Big Kua’ana is Watching
January 13, 2009 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments |
|
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Kua‘ana: Big Brother PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY — Brata: Brother‘ HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Too much whittling leaves only a little wood. HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “Be still and cool in thine own mind and spirit.” – George Fox
Today: Vote online for Lance Holter to succeed the late state Rep. Bob Nakasone in the 9th House District seat, which serves Kahului and Lower Paia. Governor Linda Lingle will name either Lance Holter, Kehau Filimoe‘atu or Gil Keith-Agaran to the seat within the week. Read today’s editorial >
January 13, 2002: About four weeks before the program was going to be installed here on Maui, the State decides to pull out of the “public safety camera” business. The covert filming program, nicknamed “Van Cam” on Oahu, lasted just two weeks. Public outcry was enormous. Ostensibly a traffic law enforcement program, people rightly feared the cameras would be used to pry open their lives.The police killed the project.The death didn’t last for long. Rather than learning that the public didn’t like such programs, the government learned not to install a project in public, following the age-old dictum, what someone doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Though thousands of cameras have been installed across the state since 9/11, no one knows how many or where. Chances are, if you’re on a street or lot in Kihei, Kahului, Wailuku, or Lahaina, you’re being taped.
By the way, the most live-photographed part of the world is Washington, DC. It is reported that every corner is monitored by a surveillance camera.
