Monday, September 9, 2013

Musings: Systemic Poisoning

Golden shafts shooting from the sea announce the imminent arrival of the sun, a pumpkin-colored sphere that rises half obscured, gilding the clouds electric orange. Wind ruffles the heliotrope trees, birds dive for fish and this fish plunges in, rewarded with an infusion of joy.

The "mana marchers" yesterday were rewarded with a good turnout and the presence of Mayor Bernard Carvalho, appropriately dressed in purple, though I've got a hunch he's a blue shirt guy at heart. It's great that he showed up to see the growing number of folks dismayed about  pesticide use on lands stretching from Lihue to Mana.

The striking absence of the three Councilmembers needed to get Bill 2491 out of committee — Nadine Nakamura, Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa — does not bode well for the bill's success today.

Meanwhile, another sort of poisoning, a systemic poisoning continues.....

I walked into a room yesterday where a group of women were discussing the delays associated with obtaining a building permit. You have to get in good with the guys in the building department, says one. Like how? asks the one who is waiting for approvals. Give them stuff, says another. Money? asks the one. That would work, says another. They like food, volunteers another. Do I just buy something and go over there and put it on the counter? asks the one. Or do I give it to someone special? Our builder did it, because he knows all those guys, a woman explains. He just dropped off lunches one day and right after that we got our permit.

I opened a copy of The Week and read a blurb about a new survey by Yahoo that found the most common terms searched by the 18-to-35-year-old crowd are how to twerk, how to boil an egg, what is molly, what is hummus and what is a synonym.

A friend told me she was in the store when a young woman approached her, distraught, asking for suggestions on what she should take to counteract the radiation, by which she presumably meant that which is being released by Fukushima. I share your despair, my friend said, and suggested seaweed. “And then I got home and looked at my seaweed and it's all from Japan,” my friend lamented.

Checked the news and thought, how can the United States be ready to attack Syria for using chemical weapons when we supplied Iraq with chemical weapons to use on Iran, dumped Agent Orange on Cambodia and Vietnam, dosing our own troops in the process, and used bullets and bombs filled with  depleted uranium in Bosnia and Iraq, again dosing our own troops, and leaving the land contaminated with low-level radiation?

A woman sent me an email, told me she has a legally permitted vacation rental, pays all her taxes, jumps through the hoops, and it pisses her off that other people are operating TVRs totally illegally, and with impunity, even after I exposed it all in my blog. What is the next step? she asked.

I have absolutely no idea, but I replied to her email: I do understand your frustration and disappointment. It is also mine, except mine is compounded by being aware of the corruption and incompetence as it extends into every aspect of county government, not just the TVRs.

I sit on my porch and breathe deeply, watch the clouds drape the green peaks of Makaleha and eat eggs laid by my neighbor's chickens, a gift given in exchange for my gift of overripe papayas for her goat and horse, and dried papaya for her. 

It may not be an antidote, but I feel better.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

How come we never hear of an ethics violation from the ethics committee.... only how they got legal advice, or said they did, on how to bend the rules so far.. even a first grader shakes their head at......

Anonymous said...

Violations! Violations! Violations!



The Mayor got rid of Rolf Bieber from the board of ethics for philosophical reasons.

Anonymous said...

How come the march was YESTERDAY when the council is voting TODAY?

Elaine Albertson said...

It was yesterday because it was Sunday, and a vast number of the folks in the march are working people. They weren't (like their counterparts) being paid by anyone to be there. It had to be on their day off.

Then there was Bernard's "non-statement" on Facebook re the March...essentially "can't we all just get along...solution will come from compromise (paraphrasing to be sure)" etc. etc. etc. No, the solution will not come from compromise.

Anonymous said...

check the ethics minutes from February - thought it was fairly interesting to read that MK Trask requested permission to attend the Humane Society soiree as Mr. Tressler's guest - and they actually decline his request to be Mr. Tressler's guest.

