It is a great and honest article about who gets political airtime and coverage, written by someone I respect. But it points out very clearly that the media is making choices… so you don’t have to.

Well, OK, maybe that’s a bit harsh.

A synopsis is that the media often decides who it gives airtime or coverage to, and who it basically ignores. The article justifies those actions somewhat with the logic that “the losing candidates did not end up with any great number of votes anyway” or that the candidates seemed so far off target with their opinions that they should not be taken seriously.

OK, so here is a different perspective.

If the media does not bother to give those candidates any airtime, then is anyone surprised when they only eek out 4 to 10 percent of a vote? You can’t vote for someone you don’t know about and you will not know about them if they do not get any airtime.

The media creates the environment to assist them in losing. It is a sort of pre-screening process. Maybe some are a bit off the edge. But I also do not doubt that the reason they are running is because they are upset with the constant “status quo” of “this is the way we do things” and are very serious about wanting to make some changes.

One candidate referenced the Jones Act, but only got a one-line note. The Jones Act seems to be a somewhat hot topic and people are starting to understand that it is costing us more money. Some commenters are poking fun at candidate Dan Cunningham for wearing gloves or socks on his arms. But its perfectly alright for thousands of others 鈥� I’ve mostly seen them on Asian women 鈥� to wear them when they are working in the sun all day, riding the bike, working in Chinatown, etc. Is there a reason that he wears them? Does he have a skin condition? Did anyone ever bother to ask? Or is it just easier to make fun of it?

I can tell you one thing for fairly certain. Very few people here in Hawaii have any clue about what the people they are voting for actually stand for. I think I have yet to see any real campaign ads that state clearly what a candidate stands for and their views of things, or what motivates them. But I also have no doubt that the “crazies” will tell you point blank what they think. Is that then the only reason they get labeled “crazies” because all of the others are too clever to tell anyone anything? Not stating firmly what they stand for gives the “popular” candidates the opportunity to be everything to all people. I don’t even think some have a position, just flopping around in the wind or currents and doing whatever is necessary to get re-elected again. OK, maybe that’s a bit harsh too. I know some are working really hard and working incredible hours to do what they think is best.

But, do you think that some of our existing “leaders” would have been elected if they had run campaign ads or TV interviews that went something like these:

Candidate #1) Once I get elected I plan to make sure the state can ignore any and all of its own zoning laws, ignore any and all of its building code and ignore any public input on projects that the state, in its sole discretion, decides will make the most money for us, including just giving land away.

Candidate #2) Once I get elected I plan to create more jobs in the state by quietly killing off all of our small farms and replacing them with mega corporate chemical companies that also happen to genetically engineer and experiment with making “food.” I also plan to make sure they can plant those experimental crops and spray poison at any time they feel like it. And if a few kids get sick, well they are just going to have to understand that’s the cost of doing business in the new age.

Candidate #3) Once I get elected I am going to make it a point to get rid of those homeless people once and for all. I plan to take a sledgehammer and beat their shopping carts into a pile of useless metal and will do it on national TV so that the rest of the country knows they should not be shipping their homeless here.

Candidate #4) Once I get elected, I plan to kill off funding for dozens of non profit organizations and programs for low-income kids, then I am going to get into a really long argument with the teachers union about their pay… even though they are helping get me elected.

If candidates had said those things in interviews before their elections, would they have gotten any airtime? Or would they also have been written off as being out in left field? I am sure I can come up with quite a number of other examples that would have been met with “what the hell are they talking about?” They probably would have gotten themselves labeled as crazies, too.

But I never heard about their plans, positions or perspectives before they got elected.

Maybe we should listen to some of the “crazies” a little? What more harm could it do than some of the existing damage caused by those we’ve already elected?

About the author: Curtis Kropar is the executive director of Hawaiian Hope, a technology-based nonprofit organization.

Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Columns generally run about 800 words (yes, they can be shorter or longer) and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.com.

The post The Media Should Also Cover Small Candidates appeared first on 天美视频.

Rep Brower’s efforts got a lot of reaction from people.

Well guess what? His actions are very symbolic of the overall way we and our government treat homeless people to begin with.

Did his actions offend you? If they did, then good!

Stop complaining about the homeless, stop creating more artificial barriers for them to overcome, and start helping them in their individual situations.

I like Tom, I’ve known him for years now. Not sure exactly what he was thinking with this one, but maybe he was just trying to finally get your attention?

