Rules will put more people on streets
The imposition of new regulations on homeless shelters by the state Department of Human Services will directly cause additional homelessness (“Shelter in Waipahu to close over state’s new homeless rules,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 20).
It will cause shelters like Waipahu Lighthouse and others to close, eliminating up to 662 beds and putting many people out on the street again.
Most are in the shelters precisely because there is a scarcity of affordable housing. Our government should focus on this: Hawaii is the least affordable state to rent and accordingly has the highest national per capita homeless rate.
Shelters or even tent cities can serve as precursors to successful Housing First programs that have saved significant taxpayer funds by reducing emergency health care, hospitalizations and police calls. “Compassionate disruption” should not be forced on sheltered homeless. Shelters should be exempted from emptying people out in the street again to find affordable housing that scarcely exists.
John Nakao
Ala Moana
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Aid in dying should be an option here
I was delighted to see the commentary written by four recent Hawaii governors regarding a subject that is near and dear to my heart: aid in dying (“Allowing life-ending medication is a compassionate choice,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Dec. 15).
The time has come for Hawaii to step up and enact legislation in 2017 that offers legal options for those who are terminally ill to reduce their suffering.
Compassion & Choices Hawaii has reported research that shows that 80 percent of Hawaii voters believe a medical aid-in-dying option should be available, and 94 percent of voters agree that the decision of a terminally ill person to request medication to bring about his or her death is a personal decision and not a government decision.
Six other states have paved the way: California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and Colorado. Let’s get on board.
Angela Posatiere
Kailua
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Trump not a person to invite to dinner
Decent Americans do support the president-elect’s office, but I’m sure Richard Smylie will understand if some of us have problems accepting the person who is our president-elect (“We should support the president-elect,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 23).
After such an outrageous campaign, in which Donald Trump insulted and offended so many in so many different ways, it is very difficult for some of us even to relate to him as a person.
Regardless of his politics, wealth or religion, I would never associate myself with such a rude, insensitive person. We would never have him to dinner. We avoid people like him.
It’s a little bit like having a loud, unruly neighbor move in next door. We do what all decent people do. We do the best we can and hope for the best.
Mark Yasuhara
Aiea
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Trump’s conflicts too big to ignore
President-elect Donald Trump has a conflict-of-interest problem. Most politicians do. But conflicts are a question of degree — some are a problem and some are not.
The difficulty here is that first, Trump owns a closely held corporation in which he is more or less the alter ego of the business; and second, the scope of the American president’s jurisdiction is broad.
Plus, a big part of his business is licensing his name and identity for marketing.
Maybe he eventually resigns and throws the big job to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, but really, I’m all done making predictions in this election cycle.
Lloyd Lim
Makiki
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George Will wrong on Electoral College
I had always thought that intelligence-wise, George Will was a step above Cal Thomas and Ben Shapiro. However, his Dec. 18 column was a weak and insipid defense of the antiquated Electoral College (“Don’t blame excellent electoral vote system in U.S.,” Star-Advertiser). His alleged proof that the College should be retained was that in several elections the eventual winner won with less than 50 percent of the popular vote.
So what? Each man won more votes than any of his challengers.
That’s called winning in every election in this country, from school board to U.S. Senate — except for the president of the United States.
The totally indisputable fact is that Hillary Clinton won many, many more votes from the citizens of this nation. And it really doesn’t matter if the voters live in California or Texas. Each vote should count. Period.
Better one should heed the words of intelligent columnists like Paul Krugman for a more thoughtful analysis, on the same editorial page.
Michael Mills
Ewa Beach
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Tom Moffatt gave much to music lovers
Concert promoter Tom Moffatt provided me and my friends and family an incredible experience at The Rolling Stones concert at Aloha Stadium in the 1990s.
It was sad to hear of his passing (“Tom Moffatt has left the building,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 14).
Without Tom we lack an advocate for the magic of music. Tom kept us on the globe. Who will replace him?
John F. McGrady
Waikiki
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A gift of empathy perfect for holidays
Kudos to the Windward United Church of Christ for hosting a Blue Christmas service last week.
Having suffered a deeply personal loss this year, I appreciated the opportunity to remember and reflect and sit with my grief.
We all know people whose lives are touched by sadness during this season.
Parties and festivities can be exhausting, especially if one feels obligated to be cheerful.
Consider offering a gift of empathy and understanding, wrapped in a hug.
It may soothe their souls, and they won’t have to brave the madness of the malls on Dec. 26 to take it back.
Jenni Cooney
Hawaii Kai
39 responses to “Rules will put more people on streets”
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IRT Michael Mills, we should heed the words of intelligent columnists like Paul Krugman regarding the Electoral College. Who the ..el is Paul Krugman? Oh, yes, he is that loud mouth liberal Nobel Prize winning economist who thinks he knows everything about everything. He is no more an authority on the Electoral College than I am. The Electoral College has worked fine since it was created, so let’s not try to fix something that is not broken just because a Democrat did not win the election.
