• Talking with tacos • The life cult • Mahalo and aloha Talking with tacos The recently enacted ban on using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving will probably be ineffective because it misidentifies the real cause of
• Talking with tacos • The life cult • Mahalo and aloha
Talking with tacos
The recently enacted ban on using cell phones and other electronic devices while driving will probably be ineffective because it misidentifies the real cause of why these devices make drivers less safe.
If the issue is the availability of hands for driving, then why doesn’t the ban include coffee cups? If the problem is a combination of physical and mental, why is it permissible to talk to a passenger while holding a cup/book/comb/etc?
The real problem is that drivers using cell phones are not fully engaged in their present surroundings. It is different, and more dangerous, to speak to someone who is not present than it is to speak to someone sitting next to you because part of your mind leaves the vehicle and goes into the ethereal realm of electronic communications.
The ban should include all cell phones. Otherwise people will just get hands free adapters and the real problem will remain.
If we do not believe that the real problem is that part of a driver’s mind goes out the window when they talk to someone who isn’t in the vehicle, then we should allow hand held phones. Using a hand held is really no different than chatting with a passenger while enjoying a beverage, and I bet it’s a lot safer than steering your Tacoma while crunching on a taco grande.
Craig Berry, Kapa‘a
The life cult
If our government and Sen. Grassely need a definition of “green jobs,” I do, humbly, submit a few suggestions.
First, factories producing windmills on assembly lines. Big ones, for big wind farms, small ones for small farms and high-rise roof tops, smaller ones for you and me. They would come in any color, as long as they were white.
Mass produce photo voltaics so that everyone could afford them. Do as FDR did with FHA, which is the only government administration that every made any money, and grant government loans, low interest rates, to purchase and install them. Just these two ideas would put people and money back to work. Green work.
And how about Detroit? Factories like these could restore that wretched wreck of a city. Starting anew — as the Japanese did with Hiroshima after the bomb — we could turn Detroit into a classic industrial city fit for human habitation. This is not a Utopian idea, by the way, towns and cities like this are being created all over the world. Even here in America.
Please check out new American architecture in your search engine. Take a wondrous gander at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Also check out rooftop farming in Brooklyn.
With every high rise generating it’s own energy with either windmills or photo voltaics, growing food, raising egg producing and meat producing chickens, we could create a a sustainable modern American hanging garden of Babylon. What fun it would be to be an architect working on such a venture. A construction worker doing the same.
These are the ‘green’ things that can be done with our tax dollar.
Everyone knows where our tax dollars go. Fifty-four cents out of every dollar to support the oil driven, killing machine. Perhaps it’s time mankind grew up. Which is it to be? The death cult? Or the life cult? Take your pick.
Bettejo Dux, Kalaheo
Mahalo and aloha
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your county council member. I am grateful and fortunate to have been able to offer my skills and life experiences to serve you. After giving the matter much thought and with mixed emotions, I have decided not to run for re-election. This decision was not made lightly and is entirely mine. I would like to thank you for putting your trust in me and I hope you believe that I have done my best to serve Kaua‘i. At this point in my life, I have decided to resume my service to the community as a librarian, facilitating access to information and lifelong learning. This was a very difficult decision to make.
Over a year and a half ago, I ran for office to bring a fresh voice and perspective to the county council. I called for government transparency and access to information, diversification of our economy so as not to rely so heavily on tourism which is vulnerable to many outside forces beyond our control, enacting smart growth policies, and protecting our environment.
Among many other accomplishments, I am proud to have been a part of policy making that requires basic council documents be accessible online; requires the reduction of the use of plastic bags; and allows responsible dog walking on our public path. I have also been a strong advocate for more livable, walkable and healthy communities. I supported small farmers who are being true stewards of the land. It is imperative for us to nurture and grow farmers and small farms on Kaua‘i – for economic diversity, for our food security and for our health.
Though my work on the council was frustrating at times, it was also incredibly fulfilling. I have stood on my principles and have refused to allow personal conflicts to distract from actual governing and policy making.
It has been an honor to represent you as a council member for the island of Kaua‘i.
Lani Kawahara, Kaua‘i County Council
