So, really? I put up a thread about a Corpse Flower that is blooming in Australia (and basically poke fun at myself while doing it) and it is removed? 

There are Corpse Flowers in Hawaii. At the Foster Botanical Gardens on Oahu. At the Panaewa Rain Forest (that one bloomed about 12 years ago and was mentioned on THIS forum). They are rare and being able to see and SMELL one is rare too.

I didn't name the flower in Australia. But the article IS interesting and how many (not you regulars) even know we have those flowers here?

What gives? In what way did the removed post "offend?" Or is not "relevant?"

5 days in and some are so impatient, so they now waste HPD resources this way while just "Champing At The Bit"

Hawaiʻi Police Department | Police Investigate False Reports Regarding Police Arrests

A family we know looking to buy property in Volcano had to get a water test as part of the loan process.  The results showed higher lead concentrations than the EPA allows.  

Surprisingly (to me anyways) the water test guy said the high lead content was likely from the volcano, and the house has been empty so the water hasn't been getting flushed through the system.  He recommended draining the tank and filling it with county water and retesting.

This made me curious about our own water supply, even though the winds usually carry the worst of the volcano air away from us.  I tested the water both at the tank and from a faucet after going through our filters and both of them showed no measurable amounts of lead.  The first test at the faucet showed elevated levels of copper, but then I realized that I forgot to let the water run for a bit, so I tested it again, and the copper level tested at no measurable level- the copper was coming from the water sitting in our pipes (so I guess the test kit works).  I tested for 18 things and the only outlier was that our water was on the acidic side, which wouldn't be unusual for any type of rain water but even more for water sourced near an erupting volcano.  Acidic rain can also slowly dissolves copper pipes...

So I looked up the volcano / lead thing and this is what the AI had to say about it:

"Rain affected by vog (volcanic smog) can contain elevated levels of lead, among other heavy metals. Vog is primarily composed of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and fine particulate matter emitted from volcanoes, such as Kīlauea in Hawaii. When these emissions interact with the atmosphere, they can form acidic aerosols that may include trace metals like lead, arsenic, and mercury. These metals originate from volcanic gases or fine ash particles.

When vog particles mix with moisture in the atmosphere, they can be deposited onto the Earth's surface through rain (a process called "wet deposition"). The rainwater in vog-affected areas may thus carry higher concentrations of these toxic elements, depending on the composition of the volcanic emissions, the distance from the source, and the environmental conditions.

If you suspect vog-affected rain in your area, it’s a good idea to avoid drinking it or using it for crops without proper filtration and testing."

In a rain catchment tank, would water with lead in it have higher concentration of lead in the bottom of the tank versus the top?

"Yes, water with a high level of lead in a rain catchment tank can have a higher concentration of lead at the bottom of the tank compared to the top, primarily because lead particles tend to settle over time. Here's how it works:

1. Lead as Particulates: If the lead in the water exists as suspended particulate matter (e.g., small solid particles), gravity will cause these particles to settle to the bottom of the tank over time, resulting in a higher concentration of lead in the sediment at the bottom.
   
2. Chemical Precipitation: If the water chemistry causes lead to form insoluble compounds (like lead sulfates or lead carbonates), these compounds can precipitate out of the water and accumulate at the bottom.
   
3. Tank Sediment: Over time, other debris, like organic material or dust, also settles in the tank. Lead particles often bind to this sediment, further increasing lead concentrations in the lower layers.
   

• Regular Cleaning: Clean the bottom of the tank periodically to remove sediment where lead might concentrate.
  
• Water Testing: Regularly test the water, especially after cleaning or stirring up the sediment.
  
• Filtration: Use filters certified for lead removal to treat the water before use.
  
• Avoid Stirring: Minimize disturbance of the tank to prevent resuspension of settled lead particles.
  

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/01/24...r-warning/

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii State Department of Health sent warnings about a travel-related dengue fever case to some Hawaii Kai residents.

Not long ago, there was a village on an island in the middle of the ocean.  The village, called H’poa was very large compared its surrounding villages.  At least 8,000 families made H’poa home, working, farming, raising children and caring for their elders.  One day, a villager found a snake in the long grass.  Watull fed the snake dishes piled high with creatures common to the area – toads, rats, mongoose, an occasional fish.  But the snake grew fast.  One day Watull woke to find that the snake had grown two heads.  Not long after, the snake grew seven tails.  If the snake became angry, it would express a vile and acrid slime that would burn anything it came in contact with.  The snake no longer looked or acted like a snake.  Watull slowly realized that he had raised a serpent.

The serpent grew and grew and grew.  It began to be cruel to Watull, burning him with its acrid slime when it thought Watull was not paying attention.  Watull grew tired of the abuses of the serpent and let it go into the wild.

The serpent continued to grow.  It quickly grew so large and powerful that it began making demands on the villagers.  First it demanded food it had known as a baby snake – meals of fish, frogs, rats and mongoose.  Then it began to demand sheep, goats, pigs and even horses.  It quickly began to demand things of even greater value.  In fact, the serpent would sit in an O’hia grove once a year with the villagers would line up in front of it with offerings of gold and silver.  As the serpent grew, so did the amounts of gold and silver it demanded.  Some families found that they no longer had these precious things to give to the serpent.  But the serpent did not waste much time worrying about these families.  With one head it would list all the things the serpent had done for the village, while the other head ate the family and took its land.

