The Hawaiian island chain has seen record high temperatures and warmer oceans during the summer of 2017. No wonder things are hotter, a disturbing trend that will have disastrous effects on Hawaii’s socioeconomic foundation.
Global warming and sea level rise are accelerating more quickly than predicted. The warming of Planet Earth is due mainly to human dependence on fossil-fuel burning, which results in more carbon dioxide gasses being trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. The continued global warming phenomenon will continue as long as supposedly intelligent human beings continue to leave their carbon dioxide footprints.
Without a higher level of cleaner energy use, Planet Earth may become uninhabitable for human beings. In addition to clean water, clean air is becoming a rarer commodity.
Glacial melt and the depletion of forests is becoming the norm.
As far as I’m concerned, heaven can’t wait.
Dean Nagasako
Honokaa, Hawaii island
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Fearful immigrants don’t report crimes
President Donald Trump’s continued attacks on immigrants has placed the lives of victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse in peril. Undocumented immigrants, fearing deportation, are no longer reporting rape and domestic violence.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said: “Reports of domestic violence among Latinos have dropped by 10 percent and reports of sexual abuse by 25 percent from a year ago, likely due to fear of the federal government.”
Houston Police Chief Art Ace-vedo said the number of Latinos reporting rapes in Houston has fallen by more than 40 percent this year.
Trump’s harsh policy on immigrants has put them at risk for continued abuse as they are afraid to report. They may see the police, ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the government as a whole, waiting to detain and deport.
Kanani Kai
Iwilei
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Trump is president for Sen. Schatz, too
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz made an emotional argument that Donald Trump is not his president.
The Senate, Supreme Court and the Constitution confirm unequivocally that he is our president. We live in a democracy where we respect the laws of our nation, even though some may find individual office holders repulsive.
If as a government official he is unable to abide by our Constitution and accept the duly elected president, he has only one honorable moral choice — resign.
Charles Carroll
Waialae-Kahala
