• What does beating solve? • Go slower • Topless law • FCC, settle strike • Invasives on whales? What does beating solve? JoAnne Griffin who now lives in Dallas, Texas, must have been away from Kaua‘i way too long
• What does beating solve?
• Go slower
• Topless law
• FCC, settle strike
• Invasives on whales?
What does beating solve?
JoAnne Griffin who now lives in Dallas, Texas, must have been away from Kaua‘i way too long or they have a whole different set of traffic laws in Dallas (“Assault after crash was a human reaction, not a hate crime,” Letters, Jan. 20).
I may be misunderstanding her point, but it sounded like she was saying that someone who is a passenger in a motor vehicle that collides with a parked vehicle is then legally correct to get out of his vehicle and beat the other driver up.
I must have been absent when they covered that lesson in drivers ed class.
Yes, I’m sure there were some high emotions at the time of the accident, but that’s no excuse. Besides what did that solve?
If we are to expect emotional follow-up beatings after every car accident, then our new Police Chief best be hiring an army of officers to play referee. As I’m sure there are at least a handful of auto accidents on Kaua‘i’s highways every day.
And with the influx of new timeshare and millionaire homeowners coming to Kaua‘i there’s sure to be a lot more traffic which will result in a lot more auto accidents.
As most of us are already paying for “underinsured” and “uninsured” coverage for those who drive around without any insurance coverage at all, maybe the insurance companies can start offering an “after-accident beating coverage.”
And “I kapu” the patent on that one, all you insurance companies, because I thought of it first.
Francine Grace
Kalaheo
Go slower
On Jan. 17 our 6-month-old Jack Russell pup, “Roscoe,” got a little too curious. He wandered away from home, onto Puu Road, a block from Kalaheo School and was run over and killed by a speeding black truck. The driver of that truck never stopped but other caring people did. Thank you very much for your kindness. My concern is for the safety of our children walking home from school, who all saw this tragic accident.
Please slow down.
Regina Pavao
Kalaheo
Topless law
I and my girlfriend are Kaua‘i residents. We were on a secluded Eastside beach, sunning ourselves and reading books and an adult female resident walking down the beach with her dogs comes up to us and says, “This ain’t a nude beach.” My girlfriend, who was topless at the time, replied, “I don’t mean to offend you, but it is legal in Hawai‘i to be topless on any beach.”
Which in fact it is.
I did further research on the Internet to find that being naked here is also legal and allowable under certain situations so long as the bather’s intent is not to offend or purposefully cause emotional harm to another (Hawai‘i Supreme Court, 1999, State v. Kalama). If someone happens across a naked sunbather accidentally, the court said, or sees them from a distance and then walks by, no law is broken.
Before western contact, people were joyfully and naturally naked swimming and sunning. Women even freely surfed naked with no shame. It comes down to intent. My girlfriend and my intent was discreet, peaceful enjoyment.
I ask that The Garden Island newspaper publish this, simply to educate island residents so we can have more tolerance/acceptance of each other, less judgment, and know the law. In a world that condones so much “justified” violence where so many people don’t get upset, but do get upset at a naked body lying on a secluded beach, I hold the vision of our society coming back to a more heart-centered, live-and-let-be nature. Love over war.
John Tyler
Anahola
FCC, settle strike
I don’t believe in excessive government control. I do believe that what government that does exist should do its job. Because the number of broadcast frequencies and television channels is limited, the Federal Communications Commission was created to manage these facilities in the name of the American people who own the air waves. As payment for the the privilege of broadcasting, radio and television stations are required to provide a certain amount of public service such as emergency announcements, news, entertainment, education, etc.
The FCC has the power to require that broadcasters and the employee unions that they deal with bargain in good faith. In the event of an impasse in negotiations such as now exists, the FCC can require mediation and even final and binding arbitration in order to preserve the right of the public to receive broadcasts in a relatively uninterrupted manner. This strike has already cost millions of dollars to broadcasters, their employees, the commercial advertisers, and tax revenues to federal, state and local governments.
For the FCC to delay proper action to effect a settlement is unconscionable.
Harry Boranian
Lihu‘e
Invasives on whales?
A few days ago I and many others were watching na kohola (whales) about a half mile offshore of the lookout below Mahelona Hospital. There were eight or more of them and at least one calf. As they would breach everyone did the customary “ooohs” and “ahhs.” Some kohola were pounding the water with their tails creating large splashes and garnering more cheers and applause from the crowd gathered there. It was, as usual, a spectacular sight.
After some minutes of the breaching and tail and fin pounding I asked my mom, where were all the protesters. She gave me a “what are you talking about?” response and I explained that the reason na kohola did their leaping and pounding was to remove the encrusted growth of barnacles and other parasites that had grown on their bodies. I’m sure those parasites and other things could very well be invasive. In that case why aren’t the Superferry protesters demanding na kohola produce an EIS before they enter our waters in Hawai‘i? Why aren’t they jumping in the water with them and chasing them back north where they came from? Sked da mano, oa wat?
Sharon Pomroy, Anahola mahia‘i who will use the ferry to transport crops for sale in Honolulu.
Sharon Pomroy
Anahola