Musings: Y'Hear?

You'll be reassured to learn the guys behind the Coco Palms renovation aren't just a couple of shady, fly-by-night developers. They're fashionistas. Or what passes as such in Hawaii.

Yeah, Tyler Greene is “surfer chic” and Chad Waters is “tropical meets casual.” Style tips: Maui Jim shades — bet you never would've thought of that — and an upscale (thirty-eight whole dollars) leather computer case.

What really caught my eye, though, was how the two met — on Craig's list, where Waters was seeking capital for real investment. Heck, isn't that where all the high-grade developers get their dough? In amongst the “mom son breeding season” (gack) and “MAKE $$$ WATCHING 5 COMMERCIALS A DAY!!!” ads? 

But then, it perfectly suits their “casual” approach to business, which means “no physical headquarters” where pesky collection agencies and process services can track you down when all that flaky financing goes to shit.

Hopefully they'll at least get some of the rat-infested buildings torn down before that happens. And thank you, planning director Mike Dahilig, for not handing them a construction permit just yet.

Next up for planners: Mark Zuckerberg's farm dwelling agreement. Uh, really? As in FarmVille-style? 

The election season is heating up, with folks holding sign, attending fundraisers and endorsing their favorites:

Poor Dustin. He doesn't seem to realize there already is a hotel in Haena, besides the Colony Resort. Add up all the vacation rentals — the ones he's never spoken against — and it's equal to a couple of hotels — with none of the supportive infrastructure or union jobs. Clever, yeah? So clever he never noticed.

More poor Dustin: He doesn't seem to realize that Neidine — Nadine to the rest of us — and Fern are running for the state House, which means they'd have zip authority over Black Pot park, Kapaa development or the Hanalei Ridge project. That's the county's kuleana. But hey, Dustin knows the first rule of an akamai activist: never let the facts, much less the truth, get in the way of a good smear/slam.

I liked Kauai Souljah's endorsement for Fern:

Yeah, you, too, could be slinging drinks at the Nui. Now that's what I call quality living for everyone.

Of course, all this local election stuff could well be moot (or mute, as Dustin would doubtless say):

Nothing's worse than the dreaded term oil. Except, of course, chem trails:

Ya know, I really haven't seen much of that soft, passive, feminine energy manifesting around the globe. Still, only truly craven conspirators would value that over big-body machismo.

Oh, and just in case Maui voters are wondering whom to avoid, here's Dustin's endorsement for the Valley Isle:

Speaking of Maui, one of its most obnoxious citizens, Karen Chun, is unhappy with Mina Morita, former director of the Public Utilities Commission. Mina has been blogging intelligently about Gov. Ige's questionable appointment of Tom Gorack to the PUC and everything it represents:

[I]t is a great opportunity for a civics lesson to understand the separation of powers, the hierarchy of laws, the delegation of authority, the role of regulation, the making of policy and, ultimately, figuring out how far a State agency can intrude into a business transaction between two private parties under the guise of protecting the public interest and whether facts, logic, reason and the rule of law will prevail or succumb to an abuse of power.

Come Tuesday and in the following days, we will see whether the rule of law will be pursued or ignored in two possible venues.  The first would be the Senate asserting its constitution given duty and right to retain its powers of advice and consent.  The second is the right of any individual to start a quo warranto proceeding (Chapter 659) to petition the court to order Tom Gorack to state the authority under which he can claim to be a PUC commissioner.

Mina's reasoned thoughtfulness prompted this response from Karen:

Yup. She would. Because the rule of law means nothing to anti-everything folks like Karen, who operate under the belief system that the ends justify the means.

Which brings us to Ashley Lukens, director of the lying, fear-mongering Hawaii Center for Food Safety. She's all giddy about her latest chance at indoctrination:

It's a tad ironic that Ashley's a passenger on the Peace Boat, considering her raison d'être is waging war on GMOs and conventional agriculture.

But hey, she's the perfect person to be talking about “the role that colonialism and agriculture play in shaping [Hawaii's] social, economic and political landscape.” After all, the anti-GMO movement is the epitome of neo-colonialism, what with wealthy, white, well-fed elitists telling others how to eat, farm and live around the world.

And CFS is desperately seeking to replicate the Hawaii missionary model, replete with off-shore funding, an unwavering ideology and die-hard disciples preaching fervently about Monsatan and lost shill souls.  

You'd think Islanders would be wise to this strategy by now. Because all this phony self-righteousness is a guise for their true intentions: grab control of water and land, and thus power. Oh, and kick down some kala while you're at it.

Which leads to this, from the excellent Risk Monger blog: