Justice for all ADVERTISING Justice for all In a ruling that is the U.S. Supreme Court’s most important expansion of marriage rights in the United States since its landmark 1967 ruling in the case Loving vs. Virginia, the court on
Justice for all
In a ruling that is the U.S. Supreme Court’s most important expansion of marriage rights in the United States since its landmark 1967 ruling in the case Loving vs. Virginia, the court on Friday struck down state laws barring same-sex marriages.
The Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry is an historic victory not only for gay and lesbian Americans, but for all Americans who cherish equality, liberty and justice for all.
Reassuringly, this ruling bears witness that “equal justice under law”— words that are etched into stone on the front of the Supreme Court — has at long last triumphed over discrimination and inequity.
With the landmark ruling, same-sex marriage now becomes legal in all 50 states.
Michael Ra Bouchard
Pahoa
For mankind
For me, as a Big Island resident, it is no huge stretch to see astronomers as the high priests of science and to view their observatories, our observatories, mankind’s observatories, as cathedrals dedicated to the meticulous — and, yes! — reverent study of all that has come before, now, or is yet to be.
What could be a grander, what could be a higher, what could be a more sacred calling than to try to understand the entire universe and our place as human beings in it?
The astronomers are doing this on behalf of us all. Long after the Big Island has been consumed by the Pacific, and the Pacific has itself been consumed by the sun, the discoveries made by the TMT in our brief, shining era will always be as profound and as beautiful and as true as the very day they were made.
We are blessed beyond belief to live in a time and place, the Big Island in 2015, when some of the most stupendous discoveries of all time are being made, or soon will be.
If we as a species are capable of nobility and greatness, as we so seldom seem to be, what is now going on at the summit of Mauna Kea is irrefutable proof of it, and we should let it proceed for the betterment of ALL mankind.
Ed Olsen
Laupahoehoe
‘Monster telescope’
On Wednesday, June 24, the police and the Department of Land and Natural Resources again arrested the wrong people on the summit of Mauna Kea.
It is the University of Hawaii and the scientists who should be arrested for denying the inherent right of the greatest island mountain on this planet Earth, to remain just that: a mountain. Denied.
The guardian protectors of Mauna Kea should be praised and honored for standing strong in front of that first bulldozer that will ultimately and unequivocally further reduce our once magnificent mountain into a science experiment.
If allowed to be built, this extremely large, arrogant, highly visual, 18-story, cyclops-eyed telescope dubbed “TMT,” the monster telescope, will forever hurt our eyes and crush our hearts.
All of our eyes are always drawn to Mauna Kea to admire its majestic, mystical presence and its massive and natural beauty. Soon our eyes will be forced to see TMT, and it will see us, before we see the mountain itself.
Everett Franco
Paauilo
‘The new normal’
Have you heard the news? Being transgender is the “new normal.” Well, of course you have if you own a TV or noticed the magazines at the check-out counter. It’s the latest fantasy being sold — and for the record, most Americans’ aren’t buying it.
Olympian Bruce Jenner’s cover photo on “Vanity Fair” titled, “Call me Caitlyn,” announced it. Bruce feels happier being a woman. So reality TV and anyone who can capitalize from it is making a fortune.
The photographer Annie Leibovitz, known for capturing the soul, certainly caught it. If “the eyes are the mirror to the soul” then clearly Bruce’s eyes reveal a tortured one. No denying it.
The real “new normal” is we are living in a world where common sense is being trumped by feelings and greed.
Time we grow some and rethink it.
C. Moore
Kailua-Kona
