Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Musings: Stern Admonitions

I didn’t know which way to look when Koko and I went out walking this morning. In the east, the sky was erupting in a blaze of orange and pink streaky clouds that cast a golden glow over the landscape. In the west, Waialeale was flushing purple, her notched summit clearly revealed in all its glory. And in between, tiny pockets of the season’s first mist drifted ghostlike through low spots in the pasture land.

Ah, September, one of the finest months of the year. And now the north swells have kicked in again. I got a taste of the big surf on Sunday, then last evening sat at sunset in the salt spray haze, the colors all softened, the sea foamy and alive with movement. Then I came home and ate some koshibi that a friend’s brother had caught just that day in the waters off Niihau.

It’s a favorite fishing spot for a lot of folks, including, apparently, the Kauai Fire Department. As The Garden Island reports today, KFD’s rescue boat was caught on video camera with those aboard, including supervisors, fishing and diving near the so-called "Forbidden Island." We’re told that some sort of disciplinary action was taken, but the details weren’t provided, since it’s a a “personnel matter.” That’s true, but it’s also a misuse of county funds and equipment issue, and the taxpayers have a right to know if those involved got more than the “good scolding and a stern admonition not to do it again” that Keith Robinson suggested.

What I found most amusing, however, is how Keith Robinson has suddenly turned into a monk seal champion now that he’s found the animals might be useful in trying to keep people away from Niihau. He’s quoted in the paper as saying:

The fishermen have started landing on Ni‘ihau and fishing in monk seal haul-out places without concern for nursing seals and pups, he said.

“We also started to find the dead carcasses of monk seals along the shorelines, something that had never happened before,” he said.


So far, two seals have been found at Niihau. One was at the same time Navy contractor DARPA was doing its top secret experiment, which coincided with the big unexplained fish kill. The other was this summer, right after RIMPAC exercises.

If Keith is so worried about protecting the monk seals and the purity of the waters around Niihau, he might want to consider kicking out the Navy. As for his contention that the Robinson family owns the waters surrounding that island and “has never renounced that claim,” does that mean he’s a supporter of Hawaiian independence, too? ‘Cause ya know, Keith, they’ve never renounced their claim to the archipelago, either.

Meanwhile, a friend just called to say he'd heard a report on KONG that DLNR had issued a statement saying it had not yet completed its clean up of Kalalau. "Sure sounded like a response to a blog post," he noted.

In other news, CNN has an guest opinion today about the failed war on drugs and marijuana, with the director of the Drug Policy Alliance reporting:

Even though police made more than 850,000 marijuana arrests last year, a recent government report shows youth marijuana use increased by about 9 percent.

He goes on to note that "76 percent of Americans recognize the drug war has failed; millions are demanding change."

Drug use is so widespread the FBI changed its policy of not hiring people with a history of illegal drug use because the policy disqualified so many people that it could not fill its law enforcement positions.

The racial disparities are appalling. As Michelle Alexander so eloquently shows in her new book, "The New Jim Crow," a drug conviction automatically makes a person a second-class citizen who can be legally discriminated against in housing and employment, denied school loans, and barred for life from serving on juries, accessing public benefits and even voting. While African Americans make up only about 13 percent of the U.S. population and about 15 percent of drug users, they make up about 38 percent of those arrested for drug law violations and a mind-boggling 59 percent of those convicted for drug law violations.

Support for marijuana legalization is growing, and not just in California. Legalization will happen. It's just a question of how many lives and tax dollars will be wasted before it does. Some vested interests, of course, will fight change until the bitter end.


Ain't that the truth – in more ways than one.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ni`ihau wouldn't be part of Hawaii whether or not there was Hawaiian independence because Kamehameha V sold Ni`ihau to Elizabeth Sinclair (later Sinclair-Robinson)in 1864 for $10,000 in gold.

And how the hell do YOU know that "Keith Robinson has suddenly turned into a monk seal champion now that he’s found the animals might be useful in trying to keep people away from Niihau"? You are so amazingly caustic and cynical.

Anonymous said...

marijuana isn't the problem.

The Mex "ganster" problem with its thousands of killings has to do with meth.

meth will never be legalized.

meth users will never "transition" to free marijuana.

Anonymous said...

I wonder what kind of property tax the Robinsons pay.

Hmm. Didn't a bunch of KPD get fired for using government funds to pursue private interests a couple of years back? Firemen get a free pass it seems.

