Letters to the Editor

Tobacco fund shouldn't be used on smokers

Regarding the March 10 story "Tobacco money may be diverted": Is Dennis Arakaki nuts by suggesting the tobacco settlement money be used to help people quit smoking? If that program were to be successful, the money would dry up. There's no tobacco fairy. The money comes from smokers.

Unlike what Dr. Virginia Pressler thinks, the money isn't the tobacco companies' "pay for all the harm they've caused." The tobacco companies are simply the collection agency for the states and are collecting the money from the current smokers.

If current smokers were to quit, the funds would stop, causing severe problems for those addicted to this source of money, namely the trial lawyers and benefiting states. This is a wonderful form of taxation; no one likes smokers anymore, anyway.

Hawai'i should take the lead from the other states that are building roads and using the money for other pet projects. Don't spend the money on smoker-cessation programs; don't risk killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

John Faris

Litter is despoiling the Hawaiian Islands

I hope the Department of Health makes copies of all the pictures of the illegal dumping in Waipahu and posts them around the island. This way everyone can see what Makua Valley would look like in two to five years if it is turned over to the state.

The Wai'anae Coast is littered from one end to the other. Look what has happened to Kalaeloa, formerly Barbers Point. It's a shame; the Hawaiian land is so sacred, yet people have no respect and ruin the beauty of our Islands. A true Hawaiian would never toss a cigarette butt on the ground.

Everyone should do as the military does — leave the place you visit cleaner than when you got there.

I have traveled all over this planet, and Hawai'i has more litter than most states and countries. These Islands look beautiful from the air; they should look the same on the ground. Then maybe we can call this place paradise.

Ray Driscoll

'Low-fat' diet should indeed be just that

A fundamental flaw pervades the Atkins diet article in Sunday's Advertiser. The "low-fat" diet used for comparison to Atkins' diet recommends 30 percent fat. It's no wonder that they have similar results. They're both high-fat diets.

As renowned researcher Dean Ornish, M.D., stated on the Oprah show regarding the Atkins diet, "You can lose weight on chemotherapy, too."

In countries where saturated fat consumption is genuinely low — less than 20 percent — obesity is extremely low, and heart disease, cancer and stroke, the three leading causes of death in the United States, are nearly unheard of. But soon after people from these countries adopt the Standard American Diet (SAD), rates of obesity and disease soar.

For those interested in an excellent diet plan to not only lose weight but prevent or reverse heart disease and an array or other ailments, check out Dr. Ornish's Web site: my.webmd.com/content/pages /9/3068_9408).

Or better yet, pick up a copy of "The Good Carbohydrate Revolution" by local diet expert Terry Shintani, M.D.

Jim Brown

Lingle continues neglect of the Leeward area

I agree with Brian Okino's March 8 letter, and I am also totally baffled by Gov. Lingle's opposition to the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu. It seems outrageous that she wants to kill the plans to create a beautiful campus in Kapolei.

This campus would serve as an economic catalyst for the region and would provide educational opportunities for thousands of residents.

For years the people of the Leeward Coast have been neglected by our state's leaders, and it appears that Lingle isn't interested in doing anything to change this.

I have heard about some of the governor's plans for our state, and I can't understand why she thinks that a double-decker addition to the H-1 Freeway is so much more important than providing a quality college education for the disadvantaged youth of the Leeward side?

Phil Barnett

Three-strikes law isn't too harsh for Hawai'i

Regarding your March 7 editorial titled "Three-strikes law too harsh for Hawai'i": Who is it too harsh for? The career criminals who continue to victimize our society?

Like people in other states with three-strikes laws, the intent is to demonstrate to criminals and our ineffective judicial system that the public is fed up and intensely frustrated.

Some argue such a law is a bit too extreme in meting out punishment; I say allowing criminals to continue their destructive ways for so long is a form of "extreme" leniency, and it's time to end this nonsense. If they can't or won't change their behavior, lock them up and keep them away from society at large.

It is the public's right to demand we be free from such threats. It's also time for the politicians to show the courage to pass such laws that their electorate wants.

Rodney Takahashi
Kailua, Kona, Hawai'i