• Joni Mitchell never lies
• Bette Midler and the 230 trees
• Drought is not the problem or cause
• Painting highway lines
Joni Mitchell never lies
If the people of this community insist on believing these conspiracy theories that local businesses are somehow gouging residents, no amount of reason is going to persuade them otherwise. I find it incredibly irrational to view small business owners as the problem and lifting entities like Wal-Mart, who are interested only in the amount of profit they can make, to the status of some deity or Prince Valiant, riding in triumphantly on a white steed to save the downtrodden middle class masses with low prices. Wal-Mart is part of the reason the middle class is experiencing these pressures. Were I a small business owner, I would be seriously offended by these accusations that I was gouging my neighbors to the point that I would probably close up shop. People write in to this Forum to castigate Costco for not treating them with aloha and simultaneously lauding them for making it possible to buy even more crap they don’t need for less. If you feel the trend is that the aloha spirit is waning, then you need to take a look at what you may be doing to contribute to that trend. Not supporting local businesses to the point that you accuse them of robbing you is about as anti-aloha as you can get. The people of this community are seriously confused, and it is clear that nothing anyone can say is going to clear up that confusion. So, I say, let Wal-Mart build whatever they want — heck, make the Supercenter 500,000 square feet, and let’s encourage as many other large retailers to come here and do the same. As Joni Mitchell sang, “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” Some people just need to learn the hard way. I’m convinced that only when the Kaua‘i that many of us fell in love with is completely gone will these people realize what a huge mistake they’ve made, and even then, they’ll probably still try to blame it on the government or some other conspiracy. I am now committed to hastening this demise. Enjoy your low prices.
This is my last letter to this forum. I thank Francine Grace for helping me realize that I have much better ways to spend my time than trying to convince people not to destroy their community.
Michael Mann
‘Ele’ele
Bette Midler and the 230 trees
Just what was Bette Midler thinking anyway?
Let’s see, probably that she, and she alone, owns the property from which she paid someone to clear the trash-trees degrading it. She most likely had concluded that cleaning and improving her own property was a fundamental and inviolable right she enjoyed. Not only that, she didn’t violate anyone else’s rights while exercising her own. No more than 25 years ago she would have been on solid ground. Moreover, the brownshirt that squealed on her would have been shunned into butting out of other people’s business by decent people with little tolerance for rats.
But in her naivete she (and she is not alone here) didn’t understand that today we have all been stripped of our status as sovereign individuals with an inalienable right to our liberty and property and subsequently bullied into a condition of state servitude—not unlike that surrounding the feudal serfs of the 13th century. The only difference is that the feudal lord has been replaced by the minions of the state—comprised of bureaucrats, politicians and the boot-licks that worship at their feet. The game is the same however, without the lord’s blessing and permission you may do nothing except keep your gaze averted, work your fingers to the bone and pay up the taxes that feed the tyrants who control your life—what a deal.
It was pathetic to read that this woman who has worked so hard, achieved success and helped so many worthy causes was reduced to groveling and reciting, via her lawyer, all the proper PC platitudes. That alone was, of course, not good enough; she must also pay the state its plunder of $6500—for what exactly, taking care of her own property in the land of the free and home of the brave?
RS Weir
Kapa‘a
Drought is not the problem or cause
The entire island of Kaua‘i and everyone who lives here should be saddened and angry about the Moloa‘a Stream going dry for the first time in recorded history, just a few months after the stream in Po‘ipu went dry.
The dried-up Moloa‘a Stream is now full of dead fish and dying (endangered) shellfish. The DLNR has not done studies yet to determine the cause, but we know it certainly is not the lack of rain. Kaua‘i has had far less rain than we’re having now and the river has flowed for centuries.
Adjacent land owners know exactly what the cause is, and it’s the massive amount of well drilling and water usage by developers building their subdivisions in the area. Planning Commission, take note. Developers should be required to sign personal guarantees that their ventures will not negatively impact the environment in any substantive way. You approve more subdivisions without adequate requirements for developers to do intensive environmental studies, including exhaustive water and soil studies that will prove their developments will not harm the existing island’s ecosystem, or you will leave Kaua‘i a legacy of your personal failure.
When are the residents of Kaua‘i who really care about this beautiful island going to wake up and get involved? Remain silent and you will lose something more valuable than you apparently understand right now. You will never know how much you’ll miss the Kaua‘i you’re taking for granted until it’s gone.
Gordon Oswald
Kapa‘a
Painting highway lines
It is nice to see our highway department painting safety lines on Kuhio Highway for the Princeville area. But why is this being done before resurfacing the road?
The road is in bad repair and will need resurfacing, which means new lines will have to be painted. Is this why we pay exorbitant taxes so that roads can be painted several times?
How about fixing the road first and then painting the lines.
David K Giuliano
Princeville
