The bureaucrats
Today, people will find red tape where Tony Bennett left his heart — San Francisco. That’s where little cable cars ride past the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 9 office.
The red tape for wastewater regulations stretches all the way from Hawthorne Street to the county building in Hilo. This red tapeworm eats up federal and county tax dollars.
Please consider that government employees get to collect salaries. Then they dither and dawdle over Hawaii County’s illegal gang-cesspools in Pahala and Naalehu.
This dalliance only benefits the bureaucrats. They get a paycheck every month, while no infrastructure has been constructed in Ka‘u.
Their final goal is retirement. Their method is environmental procrastination. They have succeeded for the past 20 years.
Sadly, its us citizens who left our wallets in both cities by the bay.
Jerry Warren
Naalehu
Financial planning
My late father-in-law passed along some gems of wisdom that my husband and I appreciate as we near middle age.
One that had to do with saving and investing has helped us to cope with preparing for the expense of college on one hand, which rivals yesteryear’s home mortgage, and being there for aging parents on the other.
We attended a free financial planning seminar held at Kapolei Public Library, followed by a free consultation with a financial planner at our local bank, some 20 years ago.
No matter what a person’s income level may be, “make more or spend less,” and invest for the future by “paying yourself first,” and “make your money work for you” are key principles that can empower young people to prepare for success in a capitalist society facing unchecked inflation.
The following haiku sums up one of the financial pressures faced by our peers:
College tuition
More than yesterday’s mortgage
Keep kids out of debt.
Sharon Wong
Hilo
Remember
magnesium
I was glad to see the letter from Noelani Kai (Your Views, May 31) on the importance of mental health to us all.
I applaud the listing of factors of genes, brain chemistry, trauma or abuse, life experiences and family history, and I wish to add one other: nutrition.
At the Center for Magnesium Education &Research, we study the peer-reviewed science on magnesium and have found that inadequate daily magnesium intake is associated with depression, anxiety, hostility, lower ability to cope with stresses such as trauma, as well as other aspects of mental health.
And Magnesium is only one of the 44 essential nutrients humans need daily in both balance and adequacy to optimize genetic potential for healing, disease prevention and health, including mental health. Imagine if we could gather all the mental health research of the other 43 essential nutrients. What we would find!
The impact of nutrition plays a huge role in the mental health, of people, their families and their communities, and needs to be added to the list of factors we need to consider as we dedicate ourselves to full health.
A. Rosanoff
Director, Center for Magnesium Education &Research
Pahoa
