Thursday, November 7, 2013

Musings: Smells Stink

As the reds and the blues gather again today before the County Council, it seems an apt time to paraphrase a quote from Shakespeare: something is rotten on the island of Kauai.

And I'm not talking about the usual county cronyism and corruption. I mean Bill 2491 and the movement behind it.

Not the entire movement, mind you. Many passionate, caring, concerned people have thrown their hearts and souls into this process — political novices who never guessed their movement had been hijacked by those whose intention is to ensure that a pesticide bill is never approved on this island.

What we're seeing play out on little Kauai is a misinformation campaign by the biotech/pesticide multinationals, replete with plants. Infiltration is an old trick used to destabilize and derail political movements, and that's what's happened here.

Yup, the red shirts have been infiltrated by the other team, and by that I don't mean blue shirts, because it goes deeper than that, to the corporations themselves.

I smelled it from the start, which is why I never could don a red shirt and joyfully jump on the band wagon — even though I've been a longtime opponent of GMOs and pesticides, a longtime advocate of the environment and the underdog.

The movement quickly turned toxic, choosing to employ fear-based, combative tactics that were designed to polarize, alienate, misinform, inflame and ultimately defeat the bill or weaken its legal defensibility. I was thoroughly repelled, and many people crucial to building a broad-base movement — Hawaiian elders, kama`aina, middle-of-the-roaders, business leaders and others — have told me they felt repelled, too, even though we share concerns about the chem companies and their activities on this island.

With those folks — many of them akamai about pesticides and the political process — pushed to the side, it was easy for the infiltrators to grab the steering wheel. And to make sure they stayed out, anyone who dared question or criticize was branded a sell-out, in the pocket of the chem companies. 

Certain politicians, too, have been undermining the intent of the bill, even as they claim to be champions for the people.

Councilman Gary Hooser brought in the GMO language — and with it, the more rabid anti-GMO activists — even though he was warned it would harm the bill. He continues to maintain — you can listen to him on HPR's The Conversation — that no environmental or health testing can occur without first having disclosure.

But as I noted in my interview on The Conversation, while I support disclosure, there's no reason to delay such tests because we do know what the companies are using. We have their restricted use pesticide records from the state. Yes, I know that is only a record of what they bought, but why would they buy it year after year if they aren't using it? And if Gary is using those same records to claim they're drenching the westside with 18 tons of pesticides annually, then why can't we also use those records to say, OK, let's start looking for that stuff?

Gary also has maintained there's an urgency to pass the bill because of health problems, including an increased rate of birth defects and rare tumors. Health fears have driven much of the debate, and they may well be real, given the toxic effects of pesticides. But why the reluctance to accumulate any real data? When I checked with the Department of Health, I learned no one has asked for a review of the state birth defects or tumor registries to see if Kauai does have higher rates, as often claimed. Is that because the review of the cancer registry — requested by one of our state legislators — showed Kauai's rate is actually lower than the statewide average?

And why, if human and environmental health, is supposedly the main driver behind this bill, did Gary argue yesterday against the resolution that would launch an Environmental and Public Health Impacts Study (EPHIS)? Wouldn't you want to get that study rolling if you felt the situation was urgent?

Why is Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura insisting the group that designs the EPHIS include community stakeholders — a requirement that will taint the process with subjectivity and needlessly delay it with internal wrangling — when a group of objective experts could easily be assembled to figure out how to plan such a study to produce some meaningful results?

As a result, the EPHIS resolution has been sent to committee where it could languish indefinitely. Yet there's been nary a peep from the reds. Why?

Why did JoAnn add language at the eleventh hour that further undermined the legality of the bill, such as prohibiting the cultivation of any crops in the buffer zone, which could be construed as a violation of the “right to farm” law? Why did she change the trigger for disclosure to using 15 pounds or five gallons of any single pesticide, when it had been stronger, trigged by a cumulative use?

Why did Gary, JoAnn and Councilman Tim Bynum, usually the transparency advocates on the Council, suddenly clam up and vote against releasing the county attorney's opinion? Despite the red herring claims that have been raised, there is nothing unusual about releasing opinions. What's more, nothing was revealed to the chem company attorneys that they don't already know, as evidenced by the Aug. 30 legal analysis of Bill 2491 that they sent to the county.

