We are already aware of breast cancer
Re: "Tickled pink? Pink products raise awareness for breast cancer research" (Star-Bulletin, Oct. 16): I'm sick of platitudes and pink stuff, fun runs, little pillows, sad stories and soap operas. We are rapidly coming to the big pink race, and they're having specials on Pepto-Bismol at the Kaiser pharmacy.
But I still suffer pain from the massive nosocomial infection I got after bilateral total mastectomies, and I shall be disabled with cardiomyopathy for the rest of my life -- however long that will be -- by 700 mg/mc2 given me in only two doses of Adriamycin. I have lymphedema caused by faulty blood pressure technique, and I shall forever worry about the Candida that was introduced into my IV port. All this in treatment of my happy pink breast cancer.
We are already as aware of breast cancer as we can get. It wasn't hard to get us this way; breasts are very popular and have been since they were invented. Now it's time to do some get-real things to take care of people who have it, things that don't nearly kill them. Please go to takeaction@ bcaction.org.
Teddy Harrison
Registered nurse
Honolulu
Make Kauaians feel it in their economy
Oahu should respond to Kauai and Maui with sanctions, embargoes and blockades. Prohibit all goods from being shipped by air and sea. I lost my appetite for their poi, cookies, manju, sweet breads, onions and wine anyway. I'll gladly support the Big Island by drinking Kona coffee and munching on their sweets and macadamia nuts ... for now.
Gary Garo
Honolulu
If majority rules, what about Kauai?
I was really disappointed (but not surprised) when I read a lot of the comments in the Star-Bulletin's Sunday editorial section about the Superferry. The one thing that really stood out to me is the talk about how this will benefit the "majority." Could someone please explain how benefiting the majority in the state equals being good for Kauai? Even if our island's entire population agreed on something (never in a million years), we would still be in the minority, so does this mean that whatever is beneficial to Oahu residents should always trump neighbor islanders' concerns?
What you need to understand is how much harm this will have on our island. For us, there's no benefit in having our beaches, surf breaks, already overburdened infrastructure, campgrounds and parks any more crowded; having the gangster-mentality surfers with their drugs, foul mouths and bad attitudes bullying our kids out of the line-up; and having products and trinkets being brought over and sold here and the money taken back to Oahu while the local merchants suffer.
It's not about "to heck with you," it's just about this little island not being capable of handling increased visitor numbers at this point in time.
Cheryl O'Brien
Wailua, Kauai
Why such concern now for Turkey's crimes?
I find it quite interesting that our Congress is spending time arguing about the Turkish Ottoman Empire's mass murder of the Armenians some 92 years ago. How far back in history are we going to go to argue whether a genocide took place? How about the Japanese mass murder of the people of Southeast Asia, the Philippines and China? Or shall we go as far back as the murders of the Muslims by the Christian crusaders back when ... and the like.
Right now we are witnessing the very murder of whole nations in Iraq and Sudan, and we cannot even solve it yet. Why go back to history ... let's resolve what is now.
Congress should spend its valuable time in resolving immediate problems such as health care, corruption, foreign policy and our downward economy as well as our involvement in Iraq. We should move forward and learn our lesson, and not repeat history on mass murders.
Obviously, we still haven't learn our lesson in history.
Rosita Sipirok-Siregar
Makakilo
We'd be in better shape under Gore
In response to Thomas E. Stuart (
Letters, Oct. 16): It is easy to tell that this gentleman lives in fantasy land, where a war declared by a cowboy, with two of his closest puppets, Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld, decided to go straight ahead in a campaign of lies and deception. While we are spending billions of dollars looking for some nonexistent WMD and trying to fix the major leaks of a star-spangled sinking ship in the Middle East, we would have been better off having Al Gore, focusing on renewable energy and climate change. We would focus on being free from the oil pouring out of Saudi Arabia and other major countries that were officially involved in our 9/11 attacks.
With Gore, our Treasury Department would still have money, our children would have insurance, our nation would still be united and the world would be a safer place.
For the record, Wolfowitz is now enjoying a martini at home after being kicked out of the World Bank for ethics reasons, Rumsfeld is enjoying his time off in his mansion, and President Bush will enjoy cutting trees at his ranch next year while our soldiers will still get shot at.
Guy Belegaud
Makiki
Waikiki Town Center is falling apart
The Waikiki Town Center, managed by the Queen Emma Foundation is seriously in need of repairs. The toilets are filthy, escalators are out of order, elevators make strange noises, signs are not placed properly. It is a miracle that despite all these impediments, some vendors are still hanging on for dear life, trying to survive. It is also not surprising that the foundation is unable to attract vendors to fill the numerous office and retail spaces in the building.
Is it the foundation's strategy to offer substandard service and get away with it because commercial space in Waikiki is expensive and in short supply? Or is it a ploy to coerce the vendors to move out so that the building is demolished and rebuilt? Is anyone listening ?
Raj Bose
Honolulu
Most resistant germs spread in hospitals
Regarding your coverage Wednesday of MRSA in Hawaii, it should be pointed out that multiple drug resistant infections, such as MRSA, occur mostly in hospitals and are largely a product of 1) the fact that hospitals house people with impaired immune systems whose bodies become essentially breeding laboratories for these bacteria, and 2) lax hospital sanitation practices. National Institutes of Health guidelines require hospitals with these infections to close down the ward in which the infections are found and clean it with bleach. This is obviously unprofitable, so it is rarely done. This is not a problem we are helpless to confront; we must hold hospitals accountable.
John Overton
Honolulu