A tale as old as time: a tone-deaf leader, a pile of hoarded cash, and a starving child. Today's Marie Antoinette isn't in Versailles—he's in the White House.

From Red Hill to Hawaiʻi’s false missile alert, it becomes clearer each day the U.S. military doesn’t keep us safe. As heroic façade becomes farce, small wins, like the BLNR’s rejection of the Army’s EIS for Pōhakuloa, become possible.

When we have money to fund tax credits for powerful film studios, but no money to invest in tax credits for our keiki, the lines between fictional exploitation and the dismal reality of life start to feel blurred. Are we not, in fact, living The White Lotus?

Between President Trump’s tariff chaos, haphazard cuts to government functionality via Elon Musk’s rogue agency DOGE, and Congress advancing $5.1 trillion in tax cuts for the rich on the backs of the rest of us, it’s looking like the U.S. economy and the empire that supports it are headed for a painful, stupid end.

There are always winners and losers in every proposed budget, but some of the guests at this year’s budget banquet might be consuming more than makes sense, while others could use more than breadcrumbs.

The Honolulu City Council is slated to vote on a new tax on homes that stand empty, a measure supporters say will force owners to rent the properties and help provide badly needed housing for local residents. Critics complain it’s unfair to the property owner.

The knee-jerk reaction of government officials to an outbreak of violence on the underserved, neglected West Side communities of Oʻahu is to prescribe more police. A better solution would be to create a society in which folks can prosper in happiness.

On the recently-passed, governor-backed income tax cut bill the Hawaiʻi State Legislature approved. The benefits of the tax cut will mostly flow to the wealthiest households in the state, while working families will see only meager savings.