Human savagery always wreaks havoc
It is absurd but typical that humans react to always kill an animal that is in its own environment when intruded upon by the two-legged Neanderthals or mistakenly find themselves in Neanderthal-land just because they were hungry, cold, lost, injured or disoriented, and wind up dead because of it ("Stowaway squirrel ends flight at Oahu,"
Star-Bulletin, Feb. 14). The savage, ignorant mentality of humans is horrific.
I say we spend our energies eliminating all the riffraff who get free lodging and food off of taxpayers for life. How ludicrous is that! There were many other options for the squirrel than death. But, after all, we are humans and they are just insignificant animals getting in our way. So just kill them!
Cheryl Zarbaugh
Honolulu
Stowaway critter's killing was necessary
For those who weep for the
squirrel recently put down by the Department of Agriculture: The squirrel's brain was tested for rabies, which is reasonable.
What isn't generally known is that squirrels in the Western states carry bubonic plague. They acquired this disease from European rats, which came ashore in California from the Spanish ships of exploration.
Thinking of this habit of sick rodents -- leaving home and hitching rides -- I sincerely hope that the Department of Agriculture also exterminated the squirrel's fleas, which carry the deadly disease.
Hawaii is lucky that travelin' rats (and their fleas) from Western ships didn't transmit plague, and rabies, to our indigenous rats. Dogs are the next step in transmission to people.
Every few years, a few tourists who are camping at Lake Tahoe contract plague, and the area is quarantined until trapped squirrels are healthy.
Not everything that is cute and warm and fuzzy is good for you. ...
Darn it.
Beverly Kai
Honolulu
Fatal distractions go beyond alcohol, speed
The carnage on our highways will continue until the folks responsible for our safety find out what other influences, besides speed and alcohol, are involved in each and every accident, and take appropriate action to ban those distractions. Recent studies indicate other distractions such as shaving, applying make-up, changing clothes, cell phones, DVD players, drinking and eating while driving, to name just a few, have contributed to the higher rate of accidents for teenagers.
If driving is a privilege, then there is no reason not to mandate that drivers give their full attention to driving while behind the wheel of a vehicle of mass destruction.
Where is the aloha when our citizens fail to be courteous on our roads?
Richard T. McWilliams
Honolulu
'Lost' has lost viewers along with its storyline
I just read Star-Bulletin graphic artist
David Swann's Feb. 20 commentary regarding the descent of the TV show "Lost."
I also turned off the show for similar reasons a long time ago, but I was stunned to read how low and dimwitted "Lost" has become.
Swann's description of the recent episodes had me in disbelief. This is good writing? Completely laughable. At least Rodrigo Santoro had the guts (or the brains) to leave this wretchedness early.
"Lost" might provide jobs for the local film industry, but that is no excuse to support a show that has to rely increasingly on stupid and/or tawdry content, instead of a good storyline, to bring in fans.
Aloha, "Lost."
Duane Char
Kaneohe
Bush exhibits his own form of compassion
President Bush is facing a daunting task -- how to balance a budget that is swelling to enormous proportions while continuing to finance his wars and making his tax breaks for the wealthy permanent.
Fortunately, he has come up with a solution which fits well with his truly compassionate conservatism. The budget proposal he has already sent to Congress will raise a significant amount of the needed funds by making cuts where it will hurt the least -- in Medicare and Medicaid.
After all, the money has to come from somewhere.
John A. Broussard
Kamuela, Hawaii
Since when does lemonade start fires?
If Michael McCreary (
Letters, Feb. 20) was trying to be funny when he said, "If you're thinking of banning fireworks, why not go all the way and ban hot dogs, lemonade, barbecue and red, white and blue," he wasn't. When I looked, I couldn't find any reference to a hot dog, lemonade or flags starting a fire.
Alan Cummings
Port Angeles, Wash.
Former Hawaii resident