Musings: Ye Olde Rant

It was one of those mornings where as soon as I got out of bed, I was thinking of how soon I could return to it, but a quick look at the clock made it clear that time was a long ways away.

A walk with Koko beneath a halo-encircled moon that still shone yellow, even though the eastern sky had brightened sufficiently to illuminate the white, gray and pink clouds that were quickly heading south, helped to clear my head.

Returning home, a glance at The Garden Island, with its front page picture of a Newell’s shearwater, killed by the lights at Vidinha Stadium, re-darkened my mood. It accompanied an article about how Earthjustice intends to sue the St Regis Princeville over shearwater deaths, just as with KIUC. Hopefully Earthjustice will go after the county next.

Anyway, that one hotel alone accounted for some 26 percent of all the birds picked up by Save Our Shearwaters over the past 10 years, a trend that continued even after its recent $100 million renovation. It seems if you're paying $700/night for a room, you might be willing to kick down an extra $5 to help keep a bird from extinction.

But the asinine comments following the story were what really sparked my smoldering misanthropy. Like this smack him upside the head bit from “ugotburn2":

This hotel was in here for many years. Aren't animals intelligent enough to adjust to their environment?

Well, based on my observations of the human animal, including the architect who designed that stick out like a sore thumb resort, apparently not.

The semi-literate “northshorewahine” left this gem:

I get done at night and as i walk up the ramp to the parking lot , the lights are so deem or pointed down that i'm affraid at times that the cars can't see me as i cross the road way

What, aren’t you intelligent enough to adjust to your environment? I think a flashlight is the tool you’re looking for.

And invariably, in such discussions, this stunted mindset is expressed:

Are you enviromentalist thinking for human life as well as birds?

Ignoring for a moment the fact that human concerns ALWAYS dominate, why must it be an either or situation? Certainly we can find ways to co-exist. But frankly, yes, I do hold an animal that can exist for months at sea, fly thousands of miles without landing and find its way back to the same place it was born superior to one that can’t cross the road in Princeville without the aid of bright lights.

Besides, why should the environmentalists be concerned about human life when the wacko anti-abortion crowd is doing such a bang-up job, what with legislation that could send a woman to jail for a miscarriage, or staying with an abusive partner.

Speaking of which, some health insurance companies actually deny women coverage if they’ve been victims of domestic abuse, on the grounds that it’s a “pre-existing condition.”

Can you think of anything parallel for men? I didn't think so. Ever get the feeling some folks will only be happy when they’ve pushed women back and down?

While we’re on the topic of pushing folks back and down, the San Francisco police commission has rejected the use of tasers “after hearing from several researchers and advocates who warned the panel about the lethal risk of the electric stun guns,” according to SF Gate.

The panel's president, Joe Marshall, said he supported [Police Chief George] Gascón's effort to come up with a policy after years of delay. "I believe this man knows what he is doing," he said.

But Commissioner Jim Hammer, who voted against Tasers, cited research showing that in-custody deaths increased in the first year of Taser deployment in 50 California cities.

Meanwhile, even though the Hawaii Superferry is dead, it keeps on taking taxpayers for a ride. It seems we're getting stuck with a $218,000 tab for towing a state-owned barge that the ferry required out of Kahului Harbor. According to The Advertiser report:

[Irene] Bowie said Maui Tomorrow "long ago asked for a final tab" of taxpayer money spent in connection with the Superferry project but has never received a complete answer from state officials.

And how much would you care to wager that the Lingle Administration will never ever provide one?

Finally, if you’d like to listen to the radio interview I conducted last week with attorneys from Native Hawaiian Legal Corp about Hawaiian burial laws and the Brescia case, just click here.

Mahalo to Laura Christine and Angus for making that happen.