HOLIDAY

BAH, HUMBUG, DON'T LET GRINCH STEAL CHRISTMAS

Don't let grinches steal our most important time of the year, the Christmas holidays.

When Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, I doubt if Scrooge foresaw the proportion of distortion we see today, where a Christmas tree erected on public property cannot be called such for fear of insulting some person or group.

How lost and empty the lives of these people must be.

Bah and humbug.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

ORPHANS

ISLE FAMILIES ALSO ADOPT FROM THE PHILIPPINES

I am writing to respond to the Dec. 1 article "Fewer in America adopting overseas."

I am the supervisor of Child and Family Service International Adoption program in Honolulu, where we assist families in adopting from China and the Philippines.

It is true that the China process has slowed down significantly over the past year, and families are waiting about 25 months to be matched with a child. For a family with at least one spouse born in China, the wait is significantly shorter.

The article highlighted many countries that U.S. families look to for adoption. One that was not mentioned, however, is the Philippines. The Philippines has many orphaned children waiting for adoption.

Child and Family Service has been working with the Philippines since the 1980s in assisting Hawai'i families with adoption, of both non-relative children and relative children.

The majority of the children available for adoption are medically healthy and range in age from infant to early teens. Both girls and boys are available. The wait is 12 to 24 months. If one spouse is at least partially of Filipino descent, the Philippines will expedite the matching to 12 months.

HEALTHCARE

WOMEN SHOULD STILL GET MAMMOGRAMS

The article, "Mammograms often wrong" in your Dec. 12 edition contains insightful and pertinent information regarding mammography as well as inaccuracies that discredit the medical profession and may mislead the general public.

First and foremost, no diagnostic examination is ever likely to be 100 percent accurate and successful in detecting cancer of any organ or location.

The inherent detection of breast cancer with mammography is dependent on many factors. The visibility of cancers, particularly in their earliest stages when small, requires the tumor to be of sufficiently different texture, density, or architectural structure in comparison to all of the surrounding normal breast tissue in order to stand out sufficiently to allow even the most experienced radiologist to have an opportunity to suggest that there is an abnormality. This is not always the case.

There are approximately 20 percent of tumors that will be detected based on ultrasound, MRI, nuclear medicine studies or clinical examination. These tumors are undetectable with mammography. While human error certainly may occur, interpretations are not wrong because they did not detect an existant cancer. The tumor may just not be visible with the current mammographic technology.

The article states that "one-quarter of the radiologists read fewer than 100 mammograms a year." This is untrue. The standard requirement set by federal statute and applied to all radiologists demands a minimum of 460 mammography interpretations per year as well as continuing medical education requirements achieved in the field of mammography and enforced by the American College of Radiology.

Although every woman cannot see a breast imaging specialist, especially in rural communities, they should certainly not abandon the use of a technology that, despite its limitations, is the best that modern medicine currently has available in initiating the search for breast cancers.

MIDEAST

MEDIA MUST STEP UP ON ITS IRAQ REPORTING

The Iraq war presents a very difficult issue.

On the one hand, there is an optimistic view that says that if we continue to provide security eventually the Iraqi government will work out a political compromise that all Iraqis can accept and thus avoid a civil war.

On the other hand, there is an even more optimistic view that says that if we pull out our troops the same thing will happen. Both views seem to ignore the more pessimistic possibility of a civil war prior to any political solution, which could happen under either scenario, but might be more likely under one than the other.

The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are on opposite sides of this debate, presenting us with a big choice.

I do not know how we are supposed to make this choice because none of us has a crystal ball.

But it sure would help if the media stepped up its reporting on the political and cultural realities on the ground in Iraq, instead of just telling us the body count or the state of the military operation as reported by military personnel with an obvious bias or what some American politician supposes.

BIKE LANES

CHINA OFFERS TRAFFIC LESSON FOR HAWAI'I

I last visited Hawai'i 25 years ago and on my return am appalled at the so-called progress here in paradise.

The traffic in Kona and on Kaua'i is beyond terrible, and I really don't want to imagine the problems in Honolulu.

I've just returned from working in China for the past 3 1/2 months and have seen the answer to your traffic problems, but doubt that your politicians will show the leadership to realize the solutions.

In China, the bicycle has superseded the automobile, and virtually every major street has a large bicycle lane on each side.

As traffic has mushroomed in those Chinese cities and as technology has offered other means of transportation, those bicycle lanes have become lanes for bicycles, electric scooters and tiny motor scooters (e.g., Vespas)

The weather in south China is almost as good as here and the cost of building bike paths is minuscule compared to the construction of highways that only clog up as they are built.

I encourage every Hawai'i resident to contemplate the possibilities — comfortable, affordable, convenient, safe and environmentally positive "bike-scooter" paths instead of a non-solution from the past century.

TAXES

NOT ALL PROPERTY VALUES ON O'AHU DECLINED

The Dec. 15 article, "Property value drops 2.7%," certainly doesn't apply to me.

In 2007, my property values soared 65 percent. My new 2008 property values went up 6.2 percent, so in two years the value of my property and the taxes on it will go up 71.2 percent.

I had intended to live in my property the rest of my life. With property taxes being raised regardless of ability to pay, I will be forced to sell my home of more than 30 years.

Raising rates is but one option the city has to make up for their "shortfall." Since 2006, the city has been giving all homeowners a "tax discount" of $200. The city doesn't even have to change the tax rate to make up for their loss of revenue, all they will do is take away our "tax discount" and state that it was never intended to be a permanent tax cut.

Complaints to my councilman, Todd Apo, have resulted in his retort that "the city needs the money, too."

I guess when I join the homeless on the beach I can at least be satisfied that the last bit of money I had went to pay my property taxes so the city could pay its bills.

WAI'ANAE

WHY ARE HOMELESS ALLOWED ON BEACHES?

As I write my monthly check to HECO (which, by the way, was outstanding during the storm), I am once again reminded of the so-called homeless of Wai'anae.

On "sewage beach" there are more lighted Christmas displays than on any residential street in my area. Just as the water is free for them, so is the electricity.

Seriously, why is this allowed? Why are they allowed to stay there when all the signs posted clearly say they are in violation of the law? Are laws and utility usage bills not for everyone?

I invite The Advertiser to come and photograph the area.

Let's see how much sympathy you will get for the "homeless."

In the meantime, I encourage all to send their water and utility bills to the state for payment just like the beach squatters.

Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.