In the spirit of providing information to readers, the Star-Advertiser’s Sunday Insight section asks the main, actively campaigning Democratic gubernatorial candidates — Kirk Caldwell, Vicky Cayetano and Josh Green — about their detailed strategies for Hawaii’s most urgent and toughest issues. Read more
In the spirit of providing information to readers, the Star-Advertiser’s Sunday Insight section asks the main, actively campaigning Democratic gubernatorial candidates — Kirk Caldwell, Vicky Cayetano and Josh Green — about their detailed strategies for Hawaii’s most urgent and toughest issues. Read more
Climate change, sea level rise, biodiversity loss, and food and energy sustainability are all important issues that need to be urgently dealt with as our global population continues to grow and natural resources dwindle. Read more
Most of us in America have watched the events unfolding in Ukraine with disgust and revulsion. Ironically, this numbing avalanche of destruction and slaughter comes at a time when our own angst is already high due to the countless attempts to erode the very democracy we all claim to hold so dearly. Read more
Who gave women the right to vote first, Hawaii or the United States? The answer is probably the kingdom of Hawaii, in the 1840 Constitution, as it used a gender neutral term. Read more
American Association of University Women (AAUW) research shows that the national gender pay gap has unfortunately remained relatively steady over the past several years, with women making about $0.83 for every $1 that non-Hispanic white men earn. The wage gap is even greater for most minority women. Read more
Some years ago, I had the privilege of teaching a UCLA class that was paired with a class at University of California-Riverside taught by professor Ivan Strenski, who holds the chair in religious studies there. Read more
As Europe plunges into its first major armed conflict in 75 years, one of the most unsettling elements has been the calls from otherwise sensible people to give Russia’s Vladimir Putin at least some (or all) of what he wants, including a new cordon sanitaire of neutral, non-NATO states on his western border. Read more
Today, we want to share the ways in which people of Africana heritage have helped shape the culture and character of Hawaii for centuries. To recount the history of Black people in the Islands is to recount the history of Hawaii itself. Read more
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Looking ahead, through an ideal political lens: It’s a year from now. New governor, new Legislature. Read more
Legislators need in-person public participation at the state Capitol probably more than the public needs legislators at this time. Read more
The winner-take-all system we currently use in our elections forces voters to simply pick one candidate. Read more
We’ve seen this before. The U.S. creates a situation, digs in its heels and makes ultimatums — and tens of thousands die. Read more
When you make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, the scale doesn’t lie. Read more
Climate change is real, as should be obvious to all of us. But we take exception with the proposition that the people of Hawaii need to “sacrifice,” as the headline on a recent commentary by John Kawamoto stated (“Climate change requires shared sacrifice,” Island Voices, Star-Advertiser, Jan. 5) Read more
The Hawaii Tax Review Commission recently recommended that Hawaii implement a carbon fee and dividend to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, which would in turn reduce the devastating effects of climate change. Read more
Given that a clear majority of Republican voters believe that Joe Biden’s presidential victory last year was fraudulent, it is no surprise that Republican-controlled state legislatures are enacting laws that change how votes are cast and counted. Read more
More than 350 high school students — in the Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders program from across the state — wrote a response to the prompt, “Tell a local lawmaker: What is the one thing that must change in order for you to picture yourself having a good future in Hawaii?” Read more
The just-passed 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a $768 billion bill, is now awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature. In the annual defense bill are policy reforms such as on military sex assault and handling of the Red Hill fuel tanks; plus provisions focused on Hawaii and the wider Pacific, including some $465.5 million for military construction projects here. Read more
During their Nov. 15 virtual summit, President Joe Biden told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that he “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Read more
The National Park Service (NPS), Department of the Interior, apparently doesn’t remember the “Day of Infamy” at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial (PHNM) very well nor has any desire to improve that situation — despite having the assets, real estate and funding to do so. Read more
