Legalized cockfighting
deserves consideration

I was compelled to write after reading your March 4 story, "Isle cockfighting persists despite laws against it." Perhaps if cockfighting were legalized in Hawaii, organized crime would lose its grip on this recreational "Sport of Kings," as it is historically known.

Those who have a genuine respect and love for this sport do not appreciate the criminal elements that have made cockfighting synonymous with other illicit activities (organized crime, drug-trafficking, etc.).

For true aficionados/enthusiasts, when a pair of gamecocks are "faced off," they ultimately "prove" their bloodlines (acquired through meticulous breeding) and their han-dlers'/trainers' skill, knowledge and patience in maintaining and building superb health, strength and stamina of these feathered athletes.

One cannot train a rooster to fight. Such an instinct is a deeply inherent one; it is born to fight. Thus, the beauty of a gamecock is not only in the colors of its feathers and its physical form, but also, perhaps primarily, how it fights.

Maybe if the label "illegal" is removed, the "Sport of Kings" will be able to regain its sense of dignity, and die-hard participants and supporters will be able to start sweeping away the "undesirables" from the pits.

Catherine Agdeppa
Waialua

Visitors guide isn't even
printed in these islands

I have lived in Hawaii for more than 22 years, and my wife has been here some 10 years longer. In that time, we have witnessed some truly far-out actions by our legislators, City Council members and employees of various associated bureaus.

However, we have never seen or heard anything to equal the completely asinine process of contracting out the development and printing of a Hawaii Visitors' Guide to a company not only NOT in Hawaii but NOT even in the United States!

But then again, I guess in a state where the choice of books for our library system is given over to a firm on the East Coast, we really shouldn't be surprised.

R.W. Parkinson

Small businesses require
more friends in Legislature

I was shocked when I watched the Senate floor vote on March 4. It is sad that small businesses and their employees are confronted with forces within our Legislature and state government that tears apart our ability to survive day to day.

The collective power and systematic control of the Legislature and state government by big business, big government and big labor is frightening.

We were told after the last election that this session was going to be business-friendly. Yet they answered to their same old bosses, and nothing to reduce costs and turn this economy around has survived.

Perhaps small-business owners should borrow a page from the native Hawaiians and stage a vigil (wake) before it's too late. We can't wait for next year, when we will hear the same old promises.

A lot of us won't be in business. We need to deliver the message now!

Larry Nelson
Mililani
(Via the Internet)

Here's a more modern way
to quarantine animals

I would hate to be known as the person who let rabies come here by tragic accident. My good friend, Dr. Nick Palumbo, DMV, tears his hair out in agony at the thought (Letters, Dec. 11).

I agree with Dr. Nick: a 120-day quarantine for animals has worked for these many years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Update the technology, but still keep the quarantine.

Remember the panic a few years ago, when we thought there was a case of rabies here? Pets were abandoned or disposed of. People went nuts.

These are the '90s. Let's allow pets to spend their 120-day quarantine at home under electronic house arrest in a secure, spacious enclosure monitored by a transponder tied into the central monitoring station.

Give pet owners the option: Let them rent the equipment. Have them post a bond, maybe, but let's use our heads to solve the problem in a humane and socially responsible way.

Arthur B. Hansen

An 'aye' to Sen. Baker
for decision on eye health

Sen. Rosalyn Baker should be congratulated for not spending the public's time on hearing a bill which seeks to allow opticians the right to independently perform vision testing without eye health testing.

Eye conditions such as macular degeneration, cataracts, retinal abnormalities and other diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, AIDS and multiple sclerosis can all exist and progress with no external signs or symptoms.

They commonly develop with no redness, no blurry vision and no pain, yet are easily detected through a comprehensive optometric eye examination.

Vision testing without related health testing was the standard of care in the U.S. nearly 100 years ago. Today, not a single state allows this practice and, in the countries where it still exists (mostly Third World), one can be sure that treatable diseases are being left undiagnosed and untreated.

Charles T. Holt, O.D.
(Via the Internet)

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