And finally, why did Chairman Jay Furfaro push the bill through that night, even though significant amendments were added in a back room session, even though the county attorney had pointed out flaws? Why not take the time to let people review the changed bill, amend it further to address possible legal challenges? What's the point of rushing it to the mayor, when careful crafting could have forestalled his veto?

We've witnessed an awful lot of drama, street theater, political pandering. We've witnessed a videotaped mob scene, physical threats against the mayor, metal scanners and security checks in the Council Chambers. 

And yet here we are, quite a ways down the road, but still right back at the beginning, with nothing. Nothing except a weak, watered down bill that appears headed for the trash can and a tattered, shell-shocked community that will be loathe to go down this road again.

Exactly as planned.

73 comments:

Anonymous said...

very insightful Joan, a travesty for real

Anonymous said...

Has Jay been taking prozac or just being disingenuous?

Anonymous said...

Wow, here's hitting the nail on the head! Or, is it more like the nail on the coffin of #2491?

Not what we want to hear, but this is the most clear and penetrating analysis I have heard on this issue, yet.

And for those who have not yet seen the youtube video of Mayor Carvalho's veto announcement, which was shot, narrated and titled by a very strident #2491 supporter, check this out and see how this issue was really corrupted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiPyXSxRxFs

Certainly not by the Mayor.

We have met the enemy,
and he is us!

Anonymous said...

Joan- Your perception and even keeled analysis is outstanding. A couple of points. I believe that the Corn folks will agree to most of the bills demands, with the exception of revealing the types of chem sprayed and the amounts, they will post warnings, work on fugitive dust and over spray via screens etc and do most setbacks. The ag ditches and streams are at the heart of the landowners future and any ag business future , so these are pretty well taken care of already.
There was no need for the Ag guys to infiltrate, why should they? They knew that several parts of the bill could be contested and they have the resources to play in court for years. Kauai likes to think that this is a threshold case and that we are ever so important, but in the scheme of things, Kauai is a dinky part of the business.
In the best of times, when a bunch of Haoles start preaching it is OK with the, live and let live attitudes on Kauai. But as the conversation heated up, and many of the newcomers started talking down to the locals, that was it. Game over. When the threat came up, no chance of any solution. Gary and Tim and their loud mantra spewing followers have set back harmony for years. Many kids are hapa, but they identify with the local side, because of the stereotypical holier than thou and know-it-all attitudes spewed by the protesters. This compounded by the fact, that so many of the anti-big Ag people are realtors, who have made fortunes cutting up big land, stopping beach access in the process and making a bunch of ag estates for the wealthy. If the County has any sense they will absolutely drag Bali Hai and Hawaii Life real estate companies over the coals anytime they come in for a permit. These guys sell all the big time land and then magically become sensitive environmental Nazis.
If Kouchi, Carvalho, Tokioka and Kawakami met with Big Ag, they would get results and the need for this hysterical weepy chest pounding by former developer/realtor Hooser and progesterone mottled Bynum could stop and we could all just get on with life.
Political pandering at the expense of the people is shameful.

Chuck Lasker said...

I am not sure I understand what you're getting at here, Joan. You refer to "Bill 2491 and the movement behind it" was "hijacked by those whose intention is to ensure that a pesticide bill is never approved on this island."

Who are you saying the hijackers are? Gary, Tim and JoAnn, or just JoAnn? Gary introduced Bill 2491, so I would imagine he didn't hijack the very movement he created, right? And Tim isn't smart enough to be a double agent for anything. So are you saying JoAnn is an undercover seed company rep?

"What we're seeing play out on little Kauai is a misinformation campaign by the biotech/pesticide multinationals, replete with plants."

Who are the plants? You throw that out there, then kind of leave it hanging. I think you need to be more specific because as far as I can tell there's just a vague accusation against the seed companies and innuendos to try to sound like you've got facts behind the accusation. Maybe I missed something in reading your article, because it's not the usual Joan Conrow style.

Anonymous said...

gary sez; "that no environmental or health testing can occur without first having disclosure."

joan sez; " We have their restricted use pesticide records from the state. Yes, I know that is only a record of what they bought, but why would they buy it year after year if they aren't using it?"

lauren pang sez; (pp)mixture of additives to the CIDES change the effect of the original regulated formula.

