Friday, August 29, 2008

HYDROPHOBIC HYSTERIA

HYDROPHOBIC HYSTERIA: We were jolted to consciousness by a rather bizarre news item from the Superferry cheerleaders and advertising beneficiaries at KHNL-TV last evening as they announced that a new pro-Superferry group was being formed on Kaua`i by none other than our very own “nut-case”- crotchety old man Kimo Rosen, who claimed he was pelted with rocks at last week’s Superferry anniversary party.

But it seems those rocks might have come from inside Rosen’s head because he can’t seem to keep his improbable story straight.

Despite his claim that the newspaper “reported it exactly as it happened”, he said something quite different to us in a “hidden” comment the day after we highlighted his un-witnessed charge calling him a “well known nut case”.

In a newspaper article this past Monday reporter Michael Levine wrote of Rosen’s attendance and protest against the partiers who were celebrating and honoring those who turned back the superferry a year before.

Rosen — who said that while event organizers told him he was welcome, others threw rocks at him, cursed him and told him to leave — believes the free market should determine which businesses succeed and which fail.

Well, in criticizing the local paper for their coverage we had this to say about Rosen.

(I)f the poll and editorial wasn’t indicative enough of the unethical behavior at TGI, today’s article on yesterday’s “celebration” in Nawiliwili of the turning back of the HSf one year ago, half the article was taken up with unsubstantiated accusations in an interview with well-known nut-case James “Kimo” Rosen.

Not just was Rosen’s one man counter-demonstration dug up and reported- using half the article to detail his views- his ridiculous, unverified, un-witnessed claim of having had rocks thrown at him was given big play.

Despite the fact that the place was crawling with cops taking pictures according to those who attended and that Rosen was positioned far away from where the party goers were gathered TGI and the Honolulu Advertiser reported the rock throwing statement unchallenged in an unbelievable example of journalistic malfeasance.

The next day two comments appeared not for that day’s post but on an unrelated one from a week before where Rosen apparently told us the newspaper got it wrong

He first wrote:

I am not lying, rocks were thrown at me, not by the organizers but by locals down by the Marriott, don't call me a liar are blame the garden Island for poor journalism when yours sorely below what i would call journalism.

Calling me a nut case is not appreciated since we have never met, I take total offense at your lack of aloha and journaliast talents.

I will be organizing a huge pro ferry demonstration in the near future. The fun has just begun.God bless & A hui Hou, James "kimo" Rosen

He then went on to say:

sorry for the typos in my first comment.

Calling me "a nut case" and "liar" is not appreciated, what kind of journalist are you? We never even met, I have no idea who you are. You are the liar and nut case, since they say "only the guilty speak." Hope to see on the superferry (sic) in the very near future when the voluptuous "Alakai" is sailing the beautiful waters of Hawaii. James "Kimo" Rosen

P.S. it's people like you that ruin it for the masses.

P.S.S. I was the publisher of Alaska People Magazine for many years before moving to Hawaii and if a writer ever submitted the kind of crap you write, they never would had been published in my publication again, I guess you are blogging since it's the only way a journalist of your nature has a rats chance in hell of being poublished (sic).

We responded:

As to the rock incident Mr. Rosen I didn’t see you run to TGI or the advertiser for a correction and for now I’ll take their word that you claimed protesters threw rocks at you over yours that you made it clear that is wasn’t the protesters.

Mike Levine may have unwittingly been a Superferry shill yesterday but from what I’ve read he’s a damn good reporter and his courts and police coverage is among the best and most accurate I’ve read. And I’d remind you, there were two reporters who identically reported what you said.

As to “nut-case” after reading dozens of your letter to the editor I’m only repeating what dozens of other have said about them and you, including some who have met you.

As to you own journalistic efforts I’m pretty sure I’d never write for any publication over which you had editorial control so forgive me if I’m not drinking salt water beer over your views of my reporting and analysis.

We never saw any correction in the paper and here’s what Rosen says in a letter to the editor today:

The organizers welcomed me with aloha, but others by the harbor threw rocks and profanities at me.

The Garden Island paper reported it exactly as it happened

Well we suspect KHNL has discovered that Rosen is indeed a nut case because the article does not appear on their web site. Rosen also claimed he was going to get his own 6000 names petition together to counter the one supporters gathered and named his “group” something which we didn’t quite catch.

