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LETTERS for July 28 issue

By Staff | Jul 28, 2016

Mahalo for removing debris from the Baby Beach reef

I just wanted to say mahalo to the young man who hauled a massive fishing net, rope and fishing line that were entangled on the reef off Baby Beach on July 7. I got to talking with him, and he said he had injured his knee awhile ago and wanted to try to strengthen it by swimming when he came upon this jumbled mess caught on the reef.

It obviously took him quite a while to free it and had to use a knife to cut it out. He then had to haul it all the way up to the beach path entrance by the trash receptacles.

Coincidentally, just two days prior, there was an organized snorkel reef cleanup at Baby Beach, and this huge mass of net and rope was not discovered.

Also, mahalo to the county workers that keep the beach path on Kai Pali Place clean and free of debris left behind by beach-goers. We appreciate your efforts.

DIANE COUNTRYMAN, Lahaina

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Use bypass funds to create a new access

Nailed it! I sent a letter to this paper last week suggesting that because Mayor Arakawa got stuck over here during the fire, an alternate route might be considered!

Bingo! Saw him on TV this morning, and guess what? Yes, now that someone important (at least in their own mind) has been inconvenienced, suddenly it’s a possibility.

Take the money ($50 million-plus) to finish the stupid Lahaina Bypass and put it toward an alternate route!

BUD FOWLER, Lahaina

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West Maui needs another thrift shop

Mom and I have reveled shopping at the Salvation Army since the mid-1980s. Irene did promotional work for Las Vegas thrift shops. She talked “shopping” story with the laughing, local Lahaina lady workers who became her friends. I was a weekly customer. After a long illness, I couldn’t wait to get to S.A. I was dismayed to struggle with a new generic pricing system. The person that checked me out seemed aloof and curt.

Keith, with his parrot, bike, and all the physical struggles he has survived, is a true Lahaina icon. I enjoyed shopping and watching him, albeit in discomfort, courteously deal with the myriad of personalities that came into the shop. Keith knows his stuff and his prices.

What the West Side needs is competition; another thrift shop. Personally, I would love to see a high-end, LOW price tag second hand store benefiting Maui’s environment and fulfilling a need in West Maui for the isolated, independent animal welfare volunteers here. It could include an educational area – perhaps space to adopt some of the West Side’s abandoned, abused animals. It is being done successfully elsewhere. Sign me up to volunteer.

The Salvation Army shouldn’t be so rigid or greedy (yes, they do help the poor, the broken, homeless, ill, struggling, stranded tourists and impaired elderly, like me).

On the flip side, the same demographic needs to catch a viable discount there. Coconut wireless shares: less aloha, more inconsistent, inflated, incongruous prices.

Not sure who is responsible for this austere brand, but they have taken the “Salvation” out and put the “Army” in.

M.D. COVIC, Kaanapali

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Lies create hostility toward police

After decades of a declining crime rate, America now faces a law enforcement crisis. The well-documented “Ferguson effect” described by FBI Director James Comey has been followed by the Dallas and Baton Rouge massacres and other attacks directed at police officers. In Baltimore, a politically-inspired prosecution of six police officers has been exposed as baseless by a series of acquittals, but it has poisoned police-community relations.

Hostility toward the police will continue until lies are replaced by truth. Michael Brown was not an innocent victim, but rather a thief who attacked a police officer. Blacks are not being disproportionately killed by the police, as was demonstrated by the recent Harvard study. The database compiled by The Washington Post shows that most people who are killed by the police are armed and violent, and are more likely to be white than black.

Civilization requires law and order. The police make that possible. When accused, they should be presumed innocent while awaiting all the facts. If proven guilty, they must be punished, but the media must stop treating then as guilty as soon as accused.

PETER J. THOMAS, Americans for Constitutional Liberty

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Presidential race surreal

Donald Trump is for war and against war, for gun control and against gun control, pro-life and pro-choice, for politicians releasing their tax returns and refuses to do so himself, against gay marriage and in favor of gay marriage, he loves John McCain and he loathes John McCain, he wants everyone to pay attention to Ron Paul and he wants everyone to ignore Ron Paul – not to mention his 180-turn on Mitt Romney. The list goes on. He’s very religious, he’s not; he knows his Bible, and he said “Corinthians Two.” Oye!

Hillary Clinton is in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and against it, for war and against it, against and for gun control, for and against gay marriage, e-mailed nothing classified on her private e-mail and e-mailed some classified material on her private e-mail. Her list of self-contradictory statements is shorter, by far, than is Donald Trump’s, but still.

It’s the era of “Surrealpolitik.”

They both claim to evolve positions as new information comes in. Seriously? There was no new information about gay marriage as those two flipped and flopped. Oh wait, the poll numbers changed – that’s the new information – and the new positions followed. The wet finger test – which way are the voters blowing today? Time to follow them and call yourself a leader.

But do you really want to back a man with thin skin and a “Ready, fire! aim” approach to conflict? If you, like me, are just a working man, do you want to bet your job, your wages and your pension on a businessman with a long, proven record of shafting the working person and failure to pay his bills?

At least no one can say Trump voted for it before he voted against it. He has zero experience governing, even though he’s 70. Isn’t that perhaps a little late to pretend to be able to learn the intricate ropes required to govern? His ignorance about public policy is matched only by his arrogance that it is easy.

“It would take an hour-and-a-half to learn everything there is to learn about missiles… I think I know most of it anyway.” Huh? Like how to punch in the codes to end life on Earth because someone “over there” insulted you? God help us.

TOM H. HASTINGS, PeaceVoice