Laniakea solution won’t be perfect

The state Department of Transportation did not create the traffic problems at Laniakea.

The DOT cannot unilaterally "solve" the problem, as there are state and city liability issues to be resolved before any long-term solution can be designed. The federal government may even have a say, depending on how we fund the solution.

The DOT can and should communicate better with the residents most affected by the constant traffic jams.

Kathleen Pahinui, the chairwoman of the North Shore Neighborhood Board, announced that Laniakea traffic would be on the agenda for the Sept. 24 meeting. The DOT should send representatives and explain directly to our residents what long-term options they are considering and what problems each option faces.

Those attending the meeting need to refrain from beating up on the DOT representatives. They should listen and ask questions, but venting won’t achieve anything but ill will.

Any solution will be a compromise and not everyone will agree with the direction we ultimately take. It is called democracy.

Bill Quinlan
Velzyland

Make sure you are heard about Syria

To war or not to war, that is the question.

I hope most of us will remember Iraq and Afghanistan before we decide to get on that slippery slope. I hope we will examine carefully if America really has a national security issue here. I hope we will look ahead at what the consequences might be well after a military intervention. I hope we will ask why the U.S. has made itself as the world’s moral and political police force, and if that is a role we want to take.

The president spoke careless words — "Assad must go," "red lines crossed" — and now is looking for the country to save his face by saving its own, but is that a reason for attacking another sovereign country?

However you feel, write and tell our representatives in Washington. The president has said that he wants Congress to vote on this because it is the voice of the people. So make sure your voice is heard.

Wendy Pollitt
Kaneohe

Obama seems adrift about foreign policy

I know that the president has a national security advisor, the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and others.

But one has to wonder whether the president uses these agencies or bases his decisions, actions, or lack of action, on his own Ouija board.

The commander in chief seems to be adrift with no coherent foreign policy, like a supercarrier without a rudder.

Hamilton Winston
Kailua

Gay activists want to destroy marriage

The state’s interest in marriage is in the preservation of the family for the creation and protection of children, ultimately for the perpetuation of society.

If there were no state’s interest, then why have any rules at all?

The push by gays and lesbians is not about gaining equality. It is about the destruction of marriage. A gay-rights activist, Masha Gessen, gave a speech in 2012 admitting that the goal is to destroy marriage by redefining it.

"Fighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we’re going to do with marriage when we get there. … because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change, and that is a lie. The institution of marriage is going to change, and it should change, and again I don’t think it should exist."

Her comments are available online and are well known. She reveals the real gay marriage agenda.

Surrender to their agenda will result in the destruction of the family and society as we know it.

Michael Lee
Maunalani Heights

Have a place where mentally ill can go

How can our elected officials sleep at night?

They decimated the mental health system, stopping the sick from getting help before the illness becomes dangerous.They turned the sick into criminals, and then sentenced them to prison.The sick don’t get the care, medicines or supervision they need, then they die.

Psychiatric medications have come so far in recent years. The right medicines at the right doses can make a very sick person well. Yet nothing has changed.

The mentally ill are not throwaway people. There needs to be a secure medical facility where the sick can be humanely treated before they become violent.

You can build such a facility 20 miles away from the nearest neighbor on the Big Island. It’s cheaper than the loss of just one life.

Pauline Arellano
Mililani

Sidewalks getting more crowded

As one who frequently walks through Waikiki, I have to agree with Kai Parker ("Burden of safety falls on pedestrians," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Aug. 12).

Every day I see people step off the curb with no regard to traffic or traffic signals, or blatantly jaywalk across several lanes of traffic. I am surprised there aren’t more accidents.

That being said, in all fairness to pedestrians, we are being forced to share the sidewalks with more and more obstacles: kids on bicycles, scooters and skateboards; motorized carts and wheelchairs, surfers carrying huge boards, and, now, the growing trend of Segway packs zipping down the sidewalk.

It is definitely a jungle out there.

I have no "one size fits all" solution, so let’s all try to be a little more careful, courteous and alert to our surroundings.

With all the high-rise construction being planned, it is only going to get more crowded.

Sandie Stoutenburg
Waikiki