• A thought on dogs • Alternative routes to bypass accident • Be fair with wages A thought on dogs Dogs are not mutts! I was recently misquoted in an article (TGI, Dec. 18) entitled “Muzzle that Mutt” about an
• A thought on dogs • Alternative routes to bypass accident • Be fair with wages
A thought on dogs
Dogs are not mutts! I was recently misquoted in an article (TGI, Dec. 18) entitled “Muzzle that Mutt” about an ordinance for excessive barking dogs. The heading seems to make it seem as though I hate dogs. That’s not true.
Many people think I own a dog because they see me with dogs all the time, dogs that I take walking or bring home for sleepovers.
There are two types of barking dogs. Those that seek attention or food and those that have anxiety issues. Barking all hours of the day and night is excessive whether their owners are home or not is in my opinion excessive. Excessive is when I have to turn on an air conditioner at night so I can’t hear them bark.
Dogs are family members and need just as much attention as a child or an elderly parent. This might simply be a walk or run in the park or even your backyard.
Karen Ono, Lihue
Alternative routes to bypass accident
Another highway shutdown for three-plus hours. On Kaumualii Highway west of the humane society there was a three-car accident which caused a truck to be set on fire and someone seriously injured.
Beside the loss of properties and injuries, the annoying thing was that the highway was shut down at the time most people were getting off work, tired, hungry, and wanting to get home to be with and care for their family.
This all could have been avoided if we had another alternative route. Yet the ironic thing is that our county officials/councilmen want to raise the vehicle county tax fee 60 percent. Why?
Since the state has raised the vehicle tax fee there have been no major traffic improvements. What traffic improvements can the County Council promise us? I don’t think there can be any improvement promises, only another way to raise taxes to set up a better nest egg for their (county officials) retirement.
We need more alternative routes to get home without being held up by road closures caused by accidents that block the highway and roads.
Build more roads with wider shoulders and make them user friendly for cyclists and moped riders.
Howard Tolbe, Eleele
Be fair with wages
Suzanne Woodruff’s claim that the wages of those who stock store shelves is paid solely by the customer is incorrect. I am sure she knows it is only one of the costs that must be factored into prices to determine profit.
Profit goes to company owners. Large companies are owned by the 1 percent who own almost everything (including much of Kauai).
Many companies already pay a “fair wage.” For example, according to Glassdoor, Costco pays an average of $15.60 and provides health insurance. Costco is profitable.
Companies like Walmart, which pays only $8.53 and does not provide health care, actually encourage their employees to accept food stamps and Medicaid. Walmart is very profitable, they have externalized their costs. Our taxes are indirectly flowing to the Waltons.
The Walton family (members of the 1 percent and the richest family in the world: Wikipedia) is using the company profits to buy back company stock so that more of those profits go only to the Waltons.
The threat of hyper-inflation is real. The Federal Reserve — a private company, through Quantitative Easing, is “printing” $85B/month to satisfy the greed of the 1 percent. When our economy crashes, the 1 percent won’t be affected, they will own everything.
Even students and young people (hardly the only ones earning the minimum wage, I don’t see many students working at Walmart) need a “fair wage” if they are going to survive. A more equitable distribution of profits can make this happen easily.
John Zwiebel, Kalaheo
