Reading Nanea Kalani’s description of the onslaught of new transgender rules about to descend on public schools, I pity principals forced to implement this federally directed, politically correct shibai (“Schools to begin preparing for new transgender rules,” Star-Advertiser, June 8).
Parents who may be cut out of the loop lest their child be “outed” also deserve some consideration.
Think of it: Schools not now imparting basic skills of reading, spelling, sentence construction, multiplication and long division may soon keep parents in the dark about the “sincere gender identity” of their own children.
And if bullying is already a problem, just wait until this mess hits the fan.
Maybe Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is right. He wants states to convene an Article V constitutional convention to grab this rogue federal establishment by its slimy, intrusive tentacles and drag it back within the narrow Tenth Amendment limits originally set for it.
Thomas E. Stuart
Kapaau, Hawaii island
Homelessness has become a danger
What part of “defecation, trespassing, theft, littering, car break-ins, hard-core drug users and discarded dangerous hypodermic needles” do our elected officials not understand (“Homeless settling in, in Iwilei,” Star-Advertiser, June 6)?
When business people and residents have to hire part-time employees to hose down the sidewalks in front of their homes and offices every morning to wash away urine and feces, I daresay that we have reached a state of affairs beyond discussions about the homeless crisis, appointing committees and planning and wringing our hands, trying to wade through jurisdictional issues and silly “sit-lie” laws that serve as grand excuses for inaction.
Housing and health services, strict enforcement of existing laws, compassion in valid and justified situations and better cooperation between the state and the city are not like looking for the secrets of the cosmos.
No more cheap, useless and ineffective talk. We need to act now.
George Vozikis
Waikiki
New city hall site in very congested area
I understand why the city is moving the Satellite City Hall and driver’s licensing office from City Square. But considering the amount of business it handles, why did it pick the new location — one of the most congested in Honolulu?
How can the city possibly accommodate the public when there is limited parking at the Kapalama Hale building?
On normal days, there is always heavy traffic congestion on Dillingham Boulevard and Alakawa Street because of Costco and other businesses in the area. I can just picture people jaywalking across Alakawa Street, dodging cars after parking their vehicles at Costco.
It’s going to be a nightmare for motorists and police. Navigating Alakawa will be that much tougher for motorists.
Larry Tamashiro
Downtown Honolulu
Swiss example likely will be ignored here
Our Alice-in-Wonderland rail project just keeps getting “curioser and curioser” — or sadder and sadder, with news of Switzerland’s completion of the Gotthard Railway Tunnel under the Swiss Alps (“Swiss finish world’s longest rail tunnel,” Star-Advertiser, June 2).
The longest rail tunnel in the world at 35.4 miles, it followed the Swiss tradition of producing public projects on time and on budget: in this massive case, $12 billion in 17 years.
Our comparatively puny but ill-conceived and directionless Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation rail project is estimated to cost $8 billion in a still-unknown time frame.
Is this a teaching moment? Considering our own tradition here, I fear not.
John W. Conner
Waikiki
Pro golf earnings seem gender-based
You’ve come a long way, baby, but apparently not enough in professional golf.
According to the latest figures on winnings as reported, PGA (male) leaders Jason Day has won $5,620,804 this year compared to LPGA (female) leader Lydia Ko’s $1,102,829. Currently, the PGA has 71 golfers who have won over $1 million each. The LPGA has only one. Shameful, disgraceful!
Women’s pro-tennis players have near parity with men while the LPGA disparity is greater than in most occupations.
Open the fairways to gender.
Richard Y. Will
Waikiki
Zoos the real culprit in death of Harambe
In reaction to the shooting and killing of Harambe, an endangered lowland gorilla, after a child fell into his enclosure recently at the Cincinnati Zoo, Lori Gruen wrote in The Washington Post that this killing was deeply traumatizing for the child, the surviving gorillas, witnesses, animal care staff and those sensitive to the plight of captive animals.
She said that blame was being pointed in the wrong direction: The real culprits are zoos.
I agree with Gruen and recommend that her article on this subject be read. Wild animals are meant to live in the wild. When people realize this, there won’t be any more horrible incidents like the one that occurred at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Jennifer Chiwa
Makiki
