Big Tobacco money influences legislators

The Nov. 19 article concerning how the Legislature has determined that the tobacco settlement funds will mostly go to help cancer research (at the new medical school) unfortunately didn't heed the adage "follow the money."

Hawaii legislators typically receive very generous contributions from the mainland tobacco companies. One has to ask why those companies would care about our little island state. Even my Ewa Beach representative, Willie Espero, since 1999 has received $2,200 from R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williams and Phillip Morris, all nationally recognized tobacco companies. What legislation do they think they are buying with that kind of money?

I guess cancer research for treating the effects of their products is far more profitable for them than smoking prevention programs for teenagers.

Pam Lee Smith

Why did U.S. leaders curtail civil liberties?

Thank you Edgy Lee for embarking to document the Territory of Hawaii under martial law during World War II. I do hope some attention will be focused on the question: "Why was the imposition of martial law continued long after the national security and emergency need for it over?"

Why did the leaders who determined the fate of the people continue to deprive them of their civil liberties, especially the writ of habeas corpus, when no national purpose was served?

What miscarriages of justice and general despondency were created by this protracted subjugation for narrow, not national, interests that bound the people's lives in virtual barbed wire?

Richard Y. Will

[Quotables] "I just had the experience the other night, telling children who were begging me to go home that 'you have injuries, and it is not a one-time situation. It is ongoing abuse. You can't go home." Jasmine Mau-Mukai Oahu Children's Justice Center program director, on abused children brought to the center for an interview to be used for court purposes before they are taken to a foster home. "I think this is about pure political utility. The bottom line is, I don't think Anderson stands for change." State Rep. Ed Case Democratic gubernatorial candidate, on why he thinks former Republican D.G. "Andy" Anderson is running for governor as a Democrat instead of facing Linda Lingle in the GOP primary election.

Hirono is an honest, caring candidate

For those like me who were disappointed with Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono's decision to seek the mayor's office rather than the governorship, there is a brighter side to her move. For those who live on Oahu, we now have a chance to elect one of the few politicians of statewide caliber untainted by scandal, embarrassed by character flaws or controlled by the Ol' Boys.

Hirono was smart enough to recognize that the big bucks necessary to win a statewide race came with a price tag. Without paying the price, you don't get elected, at least in the political system we now have. I like that in a politician, if you can brand her as one. She was refreshingly naive about feeling electable if you do a good job, be honest and genuinely caring for people and accessible to the masses, as she is more than most politicians.

But raising the kind of money needed to win a statewide race was clearly not in the cards and selling out to raise the money wasn't worth it. Her willingness to return money to donors was a political phenomenon never seen before, but that reflects the character of Hirono. Few of the current crop of politicians who roost in Honolulu Hale would ever think of doing that.

It is the right time to clean out City Hall and what better way than to start at the top. No more perennial candidates, retreads or has-beens.

Thanks, Mazie, for giving the voters of Honolulu a chance to revitalize city government after all those miserable years of deception, kickbacks and arrogance. The state's loss will be the city's gain.

Francis M. Nakamoto

Hurricane Fund should not be diverted

As a nonprofit organization, the state government is more than proper to return premiums paid toward hurricane insurance to the rightful owners and policy holders on record. It has been a long and widely-known practice of our government officials to transfer any loose money to the general fund so that it can be used for other purposes -- at their whims.

The Hurricane Fund is a special fund that would have taken care of the policy holders in case of hurricane damages; we should be thankful that we did not have to use it.

Now that the state has discontinued further action in this area, the money should be returned because policy holders can use it to further protect themselves through private agencies.

It would be improper to use this insurance money to build roads, develop parks or other unintended uses.

A million dollars may seem paltry to our state leaders, but it is a lifeline for many distressed people, especially in today's trying times when people are trying to keep their heads above water.

Yasu Nakamatsu
Kapaa, Hawaii

Put a moratorium on fluoride in water

Your Nov. 20 editorial regarding the proposed fluoridation of Lanai was unfortunate. In continuing to report the scientifically untenable position of Health Director Bruce Anderson, you persist in ignoring significant facts. Your readers should be given an opportunity to read an opposing viewpoint that does justice to the scientific literature on fluoridation.

Has Anderson informed you, for example, that no systematic, blinded research demonstrating fluoridation's safety or comparing alternative approaches to caries prevention has ever been funded or conducted?

The 46 legislators (60.5 percent) who objected to the Health Department's plan to use tobacco settlement monies to implement fluoridation on Lanai seem to have a better grasp of the issue than Anderson does. They state: "We believe that those moneys would be better spent on compensating dentists who serve children on Lanai or to implement a dental sealant program in the schools."

I suggest a moratorium on fluoridation until sound scientific research determines the effect of fluoridation on tooth decay, relative to the contributions of diet, dental hygiene, professional care and education, and also confirms its safety. You may be interested to know that Neighborhood Board No. 34 (Makakilo/ Kapolei) recently passed a resolution calling for such a moratorium.

Alan D. Price, Ph.D.

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