Although the roosters start crowing well before dawn, the wild chickens don’t actually rise until it starts to get light. Their path from the valley, where they roost, is right behind my house, so even if I try to sleep in, the high-pitched cheeps of numerous chicks, and low clucking moans of the hens, serve as an effective alarm clock.
Noticed both the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin yesterday featured pictures of the Superferry with a rainbow in the background, and the Bulletin included a reference to new beginnings. Of course, rainbows as hoailona — mystical signs — can be read many different ways. And this particular one appeared in a very dark sky.
The Advertiser yesterday also ran an article that included some tough talk by Maui attorney Isaac Hall about political consequences for lawmakers and the comment: “A strong coalition has formed and it's not going to stand by and take this," he said.
“There are some social impacts to ramming a project down the throats of Hawai'i's people ..." he said. "People on the street are not happy with what is happening with the Hawaii Superferry."
Problem is, it’s not the people-packed streets of Oahu, which is why I’m not convinced there will be any political consequences. Still, his statement did make me recall one sign at the most recent Superferry protest: Help us, we're choking — Superferry shoved down our throats.
Yes, many are experiencing that uncomfortable choking feeling, which gets me wondering when Hawaii Superferry is going to launch the ho`oponopono and community goodwill processes it proposed before Judge Cardoza gave it the green light. If the ferry is due to run in a couple of weeks, it seems they’d best get started. Just like when is Gov. Lingle going to make the Neighbor Island visits she mentioned when she fancied herself becoming the peacemaker in this jammed up process?
And when do you suppose we're all going to engage in that long overdue discussion of conflicting values Judge Cardoza keeps talking about? Wanna bet nevah?
Several friends have taken a more laid-back approach to the Superferry controversy, saying there’s no reason to get fret because the fuel-sucking ferry will die an economic death. Now they’re pointing to rising oil costs and Matson’s recent fuel surcharge hike as evidence their prediction will be correct.
Speaking of economics, I’ve noticed a few signs — beyond the “for sale” ones that have been posted in front of numerous properties for many months now — that Kauai real estate sales and new construction are dramatically slowing, even in the luxury market that has largely driven it in recent years. Earlier this week, 12 people who work for Kealia Kai were fired because those luxury lots aren’t selling, and I got a direct-mail piece from a roofing contractor trying to drum up business.
More telling, an electrician friend who has been doing only new construction for the past several years has taken on some remodel jobs, as well as energy-saving projects at a major hotel.
Finally, I wanted to point out an article in yesterday’s The Garden Island that may represent a first in the history of Kauai: the planning commission actually denied permits for a CPR project. And because the three-story buildings proposed for the 72-lot Koloa Creekside Estates — with a name like that, it’s gotta be a mainland developer — “fail to fit in with the historic character of the Koloa community,” no less.
Pinch me, I must be dreaming — which is always better than choking.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Musings: Lost Boys
I’ve been rattled for the past few days, ever since running into an old friend in the parking lot of a Ha`ena restaurant, where I’d gone to write a review.
How are you? I asked, and he answered, still lost.
He was cruising with a couple of other lost boys — or more accurately, middle-aged men — who have fallen down the "ice" hole and can’t find their way out.
I’ve lost everything, he told me, but I already knew, because I’d heard the stories from his family, and through the coconut wireless. They weren’t tales I’d ever thought I would hear told about him, someone who had raised a family of fine children with the old values, while living mostly off the land.
I’m sorry to hear that, I said, and meant it whole-heartedly, and he replied that he had no one to blame but himself.
He seemed to have shrunk in height and size, and he was shaking, either from being on the meth, or too long off it, and when I hugged him goodbye, I tried to send strength into his being.
I hope you find yourself, I said, and I’ve been thinking about him ever since, and all the other guys like him, so many of them local, who are caught in that spin of ice-procuring and using.
I once asked him why, and he said it was a community, the only one he had since the North Shore where he was born and raised had changed so dramatically, turned into a place where he as a country boy had come to feel inferior among all that new wealth, a place where he felt like he no longer belonged.
I’ve often wondered — and I know I’m not the only one — whether ice was deliberately introduced to keep the locals down, fragmented, weak, which is not to say that other ethnic groups don’t use it, too, but certainly it’s cut a wide swath through local men, at least on Kauai’s North Shore.
Driving home, shaken by the encounter, I thought of what could be done for him, and the others, how they could be reintegrated into the community, what we as a society had lost in our lost boys, some of whom I knew personally to have beautiful, deep souls and skills crucial to us achieving sustainability.
Incarceration wasn’t the answer; he’d already spent time in jail, and was still getting tested, and as for helping him kick the stuff, Kauai has no drug treatment center — not that he and his family have health insurance or the money to pay for it, anyway.
When I heard Judge Cardoza say yesterday, when ruling to lift the Superferry injunction, that “issues related to cultural values, conflicts between changing lifestyles and old and new Hawaii have been festering for a long time in this community and .... need to be addressed,” I thought of my friend.
He, and the other lost boys, are the walking wounded, the casualties, of that festering conflict. They grew up when the North Shore was still old Hawaii, when the lifestyle was rural and centered around the land, when the beaches where they fished weren’t filled with tourists and the land where they hunted wasn’t fenced and developed, when movies weren’t being made in Lumahai Valley during the middle of `o`opu season, when they could still afford a home to rent, when their neighborhoods were occupied by their friends and families, not transient vacation rentals.
In less than a generation’s time all that had changed, much of it was lost, and many of the boys, unable to adapt in time, got lost along with it. Yeah, maybe they’ve got only themselves to blame, but somehow I don’t think it’s quite that simple. And as a society, don’t we want to bring those who were here first back into the fold before we open the door ever wider to the forces that are destroying them?
These are the kinds of tough issues that don’t fit on a protest sign or get addressed in any meetings that I’ve ever attended. Yet they’re at the core, I believe, of so much of what ails us.
The question now is do we as a community really want to heal, or remain in denial of the true nature of our illness?
How are you? I asked, and he answered, still lost.
He was cruising with a couple of other lost boys — or more accurately, middle-aged men — who have fallen down the "ice" hole and can’t find their way out.
I’ve lost everything, he told me, but I already knew, because I’d heard the stories from his family, and through the coconut wireless. They weren’t tales I’d ever thought I would hear told about him, someone who had raised a family of fine children with the old values, while living mostly off the land.
I’m sorry to hear that, I said, and meant it whole-heartedly, and he replied that he had no one to blame but himself.
He seemed to have shrunk in height and size, and he was shaking, either from being on the meth, or too long off it, and when I hugged him goodbye, I tried to send strength into his being.
I hope you find yourself, I said, and I’ve been thinking about him ever since, and all the other guys like him, so many of them local, who are caught in that spin of ice-procuring and using.
I once asked him why, and he said it was a community, the only one he had since the North Shore where he was born and raised had changed so dramatically, turned into a place where he as a country boy had come to feel inferior among all that new wealth, a place where he felt like he no longer belonged.
I’ve often wondered — and I know I’m not the only one — whether ice was deliberately introduced to keep the locals down, fragmented, weak, which is not to say that other ethnic groups don’t use it, too, but certainly it’s cut a wide swath through local men, at least on Kauai’s North Shore.
Driving home, shaken by the encounter, I thought of what could be done for him, and the others, how they could be reintegrated into the community, what we as a society had lost in our lost boys, some of whom I knew personally to have beautiful, deep souls and skills crucial to us achieving sustainability.
Incarceration wasn’t the answer; he’d already spent time in jail, and was still getting tested, and as for helping him kick the stuff, Kauai has no drug treatment center — not that he and his family have health insurance or the money to pay for it, anyway.
When I heard Judge Cardoza say yesterday, when ruling to lift the Superferry injunction, that “issues related to cultural values, conflicts between changing lifestyles and old and new Hawaii have been festering for a long time in this community and .... need to be addressed,” I thought of my friend.
He, and the other lost boys, are the walking wounded, the casualties, of that festering conflict. They grew up when the North Shore was still old Hawaii, when the lifestyle was rural and centered around the land, when the beaches where they fished weren’t filled with tourists and the land where they hunted wasn’t fenced and developed, when movies weren’t being made in Lumahai Valley during the middle of `o`opu season, when they could still afford a home to rent, when their neighborhoods were occupied by their friends and families, not transient vacation rentals.
In less than a generation’s time all that had changed, much of it was lost, and many of the boys, unable to adapt in time, got lost along with it. Yeah, maybe they’ve got only themselves to blame, but somehow I don’t think it’s quite that simple. And as a society, don’t we want to bring those who were here first back into the fold before we open the door ever wider to the forces that are destroying them?
These are the kinds of tough issues that don’t fit on a protest sign or get addressed in any meetings that I’ve ever attended. Yet they’re at the core, I believe, of so much of what ails us.
The question now is do we as a community really want to heal, or remain in denial of the true nature of our illness?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Cardoza Says Superferry Can Sail
Thanks to a live courtroom feed by Akaku — and despite my neighbor’s loud lawn mower — I was able to hear Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza’s reasoning today when he dissolved the injunction that prevented Hawaii Superferry from accessing Kahului Harbor.
In short, Cardoza found his injunction had been rendered moot by Act 2 — the special legislation that allows the ferry to run while an environmental review is under way. He also found that the new law has “no constitutional infirmities” that make it invalid.
The judge chided Maui attorney Isaac Hall for some of the comments he made while arguing against the motion to lift the injunction, saying “such arguments have no place in an orderly society.” And he said that Hall’s arguments suggesting citizens might engage in civil disobedience if the injunction is lifted “carried no weight in this court.” (See my earlier post for more details.)
However, it looks like Hall may be able to get attorney fees and court costs from Hawaii Superferry because he did originally prevail, even though Superferry got the law changed and ended up the victor. Although Cardoza didn’t grant the fees, he said he doesn’t think the new law “sweeps away” Hall’s right to receive them. However, Hall will have to file a motion to claim them.
Finally, Cardoza granted a motion dismissing outstanding claims in the case, which clears the way for Hall to appeal his ruling.
In his preamble, Cardoza noted that “issues related to cultural values .... (and) conflicts between changing lifestyles and old and new Hawaii have been festering for a long time in this community and the court agrees they need to be addressed.”
If the comments posted in the Akaku chat room by those waiting to hear the judge’s decision — things like round up all the env and send to guantanamo ..... turn Kauai into a concentration camp for activists ....bring in blackwater ....sink da boat ... bring in the torture....hope the superferry hits a iceberg…. Kauai had better watch out…. we’re coming over there whether you like it or not…. I’m ready to ram some surfers….. take mil from HI and you got china…. it’s gonna be ugly when the riot gear comes out…this is what Democracy looks like, go back to church if you don't like name calling — are any indication, those festering issues have already erupted into a putrid, oozing mess.
In short, Cardoza found his injunction had been rendered moot by Act 2 — the special legislation that allows the ferry to run while an environmental review is under way. He also found that the new law has “no constitutional infirmities” that make it invalid.
The judge chided Maui attorney Isaac Hall for some of the comments he made while arguing against the motion to lift the injunction, saying “such arguments have no place in an orderly society.” And he said that Hall’s arguments suggesting citizens might engage in civil disobedience if the injunction is lifted “carried no weight in this court.” (See my earlier post for more details.)
However, it looks like Hall may be able to get attorney fees and court costs from Hawaii Superferry because he did originally prevail, even though Superferry got the law changed and ended up the victor. Although Cardoza didn’t grant the fees, he said he doesn’t think the new law “sweeps away” Hall’s right to receive them. However, Hall will have to file a motion to claim them.
Finally, Cardoza granted a motion dismissing outstanding claims in the case, which clears the way for Hall to appeal his ruling.
In his preamble, Cardoza noted that “issues related to cultural values .... (and) conflicts between changing lifestyles and old and new Hawaii have been festering for a long time in this community and the court agrees they need to be addressed.”
If the comments posted in the Akaku chat room by those waiting to hear the judge’s decision — things like round up all the env and send to guantanamo ..... turn Kauai into a concentration camp for activists ....bring in blackwater ....sink da boat ... bring in the torture....hope the superferry hits a iceberg…. Kauai had better watch out…. we’re coming over there whether you like it or not…. I’m ready to ram some surfers….. take mil from HI and you got china…. it’s gonna be ugly when the riot gear comes out…this is what Democracy looks like, go back to church if you don't like name calling — are any indication, those festering issues have already erupted into a putrid, oozing mess.
