• It ain’t rocket science • Traffic snarls to come • Traffic after Waipouli • Flu won’t come on wings of birds • Cutting soldier health care • Article left something out It ain’t rocket science It is astounding and
• It ain’t rocket science
• Traffic snarls to come
• Traffic after Waipouli
• Flu won’t come on wings of birds
• Cutting soldier health care
• Article left something out
It ain’t rocket science
It is astounding and almost unbelievable what is coming out of our planning commission regarding the proposed project in Waipouli.
Sheer stupidity.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist — only to have seen a rocket once in your life — to know that any developer can’t do anything about the roads in Kapa’a without building a completely new roadway from the north of Kapa’a past the Wailua river to in any way alleviate the traffic problem there. Or perhaps they will tear down half of Kapa’a to make the road sufficient.
To propose that a developer can do this is sheer idiocy. Mayor, how about asking some of the planning commission to resign. They may do well in the nuts and bolts of projects, but evidently traffic problems are in a different world for them.
Traffic snarls to come
Planning Commission Chairman Ted Daligdig III has said “If I have to vote on something that will burden the people of this island, I am going to vote ‘no.'”
I support that statement by Chairman Daligdig. Traffic is so serious a problem that projects like the Coco Palms should be denied if the developer cannot offer a solution and, is in fact, just adding to the problem of congestion.
The developer saying that he is setting aside a few million dollars, is not a good faith effort to solve the traffic problem. It is simply money put in escrow as a payoff for permission to build. It is too bad the Planning Commission did not have Chairman Daligdig’s level of concern when it recently approved the huge Waipouli Beach Resort Development, a short distance away, at the heart of Kaua’i’s Eastside traffic snarl.
The Planning Commission approval of Waipouli Beach Resort, nearly 300 vacation timeshare units on open acreage along the shore opposite Kauai Shopping Village, will have immediate and lasting negative effects on traffic at the worst congestion chokehold on the island.
Traffic after Waipouli
Aloha kakou. I applaud Kaua’i Planning Commissioner Ted Daligdig III with his recent concern about traffic related to the Waipouli developments. Hearing this statement is encouraging, but I unfortunately still think the commission’s standards for approval are out of focus.
There should be one simple question when considering approval of new development: Is this development beneficial for the po’e and ‘aina of Kaua’i?
Examples of an overwhelming ‘yes’ are: YMCA, homeless shelter, affordable housing, etc. Examples of a resounding ‘no’ are: high end condos/time shares/resorts.
The Planning Commission is here to serve us, the residents of Kaua’i, not the developers looking to turn a profit. Even if the developers built an eight-lane free-way to alleviate traffic on the Eastside, there is still no benefit for us to have unaffordable housing/resorts in our communities.
Mahalo a nui.
Flu won’t come on wings of birds
I really do not think bird flu is going to come to Kaua’i by either a hitchhiking bird, migrating bird, or tainted bird meat. I won’t say it is impossible for that to happen, but I say there is a MUCH more likely scenario — it will come here in the lungs of some person that recently became infected elsewhere without knowing it.
Think about it — we are up to nearly 1 million tourists per year on this island alone, and all of these people are potential vectors for such a disease, not to mention all of us who live here and also travel.
Now, what are the odds that a migrating or hitchhiking bird brings a disease versus all of these potential unknowing disease carriers? The disease is going to be spread by that one person — that one “Kauai Patient Zero” — not practicing good hygiene and common sense — you can’t spend any significant amount of time in public nowadays without encountering at least one person coughing or sneezing without covering their nose and mouth or not washing their hands after doing so.
These flus become most dangerous once they have jumped into the human population, into an easily transmittable form.
Exactly what does one expect the governor, mayor, County Council, or health officials to do about migrating or hitch-hiking birds?
Rather than try to force them to take some action, I’d like to see people exercise some personal responsibility and common sense for a (refreshing) change — have some respect for other people and practice good hygiene, for heaven’s sake.
Cutting soldier health care
The Bush administration, after giving tax breaks to the rich, is now trying to increase the annual enrollment fees for all military under the age of 65, and raising the co-payment for prescription drugs.
The goal is to save $14.8 billion in the next five years, even as Bush asks Congress for another $120 billion for his “mission finished” in Iraq, to bring the total to $520 billion dollars, which is being financed by selling U.S. bonds to foreign countries, to be paid back with interest, right about when most of us will be retiring.
And looking for our Social Security checks.
Soon, Gov. Lingle will follow in these footsteps. She is already talking about giving us all a little tax refund in her election year.
I guess next year, after giving us a bribe to get re-elected, she may try to cut our health care benefits, to make up for what she doled out.
In the end, Republicans will strip away all health benefits for every American, except those working for the government.
Article left something out
In your news brief entitled “Supplements Fail to Ease Arthritis” published in The Garden Island Feb. 23, you do your readers a disservice in reporting only a small part of a health study while leaving out the most important findings.
The article states that in a government- sponsored study, two commonly used over-the-counter supplements, chondroitin and glucosamine sulfate, are not effective for the pain of mild arthritis of the knee. You failed to report that the study also found that these two supplements are significantly effective for moderate and severe pain from knee arthritis. More than 20 million Americans suffer from osteoarthritis and many who have this condition only start using medication or supplements when the pain becomes moderate or severe. Chondroitin and glucosamine sulfate are safe and are a relatively low cost therapy that can be highly effective in some people.
