By

POSTED: Thursday, March 04, 2010

How will state use tobacco money?

According to House Bill 2887, there no longer will be any funding for tobacco prevention due to the state budget crisis. A recent article explained the decrease of tobacco prevention budget spending from 25.5 percent to only 6.5 percent to the anti-smoking fund. I appreciate the facts given about the decline in budget spending, but it is important that Hawaii continue to stay on the progressive track of preventing tobacco use.

Tobacco prevention campaigns have greatly helped the state. The hope would be that the people of Hawaii and its politicians would continue to care about the saving work that has already been done.

The article mentioned that there would be an increase in the state's general fund due to the cutback in the tobacco prevention fund. What would the increased budget in the general fund go toward? It would be beneficial for the people of Hawaii to have a better perspective of HB 2887 if they knew what the money would be contributing to if transferred to the general fund.

 

               

     

 

 

How to write us         The Star-Bulletin welcomes letters that are crisp and to the point (~175 words). The Star-Bulletin reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length. Please direct comments to the issues; personal attacks will not be published. Letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number.         Letter form: Online form, click here         E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)         Fax: (808) 529-4750         Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813

 

 

Mayor supports arts education

Congratulations to Mayor Mufi Hannemann for receiving the 2010 National Award for Local Arts Leadership from the Americans for the Arts and U.S. Conference of Mayors. It is a well-deserved honor.

Mayor Hannemann has shown great interest, both personally and through the Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts, in cultivating and perpetuating the arts.

As one of the most diverse and deepest running music education organizations in the state, the Hawaii Youth Symphony has welcomed the mayor at several concerts, where he recognizes our young musicians' achievements and encourages them to continue studying their music with conviction.

It is important for our young people to have a mayor who understands the significance and relevance of the arts to every child's complete education.

 

Civilian deaths may haunt U.S.

A few weeks ago an Afghan family was killed by U.S. military missiles. The missiles leveled its house and only an 8-year-old girl survived. The attack was instigated by President Barack Obama, by the way.

My question is this: If that same little girl reaches the age of 17 and does her research and locates the U.S. military soldier that bombed her family home, then bombs his house, killing him and all his family in the U.S., would she be considered a freedom fighter heroine or a terrorist?

A wise kahuna once said, “;No one is exempt from the universal laws of cause and effect.”;

 

Every worker makes difference

Back in 1997 my husband and I had the pleasure of moving to Oahu for a two-year stint.

At that time we had no children and enjoyed our free time touring all the islands and trying to experience as much of the local life we could.

After our son was born in 1999 we returned to our family and life on the mainland. Now, 10 years later, we decided it was time to get back to Oahu and show our son where he was born and the island we so fondly remembered.

As you can imagine, we looked forward to your warm breezes, wonderful flora and fauna, and the “;no hurry, no worry”; attitude. What we did not expect was the generous amount of “;aloha”; we received everywhere we went! From start to finish, everyone we encountered made us feel welcome and wanted.

While we enjoyed our experiences in the islands, we were cognizant of the fact that tourism can be a love/hate relationship. While tourism is imperative to the economy of Hawaii, it is still very hard to embrace the crazy tourists that come and go day in and day out.

The airport car rental agent, the hotel room maid, the local boy on the street that gave us directions to some much-needed shave ice, the waitress at Duke's in Waikiki, the lifeguard at Hanauma Bay—you may not feel your job or position is important or noticed, but it is! Every point of contact makes a difference, and for our family it made a positive difference.

We are so appreciative, much aloha and a gigantic mahalo to you all.

 

Fluoridation not the answer

Hawaii is one of nine states that fail to provide adequate dental care for the “;financially challenged.”;

Maybe that's because the dentists, rather than accepting the low pay that Medicaid or Medicare offers, always turn to fluoridation as the panacea to ease their guilt.

In 2007, an independent fluoridation study by the National Research Council found that fluoridation was not “;safe and effective”; after all. Among their findings was that fluoride impaired kidney function, prompting the National Kidney Foundation to withdraw its support of fluoridation. It also found that fluoride given to infants in formula or otherwise would adversely affect their first teeth. The American Dental Association sat on this information for quite some time before advising against using fluoridated water in infant formulas.

The solution is education about the dangers of high sugar consumption and the benefits of regular brushing and flossing, not fluoridation.

 

Crabbers worry about shark tours

I am 73 years old. My heart is broken. I see what has happened to our ocean waters in Haleiwa. Crabbers like myself don't feel safe since the shark tour operators began their businesses and use illegal shark feeding.

I attended the protest rally, and shark tour operators offered us a ride on their tour boat. I would like to be with community members on the boat that goes out early every morning before daybreak. A boat leaves the harbor with two people and goes to the area where shark tours operate. What are they doing out there early in the morning? What's the purpose? We want to know. We want to go on that boat every morning for 30 days.

Are they feeding breakfast to the sharks out there?

My friends and I no longer take our boats to some of our favorite fishing grounds because now when we go out there our boats are surrounded by sharks.

This has happened only since the shark tours started. The sharks hear our engines and they come to our boats and think we are going to feed them.

Where do you think they learned that behavior?

Someone has to stop the illegal feeding of sharks.