:for gary, does disclosure mean revealing the formula mix? and if so ,would there be a trade secret thing?

:for joan; since it is an experimental crop, who decides on the safety of the environment before experimental testing begins?

or do they do the test plots and perform after the fact analysis? like (i.e) how many crops can we grow before the soil is non productive because of the toxins? my worst fear is that they are altering seeds to thrive in toxic soil, a big rain will send that to stream, river and ocean. an experiment or farming...which is it, and who in authority is watching? i have had good results w/ used motor oil mixed w/ acetone and naptha for my farm weeds, is that ok? problem is that nothing grows there.....for a long,long time.....i wont worry til someone complains that i may be ruining something...(sarc) aloha Dean

Anonymous said...

" I believe that the Corn folks will agree....with the exception of revealing the types of chem sprayed and the amounts, they will post warnings"

WHY can't they just tell us what kind of sh*t they are spraying? It is so suspicious that this is their sticking point.

Don't tell me that the right to farm laws preempt a law requiring disclosure when someone sprays toxic chemicals next to an elementary school.

Anonymous said...

So marijuana is illegal because there are no studies to show it is safe, and spraying tons of pesticides remains legal because there are no studies to prove its not safe.

Your government at work.

Joan Conrow said...

No, Chuck, I'm not saying any of the Council are undercover seed company plants. They have their own political agendas motivating them.

Dean, all the experimental stuff is approved by USDA, with the state DOA playing only a very nominal role, and not even always aware of what the experiments are. It's all under the feds.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your interesting observations of this process Joan.

As the nuns in Catholic school taught me....."haste makes waste"

Dr Shibai

Anonymous said...

There seems to be a little unhappiness with certain members of the Council. Remember all of them with the exception of Ross Kagawa are pure political animals. Next year Jay is gone, Nadine is gone already. 2 openings for sure.
Mel is a shoe in. Ross and Joann are shoe ins. Gary and Tim may have trouble, but they are well known, and by the time of the election many will have forgotten their lies and hysteria. Now is the time for Council seekers to start organizing. There really isn't anybody who has local knowledge, business acumen or half-way intellect or is known to the public, except Dickie Chang and Kualii. Joan Conrow could get a lot of votes, she is well known, is a clear thinker and does research. Time to plan. Social media can help the new comers, but you need business support, government and union support. It will take 15 thousand dollars or so to make a good showing. For Council seekers, it is a long walk, get your hair done, modulate your syntax, go to all public functions, write letters to the editor etc. It can be done, diversity is a good thing.

Anonymous said...

http://nogmomeansnoaloha.com/2013/11/03/gary-hooser-rigs-polls-the-pono-way/

Anonymous said...

Joan, I am happy to hear you are an “opponent of GMO, pesticides, and an advocate of the environment”. When this Bill was first introduced it had a clause to identify and enclose all experimental test plots (exactly as Syngenta has to do in Switzerland). Did you blog a strong support for the Bill at this early juncture?
The Bill was diluted because the supporters on the Council realized something was better than nothing. To get Ross, JoAnn, and Nadine on board the industries’ concerns had to be addressed as they were playing the jobs card pretty heavily. Personally I believe had the Bill been watered down to “ you guys have to put a cross walk into your parking lot”, they still would have howled about it. If you look at the history of this entire industry, they are more afraid of the mouse that roared than they are of the Feds and States. They know on the Fed and State level their massive lobby efforts have paid dividends. This is why they are pushing hard for legislation like SB 727 that would prevent outer islands from passing their own regulations for health and safety. Sad thing is, without any kind of Bill, this could be our last chance as you can bet a 727esque bill will pop in the next legislative session. With 2491 passed in whatever draft we could at least dig our toes in a little and have something to build on later.
Pretty strong language “toxic, alienate, misinform, inflame”. I agree this looks like a stacked deck, but I think you may be barking up the wrong tree for the skunk. Who do you think among the core of the movement has blue underwear? Jenn from Pesticide
Action Group? Her boyfriend? Most all the others are kamaaina or long time residents with nothing to gain by being a double agent. Maybe a few interesting Flower People meander in and out (a typical disguise for a narc), but they are never part of the inner workings. When you list your “Hawaiian elders, kamaaina, middle of the roaders, business leaders, and other” friends, I guess you mean every body, I can’t see who this would exclude, not even the tourists. Well, 4,000 people showed up in the streets a few months back and the stacked deck you elude to has incited a whole new wave of involvement. If Ross flips, it will be as if the play book was followed as drafted by those mysterious reptilians

Chuck Lasker said...