Part One of Today's Superferry Hearing
Maui attorney Isaac Hall took off the gloves in Judge Joseph Cardoza’s courtroom today as he vigorously argued against dropping the injunction that prevents Hawaii Superferry from going to Kahului Harbor.
After arguments and rebuttals, Cardoza recessed until 1:30 p.m. Big mahalo to Christian Holmes at Akaku for streaming the proceedings live.
Hall focused on the “artifice” of Act 2 – the bill passed in the recent special session that ostensibly addresses a “large capacity ferry,” rather than Hawaii Superferry specifically, which would constitute special legislation prohibited by the state Constitution.
“There is no one in this whole world who thinks Act 2 is anything but Superferry legislation,” Hall said, noting that Gov. Linda Lingle said in her own press release that the purpose of the bill was to allow Superferry to operate, and Attorney General Mark Bennett made a similar comment in testimony to the Legislature.
“When he gets a chance to speak freely, he tells the truth,” Hall said of Bennett, who was flanked by Deputy Attorney General William Wynhoff and Superferry attorney Lisa Munger, who was looking tired and worn, despite racking up choke billable hours in this case.
“This could not possibly be anything but special interest legislation,” said Hall, who then asked rhetorically, “does Mr. Bennett think we are the village idiots?”
“They didn’t like your decision, Judge,” Hall said in explaining why Lingle sought a special session to circumvent Cardoza’s ruling — after a four-week trial — that the boat could not use Kahului Harbor until an environmental review was done.
Hall also criticized Lingle’s operating conditions for the ferry, noting that she allows the vessel to travel at 25 knots through the whale sanctuary, even though the state Department of Land and Natural Resources “just issued a new policy that says the safe speed is 10 knots.”
Hall also reiterated that Maui’s plant and animal resources would be jeopardized by the ferry. “Instead of protecting these resources, our Attorney General takes the opportunity to travel over to Maui to argue they should be destroyed by Hawaii Superferry.”
He even jabbed Bennett for being unable to pronounce the word ahupuaa when arguing the plaintiff’s claims on behalf of Native Hawaiian rights had not met.
Hall said he had been approached by numerous people who feel “this whole thing has been done the wrong way from the beginning. That’s the over-arching thing I get.”
Many now feel, he said, that “the only way left to secure justice is in the water” — a reference to the surfboard and kayak blockade that kept the ferry out of Nawiliwili Harbor on Aug. 27. “We in the courts must make every effort not to force our citizens into that position.”
Bennett previously had argued that Act 2 “creates no new rights of any kind….except removing barriers to standing” and said that “dissolving an injunction that has no basis in law any more can’t possibly violate someone’s due process rights.”
“What the plaintiffs are really doing here,” Bennett argued, is throwing a whole bunch of things up against the wall and trying to get one to stick.”
After arguments and rebuttals, Cardoza recessed until 1:30 p.m. Big mahalo to Christian Holmes at Akaku for streaming the proceedings live.
Hall focused on the “artifice” of Act 2 – the bill passed in the recent special session that ostensibly addresses a “large capacity ferry,” rather than Hawaii Superferry specifically, which would constitute special legislation prohibited by the state Constitution.
“There is no one in this whole world who thinks Act 2 is anything but Superferry legislation,” Hall said, noting that Gov. Linda Lingle said in her own press release that the purpose of the bill was to allow Superferry to operate, and Attorney General Mark Bennett made a similar comment in testimony to the Legislature.
“When he gets a chance to speak freely, he tells the truth,” Hall said of Bennett, who was flanked by Deputy Attorney General William Wynhoff and Superferry attorney Lisa Munger, who was looking tired and worn, despite racking up choke billable hours in this case.
“This could not possibly be anything but special interest legislation,” said Hall, who then asked rhetorically, “does Mr. Bennett think we are the village idiots?”
“They didn’t like your decision, Judge,” Hall said in explaining why Lingle sought a special session to circumvent Cardoza’s ruling — after a four-week trial — that the boat could not use Kahului Harbor until an environmental review was done.
Hall also criticized Lingle’s operating conditions for the ferry, noting that she allows the vessel to travel at 25 knots through the whale sanctuary, even though the state Department of Land and Natural Resources “just issued a new policy that says the safe speed is 10 knots.”
Hall also reiterated that Maui’s plant and animal resources would be jeopardized by the ferry. “Instead of protecting these resources, our Attorney General takes the opportunity to travel over to Maui to argue they should be destroyed by Hawaii Superferry.”
He even jabbed Bennett for being unable to pronounce the word ahupuaa when arguing the plaintiff’s claims on behalf of Native Hawaiian rights had not met.
Hall said he had been approached by numerous people who feel “this whole thing has been done the wrong way from the beginning. That’s the over-arching thing I get.”
Many now feel, he said, that “the only way left to secure justice is in the water” — a reference to the surfboard and kayak blockade that kept the ferry out of Nawiliwili Harbor on Aug. 27. “We in the courts must make every effort not to force our citizens into that position.”
Bennett previously had argued that Act 2 “creates no new rights of any kind….except removing barriers to standing” and said that “dissolving an injunction that has no basis in law any more can’t possibly violate someone’s due process rights.”
“What the plaintiffs are really doing here,” Bennett argued, is throwing a whole bunch of things up against the wall and trying to get one to stick.”
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Live, from Kahului, it's Judge Cardoza
On Wednesday morning, Maui Judge Joseph Cardoza will hear the state and Superferry's motion to lift the restraining order against the boat operating at Kahului Harbor.
Thanks to LightLine for letting us know Akaku: Maui Community Television will present a multicast of the hearing at 8:30 a.m. You can catch it streaming live here, watch it live on cable channel 54 (Akaku) or listen to in on radio station KAKU at 88.5 FM.
You can also chat about it on-line.
Thanks to LightLine for letting us know Akaku: Maui Community Television will present a multicast of the hearing at 8:30 a.m. You can catch it streaming live here, watch it live on cable channel 54 (Akaku) or listen to in on radio station KAKU at 88.5 FM.
You can also chat about it on-line.
Musings: Teetering on the Edge
I took my friend Jan Ten’s advice and checked out the comet last night, after delighting in the crescent moon setting to the left of Jupiter in a clear, rosy sky. To borrow his phrase, it’s pretty darn cool!
If you’re like my neighbor Andy, who confessed he can only identify the moon in the night sky, here’s a neat little site that can help you find your bearings among all those brilliant specks in the blackness. The comet, known as 17P/Holmes and now the size of Jupiter, is in the constellation Perseus, near its brightest star.
You can see it with the naked eye, but binoculars dramatically improve the viewing. This is a good time to look for it, too, with the moon small and setting early.
Speaking of Jan, he posted an interesting piece of reportage about humankind’s far-reaching impacts on the world’s natural systems on his Raising Islands blog the other day. Although global warming gets most of the attention, it's only one part of this complex story.
Democracy Now! touched on that hot topic yesterday in its report on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s visit to Antartica, where temperatures are their highest in about 1,800 years.
The report included this quote from Ban Ki-Moon: "Again, I was told by the scientist that entire western Antarctica is now floating. This is one fifth of total continent, the size of this total continent. If it breaks up, the sea level may rise as much as 6 metres. 18 feet. This is very alarming."
Do you ever get the feeling that things are too far gone, that we’ve already reached the point of no return when it comes to humankind’s errant, self-centered ways and our ability to live comfortably on the home planet?
My own take on things is that all the models will prove to be inaccurate, and once the dominoes start falling in earnest, we’ll see the collapses occur exponentially faster than the scientists — and certainly the policy makers — expected.
I always get a giggle when I hear people talk about saving Kauai or saving the Earth. Both, I’m pretty certain, will endure. It’s our own sorry asses we need to worry about — and all the other critters we’re taking down with us.
Yet still I remain cheerful. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, I have food in my stomach and a roof over my head. After years of languishing in despair over the state of the world and the brutishness of man, I’ve emerged into a place of calm by doing my best to be in the moment.
And that’s not the same as living like there’s no tomorrow.
If you’re like my neighbor Andy, who confessed he can only identify the moon in the night sky, here’s a neat little site that can help you find your bearings among all those brilliant specks in the blackness. The comet, known as 17P/Holmes and now the size of Jupiter, is in the constellation Perseus, near its brightest star.
You can see it with the naked eye, but binoculars dramatically improve the viewing. This is a good time to look for it, too, with the moon small and setting early.
Speaking of Jan, he posted an interesting piece of reportage about humankind’s far-reaching impacts on the world’s natural systems on his Raising Islands blog the other day. Although global warming gets most of the attention, it's only one part of this complex story.
Democracy Now! touched on that hot topic yesterday in its report on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s visit to Antartica, where temperatures are their highest in about 1,800 years.
The report included this quote from Ban Ki-Moon: "Again, I was told by the scientist that entire western Antarctica is now floating. This is one fifth of total continent, the size of this total continent. If it breaks up, the sea level may rise as much as 6 metres. 18 feet. This is very alarming."
Do you ever get the feeling that things are too far gone, that we’ve already reached the point of no return when it comes to humankind’s errant, self-centered ways and our ability to live comfortably on the home planet?
My own take on things is that all the models will prove to be inaccurate, and once the dominoes start falling in earnest, we’ll see the collapses occur exponentially faster than the scientists — and certainly the policy makers — expected.
I always get a giggle when I hear people talk about saving Kauai or saving the Earth. Both, I’m pretty certain, will endure. It’s our own sorry asses we need to worry about — and all the other critters we’re taking down with us.
Yet still I remain cheerful. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, I have food in my stomach and a roof over my head. After years of languishing in despair over the state of the world and the brutishness of man, I’ve emerged into a place of calm by doing my best to be in the moment.
And that’s not the same as living like there’s no tomorrow.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Musings: Bush/Cheney "coup"?
It rained heavily in the night, so I was surprised this morning to find the skies were starry and the mountains were clear. It was chilly, too, with mist clinging to the pastures.
Koko and I encountered a large pig on the road while driving late yesterday afternoon, and she remembered the spot today and had to give it a good sniffing. We also encountered Andy, with three dogs, and he and I both agreed we’d never seen so many trucks pass by. So much for our expectations of a quiet holiday morning.
I have an early deadline today, so need to keep this short, but I wanted to urge folks to educate themselves about Presidential Directive 51 — NSPD-51 — which outlines the White House’s new plans to ensure “continuity of government” in the event of an loosely defined “catastrophic emergency.”
The directive was issued without Congressional review, and has two secret clauses that the Bush Administration won’t disclose — even to Congressional oversight committees — on the grounds of national security concerns.
The story apparently broke on commondreams.org newscenter but received little attention in the mainstream media until it was picked up by Oregonian staff writer Jeff Kosseff when a Portland Congressmanwas denied access to the security documents, but kept pushing the issue.
A longer article recently appeared on Slate.com, which got condensed into The Week magazine, finally bringing the issue to a wider audience.
While it’s raised a lot of talk about an upcoming Bush/Cheney “coup,” others claim it’s a standard policy document that’s needed in these uncertain times.
I’d suggest going straight to the source to read the document and decide for yourself. Given the antics Bush/Cheney have already pulled, I found it deeply disturbing.
Koko and I encountered a large pig on the road while driving late yesterday afternoon, and she remembered the spot today and had to give it a good sniffing. We also encountered Andy, with three dogs, and he and I both agreed we’d never seen so many trucks pass by. So much for our expectations of a quiet holiday morning.
I have an early deadline today, so need to keep this short, but I wanted to urge folks to educate themselves about Presidential Directive 51 — NSPD-51 — which outlines the White House’s new plans to ensure “continuity of government” in the event of an loosely defined “catastrophic emergency.”
The directive was issued without Congressional review, and has two secret clauses that the Bush Administration won’t disclose — even to Congressional oversight committees — on the grounds of national security concerns.