I do know Tom has been trying for years to actually address some of the problems and is constantly met with resistance. Tom was one of the first lawmakers about seven years ago to introduce options called “safe zones” where the homeless could have a location to go to and get a good night sleep.

Fact: There is not enough room in the shelters for everyone.

If everyone decided to go, most would get turned away, and some of the shelters already have waiting lists as long as 2 or 3 months to get in. Yet Tom was met with almost complete opposition on his effort.

We all conveniently blame the homeless for a variety of issues, but the bottom line is that it is OUR fault. Your neighborhood smell like urine? Well what did you expect. We have no public bathrooms anywhere. Restaurants sell food without without even offering people a chance to wash their hands before they eat. That’s disgusting.

But regarding shopping carts, has anyone noticed how many people are employed by Costco just to gather and return shopping carts to the front door? Last time I was there I counted eight people on cart duty. That’s about $100 an hour in payroll.

Do you have any idea how much money that drives our prices up in a years time? We complain about the homeless having carts, yet we don’t complain that collectively we are all too damn lazy to be bothered to return our shopping cart. We just leave it jammed up on the curb wherever we are.

At closing, you can see crews of employees at Costco and other stores scouring the neighborhood to gather up shopping carts left at bus stops, on street corners, behind buildings; all wheeled off by people who were too lazy to carry their items in their hands.

Stop blaming the homeless for situations that you helped to create. And stop creating situations that allow us to conveniently blame the homeless.

Want to find the source of the problem? It’s us!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Curtis Kropar is the executive director of Hawaiian Hope, a Technology-based nonprofit organization.

Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Columns generally run about 800 words (yes, they can be shorter or longer) and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.com.

The post What Led Rep. Brower to Batter Shopping Carts With a Sledgehammer? appeared first on 天美视频.

I have been living in Hawaii for almost 10 years now and it seems like about every three months some story like this breaks. ORI, Rail Contracts, Sandwich Isles, Mold at Honolulu Hale (guaranteed if it were a private company, government would have shut them down long ago). Really too many to mention casually, I am sure a list can easily be compiled. (can you, Civil Beat, build that and amend this?)

During my years here I have noticed pretty much five distinct groups:

1) First, you have the typical Hawaii resident that is taxed so high they find it necessary to work two and sometimes three jobs to try to survive in this state. This group is more concerned about keeping a roof over their heads and feeding their families than they have time to even bother keeping track of the people in power moving the money around.

2) Then you have the people that are all shocked and outraged, but rarely do anything about it. They might go online and grumble a bit. Sometimes they do get involved and volunteer, protest or try to make a difference, but often these are a subclass of group 1 and eventually submit back to survival mode.

3) Then you have the various government people saying they will “conduct a study” and “take a serious look at the ‘allegations.’ ” BTW, I have completely lost count of the number of times I have read that someplace. And of course nothing really changes because the people in power just move around to different positions of power and never really get out of the game.

4) Then you have the people like Occupy that are more than willing to do something and demonstrate, but then are labeled crazies and slackers and the government purposely creates laws to shut them up and minimize their impact. Have to shut them up otherwise it might disrupt the status quo.

5) Then you have the people that are more involved in a daily basis of trying to make positive change happen. This is a cross section of people from various areas: non profit orgs, the average person, the Occupy people, some few government peeps, organizations like Civil Beat and others. However, like Occupy that touts the 99 percent, I would place our total numbers at maybe 5 percent or rather 50,000 people in the state that are really intent to improve things out of the total population of about 1.3 million.

Bottom line is we are really outnumbered and need to get more people involved.

Until that happens we will continue to see abuse of power on a relatively regular basis. At what point does the average person from Groups 1 and 2 in survival mode say enough is enough and cross over to Group 5?

Maybe we need more people like Group 4, Occupy, to provoke a reaction. Maybe if more people were to see how much time and resources the government spent disproportionately trying to shut them (Occupy) up as opposed to actually addressing any of the real problems, then it would get more people involved? Maybe that is how you get people to pay attention to what is going on around them.

Occupy needs a better marketing department. And realize, Occupy is not the problem, they are simply calling to attention what the problems are and the government is trying to shut them up. Ultimately telling you, the average citizen, to shut up as well. Shut up and do what you’re told, we the government knows what’s best for you. And don’t you dare ask us to explain our actions or reasons for anything.

Well, a good start right now is Civil Beat. I am glad that there is a daily publication and people willing to investigate issues and put it out on the “front page” for everyone to see. Maybe Civil Beat should consider creating a section for Occupy and posting all of the factual data so people take it a little more serious. How much TOTAL money has the government spent so far trying to shut them up?