No departments should be accepting ANYTHING from applicants. That is clearly unethical, period.

Anonymous said...

Elaine, I agree with you about Bernard.....I can feel a song coming! He really does not have the "b..." to stand up for anything. Again I ask….who wants to run for Mayor? But I don't agree with you about a compromise won't work. A compromise is going to have to work! There are just so many stake holders....I really don't see this going forward without some sort of compromise. As much as I would love for the seed companies to get the hell out of Dodge!

Anonymous said...

But they allowed the Mayor and his wife to go to a Hollywood Oscar party to the tune of $10,000, paid for by a state contracted private non-profit as a "thank you".

No disclosure required

His salary for 2011 was 124,000 not 114,000 as set by the salary commission and his signed required public disclose.

Anonymous said...

I want Hooser, Bynum, or Bieber for Mayor. I would also like a county manager who is not from the state of Hawaii and have no connections to the people of the state or county.

Anonymous said...

VOTE ON THE DAMN BILL ALREADY!

Anonymous said...

The County could start testing air and water immediately. Fugitive dust and run off violations are easy to catch....what's the big deal? There are a number of small bidnesses that can do the tests.

Just do it.

Whoever put this bill forward, is all talk and little do or maybe, no can finger out how to do.

Anonymous said...

RE: Sept. 9 @ 8:26 PM I hear ya babe, let the haoles take over ... it's been our ... I mean their intent since "DISCOVERY" C U Next Tuesday

Anonymous said...

I agree Gary and Tim really should be in charge, they have the local spirit - integrity, loving, kind, giving, caring, sharing, humble, not condescending, very intelligent, extremely spiritual, culturally evolved, just, inclusive, warm, truthful, men of the land, humor, charm and wit. These two are blessed and we are fortunate to have them.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for some names, for Mayor! Finally! Okay, let's run with these names! Anybody else?

Anonymous said...

Bozo (ran clown show), Bu Laia (90's politician that I voted for twice but da buggah had one problem), Mo (ran three stooges), Curly (power behind the Mo), KK Kau Manua (sixties politician, may have to run County via seance), Willy Maunawili (seventies politician, also may have to rule from the grave but still smarter than half the people testifying on either side of the bill), Ken Taylor (knows everything. just ask him), Aqualung (could hang out on park benches in front of the county building like those other drunks), Walter White (brilliant, albeit morally compromised, drug kingpin, but hey, take the good with the bad), Beyonce (better looking than current mayor and almost as good a voice).

Anonymous said...

The County has turned a blind eye to their own Ordinances. They say they can’t afford to enforce their own Ordinances because it cost too much. A much simpler way to enforce the that all TVRs are permited would be for someone in the office there to look at alll the TVRs on Homeaway, VRBO and AirBNB, get their contact information, and write them a Cease and Desist if they do not have a TVR Permit. If a Rental Agent is handling the rentals, they must display a valid TVR permit on the rental advertisement, and if not, the police can be called in to arrest the Agent who is illegally renting the property.

Anonymous said...

Trask, Imai Aiu, Mike Dahilig, Ian Jung are all the New Kids on the Block that are slaves for the GOBAG- Kauai's Cosa Nostra.

Dawson said...

"Every clique is a refuge for incompetence. It fosters corruption, it begets cowardice, and consequently is a burden upon and a drawback to the progress of the country. Its instincts and actions are those of the pack."
- Madame Chiang Kai-Shek

Anonymous said...

Its the GMOBAG!

Maybe this year they should pass buffer zones and disclosure and freeze use at current levels/acre, while EIS is done. That is all reasonable.

These are experimental bug killer sprays and it really should not be allowed near our elementary schools. Neighbors ought to have disclosure. Water ought to be scrupulously protected. Why can't Mel introduce a simpler bill with just those points, for now, pending EIS.

That bill might pass.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, good to quote Madame Chiang Kai Shek about corruption, model of virtue that she was.