The story apparently broke on commondreams.org newscenter but received little attention in the mainstream media until it was picked up by Oregonian staff writer Jeff Kosseff when a Portland Congressmanwas denied access to the security documents, but kept pushing the issue.
A longer article recently appeared on Slate.com, which got condensed into The Week magazine, finally bringing the issue to a wider audience.
While it’s raised a lot of talk about an upcoming Bush/Cheney “coup,” others claim it’s a standard policy document that’s needed in these uncertain times.
I’d suggest going straight to the source to read the document and decide for yourself. Given the antics Bush/Cheney have already pulled, I found it deeply disturbing.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Musings: Drugs and Propaganda
The water was calling me this morning, so I went, and watched the clouds over the mountains turn a smoldering gray-pink as the sun rose from the ocean.
I swam, walked and sat in its brilliant shimmer, as Koko chased chickens and dug for crabs, then left when it began to climb higher. I like the sun best when it’s low on the horizon.
Yesterday I took advantage of the waxing moon in Scorpio to plant taro. It bled on me, with its distinctive red juice, and I bled on it after slicing my finger while cutting huli.
Taro, like the Hawaiian people that are its descendants, is hardy and keeps on giving. From one row of mature plants, I got enough huli and keiki to make four new rows, plus leaf for laulau and corms for poi. On Friday I ground another batch of poi and gave it to my friend Kaimi, who took it to Oahu to share with the Hokulea crew during training exercises this weekend.
Life to me feels happier when there’s plenty of giving and sharing — without a thought to what one might get in return.
While we’re on that topic, The Garden Island yesterday carried a letter to the editor from Larry Bowman, one of the original hedge fund investors who cashed out a few years back with several hundred million dollars and bought numerous properties on Kauai, including Valley House.
Bowman, who has made a number of heavily publicized donations to wildlife conservation projects and law enforcement activities, threw down the gauntlet to Hawaii Superferry with his offer to “donate FOUR drug dogs and training for FOUR officers to inspect cars while being transported on the Superferry. We will bear the current cost of $125,000, IF the program is in place BEFORE the Superferry starts up again.”
The column, which includes questionable estimates of his own derivation on the number of Kauai coke and meth users, also includes this comment: “I am involved with drug prevention at a half dozen law enforcement agencies.” How is it, I wondered, that a private citizen has that kind of access? And how did he gain it? Through gifts like radios to the cops, and letting them use his fitness center?
The Garden Island earlier carried this fawning story: “Larry Bowman of Falko Partners has a rich history of giving back to the community and his efforts helped out the Lihue Pop Warner Association to the tune of $15,000. Also, the same day, Lihue announced that they would begin drug testing coaches, making them the first in the state to do so.”
Was it all just a coincidence, or do Bowman’s gifts typically come with strings attached?
Falko’s Superferry offer sounds like a nice gesture, and perhaps it is, but it concerns me when private citizens start funding law enforcement activities. We saw this once before when Michele and Justin Hughes hired security guards to patrol Kauapea Beach and roust campers and nude sunbathers.
If drug trafficking is a valid concern with Superferry transit, then the agencies charged to handle such matters should deal with it. It’s not exactly like the DEA and drug eradication efforts are under funded. And if Mr. Bowman weren’t so eager to publicize every donation he makes, his philanthropic actions might seem a bit more sincere and a little less self-serving.
I believe the Hawaiian word for it is ha`aha`a – humility, humble.
Speaking of self-serving drug warriors, I received a press release from the county, which The Garden Island reprinted verbatim, about Kauai cops participating in a “Drug Demand Reducation Program” for island pre-schoolers.
The press release states: “Approximately a dozen police officers took part in the event. Members of the Special Services Team wore their distinctive uniforms and talked about their role in law enforcement. Vice officers flew in on helicopters and explained how helicopters are used in marijuana eradication efforts, while patrol officers showed the youngsters what a patrol car is equipped with and described how they respond to calls.”
I think it’s great to educate kids about the dangers of drugs — and let’s include the legal ones, like Ritalin, along with the illicit varieties — but it’s not a job for the cops, who have their own particular bias on the subject.
It starts looking an awful lot like drug war propaganda when they fly in on helicopters to promote the incredibly intrusive “Green Harvest” marijuana eradication effort and focus so heavily on interdiction.
And if KPD has enough manpower to send a dozen cops to talk to pre-schoolers, it can probably handle drug inspections on the Superferry without help from Mr. Bowman.
I swam, walked and sat in its brilliant shimmer, as Koko chased chickens and dug for crabs, then left when it began to climb higher. I like the sun best when it’s low on the horizon.
Yesterday I took advantage of the waxing moon in Scorpio to plant taro. It bled on me, with its distinctive red juice, and I bled on it after slicing my finger while cutting huli.
Taro, like the Hawaiian people that are its descendants, is hardy and keeps on giving. From one row of mature plants, I got enough huli and keiki to make four new rows, plus leaf for laulau and corms for poi. On Friday I ground another batch of poi and gave it to my friend Kaimi, who took it to Oahu to share with the Hokulea crew during training exercises this weekend.
Life to me feels happier when there’s plenty of giving and sharing — without a thought to what one might get in return.
While we’re on that topic, The Garden Island yesterday carried a letter to the editor from Larry Bowman, one of the original hedge fund investors who cashed out a few years back with several hundred million dollars and bought numerous properties on Kauai, including Valley House.
Bowman, who has made a number of heavily publicized donations to wildlife conservation projects and law enforcement activities, threw down the gauntlet to Hawaii Superferry with his offer to “donate FOUR drug dogs and training for FOUR officers to inspect cars while being transported on the Superferry. We will bear the current cost of $125,000, IF the program is in place BEFORE the Superferry starts up again.”
The column, which includes questionable estimates of his own derivation on the number of Kauai coke and meth users, also includes this comment: “I am involved with drug prevention at a half dozen law enforcement agencies.” How is it, I wondered, that a private citizen has that kind of access? And how did he gain it? Through gifts like radios to the cops, and letting them use his fitness center?
The Garden Island earlier carried this fawning story: “Larry Bowman of Falko Partners has a rich history of giving back to the community and his efforts helped out the Lihue Pop Warner Association to the tune of $15,000. Also, the same day, Lihue announced that they would begin drug testing coaches, making them the first in the state to do so.”
Was it all just a coincidence, or do Bowman’s gifts typically come with strings attached?
Falko’s Superferry offer sounds like a nice gesture, and perhaps it is, but it concerns me when private citizens start funding law enforcement activities. We saw this once before when Michele and Justin Hughes hired security guards to patrol Kauapea Beach and roust campers and nude sunbathers.
If drug trafficking is a valid concern with Superferry transit, then the agencies charged to handle such matters should deal with it. It’s not exactly like the DEA and drug eradication efforts are under funded. And if Mr. Bowman weren’t so eager to publicize every donation he makes, his philanthropic actions might seem a bit more sincere and a little less self-serving.
I believe the Hawaiian word for it is ha`aha`a – humility, humble.
Speaking of self-serving drug warriors, I received a press release from the county, which The Garden Island reprinted verbatim, about Kauai cops participating in a “Drug Demand Reducation Program” for island pre-schoolers.
The press release states: “Approximately a dozen police officers took part in the event. Members of the Special Services Team wore their distinctive uniforms and talked about their role in law enforcement. Vice officers flew in on helicopters and explained how helicopters are used in marijuana eradication efforts, while patrol officers showed the youngsters what a patrol car is equipped with and described how they respond to calls.”
I think it’s great to educate kids about the dangers of drugs — and let’s include the legal ones, like Ritalin, along with the illicit varieties — but it’s not a job for the cops, who have their own particular bias on the subject.
It starts looking an awful lot like drug war propaganda when they fly in on helicopters to promote the incredibly intrusive “Green Harvest” marijuana eradication effort and focus so heavily on interdiction.
And if KPD has enough manpower to send a dozen cops to talk to pre-schoolers, it can probably handle drug inspections on the Superferry without help from Mr. Bowman.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Musings: Rockets and Bones
A nice thing about Saturdays is I can walk a bit later, when it’s actually light, without encountering many cars, save for the odd hunter’s truck with the bed packed full of dogs. This is their day to romp.
Ran into my neighbor Andy and he shared part of my walk, discussing sacred land, iwi kupuna and a historic house in the neighborhood. Conversations with Andy are always far ranging and informative.
I brought up the topic of iwi kupuna — ancient Hawaiian bones — because I attended a talk by Kyle Kajihiro and Terri Kekoolani last night on militarism in Hawaii and the role of the Superferry.
Terri told of becoming active in the issue after encountering boxes filled with human remains at Bishop Museum. Some 2,000 Hawaiian burials were dug up at Mokapu during construction of the Kaneohe Air Base on Oahu, and she’s been involved with efforts to have them returned to their original resting place.
“My ancestors were removed from their gravesites for a military facility,” she said. “This is the impact of militarism on our people.”
Of course, the impacts began in 1893, when U.S. Marines aided sugar planters in the illegal overthrow of Hawaii’s monarchy, and the military presence has been expanding ever since.
Now the push is on to beef it up ever more, as I wrote about recently in Honolulu Weekly, especially at Kauai’s PMRF, which launches missiles from Nohili — dunes filled with burials, much like Mokapu.
The U.S. has engaged in similar scenarios of military domination on other tropical islands, like Okinawa and Vieques, in Puerto Rico — resulting in the same land destruction, pollution and cultural impacts we’ve seen in Hawaii.
“Why do people do this?” Terri asked rhetorically.
I’d finger the usual suspects: fear, power, greed.
While we’re on those subjects, I was extremely troubled by the Senate’s 53-40 vote to confirm Michael Mukasey as the new U.S. Attorney General, despite his refusal to classify waterboarding as a form of torture. Even if Congress passes a law against waterboarding, as some Senators suggested, it won’t change the guy’s basic principles and views.
It’s particularly disheartening that six Democrats joined Republicans to get Mukasey approved. What’s the point of regaining control of the Senate if lawmakers jump the political fence to support President Bush?
It’s similar to how our Democrat-controlled Legislature backed Republican Gov. Linda Lingle on the Superferry bail out bill. But at least Hawaii lawmakers can claim their constituents support the Superferry. Have folks been calling their Senators to say they want the military to keep torturing people in military prisons?
Still, Kyle noted, “there’s global resistance to this kind of action happening,” and many communities have found — once people got over their fear — that “non-violent resistance added value to their daily lives,” resulting in greater cooperation and various human service initiatives.
I know I'm not the only one who sees that as a possible positive outcome of Kauai's opposition to the Superferry.
“The struggle itself was the teacher," Kyle said. "They learned new ways of relating to one another and created a microcosm of the kind of world they wanted to live in. I think society is sick when people sit back and just let things happen to them.”
He also discussed the military’s plans to use the Superferry to transport the Stryker brigade, which he said "is aimed at suppressing resistance in Hawaii," and warned Hawaii is “not far from the day when environmental activists and military activists will be branded as terrorists.”
Actually, it seems that day has already come, seeing how anti-terrorism laws and the Homeland Security Act were used to create the new federal “security zone” at Nawiliwili Harbor.
Ultimately, those engaged in civil disobedience need to consider one key question, which was raised at the meeting by my friend, Jim Alalem.
"Are you prepared to die for what you believe in? Because this is all commitment stuff. If you guys going, you gotta go all the way."
Ran into my neighbor Andy and he shared part of my walk, discussing sacred land, iwi kupuna and a historic house in the neighborhood. Conversations with Andy are always far ranging and informative.
I brought up the topic of iwi kupuna — ancient Hawaiian bones — because I attended a talk by Kyle Kajihiro and Terri Kekoolani last night on militarism in Hawaii and the role of the Superferry.
Terri told of becoming active in the issue after encountering boxes filled with human remains at Bishop Museum. Some 2,000 Hawaiian burials were dug up at Mokapu during construction of the Kaneohe Air Base on Oahu, and she’s been involved with efforts to have them returned to their original resting place.
“My ancestors were removed from their gravesites for a military facility,” she said. “This is the impact of militarism on our people.”
Of course, the impacts began in 1893, when U.S. Marines aided sugar planters in the illegal overthrow of Hawaii’s monarchy, and the military presence has been expanding ever since.
