It appears that too many feral chickens are overrunning Oahu, thus an initiative to bring the population under control by euthanizing them (“Initiative targets feral fowl overrunning city facilities,” Star-Advertiser, July 11). Needless to say, the “feral chicken rights” talking heads have come out of the woodwork.

Frank DeGiacomo, an animal rights activist, says the approach is both misguided and inhumane. Here on Hawaii island, there are a gazillion roosters, both domestic and feral. When roosters crow all through the night, I can sympathize with those sleepless folks.

Since hens don’t crow, perhaps the city should consider adopting out the captured hens for their eggs.

It is clear that CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) is behind this “chicken amnesty” movement.

With Oahu moving against the little fire ant, it is only a matter of time before the “Friends of the Little Fire Ant” rear their heads.

Arthur Warren
Keaau

Allow unionization for UH assistants

Graduate assistants at the University of Hawaii are essential to the teaching and research mission of our University of Hawaii. It is time to treat these vital employees fairly by allowing them to organize, choose union representation, and to bargain collectively.

A bill to allow this is sitting on Gov. David Ige’s desk. We urge the governor to let this bill become law to ensure fairness in the workplace for Hawaii’s graduate assistants.

Randy Perreira
Executive director
Hawaii Government Employees Association

Change way HECO pays for PV energy

There is a simple, logical and reasonable solution to net energy metering that Mina Morita and Marco Manglesdorf incorrectly want to end (“It’s time to end net energy metering,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, July 12).

Residential and business photovoltaic systems that generate electricity in excess of their needs in any month should be credited by Hawaiian Electric Co. for that electricity at the same average rate that HECO pays third-party electricity suppliers that month.

Limits to the amount of electricity an individual business or household can “sell” to HECO in any given time period should be removed.

If this change is made, our household will be credited at a lower rate than we are now.

In the interest of fairness, we are OK with that.

Bill Quinlan
Velzyland

Speed enthusiasts

The winding roads of the Tantalus loop are unique and beautiful. The smell of ginger, the calls of the shama thrushes and the views of Honolulu below that are just far enough so you feel you have left the city and are looking back and down toward it.

However, it has become a proving ground for drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists, skateboarders, runners and any number of other transportation enthusiasts.

I used to enjoy the bike ride, the solid workout of the climb ending with a thrilling ride back down. Now I would rather not. When I hear the whine of a motorcycle or the slide of a drifter coming up behind me, I want to jump into the brush and hope the amateur “Speed Racer” doesn’t slide off the road into me.

Speed humps would limit the lowered vehicles, others would just catch air on them. Let’s open a race track somewhere so they can have their fun in a controlled environment without destroying a serene place.

Nick Blank
Hawaii Kai

U.S. must remain militarily strong

With China, North Korea, Russia, Iran and the Islamic State aggressively posturing and building their military forces, why is the U.S. undergoing military cuts?

Realistically, we cannot defeat our enemies with more words and fewer troops. Technology and smart bombs can do only so much; we still need boots on the ground to defend our lands and those in our national interest.

How can a world power survive with only 450,000 land troops when even a country as small as North Korea has more than 1 million ground troops?

Strategically, China will not likely engage us in a destructive nuclear war, but will use its ground forces of millions to overwhelm our meager land forces, including overrunning our very own country.

For Americans, we lose all rights, including rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We brutally face everything un-American, and English will no longer be our language of choice.

Clearly, this is what national defense is all about, and we certainly don’t want to lose.

Support military spending, and support our troops in every possible way.

Ed Uchida
Hawaii Kai

‘Family planning’ includes abortions

It is wrong for your editorial to say that Title X money doesn’t pay for abortions because money is fungible, meaning it can easily be diverted to kill preborn children (“Protect family-plannig funds,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, July 10).

Your list of family planning centers include many that either do abortions or refer our mothers and fathers out to others to kill their preborrn children.

We know that the birth control pill, the IUD, implants and other devices cause abortions. Let’s not force the taxpayer to fund it.

If you really want to take care of the helpless and poor, then the preborn child is the most helpless, poor and poverty-stricken person that you can help. If he or she could speak, I bet he or she would say, “I want to live!”

Let’s not call family planning “health” when it involves tearing preborn babies apart.

It sure isn’t healthy for our preborn children, is it?

Steve Holck
Founder, president emeritus
Aloha Pregnancy Care & Counseling Centers
Kaneohe