I said this about two years ago, and will repeat it again. I think Civil Beat should be mandatory daily reading. If you want to know what’s going on and want to see some changes happen, tell all of your friends and family to be here daily and read it. Then get involved! And THAT is the important part. DO SOMETHING, GET INVOLVED, not just go online and grumble a little.

About the author: Curtis Kropar is a longtime Honolulu resident. You can read his bio on his member page.

Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Columns generally run about 800 words (yes, they can be shorter or longer) and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.com.

The post My Little Grumble appeared first on 天美视频.

This year a new event has been added for children to get up and get involved! (Put down the Nintendo, Game boy, PS3, etc. and get some sunlight.) Hawai’i Children and Youth Day now includes a “Fun Run” for kids 17 and younger and is a 1k and 3k run around Kaka’ako park. Visit the to see the Fun Run info and get involved.

Hawaiian Hope is proud to sponsor Hawai’i Children and Youth Day because we believe it embodies all of the positive qualities that we seek in our community. While many people know that one of Hawaiian Hope’s core objectives is to work with and serve the homeless in Hawai’i, people may wonder why we are so interested in sponsoring an event centered around children. It’s really quite simple : “An ounce of prevention is worth ten pounds of cure.” In the long term, building a strong ‘Ohana is one of the best methods of homeless prevention.

Hawai’i Children and Youth Day brings together family to spend a good quality day together in a safe environment. With free activities for families and children, it shows that fun and quality time does not mean spending a lot of money.

The event is an opportunity for families to meet hundreds of organizations in the community that feel just as passionate about helping children achieve the most out of life they can. With important interactive and educational displays such as HPD, it gives parents and children the opportunity to see and talk about making responsible choices, about dangerous drugs and the fallout that can lead to disastrous consequences in life.

Through this event it is also an opportunity for parents, teens and children to find resources that are available to them to help them through difficult, struggling and stressful situations, and hopefully tells a very clear message that – “you are not alone!”

And finally, with some of the interactive activities children may get a taste of the type of careers they would like to pursue in life, like Robotics with the “BrushBot” Workshop, or maybe being a performer like “Brown Bags to Stardom.”

All of these activities, events and resources are designed to bring together and build on the strength of the family and the community, Helping to build One Strong ‘Ohana.

For these and many other reasons, Hawaiian Hope is proud to sponsor this fantastic event and plans to be a sponsor for many years to come. Please join us on Sunday October 7th in Celebrating Hawai’i’s Children and Youth!

About the author: Curtis Kropar is a longtime Honolulu resident and Executive Director of Hawaiian Hope. For more information regarding Hawaiian Hope, the services we offer and and how you can get involved to help, please visit our website at . As part of our sponsorship, Hawaiian Hope designed the www.HawaiiCYD.org website and is hosting it on our servers.

Community Voices aims to encourage broad discussion on many topics of community interest. It’s kind of a cross between Letters to the Editor and op-eds. We do not solicit particular items and we rarely turn down submissions. This is your space to talk about important issues or interesting people who are making a difference in our world. Columns generally run about 800 words (yes, they can be shorter or longer) and we need a photo of the author and a bio. We welcome video commentary and other multimedia formats. Send to news@civilbeat.com.

The post Hawaii Children and Youth To Be Celebrated appeared first on 天美视频.

Regarding School Bullies and the statement that “The Legislature has tried for years to do something to address the issue.”

Trying to legislate a social norm? “Fail”

Please … come on.

Hawaii is full of bullies, and not just in the schools. If you look at the school bullies, I bet you find that half of their parents are bullies as well.

Being a “bully” is a taught skill. People don’t just wake up one morning and snap, they are a bully. That mindset is cultivated, grown and groomed. To be a true oppressor, you have to practice it and have a good instructor to learn the skill from.

I would argue that most bullies don’t even know they are bullies because the lifestyle is so engrained into their psyche its as normal as breathing air. You are trying to legislate and correct something where the party at fault does not even know something is wrong. And when you try to tell them, you will be met with agitation and anger.

That selfish, self centered, “I’m a tough guy don’t mess with me” – “It’s All About Me” – “talk to the hand” – “WHAT you looking at ?” – “AiNoKea” – “Look what you made me do” – “you like scrap ?”

(sarcastically) Why is this even an issue? We glorify violence and bullies at every opportunity. MMA, WWF, NWO. “Pimp My Ride”, “Pimp My Web Page”, “Pimp My profile.” Pimps, the epitome of disrespect and uselessness is sought after and glorified as if they have something special that the rest of us all want.

