07-01-2010, 05:15 PM
Seems like the sides are forming up here, so I guess I'll add another perhaps unwelcome 2 cents. First, I think, yeah, KathyH was a little less than welcoming in her original response. And then she belabored the point about others reading fish's fiction and they just won't understand and then they'll all come here and just ruin Hawaii for the cool people who already live here and know the rules. Well, I think I'm beginning to understand that she does this sort of thing, so oh well... We all get to take away a lesson learned here, and maybe take KathyH with a grain of salt next time. And maybe KathyH and Mauka will realize, after some quiet reflection, that scolding does not persuade anyone over 18 to abide by the rules. Appeal to some other aspect of our character, if you want a less recalcitrant result. (A quip about flies and honey comes to mind, but I will resist the urge to repeat it.) Another quick (random) point I'd like to make is that DHHL lands are not private. The DHHL is permitted by the US government to administer those lands for the Hawaiian Homelands Trust. Now, that said, I concede that DHHL lands are not open to public use, so the spirit of the comment (I think it was KathyH) was correct. But the fact has a corollary, I think, to another point made in this thread, with which I take strenuous issue: that Hawaii is somehow more important than other places in America. Not true. Now, I moved here, and I will live and die here because I think this is a magical place. But I would not present as unassailable fact the notion that it is somehow more worthy of protection than, say, the Gulf Coast, or the Tornado Belt, or anywhere else in America, or the world. All places are sacred to those who inhabit them. All places deserve the same respect from all people. And all people deserve the benefit of the doubt when blogging on Punatalk, especially when their main objective seems to be to say hello and maybe make a few of us laugh. So don't litter, breathe a little bit before you post, and lighten up a smidge... you'll live longer. Or don't do any of those things. After all, I'm just another Punatic blogger with a damn opinion... worth exactly what you paid for it!