Krugman does in fact know a great deal about how government can function successfully for the benefit of the majority of American public, not just for the billionaires and social conservatives, who are such ideologues they will vote against their won economic self-interest for a candidate who hates the same things they do: immigrants, muslims, women’s rights, health care access for all, initiatives to reduce and reverse climate change.
Krugman is part of the problem. He is so partisan that he thinks/lives in the elitist bubble that doesn’t see the economy through the eyes of the average middle class person. The political/academic/business elites have swung the country so far to the left, that the pendulum needed something drastic to start swinging it back to center. Trump is the silent majority’s reaction to swing that pendulum back the other way.
I think Paul probably misses the larger point. Republicans love to suppress votes. Google it if you don’t believe me. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Republican+voter+suppression&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Fact is republicans cannot win on a level playing field. It is a shame republicans no longer have any values to fight for.
so much whining.
he’s here, he’s your president, get over it!
lol, not whining, just pointing out the facts. Why are you afraid of the truth? Oh, thats right, its ok if you are republican. Well now you have to produce. Lets see you do it. So stop saying we are whining and start doing something. Just remember the stock market is now around 20,000, if in a year or two it is down around 10,000, I hate to tell you but The Donald would be a complete failure. Agreed?
You don’t like the stock market, well then how about unemployment? How about the deficit? Take your choice. Fact is your side now has to produce so start doing it. I want to see how you make America great again.
Legal votes should always count. Illegal votes should never count.
The rules of the election were clear and followed exactly. Losers want to change the rules after they lose. How typical…..
Typical republican. Its ok if you are republican. Problem with you phony conservatives is that you feel legal votes should not count if they are made by minorities. Your own party has admitted this so don’t try to deny it. Just admit that you realize the only way you can win is to tip the scales. Be proud of your crookedness.
Boots is having a hard time adjusting to facts. It was a woman that ran Trump’s campaign. Trump carried Florida. Trump carried Texas. Who do you call a minority? Haoles are a minority in Hawaii? Some people voted for Obama just because he was black. Some people voted for Hillary only because she’s a woman. People voted for Trump because he was neither. The vote wasn’t rigged. The vote simply showed that the pendulum has swung. The election is over. Trump won. The people who support him have won. Hopefully Boots sold all has stock and will be wiped out at the market tops 20K and leaves him behind.
Boots, why are Democrats so opposed to voter ID laws and exactly how does requiring positive photo IDs suppress voting? I have read some of the arguments about the elderly and disabled not being able to get photo IDs, but that is just plain nonsense. Photo IDS are required to apply for welfare and other government handouts, they are needed to cash a check, take an airline flight, enter a federal building to visit politicians opposed to voter ID laws, check out a book at a library and the list goes on. Democrats never seem to have a problem registering the elderly, disabled and the homeless to vote or getting them to the polls. It seems to me a little of that same effort could be applied to get them photo IDs.
democrats wil never stop whining about trump winning the presidential election by a landslide electoral vote. clinton’s election strategy to continue obama’s flawed policies, widen the corruption within her spaghetti les team and concentrate only on cities populated with liberals was the reason she lost.
trying to focus on the popular vote is like trying to award middle tennessee the champions’ trophy for the hawaii bowl based on their gaining more total yards than hawaii.
in any contest, the rules are plainly simple in determining a winner. in the hawaii bowl it’s the team that scores the most points that wins. in the presidential election it’s the candidate that wins the most electoral college votes.
“Rules will put more people on streets”>>> ACLU accomplished that task loooong ago.
“Regardless of his politics, wealth or religion, I would never associate myself with such a rude, insensitive person. We would never have him to dinner. We avoid people like him.”>>> Had a boss like him before. I didn’t go to work for him so he could be a dinner buddy. Went to work for him because, at the end of the day, he knew how to run a company. THAT was his role.
He is going to learn that he is no longer running a company. He is now leading the country. Big difference and I frankly don’t think he will be able to make the transition.
Obama didn’t make the transitions either…..
Only a republican would say this. Compare any measurement and Obama has done just fine thank you. Stock Market, almost a triple increase. Unemployment way down. Deficit, a third of what he was given. We shall see how the Donald does. I hope if the stock market sinks to around 10000, unemployment and the deficit rises I would hope that you would conclude that the Donald is not so hot either? Or it is always ok if you are republican?
I disagree… he’ll be a Ronald Reagan president. Just give him three alternatives to check off on each question.
He’ll be able to deny that he knows much about anything that is happening in his administration – much less the misconduct that is going on.
Trump’s job as cheer leader of the country is to “make America great again”.
But maybe we need a businessman to run the company. If the US was a company, the books wouldn’t look to good right now. And remember, oil is at the price per barrel it is right now thanks to business people. Not the government. Remember Obama famously stated when oil was over $100 per barrel, “that we cannot drill our way out of this”…well we did thanks to American business ingenuity. Career politicians have messed up the direction of the country. Lets see how a different perspective can produce different results and direction.
So how many times have you had dinner with Obama.
