There were concerns raised during the development of the legislation here over tourism and the impacts on the Asian market. In reality, post legislation, there has been no impact.
A simple testing question was put to the media, politicians and the public at the time -- do smoking tourists come here to smoke or to enjoy our beautiful country?
Having spent the best part of 11 hours flying time from Japan to New Zealand, a smoker has clearly decided that is for the country, not the cigarettes! Why would going to Hawaii be any different?
I hope the policy makers in Hawaii have the integrity to recognize that the current maltreatment of those who enjoy the smell of smoke not only harms the economy but is simply not humane. Humane regulation of tobacco use means both those who do and do not enjoy the smell of smoke must be respected. Aloha will not be restored as a credible description of our island culture until all people are treated with the same respect. The former smoking law provided mutual respect for all concerned: business owners, customers and employees.
So who needs a special session of the Legislature? What we need is a proper environmental assessment, and in fact an environmental impact statement.
A much smaller craft that would, like in Tahiti, go up and down the island chain with people and their suitcases and coolers, stopping for an hour at each island. That would be great!
The impression that I get from reading the articles about all the protesters and the lawsuits that have been filed is that those "elite" residents of Kauai don't seem to want their precious paradise to be invaded by the "great unwashed masses" from Oahu and the "mainlanders" who have suffered greatly by being forced to sit for many hours in an overcrowded airplane just to be able to spend their money in Hawaii.
It was a very fortunate circumstance for Noah when his ark came to rest on Mount Ararat in Turkey, rather than the pristine shores of Kauai.
To all you snobs of Kauai: "Come visit Orlando ... Walt Disney World will gladly welcome your money."
If I had to guess, I'm certain Lindberg would admit that he would rather have the Thunderbirds doing aerobatic shows, too.
And even if something is intended to do harm, there's no reason why it can't be directed into a more productive channel. Computers and computer science, after all, were developed by the military to facilitate their operations (the goal of said operations to sometimes "kill and destroy"). Yet nobody clamors that computers shouldn't be used because they were intended for the purpose of facilitating death.
So the next time the jets fly out to perform, I hope that Lindberg simply relaxes and enjoys the show.
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