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Maui inspirations all around

You never know when inspiration will cross your path on this island. We were treated to a double dose this week at the Kihei Aquatic Center. The first sported bright yellow nail polish and was leading a senior water aerobics class in the center’s shallow pool. Kihei resident Nellie Martin teaches the class three days a week and has been for 24 years, since the facility opened in 1998. At 89 years young, you’d think the bundle of joy and energy would take home the prize for eldest in attendance. Not even close. Those laurels went to another Kihei resident, 99-year-old Betty ...

Free prison phone calls

Imagine having to go into debt to stay in touch with a loved one — all while fearing for their safety and well-being. That is the grim reality facing 1 in 3 families of incarcerated people in the United States, thanks to the sky-high costs of phone calls from prison. So it is welcome news that California has moved against this cruel situation. Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law to make all phone calls from state prisons free. Now it’s time for other states, and Congress, to act. It can cost staggering sums for people in prison to communicate with the outside world. ...

Let’s not forget the Uyghurs

If pathological optimists still think the U.N. Human Rights Council cares about human rights, they might want to note events last week. A motion was made in Geneva to debate China’s abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province, and the council voted 19-17 not even to discuss it. Siding with China against the motion were regular lackeys such as Cuba and Venezuela, as well as countries such as Nepal, Indonesia and Pakistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that don’t want to offend China or are on the hook as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. The last four in that list are ...

Shades of the truth

Does truth matter anymore? Growing up, we were taught that a person’s word meant everything. Honest people could be depended upon. Truth was society’s default setting even when it hurt, when it meant admitting a mistake. Through the years, we’ve learned facts are not so absolute. They can be shaped by perception, political beliefs and cultural background. There are also downright lies that are consumed and repeated as truth. For all the good the Internet and 24-hour news cycle do, both should come with warning labels. “Buyer beware, many of the facts expressed ...

Fixing the child care gap

Many sectors are reeling from massive labor shortages — but few affect families more intimately than what is happening with child care. With lengthy waiting lists and soaring costs, the scale of the crisis is obvious. Less clear is how the country can quickly fix it. First, the problem: Like other caregiver industries, child care was hit hard by COVID-19. There are nearly 90,000 fewer child-care workers today than in February 2020 — an 8.4 percent reduction in the workforce. According to a February 2022 report by Child Care Aware of America, a nonprofit association, nearly 16,000 ...

Human rights and the World Cup

There are now less than 50 days to the World Cup in Qatar, which promoters have taken to describing as a tournament “like no other”. For once the PR hype is justified, and not only because the matches will be played during the lead-up to Christmas rather than in summer. The decision to stage the planet’s biggest sporting event in a country with a notoriously poor human rights record is provoking unprecedented queasiness among competing nations. Last week, in conjunction with the kit manufacturer Hummel, the Danish soccer federation unveiled a plain all-black third kit for the ...