Now the push is on to beef it up ever more, as I wrote about recently in Honolulu Weekly, especially at Kauai’s PMRF, which launches missiles from Nohili — dunes filled with burials, much like Mokapu.
The U.S. has engaged in similar scenarios of military domination on other tropical islands, like Okinawa and Vieques, in Puerto Rico — resulting in the same land destruction, pollution and cultural impacts we’ve seen in Hawaii.
“Why do people do this?” Terri asked rhetorically.
I’d finger the usual suspects: fear, power, greed.
While we’re on those subjects, I was extremely troubled by the Senate’s 53-40 vote to confirm Michael Mukasey as the new U.S. Attorney General, despite his refusal to classify waterboarding as a form of torture. Even if Congress passes a law against waterboarding, as some Senators suggested, it won’t change the guy’s basic principles and views.
It’s particularly disheartening that six Democrats joined Republicans to get Mukasey approved. What’s the point of regaining control of the Senate if lawmakers jump the political fence to support President Bush?
It’s similar to how our Democrat-controlled Legislature backed Republican Gov. Linda Lingle on the Superferry bail out bill. But at least Hawaii lawmakers can claim their constituents support the Superferry. Have folks been calling their Senators to say they want the military to keep torturing people in military prisons?
Still, Kyle noted, “there’s global resistance to this kind of action happening,” and many communities have found — once people got over their fear — that “non-violent resistance added value to their daily lives,” resulting in greater cooperation and various human service initiatives.
I know I'm not the only one who sees that as a possible positive outcome of Kauai's opposition to the Superferry.
“The struggle itself was the teacher," Kyle said. "They learned new ways of relating to one another and created a microcosm of the kind of world they wanted to live in. I think society is sick when people sit back and just let things happen to them.”
He also discussed the military’s plans to use the Superferry to transport the Stryker brigade, which he said "is aimed at suppressing resistance in Hawaii," and warned Hawaii is “not far from the day when environmental activists and military activists will be branded as terrorists.”
Actually, it seems that day has already come, seeing how anti-terrorism laws and the Homeland Security Act were used to create the new federal “security zone” at Nawiliwili Harbor.
Ultimately, those engaged in civil disobedience need to consider one key question, which was raised at the meeting by my friend, Jim Alalem.
"Are you prepared to die for what you believe in? Because this is all commitment stuff. If you guys going, you gotta go all the way."
Friday, November 9, 2007
Musings: A Yawning Chasm
Koko wanted to go out at 3 a.m., so I indulged her, and the reward was snuggling in and sleeping in on this wet, new moon morning. A survey says 47% of Americans sleep with their pets, and I’m among them. I once went out with a man who emphatically announced: “There’s no way I’d ever let a dog in my truck or in my house.” Needless to say, there was no second date. Some chasms are just too wide to bridge.
I wonder if the same is true with the Hawaii Superferry and its Kauai opponents, even though Sen. Gary Hooser has been pushing for some sort of reconciliation process and Jeff Fishman, publisher of LightLine, yesterday sent out a letter to his subscribers urging folks to “slow down with rhetoric and reaction and get up to speed with education of the issues and avoid escalating conflict.”
It’s good advice, as I think few — aside from the media, which thrive on conflict above all else — want to see a showdown between protestors and law enforcement if the ferry returns to Nawiliwili Harbor.
I see a couple of difficulties, however, in resolving the dispute. Aside from the question of Superferry’s sincerity in wanting to pursue ho`oponopono, there’s the issue of who on Kauai would be asked to sit down for peace talks.
Since the protests, especially the actions of jumping in the water to block the ferry, were spontaneous events, it’s not like there’s one group that can speak for all or profess to have any control over the actions of other demonstrators.
And then there’s the issue of Oahu folks continuing to fan the flames of the controversy, as they’ve done from the get-go. Last night’s KGMB News carried a segment on a letter written by Big Island attorney Lanny Sinkin and non-violent activist Jim Albertini that had been picked up by The Surfer’s Path magazine.
The lengthy letter states, in part: “We do not come to convince or discourage. We come only to urge you to follow carefully the last step of non-violent resistance. After you have examined the facts, studied the law, examined your heart and conscience, and decided that action must be taken, the last step is to fully inform yourself of the consequences and make proper arrangements.”
The letter goes on to outline, in what I thought rather chilling detail, the possible legal ramifications of violating the federal “security zone” imposed at the harbor, including prison time, fines and the substantial cost of mounting a defense.
However, those aspects of its message were ignored by the KGMB broadcast, which instead focused on the letter’s comments about “you have to be prepared at the level of the Native American who decided when it was ‘a good day to die.’”
The broadcast also included a comment by state attorney General Mark Bennett, who charged the letter encourages people to break the law, and a statement by special agent Brandon Simpson: "The FBI in collaboration with its partners over at the United States Coast Guard will investigate any threats to the Superferry operation."
Hawaii Reporter's Malia Zimmerman and KSSK talk show hosts Perry and Price also jumped into the fray.
In her post, Zimmerman repeatedly attempted to discount Albertini, who spent a year in federal prison for jumping into the Hilo Harbor to protest the entry of a naval vessel carrying nuclear weapons, as a felon, while Perry and Price dissed the Kahului Harbor Coalition, one of the plaintiffs in the Superferry litigation, for not having a professional website.
Zimmerman even questioned why The Surfer’s path boasts that it uses “non-GMO soy based ink” on recycled paper: “Why does it matter if the product is GMO if isn’t being consumed? Isn’t this taking the whole green thing a little far?”
Apparently Zimmerman and Perry and Price missed the irony of accusing others of engaging in diatribes and inflammatory rhetoric.
My point is that many on Oahu have already made up their minds about the Nawiliwili Harbor protests and Gov. Lingle’s Kauai meeting based on superficial media coverage, which continues unabated, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to change that perception.
Still, Jeff Fishman offers some wise advice about how Kauai folks can proceed in this ongoing controversy:
“Media is limited in its coverage and regardless of the man-made Laws and the process the State and others may have gone through to help get us to where we are now, the blame game is not really going to save Kauai from the irreparable harm that may occur with HSF. Conflict with SWAT teams and Coast Guard officers that are "just doing their job" will not be in anyone's best interest and will further exacerbate the image of our beautiful island and people. Yet, in a way, we are under siege and the pressure from such forces acting upon us causes many to have to release in ways that we might tend to judge, so let's kokua and love more. Hopefully the more self-destructive tendencies will be channeled in more creative and constructive directions in the weeks to come.
“This is a struggle in evolving consciousness, one to be resolved within, more than without. Keep the peace, gather information (Light), send it out (Lines), and let people know what you can about this.”
Yes, education and conscious awareness are perhaps the most effective and enduring bridge-building materials.
I wonder if the same is true with the Hawaii Superferry and its Kauai opponents, even though Sen. Gary Hooser has been pushing for some sort of reconciliation process and Jeff Fishman, publisher of LightLine, yesterday sent out a letter to his subscribers urging folks to “slow down with rhetoric and reaction and get up to speed with education of the issues and avoid escalating conflict.”
It’s good advice, as I think few — aside from the media, which thrive on conflict above all else — want to see a showdown between protestors and law enforcement if the ferry returns to Nawiliwili Harbor.
I see a couple of difficulties, however, in resolving the dispute. Aside from the question of Superferry’s sincerity in wanting to pursue ho`oponopono, there’s the issue of who on Kauai would be asked to sit down for peace talks.
Since the protests, especially the actions of jumping in the water to block the ferry, were spontaneous events, it’s not like there’s one group that can speak for all or profess to have any control over the actions of other demonstrators.
And then there’s the issue of Oahu folks continuing to fan the flames of the controversy, as they’ve done from the get-go. Last night’s KGMB News carried a segment on a letter written by Big Island attorney Lanny Sinkin and non-violent activist Jim Albertini that had been picked up by The Surfer’s Path magazine.
The lengthy letter states, in part: “We do not come to convince or discourage. We come only to urge you to follow carefully the last step of non-violent resistance. After you have examined the facts, studied the law, examined your heart and conscience, and decided that action must be taken, the last step is to fully inform yourself of the consequences and make proper arrangements.”
The letter goes on to outline, in what I thought rather chilling detail, the possible legal ramifications of violating the federal “security zone” imposed at the harbor, including prison time, fines and the substantial cost of mounting a defense.
However, those aspects of its message were ignored by the KGMB broadcast, which instead focused on the letter’s comments about “you have to be prepared at the level of the Native American who decided when it was ‘a good day to die.’”
The broadcast also included a comment by state attorney General Mark Bennett, who charged the letter encourages people to break the law, and a statement by special agent Brandon Simpson: "The FBI in collaboration with its partners over at the United States Coast Guard will investigate any threats to the Superferry operation."
Hawaii Reporter's Malia Zimmerman and KSSK talk show hosts Perry and Price also jumped into the fray.
In her post, Zimmerman repeatedly attempted to discount Albertini, who spent a year in federal prison for jumping into the Hilo Harbor to protest the entry of a naval vessel carrying nuclear weapons, as a felon, while Perry and Price dissed the Kahului Harbor Coalition, one of the plaintiffs in the Superferry litigation, for not having a professional website.
Zimmerman even questioned why The Surfer’s path boasts that it uses “non-GMO soy based ink” on recycled paper: “Why does it matter if the product is GMO if isn’t being consumed? Isn’t this taking the whole green thing a little far?”
Apparently Zimmerman and Perry and Price missed the irony of accusing others of engaging in diatribes and inflammatory rhetoric.
My point is that many on Oahu have already made up their minds about the Nawiliwili Harbor protests and Gov. Lingle’s Kauai meeting based on superficial media coverage, which continues unabated, and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to change that perception.
Still, Jeff Fishman offers some wise advice about how Kauai folks can proceed in this ongoing controversy:
“Media is limited in its coverage and regardless of the man-made Laws and the process the State and others may have gone through to help get us to where we are now, the blame game is not really going to save Kauai from the irreparable harm that may occur with HSF. Conflict with SWAT teams and Coast Guard officers that are "just doing their job" will not be in anyone's best interest and will further exacerbate the image of our beautiful island and people. Yet, in a way, we are under siege and the pressure from such forces acting upon us causes many to have to release in ways that we might tend to judge, so let's kokua and love more. Hopefully the more self-destructive tendencies will be channeled in more creative and constructive directions in the weeks to come.
“This is a struggle in evolving consciousness, one to be resolved within, more than without. Keep the peace, gather information (Light), send it out (Lines), and let people know what you can about this.”
Yes, education and conscious awareness are perhaps the most effective and enduring bridge-building materials.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Musings: Turnstones and Easements
The moon was a no show on this almost sultry morning, but Venus blazed brightly, and though the Sleeping Giant was shrouded in clouds, Waialeale’s full hulking mass was visible through the haze. Mist collected in the pockets of the last rolling pastures that remain on this road, and in one of them, a solitary horse whinnied for companionship.
I think one reason why I enjoy my dawn walks so much is I’m always reminded — visually and viscerally — that the world continually begins anew. Each morning, the day is different, and we are, too. We don’t have to remain stuck in our old ways.
I was at Kauapea Beach with some friends at evening time, astonished that big north swells still hadn’t swept the sand away, and that the sea was flat and the air was warm — almost balmy — despite the November date.
We spotted several flocks of ruddy turnstones and marveled that these small, pretty birds make an annual migration from the Arctic, flying non-stop for a couple of days to winter in the Islands.
What’s going to happen to them when the Arctic loses its ice? I asked, but none of us knew the answer. We could only be certain that such an event would affect all of us humans, too, not just the birds and polar bears.
And then we all drove home, contributing to the global warming that’s melting the ice. I long ago determined that the most insidious aspect of modern material culture is that it forces us all to be complicit in our own destruction. There’s no way of living in the Western world without having a major impact, even if you’re riding a bike and eschewing plastic — a feat that is itself nearly impossible.
All we can do is minimize, and be willing to live with less.
On a positive note, North Shore resident Caren Diamond has been appointed to Kauai County’s Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission. Caren has been very active in many planning issues, especially public access, including a landmark state Supreme Court case that required the Department of Land and Natural Resources to change the way it was approaching shoreline setbacks.
