News merger has feeling of deja vu

Yogi Berra once said, “;It feels like deja vu all over again,”; and that is how I felt when I found the Star-Bulletin editorial for June 15, 2005, with the headline “;Stop conglomerates from dominating local media.”;

The same corporate entity, Raycom Media, is still trying to dominate our local TV news and programming with its shared services agreement among KHNL, KFVE and KGMB.

I understand why there is not a loud outcry from the public. We are faced with so many crises, it is hard to care about something that does not appear to affect us personally. However, how your news comes to you can be slanted in very sophisticated ways.

The U.S. media already is dominated by five or six big players like General Electric (NBC) or Disney (ABC). So now our local outlets will consolidate a large percentage under the auspices of a Southern corporation, Raycom. How can this possibly reflect the unique multicultural viewpoints of our beautiful state?

All I can say is that we are lucky there are still two newspapers and a weekly serving Honolulu.

Let's revive death penalty

After the Iris Kaikana Rodrigues murder and the recent Bryanna Antone murder, I firmly believe that our island state must reinstate the death penalty.

Unquestionably, the manner in which the murders were committed may be described as beyond heinous, and, when convicted, the murderers deserve no less than the forfeiture of their lives. And by no means sentence them to life without parole, since it only rewards them with three square meals, and a pillow, blanket, bunk and rent-free living for years to come. Simply put, you snuff a life, we snuff yours. And, please, you bleeding hearts, stay home on this one. We don't need your sobs of rejection muddying the waters for the death penalty.

One last thing, Mr. and Mrs. Hawaii, before you vote for any politicians hereafter, get their “;take”; on this issue. If they come out negative for the death penalty, bounce them out of office.

Insurance firm acted criminally

My brother would likely be alive today if we had a single-payer public health insurance plan. He died because an insurance company criminally canceled his insurance and his care just as soon as it heard about his health problems. He did not have the strength to both fight the system and fight for his life. The system that works is a public option, single-payer choice.

It is not enough for our politicians to just cast a vote in their own chamber and say, “;We tried.”; No, we expect our elected politicos to actually fight for us, to stick to their guns and not just roll over at the finish line. But they can't get away with any of this stuff unless we are silent, unless they think they can get away with fooling us.

So speak out and keep speaking out, so they know the people are paying attention.

Democratic Party betrays voters

I donated quite a bit of money to the Democratic Party. With the lack of support it is giving the president, and with the donations it is accepting from the health insurance industry, I am really turned off. We need health reform with a public option and a single-payer system. The people want it; check the polls. The senators and the U.S. House have put their own interest above that of the people.

Shame on them. No more money from me.

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