Yet another national publication puts out a grim article on the Hawaii homeless problem. It's the visitor industry's skeleton in the closet. Low wages fuel profits for the indusry. Low wages are killing the poor. No pono, no peace. Meanwhile, in Waikiki at the superluxe Trump Tower where small studios run a cool half-a-mill, the flipping has begun accord to people I know who deal in real estate. Hawaii increasingly looks like Aspen, Colorado, where the rich can afford to live and industry has to build housing in nearby towns to keep low-wage workers under roof. It's a whole new version of the company town, coming to a beach near you.

—Alex, 01/10/07