Stay healthy and alive, eat veggies and thrive

Last week the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization issued a milestone report on the effects of diet on chronic diseases throughout the world. Diet-related chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, several forms of cancer, diabetes and obesity are responsible for nearly 60 percent of all deaths.

The report recommends limiting protein intake to 10-15 percent of total calories, total fat intake to 15-30 percent and saturated fat to less than 10 percent. It recommends raising complex carbohydrate intake to 55-75 percent of calories. These conclusions were made by 60 independent experts.

Since 1977, 15 panels of experts have studied the effects of diet on health. Every one of these panels recommended greater consumption of vegetables, fruits and grains, and reduced consumption of animal fat and meat.

In the United States, 1.3 million people die each year of self-inflicted, diet-related diseases. If such a toll were inflicted by a virus, we would mobilize all of our health resources against it.

Aliaska Brozen
Kihei, Maui

'Sunset' program is great, so don't kill it

In my 13 years in Honolulu, Sunset on the Beach is one of the best programs the city has ever produced. I am a Big Brother to a young boy and we both enjoy going to Waikiki on weekends for a movie. What a beautiful venue!

The City Council should continue to fund this fantastic program.

George Privon

Educate prisoners so they can join society

Should we put law violators in prison with nothing to do except think about how they can become better criminals? The common-sense answer to that is "no." Prison should offer college courses, job training, anger management and better substance abuse treatment. We can't ignore our growing prison population. The best thing we can do is offer more educational programs. This must be done not just to rehabilitate those who commit crimes, but to protect the innocent by preventing future crimes.

Most prisoners will be released back into our communities someday. If we give them the proper education and job skills, they'll be able to find employment instead of a place to rob. Offering better educational programs is by far the smartest approach to help reduce crime.

Aaron Escobido-Ortiz

Wedemeyers inspire with courage, laughter

Courage, inspiration, love. These words are tossed around daily, but to hear them from Charlie and Lucy Wedemeyer makes us wonder about our trivial complaints about traffic, low pay and a lousy round of golf.

If you missed the TV special that aired on Easter, or if you missed visiting and talking to Charlie and Lucy on their many trips back to Hawaii, the next time this opportunity arises, please make the effort to see what they have to offer.

A gifted athlete, Charlie made us all proud as a player, a coach, and as a native son who excelled in school and sports at Michigan State, but mostly for being a great human being.

We all face difficulty in our lives, but he turned disadvantages into advantages and a disability into ability to inspire others. His passion for life has not diminished after some 27 years with Lou Gehrig's disease. The love between Charlie and Lucy is what movies are made of. It's all about attitude, and lots of humor and laughter no matter what hardships or handicaps one is faced with.

I finally found my role model -- Charlie Wedemeyer. And Lucy has shown just as much courage and strength. We who have crossed your paths thank you.

Tom Sugita
Pearl City

We have anti-terror devices -- potholes

The car-stopping web meshing described in "Military roadblock weaves a tangled web" (Star-Bulletin, May 11) works well on a car driven on a dirt or gravel road where there is little traction. But I think a vehicle is on an asphalt roadway would be much harder to stop because the tires grab more effectively on a harder surface. Try this demonstration on a public roadway and let's see the results again. If a car can take out a brick wall, it should be able to take out whatever this webbing is mounted to, and its anchoring mechanism, as well.

A more effective restraining device already has been put into effect. It's called Kapiolani Boulevard, with its maddening potholes. Geez, I've seen better-paved roads in bombed-out Iraq.

Craig Watanabe