Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Musings: Just Truth

It was a big box crayon kind of morning, with streaks of apricot, salmon, scarlet, hot pink, soft pink, gold, yellow and lavender lighting up the dawn. But in the end, the sky made its own choice: gray.

KIUC customers who choose to opt-out of a smart meter are now being charged $10.27 per month — a fee approved by the Public Utilities Commission and endorsed by the consumer advocate. In most utility companies, that would be the end of it. But since KIUC is a cooperative, members were able to conduct a petition drive to put the issue to a vote.

Now KIUC will spend $63,000  to conduct an election to ask members whether everyone should pick up the tab for the opt-outs, or if the 10 percent who want customized service should pay extra. Meanwhile, Jonathan Jay and Adam Asquith are reportedly seeking an injunction to prevent the utility from collecting those fees pending a vote.

Like Bill 2491, much of the stirring up about the smart meter issue has come from radio station KKCR — itself a major emitter of microwave radiation — where Jonathan and Adam have talk shows. They've been aided by another programmer, Felicia Cowden, who last night told the KIUC board, “It hurts me to have to put KIUC back in the crosshairs.”

Crosshairs? As in the sights of a gun? As in targeting someone or something for death? That's ugly language for a talk show host who is supposed to be following programmer guidelines that state:

Verbal non-violence is the standard for all programming: programming should encourage thoughtful consideration rather than attempt to provoke outrage; it should not use inflammatory, deliberately provocative or culturally insensitive language, terms or labels, or “hot button” slogans; it should not attack or insult individuals, groups or cultures; and it should never incite hate, intolerance, or religious or cultural bigotry.

Programming should strive for objectivity. Programs should attempt to fairly convey all sides of an issue that is under discussion. Programmers are expected to strive for balanced discussion and to moderate discussions fairly, rather than to promote personal, political or religious agendas.

How, pray tell, is someone going to provide fair, objective programming when she's publicly announced she's got KIUC in her crosshairs?

I've been a member of KKCR for a long time, but I no longer can listen to the afternoon talk shows because they are so biased and filled with disinformation, by which I mean the deliberate promulgation of misinformation in order to achieve a specific agenda. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Both Felicia and talk show host Jimmy Trujillo submitted applications for the recent County Council vacancy, and Jonathan ran for the KIUC board. In other words, all three have political aspirations aided by their shows.

When KKCR broadcasts a public hearing or meeting, that's true community-based radio. When it allows talk show hosts to rant unopposed for hours on end and spout all kinds of untrue, inflammatory stuff, that's something else, something more akin to propaganda. I hope the KKCR Board of Directors looks into this issue and cracks down on its public affairs programming to make it more representative of the larger community instead of dominated by a handful of people who all hold the same views.

While we're on the topic of disinformation and propaganda, I've been disheartened to see so many fake comments being submitted to this blog. What's even more troubling is that they're being generated by the pro-2491 group. Most recently, I got a batch of comments, all obviously written by the same person(s), trying to dispel the notion that the movement was haole-dominated. How pathetic.

As a friend said, “I hate pesticides, but I hate liars even more."

Or to quote Mahatma Gandhi: “Truth never damages a cause that is just.” 

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let you money speak for you. Withhold all donations form KKCR. They have lost their way and no one seems to be enforcing policies and procedure in place to ensure objective and useful dialogue to advance needed conversations on important topics. Jonathan, Adam and Felicia have done a great disservice to the radio station. Again, withhold your funding. Unless, of course, you want to contribute to the political aspirations of its hosts.

Anonymous said...

That's rich that you are objecting to a public dialog that is biased......

Joan Conrow said...

You forget several important distinctions: my blog is not funded by listener donations and federal grants, nor is it subject to FCC regs.

Anonymous said...

KIUC Board consists of good, solid people. I finally agree with, "No facts-hate ranter, I never had a job, I wish I could write, Bolshevik-on-Kauai" resident, Andy Parx, the anti-smart meter people should pay for the extra cost to accommodate them. The KIUC should just rule, no vote.
KKCR plays great music. Surf Stories is also a goody. It is difficult to get "announcers" who will commit to a schedule, hence the reasonable, balanced cadre of crystal-gazing, fantasy based and gloomy ideologues that end up proselytizing on the station. They have the time, energy and ego to lecture us all.
We are all part of this island, but in the end KKCR needs money from the listeners, I donate for the music. On another note, if the announcers were not there, how would the public know what kind of nuts there really are on this island? We the public have a right to know our fellow nuts.

Anonymous said...