George Will likes the electoral college because Trump won. If the situation was reversed, with Trump getting the popular majority and Clinton winning the presidency through electoral college votes, I’m sure Will would be calling for the abolishment of such an anti-democratic institution. Either you trust the people or you don’t. If you do, remove the intermediaries and let the majority count regardless of state. This would not only be more democratic, it would force presidential candidates to campaign in every state because all votes, from Maine to Hawaii would count toward the winning total, not just those in the battleground states.
Republicans obviously do not trust voters. That is why they follow voter suppression efforts in republican states. Just one article on the subject from my list from above:
https://thinkprogress.org/2016-a-case-study-in-voter-suppression-258b5f90ddcd#.unplstaya
please get your facts straight–George will is NO fan of Trump,and he left the republican party because he could not and would not support his nomination.he his however, a fan of the U.S. along with the constitution which is why there is no knee jerk reaction to HILIARY’s loss by tossing out one of the basic tenets of our country.
Trump is a good man. If you have not met him then how to you know what he is like ? Oh thats right you BELIEVE what the Mainstream media says. WAKE UP !!
Maybe looking at his record? He has filed bankruptcy multiple times where he ended up stiffing lots of people. He excuses his actions by basically saying they are only banks which are blood suckers. He is not totally wrong, but he is far from right.
Most successful people have failures in their past. Rarely does one go through life without making mistakes and experiencing failure.
Could all that “rude, insensitive” type behavior you speak of be the breaking down of Political Correctness… finally after the long slide to the Left, the country is starting to swing the other way? Trump is not PC and it is rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. They do not feel “safe” any more because someone is saying things that hurt their little feelings. Especially things they disagree with. LOL. On the other hand, perhaps you should have dinner with Trump. It might give you a chance to personally confirm what you believe about him… or not. I’d think a lot more highly of your opinion of Trump if you had some “personal experience” to draw on rather than regurgitating the left wing party line fed to you by a mainstream media dead set on destroying Trump in any way they can.
Agree. Trump is a good man and YES I have met him and worked with him for many years. Until you meet him and understand the person I would suggest you just enjoy your life and NOT WORRY so much.
Trump’s own statements condemn him. I don’t know why anyone bothers saying he’s really not going to do those crazy things. He’s going to do exactly what he said he was going to do. And Democrats will be winning the next election.
Top Ten Reasons You Might Regret Inviting The Clintons To Dinner
10. Grandmother’s casserole ends up in the “basket of deplorables.”
9. Hillary’s arrival draws sniper fire – just like in Bosnia.
8. Your cell phone suddenly starts getting dozens of photos of Anthony Weiner’s private parts.
7. When asked to pass the ketchup, Hillary replies: “at this point, what difference does it make?”
6. Hillary moves into your house and runs for Senate from your home town – even though she previously never lived a day of her life there.
5. A video of your dinner ends up on YouTube and causes violent “spontaneous” protests in far-off foreign lands.
4. When a catering employee introduces herself as “your server for tonight” Hillary tries to erase her with BleachBit.
3. Hillary asks if she can bring “a few close friends” and shows up every single employee of the NY Times, MSNBC, CNN and the Washington Post.
2, In order to get the Clintons to show up you have to make a $1,000,000 “donation” to the Clinton Foundation.
1. You catch Bill in the hallway closet “sharing a cigar” with your daughter.
OUCH!!
But more than likely true.
That was a good one, I needed the laugh after reading some of these letters.
Enjoy your victory as it won’t be long before phony conservatives refer to the Donald as nothing but a RINO. lol
Just remember, stock market is now around 20000, Unemployment below 5 and the deficit about 40% of what it was under that republican hero G W Bush. Lets see if the Donald can increase the dow to 25000, reduce unemployment to under 3 and provide a balanced budget. Agree Donald Fans?
Please note that 1500+ points of market rise is already result of Trump election.
The rise in the stock market coincided with Trump’s win. Now why would the rise be because of Obama?
boots you can’t count seasonal hires as full time jobs, only the Obama administration does that. Wait until February when the unemployment goes up because the seasonal hires dry up. You will blame bush or Trump, now you have a choice for your foolishness. Stock market went up after Trump was elected and please stop throwing around shibai like the deficit is about 40 percent of what is was under republicans. obama more than doubled the debt, oh but I forgot, it was Bush’s fault right. Get a new act boots, new sheriff in town, your stuff has been lame a long time now.
thanks–that was HIL-LIAR-YOUS!
t minus 25 days for obama to pardon clinton.
Free preschool for needy kids.
The Electoral College worked exactly how it has and is supposed to work. For those using the bogus claim that the popular vote count should determine the winner, that would be legit if we had a national election. Instead we have a republic and that means we have 50 state elections and the state electors determine who should be president. While it isn’t always aligned with the popular vote, the genius of it prevents an overly populated state from singlehandedly determining who is the president for all 50 states. If you want to see the impact California had on the numbers, just take then out and you’ll see how pitiful Clinton’s numbers were in the combined other 49 states. We may or may not all like, love or agree with Trump, but he will be our next president. Good luck asking the smaller states to submit to the whim and will of the larger states. That is the system today so stop complaining. Don’t like it, use that energy to try to change it.