Musings: Out of Sight

Out walking beneath a starry black sky that turns white on its way to blue, in a bowl formed by Nounou, Waialeale and Makaleha, all standing vividly clear, I am reminded, as I watch the dogs scamper and skip without restraint of leash, of the model they set for finding joy in the small/big things in life: freedom, affection, food, being part of a pack — as opposed to a PAC.

So let's see, what's in the hopper today.....

Well, it's no surprise, given the recent talk about beefing up America's presence in the Pacific, that both Civil Beat and the Star-Advertiser are reporting an anticipated increase in military spending and personnel — perhaps 1,000 more Marines — for Hawaii.

With all this saber rattling going on, good thing the Lege is considering a bill that will add PTSD as another of the maladies that can be treated by medical cannabis.

Speaking of medical cannabis, I was interested to learn a few more details about that December raid on the Oklevueha Native American church. While the police carefully weighed all the peyote they confiscated, they reportedly did not weigh the cannabis that belonged to three authorized medical marijuana users before seizing it, too. What's more, they haven't given it back. Now how can the cops legally take marijuana that belongs to blue card holders? The cops also were trying to classify the scissors used to cut up the weed as drug paraphernalia. Come on.

Church leaders will have 12 minutes to state their case to the Police Commission this morning about why they feel the bust was bogus. I understand commissioners are busy people, serving for free, but don't you think they could spare more than three minutes per person when folks are raising concerns about the actions of law enforcement officers?

Meanwhile, I was dismayed to hear that a planning commissioner told a North Shore resident, “I haven't been up there for 20 years. I wrote that place off a long time ago.” Sweet.

Equally out of sight is the radiation from Fukushima. But that doesn't mean some folks aren't paying attention. Up in Alaska, they're testing sick seals for radiation exposure. Another culprit could be hydrazine, which was pumped into the damaged reactors and is extremely toxic to marine mammals.

And a detailed article in the Montreal Gazette reports that:

Japan is the only country that appears to be systematically testing fish for radiation and publicly reporting the results.

What's more, they're finding it. According to the article:

Cesium was especially prevalent in certain of the species:

73 per cent of mackerel tested; 91 per cent of the halibut; 92 per cent of the sardines; 93 per cent of the tuna and eel; 94 per cent of the cod and anchovies; 100 per cent of the carp, seaweed, shark and monkfish.

“It’s disconcerting how big of an event Fukushima was and how little data are out there. No one has taken responsibility for studying this in a single agency (in the U.S.), even though we also have reactors on the coast and other events could happen,” said oceanographer Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the non-profit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass.

Which quite possibly explains why no one is studying it.