ in Kakaako as 2 towers open,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 17).

On the surface, these companies have done well selling images of old Hawaiian charm and a luxurious island lifestyle.

In actuality, however, they are no doubt generating huge profits at the expense of our resources — overloading the sewage system, crowding and polluting the streets, ultimately stressing the beach at Ala Moana Beach Park.

Developers, city managers and real estate agencies are short-sighted when it comes to concerns of preserving any aspect of an island lifestyle. They would allow for the development of buildings right up to the street corners and beaches and avoid any development of parks that cannot generate a profit.

Doug Valenta

Kakaako

Article raises spectre of mass witch hunt

The grotesquely frightening photo of a graffiti-ridden SUV headlined by “GOP wins scare transgender people” (Star-Advertiser, Nov. 21), seemed to suggest that millions of Americans have sanctioned a sly, wily witch hunt.

Has David Crary of the Associated Press unearthed a closely guarded flight of fantasy, or is he blatantly pouring more non-issue gasoline on a raging conflagration of discord?

How far afield can journalism stray from reality before it becomes ideological endorsement?

As for me, a daily “Frazz-fix” is rewardingly grounding. (Frazz, a janitor, philosophizes along with his multiracial cohorts of varying ages and beliefs in the notable comic strip “Frazz,” featured daily in the Star-Advertiser.)

Phil Broms

Kuliouou

Trump’s mandate: end U.S. war-waging

Donald Trump actually lost the Nov. 8 election by more than 2 million votes.

Rather than “president-elect,” it is more charitable to call him “president-select,” after the archaic Electoral College presumably selects him on Dec. 19.

More important, having lost the popular vote in the election, Trump does not have the all-important moral mandate to govern the country. After all, in a true democracy, the majority is supposed to decide on a nation’s future, especially because the United States had been invading and/or bombing countries across three continents in the name of promoting democracy.

Trump’s only real mandate is to end immediately all American military interventions overseas. That way, the country will save trillions of dollars (and countless lives) in order to pay for Trump’s promises of job creation and infrastructure repairs that our crumbling economy desperately needs.

And then, maybe, he’ll earn a modicum of respect from the majority of voters who cast their ballots for his opponents.

Danny H.C. Li

Keaau, Hawaii

Hawaii depends on federal largesse

Alan Howard suggested that Hawaii would be better off if it seceded from the U.S. (“Hawaii should consider seceding from U.S.,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Nov. 29).

Give me a break. Hawaii couldn’t hold out for 24 hours without the massive welfare payments it receives from the federal goverment.

Hawaii, perhaps more than any other state, is addicted to its many welfare programs — Medicaid, food stamps and Aid to Families with Dependent Children, to name a few.

If we were to secede, where then would the financing come from? No, seceding from the U.S., like the various sovereignty movements have called for, is not the answer.

We here in Hawaii had best stay aligned with our generous provider and protector, the United States of America.

Robert Vogtritter

Waikiki

Secession would bring foreign aid

Alan Howard made some excellent points, but he missed the most important one: money (“Hawaii should consider seceding from U.S.,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Nov. 29).

And obviously he failed to take in that “Li’l Abner” cartoon decades ago, written by Al Capp, where “Dogpatch,” the mythical place where all the characters live, does the same thing — declares itself free from America.

Almost immediately, the U.S. starts sending in millions of dollars in foreign aid, loans, advisers, food, educational grants, help on infrastructure, and hundreds of other free programs into the community — none of which would ever be expected to be repaid.

It is far more than “Dogpatch” could ever fathom as a U.S. municipality.

So maybe Howard has a point. Think of all the great improvements that could be made here, with their (U.S.) tax dollars at work.

Chip Davey

Downtown Honolulu