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As we all know, special interest groups - especially PAC's (Political Action Committees), can be very small, but very loud. It's America, and protesting is protected by the Constitution. If the SuperFerry naysayers are both determined and smart enough to block progress against the will of the majority, which they seem to be doing so far, BRAVO to them! I personally think the ferry has merit, but I don't really know enough about Hawaii to form an educated opinion. All I can offer to the pro-ferry forces is this: GET OFF YOUR .... AND GET ORGANIZED!!! Merely crying quietly about it won't get you anywhere; remember the one about the squeaky wheel getting the oil? Now if you're honestly afraid of these anti-ferry forces, and that may be justified to some extent, use police protection at a protest rally. In the end I don't really think that the pro-ferry forces or the company are advocating their position effectively. If they were going to effectively campaign to win, they need to influence people the old fasioned way, like they do in Washington DC, buy them!!! You can always find ways to lobby your cause with legal 'gifts' such as free 'test' rides on the ferry, etc. Sounds shady, but face it ... this is how most things in our country get done, although we don't like to admit it.
PS: Has anybody thought that besides the airlines and other inter-island transportation services, maybe some of these protestors might really be motivated more by personal reasons like protecting their 'piece of turf' (whatever it may be). You can really have fun speculating here: imagine a successful drug importer to one of the islands with an established network making lots and lots of $$$; now imagine him doing everything possible to block any even potential competition from threatening that source of revenue!! It's not really too hard to believe!! It happens all the time all over the world. Any other suspects anybody want to accuse? Hve fun!
I received this email a few days ago. The link at the bottom takes you to a page for Friends of Hawaii SuperFerry. (I haven't researched the group, but according to the website, they are a "community-based coalition of residents and local businesses". If anyone knows any other background, it would be interesting to hear more details.)
If you want to see the Hawaii Superferry operate, please pass this on. The opponents are gathering their forces on each island. Currently the polls show that 80% of Oahu and 67% of the neighbor islands [each island polled separately and equally] are in support of the Ferry operating.
If the silent majority remains silent, this and other opportunities like this will be missed.
Attached is the link to show support for the Superferry. It only takes a minute to register. Please sign the Petition and pass link to other friends.
Also, I have seen a myriad of Sink da superferry bumper stickers, and I have yet to see any that say Keep da superferry or something.
Honestly, it's probably because they don't want to get harrased. I get harrased at my job from customers who are for it. One customer went off on another customer because she was for it. Can you imagine what would happen to cars that had those bumper stickers on them?
Another customer of mine who quit his job to work for the Superferry is now un-employed because of all this. He said he heard someone ask a council member how are they going to feel when blood is shed? That scares me, and that's why i'm sure a lot of people aren't speaking up.
Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
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I think the people of Hawaii are a little to laid back and have enough common sense to ever see this come to "Bloodshed". Would be interesting to know that of those against the ferry, how many are newcomers to Hawaii, and how many are local or longtime residents. I'm assuming that the majority of those against it are relatively new to the state.
Remember the Molokai/cruise ship controversy from a few years back? The SuperFerry saga has many similiarities...
Here's an old article from CNN archives that details the day the first ship was supposed to arrive on Molokai: CNN.com - Cruise ship arrives to protests, departs - Dec. 29, 2002 (http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/West/12/29/cruise.ship.docking.ap/index.html - broken link)
I visited Molokai for several days that year and remember seeing signs posted at many homes and on trees: " No Cruise Ships! " That said, there were also people who flew to Molokai from the other islands to join the protests...
In a perfect world, it seems to me that the residents of the individual islands should have the stronger voice--above that of the special interest groups. What may be right for one island may not be right for another at a specific point in time. Progress shouldn't be forced if a strong majority are opposed...but if a small community keeps growing and changing, maybe the time will come down the road when the needs and desires of the community will be different and the majority will respond differently to these proposals.
In some ways, I also see parallels to the controversy surrounding changes/development in Kau. Many residents are said to be too intimidated to speak their minds--they feel threatened by some vocal groups whose methods are somewhat questionable...
What are the main arguments against the ferry? I moved a couple years ago so I'm a little out of the loop. When I first heard talks of the ferry and how you can drive your car on it, I thought that it was a great idea and looked forward to it. It would be nice to not have to go to the airport and relax on the boat. I'm sure there will be food and drinks and more comfortable spacious seats, right? I think the main reason against the ferry has to be money and security. As far as running over whales, couldn't that issue be resolved with a whale tracking device on the ferry to go around them if necessary?
I received this email a few days ago. The link at the bottom takes you to a page for Friends of Hawaii SuperFerry. (I haven't researched the group, but according to the website, they are a "community-based coalition of residents and local businesses". If anyone knows any other background, it would be interesting to hear more details.)
I wonder why they call it the "Hawaii Superferry" instead of the "Hawai'i Superferry?" Adding an 'okina (glottal stop diacritical mark) wouldn't have cost that much, but would have shown an attention to detail that seems to be missing. One would hope that John Garibardi learned something from his time as CFO of Hawaiian Airlines other than how to lose money.
Has anyone seen the news coverage of the neighbor island meetings? Kauai seemed to stay civil, the Maui meeting looked pretty tense, and today the Big Island meeting was to be held in Kona. (Guess that leaves out the folks in Hilo who couldn't make it to a Kona meeting at 3:00pm!!) I'll be checking the news at 10:00 to see how we were represented in the meeting...
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Adding an 'okina (glottal stop diacritical mark) wouldn't have cost that much, but would have shown an attention to detail that seems to be missing. One would hope that John Garibardi learned something from his time as CFO of Hawaiian Airlines other than how to lose money.