Although the serpent was almost universally hated by the residents of H’poa, there was a cane toad who hopped around the serpent, doing its bidding.  The toad fluffed the serpent’s grassy bed, and told it what a great master it was.  When the serpent felt that it was not receiving the proper respect from the villagers, it would order the cane toad to go into the village and announce all the “kind and beneficial things” the serpent had done for H’poa.  The villagers knew that the toad was loyal to the serpent, and they tried to stay away from it.

One day, the serpent thought one of its tails was not following it properly, and ate it in a fit of anger. The villagers, thinking the serpent would be angry and cover them in its vile acrid slime, ran around to find another tail to give the serpent.  They were able to find one, and the serpent was appeased.  However, the next month, the serpent thought two of its tails was not following it, and ate them.  Again, the villagers scrambled to find tails and gave them to the serpent.  This became a pattern, and the villagers struggled to keep up with replacing the serpent’s tails.

Watull, tired of watching the villagers trying to appease the volatile serpent, yelled, “STOP!!  This serpent is demanding more and more of us.  Money that we don’t have.  Lying to us about what it is doing for us.  Dripping us with vile slime if we don’t agree with it.  It’s enough!”  The villagers were shocked that Watull, who was usually very quiet, was shouting at them in such a way.  So they continued to listen.  “Stop finding tails for it.  There are no tails left that want to follow this serpent!  Stay in your homes, work, farm, raise your children and care for your elders.  Leave the serpent, and it will eventually eat itself!”
The villagers thought this was good advice.  They stopped finding tails for the serpent. 

Little by little, when the serpent became angry, it would eat another part of itself.  Until there was nothing left.

With the serpent gone, the villagers lived happily ever after.  Except for the toad, who realized that it no longer had any friends in H’poa, and left to find another master.

The End.

I'm going to try this again. I posted about Hawaii roads and their terrible condition but someone hijacked my post and made it about them and HPPOA not maintaining roads.

This is about how the roads get the way they are.

Nbr 1

Hawaii is nbr 1 for lousy roads.

https://www.autoblog.com/news/which-stat...ted-states

Nbr 2 :

Large trucks cause most of the damage :

http://www.ililani.media/2020/02/hawaii-...truck.html

Nbr 3 :

Roads cost every resident more that $760.00 year in damage to their vehicles.

https://www.kitv.com/news/study-shows-40...0f3bc.html

There are many more surveys but Hawaii is always rated between 1 and 5.

Some other causes cited by other studies, millions of tourists, weather ( sun damage and flooding rainfall ) and earthquakes.

.    Sure, I'm all for peace, love, and understanding, but hippies with I-Phones are really starting to annoy me.  If I had 10 million followers on Tic Tok, I know what I'd tell them:  If you're a white person who came to Puna after you turned 18-years old, please don't comment on social media about how the coastline should be left just the way it was when you got here.  

     One way or another, development is going to continue.  The goal is to steer it in a way that most benefits the most people without destroying the environment.  And creating a tiny enclave of underemployed Caucasians on the coast of what some people regard as an independent nation is not "living with the aina".  And trying to keep the locals out so you and your tribe can get naked on the only accessible beach on the coast is just plain selfish.

     I understand that compared to where these phone-addicted eco-warriors arrived from, Puna looks like paradise.  But they should have seen it forty years ago!  The huge beaches at Kehena, Kaimu and Kalapana were usually deserted, the surf spots empty, the native forest barely touched by invasive species, and every day was bright and sunny.  Of course, there were also pervasive infections and diseases, Coleman lanterns, rampaging mokes, deplorable roads, scary cops, no TV reception, no VCR's, and interminable boredom when there were no waves.  But it still looks like the good old days now....  Anyway, the point is, things are going to keep changing, no matter what.

     And for people who think putting a parking lot and restrooms at Kehena will destroy it, I'd remind them of the hepatitis outbreak that forced the Health Department and DLNR to shut off access to the beach for two weeks.  And with the crowds who now throng there on pleasant days, the next epidemic is just lurking in the open-air latrines.  

     So what would I tell the organic, on-line shack-dwellers who make a hobby out of posting anti-colonial rants and disparaging comments about anything that alters the world as they found it?  Don't waste everybody's time by trying to stop progress.  Instead, try to help guide development in the right direction.

                  Have a Nice Day!

We are now on volcano watch. Only one more level to go...     

"U.S. Rep. Ed Case, a Hawai‘i Democrat, recently reintroduced legislation to end what he calls “discriminatory and exclusionary” shipping practices faced by residents and businesses in non-contiguous states and U.S. territories."

I for one, hope this introduced legislation gets traction and can be implemented!

Affordable Shipping for All Act takes on unfair shipping practices : Big Island Now

"Life in Lower Puna on the Big Island would change forever after lava erupted at the beginning of May 2018 in Leilani Estates.
Nearly 8 years later, travel in Puna is more costly and time consuming — even with greater hazard from worse connectivity — because of about 30 miles of roads forever locked underneath lava flows from one of the largest eruptions on Earth in recent centuries."

https://bigislandnow.com/2025/01/20/a-cr...ower-puna/

By Nathan Christophel
January 20, 2025 · 3:00 AM HST