Seems Rosen can’t quite tell the same story twice in a row but that’s not surprising for the prolific letter to the editor writer who has spent his years here- apparently since 2004- complaining about his adopted home and haranguing us with every old man’s lament in the book.

But nut case, Parx? Since Rosen complained and now that he’s certainly made himself even more of a public figure, to be fair we’ll let you be the judge

One of his favorites is “these kids today”. Here’s a sample

What’s wrong with the youth today?...

When I was a child we were taught to respect our elders. Older people went first in buffet lines, young people were taught to give up their seat on the bus to someone older. There used to be an unwritten common courtesy in honor of older adults.


Now everything is for the kids, putting adults in a secondary position ...Children cannot be spanked by their parents since everyone is afraid their kids will report them to human services...The world has let children take control....When I was a kid adults had the control, and now that I am an adult children have control.

Then there’s “noise in his neighborhood

There is a tree trimmer and landscaper who comes into our neighborhood — when they’re not making noise with their high-power chainsaw, weed blowers and oversized sit down mowers — with a need to blast their music. These people come into our neighborhood and play their music at levels that can be heard three houses away. When asking them politely to please turn it down, they get offended. I have even offered to buy Walkmans for these people. These people seem to have a lack of common courtesy. They come into a quiet neighborhood and cannot handle the silence of nature, they blast their music, have oversized power tools and a total lack of respect and common courtesy.

Even clocks

I do not wear a watch and refuse to become part of the cell-phone-digital-time mania that has taken over the world.

My flight was departing at 10:25 a.m. I needed to watch the time and there were no clocks within distance, so I took a stroll, still no clocks. This is an international airport and finding a clock was an act of God. Finally I looked at a flight arrival board and in the smallest numbers was the time.

Try finding a clock at any major shopping center, bar or restaurant anywhere in Hawai`i. It’s no wonder “Hawai`i time” has become synonymous with arriving late. I understand Aloha but still feel the need to look up and see the time.

And seat belts

The national and state campaign of “Click it or Ticket” is strictly implemented for financial reasons. They say they enforce it to help save lives.

Seatbelts have actually taken lives many times, trapping people in their cars and not being able to escape.

Among his other rants are complaints about the word haole,

Referring to somebody as a “haole” (without spirit), is the same as referring to them as a dumb frickin idiot. Any person who uses the word “haole” is a “haole.”

“Haole” is one word that should be deleted from the Hawaiian language.

people who can’t keep secrets

stores that won’t take his deposit bottles back

and the fact that no one is tapping the energy produced by all the treadmill and Stairmaster users in health clubs

Then there’s people worried about invasive species and protecting whales on the superferry saying

For those with the invasive species and whale killing machine theories, I would welcome a debate.

The only invasive species thus far brought on by the Superferry is the leech-sucking attorneys that will do anything for monetary gain and publicity.

...a subject he had written on before saying

The Superferry is a great form of mass transit, so be it if an occasional whale is killed.

There’s people who want to know how long you’ve lived here

people who want to know what you do for a living

people who want you to take your shoes off when you come in

local hotel rates

cafeteria prices at UH

food and restaurant prices

dirty water at beaches

and more complaints about these young whippersnapper and protesting hippies and praises for his supposed silent majority of Superferry supporters than you can wag a finger at.

But lest you think all he does all day is compose letters to complain about whatever self-involved, self-important, selfish little pet peeve he has today- even if he makes them up like the supposed rock throwing incident- he does like one thing.... those dollar and a half Costco hot dogs

All this from a malahini settler who calls himself Kimo.

Oh- and though he reneged, he threatened in one letter to run for public office. With the penchant to exploit public service for personal gain exhibited by most of our local incumbents and challengers we gotta figure he’d fit right in.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Katy said...

Andy, your enemies are so classy!

Signed,

Married with two kids

Anonymous said...

Andy, I did not know you were such a fan of my letters to the editor...

Rocks were thrown at me, don't know why this is so difficult for your pea brain to comprehand. I am only reporting what happened.

Yes I did start a petition to bring back da superferry, I have an electonic version and a hard copied version.

would you lie to sign the petition?

God bless & A Hui hou, Kimo

P.S. people can have differences of opinions and still respect the other if there brains are big enough.

Anonymous said...

