• It’s time to do something • Protecting democracy • Defensive driving • Marriage? It’s time to do something Kudos to The Garden Island for their recent articles on ocean water quality. It is important that this very critical issue
• It’s time to do something • Protecting democracy • Defensive driving • Marriage?
It’s time to do something
Kudos to The Garden Island for their recent articles on ocean water quality. It is important that this very critical issue is taken seriously.
However, The Garden Island seems to be the only one doing that. I’m dismayed by the lack of response that the articles have gotten and the quotes by officials in the articles themselves.
Kaua‘i is about the land and the sea. But the sea is not what we think it is. It is unsafe in an unseen and unexpected way. Do I really want to think about the bacteria count when I decide to go swimming? Should this enter into my decision on which beach to go to? This is extremely disturbing and not what I came to Kaua‘i for.
But these personal thoughts pale in comparison with a larger pragmatic issue. Has anyone thought about what will happen to Kaua‘i when, not if, the travel magazines and travel Web sites start to make it known that our beaches have bacteria levels above what is acceptable?
When this happens, and it will, people will make choices other than Kaua‘i. Why would they come here to swim in water with fecal matter when they have many, many other choices? We can expect a dramatic and permanent reduction in tourism and stagnation in both new developments and the real estate market as new residents fail to show up.
This is not yet a crisis but it is a problem that will take a long time to fix. When it becomes a crisis it will be too late to fix without lasting detrimental effects. The right response now is to take the issue seriously, do the measurements to determine the sources, put In place the necessary remediation plans and, if necessary, legislation and finding to remedy it.
We can do this now or we can do this later. But it will be much worse if we do it later. Some might say that it has always been this way or maybe worse, we just didn’t know about it. That may be the case but we do know now and soon everyone else will also know.
Bob Rosen, Lihu‘e
Protecting democracy
The United States Senate is in shambles due to the Democrat sellout to the health insurance lobby. It’s going to take a long time and a lot of work to restore it to the prestigious position it once enjoyed.
So where are the guardians of democracy, the mass media? They are chasing the dollars generated by the Tiger Woods debacle.
Our government is in deep trouble, but the sexual exploits of a champion athlete seem to be more important to those entrusted with guarding our way of life.
Print media is on its way out. Competition from so many other sources of information — Google, online computers and Twitter to name a few — are responsible for many dailies to close up shop.
Old guys such as I will continue to enjoy the scent of printer’s ink on newsprint, but our grand children are addicted to more esoteric media.
Print media can prolong its life by getting back to what it does best, which is to expose and criticize those in government, business and labor, who put selfish interest above the public good. The emphasis should be on content not access.
A good example of what I’m talking about is the venerable Christian Science Monitor which has changed from a daily to a three-times-a-week tabloid format.
Harry Boranian, Lihu‘e
Defensive driving
Drive as far as you can on the right side of the road if you want to increase your chances of surviving/avoiding head-on collisions on Kaua‘i.
I have seen a lot of head-on collisions in the past few years and the one thing that sticks in my mind is that usually the car that crosses the center line hits the oncoming car about two feet on the driver’s side rather than the center.
If the drivers of the fatal accidents I have seen had been hugging the right side of the road perhaps the drivers would have a little time to avoid the crash. Even if the cars collide there is a chance that the cars may clip each other rather than cause each other to stop catastrophically which much more trauma.
We cannot control how others drive; we can only drive as defensively as we can.
Gene Lebell, Po‘ipu
Marriage?
Is marriage really such a sacred vow? Two-thirds end up feeding the legal cash cow.
Married once, twice maybe third time a charm, divorced again, no need for alarm. This is the truth for some you see, no matter if you are married in a church, on a beach or under a tree. Equal rights is what we all should seek, throwing stones is only done by the weak. So let us all be free, for that is what god intended for you and me.
Live and let live is my mental state lets save the judgment for your god at the pearly gates.
Todd Anderson, Lihu‘e
