Musings: From Maui to Bangladesh

Poor Maui. Some of its Council members are so keen to force their agenda on the entire populace that the legislative side of its county government has come to a standstill.

Yeah, the minority anti-ag “Ohana coaltion” — Kelly King, Elle Cochran, Don Guzman and Alika Atay — has demanded a public hearing to decide what Council committees should be formed and which members should be on them. Until then, the Council's work is stymied.

Coalition members already tried unsuccessfully to exert their will by opposing Mike White's return to the role of Council chair. With agitators like SHAKA's Mark Sheehan gumming up the works, the chairman selection process took an insane “13 1/2 hours, 75 testifiers, five failed nominations and two hourlong executive sessions,” according to the Maui News.

Looks like it's gonna be a long two years, with the Council set up to split 5-4. This infuriates the Coalition and their supporters, who wasted no time in trashing the Councilmembers who wouldn't go their way:

You see, it's impossible to have different views and opinions. Those who think otherwise must be sell-outs and conspirators who are wed to "corporate agendas." 

So who are those pressing for change on the Maui Council? Besides failed Kauai politician Gary Hooser, who filed a bogus ethics complaint against Chairman White:

Hmm. Don't see many brown faces in the crowd.

Seems the “Ohana Coalition” members are such control freaks, and so paranoid that something might happen without their involvement, that they want to serve on each and every committee.

Can you spell power hungry?

Speaking of spelling, Lauryn Rego of Babes Against Biotech is proving that it's never too soon to start indoctrinating the keiki:

If A is for activist, then P is for poser:

Yes, that's Lauryn again, determined to make a statement — "Look at me breastfeeding!" — while making a statement.

And N is surely for narcissist:

Apparently she's not concerned about injecting the toxins in tattoo ink directly into her skin...

Seems the under-30 crowd in America has bought the organic industry's wholly undocumented claim that its products are superior.

According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, some 61 percent of under-30 Americans believe organic food is better for their health, while 48 percent think GMO foods are worse.

So they continue to live with their parents so they can spend an inordinate amount of money on the much higher priced organic groceries? Looks like corporate advertising and fear-mongering have successfully co-opted the younger generation.

In the United Kingdom, meanwhile, public opinion seems to be turning in favor of GM crops. The government is poised to approve field trials for a new type of GM wheat that represents the first crop genetically engineered to produce a higher yield by boosting the photosynthesis process.

And Bangladesh, the world's seventh-largest exporter of potatoes, is moving toward commercializing a blight-resistant potato. Potato farmers there are currently spraying 500 tons of fungicide to protect their crops from late blight, and this resistant potato could turn things around. That nation already has successfully adopted an insect-resistant eggplant that has dramatically reduced pesticide use by the farmers who grow it.

Despite its villification by anti-GMO groups, Monsanto is ramping up its research and development efforts. The company expects to spend $1.5 billion on R&D in 2017, up from $550 million 15 years ago.

Why? According to Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer of Monsanto

Demand is real and productivity improvement is a key to their success. The USDA demand figures have indicated that over the past four seasons, world demand for corn grew by over 4 billion bushels while soy demand in the same timeframe grew by over 2 billion bushels.”

No doubt some of that research will be carried out right here in the Islands — despite attempts by the Ohana Coalition and other anti-GMO activists to shut it down.