Saturday, June 25, 2016

Musings: Up Against the Wall

Oh, that mean Mark Zuckerberg.

The Facebook founder is building a wall on his property in Kilauea, and some folks don't like it. So they do what all the North Shore cranks do: Call The Garden Island and whine unchallenged.

Which is why readers never learn it's replacing the ugly tree-topped dirt berm in front of the old Pflueger parcel — the one that Jimmy originally made 15-feet tall, then was forced to drop down to 5 feet, so he planted a scruffy bunch of trees on top.

What's more, it's fully permitted, and will gradually taper down from 6 feet at the section nearest Kuhio Highway until it connects into the 4-foot-high rock wall that has existed along Koolau Road for years.

But hey, as Shoshona Chantara reveals, the disgruntled are being totally reasonable:

“In the case of this wall, all he needs to do is take it down, so people have the view and the breeze back. It would end all discussion. That’s all we’re asking.”

Come on, Mark. Why can't you agree to complete capitulation?

I mean, it worked for the Chantaras before. Back when they were harassing Kilauea business owners into removing their smart meters.

And never mind that they're once again wildly exaggerating, with Shoshona claiming the structure is “up on a berm....a solid wall that’s 10 or more feet above the road level; the breeze can’t go through.”
Uh, really? Pictures don't lie. Unless that water truck has 10-foot tires.

The unhappy Gy Hall chimes in:

“Somebody has been putting up signs, appealing to Zuckerberg’s generosity and humanity — polite signs on the wall — but those signs just get ripped off as soon as they appear.”

Imagine. The nerve of Mark's crew, removing signs from a private wall. 

Donna McMillen, meanwhile, was “super unhappy” because she's not tall enough to see over the wall.

Yeah, Mark. Doncha know your wall can be no higher than the shortest person who may wish to walk on that road?

Maria Maitino was also disgruntled, saying the wall didn't “feel neighborly.”

Ya know, that's the same reaction some folks had to the Lilikoi lunch truck that Maria was operating illegally at Anini for a while.

But no worries. I'm sure this classic case of newbie "locals" bitching about "insensitive newcomers" will soon be resolved.

After all, Hall used to manage Aloha International, and the Chantaras own a business called Alchemy of Aloha. They should be able to transmute their anger into aloha in no time. 

Maybe one of the magic balls would help?

If not, well, then, karma's a bitch.

Namaste!

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Local people have never liked walls that blocked access or buildings either. Back in the day Alii homes, rich people, heiau, churches schools and important places had stone walls. Most were stolen from Heiau. In the day rock walls that were using stolen rocks were dismantled or made public. I remember Joan writing alot about walled and gated communities. Walls can obstruct water-flow but are very good for keeping pigs out and employing Marshalese. Sadly Kanaka rarely get the work. Heiau walls were 10 ft thick and 20 ft high but no one dared to complain about the view.

Anonymous said...

In the meantime, has anyone noticed the glut of nice houses coming for sale as the county shuts down the illegal TVRs?

Anonymous said...

This is not a gated community and it's not blocking anyone's access.

Anonymous said...

interesting that i have driven by the wall while under construction and found it to be aesthetically pleasing. wish i could afford one on my farm to keep out the pigs!

Anonymous said...


Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the meantime, has anyone noticed the glut of nice houses coming for sale as the county shuts down the illegal TVRs?

June 25, 2016 at 1:22 PM

great now maybe us local people can afford a house since they learned mainland GREED doesn't fly here!

Anonymous said...

You missed the point 1:40. The point is Locals have had issues with walls too!

Anonymous said...

"that blocked access or buildings" It doesn't. That's the point.

Anonymous said...

He probably build it because people tend to intrude on the private property of celebrities. Hell, there's lots of ass holes out there who think it's cool to trespass on anyone else's property. If it weren't so, people wouldn't feel it necessary to build walls. A few twits ruin things for everybody.

Anonymous said...

As far as walls go it is a very nice wall. If it is on private property it should be up to owner to build what is legal.

Anonymous said...

nice wall, probly tongans built it becuz "kanaka" no like do that kind of work unless is for themselves to save labor costs.

Unknown said...

It is a nice looking wall. If this is worth people bellyaching about, I can't imagine how they could stay on island much longer. We got worse problems than this...like traffic and infrastructure failure.

Anonymous said...

What a one-sided article.

Even though the photo is taken from maybe 6 feet? one can no longer see the ocean. No beach in Kauai can be private.

