Book box work of many hands
We appreciate the kind letter from the president of the Friends of the Kapa‘a Library regarding our donation of a book-exchange box for the community. We want to make sure that the artist, Helen Meade, who provided the delightful imagery of Hawaiian flowers, sea life, and books inside the box, is also recognized. Even Helen’s artistic granddaughter, Sophie Cornell, added her inspired touch to the book box.
Doug Wilmore and Judy Shabert, Kilauea
Some thoughts on bipartisanship, or lack of it
How about some perspective on bipartisanship or the lack there of.
Presently, there’s the federal legislative and the American population versions.
When it comes to the Feds, it’s the lack there of. I never thought it would be anything different. With the Biden $1.9-trillion stimulus package and the Republicans $600 billion counter it was clear that bipartisanship wasn’t happening from a federal perspective.
It’s the same thing with the infrastructure legislation. Quite frankly, both times the Repubs had no intention of serious negotiation, with 30% and 17% of what the cost should be. Huge tax breaks for corporations, but not so much for the American people.
In contrast, the American people overwhelmingly support both pieces of federal legislation. Democrats and independents at 90% and 70%, with Republicans coming in at 30%, which is a lot better than 0% of federal legislators.
OK, so there’s one more piece to this. Joe Manchin, you have to stop being naive. The filibuster is a Senate rule with the purpose of racism, voter suppression and overall obstructionism. For the nation to go forward, you must stop helping Mitch McConnell.
Mark Perry, Lihu‘e
Rubbish disposal is island desecration
Everyone who throws away rubbish ultimately pleads ignorance to the effect of destroying our environment. What choice do we have? Many of us try to recycle, and this helps us feel better about this predicament. But are we sure that all of this is ultimately reused properly? Or is the recycle barged/trucked to be dumped elsewhere? The county never verifies anything publicly.
Our waste system is by right an excuse to pollute. Heaven help us when a tidal wave crashes through our Kekaha landfill. As more people, Costco-type businesses and mail-order merchandise increasingly come to Kaua‘i, the island will be submerged in waste. This waste includes the visitor industry, who should be legally responsible for filing a EIS (environmental impact statement).
This is reality. And what can we do about it? People work hard and have little time to do anything except to accept this desecration. But inside, we know we should be better.
The first step is to publicly come out and verbalize this problem to our politicians, who will say “there’s nothing we can do about it” or “we’ve looked at this before, it’s cost-prohibitive.”
Maybe a committee could at least be formed to open up researching clean use of waste? At least keep trying.
Please malama our home.
Aloha.
Sherwood Conant, Kapa‘a