You only answered one of my questions, Joan, and ignored the more important ones.

Who are you saying are the "plants?" People in the crowd? People who testified? Got any names, or are you just so astounded at some of this that it MUST be an evil corporate plan and not just crazy people? Are you suggesting one or more of the anti-GMO leaders on Kauai is a plant? Fern, Katie, Erika, Klayton??

"because it goes deeper than that, to the corporations themselves." That's a great line for a novel, but too sensationalistic when left alone, with no facts, for your blog. Do you have names but are keeping them to yourself? Do you have information, or is this a theory? I know people in the seed companies and the very idea of "plants" is counter to anything I have seen or heard. I have been outspoken against the anti-GMO crowd and yet I have not gotten an offer of employment or payment in any way to expand my efforts beyond the occasional post or comments. If they were the type to hire plants, it seems to me they would at least attempt to hire me to fight for their side full time. So I object to your vague accusations and request something - anything - to back them up.

Anonymous said...

So Chuck, you have not been paid anything to be the most hated man on Kauai? Guess we know who is the dope plant

Anonymous said...

Hatred is gained as much by good works as by evil.
Niccolo Machiavelli

Anonymous said...

Joan, re: your last points, that's just the way things are done on Kauai.

Re: the following:

"Why did JoAnn add language at the eleventh hour that further undermined the legality of the bill, such as prohibiting the cultivation of any crops in the buffer zone, which could be construed as a violation of the “right to farm” law? Why did she change the trigger for disclosure to using 15 pounds or five gallons of any single pesticide, when it had been stronger, trigged by a cumulative use?"

Why indeed. Did JoAnn and Nadine not try to put the bill on weaker legal grounding with their amendments? Sure seems so.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's not intentional. Some people have no idea how offensive they are and think that being an unruly mob or being rude to the mayor and putting it on social media is effective. It could be plain stupidity. But some of the really annoying ones are not from Kauai and really make you wonder, could they be spinning the narrative away from the legitimate concerns of those opposed to pesticides/biotech?

Anonymous said...

Seriously? Conspiracy theories? Vague accusations? I have always enjoyed reading your blog, but this entry undermines your credibility.

Anonymous said...

Of course Ross will flip. and i don't understand how folks think getting a flawed bill thru will somehow result in a real bill later. The law if passed will be only what it says, not what you want it to say.

Anonymous said...

Funny that the person giving you the hardest time is a seed person.What , we didn't infiltrate, what, we never do that

Anonymous said...

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
Niccolo Machiavelli

Anonymous said...

Any Bill will piss off the multinationals. Not necessarily here, but at the corporate level. They will hate the precedence of a little ol island regulating them. Not that we on Kauai are in the business of pissing off people, but their arrogance definitely warrants it.

Anonymous said...

I think itʻs all about the individual and no longer the bill: what did the higher ups in the gmo thinktank dig up on Bernard and threaten to expose him with?

If you think thatʻs a conspiracy theory, you are truly a babe in the woods; itʻs called doing business.

Truly a great brain you have there, Joan.

Anonymous said...

A hero would be born if one of these threatened individuals came clean and exposed the fact that someone is using coercion to expose them and admit that they will take that chance and vote with their conscience and heart regardless.

Anonymous said...

Only Mel voted against the bill and he said its the states responsibility. How is that suspect?

Anonymous said...

The "movement" is infiltrated by Greeks- Hysteria, Paranoia, Megalomania, Monomania, and one Roman, Vomitoria. Look at the people in the clip of Halloween Horror in the Rotunda. Would any of us holding the middle ground want any of those people to have a hand on the throttle? And that goes for their political puppet masters, too.

Anonymous said...

