Brainstorm! Challenge

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Gay unions no threat to a secure marriage

Thank you to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's editorial staff (Nov. 20) for their clear heads and just hearts regarding the Massachusetts Supreme Court decree on the right to marry.

You were right on when you said, "Whatever the outcome, the institution of marriage is not threatened."

My husband and I have been married 38 years and we don't fear gays and lesbians getting married. Maybe those who have fear should look into marriage counseling for help.

As for the gay and lesbian community, I say, if you love one another, the more the merrier. As the old song goes, "What the world needs now is love sweet love ... there's just too little of love sweet love."

Carolyn Martinez Golojuch
President
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays-Oahu

Plan ahead for your end-of-life decision

I was troubled to see that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the state legislature interfered in the right-to-die decision regarding Terri Schiavo. A comment was made by a legislator about how terrible it was to allow the feeding tubes to be removed and allow this woman to starve. I feel a great deal of compassion and sadness for the patient and all of her family members, having cared for so many patients in end-of-life situations during my medical career. It is well known, however, that dehydration and "starvation" in a patient who is in a vegetative state is actually quite painless because of electrolyte and body chemistry changes that occur. We frequently do a disservice to patients who are terminally ill with no hope of recovery or in a persistent vegetative state, by artificial feeding and hydration. Both of my parents died of their terminal conditions and chose to cease taking food or fluids. Both had clear advanced directives forbidding end-of-life intervention.

I do not know all the details of the Florida case, but from the news reports it appears that the physicians caring for this woman agreed with the decision to remove the tubes. I have always been troubled by lawmakers making medical decisions.

The most important lesson to be learned by the Schiavo case is how important it is for all of us to have clear, advanced directives, known to caregivers and family members.

Fred C. Holschuh, M.D.
Honokaa, Hawaii

Do you feel the pain of boiled vegetables?

This if for all those vegetarians concerned about the brutal treatment of turkeys. Where do you get your research and statistics from? Is there a "humane" way to kill something?

Some scientists who do research on plants say that plants can feel and talk to each other. So when you boil your soybeans do you think of their feelings? When you bake a potato do you think of the "inhumane" baking alive? How about dipping a whole tomato into boiling water then peeling its skin off? How about the other vegetables that you eat? What about their pain and suffering?

Carnivores do not go around attacking vegetarians to force their beliefs upon them. Vegetarians should extend the same courtesy to carnivores. We should all be thankful that we live in a society where everyone can and should get along despite their differences.

Dennis Yuen
Pearl City

Biometric technology won't solve visa woes

A Nov. 21 Star-Bulletin editorial argued both sides of the issue on visa waivers for South Koreans. Eastbound tourists are required to present ID to board aircraft; for most individuals that would be a passport. A corollary is that Hawaii residents be required to have a second ID plugged into the monster anti-terrorism database. A California plan to offer driver's licenses to illegal immigrants might lead to increased reliance on biometric technology, but fees have already doubled.

After Oct. 26, 2004, all passports and visas must be machine readable to enter the United States. Exorbitant visa fees are dangerous to Hawaii's economy. At Boston's Logan International Airport, officials abandoned a biometric program because of a 38 percent failure rate. Police at Super Bowl 2003 in San Diego abandoned a biometric program developed in the cities of the previous two Super Bowl (Tampa and New Orleans). Automatic reading of identifiers encoded in travel documents had best remain fingerprint-based. It will take five years to digitalize the fingerprints already held by law enforcement.

Richard Thompson
San Diego, Calif.
Part-time Hawaii resident

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] Dirty gutter talk Those orange rolls that highway engineers have been shoving into storm drain openings -- there must be a more efficient or practical or attractive way to filter out road debris. These things are about as useful and pleasing to the eye as huge, discarded cigarette butts. Send your ideas, drawings and solutions by Thursday, Dec. 17 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Burl Burlingame Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Burl Burlingame 529-4750