Brainstorm! Challenge

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Americans get psyched about the wrong things

Nancy Bey Little's Dec. 20 letter to the editor points out what it takes to rally Americans around a central theme: war. Never mind the fallacious and erroneous reasoning, the absurd calculations, the deaths and carnage, and the hypocrisy.

The United States of America, which spends $400 billion a year on "defense," can successfully kick another country's ass. Wonderful.

Paul D'Argent
Kihei, Maui

Mad cow shows need for industry changes

The first U.S. case of mad cow disease was reported Tuesday. The infected animal arrived at a Washington state slaughter plant as a "downer" cow -- a cow too sick to stand up. Humans can contract a form of mad cow disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if they eat infected beef or nerve tissue.

Downed animals are widely recognized as the animals most likely to have mad cow disease. An investigation of USDA records found that more than 70 percent of downed animals brought to USDA slaughterhouses were approved for human food. Last month the U.S. Senate approved language in an agriculture spending bill to block all downer animals from being used for human food. But the provision was dropped amid House objections.

Downers are typically dragged with chains or pushed with tractors or forklifts, which causes injuries ranging from bruises and abrasions to broken bones. These animals may be left for hours or days without receiving food or water (see www.nodowners.org).

Especially in light of the recent mad cow discovery, the USDA should immediately ban the slaughter of downed animals.

Laurelee Blanchard
Haiku, Maui

Other minorities also have high AIDS rates

Might I remind Kathy Martin (Letters, Dec. 26) that homosexuality is a historical part of human society and AIDS has been with us only since the last half of the 20th century. The "mirror" Martin says gays should look into, the fact that 82 percent of AIDS cases in Hawaii in 2002 were caused by men having sex with men, does not tell us that only homosexual lifestyles lead to death and destruction.

Let us look into that mirror of statistics again. The proportion of Filipino female cases of AIDS, 8.1 percent, is twice that of Filipino males, 4.7 percent. For some reason, Filipino women are developing more cases of AIDS. Should we condemn the lifestyles of Filipino women? No. A broader look at those statistics tell us that minorities of race and orientation develop AIDS after HIV infection at disproportionately high rates.

The homosexual community has faced up to the fact that many of us are dying of AIDS, and we do educate one another and our keiki about safer sex and risk; however, making gays a scapegoat for the ills of AIDS is a disservice to those not as knowledgeable as Martin who might believe her assumptions that homosexuality leads to death and heterosexuality does not. In fact, a couple in a committed gay relationship is just as protected from infection as a heterosexual couple.

Kita Lopez
Honolulu

Coach started the brawl -- yeah, that's it!

What really started the Hawaii Bowl brawl? My theory: The University of Hawaii players started the brawl on orders by June Jones to deflect attention from his bonehead coaching strategy that enabled the game to go to overtime.

Even the greenest sandlot coach knows that all UH had to do was run out the clock and win the game. A no-brainer. Everybody knew it but Coach Jones. Incomplete pass. Stop the clock. Try a field goal by a team that stands only a 50-50 chance of even making routine points after touchdowns.

What an impression to make on the national TV audience. Duh, Coach.

John Williams
Honolulu

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[ BRAINSTORM! ] What should the city do with the elegant old sewage pump station? It's empty and fading, and now it's taking a beating from all the construction going on around it. The O.G. Traphagen-designed sewage pump station on Ala Moana Boulevard, more than a century old, is a monument to the glory days of municipal architecture, when city fathers took such pride in their community that even a humble sewage station became a landmark structure. Millions of tourists drive by it every year, and it's an embarrassing reminder of how poorly Honolulu treats its historic landmarks. Over the years, dozens of uses and excuses and blue-sky speculations have been suggested for the striking structure. Now we're asking you, Mr. and Mrs. Kimo Q. Publique, what should the city do with the elegant old pump building? Send your ideas and solutions by Jan. 15 to: brainstorm@starbulletin.com Or mail them to: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson Star-Bulletin 500 Ala Moana 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Fax: Brainstorm! c/o Nancy Christenson 529-4750