Anonymous said...

It is nothing short of outrageous that Kauai Fire Department gets what sounds like a slap on the wrist for fishing in a protected area (and I'm not even getting into the fact that they were doing so on taxpayer dollars). If that were a boat full of Native Hawaiians from Kauai, or anyone else for that matter, they would've been charged with trespassing or illegal fishing of some sort, you can guarantee it! And if anyone has a right to be there, it's the kanaka! How can KFD get away with this? I'm not saying heads should roll, but they should certainly be subject to the same laws the rest of us are. What's the price of fishing in a protected area and endangering endangered species (both the monk seals and the Native Hawaiians who live on Niihau and rely on fish for survival)?

I agree with you Joan - if the Robinsons are so concerned with protecting Niihau, why allow the most dangerous predator of all (the military) in?

I don't know much about Kamehameha's sale of Niihau to Sinclair-Robinson....was is legitimate? Hindsight sure is 20/20.

Anonymous said...

September 28, 2010 11:37 AM

Look it up - it is public record like all taxable parcels on Kauai.

Homer says Duh.

Anonymous said...

This story broke on a Honolulu TV news station nearly a month ago. It was "breaking news" on their 6 o'clock nightly news broadcast. Mayor Carvalho was in Honolulu at the time and was questioned by a reporter about the incident. He was taken aback by the reporter's questioning and said he'd have to investigate the matter. Nothing more was heard about the incident until now? Whats up with TGI that we have to get our local news in a TIMELY fashion from Oahu? Pretty pathetic. This kind of after the fact news reporting sure doesn't fit with their recent editorial.


Ahupua'a divisions from mauka to makai included offshore reefs. Whoever "owned" the ahupua'a would have a kuleana to manage the reefs and use the resources for the benefit of those living in that ahupua'a. At the time the Sinclairs purchased Niihau from the King, those kinds of laws were in place.

With due respect to the Kanaka Maoli residents of Niihau who depend on the ocean for much of their sustenance, their should be some kind of regulation concerning tour boats and fishermen entering those off shore waters of Niihau.

And you are right Joan. Public has a right to know when public funded resources are used for "recreational" purposes.

Anonymous said...

If that were a boat full of Native Hawaiians from Kauai, or anyone else for that matter, they would've been charged with trespassing or illegal fishing of some sort, you can guarantee it! And if anyone has a right to be there, it's the kanaka! How can KFD get away with this?

A boat full of KFD is defacto a boat full of Native Hawaiians!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I don't get at all how a boat full of KFD is defacto a boat full of Native Hawaiians. I think you don't understand what the word "native" means - it doesn't mean that they live on Kauai. I'm referring to the indigenous people who have inherent rights to Hawaii's resources.

Anonymous said...

"...indigenous people who have inherent rights to Hawaii's resources."

Only, if they have permission from the konohiki of the ahupua'a. Which might be might be the Robinsons. In which case they would be within there rights to suggest the "slap on the wrist".
Which our elected ali'i the mayor might be willing to follow.

Dawson said...

"You are so amazingly caustic and cynical."

Don't worry, you're just experiencing a new sensation called "the sting of truth."

In time you'll get used to it.

Anonymous said...

The Mex "ganster" problem with its thousands of killings has to do with meth.

It also involves marijuana and cocaine.

Anonymous said...

on't worry, you're just experiencing a new sensation called "the sting of truth."

Hardly. More like the wet noodle of whatever Joan is feeeling.

Anonymous said...

"The Mex "ganster" problem with its thousands of killings has to do with meth.

It also involves marijuana and cocaine."
You all are talking about money!
sex slaves, drugs, or guns its about money and control.

Dawson said...

"Hardly. More like the wet noodle of whatever Joan is feeeling."

Totally understandable. Be it the sting of the truth or the wetness of a noodle, returning again and again to a blog that makes you feel something... anything!... certainly is safer than interfacing with life itself. For the emotionally indolent, vicariously experiencing a blog author's authentic feelings is the next best thing to having your own.

Anonymous said...

returning again and again to a blog that makes you feel something... anything!... certainly is safer than interfacing with life itself. For the emotionally indolent, vicariously experiencing a blog author's authentic feelings is the next best thing to having your own.

Or, perhaps more likely, one who passionately engages others on blogs is also passionately engaged in other aspects of life as well.