I wrote about Caren’s long struggle in that case, in which one Haena landowner threatened her with a chainsaw, for both Honolulu Weekly (one of their cover stories that is not archived, unfortunately -- hey, mahalo to Larry Geller for finding that story's link!) and the Kauai Island News.
Caren isn’t easily intimidated, knows the process and gets things done. Perhaps now we’ll see the commission — created by the voters in 2002 and funded by a half-percent of the county’s real property taxes — actually do something with the $1.2 million in its coffers to preserve open space and acquire public easements, both mauka and makai.
Of course, we’d have more easements if the county hadn’t let so many go through negligence in filing them in a timely manner, favoritism toward certain developers and worries about maintenance and liability. Once lost, they're always much harder to regain.
I think one reason why I enjoy my dawn walks so much is I’m always reminded — visually and viscerally — that the world continually begins anew. Each morning, the day is different, and we are, too. We don’t have to remain stuck in our old ways.
I was at Kauapea Beach with some friends at evening time, astonished that big north swells still hadn’t swept the sand away, and that the sea was flat and the air was warm — almost balmy — despite the November date.
We spotted several flocks of ruddy turnstones and marveled that these small, pretty birds make an annual migration from the Arctic, flying non-stop for a couple of days to winter in the Islands.
What’s going to happen to them when the Arctic loses its ice? I asked, but none of us knew the answer. We could only be certain that such an event would affect all of us humans, too, not just the birds and polar bears.
And then we all drove home, contributing to the global warming that’s melting the ice. I long ago determined that the most insidious aspect of modern material culture is that it forces us all to be complicit in our own destruction. There’s no way of living in the Western world without having a major impact, even if you’re riding a bike and eschewing plastic — a feat that is itself nearly impossible.
All we can do is minimize, and be willing to live with less.
On a positive note, North Shore resident Caren Diamond has been appointed to Kauai County’s Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission. Caren has been very active in many planning issues, especially public access, including a landmark state Supreme Court case that required the Department of Land and Natural Resources to change the way it was approaching shoreline setbacks.
I wrote about Caren’s long struggle in that case, in which one Haena landowner threatened her with a chainsaw, for both Honolulu Weekly (one of their cover stories that is not archived, unfortunately -- hey, mahalo to Larry Geller for finding that story's link!) and the Kauai Island News.
Caren isn’t easily intimidated, knows the process and gets things done. Perhaps now we’ll see the commission — created by the voters in 2002 and funded by a half-percent of the county’s real property taxes — actually do something with the $1.2 million in its coffers to preserve open space and acquire public easements, both mauka and makai.
Of course, we’d have more easements if the county hadn’t let so many go through negligence in filing them in a timely manner, favoritism toward certain developers and worries about maintenance and liability. Once lost, they're always much harder to regain.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Couple of Updates
Maui Judge John Cordova will hear motions filed by the state and Hawaii Superferry to dissolve the injunction that prohibits the vessel from entering Kahului Harbor at 8 a.m. Nov. 13. (Another correction: It's Nov. 14. And I'm reminded not to do three things at once....) Although the judge noted that such requests typically are heard within 18 days, he agreed to expedite the hearing. But "in attempting to balance," he allowed attorney Isaac Hall to file his motion in opposition on Nov. 13, thus giving him more time to prepare.
Hall, representing the Sierra Club, Maui Tomorrow and others, objected to expediting the hearing, saying: "The Superferry wants to rush through everything."
But a deputy state attorney general (Correction: it was Attorney General Mark Bennett) said: "The real motive of Mr. Hall is he wants the Superferry to die the death of a thousand cuts," in hopes that delaying service will force the company out of business.
In other news, Lt. Mark Begley, a 16-year veteran of the force, has been named Kauai's new deputy police chief. It'll be interesting to see what changes — if any — occur in the beleagured department under the leadership of Begley and new Chief Darryl Perry.
Hall, representing the Sierra Club, Maui Tomorrow and others, objected to expediting the hearing, saying: "The Superferry wants to rush through everything."
But a deputy state attorney general (Correction: it was Attorney General Mark Bennett) said: "The real motive of Mr. Hall is he wants the Superferry to die the death of a thousand cuts," in hopes that delaying service will force the company out of business.
In other news, Lt. Mark Begley, a 16-year veteran of the force, has been named Kauai's new deputy police chief. It'll be interesting to see what changes — if any — occur in the beleagured department under the leadership of Begley and new Chief Darryl Perry.
Musings: Whales as Commodities
The moon had barely risen when Koko and I set out this morning, and its sliver of light illuminated itself, but little else. It was so dark we had to walk by instinct, but the stars were exquisite and we encountered no one and nothing, save for a black cat. The only sounds were our footsteps, crickets chirping, the screech of owls hunting and madly crowing roosters.
Talked to Don Heacock, Kauai’s state aquatic biologist last night. He had a 250-pound turtle in the back of his truck, its shell split from an encounter with a boat in Nawiliwili Harbor.
He retrieves them regularly, “but no, we don’t have any problem with boats and marine animals in this state,” he noted sarcastically. Needless to say, Don is no fan of the Superferry.
The attitude of many, including the guv, seems to be that animals are already dying, so what’s the big deal about adding Superferry carnage to the mix?
People still haven’t grasped the reality that the health and integrity of each and every species and ecosystem directly impacts the human condition, too. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re all connected.
It seems quite likely that a high-speed ferry is going to contribute to the death toll of the critters — some of them endangered — that live in the sea. Gov. Lingle’s operating conditions for the ferry do little to address that issue; indeed, she’s conceded in numerous newspaper articles that lethal encounters between boats and whales are just a way of life in Hawaii.
It’s the kind of ethnocentric attitude one would expect from a governor who views natural resources as “commodities,” and puts the interests of business first.
Yes, collisions do occur, but why worsen the situation? And why not be progressive and take steps to alleviate such encounters?
Don noted that Alaska recently passed legislation limiting the maximum speed of cruise ships to 11 knots specifically to protect whales. With the Superferry traveling at 35 knots “these animals won’t even know what hit them,” he said. "They haven't evolved to get out of the way of something moving that fast."
Lingle’s conditions require the ferry to slow only to 25 knots within the Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary — a birthing and nursing ground for these endangered animals — if it decides it needs to go into that protected area “in the interest of passenger safety or comfort."
She also says two lookouts should be posted on the boat — the same bogus strategy employed by the Navy in its sonar operations. Given that the USS Greenville, with its sophisticated radar and visual inspections, didn’t detect the Ehime Maru fishing boat until it was surfacing beneath it, I don’t have much confidence that spotters will see whales in time to avoid them. And what about turtles and endangered monk seals?
Marine animal deaths aside, the biggest problem I have with Lingle’s conditions is enforcement. Presumably, that burden will fall upon state conservation officers and the Department of Ag, both of which are already stretched to the limit.
Maui DOCARE guys pointed this out when the Senate committee chairs came to visit, and asked for more help to do their job. But their concerns were not addressed. Instead Lingle has just given them more to do, without any increase in resources to do it.
So don’t be surprised if the Superferry conditions get the same sporadic enforcement as other conservation rules within the state.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Navy vessels account for most of the reported whale collisions. In light of the Navy’s plans to ramp up its RIMPAC exercises and other training programs in the state, more such mortalities are likely.
If you’d like to learn about what the Navy has planned for Hawaii — with most of its emphasis on Kauai’s PMRF — check out my Honolulu Weekly article, which was just posted on line today.
And last but not least, Poinography! offers some interesting strategies for civil disobedience against the Superferry. As a lawyer friend once said, chaos is good; organized chaos is better.
Talked to Don Heacock, Kauai’s state aquatic biologist last night. He had a 250-pound turtle in the back of his truck, its shell split from an encounter with a boat in Nawiliwili Harbor.
He retrieves them regularly, “but no, we don’t have any problem with boats and marine animals in this state,” he noted sarcastically. Needless to say, Don is no fan of the Superferry.
The attitude of many, including the guv, seems to be that animals are already dying, so what’s the big deal about adding Superferry carnage to the mix?
People still haven’t grasped the reality that the health and integrity of each and every species and ecosystem directly impacts the human condition, too. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re all connected.
It seems quite likely that a high-speed ferry is going to contribute to the death toll of the critters — some of them endangered — that live in the sea. Gov. Lingle’s operating conditions for the ferry do little to address that issue; indeed, she’s conceded in numerous newspaper articles that lethal encounters between boats and whales are just a way of life in Hawaii.
It’s the kind of ethnocentric attitude one would expect from a governor who views natural resources as “commodities,” and puts the interests of business first.
Yes, collisions do occur, but why worsen the situation? And why not be progressive and take steps to alleviate such encounters?
Don noted that Alaska recently passed legislation limiting the maximum speed of cruise ships to 11 knots specifically to protect whales. With the Superferry traveling at 35 knots “these animals won’t even know what hit them,” he said. "They haven't evolved to get out of the way of something moving that fast."
Lingle’s conditions require the ferry to slow only to 25 knots within the Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary — a birthing and nursing ground for these endangered animals — if it decides it needs to go into that protected area “in the interest of passenger safety or comfort."
She also says two lookouts should be posted on the boat — the same bogus strategy employed by the Navy in its sonar operations. Given that the USS Greenville, with its sophisticated radar and visual inspections, didn’t detect the Ehime Maru fishing boat until it was surfacing beneath it, I don’t have much confidence that spotters will see whales in time to avoid them. And what about turtles and endangered monk seals?
Marine animal deaths aside, the biggest problem I have with Lingle’s conditions is enforcement. Presumably, that burden will fall upon state conservation officers and the Department of Ag, both of which are already stretched to the limit.
Maui DOCARE guys pointed this out when the Senate committee chairs came to visit, and asked for more help to do their job. But their concerns were not addressed. Instead Lingle has just given them more to do, without any increase in resources to do it.
So don’t be surprised if the Superferry conditions get the same sporadic enforcement as other conservation rules within the state.
Finally, it’s worth noting that Navy vessels account for most of the reported whale collisions. In light of the Navy’s plans to ramp up its RIMPAC exercises and other training programs in the state, more such mortalities are likely.
If you’d like to learn about what the Navy has planned for Hawaii — with most of its emphasis on Kauai’s PMRF — check out my Honolulu Weekly article, which was just posted on line today.
And last but not least, Poinography! offers some interesting strategies for civil disobedience against the Superferry. As a lawyer friend once said, chaos is good; organized chaos is better.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Musings: War or Peace?
As I watched the sunrise this morning, I recalled something my father used to say: “Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.” Given the crimson and purple streaks on the eastern horizon, it seems more unsettled weather is ahead.
The same can be said for the Superferry’s return to Kauai. An Advertiser article today includes more of the contradictions that have come to characterize official discussions about the vessel’s return.
It leads with this comment from Coast Guard Lt. John Titchen on preparations for a heightened response to enforce the federal “security zone” imposed at Nawiliwili Harbor:
"It is likely that we will use the best response platforms that we have. We may include small boats from assets on the Mainland," Titchen said. "We'll have to assess the situation, and our goal here is to mitigate any confrontation, to not exacerbate the situation."
And it ends with this comment from Superferry flack Brooke Wilson, of McNeil-Wilson Communications:
Superferry spokeswoman Wilson said company officials have plans for outreach efforts on Maui and Kaua'i, and "we're definitely open to ho'oponopono with some of the people who have opposed Superferry over the last few months."
So which will it be? Massing an army, or ho’oponopono? I’m not an expert on either, but it seems that if one is serious about reconciliation, then one does not go about preparing for war. And if one is serious about mitigating confrontations, one does not exaxcerbate the situation by bringing in more forces.
Sen. Gary Hooser caught on to that point, noting: "I don't believe healing rifts ... or repairing the community damage, I don't believe that's going to come from arresting people or increasing police presence. I don't think that's the answer."
Since the security zone was created solely for Superferry — perhaps even at its behest, via Gov. Lingle — it seems the corporation could ask for it to be eased. The question now is whether Superferry will push the situation, like it did in August, or take some time to resolve differences.
In other words, does the company really mean what it says about ho`oponopono, or is that just PR window dressing?
I have to head up to Hanalei for an interview soon, so I don’t have time to get into Lingle’s operating conditions for the ferry in today’s post.
