Monday, March 29, 2010

Musings: Wailing

The world was dim, dove gray and dripping all around the edges when Koko and I went walking on this full moon Monday morning, equipped with an umbrella that I soon put into service as the fine misty rain turned into something much more substantial. And hopefully, it will keep on coming.

We ran into my neighbor Andy, who asked what I’ve been working on. I said I’d spent much of the weekend writing a piece for Honolulu Weekly about burials and the implications of State Historic Preservation Division Administrator Pua Aiu’s decision to approve the Burial Treatment Plan for Joe Brescia’s house, even though the Burial Council had unanimously rejected it.

This was followed by Andy, who frequently gives me short history lessons, talking about the traditional Hawaiian practice of wailing to mourn the dead.

“I still think they should go out there in front of the house, every couple of weeks, especially after it’s been rented, and wail at 6 o clock in the morning, just to make it really clear to whoever is staying there exactly what’s gong on,” he said.

“That’s a vacation rental,” I interrupted, pointing to a house with a rental car parked in the drive, where the entry lights are always left on all night.

Andy paused, deadpan. “Let’s wail. We’re mourning the death of the land, and since it’s still dying, we can keep wailing.”

Ain’t that the truth.

KIUC, now officially being sued by Earthjustice, should be wailing over the birds they’re helping to drive to extinction, but instead they’re just whining:

KIUC was “surprised and disappointed” to learn about the lawsuit, the co-op’s president and CEO, Randy Hee, said Sunday.

Come on, Randy. Earthjustice gave you a heads up weeks ago with a notice of intent of sue. However, the most telling paragraph came at the end of Coco Zickos’ story, which reports that KIUC admits that it’s killing birds each and every year:

“KIUC realizes the potential for harm against the seabirds,” Hee said. “We are interested in doing whatever we can.”

What he doesn’t seem to realize is there’s a big difference between interest and actual action, which is precisely why the co-op is being sued.

This topic always makes me think of the thoughtful “f the birds” comment left by the shift-key impaired, short dash-fixated “dwps” — aka “mainland mentality,” “Darwin was pretty smart,” “young white atheist male” and “anonymous” — who recently left the comment:

only here, and a few weird places on the mainland populated by strange people, would a bike path be seen as some sort of bag thing. its bizarre

I’m assuming he meant “bad” and not “bag,” so let me spell it out for him. A bike path that is part of a road system, so as to truly facilitate alternative transportation, could be seen as a good thing.

But a bike path that runs over a beach or burials, is constructed of coastline hardening concrete, delivers hordes of people to places previously untrammeled, exposes you to possible $500 fines and puts you on the radar of an over zealous enforcement officer riding a bicycle with a poodle in a basket, well, in my opinion, that’s a bad thing.

Another bad thing: Tasers, and Police Chief Darryl Perry’s desire to make sure each and every officer (and hopefully that does not include Path enforcement) has one.

An article in the Daily Mail reports on how the United Kingdom has also embraced Tasers:

But perhaps of greater concern than increased numbers of X26 guns is the expectation that the police will soon be armed with a new long-range model. The more powerful weapon can immobilise a suspect for 20 seconds from 100ft away and is being tested by Home Office scientists.

One problem with Tasers is that they give cops a chance to vent their frustration and/or sadistic tendencies without getting in the same sort of trouble as they would if they beat someone up.

I heard that when the cops Tasered LeBeau Lagmay, he was lying immobilized on the ground, sweating profusely, shaking uncontrollably and literally shitting his pants, and they still Tased him again.

Of course, if you ask the cops, the alternative would have been to shoot him, like we do to unarmed people in Afghanistan all the time, as Democracy Now! reports:

Meanwhile, military officials in Kabul have admitted US and NATO troops have killed thirty Afghans and wounded eighty others at or near military checkpoints since last summer. In no instance did the victims prove to be a danger to troops. In a recent video conference, military commander Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal said, “We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat."

Yet in the face of this, we still have President Obama defending the death and destruction there with paranoid Cold War rhetoric like this:

“Plots against our homeland, plots against our allies, plots against the Afghan and Pakistani people are taking place as we speak right here. And if this region slides backwards, if the Taliban retakes this country and al-Qaeda can operate with impunity, then more American lives will be at stake, the Afghan people will lose their chance at progress and prosperity, and the world will be significantly less secure.”

Kind of makes me want to start wailing.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

The cops love new toys to play with...why every cop needs a taser is beyond me, unless they think the Super Ferry is coming back and they will need them for riot control, or more Ice Heads to arrest...?

Or perhaps they see the "bike path" will be off limits to dog walkers and will need the taser to subdue a raging dog lover and their little chihuahua.

I think the cops need more courses in communication, self esteem, and team building. Could prevent the use of any force.

Anonymous said...

A couple of white people talking about using Native Hawaiian practices as political theater. No wonder they hate us.

Anonymous said...

"No Wonder they hate us"

Please speak for yourself. There are many reasons why a group would hate another.

Natural "racism"....color, religion, stolen land, etc. Its been going on since the Neanderthal man created fire.

Oppressed or depressed people always are looking for a "scape goat"...."us haoles" are convenient but not constructive.

Perhaps they (the haters) should look at those that control this island (Not many haoles there!) sitting in administrative positions and the county council....influenced by the military and big money folks.

