Your Views for February 10

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No to GET hike

Mayor Harry Kim’s proposed general excise tax hike is wrong for all of the obvious reasons.

Most states do straight sales tax at a rate that varies from 6 to 10 percent — but not on food. Sales tax also is applied to services, but not charity fundraising.

Charging tax on food is so very wrong. Those with more money to spend pay more sales tax on goods and visitors pay sales tax; it’s a fairer way to manage spending-based taxes.

Restaurant food can be taxed; ordinary groceries should not be taxed!

How are the already struggling families in our community supposed to handle more taxes on the very basics of life? This only will create more homelessness going forward. And all of this as you give yourselves a huge raise.

Got news for you: Our public services are not that good. For shame!

I’m sorry I voted for you, Harry.

Laura Buck

Keaau

Go meatless

Feb. 14 marks the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter when Christians abstain from eating animals in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness.

The call to abstain from eating animals is as current as the teaching of evangelical leader Franklin Graham, yet as traditional as the Bible (Genesis 1:29).

Methodist founder John Wesley, Salvation Army pioneers William and Catherine Booth and Seventh-day Adventist Church founder Ellen G. White all followed this higher call.

A meat-free diet is not just about Christian devotion. Dozens of medical studies have linked consumption of animal products with elevated risk of heart failure, stroke, cancer and other killer diseases.

A United Nations report named meat production as the largest source of greenhouse gases and water pollution. Undercover investigations have documented farm animals routinely caged, crowded, mutilated and beaten.

Today’s supermarkets are well in tune with the call to abstain from eating animals. They offer a rich array of plant-based meats, milks, cheeses and ice creams, as well as the more traditional vegetables, fruits and grains.

Entering “vegetarian” or “vegan” in your favorite search engine provides lots of meat-replacement products, recipes and transition tips.

Washi Hamada

Kailua-Kona