Fireworks explosion kills three women on Oahu

[ChunksterK]

"If that is correct, it’s like saying electricity and cars are a Hawaiian Islands cultural tradition." - HOTPE

Frau Chunkster and I actually had a mother tell us that letting her eight-year-old go careening through the potholes along 21st on an ATV was "Hawaiian cultural tradition" and none of our business. We went home and called the cops who said they were too busy to send anybody to speak to her. Are you seeing a pattern here?

[Patricia]

Fireworks, cock fighting, dog fighting, and gambling have nothing to do with "culture." They are all about making money.

[HiloJulie]

Interesting Civil Beat News report:

'This Could Happen To Anybody,' Says Man Who Was At Fatal Fireworks Party - Honolulu Civil Beat
(Contains graphic descriptions)

Form the article:

"‘This Could Happen To Anybody,’"

"He called it a freak accident and said people in the neighborhood have been setting off fireworks to celebrate New Year’s Eve for generations."

"“It’s a tradition,” he said. “Ever since I was a kid we did them.”"

Yeah, right. This problem is not going away anytime soon.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

"‘This Could Happen To Anybody,’"
"He called it a freak accident

Question:
Could it happen to someone who didn’t have a yard & garage full of explosive devices?

[HiloJulie]

In the last hour (8 to 9AM on 1/3) Hawaii News Now has put up two videos that I decided were just too morbid to post here. If you're interested, you can find them on the YouTube.

I will say that on one of the videos it was announced that Gov Green has authorized the transport aboard a US Military C-17 transport 6 victims burned so severely that are being sent to the mainland for treatment.

Two of the 20 plus injured are children aged 3 and 5 years old. The 3-year-old may not make it.

I'm going to suggest that maybe Hawaii should start a new tradition for New Years: 

24 hours of pure silence.

To honor the victims of this absolute senseless tragedy.

[Punatang]

in 900 AD, and the average Native Hawaiian was blowing off fireworks on special occasions?

No, up until the 1800's, special occasions often featured human sacrifices which also involved bloody participants who hopefully understood that it was just cultural. Could happen to anyone.

The last documented sacrifices were said to have occurred in 1818. Maybe the fireworks came just in time to fill the void.

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_b...tory9j.htm

[Patricia]

What do human sacrifices and fireworks culturally have in common?

One is based on a belief system and the other on an entertainment/economically advantageous system. And not too surprising, the one (based on a belief system) was declared immoral, illegal, and phased out. Easy. Because the belief of human sacrifice did not/does not mesh with western mores and no money (profit) was involved.

https://law.hawaii.gov/programs/task-for...fireworks/

[TomK]

What do human sacrifices and fireworks culturally have in common?

One is based on a belief system and the other on an entertainment/economically advantageous system. And not too surprising, the one (based on a belief system) was declared immoral, illegal, and phased out. Easy. Because the belief of human sacrifice did not/does not mesh with western mores and no money (profit) was involved.

You are starting to scare me.

[HiloJulie]

"No, up until the 1800's, special occasions often featured human sacrifices which also involved bloody participants who hopefully understood that it was just cultural. Could happen to anyone."

"The last documented sacrifices were said to have occurred in 1818. Maybe the fireworks came just in time to fill the void."

"What do human sacrifices and fireworks culturally have in common?"

""94% of citations are dropped""

Well, regardless of this case being culture or for profit or both, the fireworks that caused 3 deaths, injured 20 plus people, two of them children 3 and 5 years of age, now having to have 6 of the injured transported in a military transport jet to the mainland for treatments that will require months of surgeries and involve hundreds of medical professionals proves that whatever the answer to the question is, it's an abject failure.

Seizures of tons of illegal fireworks is a good start. Where is the arrest, convictions and prison sentences, when, as terracore points out, 94% of citations are not even prosecuted. If the same tonnage of seized fireworks was marijuana, a hell of a lot of people would be sitting behind bars.

Another point I'd like to bring up here - had this happened in any big city on the mainland - LA, New York, Chicago, Boston, Denver..., we would have already had numerous arrests, including the arrest of any of the injured who were directly involved. Wrongful death lawsuits would have already been filed. But because it's here in Hawaii, the laid-back approach to anything law enforcement takes front and center, and it's just a "freak accident" that could "happen to anybody" and “It’s a tradition” that “Ever since I was a kid, we did them.”

So, in this case, Hawaii got its culture of fireworks, some schmucks made a huge profit, and by golly, we got human sacrifice back! A Hawaiian trifecta.

[Patricia]

"So, in this case, Hawaii got its culture of fireworks, some schmucks made a huge profit, and by golly, we got human sacrifice back! A Hawaiian trifecta."

There is nothing cultural about this tragedy (fireworks, profit, "human sacrifice"). And it certainly isn't Hawaiian.
What we are seeing here (the lack of enforcement, ignoring liability issues, and prosecution) is a continuation of the same mind-set that has prevailed in the islands since the turn of the 18th century- the exploitation of others, in the "do whoever and whatever it takes" accumulation of wealth and power.