11:23 and Joan- Me thinks that this blog has become a must read for anyone interested in Kauai....Perplexing, how often this blog comes up in the any conversation that involves politics. "do you read Kauai Eclectic?"
The Musings, start it and then, the comments spray all over.
Power of the blog.

Andrew Cooper said...

Crosshairs are common in many optical instruments, including telescopes and microscopes, as well as various other instruments used for alignments.

Why do they neccessarily imply a weapon to you? A personal bias me thinks.

I use various optical tools regularly. To me crosshairs simply means putting something under the microscope, or subjecting something to closer examination. In that sense the anology is quite apt.

Anonymous said...

Whether you agree with Joan or not, she usually supports her (often) controversial comments with pretty solid rationale (unlike many of the comments). And most importantly, given contrary evidence, she is apt to adopt/adapt and evolve her thinking. A very good lesson to learn and live by.

"To reach perfection, we must all pass, one by one, through the death of self-effacement."--Dag Hammarskjold.

Anonymous said...

KKCR calls itself a "community" radio station, but through what democratic process do people become talk show radio hosts? If no democratic process is used what assurances do KKCR listeners have that these talk show hosts reflect the voice of the community as opposed to their own self-serving agenda? Joan weren't you a KKCR talk show host in the past? Can you shed any light on the KKCR democratic selection process used to select talk show hosts?

Anonymous said...

Apparently, Felicia Cowden's reputation precedes herself:

cross·hairs
ˈkrôsˌhe(ə)rz/
noun
plural noun: cross hairs; plural noun: crosshairs; plural noun: cross-hairs

1.
a pair of fine wires or lines crossing at right angles at the focus of an optical instrument or gun sight, for use in positioning, aiming, or measuring.
a representation of crosshairs on a computer screen.

While the "crosshairs" reference for Mr. Cooper may indeed be "to examine more closely," apparently "crosshairs" in reference to Ms. Cowden is "target" as in "gunsight."

I do suppose our actions do define ourselves. Karma or causality?

Joan Conrow said...

12:58, thank you.

1:39 Yes, I did fill in for a time on a talk show when the regular host took a short leave. I don't really know how hosts are chosen, though I can say it is most assuredly not a democratic process and it appears there are no term limits.

Anonymous said...

A recent poll put out by the KKCR on Internet asked "what does crosshair mean"...........
12 percent said - what's a crosshair, is that an angry rabbit or a bad hair day?
But a remarkable 205 percent of those surveyed (many of these were part of 170,000 who marched in Lihue) said
"Where are those GMOs and where can I buy a gun?"
When pressed on the budding KIUC question the respondents, said they preferred Kauai Electric over Maui Wowee, because it gave a better buzz.

Anonymous said...

Joan replied "1:39 Yes, I did fill in for a time on a talk show when the regular host took a short leave. I don't really know how hosts are chosen, though I can say it is most assuredly not a democratic process and it appears there are no term limits."

So KKCR has no democratic process and no term limits for selecting talk show hosts, but these selfsame individuals continually beat their own self-serving drum while posing as legitimate voices of our community? “You don't have the right to hold somebody accountable for standards you refuse to apply to yourself.”
― Stephen A. Smith

Anonymous said...

kiuc sez that they have no choice but to incur the fees because PUC compels them to do so....curious.....i wonder if the wording has something to do w/ the words "shall" and "may"....is there a link to the PUC decision out there ? seems a bit strange that when the co-op got the approval, that they were then forced to implement the fee no matter what ? and if they do not, what happens? will the PUC whack their collective peepee's?.....and why is it that the cost to read 3k meters costs 300k a year, must be a better way, maybe charge the average bill over a few months then take a reading every quarter. would that cut the cost by 2/3 ? aloha Dean

Joan Conrow said...

Dear, here is a link to the PUC decision and order:

http://lauhala.com/hinano/20131127-031403-Decision-and-Order-No.-31638-(Transmittal-No.-2013-03)-(00039856).pdf

Anonymous said...

The real issue here is the continued erosion of choices for the people of Kauai. It is a Co-Op and it's leadership acting like a private corporation that can dictate and threaten with it's products and services .
It is unfortunate that it's leadership has not achieved any new initiatives that are cost saving or help provide the services.
The workers of KIUC are truly dedicated and good people but the current leadership lacks professionalism and the ability to be creative or open to more then "one thought process". It lives off the Federal dollars to "follow vs. Lead". It disrespects it's public membership who has diverse opinions and continues to maintain a forceful track to force it's membership into compliance. Truly if the $10.00+ was going to a worker of KIUC to read the meters and provide work for our people on Kauai this fee is no problem, but I know of no hard working regular employee at KIUC getting a salary of $300K . ..... Will Kauai ever have a Co-Op?

