Helping Kaua‘i houseless brings eviction notice
The birth of a six-pound baby girl and papers to appear in court for eviction proceedings, all on the same day!
On July 6, 2021, Kaua‘i families were evicted from Salt Pond Beach Park, where they had been living for the past year. On the day of the eviction, I went down to Salt Pond park, bringing banana bread and ice water. I found several keiki, dogs and cats in cages and kupuna on the side of the road. All with nowhere to go.
As darkness approached we invited everyone back to our home. We have the perfect property that could accommodate everybody. I told my husband that I felt like we were building Noah’s Ark and they’re coming!
Electricity, running water, cooking area and the porta-toilet. You couldn’t ask for a better setup to handle families that have been displaced.
These families staying with us are Hawaiians born and raised here on Kaua‘i. They are direct descendants of King Kaumuali’i.
My husband and I have learned so much in this process. We have both been very blessed by a very caring and sharing Kaua‘i community. And, yes, we would do it all over again! Wish our landlords could show some aloha. Look forward to seeing them in court.
Marcia Leialoha, Waimea
Doom and gloom forever
Laurel Brier’s Sunday, Sept. 5 missive about the end of the world in four years (wait, I thought it was 12, according to the climate guru Greta Thunberg) is littered with deadly predictions, lots of generalities and very little substance. So, after some research, I have some concrete ways to reduce greenhouse gases:
1. The average person passes 0.5 to 2 liters of methane a day. So, globally, we produce 14,125,866 pounds of methane a year. So, the answer to this massive production of methane is everyone stops eating, thus they stop passing gas. Well, if this is not workable, we change our diet;
2. The estimate is that the cows produce 1,000 times as much methane as humans so, obviously, slaughter all the beef and dairy cattle, no meat, no dairy, but we saved billions of tons of methane. Now, since our major source of protein is gone, we need more plant-based proteins;
3. But wait, she wants to eliminate the large factory farms and industrial agriculture that produce most of our fruits, vegetables and grains and go to “regional, regenerative agriculture,” whatever that is. Guess we just eat bread, but wait:
4. It is estimated that each pound of bread produces 1.1 pounds of carbon dioxide. In the U.S., we eat an average of 53 pounds of bread per person a year, so 19,297,300,000 pounds of CO2 is released. Obviously, we need to stop this tragedy immediately;
5. In the U.S. alone, we consume 56 billion liters of soda a year. Each liter has .065 pounds of CO2, so we release 3,657,550,000 pounds of CO2. Soda has to go, but the beer stays;
6. So we can’t buy food, but at least we can hop in our electric car and go and fish? But wait: Nationally, only 20 % of our electricity is from renewable sources, and she wants to immediately stop producing fossil fuels (gas, oil and natural gas)? So, how do we charge our electric cars?
7. Forget anything made from plastic, since that comes from the now-banned oil and natural gas. Nearly 40% of our oil consumption is used in industrial production. And don’t get sick, because a large majority or our medicines are produced with chemicals that come from: You guessed it, oil!
Naturally, the answer is for the government to spend $3.5 trillion, with only about 15% having anything to do with actually helping the environment. The rest is a long-term social-engineering con to make us into a totally socialist nation, upending our lives and putting them in control of the government and the people in search of everlasting power! So, as you ponder your last four years, pop a soda or beer, make a sandwich, and take your last drive to the beach. Maybe even mow your lawn while you can still get a can of gas. Anybody know where I can buy a goat?
Barry Dittler, Kapa‘a
