Let Them Eat Cake
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.
Colonial Admission
The grift that keeps on taking: Ed Blum's Kam Schools lawsuit uses manufactured grievance politics to try to dismantle a real remedy for colonial harm, all in service of white supremacy.
Lei of the Land
An Israeli government-sponsored trip costs us not in dollars, but in principle. It's a cost paid in the devaluation of Aloha. It tells the world that in Hawaiʻi, our most cherished symbol can be weaponized to bless a genocide.
The American Way
When lives feel hollow, dopamine comes cheap: riskier thrills, faster rewards. The state’s fix? More cops, more drones—not solutions. Peak America. Happy birthday, indeed.
Price of Paradise
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.
Diagnosis Atrocious
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.
Tax Cut Strut
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.