Threats of lawsuits negate living wills

Having worked in health care for more than 20 years, I can in all honesty tell you that in America the Karen Okada case up before the courts is the norm, not the exception.

Advanced health care directives are not worth the paper they are written on, if a family member disagrees with them. Whether the reason be financial, housing, or guilt related, if a family member screams "Do everything," that is what gets done.

I remember my shock the first few times seeing this occur, and I asked the attending physician how this can be possible. The response was chilling. He said, "Regardless of what we do, the patient is going to die, but the living sue, so we follow the living’s request."

Fear of legal liability has crippled ethical decision-making.

Carl Peters
Hawaii Kai

End-zone tickets can be super, too

Dave Reardon said, "(State Sen.) Sam Slom buys football tickets and sits in the north end zone seats at Aloha Stadium. Never in UH’s VIP box." ("Senate investigators expect straight answers from UH," Star-Advertiser, Further Review, Sept. 12)

Reardon then goes on to say Slom is not a "super fan." Is he implying that if you buy your own tickets in the end zone, you are not really a fan?Is he suggesting that you are a better fan if youget free tickets in the VIP box?

I know you can’t be a better UH football fan than Sam, and he has bought his own tickets for years.

I do know Sam will be asking very pointed questions at the special committee investigation. Don’t be surprised if a number of the people asked to testify don’t show up.

Carl Bergantz
Kaneohe

Has cash clouded opinons in Kailua?

Auwe! A Gloria Garvey aloha smile is so easy, selling expensive soaps to the tourists ("Kailua can’t turn back hands of time, but it doesn’t have to lose its aloha," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 9).

Perhaps if Garvey could spare a few minutes away from her store andgo checkout the hundreds of yellow kayaks ruining the bay, Flat Island and theMokulua islets, she would lose that aloha smile real quick.

Unless the ringing of her cash registereases the pain.

Pat Meyers
Kailua

Government can’t fix all our problems

Both presidential candidates claim that they can improve the economy.The problem is that there are limits to what the government can do.

Our big problem is a lack of demand, a hole so big that it is not practical for the government to step in to replace it. We also have a problem of low wages in an environment of global competition. Again, the government can’t do much about it.

We can improve our government by right-sizing it, and we can take steps to get the government out of the way of the private sector, but in general promises about using the government to improve the economy are likely to fall flat on both sides of the aisle.

Lloyd Lim
Makiki

Charitable gifts not always good

I recently saw an online post by Aloha United Way celebrating a donation to their organization from Monsanto.

I’m a big fan and supporter of AUW’s work, but I was shocked that they would accept a donation from such a terrible multinational corporation responsible for bad deeds around the globe.

Yes, we do need funding for our community programs, but at what point do we start looking at the integrity of the companies we take funds from to determine if it’s the right decision for our communities?

Giving this donation offers good local publicity for Monsanto just before the launch of "Global Week of Action Against Monsanto" and some serious truth-telling by advocacy groups about Monsanto’s business practices.

I hope our nonprofit leaders in Hawaii will start taking a better look at these corporate-giving programs. Most of the time it’s the corporate donor that benefits from the donation more than our communities.

Nicole Sutton
Pearl City

Report on taxes was waste of money

I got so mad when I heard that we paid a very substantial amount of money on an off-island consulting firm, only to find out that the solution to all of the challenges mentioned was to raise taxes ("Proposals to raise taxes opposed," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 12).

I wish we would use more common sense before going forward with any program, only to find out that we couldn’t afford it in the first place.

Rod Gomes
Ewa Beach

Death of Maui teen was a wake-up call

It saddens me to hear that 15-year-old boy on Maui died because he mixed alcohol and prescription medication ("Maui teen dead after beer party," Star-Advertiser, Aug. 25).

I hope that this sends a strong and clear message to all teenagers that drinking and drugs kill, and that they need to make good choices in life.

I also hope that this death sends a loud and clear message to all parents to start doing their jobs, which is preparing their children for life. In a time where children want their parents to be their friends, parents need to teach their children right from wrong, and to respect people and property. Most of all, they must get involved in their children’s lives, from education to morality.

There is a saying, "The greatest curse to a nation is when parents bury their children." If we want to turn things around, parents have to take their jobs seriously and love their children and prepare them for life.

Alan Kim
Moiliili