We have to transform the hate into something positive, or we are all doomed.

Anonymous said...

"No Wonder they hate us"

Please speak for yourself. There are many reasons why a group would hate another.

Natural "racism"....color, religion, stolen land, etc. Its been going on since the Neanderthal man created fire.

Oppressed or depressed people always are looking for a "scape goat"...."us haoles" are convenient but not constructive.

Perhaps they (the haters) should look at those that control this island (Not many haoles there!) sitting in administrative positions and the county council....influenced by the military and big money folks.

We have to transform the hate into something positive, or we are all doomed.

Anonymous said...

Joan Said: Another bad thing: Tasers, and Police Chief Darryl Perry’s desire to make sure each and every officer (and hopefully that does not include Path enforcement) has one.

What strikes me as a bad thing is that it is against HI State law for a average citizen to possess a Taser, yet a citizen can carry a registered hand gun! Since the gun is considered a deadly weapon and a Taser is not, why can only law enforcement have Tasers?

I'm shocked!

Anonymous said...

Don't leave home without it!

The Pretender 4.5 Million Volt Cell Phone Stun Gun pretends to be a camera cell phone, but it's not. It's a powerful 4.5 Million Volt stun gun. This stun gun will really give you the edge since an attacker will think you are just carrying a cell phone. It also has a very bright built-in 12 LED flashlight. To prevent accidental discharge, two levels of safety have been built in. The safety switch must be in the on position (this will cause an LED warning light to come on) and the trigger button pressed before the unit will operate. It operates on three (3) CR2 batteries which are included FREE ($12 value). FREE holster with belt clip also included FREE ($10 value). Only 3.8 inches tall. Now available in PINK.

Anonymous said...

"The Pretender 4.5 Million Volt Cell Phone Stun Gun pretends to be a camera cell phone, but it's not."

does that mean you can use it while your driving?

Anonymous said...

1) re birds, people, endangered species etc

take the poipu cave spider for example. its bad luck for A&B/DMB/kukuiula, but finacially they can handle it

installing 10, 50 or more miles of underground cables for these birds is a very big bill the local poor will pay in significant part (but hey, if the state or feds step in and subsidize, fantastic)

those are legit points of view

2) bike path. the same sorts of bike/walking/running paths can be found all over the world, most of which work well, and this one will work fine too

but it is like superferry part 2 - in large part a proxy for other (real or percieved) grievences. and that is fine, such happens all the time (see "Tea Party")


3) March 29, 2010 11:34 AM

-- well put


dwps

Anonymous said...

The bike path is awesome.Best thing that has happened on Kauai for years.ps..try to get a concealed gun/carry permit on Kauai...good luck with that.Joan..you and reality should get together.

Anonymous said...

"We have to transform the hate into something positive, or we are all doomed."

I'm voting for "doomed".

Anonymous said...

"Perhaps they (the haters) should look at those that control this island (Not many haoles there!) sitting in administrative positions and the county council"

-- She/he is right - not many at all work there and none in a director's positions.

jackbauer said...

The question has not been asked but has to be: Where are the crime statistics on this island to warrant the need for every officer to have a taser? What is annoying is the matter-of-fact smugness that Perry has whenever he wants something. Who does he think heʻs fooling, we all can see right through him. What is laughable is the ratcheting up of the amount of tasers (6-12 previous request?) to now ALL officers have to have one.
Is Perry implying that his officers arenʻt qualified?
Or, geewhiz, could it be Paul&Perryʻs Most Wanted list of people who forgot to go to court?

Damn good thing the 9th circuit appeals court made that ruling that people assaulted/attacked with a taser can SUE the OFFICER. And Lagmay better jump on this opportunity and himself a good lawyer.

jackbauer said...

It takes 6 miliamps to stop a heart.

Anonymous said...

jack, below is a cut and past of an old comment. the link is still good. that site has crime data on it (which may or may not be relavent to tasers, but it shows local trends at least)

------------------------------

i do see per 2004 US census HI has the 6th highest crime rate. surprising

anyways, what you want is this:

http://hawaii.gov/ag/cpja/main/rs/Folder.2005-12-05.2910/cih2007/

p 102

seems that caucasians (about 20-25% of HI pop?) are very good at all crimes, and ethnic hawaiians lead the pack as to stealing cars and robbery

they have it for juvy rates too, per race

p 147. seems kauai crime is trending down. very good

so id suggest using the data on p 150 if you want to argue caucasian millionaires drive kauai crime. i myself wonder how much of that is dirt bag penniless hippy pot smokers from CA tho

ps - pg 156: ~60% kauai DUIs are white. rofl

___________________________


dwps

jackbauer said...

I was not inferring any racial factor in my question.

Overall Crime. Period. So sorry but Kauai does not fall into the ranks of Honolulu or otherwise and I believe the push for tasers is a personal macho, chip on a chiefʻs shoulder driven by a corporation that he is too weak to say no to. Simple. He fell for the pitch. I could find some swamp land if heʻs interested.

Anonymous said...

Homer says...

"doh, doomed, you are all doomed"

Anonymous said...

Don't Millionaires commit more of your white collar crime (fraud, tax evasion, etc.as opposed to street crimes?

Anonymous said...

Brescia offered to have the "bones" moved to a cemetery....sounds like a reasonable solution? Wouldn't that have been a better ending than the current situation ?...Roger