Kauaians have great love and respect for their land, and anyone "buying" land here needs to understand that. It is a good thing.

As for the wall needing to be "no higher than the shortest person who may wish to walk on that road?" (?????) A 5'8" woman is short?

You made fun of people speaking their mind to their newspaper.

Anonymous said...

Walls are legal up to 6 feet

Anonymous said...

So now Joan is fully on board with the 1%ers. First it's the Monsantos of the world and now the tech giants she defends against the flaccid protestations of the little guy. Yes! Let's build more walls! Why? Because we can

Joan Conrow said...

Oh, yes, in the best tradition of W, if you're not with us in all of our misguided, petty, self-centered glory, you're agin us -- and in this case, fully on board with the 1%. Must be so cozy, living in a world that's so limited and narrowly defined. It relieves one of the need to engage in that pesky process of critical thinking.

Anonymous said...

"No beach in Hawaii may remain private". That does NOT mean they have to give you an ocean view!! lol! Stupid.

Anonymous said...

Only one solution: move to Maui!

Anonymous said...

Compared to the fake rock wall overlooking Lumahai, I guess it's a nice wall. But hey Mark, while you're at it, how about building a drug treatment center for our ohana. THAT'S caring for your community.
🌺 Mary Lucas

Anonymous said...

I would back Facebook boy over the phony ass Chantaras.

Anonymous said...

so easy to spend other peoples money.
What would the traditional treatment be?
Remove the "ha" from the transgressor!

Anonymous said...

Gary Hooser is trying to promote his survey in TGI, LTE today. I check the mail every day and we never got one. Interesting!

Anonymous said...

We KNOW you are not with us Joan. You are with yourself only at this point. You left us a long time ago and now are a pariah among the left and the green.

Anonymous said...

That is one beautiful wall. Wish I could afford one around my whole property.

Joan Conrow said...

That suits me just fine, 9:05. I've always preferred to march to the beat of my own drum.

Anonymous said...

There are many who are beating their drums WITH you, Joan. Please keep on keepin' on!

Anonymous said...

The greens and the left, what a joke. What did you ever do for Joan? She gave a voice and credibility to your causes then you stab her in the back when things don't go your way. Good riddance. She is better than any of you!!!

Anonymous said...

Joan is no sheeple 9:05.

Anonymous said...

FWIW that wall was started a long time ago, when it was Falko property.

Anonymous said...

I was out there this week. Didn't even notice it. When young it was cane anyway, at least the part that fronted the old road. Right up to town. Pineapple before the cane on the road. Then it was weeds until Pflueger cleaned it up.
I also wish I had that wall around my property.

Anonymous said...

When I was a child, every home on Rice street including my parents had a rock wall fronting Rice street and often the entire property. All the way from Kalena to Mokoi St. on the Nawiliwili side, from Kalena to approximately the end of the ace parking lot on the others, with smaller ones sprinkled about like where Toyota is. Kalena park is the only remaining one.Quite attractive, really. The side walks were edged with Chinese ballast stones. Really attractive.

Anonymous said...

2:18
The wall isn't 10 feet high.
Your words do a phenomenal job of proving the NS stereotype. This is a must read.
And a Political Primer for all Da Hoos voters.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

“Once you label me you negate me.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
Thank you

Anonymous said...

Obviously Gy thinks everyone should conform to her principals as no other principals are valid or can be accepted. This is the problem with the Bernie Saunders socialists. It's my way or the highway. She's the typical been here for 15 min. and thinks she owns everyone else's property. Typical sour-faced have not. Great example of the South Park "kama'aina".

Anonymous said...

If you want to guage the height of the wall using that picture just zoom in on the silver truck parked next to the wall down the road. Using the water truck obviously sitting on higher ground is disingenuous journalism at best if not plain and simple BS. Still, enjoy your blog Joan and agree, the whining over that wall IS BS. And yes, since the demise of sugar cane the view planes have opened up 1000% at least, which never have been ha ha ha some lawfully protected right, to see the beach.

Joan Conrow said...

The truck is intended only to demonstrate that the wall is not built on the berm, as Shoshona claimed, and the wall is clearly not 10 feet above the road grade.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Joan, you are right. The wall is not built on the berm. But that’s not the issue.

What is missing in this discussion is NOT that the top of the wall is 10 feet above the road grade, or 9 feet 6 inches or whatever. The specific measurement doesn’t really matter, it’s a stupid distraction.

