• ‘Sound’ was super • Expand law to all pesticide users • Wage controls can cause problems • Smart meters cost justified ‘Sound’ was super True wonder, the kind that leaves one gaping between disbelief and delight, is not an
• ‘Sound’ was super • Expand law to all pesticide users • Wage controls can cause problems • Smart meters cost justified
‘Sound’ was super
True wonder, the kind that leaves one gaping between disbelief and delight, is not an experience that comes often. True wonder is exactly what I felt as I watched the stage production of “The Sound of Music” at the War Memorial Sunday night.
I had few expectations going in: The performance would be entertaining. The music would be cheerful and light. The audience would sing along, so familiar was the story of the Von Trapps.
I did not expect to cry. I did not expect to be so moved.
I did not expect to find a deeper meaning or relevance in the story of the six young Von Trapps and the lion-hearted governess who loves them and, by play’s end, transforms their father from a cold and distant captain to a loving man.
There are moments of true transport, moments when I felt that the rest of the world had fallen away, and what was on stage was alive, the performance fresh and vibrant.
I looked at the faces of the young performers as they listened to Maria, whose voice is angelic as she is good and pure, and they looked as transfixed as I felt, as though they, like me, were hearing the music for the first time.
Words are inadequate to describe the experience of watching great art performed on stage.
But, this is it, this is theater that matters. Our own Debra Blachowiak is a producer of the play, but that showing your support isn’t why you should see this play. You should go if you want to be transported. You should go if you want to experience, as the very young and the very innocent, a sense of wonder.
Ruby Staggers
Lihue
Expand law to all pesticide users
Wow, I hope that the pro-Bill 2491 folks have been paying attention to the news concerning the school kids affected by pesticide odor — Malathion the cause. It just shows that the hysteria caused by the folks for pesticide transparency should now be expanded to all users, not just the big ag companies.
Come on Hooser/Bynum, amend and expand the bill, now law, to affect all pesticide users and find the monies to fund such a large pesticide posse. Just goes to show everyone that the loudest agitators on a concern may have it all wrong, or badly mistaken.
Masa Shirai
Lihue
Wage controls can cause problems
A recent letter demanded a “fair wage,” meaning a higher state minimum wage. The costs of labor are not paid by the employer but by the customer. If you pay more to the people who stock the shelves at the grocery store, you pay more for groceries. The raise is worthless if you get more and pay more.
Wage and price controls have been tried but work ineffectually at best. This would require a bloated government bureaucracy to enforce.
Thus, more taxes and less disposable income for buying groceries.
Many historians assert that the runaway inflation of the Weimar Republic contributed to the rise of Hitler.
Saddled by punitive war reparations, the Weimar government printed lots of paper money rendering the currency worthless. People could not buy food.
This example contributes to the frequent debt issues in Congress. Many minimum wage workers are not household heads but students and young people just starting the workforce.
Suzanne Woodruff
Kapaa
Smart meters cost justified
In response to Alan Faye’s letter that meter readers for the 3,000 KIUC members who declined smart meter installation would receive wages of over $120,000.
Mr. Faye fails to account for the cost of merely moving the meter reader from one meter to another.
A quick calculation assuming one meter can be read every 10 minutes shows vehicle costs alone would run about $50,000. Other overhead costs could easily reduce those wages by another $10,000 to $20,000. A $50,000 income is not unreasonable.
Mr. Faye (among many who constantly complain about KIUC) wants other members to pay for his decision to impose extra overhead costs on our co-op.
KIUC went out of its way to satisfy you Mr. Faye.
Accept responsibility for your decision.
John Zwiebel
Kalaheo