However, one thing has me puzzled. According to the Advertiser, Lingle still hasn’t signed the Superferry bailout bill. Yet a Poinography! post says it was done on Friday. Which is it? And why the confusion?
The same can be said for the Superferry’s return to Kauai. An Advertiser article today includes more of the contradictions that have come to characterize official discussions about the vessel’s return.
It leads with this comment from Coast Guard Lt. John Titchen on preparations for a heightened response to enforce the federal “security zone” imposed at Nawiliwili Harbor:
"It is likely that we will use the best response platforms that we have. We may include small boats from assets on the Mainland," Titchen said. "We'll have to assess the situation, and our goal here is to mitigate any confrontation, to not exacerbate the situation."
And it ends with this comment from Superferry flack Brooke Wilson, of McNeil-Wilson Communications:
Superferry spokeswoman Wilson said company officials have plans for outreach efforts on Maui and Kaua'i, and "we're definitely open to ho'oponopono with some of the people who have opposed Superferry over the last few months."
So which will it be? Massing an army, or ho’oponopono? I’m not an expert on either, but it seems that if one is serious about reconciliation, then one does not go about preparing for war. And if one is serious about mitigating confrontations, one does not exaxcerbate the situation by bringing in more forces.
Sen. Gary Hooser caught on to that point, noting: "I don't believe healing rifts ... or repairing the community damage, I don't believe that's going to come from arresting people or increasing police presence. I don't think that's the answer."
Since the security zone was created solely for Superferry — perhaps even at its behest, via Gov. Lingle — it seems the corporation could ask for it to be eased. The question now is whether Superferry will push the situation, like it did in August, or take some time to resolve differences.
In other words, does the company really mean what it says about ho`oponopono, or is that just PR window dressing?
I have to head up to Hanalei for an interview soon, so I don’t have time to get into Lingle’s operating conditions for the ferry in today’s post.
However, one thing has me puzzled. According to the Advertiser, Lingle still hasn’t signed the Superferry bailout bill. Yet a Poinography! post says it was done on Friday. Which is it? And why the confusion?
Monday, November 5, 2007
Musings: Under Pressure
Brilliant Venus sidled up to a luminous slice of moon and Waialeale shrugged off a light shawl of clouds as Koko and I walked fast to stay warm in the chill of early morning. Drops from last night’s rain still clung to pasture gates, tree limbs, spider webs.
As I returned home, the sun struggled to emerge from a dense bank of clouds, briefly tinting it apricot, pink and gold, before fading to gray.
Ran into Andy and his pack of dogs, and we both expressed a bit of guilt about not attending yesterday’s Nawiliwili Ti Party demonstration against the Superferry.
But it sounds like they had a pretty good turnout, from the account in today’s Garden Island.
My hat is off to the folks who did gather in the water to show opposition to the federal security zone, which will prevent such access when the ferry starts running.
I wouldn’t ever want to swim at Nawiliwili Harbor, especially after a couple of days of heavy rain. Unfortunately, it’s yet another one of Kauai’s bays that all too often has unacceptably high levels of fecal bacteria, plus it’s also polluted with fuel from the boats and all kinds of crap that the steams — those that aren’t diverted to Waita Reservoir, anyway — pick up while winding their way through Grove Farm’s urbanization.
I was struck by one reported quote that had Timoteo Rysdale of Wailua saying: “The reason people live here is specifically to not be connected.”
While I’m sure his sentiment is not universal on Kauai, it does explain a lot of the opposition and point out the fallacy of Rep. Joe Souki’s claim that Supeferry will be “the glue” that binds the islands together.
Who ever said we want to be glued together, and why would that necessarily be a good thing?
I did get a giggle from a comment — “Hurry up, I want to unite the islands” — posted by “King Kamehameha” on an Advertiser story yesterday.
However, a report in today’s Star-Bulletin is no laughing matter:
“Asked why the Legislature returned to write a law especially designed to allow the ferry to sail, [Rep. Calvin] Say said it was public pressure and fears about the state's anti-business reputation.
‘There was a campaign by the media -- the surveys, the radio talk shows and also the negative statements that we are really so anti-business,’ Say said in an interview.
Also, Say said he and Senate President Colleen Hanabusa feared that the state would be liable if the Superferry sued because the state had given the ferry the needed approvals.”
So bogus surveys, coupled with hyperbolic, racist, inflammatory Oahu talk shows, Superferry’s own PR blitz and a bad decision by the Lingle Administration are all it took to turn our lawmakers into a bunch of cowering fools willing to throw the rule of law out the window?
Auwe! Things are much worse than I thought.
As I returned home, the sun struggled to emerge from a dense bank of clouds, briefly tinting it apricot, pink and gold, before fading to gray.
Ran into Andy and his pack of dogs, and we both expressed a bit of guilt about not attending yesterday’s Nawiliwili Ti Party demonstration against the Superferry.
But it sounds like they had a pretty good turnout, from the account in today’s Garden Island.
My hat is off to the folks who did gather in the water to show opposition to the federal security zone, which will prevent such access when the ferry starts running.
I wouldn’t ever want to swim at Nawiliwili Harbor, especially after a couple of days of heavy rain. Unfortunately, it’s yet another one of Kauai’s bays that all too often has unacceptably high levels of fecal bacteria, plus it’s also polluted with fuel from the boats and all kinds of crap that the steams — those that aren’t diverted to Waita Reservoir, anyway — pick up while winding their way through Grove Farm’s urbanization.
I was struck by one reported quote that had Timoteo Rysdale of Wailua saying: “The reason people live here is specifically to not be connected.”
While I’m sure his sentiment is not universal on Kauai, it does explain a lot of the opposition and point out the fallacy of Rep. Joe Souki’s claim that Supeferry will be “the glue” that binds the islands together.
Who ever said we want to be glued together, and why would that necessarily be a good thing?
I did get a giggle from a comment — “Hurry up, I want to unite the islands” — posted by “King Kamehameha” on an Advertiser story yesterday.
However, a report in today’s Star-Bulletin is no laughing matter:
“Asked why the Legislature returned to write a law especially designed to allow the ferry to sail, [Rep. Calvin] Say said it was public pressure and fears about the state's anti-business reputation.
‘There was a campaign by the media -- the surveys, the radio talk shows and also the negative statements that we are really so anti-business,’ Say said in an interview.
Also, Say said he and Senate President Colleen Hanabusa feared that the state would be liable if the Superferry sued because the state had given the ferry the needed approvals.”
So bogus surveys, coupled with hyperbolic, racist, inflammatory Oahu talk shows, Superferry’s own PR blitz and a bad decision by the Lingle Administration are all it took to turn our lawmakers into a bunch of cowering fools willing to throw the rule of law out the window?
Auwe! Things are much worse than I thought.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Musings: Growthmania
It’s been wonderful to have this rain. I can literally see the plants rejoicing. Had the thrill of a little lightening show last night, too, as flashes illuminated clouds in both the eastern and northwest skies.
Spent several hours yesterday cleaning and cooking taro, then peeling and grinding it into poi in a Champion juicer. My friend Kaimi and I used to show kids how to pound poi the old fashioned way when we ran the educational program at a taro farm in Hanalei, but this was my first venture with a juicer. It worked really well, and now I’ve got fresh poi to share around.
As I processed the taro, listening to Country Comfort, Gabby, Olomana and the rain, I thought of how much our eating habits have changed since I was a kid. Cooking from scratch is almost an anomaly these days, as is cooking in a group, and so much of what we eat is heavily processed garbage imported from elsewhere.
I’ve been making a concerted effort to eat locally, as I think that is one cornerstone of sustainable living. I read the other day that Kauai cattlemen are shipping beef off-island because they don’t have a big enough market here on-island. Yet even locally-owned grocery stores like Big Save sell only mainland beef.
It seems to me that mainland and local beef is competitively priced, and the local meat, which is pasture fed rather than raised in those disgusting factory farm/feed lot set ups, has a far superior taste. It’s healthier, too, since it’s not so fatty.
Yesterday’s post about the fallacies of our endless growth approach to economics generated a comment from blogger Aaron Stene challenging me, and others who complain about over-development, “to look in mirror (sic) and come up with alternatives to the current unsustainable economic forces.”
OK, eating locally, and learning to like what can be grown easily in your own community, is one. But the most important first step is to change your consciousness, starting with the idea that growth is inevitable and good.
I became interested in ecology and environmental economics some 30 years ago when I was fortunate to have some akamai college professors. One of the most influential books I read is “Toward a Steady-State Economy,” edited by Herman Daly.
I pulled it off the shelf last night and found it’s just as cogent and applicable today as when I first read it. In future posts, I’ll share more from it, but let’s start with this, from an essay by Herman Daly:
“’Growthmania” is an insufficiently pejorative term for the paradigm or mind-set that always puts growth in first place — the attitude that there is no such thing as enough, that cannot conceive of too much of a good thing.
“Growthmania is the attitude in economic theory that begins with the theological assumption of infinite wants, and then with infinite hubris goes on to presume that the original sin of infinite wants has its redemption vouchsafed by the omnipotent savior of technology, and that the first commandment is to produce more and more goods for more and more people, world without end. And that this is not only possible, but desirable.
“The growth paradigm has outlived its usefulness. It is a senile ideology that should be unceremoniously retired into the history of economic doctrines…. What will the new paradigm be? This idea is that of the steady state economy.
“The world is finite, the ecosystem is a steady state. The human economy is a subsystem of the steady-state ecosystem. Therefore at some level and over some time period the subsystem must also become a steady state, at least in its physical dimensions of people and physical wealth.
“Such a policy is radical, but less radical than attempting the impossible, i.e., growing forever.”
Spent several hours yesterday cleaning and cooking taro, then peeling and grinding it into poi in a Champion juicer. My friend Kaimi and I used to show kids how to pound poi the old fashioned way when we ran the educational program at a taro farm in Hanalei, but this was my first venture with a juicer. It worked really well, and now I’ve got fresh poi to share around.
As I processed the taro, listening to Country Comfort, Gabby, Olomana and the rain, I thought of how much our eating habits have changed since I was a kid. Cooking from scratch is almost an anomaly these days, as is cooking in a group, and so much of what we eat is heavily processed garbage imported from elsewhere.
I’ve been making a concerted effort to eat locally, as I think that is one cornerstone of sustainable living. I read the other day that Kauai cattlemen are shipping beef off-island because they don’t have a big enough market here on-island. Yet even locally-owned grocery stores like Big Save sell only mainland beef.
It seems to me that mainland and local beef is competitively priced, and the local meat, which is pasture fed rather than raised in those disgusting factory farm/feed lot set ups, has a far superior taste. It’s healthier, too, since it’s not so fatty.
Yesterday’s post about the fallacies of our endless growth approach to economics generated a comment from blogger Aaron Stene challenging me, and others who complain about over-development, “to look in mirror (sic) and come up with alternatives to the current unsustainable economic forces.”
OK, eating locally, and learning to like what can be grown easily in your own community, is one. But the most important first step is to change your consciousness, starting with the idea that growth is inevitable and good.
I became interested in ecology and environmental economics some 30 years ago when I was fortunate to have some akamai college professors. One of the most influential books I read is “Toward a Steady-State Economy,” edited by Herman Daly.
I pulled it off the shelf last night and found it’s just as cogent and applicable today as when I first read it. In future posts, I’ll share more from it, but let’s start with this, from an essay by Herman Daly:
“’Growthmania” is an insufficiently pejorative term for the paradigm or mind-set that always puts growth in first place — the attitude that there is no such thing as enough, that cannot conceive of too much of a good thing.
“Growthmania is the attitude in economic theory that begins with the theological assumption of infinite wants, and then with infinite hubris goes on to presume that the original sin of infinite wants has its redemption vouchsafed by the omnipotent savior of technology, and that the first commandment is to produce more and more goods for more and more people, world without end. And that this is not only possible, but desirable.
“The growth paradigm has outlived its usefulness. It is a senile ideology that should be unceremoniously retired into the history of economic doctrines…. What will the new paradigm be? This idea is that of the steady state economy.
