Teens need medically accurate sex ed

While I applaud the editorial in Tuesday's paper, I would like to correct a statistic. The teenage birth rate in Hawaii is 22nd in the nation but Hawaii's teen pregnancy rate is 10th in the nation. We also rank sixth in the nation for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted infection that often has no symptoms and can lead to infertility. According to the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Study, our teens have one of the lowest rates of sexuality activity in the U.S.; however, those who are sexually active rank dead last when it comes to condom use.

Planned Parenthood of Hawaii has sponsored a medically accurate sexuality education bill in the Legislature for the last five years to no avail. We strongly urge lawmakers to put the health of our youth first and stop funding dangerous, ineffective abstinence-only programs.

The key to reducing the rates of teen pregnancy, abortion and sexually transmitted infections, as well as delaying early onset of sexual activity, is to use proven science-based sexuality programs that inform about abstinence, contraception and condoms. These programs teach negotiation skills that give youth strategies to say no to sex, no to unsafe sex and to openly and honestly communicate with a partner, friend or family about sexual health behavior and consequences. Our youth need and deserve better.

Calm leadership will help next president

A week after the historic election of Barack Obama, TV viewers worldwide, like me, felt jubilant, triumphantly elated, giving thanks for God's will for making Obama elected. I am blessed to be staying in Hawaii, where Obama was born.

That glorious Nov. 4 evening, “;real democracy began”; in America after 40 years. Obama's positive, calm and good leadership skills, along with the transition team, will meet his promised campaign issues. Although enormous problems and issues are top priorities; I desire to see positive and immediate actions be taken to end wars and reform immigration.

I am looking forward to the December vacation in Hawaii of the Obama family. Aloha and more power to them.

Let’s stop bickering and pull together

To our present leaders of all political parties and to the ones who will begin next year, we as citizens of this great country of ours ask that you put aside, as much as possible, all political wranglings and work together to get our nation back in shape fiscally, globally and otherwise. We can't afford to dilly-dally on minor things, but put on blinders and direct your eyes on that road of recovery of our nation money-wise, on our relations with other countries and working on projects in our own country that need immediate focus. We must prioritize what needs our attention now. The call for help is now or soon.

Unity is vital for our country to be healthy once again. And we must think long-term, for it will take years to resolve our problems. We must work together to come up with solutions. Let's begin now.

Not all blacks downplay election achievement

Your front-page story in Sunday's edition headlined “;Some blacks in Hawaii downplay Obama's race”; was interesting reading for me. As an African-American, I, too, have been approached by other ethnicities offering me congratulations on Barack Obama becoming president-elect. However, unlike most of the people highlighted in your story, I am pleased with the well wishes because it is a big deal that a person of color has ascended to the presidency of the United States for the first time.

You see, that's what makes Hawaii unlike any other place in the country: when one member of a group here does well, our ohana are proud and happy for the whole group. I remember feeling the same happiness and pride for our Hawaiian population when John Waihee was elected governor, and likewise for Filipinos when Ben Cayetano became this country's first governor of Filipino ancestry.

My family and I appreciate every acknowledgement that comes our way.

Jubilance mixes with many concerns

The aftermath of the presidential election left me in a strange mood that persisted for days. I finally concluded it was because of my conflicting emotions. Part of me was elated and hopeful while another part was concerned and worried.

On one hand, witnessing a former student being selected as the next resident of the White House is incredible. In addition, the jubilant feelings that were expressed on the streets and in our homes and places of worship throughout America were marvelous to behold. That these feelings for a stronger, better nation were echoed around the world is promising.

On the other hand, the enormity of the challenges that lie before us raises many concerns and worries. Just to mention a few: rebuilding the infrastructure of American society; protecting the new first family while enabling some normalcy for the girls; and staying connected to the millions of people who supported Sen. John McCain and acknowledging their concerns.

We may have taken a huge first step toward positive change and worldwide healing, but we still need to walk gently, avoid the potholes and make certain we stay together.

Kudos to Big Island for marijuana bill

I was pleased to see the marijuana initiative on the Big Island approved by the voters, which made marijuana the lowest law-enforcement priority. For more than a century, the so-called federal authorities have been trying to regulate how people feel by stamping out alcohol during Prohibition and then by making grade-B movies such as “;Reefer Madness”; in 1937, demonizing marijuana and making it a Schedule 1 drug.

Do you so-called federal authorities all want us taxpayers to go through life feeling poorly every day? The entire reaction by the authorities is inappropriate, if we cannot change our laws and the idiots will enforce laws that the majority do not want on the books anymore. I wonder what planet these so-called federal authorities actually live on?

Don’t gamble with your neighbors’ peace

Our City Council seems to forget that “;equal justice for all”; is provided for in the Constitution. The Council's proposal to put visitor accommodations (bed & breakfasts) in residential areas will subject some unwary neighbors to the “;Russian roulette”; approach to equal justice for locating a B&B in a neighborhood.

The Council keeps saying that if putting B&Bs in a particular neighborhood bothers the residents, they can choose not to have it if 51 percent of them object. That's the theory. In practice, however, all of the abutting neighbors to a proposed B&B can object but still suffer a next-door B&B if others, who are up to 300 feet away and won't be affected as much, simply fail to object.

In a land where we provide “;due process”; and “;equity”; under law, this helter-skelter approach doesn't seem quite fair.