Anonymous said...

Will Kauai ever have a real community radio station?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the pro 2491 has now roosted on smart meters, and is trying to crow to the crowd again to drum up and sow more fear and anger, having been mistakenly empowered in believing that they have won the war? Wow! Let us hear from all the RF "experts," doing all their brilliant "research" on computers and cell phones!

All I want for Christmas is a lead ski cap!

Anonymous said...

And goggles to protect the eyes reading google.

Anonymous said...

Whoa. Thank God KIUC can behave like a business responsible to its owners and not kiss the butt of very freaking Luddite moseying down the pike with a paranoid delusion that the utility is after his darkest secrets. If you must have an old meter, pay for the damned thing yourself like any adult would do instead of trying to fob the cost off on the rest of us. Jerks.

Anonymous said...

KKCR is the only radio station to play traditional Hawaiian music Mon-Fri am and I listen faithfully to that and Democracy Now. Don't stop donating because you disagree with some of the programmers. It's still a worthy radio station. Beats the SOS mainstream stations we're limited to on Kauai.

Anonymous said...

My radio has a button on it where I can change stations. Try to press one of them tha'r buttons and see what happens.

Anonymous said...

Should tell Bissel to pay the $63,000 for the vote/decision.
Itʻs only 2 and 1/4 months of his salary.

Anonymous said...

Aloha Joan:
Maybe you or our friends can give me an answer to a question.
I am looking at my electric bill, I have a smart meter as I have installed solar.
I am charges $10.58 each month as a customer charge. If I had a older meter would I pay for the customer charge twice?
I am just asking if we who have the smart meter pay the customer charge, shouldn't all.
Maybe I am missing something, but I was just wondering.
Aloha and Mahalo

Anonymous said...

A family member has a 4 bedroom home on Oahu with 5 air conditioning units in the house. They have solar installed. Their monthly electric bill is believe it or not, $22.

Somebody is scamming somebody over here on Kauai. Namely, Bissel and his crook friends.

Anonymous said...

re Nov 27 9:33PM you mean Bissel is making $336,000 a year ?!!

Anonymous said...

To 8:14:
Do they have a PV system set up? A family member of mine on Kauai does and the last electric bill was $29, which included some kind of processing fee.

Anonymous said...

It all depends on the number of panels. 10 vs 20. And the number of cloudy days!
Idiots

Anonymous said...

KKCR is one of the best things going on Kauai.

Anybody who is a declared campaigning candidate is required to take a break from programming during the campaign, and KKCR has been enforcing that.

Dean, the programmers and Board do a good job with the limited resources that they have at KKCR.

Anonymous said...

To one of your previous posts about spies and the 2491 activists… article today

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/nov/28/war-on-democracy-corporations-spy-profit-activism

"The report by the Center for Corporate Policy (CCP) in Washington DC titled Spooky Business: Corporate Espionage against Nonprofit Organizations draws on a wide range of public record evidence, including lawsuits and journalistic investigations. It paints a disturbing picture of a global corporate espionage programme that is out of control, with possibly as much as one in four activists being private spies.
The report argues that a key precondition for corporate espionage is that the nonprofit in question:

"... impairs or at least threatens a company's assets or image sufficiently."

Anonymous said...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdetwiler/2013/04/23/electricity-theft-a-bigger-issue-than-you-think/


http://www.ect.coop/industry/crime/power-thefts-tied-to-drug-crimes/28328


I'm no saying it's happening here but "Smart Meter " no can do. "Analog Meter" can do very easily.

Google the subject matter you will be amazed.

Anonymous said...

Wow!
I read on one of the websites that with a fifteen minute trip to Ace Hardware you can rig an analog meter for power pilferage.

Anonymous said...

Wording on the Ballot should include, " Manual audit of all analog meters to be done annually". I believe KIUC already has the option,,,,,,, it should be mandatory.

Anonymous said...

I like your idea of boycotting KKCR. I find Jay's, Cowden's and Trujillo's actions more repulsive than the product in question. Wasting our Members money with half truths for personal gain goes against the grain.

Anonymous said...

Hey, November 30, 1:14 p.m.
Thanks for pointing out how knowledgeable you are in such a depreciating manner. Since I am not familiar with the intricacies of photovoltaic systems, and was merely pointing out an observation of mine, it was really good of you to put me in my place. You did an exemplary job of pointing out common sense information that only someone of your superior intellect would be able to discern. Nevermind that my comment was directed at a particular post (hence the time notation), and did not require a response from you, I appreciate your trivial reply nonetheless.