“The world is finite, the ecosystem is a steady state. The human economy is a subsystem of the steady-state ecosystem. Therefore at some level and over some time period the subsystem must also become a steady state, at least in its physical dimensions of people and physical wealth.
“Such a policy is radical, but less radical than attempting the impossible, i.e., growing forever.”
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Musings: Going, Going, Gone
It was hard to walk this morning because I kept looking up — at the waning moon, Orion, Makalii, Venus, Arcturus, the Big Dipper , a sky chock full of stars and constellations. The dew was thick and the air was downright cold. Winter, Kauai-style, is here.
Ever since I was on the HPR program the other day, I’ve been thinking of one Hawaiian woman who broke into tears during her call as she recounted the many places on Oahu lost to fences, development, other people.
I felt like crying myself, just listening to her, and I’m sure others did, too. There’s a lot of grieving going on in Hawaii, both for what has been lost, and what is still going, going, gone.
As a friend, born and raised in Kilauea and now deceased, once told me: everybody comes here with their ideas of what Hawaii could be, and the locals just mourn what was.
A recent post on the Poinography! blog included floor comments by Rep. Caldwell in favor of the Superferry bailout bill, in which he noted: “Whether you agree with him or not, Maui Council Chair Riki Hokama summed it up this way in Monday’s House hearing: “When are we saying enough is enough?” and “Who are we building for?”
On Kauai, aside from bit of affordable housing required under resort project approval, we’re primarily building for people who don’t live here.
In Princeville, a massive new hotel and rows of condos all alike are springing up to cater to the timeshare visitor trade, while in Koloa, some 3,000 units are underway, geared to the second home/vacation rental market.
Our agricultural lands are being consumed for lavish gentleman estates, and our coastal bluffs are crowned with mansions. Only two wild beaches — and by that I mean those unmarred by human development — remain on the North Shore, and I won’t name them here, because to use the words of writer Brian Doyle, whatever we look at, we destroy.
In nearly all these newly constructed dwellings, the lights are on — both inside the houses and illuminating the landscaping — but no one’s home, because the owners don’t live here. And many of them never will because they look at these houses as investments, spec properties they’ll spin when the market is right, not homes in a larger community.
Sure, these projects provide construction jobs now, which are often filled by imported workers because the local labor force is maxed out, and later they’ll generate more employment for those who clean the yards and homes.
But we don’t need more of this kind of employment, just like we don’t need more super-sized houses or folks who move here solely for the lifestyle and climate and are dismissive of the land and culture — people who contribute nothing to the community and indeed, often hold themselves apart.
And we definitely don’t need more Hawaiians crying and locals leaving because they no longer have or can afford a place in their own home.
What we do need is to ask, and answer with honesty: when are we going to say, enough is enough, and who are we building for?
Because it's a myth that the destruction is inevitable, and that we have to go on this way.
Ever since I was on the HPR program the other day, I’ve been thinking of one Hawaiian woman who broke into tears during her call as she recounted the many places on Oahu lost to fences, development, other people.
I felt like crying myself, just listening to her, and I’m sure others did, too. There’s a lot of grieving going on in Hawaii, both for what has been lost, and what is still going, going, gone.
As a friend, born and raised in Kilauea and now deceased, once told me: everybody comes here with their ideas of what Hawaii could be, and the locals just mourn what was.
A recent post on the Poinography! blog included floor comments by Rep. Caldwell in favor of the Superferry bailout bill, in which he noted: “Whether you agree with him or not, Maui Council Chair Riki Hokama summed it up this way in Monday’s House hearing: “When are we saying enough is enough?” and “Who are we building for?”
On Kauai, aside from bit of affordable housing required under resort project approval, we’re primarily building for people who don’t live here.
In Princeville, a massive new hotel and rows of condos all alike are springing up to cater to the timeshare visitor trade, while in Koloa, some 3,000 units are underway, geared to the second home/vacation rental market.
Our agricultural lands are being consumed for lavish gentleman estates, and our coastal bluffs are crowned with mansions. Only two wild beaches — and by that I mean those unmarred by human development — remain on the North Shore, and I won’t name them here, because to use the words of writer Brian Doyle, whatever we look at, we destroy.
In nearly all these newly constructed dwellings, the lights are on — both inside the houses and illuminating the landscaping — but no one’s home, because the owners don’t live here. And many of them never will because they look at these houses as investments, spec properties they’ll spin when the market is right, not homes in a larger community.
Sure, these projects provide construction jobs now, which are often filled by imported workers because the local labor force is maxed out, and later they’ll generate more employment for those who clean the yards and homes.
But we don’t need more of this kind of employment, just like we don’t need more super-sized houses or folks who move here solely for the lifestyle and climate and are dismissive of the land and culture — people who contribute nothing to the community and indeed, often hold themselves apart.
And we definitely don’t need more Hawaiians crying and locals leaving because they no longer have or can afford a place in their own home.
What we do need is to ask, and answer with honesty: when are we going to say, enough is enough, and who are we building for?
Because it's a myth that the destruction is inevitable, and that we have to go on this way.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Musings: Mending Fences
All the celestial bodies were obscured when Koko and I set out this morning, but still there was enough light to showcase flat-topped Waialeale, up to its neck in clouds.
By the end of our walk, which included pleasant exchanges with farmer Jerry, who stopped on his way to work with a tip for this blog, and my neighbor Andy, who was walking four dogs, the clouds had all piled up in the mountains, clearing the way for a pink and gold sunrise.
I’ve been thinking about whether it’s possible for Hawaii Superferry, Gov. Linda Lingle and folks here on Kauai to have more pleasant exchanges than we have in the past.
On last evening’s “Town Square” radio program, Sen. Gary Hooser noted he has urged HSF to engage in third-party dispute resolution with the people of Kauai, perhaps with the help of the Sen. Spark Matsunaga Peace Institute.
It’s a good idea, but Big Island journalist Hunter Bishop, another guest on the show, expressed some skepticism that Superferry would participate, asking what incentive it had for doing so.
The company could be motivated by economic concerns; after all, it’s not such great publicity to have your ship greeted with angry hordes and SWAT teams, and one Oahu caller wondered whether it was safe to travel on the vessel.
But even though Senate President Colleen Hanabusa also urged Superferry to mend fences with the Neighbor Islands, it’s difficult to know from the company’s public comments whether it will be motivated to take such steps now that it’s gotten the yellow light to go.
On the one hand, we have Tig Krekel, the vice chairman of J.F. Lehman & Co., the Superferry's main investor. When asked by the Advertiser how the company planned to handle resistance on the Neighbor Islands, he responded:
"Do not confuse a very loud minority with speaking for all the people of Kauai. We have received countless communications from Kauai residents about how embarrassed they are and that the loud minority of activists, not environmentalists — but activists — do not speak for them.
"So we're hopeful that that situation will calm down."
And on the other, we have this Advertiser report:
John Garibaldi, Superferry's president and chief executive officer, said executives would do community outreach on Maui and Kaua'i to address some of the intense feelings against the project that have surfaced in the two months since the state Supreme Court ruled an environmental review was necessary.
"I hope they would give us a chance," Garibaldi said of the critics. "I think it's something that if they look to all the work that has been done, the leadership we have done — and they take the time to understand that — that we are very, very caring about the environment.
"That's been a concern about us, but we're a group of individuals who started this company who live here in Hawai'i. So we care as much about the environment, about the way of life, about Hawai'i, as they do. And hopefully, together we can open communications, frank discussions, and come to an understanding that maybe not everyone is happy with but allows us to provide this service."
They haven’t asked my advice, but if they did, I’d tell Tig he’d best not hope things will calm down on their own, and it’s a mistake to underestimate the size and determination of the opposition on Kauai.
Then I’d tell John to drop the BS and the platitudes. If the company was truly “very, very caring about the environment,” it would have done the EIS from the get-go, rather than lobby hard to weasel out of it. And if it really wanted to have open communications and frank discussions, it would have sat down with the Neighbor Islanders and had that chat a long time ago.
The Advertiser also reports today:
Lingle said she believes she can help bring people together on Superferry but could use some help. She said she plans to be on Maui and Kaua'i — where protesters against Superferry have been organizing — in the coming month.
"I think I have a very important role to play, anytime there's a leadership issue for the community," she said.
But she added: "I think the faith-based community is also very important here."
Lingle also said she believes harbor security has been improved since protesters on Kaua'i blocked the ferry from Nawiliwili Harbor in August. "I'm certain that the Coast Guard will be properly prepared in both places," she said.
Again, Lingle didn’t seek my counsel, but I would tell her she is definitely NOT the one to bring people together on this issue, since she played such a prominent role in tearing them apart. And so long as she’s still talking about harbor security — aka “Unified Command” crackdown — she is not going to get a warm welcome from those who need soothing.
Perhaps she should time her visit to Kauai to coincide with the Superferry’s arrival, so she can assess the situation for herself — and call off her dogs if they start to get vicious.
Gary made another good point when he said Lingle and Superferry need to acknowledge that “things have gone wrong.”
Saying “I’m sorry” won’t mend all the rifts, but it could start the healing process. So far, however, Lingle has refused to acknowledge that she or her Administration made any mistakes in this debacle.
If she fancies herself a good leader, perhaps she could begin by showing some accountability and humility. Otherwise, I’m sorry to say, she’s likely to be met with more heckling and boos on Kauai — unless she carefully chooses her audience in the manner of President Bush.
By the end of our walk, which included pleasant exchanges with farmer Jerry, who stopped on his way to work with a tip for this blog, and my neighbor Andy, who was walking four dogs, the clouds had all piled up in the mountains, clearing the way for a pink and gold sunrise.
I’ve been thinking about whether it’s possible for Hawaii Superferry, Gov. Linda Lingle and folks here on Kauai to have more pleasant exchanges than we have in the past.
On last evening’s “Town Square” radio program, Sen. Gary Hooser noted he has urged HSF to engage in third-party dispute resolution with the people of Kauai, perhaps with the help of the Sen. Spark Matsunaga Peace Institute.
It’s a good idea, but Big Island journalist Hunter Bishop, another guest on the show, expressed some skepticism that Superferry would participate, asking what incentive it had for doing so.
The company could be motivated by economic concerns; after all, it’s not such great publicity to have your ship greeted with angry hordes and SWAT teams, and one Oahu caller wondered whether it was safe to travel on the vessel.
But even though Senate President Colleen Hanabusa also urged Superferry to mend fences with the Neighbor Islands, it’s difficult to know from the company’s public comments whether it will be motivated to take such steps now that it’s gotten the yellow light to go.
On the one hand, we have Tig Krekel, the vice chairman of J.F. Lehman & Co., the Superferry's main investor. When asked by the Advertiser how the company planned to handle resistance on the Neighbor Islands, he responded:
"Do not confuse a very loud minority with speaking for all the people of Kauai. We have received countless communications from Kauai residents about how embarrassed they are and that the loud minority of activists, not environmentalists — but activists — do not speak for them.
"So we're hopeful that that situation will calm down."
And on the other, we have this Advertiser report:
John Garibaldi, Superferry's president and chief executive officer, said executives would do community outreach on Maui and Kaua'i to address some of the intense feelings against the project that have surfaced in the two months since the state Supreme Court ruled an environmental review was necessary.
"I hope they would give us a chance," Garibaldi said of the critics. "I think it's something that if they look to all the work that has been done, the leadership we have done — and they take the time to understand that — that we are very, very caring about the environment.
"That's been a concern about us, but we're a group of individuals who started this company who live here in Hawai'i. So we care as much about the environment, about the way of life, about Hawai'i, as they do. And hopefully, together we can open communications, frank discussions, and come to an understanding that maybe not everyone is happy with but allows us to provide this service."
They haven’t asked my advice, but if they did, I’d tell Tig he’d best not hope things will calm down on their own, and it’s a mistake to underestimate the size and determination of the opposition on Kauai.
Then I’d tell John to drop the BS and the platitudes. If the company was truly “very, very caring about the environment,” it would have done the EIS from the get-go, rather than lobby hard to weasel out of it. And if it really wanted to have open communications and frank discussions, it would have sat down with the Neighbor Islanders and had that chat a long time ago.