Andy makes a list of someone's public statements and pronounces them nutty. Rich.

Joan Conrow said...

I guess Rosen doesn't need a blog because he's got a forum in TGI. I had no idea he was so prolific. Gee, what I've been missing all this time.

Katy said...

People can have differences of opinion and engage in debates in serious and principled ways,it's true. I'm all for that.

Unfortunately, Mr.Rosen chose to spread a rumor that he was violently attacked by the people at the Jam the Harbor celebration, by omitting te detail that the alleged rock-throwing happened in a different location from the celebration, and if it happened, had no apparent connection whatsoever to the anti-Superferry crowd. (This came out only after it was observed that the significant police presence at the event would have made such a incident going unnoticed highly unlikely.)

That was very unfortunate and indicated very poor judgement on Rosen's part. In short, he was unable to argue against the ferry in a principled way and felt it necessary to trump up a story to discredit people who hold views different than his own.

Anonymous said...

Oh please Katy. Are you going to next repeat your bullshit story that the car hood banger and tire deflaters were trying to stop a car that was at that moment plowing into a crowd of sitting demonstrators? Give us all a frigging break with your bs.

Anonymous said...

Try and look up the definition of the word "rumor" Katy. Poor word choice since the fact comes from the person who would best know if a rock were thrown...the target. How ignorant; especially when coming from someone whose own statements have never held credence themselves being a tried and true devotee of yellow journalism.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

That's a great blog entry Andy. Very funny and enlightening. I particularly liked your chronical of all of Mr. Rosen's letters to the editor. As I read further into them, I start to think, "This guy does have a few screws loose." I can't believe somebody would write a letter to the editor about $1.50 hotdogs at Costco and raiding the sample tables. Weird.

As for the rocks story. The most that could have been is some independent acting juveniles over near the Marriott according to Rosen and totally unrelated to the Anti-Superferry celebration a quarter of a mile away.

For either of the papers to even report the claim was totally unprofessional and irresponsible journalistic lack of fact checking. The guy Levine of TGI and Diane whatshername of the Advertiser will never have my respect again. They both are the worst kind of reporters, totally irresponsible. As for Mr. Rosen, he's just a weird dude representing himself only.

Anonymous said...

funny andy, reaallly funny. kimo's almost as eloquent as his mentor Pete A. reeaally funny! regards,...jt

Anonymous said...

Kimo Rosen, who claimed he was pelted "with rocks at last week’s Superferry anniversary party."

Read between the lines,Andy. Kimo wasn't pelted by rocks; he was stoned. Saw him burning it down with that off tune hillbilly blues band that entertained the crowd. I think the picture in the GI news would confirm him and Rich H passing it around. That explains alot.

Anonymous said...

Andy, your wrong here is my favorite letter, and by the way many times i am being a satirist and humorist, lighten up you radicals... check it out...

http://starbulletin.com/2007/12/02/editorial/commentary3.html

Anonymous said...

hey radical anti ferry friends, heres a post you missed and it is my favorite, i am being funny smile and laugh once in a while...

Just Musing
James "Kimo" Rosen


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


It’s a wonderful world -- unless you’re a chicken
Chickens are the one animal that we need more than any other for survival, and Kauai has thousands of wild chickens, making it the wild chicken capital of the world.
Chicken can be prepared in numerous ways, from deep fried, to barbecued, to a nice saute in wine sauce, to many different Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Mexican dishes. If you include the egg as a chicken, then chicken is also an active ingredient in almost everything we eat, from bread, cakes, protein drinks and thousands of baked goods to the old standby breakfast omelets, scrambled eggs, over easy, poached, boiled and microwaved. There are egg salad sandwiches and chicken salad sandwiches. Chicken is the essence of the food chain.

The word "chicken" itself is used to describe someone who is afraid, and there is a good reason -- chickens are usually running from humans. The word is out that we use them as an ingredient in almost everything we eat.

The chicken is also an alarm clock, with the rooster crowing at the crack of dawn and all other regular intervals to manage time without a clock.

We name many things after the chicken, we have the disease of chicken pox, we say the word chicken as a prefix to four-letter words.

Chicken soup is a healing serum used for colds, coughs and flus.

My friend Forrest, who is also known as the "chicken whisperer," can be seen pedaling his bicycle around the island with a wild chicken on the handlebars. Tourists and locals always smile and want their picture taken with his chicken. Everyone wants to be part of the chicken world.

