Friday, June 22, 2012

Musings: Hands Off


Maybe it's because I have a cold that I feel a little scratchy— though I did see nesting turtle tracks on the beach for the second morning in a row, and before that, heard a Newell's shearwater, all things that make me smile.

Or maybe it's because the fricking low-flying helicopters — green harvest? or re-routed tour guys? — are buzzing my neighborhood for the second day in a row.

At any rate, when I finally got around to reading The Garden Island article today about the HGEA endorsements, I noticed it specifically states that County Council incumbents JoAnn Yukimura, Tim Bynum and Dickie Chang didn't get endorsed, nor did state Rep. Jimmy Tokioka.

Yet the article never mentions that Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvlaho didn't get the nod, either. What, is there a hands-off policy when it comes to Shay?

Too bad Hawaii — and Kauai — aren't hands-off when it comes to RIMPAC. Yes, the Navy is planning its biggest “war games” gathering ever, with more than 40 ships, six submarines, 200 aircrcaft and 25,000 personnel set to deliver five weeks of guns, destruction and electromagnetic energy disturbance, starting June 29.

Dr. Carl Berg of Surfrider nailed it when he said on the radio today: “We don't like the idea that we're having war against the environment and calling it a game.”

No shit.

As he noted, with that many ships out there, the probability of something happening is really high, as in running over or smashing into marine mammals, fish kills, sewage dumps, chemical spills. Not to mention all the toxic emissions into the air and sea from the millions of gallons of fuel that they'll be burning.

I know, the new "green" Navy spent a cool $12 mill to buy 450,000 gallons of biofuel — a mixture of algae-based fuel and fuel developed from used cooking oil and non-food-grade animal fats — but that's just to power its aircraft carriers. The rest will be burn in the same old fossil fuels.

Besides the usual bombs and bullets, the combatants plan extensive use of sonar, which kills whales, dolphins and seals outright, or disorients and deafens them so they die later. The mad scientists/engineers at DARPA, meanwhile, will test an advanced blue laser-based submarine through-water communications system.

As an interesting aside, when I was researching that blue laser stuff, I came across a Wired article about how Darpa handed out seven research awards worth $15.5 million under its Living Foundries” project, which “aspires to turn the slow, messy process of genetic engineering into a streamlined and standardized one.”

Synthetic biology, as Darpa notes, has the potential to yield “new materials, novel capabilities, fuel and medicines” — everything from fuels to solar cells to vaccines could be produced by engineering different living cells. But the agency isn’t content to wait seven years for each new innovation. In fact, they want the capability for “on-demand production” of whatever bio-product suits the military’s immediate needs.

It's no coincidence that GMO companies are snuggled up around PMRF. And it's no coincidence that our state lawmakers won't touch them.

Anyway, this year's super-sized RIMPAC is just a preview of what's to come. The draft EIS the Navy is now accepting comments on was prepared because it wants to greatly expand training exercises in the area that runs from Hawaii to the coast of Southern California.

The level they're doing right now is unacceptable and they want to do more,” Carl said.


Surfrider Kauai wants folks to watch for anything unusual during that time, and report it immediately. You can post on its Facebook page or call Dr. Gordon LaBedz at 337-9977.

So what to do, besides keep an eye out for fallout, and report it so it can't get spun or buried? Well, Nina Monasevitch, chair of Kohola Leo, believes that folks can stop the war training if they put enough pressure on lawmakers.

Writing one letter represents 250 constituents, so it's a powerful tool,” she said on the radio today. “If enough people speak up, by the hundreds of thousands, eventually we can turn the tide.”

To get you in the mood for irate letter-writing, here's a video of the U.S. and our Aussie allies busting up the Big Island. Think of it as the Army's mini land-based version of RIMPAC.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Semper Fi

I LOVE all that Mil action. Can't get enough of it!

Anonymous said...

I believe obama and panneta want a certain percentage of the military moved here to hawaii so good luck. Why?

Anonymous said...

Semper fi my okole. Faithful to what? Power, death and destruction and the forced feeding of "democracy" to the colored masses. Wow. And by the way it's semper fidelis.

Anonymous said...

I saw the county's Air 1 helicopter participating in Green Harvest this week. I thought the county bought it for rescues not to invade our privacy with green Harvest. Keep KFD out green harvest. Stop Green Harvest!!! Stop RIMPAC too. It's all about controlling the citizens with show of force.

Anonymous said...

Power, death and destruction is a turn-on to many people.

Personally, I'd love to be a drone operator..a video game where real people die!!!

Semper Fi

Silent death from the air!!

Anonymous said...

I was surprised that Tim and JoAnn ---the open govt ones ----did not get endorsed.