What matters is this: When you walk, run, bike, drive down this section of Koolau Road (regardless of whether you are 5’8” or 4’2”, or even 6’5”) can you see the beautiful vista that that has been there for hundreds of years?

Anonymous said...

ok i call bs. Sergr king a bs artist used Frank and others to boost his zero support for his 300 buck a pop with his fake kahuna bs. He was very disliked here. And Aloha International is his pilau spawn. Hawaiian sellouts are a dime a dozen these days no "kahuna" would let that charlatan learn from them cuz he steals the mana'o and passes as his own...and before you start screaming defamation this is my opinion of what i witnessed. aloha international waters down cultures mixes it all up and then claims it as theirs. They are purely new age!11

Anonymous said...

I'm one of zuckerbergs neighbors in waipake. I have no problem with the wall and as one of the richest infamous men in the world I would expect him to build a wall. He needs the security. Trust me in the future that wall will cut down on looky loos, fanatics and traffic. I love how people want to manage other people's property and money.

Anonymous said...

Oldie but a goodie- fences make for better neibors.

I too, would love a buetifull fence like this if I ever could afford it.

The rich complaining about the super rich is very irratating. The thing here, if I was Facebook fella I would not respond either to people telling me how it's supposed to be round hear.

Anonymous said...

Bullshit. Go stand next to that wall with a tape measure and post the picture here. It's not any higher than any other damn rock wall on this island.

Anonymous said...

Huna is not Hawaiian!

https://www.facebook.com/AboutHuna/?hc_location=ufi

Anonymous said...

Oh by the way..... thank you Mark Zuckerberg for buying this land and keeping it from being developed into 12 or more gentlemen's estates.

Anonymous said...

it wasn't 12,it could have been 70...so besides losing the beach access, it was a benefit

Anonymous said...

Gy,

Thank you for the very well-written, open, honest response from the heart. Well said and said with much aloha. :) You represent the precious spirit of Kauai. More power to you. Mahalo nui loa.

Anonymous said...


Anonymous Anonymous said...

Huna is not Hawaiian!

https://www.facebook.com/AboutHuna/?hc_location=ufi

June 27, 2016 at 3:03 AM
EXACTLY MY POINT So aloha international should stfu..so many people are convinced Serge who gave himself the name "Kahili" and probably King too stole Max Freedom Longs theories and then trashed long in his book. Long got his theories from Abraham Fornander. Basically these guys believe Hawaiians are Caucasian, the 13th tribe of Israel and 'Olelo (Hawaiian language) is based on Hebrew. Serge invented a new age religion by stealing Hawaiian words and oki them up (cut) so it became Huna. He has stolen all kinds of cultures stuff to form his bs groups. He charges thousands for seminar. In person he is a giant man with a booming voice and a highly arrogant and condescending attitude. He claims to be an expert on Olelo. Native speakers here would go to his meetings which were televised. People would get livid at the bs. Hey Aloha International how about you distribute your Gurus millions to the non sell out Hawaiians Huh? The nerve!

Anonymous said...

What I think people fail to realize is this: That land has been fully entitled for development for some time now when plans were on the table to build the Kahuaina Plantation subdivision. Of course, at that time, people complained about ocean access and the existence of an ala loa, which delayed the development and likely led to the land sale.

KauaiFinn said...

I am not sure how the subject of Serge King came up here in the comments, but I have a question. I vaguely recall hearing stories about him a long time ago, and that he had a cult somewhere in Lihue (or was it Wailua?).
Was it a cult, or something like that?
I'd really appreciate it if someone could remind me what that was about. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I think the above comments pretty much spells it out. Aloha International rep complaining about the wall. "King", has published a bunch of books on his fake "Huna" b.s. Aloha International ran the seminars here on some lavish estate for three-four grand a pop. He made gazillians as a self-proclaimed "Kahuna". His current seat of power is on Big island. He is a giganormous fraud. A.I. lady was defending the authenticity (LOL) of A.I. by name dropping Frank Hewitt and another guy who fit their profile for "will put on authentic cutsie Geronimo type show for pay. Seriously. These crackpots complaining about the loss of "their" view! Disgusting.

KauaiFinn said...

10:50 How funny! So it is the same whacko cult I was thinking of! I remember being rather shocked by how many followers King had. I didn't make the connection between "Aloha International" or those other names. How sad that so many people lack critical thinking skills.