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Don't trust new and reinvented candidate

Hillary! has the Effrontery! to reinvent her Imagery! by Ostensibly! creating a new Identity!

Lest we forget, a Wolf! in Sheep's! clothing is still a Wolf!

Hillary! is still a Bill-ary!

Wanda Kulamanu Ellis Au

Hawaii was first state to OK hemp growing

State Rep. Cynthia Thielen's success in bringing hemp to Hawaii is groundbreaking and inspiring.

We hope that New Mexico will be the second state in the nation to grow hemp. But if we do, we can thank Thielen for leading the way.

New Mexico state Rep. Pauline Gubbels has introduced hemp legislation for the past two years; Gov. Gary Johnson has said he would support hemp legislation, if the research were privately funded. Alterna Professional Hair Care Products should be commended for its commitment and generosity.

Again, congratulations on being the first!

Mary Christine
Taos, N.M.

U.S. government was involved in overthrow

Frank Scott's Feb. 5 letter is incorrect in asserting that the U.S. government played no role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian government.

Lorrin Thurston, the leader of the Committee of Safety, arrived in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 1892, more than nine months before the overthrow. Thurston met with Secretary of State James Blaine, who sent him to the Secretary of the Navy, B.F. Tracy.

Tracy took Thurston to the White House, where President Harrison said, "If conditions in Hawaii compel you people to act as you have indicated, and you come to Washington with an annexation proposition, you will find an exceedingly sympathetic administration here."

Rodney Peter Aurello
Hilo

Quotables "People are sick, and throwing them in prison is not going to help. We need more programs, more Habilitats." Dancetta Kamai SISTER OF SINGER MACKEY FEARY, WHO HANGED HIMSELF IN PRISON A YEAR AGO AFTER STRUGGLING WITH DRUGS AND DEPRESSION On the need for more substance-abuse programs in Hawaii "Horses are very forceful, and dogs are kind of goofy. I don't like talking to cats, and they don't like talking to anyone." Bill Northern WHO SAYS HE HAS THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE WITH ANIMALS During a recent tour of psychoanalyzing island critters

More kids should go to Kamehameha

The real scandal of Kamehameha Schools is not the trustees' pay, which amounts to pennies compared to the estate's $6 billion in assets. The real scandal is that only 4,500 children of Hawaiian ancestry are currently being educated, when Kamehameha should be educating 45,000.

In fiscal 1999, the estate set a record income of $459.7 million. Let's see it set a new record in how many students it can educate. As it is, Hawaiian parents have a better chance of winning big in Las Vegas than getting their children into the highly regarded Kamehameha school system.

Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop would roll over in her grave if she knew of the greed, corruption and lack of educational opportunities for Hawaii's children. Six billion dollars is a rainy-day fund that must be spent now to secure this state's future.

Tom Sebas

Legislators must tackle fireworks this year

I am hoping that lawmakers are going to pass some legislation for a reasonable ban on fireworks. They have heard the pros and cons; now, how are they going to vote?

I propose a residential ban on firecrackers, since they cause the most pollution and noise. Perhaps shoreline areas or parks can be designated to allow some supervised activity, as the smoke can drift out to sea and keep the noise away from people and animals needing sleep and relief from respiratory problems.

The flow of illegal aerials through our ports of entry needs to be stopped, too.

Elaine Torigoe

Case studies show downside of fluoride

I am strongly opposed to fluoridation of community water supply because of my experience with patients who have reacted to it.

The most severe case I encountered was that of a young lady from Hawaii, who had never had skin problems. She went to college on the East Coast and, one week after arrival, developed an eczema rash.

She was living with her uncle, a pediatrician, who manipulated her diet to learn the cause of the rash, which became so severe that it eventually covered her entire body with cracking and oozing of the skin.

Her uncle, suspecting fluoridation of the water, had his niece drink bottled water for the next two weeks. Within one week, her rash had nearly cleared. Then he had her resume drinking the fluoridated water; within a day or two, her rash returned.

In my 31 years of practice, I have encountered 10-20 cases in which I am fairly certain that the patients were intolerant of fluoridated community water or topical fluoride applications. With this many fluoride-intolerant patients in my practice, there must be several thousand in our community.

Therefore, my position is to minimize sugar contact on teeth, brush teeth regularly with fluoridated toothpaste and to administer appropriate doses of fluoride to infants and children through age 13 years in vitamins or through fluoride drops or tablets, but not via the water supply.

Carl W. Lehman, M.D.

Child support agency won't rectify mistakes

I am a single dad who has never missed making a child support payment. It was deducted automatically from my pay check twice a month.

I tried to get the Child Support Enforcement Agency to stop the automatic withdrawals when my son turned 18. This was futile. So, for an extra six months, my pay was garnished.

Numerous phone calls to the agency got no results. I wrote numerous letters too, but all I was told was, yes, the money was withdrawn for more months than was required.

But agency workers won't give me a refund, since they say the money was already sent to my ex-wife. They said it is up to me to collect from her.

I don't understand. I never missed a payment and it's the agency that made the mistake because of its negligence, not me. It isn't fair.

Larry Westfall
Ewa Beach

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