Dock it
Re “She wants to save the United States” (Aug. 19): The SS United States ocean liner needs to be moved to Norfolk. The 1950s ocean liner, the SS United States, is getting kicked out of Philadelphia due to a federal judge’s ruling. The company that owns the dock doubled the rent on the SS United States Conservancy to $1,700 a day, and the conservancy would not pay the new rate.
The SS United States has to get a new home port lined up by Sept. 12 or it risks being sold for scrap or turned into a shipwreck reef in Florida. The 990-foot-long, 45,400-long-ton ship that was once the fastest ocean liner in the world is now homeless. The ship now needs a port that can keep it housed for a few decades and that doesn’t charge rent.
The SS United States ocean liner also needs a dock that has public access. Luckily Norfolk has the Nauticus and cruise port that I think could dock the massive SS United States next door to the Battleship Wisconsin in the same protected bay.
Once at Nauticus, the SS United States would be docked until funds can be raised to turn it into a hotel, a cruise ship or museum ship. In the meantime they could have tours of it and film Hollywood movies on it.
Carl Schwendeman, Powhatan
Falun Gong
A concerted effort from both the House and the Senate is needed to halt illegal organ harvesting in China. The Falun Gong Protection Act, which passed unanimously in the House in June, now awaits passage in the Senate.
It has been alleged that prisoners of conscience, including Falun Gong practitioners, are killed for their organs. The Falun Gong Protection Act would challenge this alleged barbarism, described by human rights lawyer David Matas (who was a speaker at the organ harvesting film screening hosted by Virginia Wesleyan University in 2019) as “a form of evil we have yet to see on this planet.”
Senate legislation about Falun Gong is long overdue. Launched in 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong is now in its 25th year and is one of the largest, most brutal and longest-running human rights atrocities in China today.
Although some House-passed resolutions about Falun Gong in the past have condemned human rights abuses in China, they mainly target peripheral regions such as Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang, China, rather than specifically protecting Falun Gong with many practitioners living in central or eastern China. A broader focus is needed for greater impact. Now, the lawmakers in the Senate should act on this and vote for this act.
Shawn Li, Virginia Beach
Trouble
There’s President Joe Biden, whose lack of mental acuity has been well-established and who has been on the beach. There’s our vice president, who is totally incompetent and whose silly laugh and policy positions embolden our enemies. Even now, she is blaming former President Donald Trump for the lack of border security. Give me a break.
Our nation is failing on so many levels: lack of border security; lack of profitable energy; normal, everyday financial concerns; worldwide national and military decisions; and a lack of support for Israel. I could go on.
Until we have new leadership in the White House, we are in trouble.
Steven M. Yedinak, Newport News
Sad
If you’re mocking Gus Walz, a 17-year-old child, for the way that he displays love and gratitude to his dad, you are exactly what’s wrong with today’s America. Shame on you.
By the way, your children and grandchildren are learning their behavior from you.
Patrick L. Blake, Virginia Beach