And you can find bullying at every level of our state.

Our Mayor refers to our homeless as worse than a rat infestation and no one bats an eye.

We pass laws to “clear the sidewalks” that take and destroy the last worldly possessions of people, and instead of outrage we all raise our fists in the air and say “Its about time!”

Someone earns more money than the average person, and “we should tax them more.”

Someone falls asleep from exhaustion and instead of helping we give them a ticket and fine.

We have dozens of completely, socially and morally useless, reality TV shows that are all about being the best bully one can be or at minimum depicting bullies as normal lifestyle, and we can’t watch enough of the trash.

Then we have the hypocrites that try to convince the world there is no God – no absolute standard of right and wrong – That we are all just products of evolution, but then turn around and cry cry that that don鈥檛 want bullies. The basic definition of a bully is “One who is habitually cruel to others who are weaker.” Which is pretty much the mandate of evolution, that only the strong shall survive and the weak shall be exterminated.

Try this: How about make up your minds?

Choose: Do you want to promote violence? Or do you want to promote a life of harmony? That old saying, you are what you eat. Well, you are also what you expose yourself to and surround yourself with. As long as we continue to glorify selfishness and violence, “we are what we eat.” One of my favorite quotes is : “Nothing is so strong as gentleness, and nothing is so gentle as true strength.” A truly strong person does not need to prove it, they already know it. And in knowing it, it shows clearly through their actions.

There is of “some guy” in the past that understood this too:

“It was about 1797, that Kamehameha the Great declared that within his aupuni, the innocent and defenseless shall be safe from unprovoked attack, even from his own chiefs.” In the time of Kamehameha the Great, few leaders anywhere in the world paid that much attention to the safety of their people. That is one reason why this law is considered the most important royal edict of his reign.

The whole “what to do about bullies” is really one of a spiritual and philosophical question. What do you believe in? The answer to that question should pretty much define your expectations what to do about bullies.

About the author: Curtis Kropar is a longtime Honolulu resident and the executive director of Hawaiian Hope, a technology-based nonprofit organization.

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Here are the headlines in the news from a little over a 24-hour period, Tuesday May 15th, 2012:

• – Police said the boy was in custody for another offense Saturday. During an interview, he admitted to breaking into a classroom.
• – She assaulted five school staff and security officers and threatened to kill one of them.
• – A 15-year-old car theft suspect showed up with a 17-year-old friend in a stolen car.
• .
• , terroristic threatening, and for two outstanding warrants.

Did you read that last one? A 19-year-old with two outstanding warrants! How is that accomplished?

When I was originally thinking of these incidents, the questions in my mind were: What is wrong with these kids? How are these kids so messed up? Do they all have the same gangsta rap role models? How are these kids making such stupid decisions?

But the reality? Kids do as we teach them or permit them.

While many parents may not be actively “teaching” their kids to steal, lie, cheat and go all MMA on people, the reality is that if we do not explain to children what is acceptable behavior and what the rules and consequences are, then by default we are permitting them to run rampant and ultimately mess their lives up. Lack of admonishment of what is wrong is by default approval of what is wrong.

How do I know this? I was one of those kids!

My mother for the most part thought I was a pretty good kid. However, one day, surprise, surprise, I was suspended from school for something that by today’s standards would have gotten me arrested. My mother then did the hard and proper thing. She confronted me with NO uncertain terms and explained to me just the way it was going to be. (Mental Picture: Imagine your most angry aunty, giving you full stink eye while pointing that finger at you) And my mother said to me: “Boy! If you keep up what you have been doing, you’re going to end up in jail. Then you’re on your own because I DON’T visit people in jail.鈥� Then she did what was necessary and PUSHED me in a new direction and I am confident to say it altered my path in life.

Today, after reading all of these headlines, I am challenging all of you, even if you think your kid is a good kid, to have some form of “that talk” with kids you know. Your kids, neighbors kids, or just some random kid giving you attitude. Speak up and put that foot down. Explain to them what is acceptable and what will not be tolerated. You are the adults, be in charge. And if you have a story of your own directional change, share it with them.

Do something to put these kids into a direction that will help them accomplish something wonderful in life. Those kids will someday thank you. Otherwise maybe your children, or someone’s kids you know are going to end up like this:

• – He strangled the 51 year old, had sex with her and used her computer to watch porn. He also stole her ATM and credit cards, as well as her vehicle. He was 15 years old at the time.

Note: Juveniles made up nationwide in 2009.