The chicken also will act as a garbage disposal. When camping out, I see the chickens eating everything imaginable, even the unimaginable.

A rooster and a hen are the one pair of animals you would want if stranded on a deserted island.

The chicken is the ultimate. Next time you see a wild Kauai chicken, stop and say, "Eerrrr eeeer eeeeer eeeeer!"


James "Kimo" Rosen lives in Kapaa, Kauai.

Andy Parx said...

I told “you” I will not tolerate inane juvenile personal attacks on others who comment here. I’m damn close to banning anonymous comments. If you want to act like a child you will be treated like a child.

Anonymous said...

Katy Rose, you are misquoting me in your post,

Katy says,

"Unfortunately, Mr.Rosen chose to spread a rumor that he was violently attacked by the people at the Jam the Harbor celebration,"

What the garden island newspaper quoted was, "organizers told me I was welcome, others threw rocks and cursed and told me to leave." Nowhere have i ever said or indiated I was violently attacked."

Please do not make up lies, it's Andy, kasty and your radical extremists making up lies, i tell the truth.

I told everyone you guys welcomed me with Aloha, but you dirtbags continue to ignore this.

It's great you guys have this blog, since no decent periodical would publish your lies.

God bless & a hui hou, Kimo, your favorite nut case :))

Anonymous said...

Andy, this was brilliant. Well researched. Anyone who has read TGI for a few years knows this guy is a wacko. Notice he never says it was "local kids" throwing rocks at him in the public statements. I cant believe the media propped up this nut job. When reading his posts, grouped together, your grumpy old man characterization resonates so true. "These damn kids today!!!!'

Anonymous said...

Kimo writes "P.S. people can have differences of opinions and still respect the other if there brains are big enough." .....

But he calls Isaac Hall and the Kauai Lawyers "leech sucking attorneys who will do anything for money". If this" is how Kimo Rosen shows respect, then what is complaining about Andy about?

KimoRosen said...

Andy, Andy, Andy, put this in your pipe and smoke it, brah.

My point is simple, I am environmentalist, I do not even own a car, by choice, I bicycle and bus everywhere on this cosmic island of ours. I cannot remember when the last time I bought gas or oil.

Most people drive alone in their cars, however to single out the superferry and put restrictions on them is what is unfair, discrimatory, anti-American and unconstitutional, period exclamanation point!

The Superferry is a form of mass transit, let's look at all the hypocrites screaming for an EIS who drive their gas drinking cars everywhere. They demand an EIS for the superferry but no EIS for other mass transit forms of transportation, or their own island beater cars.

My point has always been that you cannot single out the Superferry, if you are going to demand the Superferry to have an 'EIS', then demand it of the airlines, cruise ships, freighters, cargo vessels, fishing boats and fancy yachts.

If all forms of mass transportation are grounded I would call it fair play, however to single out a state of the art Ferry vessel that is probably safer than flying, cruising or the car you drive is my point.

In conclusion, no EIS should be required of the voluptuous "Alakai" superferry if competitors do not have to play by the same rules.



James "kimo" Rosen
P.O. box 136
kapaa, Hi. 96746

Anonymous said...

"Kimo" says "you cannot single out the Superferry, if you are going to demand the Superferry to have an 'EIS', then demand it of the airlines, cruise ships, freighters...."

This is where your logic is fundamentally flawed. First, each of the "other" mass transit systems have been around since before the Hawaii Environmental Protection Act existed. Second, the environmental impacts of those forms of mass transit are already well known - in other words - the damage has already been done, during a hundred years of past use.

But the Superferry does not pre-date environmental law. It is also a new technology with effects that are unknown. To state, as fact, that the ferry will have no more effect than a cruise ship, when it goes way, way faster, has a hull that can slice through a whale, and carries autos, autos and more autos is sophomoric and uninformed.

And anyway, if I'm forced to choose between a well-managed healthy environment or ensuring absolute equity among large corporations, I will choose the former. Why do you care so deeply that one huge corporation be treated the same as another? Doesn't protecting our collective environment trump that notion? Does a dying whale care that the company that killed it had "equal protection"?

Always fascinating howa corporation can net a cadre of dogmatic cheerleaders who will defend it to the end, even though the corporation would stab the same citizens in the back