Um, I am confused. It says in your post, that the bill was ultimately defeated? Er, no, the bill will probably be passed. Are you saying that the original bill as written by Hooser and Bynum was defeated? Oh yes, most certainly by several council members who gutted it. But they won't be getting back into public office, so we don't have to worry about that again. However, the basic structure remains intact. The way I see it, with this basic structure, in the future, when we elect brand new council members and a new mayor, all of the original version of the bill can then be returned. This is just a silly ridiculous dance that we all have to go through to get something off the ground, and show corporations and embedded politicians that we are serious about our health, safety and welfare.

Also, I remember a little story in the bible, where Christ kinda got pissed off, started yelling, screaming and ranting, tossing tables and chairs around and physically roughing people up and tossed them out of a temple or something. I think if Christ can lose it, a few Kaua'i citizens can lose it as well without having themselves be labeled as some horrific terrorists, because if you take that logic through then Christ was one of the biggest terrorists there was, since he was constantly threatening elected officials with eternal damnation in hell if they didn't do the will of the people. I guess if Christ were alive today, there would have been added security and pat downs whenever he came to testify as well. So, with this basic logic, it is safe to assume, that many Christians are actually red shirts who are just following in Christs footsteps, by trying to toss the moneylenders out of the temple. A pretty noble cause if you ask me, and the Mayor is sort of in the role of a Pharisee now. It's kind of interesting to put this all in a biblical context. I wonder if someone will write a book about the happenings here on Kaua'i, and someone will find ancient printed out blogposts, in an ancient calabash, buried in the back of some old cave somewhere, and start a new religion around them after the economic collapse a hundred years from now. I bet Joans' blogposts become the next Sunday Morning Sermons of the future.
I mean, like Joan, I enjoy speculating on what really is going on and adding my own unique twist and scenarios to imagined realities of what may or may not be occurring. It is what writers do. Get creative and provocative. Of course this really has little basic place in reality, but it is part of the basic creative process. It's fun, don't you think? OK, now back to reality. Don't forget, next Thursday November 14, come and celebrate the passing of Bill 2491. And no tossing out the moneylenders. Let them be in peace. They won't be getting back into the building after the next election, so let them contemplate their exhistance in quiet contemplation as they figure out what they are going to do for gainful employment after the 2014 election cycle. Maybe we should start gathering up care packages for them? After all, its the Christian thing to do.

Unknown said...

Hawaii GMO Investigation: Follow The Anti-Crop Biotech Money Trail

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2013/09/04/hawaii-gmo-investigation-follow-the-anti-crop-biotech-money-trail/

So exactly WHO's receiving "Big" money?

We all want to protect our residents, visitors, environment, hospitals, etc... but bill 2491 is NOT the right vehicle to get us there. Pressure on the Mayor, Council, State & Fed Reps. to work together...will get us real results.

Anonymous said...

The only political damage was to Gary and Tim. Ross will vote with Mel. Even Jay may change his vote. Jay may have learned there is no legacy with this bill. His legacy is his years of steady and level service, not blending and inserting himself with the million little fistee Hooserites.

Anonymous said...

Comparing yourself to Christ? You gotta be a blue pretending to be red. Joan, I thought you were off, but the comment by anonymous at 6:26 a.m. proves it. No one can be that stupid.

Anonymous said...

I love the whole "Million little fists" thing. I think historical prejudices run deep. When people arose and said enough was enough, when it came to oh say the suffragette movement, or civil rights, or in India and the great struggle of Ghandi, people had the same reaction. Those whose lives felt little affected by the lives and suffering of others around them, and whose empathies only went as far as their own noses. Some people are honestly afraid of the might and will of the people. It scares them for some reason to see people amass and take to the streets and be vocal in their feelings. This often happens when people harbor guilt for their own selfishness and rather comfortable lives that are basicly untouched by the unwashed masses of regular peons who swirl around them in their daily lives. They barely notice other humanity around them, and will thank them to keep their filthy little hands off of their finely tuned and comfortable exhistances. Anyone who is seen to side with these huddled and unhappy people who can't seem to just shut up and accept their inferior status are nothings in these peoples book, and deserve the disdain of regular normal sane people who wouldn't sully their hands with the raucus crowd of unhappy people who have a genuine gripe and are arising to better their lives and conditions. This can't be tolerated. The reason, of course, is simple. Because a million little fists, can form into one great big fist, and smash their little bubble of superiority and comfortable "We are better then you" class distinction. Ah well, such is the lot of humanity, to always be swayed and turned by a "million little fists". Sometimes that is what it takes to crush the resistance to the equality of mankind, and keep us alive as a race for just a few more years.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous at at 6:26 AM:

Please identify yourself. I want to watch your face next Thursday when the Mayor's veto gets upheld. I really want to watch your group's celebration after that. Please identify yourself. Please, please, please.