About the author: Curtis Kropar is a longtime Honolulu resident. You can read his bio on his member page.

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“”

This is a joke, right? A “shoe riot”?

No.. it’s no joke. According to the article, “More than 100 law enforcement officers in riot gear broke up an out-of-control crowd waiting to buy a new basketball shoe.”

And here is just one of the outstanding comments in the article:

“All I know is I paid a couple of hundred dollars for a flight,” said Sky Smith, 26, also of New Haven. “I’m not leaving without my shoes.”

I think the best part of this is reading that its NOT THE FIRST TIME and “Similar shoe releases have caused violence at shoe stores across the country” and “In Jersey City, N.J., a 20-year-old man was stabbed seven times amid a crowd of about 300 people waiting to buy the shoes, a local newspaper reported.”

This is why other countries don’t take us seriously. Why we are hated by some and why so many around the world look at us as completely spoiled and out of touch with real issues. Other countries have riots over religious freedoms, riots over voting and elections of power, riots over genocide and police brutality.

We have a riot over 鈥� ready? 鈥� $220 sneakers. Rioting in waiting to throw away money on a luxury expense that others in the world work hard more than a month or two to earn. Are we really that arrogant and spoiled?

There is this here “movement” in the US called “Occupy” and most of what I hear about it are from people, media and politicians criticizing those involved calling them names and “spoiled.” Even multiple beatings have been caught on tape, suppressing their rights of free speech, and no REAL public outcry. In just about any other country those beatings would trigger mass riots. Here, we criticize those that got beaten.

Are the “Occupy” people really the ones spoiled, or possibly are they the only ones that really get it and understand the real problem? I feel ashamed as an American that a riot over sneakers happened, besides the fact that it made the news.

I think its time we take a serious look and do a little self evaluation of what we are about.

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Well, I don’t call them rats, I call them people. But according to the Mayor, these 3 people, including the adorable little girl (鈥淏londie鈥�), are actually worse than rats. Can you imagine that the mayor thinks this family is the equivalent of, sorry, is worse than a rat infestation? Little Blondie there is just part of the infestation.

Can you read and hear the anger and sarcasm in my tone?

In case you missed the article, 鈥淗omelessness Worse than Rat Infestation鈥�.

Most people that know me know I am typically one of the most tolerant, calm, 鈥渨e can work through this鈥� type of people. Those comments in the article? Slammed down my 鈥淥N鈥� button. When I read that article, it was an 鈥淚nstant On鈥�, no middle ground, I was more pissed off than I have been in about a year. In fact, even writing this now I am getting fired up all over again.

Why?

Well, for starters, I guess I used to be part of that infestation. I have no secret about this. I used to be homeless. I spent years trying to get my life put back together. And while it was a rough point in my life, I would not trade it for anything. During that time I discovered what was truly important in life. Much like the writings of our friend Joe Bright, I discovered myself during that time.

So to have someone who is supposed to be our 鈥渓eader,鈥� someone who has probably never had a concern in his life about where his next meal is coming from, hold such a level of contempt for people, makes me want to run outside and vomit. This is the same guy that is supposed to be a driving force of recovery for this city. A driving force for getting us railroaded, sorry, I mean getting us rail. This is someone that we are supposed to trust? And he is supposed to be helping to solve the homeless problem? You can’t help someone you have contempt for and hate.

What I want to know is, where is the outrage? Can you imagine if instead of referencing the homeless, he instead referenced some other class? 鈥淏lacks鈥� are worse? 鈥淢icronesians鈥�? 鈥淯S Veterans鈥�?? If he had used any of those or other terms in saying 鈥渢hey鈥� are worse than a rat infestation, there would be such an outrage 鈥� the whole country, not just the people in this city, would be demanding his resignation. But instead, it appears the socially popular cool thing to do is to blame the homeless for problems we allow to happen.

So, here are some of my comments for feedback regarding the mayor’s comments on our infestation.

(a) “you would have been better off to have a rat infestation”
Really? Chinatown has a rat infestation. The and the local news stations got a lot of attention. People for a while stopped buying at the stores in Chinatown and the news did articles on how merchants were affected by those videos. Isn’t there new evidence that rats caused the deforestation of Easter Island and even the Ewa plain? And were even carriers of the plagues in Europe?
If I am correct, something like 15% of all of the homeless in Hawaii are US Veterans. This says that the number is as high as 33% of the homeless are veterans.

So, a rat infestation is better than veterans that society has tossed aside?

