Civil union supporters are the intolerant ones

It seems to be a rule that those who expatiate most volubly about others' “;intolerance”; are often among the least tolerant people around.

A case in point is Sanford Lung, who in his letter of Feb. 25 manages to use “;bigotry,”; “;intolerance,”; “;fear,”; “;loathing,”; “;perverted,”; “;misguided,”; “;hypocrisy”; and “;insincere”; in the space of four short paragraphs designed to marginalize, vilify and muzzle “;Christians”; (the sneer quotes are Lung's). About the only words from the Litany of the Tolerant that Lung forgot to include in his letter were “;ignorant,”; “;fascist,”; “;Nazi”; and “;homophobe.”;

Lung's self-congratulation on being among “;the rest of us who actually practice tolerance”; aside, there was nothing in his letter to indicate that he has the least notion of what real tolerance entails.

First they took land, then they killed aloha

The missionaries came to Hawaii and stole our land. And today, the religious organizations that are so vocal against House Bill 444, the equal civil rights bill, have stolen our aloha.

Fatty-food tax would solve budget problem

We are proposing a new sin tax. During hard times, tax-addicted lawmakers seem to always fall back on the convenient taxes on tobacco and alcohol to fix problems they created with their insane laws. We're always here to help. You're very welcome. Besides, we smoker “;addicts”; are easy prey. We're just beer-guzzling stupid morons with no self-control who are hooked on our sins.

But wait a minute. Aren't lawmakers overlooking the biggest sin of all? Pray tell, what is over-eating? Health care costs in America are well over $2.2 trillion a year, with more than half of that attributed to being overweight and obese. Those costs dwarf any costs attributed to tobacco and alcohol combined. Close to 100 million people are addicted to food, lacking self-control, eating dangerous foods and not knowing when to quit. Imagine the revenue derived from a cheeseburger tax or a calorie fat tax.

Ever noticed how more than half the people who testify at the Capitol in favor of smoking bans are overweight? The epitome of hypocrisy.

Lawmakers, you're banning and regulating the wrong sin. Your gold mine is literally lying on a plate right under your noses. We will never have a budget crisis again. Bring on the Cheeseburger Tax!

Sport hunting hurts the dogs, too

In response to “;Eco-nomics a great idea trampled by game animals”; by Mary Ikagawa (”;Gathering Place,”; Star-Bulletin, Feb. 19): If people in Hawaii were allowed to hunt game animals without any regulations, not only would the population of these invasive animals probably increase, but we would end up with another invasive species—feral dogs.

The majority of hunting in Hawaii is purely for sport, not for conservation. Sport hunters use hunting methods to keep the animal populations thriving so that they and their children can experience the thrill of hunting for generations to come.

Since feral pigs are difficult to find in the thick understory of the forest local hunters use packs of hunting dogs to flush them out. In the excitement of the chase these free-roaming dogs quickly cover vast areas, and might attack anything they perceive as prey.

Hunting dogs can become separated from their owners and left behind. Lost or injured dogs often end up at local animal shelters at taxpayers' expense. Or worse, these abandoned hunting dogs can form dangerous feral dog packs, living and breeding in the mountains.

If we want to eradicate invasive game animals we need more regulation for sport hunters and more money to hire conservation hunters, like Prohunt, who hunt for the sole purpose of eradication.

Hannemann walks the walk with pay cut

I thought Mayor Mufi Hannemann's State of the City speech was great. I especially liked the fact that the mayor and his administration were willing to take a 5 percent pay cut, before telling the Hawaii Government Employees Association that there will be no pay raises this year. In these tough times, it's hard to find leadership that actually walks the walk and is willing to make sacrifices, not just tell others to do so.

I think this is something the rank and file workers understand and respect.