The Advertiser also reports today:
Lingle said she believes she can help bring people together on Superferry but could use some help. She said she plans to be on Maui and Kaua'i — where protesters against Superferry have been organizing — in the coming month.
"I think I have a very important role to play, anytime there's a leadership issue for the community," she said.
But she added: "I think the faith-based community is also very important here."
Lingle also said she believes harbor security has been improved since protesters on Kaua'i blocked the ferry from Nawiliwili Harbor in August. "I'm certain that the Coast Guard will be properly prepared in both places," she said.
Again, Lingle didn’t seek my counsel, but I would tell her she is definitely NOT the one to bring people together on this issue, since she played such a prominent role in tearing them apart. And so long as she’s still talking about harbor security — aka “Unified Command” crackdown — she is not going to get a warm welcome from those who need soothing.
Perhaps she should time her visit to Kauai to coincide with the Superferry’s arrival, so she can assess the situation for herself — and call off her dogs if they start to get vicious.
Gary made another good point when he said Lingle and Superferry need to acknowledge that “things have gone wrong.”
Saying “I’m sorry” won’t mend all the rifts, but it could start the healing process. So far, however, Lingle has refused to acknowledge that she or her Administration made any mistakes in this debacle.
If she fancies herself a good leader, perhaps she could begin by showing some accountability and humility. Otherwise, I’m sorry to say, she’s likely to be met with more heckling and boos on Kauai — unless she carefully chooses her audience in the manner of President Bush.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Musings: What's Really at Stake
Awoke this morning to the lingering scent of burning pumpkin. Outside, the street was black and shiny with rain; the sky was black and shiny with stars, Orion’s belt among them. Overhead, a perfect half moon persisted, even as dawn brought light to the sky.
Ran into my neighbor Andy on my walk, but we couldn’t chat long because he was being pulled along by his daughter’s dog, which was rarin’ to go — much the same way the state Legislature was pulled along by Gov. Lingle and the Superferry, both rarin’ to go.
Now that the Legislature has passed the bill that allows the ferry to run, all that remains is for the governor to come up with some operating conditions. Within two weeks, the ferry could be ready to sail.
That’s worrisome enough for many Neighbor Islanders. But even more disturbing for the state as a whole is what will be left in Superferry’s wake.
I was troubled to read that a number of Senators had deep reservations about going into special session to pay off what is essentially a gambling debt incurred by Lingle and Superferry investors, but they went along with the bailout bill because so many people want the ferry.
And that’s precisely what’s so insidious and distressing about this whole Superferry scenario. Yes, politicians are supposed to be responsive to their constituents, but the reason we follow the rule of law is to avoid mob rule.
In the case of the Superferry, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled an environmental assessment was needed before the vessel could operate. That’s the interpretation of state law handed down by an impartial panel of judges appointed to provide precisely that service.
The danger arises when someone like the governor decides she doesn’t like that ruling and then sets out to achieve a different outcome, supported by a crowd whose opinion has been formed by a slick, misleading, corporate-funded PR campaign and media coverage that is skewed and largely superficial.
The result is essentially mob rule, even if it’s executed under the seeming civility of legislative proceedings, and an emasculation of a court system whose purpose is to avoid precisely this sort of public hysteria and political favoritism.
I urge you to read this commentary by Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon, which eloquently expresses the value of maintaining and respecting an independent judiciary, using the infamous “Massie Case” as an example.
A few lawmakers got it, and they voted no. Others apparently got it, but went ahead and voted ye with angst. A majority, however, appear to be clueless about what’s really at stake here.
While much has been made about the environmental implications of allowing the ferry to run without a legally mandated review, and the social divisions created by the controversy, the crux of the issue is the blatant disregard for the rule and process of law.
We’ve already seen this happening at the federal level, and now our Republican governor, with the support of a weak and malleable Legislature, has brought it home to Hawaii.
And that’s something that won’t be fixed by advisory task forces, incidental take permits, vehicle inspections or an EIS.
Ran into my neighbor Andy on my walk, but we couldn’t chat long because he was being pulled along by his daughter’s dog, which was rarin’ to go — much the same way the state Legislature was pulled along by Gov. Lingle and the Superferry, both rarin’ to go.
Now that the Legislature has passed the bill that allows the ferry to run, all that remains is for the governor to come up with some operating conditions. Within two weeks, the ferry could be ready to sail.
That’s worrisome enough for many Neighbor Islanders. But even more disturbing for the state as a whole is what will be left in Superferry’s wake.
I was troubled to read that a number of Senators had deep reservations about going into special session to pay off what is essentially a gambling debt incurred by Lingle and Superferry investors, but they went along with the bailout bill because so many people want the ferry.
And that’s precisely what’s so insidious and distressing about this whole Superferry scenario. Yes, politicians are supposed to be responsive to their constituents, but the reason we follow the rule of law is to avoid mob rule.
In the case of the Superferry, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled an environmental assessment was needed before the vessel could operate. That’s the interpretation of state law handed down by an impartial panel of judges appointed to provide precisely that service.
The danger arises when someone like the governor decides she doesn’t like that ruling and then sets out to achieve a different outcome, supported by a crowd whose opinion has been formed by a slick, misleading, corporate-funded PR campaign and media coverage that is skewed and largely superficial.
The result is essentially mob rule, even if it’s executed under the seeming civility of legislative proceedings, and an emasculation of a court system whose purpose is to avoid precisely this sort of public hysteria and political favoritism.
I urge you to read this commentary by Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon, which eloquently expresses the value of maintaining and respecting an independent judiciary, using the infamous “Massie Case” as an example.
A few lawmakers got it, and they voted no. Others apparently got it, but went ahead and voted ye with angst. A majority, however, appear to be clueless about what’s really at stake here.
While much has been made about the environmental implications of allowing the ferry to run without a legally mandated review, and the social divisions created by the controversy, the crux of the issue is the blatant disregard for the rule and process of law.
We’ve already seen this happening at the federal level, and now our Republican governor, with the support of a weak and malleable Legislature, has brought it home to Hawaii.
And that’s something that won’t be fixed by advisory task forces, incidental take permits, vehicle inspections or an EIS.
Meat of the Superferry Bill
The House has approved the Superferry bailout bill, which now moves on to the governor, who is charged with setting operating conditions for the vessel.
Kauai Reps. Mina Morita and Jimmy Tokioka voted against the bill. Rep. Roland Sagum voted yes.
The bill requires a state audit — due by March 1, 2008 — of the process by which the Lingle Administration exempted harbor construction done to accommodate the ferry, as well as its secondary impacts.
It also requires Superferry to apply for a federal “incidental take” permit, which would allow it to kill or injure a specified number of whales without facing fines or criminal charges. The process could impose additional operating conditions on the ferry, but will take more than a year to complete.
The bill further established an advisory task force, under the management of the DOT, to review ferry operations and make regular reports to the Legislature.
Here is an excerpt from Rep. Morita’s testimony on the House floor yesterday:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this measure. The constitution of the State of Hawaii grants this body the power to enact legislation that is not inconsistent with the constitutions of the United States and Hawaii. We generally make laws to protect the health, safety and welfare of Hawaii's people and its environment. We should not be making laws to correct political fixes gone bad which is what Senate Bill 1, Senate Draft 1 attempts to do. I want to emphasize, in this bill this body is not making a new policy or protecting the public interest. Rather, Senate Bill 1, Senate Draft 1 establishes a process to circumvent existing laws to facilitate a permitting process.
Furthermore, our State Constitution, Article XI, Section 9 states:
Each person has the right to a clean and healthful environment, as defined by laws relating to environmental quality, including control of pollution and conservation, protection and enhancement of natural resources. Any person may enforce this right against any party, public or private, through appropriate legal proceedings, subject to reasonable limitations and regulation as provided by law.
In Sierra Club v. Department of Transportation, Civil No. 05-1-0114(3) (Declaratory Judgment), October 9, 2007, Judge Joseph Cardoza found and concluded "that the balance of irreparable damage favors the issuance of a permanent injunction in this case as Plaintiffs have demonstrated the possibility of irreparable injury with respect to the environmental impacts of Hawaii Superferry operations on natural resources, protected species, increased introduction of invasive species and causing social and cultural impacts." Furthermore, the Court also found and concluded that "the public interest in implementing the environmental review process supports the granting of a permanent injunction in this case."
There is no dispute that the legislative intent of Chapter 343, specifically HRS 343-5(b) requires that the "acceptance of the requested final statement shall be a condition precedent to the implementation of the proposed action." And, simply put, Senate Bill 1, Senate Draft 1 clearly abrogates the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs in Sierra Club v. Department of Transportation.
There is no effort in this measure to "strike a balance between the issues of public interest and concerns for the environment" by allowing the Hawaii Superferry to operate. The public interest is served only when the rule of law is followed, not by changing the law to serve the interests of one company, especially after a judicial ruling and injunction against said company.
This body's own committee report states "Your Committees believe that State officials should have been more vigilant in the interests of protecting the environment while seeking to enhance the economy of the State and that more due diligence is required when making decisions that may have significant environmental impacts for future generations." Well, will someone please explain to me how you all can pass this measure and honestly say we are acting in the public's interest when the committee report clearly states otherwise and that the Administration was clearly derelict in its responsibilities to follow the law and protect the public's interest.
Kauai Reps. Mina Morita and Jimmy Tokioka voted against the bill. Rep. Roland Sagum voted yes.
The bill requires a state audit — due by March 1, 2008 — of the process by which the Lingle Administration exempted harbor construction done to accommodate the ferry, as well as its secondary impacts.
It also requires Superferry to apply for a federal “incidental take” permit, which would allow it to kill or injure a specified number of whales without facing fines or criminal charges. The process could impose additional operating conditions on the ferry, but will take more than a year to complete.
The bill further established an advisory task force, under the management of the DOT, to review ferry operations and make regular reports to the Legislature.
Here is an excerpt from Rep. Morita’s testimony on the House floor yesterday:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this measure. The constitution of the State of Hawaii grants this body the power to enact legislation that is not inconsistent with the constitutions of the United States and Hawaii. We generally make laws to protect the health, safety and welfare of Hawaii's people and its environment. We should not be making laws to correct political fixes gone bad which is what Senate Bill 1, Senate Draft 1 attempts to do. I want to emphasize, in this bill this body is not making a new policy or protecting the public interest. Rather, Senate Bill 1, Senate Draft 1 establishes a process to circumvent existing laws to facilitate a permitting process.
Furthermore, our State Constitution, Article XI, Section 9 states:
Each person has the right to a clean and healthful environment, as defined by laws relating to environmental quality, including control of pollution and conservation, protection and enhancement of natural resources. Any person may enforce this right against any party, public or private, through appropriate legal proceedings, subject to reasonable limitations and regulation as provided by law.
In Sierra Club v. Department of Transportation, Civil No. 05-1-0114(3) (Declaratory Judgment), October 9, 2007, Judge Joseph Cardoza found and concluded "that the balance of irreparable damage favors the issuance of a permanent injunction in this case as Plaintiffs have demonstrated the possibility of irreparable injury with respect to the environmental impacts of Hawaii Superferry operations on natural resources, protected species, increased introduction of invasive species and causing social and cultural impacts." Furthermore, the Court also found and concluded that "the public interest in implementing the environmental review process supports the granting of a permanent injunction in this case."
There is no dispute that the legislative intent of Chapter 343, specifically HRS 343-5(b) requires that the "acceptance of the requested final statement shall be a condition precedent to the implementation of the proposed action." And, simply put, Senate Bill 1, Senate Draft 1 clearly abrogates the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs in Sierra Club v. Department of Transportation.
There is no effort in this measure to "strike a balance between the issues of public interest and concerns for the environment" by allowing the Hawaii Superferry to operate. The public interest is served only when the rule of law is followed, not by changing the law to serve the interests of one company, especially after a judicial ruling and injunction against said company.
This body's own committee report states "Your Committees believe that State officials should have been more vigilant in the interests of protecting the environment while seeking to enhance the economy of the State and that more due diligence is required when making decisions that may have significant environmental impacts for future generations." Well, will someone please explain to me how you all can pass this measure and honestly say we are acting in the public's interest when the committee report clearly states otherwise and that the Administration was clearly derelict in its responsibilities to follow the law and protect the public's interest.
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