• Be thankful for life’s absurdities • Pakalolo punishment • Keep the air clean Be thankful for life’s absurdities Very good job on your Sunday (Feb. 6) editorial on the “Guidebook Bills” that are being considered in this year’s Legislature.
• Be thankful for life’s absurdities •
Pakalolo punishment • Keep the air
clean
Be thankful for life’s absurdities
Very good job on your Sunday (Feb. 6) editorial on the “Guidebook Bills” that are being considered in this year’s Legislature. (House Bill 548 and Senate Bill 1207). Your piece includes many very thought-provoking ideas and statements. Even if you’re right that these two Bills are “absurd,” they have already been a resounding success for the dialogue they have generated and the avenues of communication that they have opened.
One of the points you make is that in this information age we have the ability to learn about amazing off-the-beaten-path locales, and we are then personally responsible for weighing this exciting information against the risks of going there. “Government does not need to step in and protect us from ourselves. Lawmakers should be dedicating their time figuring out how to plug an $800 million budget shortfall, instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on knee-jerk reactions to high-profile but infrequent incidents.”
Point well taken, I admit. However, “high profile” isn’t the word I myself would use to describe the shattered family that remains for the widow and young son of Jose Valdes (Kipu Falls 2009); or for the widowers and young children of Heather Westphal and Tonya Cataldo (Queens Bath 2008). These victims were not reckless adventure seekers who needed to be protected from themselves. Rather they were hard-working middle-age people from mainland cities who were agape at Kaua‘i’s lush wonders and who were drawn — by guidebooks — to locales and activities that were beyond their city-oriented risk-assessment ability.
A brief editorial comment of my own: My friend Winston Welborn, manager and owner of the trailblazing-in-its-responsibility website www.kauaiexplorer.com (replete with daily updated ocean conditions), uses the word “clueless” to describe many of our visitors who are mesmerized by Kaua‘i’s beauties. “Stupid” is not the right word, and one of our Ocean Safety Task Force’s greatest achievements has been to help move Kauaians’ mentality from that of our visitors who get in trouble are/were stupid, to stepping forward to try and help our visitors have a clue about some of the dangers that lurk in our beautiful home. (Speaking of stupid, I once helped successfully resuscitate a Nobel Prize winner in Physics who went swimming in the 3-5 foot tradewind chop conditions that us residents recognize as being fraught with rip current danger, but to him it was bodysurfing fun fun fun until he was suddenly 100 yards off shore and badly in need of one of our trusty Lifeguards.) I’ve recently had conversations with a super market check-out clerk, a Pizza Hut shift manager, and a North Shore time-share sales person, all of whom told me how they always take a moment to talk with our visitors about being careful, and “don’t go to Kipu Falls or Queens Bath no matter what any guidebook or anyone else tells you.” Thank all of you, all of us, for this mentality.
At the end of your piece you are very clear that although the lawmakers shouldn’t waste time considering a law that would make guidebooks liable, “water safety advice should be a standard component in these publications to ensure our visitors understand how to safely and legally enjoy these at-times perilous places.” As you can gather, I myself do take this a step further in that I believe that some of these proven-perilous, not to mention private-property, places should not be advertised at all.
If it takes absurd legislation to help make our guidebook authors into our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, then we should be thankful for life’s absurdities.
Dr. Monty Downs, President, Kaua‘i Lifeguard Association
Pakalolo punishment
I want to commend the state legislature’s move to reduce the penalties for pot smoking. As a society, we have decided that smoking pot is unacceptable. I have never tried it myself and don’t plan to. However, I concur with the decision to reduce the penalties, because the punishment should fit the crime. A $100 fine sounds like a reasonable punishment for possessing less than an ounce of pot.
Smoking pot is apparently a very bad choice. However, instead of a big government effort to lock people up, we can discourage it by how we view it as a society. Make it clear to all that those who use any illegal drug are on a path to reduced brain cells, lack of motivation and a relaxed attitude toward more damaging drugs. Those who do use should not receive the same level of honor and respect as those making good choices and staying within the confines of the laws of a civilized society.
I suggest the legislature also consider reducing the penalty for growing it. It would still be illegal, but it would be cheaper. As it is now, the high prices paid for pot mean huge sums of money are ultimately flowing into organized crime. The plagues caused by well-funded organized crime cause far more damage to society than pot smoking.
I think it also should be retroactive, allowing many prisoners to pay the $100 fine, instead of sitting in prison. Meth or ice could be handled differently because it is so terribly destructive to the user and society. Use the money for incarcerating marijuana users to combat these more deadly vices.
They should also consider legalizing agricultural varieties of cannabis (for paper, clothes, rope, fuel, etc.). Apparently, these versions of the plant have little narcotic qualities, but have a variety of practical uses. This might allow more job opportunities in an agricultural area like Kauai.
Mark Beeksma, Koloa
Keep the air clean
Hawai‘i Legislators are about to or already pass a bill to let bar owners apply for a permit to let people smoke in their establishment.
Most of the bar owners interviewed said they themselves do not smoke but will apply for a permit. So, the big picture is that, “bar owners do not care for peoples health. They just want peoples money.”
Keep the air clean and keep the smoke out of the bars.
Howard Tolbe, ‘Ele‘ele