Anonymous said...

Christ said "Follow in my footsteps.". Christians are taught to be "Christlike.". I suppose you aren't a Christian then. But then, neither am I. I am not a shirt color, I am a human being. Those that try to divide humanity can never conquer humanity. Let's enjoy a bit of fun speculation, and say that I am one of the many that just works for the companies but actually agrees with the red shirts. Yes, there are many out there, believe it or not. A job is a job. You can't help what you do for a job. Most of the time your bosses do not represent your feelings on the issues at hand. You merely get the paycheck, go home and try to keep your family afloat. If the truth is to be told, let it be told here. The cat is out of the bag. Many people that work for the seed companies did not attend those hearings and wear a blue shirt. They were all given the day off, and invited to attend. The people who showed up were mostly in a supervisory or higher pay scale category. The rest of the workers actually just simply took the day off and didn't come to the county building to testify. That is the real inside scoop. Those workers that stayed home, were actually secretly in support of 2491. Now, what do you have to say to that revelation?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Comparing yourself to Christ? You gotta be a blue pretending to be red. Joan, I thought you were off, but the comment by anonymous at 6:26 a.m. proves it. No one can be that stupid.

November 9, 2013 at 7:53 AM

I said, "I remember a story where", and I said "christlike behavior", not "comparing myself to christ". Basic reading comprehension is so important, in life don't you think? For your info many seed company workers are in favor of 2491. They are the ones that take the day off and do not show up at the county building to stand around in a blue shirt and get fed and carry signs and cheer like they are at a football game of Lihue versus Waimea. They prefer to spend the time with their families and relax, not spend the day doing something they don't agree with.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, Governor Abercombie takes no heat. The one person who could actually do something quickly and with a statutory and administrative framework already in place basically escapes notice. How's the outreach to the "stakeholders" going, Gov?

Anonymous said...

And again, the media is complicit. Instead of focusing all of its attention on the County (where you have the Christ like activists yelling at the mayor and council and making for good sound bites), why have the Garden Island, Star Advertiser, Civil Beat, Huffington Post, KITV, and the rest failed to ask the Governor, "given the concerns raised by residents, physicians, scientists, teachers and the rest, what have you done since your press release? Do you have any concrete proposals to share at this time or are you really bought and paid for by the biotech/pesticide industry?"

Anonymous said...

Conversation has gone into the ozone and absurdly subjective. Simple facts:1- Dean Higuchi and the EPA just make chem boys push paper; they are understaffed so they give funds to State to monitor dangerous pesticides. 2-State Pesticide guy Thomas Matsuda makes them push more paper, sends an inpector out a couple times a month to look at their spray logs and make sure they are not mixing gatoraide in the empty poison containers. What true regulation needs to do is create 2 or 3 fulltime postions to properly monitor chemical activites, test water, soil, air regularly. Stiff fines and jail time for damage to environment or health of neighboring community. Any civilized society would see it this way.

Anonymous said...

and the bill you are all fighting over allows pesticide use in the buffer zone with a 24 hour posted notice and no crops to be grown. Theater of the absurd is right.

Anonymous said...

"What true regulation needs to do is create 2 or 3 fulltime postions to properly monitor chemical activites, test water, soil, air regularly. Stiff fines and jail time for damage to environment or health of neighboring community. Any civilized society would see it this way."

But Gary told Joan that enforcement wasn't important. The important thing was to pass the bill. And Tim said it would only need one County employee to enforce the original bill. Reconcile that one. And you think the County would vigorously enforce this bill with one employee? Where's the outrage over the State's failure to enforce laws that are already on the books? Why are people marching on the County? Why aren't the lawyers harping on the State Attorney General instead of the County Attorney?

Anonymous said...

If it's a given that the State is doing a bad job of administering the laws already on the books, why is the solution to have the county pass a law that is of questionable legality and of dubious intent?

