Letters To The Editor
December 13, 2006 - MidWeek
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Del.icio.usBumpy sidewalks
There are many complaints about road potholes, (as in) Don Chapman’s recent column, but no one mentions the sad condition of sidewalks.
I’m handicapped and have a companion wheelchair that helpers and friends push. In the area between Wal-Mart, Don Quijote and the Convention Center it is hard on my helpers as the small wheels often get stuck on the broken pavement. The ride is very bumpy!
I wonder how many pedestrians twist their ankles and fall.
Dzidra Damerel
Honolulu
The religious threat
Civilization is beset by Islamic extremists the world over, with jihadists openly stating the aim to re-establish the Caliphate and bring down “Great Satan” U.S. in the process. In the name of God, they go about busily incinerating Australian tourists in Bali, beheading Christian girls in Malaysia, blowing up buildings, embassies and airplanes, spreading mayhem in the Near East, making post-Christian, pre-Muslim Europe safe for sharia and ... You get the picture.
But Dan Boylan, MidWeek‘s resident Bush-hater, apparently is more concerned with (brace yourself) Americans, like Bush, who profess to be Christians and think that they should go about their lives living their religious beliefs. Those feared (at least in Boylan’s way of thinking) evangelicals will want to keep “In God We Trust” on our money, but the terrorists will want to cut our throats. MidWeek‘s readers should decide which is really worth the worry.
Tom Freitas
Hawaii Kai
Owed an apology
Dan Boylan’s comment regarding President George W Bush’s recent visit to military bases, and that he wreaked his usual havoc this time at the expense of four motorcycle cops and departed - mercifully - after 15 hours, was despicable, disrespectful and we all deserve a full apology.
Political comment has its place in our everyday life, but there is no excuse for this, considering the pouring out of support for a sad loss, and the overwhelming public response by donating their blood.
John Werrill
Honolulu
Smoke is really OK
Larry Price’s comments in his Nov. 29 column perpetuate the myth that secondhand smoke is a health risk to non-smokers. On May 17 the respected British Medical Journal published the results of a 39-year study of nearly 120,000 adults in California begun in 1959 by the American Cancer Society. In 1972 the ACS turned its study over to UCLA, who completed it in 1998.
The study’s objective was “to measure the relation between environmental tobacco smoke, as estimated by smoking in spouses, and long term mortality from tobacco-related disease.” Risks and deaths from coronary heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases were measured. The study focused on people who never smoked who had a spouse who smoked and concluded that “the results do not support a casual relationship between environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco-related mortality.” In fact, the conclusion also stated that “the association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and coronary heart disease and lung cancer may be considerably weaker than generally believed.”
Furthermore, a 10-year study in Europe by the World Health Organization published in 1998 came to the same conclusion.
Hawaii’s new smoking ban, particularly outside, is punitive to smokers and businesses, and will surely affect visitors and tourists negatively.
Janice Pechauer
Honolulu
Yes, ban ROTC
Now it is Bill O’Reilly’s turn for name-calling (MidWeek Nov. 29, 2006). He disagrees with the San Francisco Board of Education’s decision to end ROTC in high school. He calls them nutty. I hope that educated men would have a better vocabulary than goofy, nutty and leave the country when they have an opposing position. Juvenile name-calling does not solve problems.
I agree with the San Francisco Board of Education that we must end the military industrial complex that the United States has become. Glory-seeking presidents have invaded the third world countries of Vietnam, Lebanon, Somalia and Iraq with disastrous results. Thousands upon thousands of American military have been killed. Hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children have been killed in those countries. None of those countries had done any harm to the United States.
Alphonso L. Largo
Waipahu
Send your letters to MidWeek Letters, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 500, Honolulu, HI. 96813; by fax to 585-6324, or by email to dchapman@midweek.com. Please include your name, address and daytime and evening phone numbers. We print only the letters that include this information, but only your name and area of residence will appear in print. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.
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