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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 17, 2002

Letters to the Editor

Human-rights advocate sniping from sidelines

The author of the Feb. 10 Focus article "Human rights on hold," Michael Ignatieff, laments U.S. involvement with oppressive regimes around the globe in the war on terrorism. But if he really were concerned about human rights, he would at least acknowledge the removal of the Taliban and the condemnation of North Korea and Iraq.

The author provides few alternatives that defend our security while improving rights overseas, commenting, " ... the human-rights movement is not in the business of preserving American power."

Well, it should be. We are the best ally the human-rights movement ever had. The author is just another elitist professor commenting from the sidelines, enjoying the sound of his own voice but contributing little.

Mark Denzer


Letter writer got her state facts wrong

Before sending in a defamatory letter, Evelyn Lee (Letters, Feb. 5) should get her facts straight:

Fact: Neither the governor nor his Cabinet received a single raise since taking office in 1994, and state agency directors are now paid significantly less than City & County of Honolulu directors.

Fact: All other state workers received sizable raises, while welfare and social programs to the least among us were slashed in order to pay for them.

Fact: Gov. Cayetano built more new schools and classrooms than any governor. Teacher salaries are up $10,000 just since 1997. We now rank fourth in the nation for how much more public teachers make in our community vs. all other workers.

Fact: If the governor and Legislature did not reform the state health fund, Hawai'i's people would face a massive annual bill of $1 billion in the year 2013.

Rational people and history will judge Gov. Cayetano's accomplishments more fairly than an angry Evelyn Lee.

Sam Callejo
Chief of staff, Governor's office


Kahle has no business interfering in my life

If Mitchell Kahle wants to believe in atheism, that's fine. I'm not telling him what to do. My being a believer in Christ is not hurting him. He has a right to not believe in what I believe. But what right does he have to interfere in my religion?

He's viewed as courageous for "standing up for what he believes." When I stand up for what I believe, I'm "pushing my views on other people."

I'm 17, just starting out in the world. I do not know if Mr. Kahle gets his high from taking down crosses. But I get my high from life, from believing in Jesus.

Mr. Kahle's greatest accomplishment was taking down a cross at Schofield Barracks. Is that what you want to be known for, Mr. Kahle? If you really want to be courageous, go help feed the hungry, go to the street corners, like the "General."

All of us in the churches, behind those fallen crosses, love you, brah. Just remember who you're hurting next time you try to take down our crosses.

Lia Hunter
Makakilo


Smokers don't have right to kill others

I have been diagnosed by my cardiologist since 1993 with heart disease caused by secondhand tobacco smoke.

I could not walk for five minutes without chest pain. I underwent an angiogram and angioplasty. My doctor told me I am now 10 times more likely to have blockages return if I continue to breathe tobacco smoke.

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has stated that tobacco is the No. 1 killer in the United States. The number of people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks is nothing compared with the number of people killed each year by tobacco products.

California and Canada have banned smoking in restaurants and even bars, and business has not suffered. Just think, if more people were around longer each year, business would be booming.

Freedom should not kill others. When tobacco products kill over 400,000 people each year, it's not a right-to-smoke issue; it's a health issue. If our leaders refuse to do anything about this threat, then it is time to change the leadership of our City Council or state government.

Alvin Wong
Pearl City


Power-line article wasn't fair, balanced

Regarding the Feb. 10 "Power-line project in trouble" article: Reporting on the Wa'ahila Ridge power-line proposal should have included a fair and balanced perspective.

One missing point in the article is that there are existing, lower-capacity power lines on the ridge and that HECO is not simply "stringing up" new poles where they did not already exist. HECO's proposal is to replace those structures with taller, higher-capacity structures that would include camouflage coloring and great care in maintaining the Hawaiian hallowed grounds.

HECO, under its public mandate to provide reliable energy at a reasonable economic cost, is obligated to evaluate alternatives for its major construction projects. Under Public Utilities Commission purview, HECO must submit alternatives to the PUC, and alternatives that are not fully explored in due diligence will be rejected — especially if the lower-cost alternatives are not fully and completely explored.

In addition, the article fails to point out that there will be an almost equal outcry from the residential and business areas where a more costly underground facility would be installed.

Rick Stuller
HECO employee


Urge your children not to get tattoos

When I was a boy, I thought having tattoos was cool. All my friends and relatives had them. All I could think about was getting my first tattoo.

At the age of 13, I got my first and thought I would look cool. But I didn't. People looked at me differently. When my friend started doing my tattoo, it hurt, but the excitement kept me from thinking about it. After the first, I got others.

I didn't realize how ugly tattoos made me. I was unaware of what trouble was waiting for me in the future.

I was recently in the Hawai'i' Youth Correctional Facility. Prior to my release, I heard of a doctor who helps remove tattoos.

My first session was extremely painful. After the first session, every single section of my tattoos was all bubbled up. It hurts more taking a tattoo off than putting it on.

I'm writing this letter because I want to ask parents to encourage their children not to get any tattoos. They stay forever and don't fade.

Jeffery Parks
Kailua


Mental health services must not demean

What a nice tribute by Lee Cataluna about Michael Clark, one of many of Hawai'i's citizens with mental illness helped through our Safe Haven Project (Feb. 10).

Safe Haven has been successful in bringing homeless mentally ill community members in from the streets and into mainstream living.

And what a contrast to the tragedy reflected in the article by health writer Alice Keesing in the same section of Sunday's paper, noting Randy Hack's advocacy in shedding light on the nameless and faceless from Hawai'i State Hospital who were abandoned in death as well as life many years ago.

We must not be silent witnesses to mental health services past or present that demean and diminish the very people who struggle so very hard to get through each day, in spite of their disabilities.

Joanne L. Lundstrom
Executive director/CEO, Mental Health Kokua