Words can heal. They can make people laugh, or cry tears of joy. But we should never forget that words also have the power to hurt.
On March 2, students across the state took a stand against the R-word. Thirty schools across Hawaii are holding a campaign to “Spread the Word to End the Word.” The campaigns range from poster projects to sign-waving and lunch rallies. All focus on raising awareness of the hurtful effects of the R-word.
Established in 2009, the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign was created by youth with and without intellectual disabilities to rid the word “retard(ed)” from everyday speech.
Our keiki are urging their peers to take a stand against the R-word. I would like to ask you to do the same. Please consider eliminating the R-word from your vocabulary today.
Mollie Bruhl
Project UNIFY coordinator, Special Olympics Hawaii
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Even insults don’t sway Trump fans
I’ve been very baffled by the Donald Trump phenomenon during this presidential campaign.
Despite all his stinging insults and incendiary statements, despite his refusal to disavow his endorsement by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and despite his professed admiration of a quote by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Trump still remains immensely popular.
Lately I encountered two statements he made that explain everything. In a campaign speech, he bragged, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” Then in his victory speech after the Nevada caucus, he declared, “I love the poorly educated.”
The personality cult of Trump is so powerful that he can insult his own followers and they will still blindly vote for him.
Ben K. Azman
Lahaina
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Gabbard’s move harmful to Hawaii?
U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has resigned from a position of influence in the Democratic Party and endorsed the probable loser of the Democratic primary (“Gabbard quits her post at DNC, endorses Sanders for president,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 29).
How is this good for Hawaii?
Jim Frisbie
Waialua
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Feeding feral cats benefits humans, too
Feeding cats saved the life of one person.
I know a very kind person who was very unhappy with life and job. This person was on the verge of suicide before joining a group of people who trap, neuter, release and manage (TNRM) a feral cat colony.
I am a veterinarian who helps many very smart, responsible people involved in TNRM.
I have seen places with out-of-control cat populations become stable well-managed colonies.
They worm the cats, and some cats get flea treatment. Well-fed cats are generally out of sight, sleeping in the day when the birds are awake. They hunt at night and get mostly rats.
Toxoplasmosis is a flu-like disease that many people and other animals have had and are now immune. It is very rarely harmful. Its danger is exaggerated by folks who are against TNRM.
Diseases like salmonella, leptospirosis and E. coli can be reduced if rats are under control.
Jill Voeks
Mililani
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Wages-housing gap keeps Hawaii No. 1
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2015 Out of Reach housing report, Hawaii is No. 1.
Unfortunately, this means that we face the highest housing wage in the country, with a wage of more than $31 per hour required to rent a two-bedroom unit.
The average renter’s wage is about $14.50 an hour. A worker earning minimum wage would have to work nearly 120 hours a week (that’s three full-time jobs) to be able to afford a modest one-bedroom unit at fair-market rent.
The growing gap between earnings and the cost of housing (not to mention the overall shortage of housing stock) helps to explain why Hawaii is No. 1 nationally in another category — per capita homelessness.
Sadly, until the lack of affordable housing is addressed, Hawaii will probably remain No. 1.
Alika Campbell
Kailua
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It seems unlikely debt will be paid
An ex-principal for a charter school is on probation for four years after pleading no contest to charges of stealing more than $136,000 (“Ex-principal gets probation in theft case,” Star-Advertiser, Feb 26).
He’s required to pay back the money at $200 per month. Quick math shows this debt will take 680 months or 56.6 years to pay off. This man has to live to be almost 107 years old in order to fully pay this off.
Is this really possible? Makes no cents (sic) to me.
Matt Hee
Ala Moana
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Divestment debate sounds familiar
Virtually every argument used by people opposed to the state Employees Retirement System divesting its fossil fuel investments was used by the conservatives opposed to the South Africa divestment 20 years ago, and laughingly so (“Should the ERS divest from fossil fuels?” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 25).
They were wrong then, and they are wrong again now. The arguments by these opponents are defensive, inaccurate and unworthy of anyone who claims to seriously study this issue, as these authors claim.
I am an ERS beneficiary, and I say: Let that money go.
Joel Fischer
Waialae