Anonymous said...

Why would you be, when the HGEA (GOB) wants to operate in secrecy. Are you also surprised that there is no mention of Shaylene in the article? You have to pay closer attention to what goes on around here on Kauai.

Anonymous said...

Shay went to the Hawaii State Association of Counties conference in Kona even though it had nothing to do with prosecuting criminal cases. What a waste of taxpayer money. Why is she taking trips when she's supposedly so busy?

Anonymous said...

A few good letters to the editor this week. Gas prices and its discrepancies on Kauai and how they are manipulated can there be a correlation with KIUC and electricy rates. Costco gas in at 3.70 while others are still at 4.50 or more and oil prices has fallen to 30 percent cheaper.

Our electricy bill has never followed the volatile oil market whether it goes u or down. Our electricity bill just keeps going up and KIUC failed hydro claim jumping and smart meter hostage taking scams has cost the rate payers millions upon millions of wasted dollars.

Lead us not into temptations, it is just your greedy imaginations that run wild on you.

Anonymous said...

HGEA didn't endorse Tim? Guess they didn't like that he opposed furloughs or maybe they were upset that he pushed to lower property taxes for residents?

Anonymous said...

Drone operator? Sit on your fat okole and swizzle? Yeah safe and warm, far from danger, no mess. Such a warrior.

Nick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

"Drone operator? Sit on your fat okole and swizzle? Yeah safe and warm, far from danger, no mess. Such a warrior."

That's the way to do it. You want to make the other guy die for his country/cause. Makes causalities on "your side" near zero. Almost as good as raining smart bombs down from 40,000 ft.

Like a 50 cal sniper shot from a mile or more away. Some guy's head explodes and nobody saw or heard it coming. Very demoralizing to the enemy.

Maybe something like that will happen to Assange between the embassy and airport if they try to move him out of the UK. If so, GOOD!

Anonymous said...

Or his whiny, sniffling personality or pushing tvr's on ag and a hardened concrete recreational path along our coastal shoreline? Joann, she's always rubbed the GOB's the wrong way and has aligned herself w/ Tim. No surprise on the endorsements. Finally Dickie is being seen for what he is....a tv personality who is the spokesperson for the visitor industry, nothing more.

Anonymous said...

@ anon 2:01

What made your heart so cold and inhuman? I guess its the only way you can live with killing others. Military has created an army of human robots, unfeeling, unthinking, just do as you're told. Chain of command. Give up your power to higher ups that play God. Innocents die in the name of "freedom".

Anonymous said...

Advocacy id the art of the pure, governance is the art of the possible.

Anonymous said...

Until people experience the heat of battle and see the blood of their dead friends and family members dripping out of them, they can make sly remarks and jokes about bombs and missiles being good for us.


Dr Shibai

Anonymous said...

And whose to say that people making such remarks about bombs and missiles haven't seen front-line war? Haven't experienced war-time death of brothers-in-arms? Haven't had to shoot a little kid approaching due to the very high probability that he/she has a concealed bomb?

Some who have done all that still advocate a very aggressive and lethal government posture and want to participate in it further.

Some simply do not have a problem with killing anyone deemed an enemy.

We need a certain number of them to do the dirty work many think is unnecessary in maintaining order domestically and internationally.

Anonymous said...

Talking point courtesy of Haliburton, Rockwell and the defense contractors trade association, aka the US Government.

Anonymous said...

"We sleep soundly in our beds at night only because rough men are willing to visit violence on those who would harm us."

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Shay's busy taking care of business. Monkey business.

Anonymous said...

7:03 AM

Oh is that why we destroyed Iraq and are now killing women and children in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen with our drones?

America's military exploits since Pearl Harbor have had nothing to do with people trying to harm us.

Anonymous said...

The "us", if broadly defined, includes all those multinational business interests that can't be bothered with human rights or environmental concerns.

Anonymous said...

"I LOVE all that Mil action."
...
And I love all that MILF action.
...
to each his own.

Anonymous said...

"We keep the lights on and the cars running only because rough men are willing to visit violence on those who would screw with our oil supply."

That works, too. Later, we can rework it for a food and/or potable water application.

At any rate, if we want it and you won't sell it to us at an acceptable price and volume, we'll just take it. And probably really screw up your country and population. It's really your fault because you didn't do what we asked. You could have avoided the whole thing, you know...

watchdog said...

Seems the comments are being pestered by the gadfly again. Used to claim to live on the BI, among other things.

He taught us a lot about ourselves, and now he's back to teach us some more. Observe your reaction to him and master it.

Anonymous said...

We anon's are legion.

Some men just want to watch the world burn.