Don’t be pressured to stop abortion here
Friday was a very emotional day for people who believed in the United States and the righteous law of the land.
We saw the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trumpian Supreme Court, reverse a ruling that had given individual women the constitutional right to make decisions about their bodies and their welfare.
Many of us feel continuing disillusionment in our political system. So I am asking that our Hawaii legislators stand firm on our abortion rights and not give in to the political pressure that is going to come down hard on them by the Republican Party and anti-abortion states.
Hawaii legislators need to keep today’s madness from influencing their decisions regarding the women of Hawaii. The state also should provide resources and a safe haven for women from repressive states.
This is not a time to prevaricate just because a Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell or Ted Cruz calls for changing our laws. We do not need to toe their line. Stand resolute for women’s rights.
Judith Santos
Kailua
Trump’s legacy lives through the courts
As recent events have shown, President Donald Trump’s legacy will live on long after he’s gone. After 50 years of a liberal Supreme Court, we now have a conservative majority. Although that gets all the attention, the real impact of Trump’s legacy will be felt in the lower courts.
He has appointed more than 200 federal judges who have lifetime appointments. In addition, Trump has effectively “flipped” the highly liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had more than 90% of its rulings overturned by the Supreme Court last year.
As much as the anti-Trump faction would like to believe that Trump was just a dysfunctional aberration in our country’s history, he has and will continue to have a profound impact on this country for generations to come.
Bert Oshiro
Hawaii Kai
All students deserve access to athletics
Title IX may be an improvement in the battle against discrimination, but the main result is the extension of discrimination against unathletic boys and unathletic girls. Society’s habit of favoring the elite remains unchanged.
All students could be given equal access to the enormous sums currently spent on athletics. For example, schools could provide intramural sports programs available to all students.
Sports may not be quite as lavish with the largess spread to everyone, but it would be a genuine victory for equal opportunity.
Lane Yoder
Kaneohe
Fox News fans should listen to other sides
“Of course I watch Fox News,” I said when challenged by a Fox News enthusiast. I told him that I watch, listen to and read lots of conservative narratives as well as left-leaning ideas because doing so ensures that I hear all sides of issues.
Yet 38% of the respondents to the Big Q indicated they thought the Jan. 6 hearings were irrelevant (“Will you be following the congressional hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection?,” Star-Advertiser, Big Q, June 10).
How many of those people have watched any of the hearings? I challenge those who think the Jan. 6, 2021, events were irrelevant to watch all of the hearings. Last week’s hearings are still available for streaming.
We should all listen to, watch and read all sides of every issue before deciding what is relevant or not. Dismissing something without knowing all points of view reveals that some people cannot or will not or are afraid to listen to anything but those points that reinforce what they already believe.
Be brave enough to find out what others have to say before dismissing any ideas as irrelevant.
Leslie Munro
Aiea
Pickleball tourney left mess on courts
The organizers of the recent pickleball tournament at the Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park have shamefully left our tennis courts defaced with bright yellow lines crisscrossing and marring the courts. Players are left with a confusing mess of overlapping lines that camouflage and obscure the tennis lines, leaving the courts virtually unplayable.
The yellow tape leaves a white, super-sticky adhesive that cannot be removed without powerful solvents. Even if the lines are removed and the residue is treated and scraped off, there will likely be permanent damage to the court surfaces.
Those responsible must immediately remove all traces of the lines and ensure that the courts are in their original condition. City agencies who granted permits must enforce cleanup provisions. If there is any delay or noncompliance, those agencies must clean up the mess themselves.
This should never be allowed to happen again.
John Hoshibata
Mililani
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