I’m disappointed my fellow veteran, U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele, voted for the nearly three-quarters-of-a trillion-dollar FY2022 military budget and to increase it by $24 billion (“House Armed Services Committee’s $778B defense bill includes improvements for National Guard,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, Sept. 2).

The good work he’s doing for Hawaii is overshadowed by his indebtedness to weapons manufacturers.

It’s time to learn from Afghanistan and Iraq a lesson America should have learned from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia: No amount of money spent can translate into victory beyond Wall Street.

Only understanding history and cultures beyond our own, and good-faith diplomacy, will make Hawaii, America and the world safer.

Hawaii’s representatives should be actively fighting to demilitarize the Pacific, not appeasing war profiteers painting bigger red, white and blue targets on Hawaii. They should stop enabling the desecration of Hawaiian land and stop helping weapons manufacturers make a killing for their shareholders to the detriment of humanity and the planet.

Jayson Mizula

Kaunakakai

Ige right to restrict attendance at UH games

Gov. David Ige is right to restrict attendance at the University of Hawaii home games (“University of Hawaii football players’ parents’ plea to attend games rejected,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 15).

I believe Lt. Gov. Josh Green is doing the public a great disservice by implying it’s safe if you’re vaccinated. It is we who are vaccinated who potentially are the most dangerous super-spreaders. Being vaccinated does not give us immunity, but because we are somewhat protected from suffering severe symptoms, we feel safe to travel, visit friends, eat out and go to UH games. We think it’s the unvaccinated who are dangerous.

If an unvaccinated person contracted COVID-19, we would know. But if a vaccinated person contracted COVID-19, he or she could very probably be asymptomatic and thus spread the virus without knowing.

Leonard K. Yamada

Kailua

To protect our keiki, simply get vaccinated

Everyone in Hawaii talks about taking care of the keiki. If every anti-vaccine person truly cared about the keiki, they would realize that getting vaccinated would protect the children from COVID-19. More and more children are getting sick; we need to keep them well by all of us doing our part.

Arlene G. Woo

Makiki

Giving information could be security risk

Should we not be concerned about the security of the information we are required to give anytime we enter an establishment? Some ask for merely a name and phone number. Others also require an email address, while others require even more — a physical address. This information is written down on whatever the business decides it wishes to use — a notepad, laptop or stray scrap of paper.

I have serious privacy concerns about giving strangers all of this information, with no guarantee that it won’t be misused. Why hasn’t the government at least published an official form that all businesses could use, requesting only essential information and that would be forwarded on to their contact tracers?

Vincent Vento

Kaneohe

Ban the word ‘surge’ in news coverage

For the new year 2022, could we remove the word “surge” from all news articles? The word had been greatly overused during the last two years.

Examples include: COVID-19 case surge, used car price surge, migrant surge, toilet paper demand surge, energy prices surge, stock market surge, surge in depression, consumer prices surge, surge in teen vaping, gun violence surge, cannabis sales surge, troop surge, gas prices surge, surge in ivermectin poisoning.

Casey Cummings

Haleiwa

UH forecaster shouldn’t get free media publicity

Can someone explain to me why I should give any credibility to Monique Chyba, University of Hawaii math professor and her outlandish forecast of as many as 3,700 daily COVID-19 cases in early October?

She now forecasts fewer than 300 cases (“Researchers predict downward trend for Hawaii COVID-19 cases,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, Sept. 20).

I am so tired of the fearmongering by supposed experts whose claims subsequently prove to be false. Stop giving free publicity to these non-experts.

Craig Meyers

Aiea

Beachside communities are not tourist areas

I recently read in the Star-Advertiser the view that vacation rentals should be allowed in tourist areas such as Kailua.

Let us be clear: The tourist areas on Oahu are Waikiki, Ko Olina, Turtle Bay, and possibly Kakaako. Kailua, Lanikai, Waimanalo and Haleiwa are not tourist areas. They are local communities that are being overrun and ruined by tourists.

We have already forfeited Hanauma Bay to the tourists. Enough, already!

Patricia Deryke

Kailua

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