(b) “The cigarette butts are all over the place.”
Go to any section of public roadway at any stoplight on the median strip. Or any bus stop, you will see thousands of cigarette butts. Are the homeless responsible for all of those? That lady today driving the Mercedes tossing her cigarette out the window gets no reprimand. She will blame the homeless too.

(c) “Carlisle said he regularly receives letters from mainland visitors who say they’re never coming back to Hawaii because Waikiki ‘smells like a urinal.'”

Mr. Mayor, I lived in the heart of Waikiki for three years, and like downtown Honolulu, there are NOOOO public bathrooms available anywhere. Can’t even wash your hands before a meal. No wonder we have such high rates for staph infections. At 2 AM – 4 AM, when 50-100 nightclubs leave out, you can see drunken visitors and locals alike urinating and squatting in the bushes, between cars and in the corners of buildings, EVERYWHERE. Just like I have seen several “classy” ladies with their dresses hiked up between cars in my parking lot – Nice and convenient to blame the homeless.

Maybe instead of spending millions on resurfacing sidewalks, you should install some toilets and sinks? I can’t wait till the APEC visitors are told “NO, NO PUBLIC BATHROOMS!!!!” Get some 60-year-old delegate that HAS to go, NOW, when no one will let him use the toilet…. and he will be pissing in the bushes, too. Also can’t wait till APEC visitors discover that roughly 75% of all of the hotel rooms in Honolulu are . Is the fault of the homeless?

(d) “Carlisle said there’s ample shelter space that goes unused.”
“Ample”, really? What percentage represents ample? 15%? 25%? I think this has been fact checked about 5 times already and every time the answer is the same. FALSE. Most shelters have or had waiting lists. Historically, only 1 or 2 of the shelters ever has space open, and if you ask many of the homeless, you will quickly find out there are reasons for that. And don鈥檛 give me the 鈥渢hey don’t like rules鈥� excuse. All shelters have about the same rules.

(e) “These people are all hanging out there, half-naked some of the time”

Do you mean unlike the dozens of hookers working and walking in Waikiki? Let us not forget, that they expect the number of during APEC.
“(APEC) will bring hundreds of Asian businessmen with diplomatic immunity that may not view prostitution as a crime,”
Yea, that will be great for our “Family Friendly” image.

(f) “Those who are temporarily out of the work force are generally more willing to seek assistance,”
Really? What is that based on? People that are “temporarily out” often think it is just that – “temporary” and try to make a go of it on their own. Like I was, many are stubborn to their own ability to pull themselves up and embarrassed that they have to ask for help. By the time many ask for help, it’s often already too late and they are on the streets or couch surfing.
If “the homeless” maybe a few hundred people in that camp are worse then a rat infestation, then what are your thoughts about the roughly 100,000 people here in Hawaii that are classified as “hidden homeless,” many, one or two paychecks away from living on the streets. These are people that are living multiple households to a single address, multi-generational families to a single apartment. Like the 50 people living in a house built out of scaffolding because it was the only thing they could afford to pay rent on. We have had THOUSANDS of houses foreclosed on in the past few years. How many of those people “need treatment” for their drug or mental problems? So when they had a house, were they 鈥渕odel citizens鈥� and now that they lost it all they are just part of the infestation?

I would like to know how many people out there feel the same outrage that I do. Tell it to the mayor.

Mahatma Ghandi said, “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”

How will we be judged, equating our fellow man as an infestation?

About the author: Here’s Mr. Kropar’s bio posted on his member profile page.

My 鈥淐areer鈥� in IT started at the age of 14 when my mother enrolled me in computer classes – 鈥淐ollege for Kids鈥� at a community college in Pittsburgh PA. Even though she had to borrow the tuition of $25 for the classes, Her unquestionably logical argument was : 1) 鈥淚f you keep up what you have been doing, your going to end up in jail.鈥� – 2) 鈥淚 DON’T visit people in jail.鈥�

After my first 3 classes, I was hooked. I was a converted geek

Thanks mom !

My Career as an IT guy spans the last 29 years.

Career path includes (many time overlaps):
15 years teaching. – inner city youth, gang kids and adult education.
25 + years as a programmer.
15 + years as a hardware nut.
6 years as a mad scientist electronics tech.
4 years in medical research. (stay away from the RED freezers)
15 years self employed.
7 years homeless – and proud of what i learned during that time.
100% geek

Currently the Executive Director of Hawaiian Hope – a Technology based non profit organization. (He added in an email that his organization manages data for several of the state’s largest homeless shelters and just gave away 105 computers on a single night.)

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