Source: Maui Time, Maui News, Best of Maui, Maui Activities

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The Year in Quotes
They said it, we printed it

December 24, 2009

“Financial matters do not appear to be one of [Obama’s] strengths…Let's all hope the strengths [he] has shown in other areas will soon be revealed in his economic policies.”

- Contributor Doug Levin, “The Inauguration Issue,” January 22

“These families deserve the respect that goes with the plaques we gave them, and the men deserve the respect of being on that wall.”

- Michael Covich, vice president of Vietnam Veterans of Maui County and an opponent of the Iraq War, at a ceremony honoring Maui’s “fallen warriors,” March 13

“After more than a full year of operation, it’s time to give the albatross of inter-island travel known as the Hawaii Superferry a progress report. Has the high-speed ferry service given indications it can be profitable in the long term? Has there been justification for Gov. Linda Lingle leading the charge, with state legislators close behind, to rewrite the state’s environmental laws? Has the entire state been taken for a choppy, 40 knots per hour, $45 million ride? And is this the biggest boondoggle in state history?”

- Contributor Rob Parsons, “Superferry Progress Report,” March 12

“Based on our analysis herein, we hold that Act 2 is unconstitutional as it is a special law in violation of Article XI, section 5 of the Hawaii Constitution.”

- Hawaii Supreme Court ruling, case number 29035, which put the Superferry out of commission, filed March 16, 2009

“We won’t pretend to be able to read the innermost thoughts of Hawaii’s elected representatives, but we know a blatant bit of political cover when we see it.”

- Editor Jacob Shafer, discussing Hawaii lawmakers who used “respect for the committee process” to justify their votes against considering same-sex civil union bill HB444

“It’s kind of shocking how little we know about this topic.”

- NOAA researcher Rusty Brainard, discussing C02-induced ocean acidification, which could decimate coral reefs and other ocean life, June 18

“When I taught, I’d ask my students to write about various subjects and they’d write about everything except Maui, except Hawaii. I think it has to do with the fear that really great writers and stories can't come out of this place.”

- Writer Wayne Moniz, discussing his book Under Maui Skies, July 1

“It has something to do with the chemistry of moving water and all those positive ions bouncing around. Surfers are surrounded by, and addicted to, that positive energy.”

- Legendary shaper Bob “Ole” Olsen, discussing his passion with contributor and fellow surfer Beau Ewan, July 2

“[It’s] terrible—or so they tell me.”

- Maui County Department of Liquor Control Director Frank Silva, describing the ingredients of a Jager Bomb to the LC Adjudication Board, August 6

“Like those cargo cults that build runways to attract the planes they think are bringing presents from their ancestors, we are stuck with our mega resorts.”

- Contributor Mark Sheehan, “Revisiting the Visitor Industry, Part II,” August 13

“While we celebrate this landmark anniversary, we must remember that the privileges of statehood came with obligations. Hawaii, and the United States, have a sacred trust relationship with the indigenous people of Hawaii that still remains to be fulfilled.”

- Sen. Daniel Akaka, discussing the 50th anniversary of Hawaii statehood, August 21

“F-A-K-E S-T-A-T-E”

- Words spelled out on the chests of children at an Admission Day protest near the Kahului Airport, August 21

Maui is] the toughest place I’ve ever lived, but also the most rewarding.”

- Matt Lane, founder of Lahaina Town Clean Up, September 12

“God doesn’t have a telephone.”

- Florence Hasegawa, the 101-year-old “Tweeting Grandma,” September 27

“Poor plantation workers—they just call you together and you nod your head.”

- Kahu Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell, Sr., at an October 15 state water commission meeting concerning Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar’s water diversions

“There’s so little to go around, we’re fighting amongst ourselves.”

- Dr. Lorrin Pang, Maui’s public health officer, discussing the swine flu vaccine, November 2

“This last month, since my interview, since my gums began to bleed and trickle into the corners of my mouth, since my body began to inexplicably bruise, I’ve thought I’d mostly be writing about Sedaris and our long talk about birds.”

- Staff Writer Anu Yagi, “Sedaris & Me,” November 5

“They’ve found paradise in the same place we have. And it has had catastrophic results.”

- State wildlife biologist Fern Duvall, discussing Maui’s out-of-control feral cat population, November 11

“No, this isn’t a David Lynch movie. It's the unpleasant, labyrinthine world of the unemployment office.”

- Contributor Sara Tekula, “The Unemployment Survival Guide,” November 12

“In the Hawaiian sense, ho‘oponopono is restoring family love and family harmony…The broadest sense is to physically straighten up or put in order something that is in disarray.”

- Professor Lynette Paglinawan, discussing the ancient Hawaiian method of conflict resolution, December 13