Anonymous said...

Abercrombie stated to the HCIA publicly that the industry does not need to lobby him, he is on board. Then the state tried to pass 2 pieces of legislation to tell island countys they could not legislate their own health and safety, bills obviously drafted for/by the chem industry. The only folks trusting the state to regulate this mess is those who need to be regulated in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Talk of Jesus, Gandhi etc., blame everyone, accuse everyone and never accept responsibility yourselves. The goals of this bill could have been worked out in 2 shakes between the County and Ag/Chem companies. There is not one business person on the island who would allow a flaccid duo like Bynum/Hoosier into any discussion regarding their business. Hoosier/Bynam's attitudes toward PMRF, Hotels, AG and any other business is well known. They do not like it and they want to stop it. The puppet masters of these two pinkos should have realized that sending Howdy Doody and Bozo to do brain surgery is a no go. Yukimura, Nadine or any of the more reasonable council people could have struck a deal and all of the political fodder, hysteria and bad blood would not be here AND there would be a workable pesticide agreement in place, right now.

Anonymous said...

Looser 'n Bumby are fishers of fools, not men, and they have caught one hellva fish from hell . . . and it is smelling really stinka, now!

Anonymous said...

You chem. Boys are pretty smug after you duped our mayor. Don’t revel too much though, remember he did not come to your celebration party. I know, he told me he did not have the stomach for it. Reason is he is deeply troubled about the health problems on the West Side. Bernard is a Keiki O Ka Aina, just like these young activists leading the charge for oversight of you snakes. Being so , he has a deep sense of stewardship for this island that your professional resistance saboteurs will not understand. Got to give you credit for the quite smart move of flooding the workers into his office to plead for their jobs; I think that’s what tipped it for you.
Your all-in decision to kill this bill in it’s diluted form, though, was not smart. If you had accepted and lived with these very manageable terms you would have much quieted down the populace movement against you. Instead now, you will be dealing with a second much larger, angrier, and bolder wave of anti GMO/Chemical activists. One that will not only want to regulate you, but send you packing. You better consider that last card you are getting ready to play on the veto over ride very carefully.

Anonymous said...

The cacophony of comments prove that County water has been been spiked, too much Kauai Electric
has been smoked or the residuals of this bill have powerful hallucinogenic effects.

Anonymous said...

And you are putting in your two cents into the cacophony too, as well, aren't you? I love it when kettles are called black by the kettles themselves. But then, posting on Joan's blog is a lot of fun, isn't it? I do love the way she gets the ball rolling right off cliffs, and we chase right after them taking the fall. What fun. What more of a rush could any of us ever ask for? So, my fellow bloggie anon posties, don't complain when your drug of choice is particularly deliscous. Just enjoy it, and keep trying to win the game, match set, love :D

Anonymous said...

Jay might change his vote. This is because he is mad that he did not get Gary Heu's position. It's all politics and horse trading. And Syngenta is winning. Gross. People call for change and safe chem use and corporate America shows its true fangs, duping our unsophisticated politicians and, if you believe Joan, even putting violent plants and double agents into a group of citizens and doctors and parents who just don't want the kids playing next to a poison farm.

Anonymous said...

Kauai politicians will allow poison testing farms in our backyard, but can't get us a drug treatment center.

Open air testing of poison? Yeah, let's put that right next door. DuPont Pioneer says it's OK.

Anonymous said...

At least the AG zoned TVR fake farms probably won't be used for open air poison spray experiments.

Sarcasm aside the point is, are we really protecting our AG lands so they can experiment with pesticide mixes on those lands? TVR is less harmful. These "seed" companies keep calling it their right to do AG, but if the primary activity is testing how good this years toxic cocktail kills plants, maybe it's not AG at all. That sounds more like an industrial use to me, all due respect to the chem attorneys.

What if council just passed a law stating that pesticide experiments are an industrial use and not an agricultural use? Get the "right to farm" out of this debate, because they are not farming - they are testing industrial toxins.

Rollo

Anonymous said...

Joan,
I realize that grand conspiracy theories are de rigueur on the northshore. However, a more parsimonious explanation would be: village politicians with giant egos take on a topic far beyond their competency. That they were manipulated by outside interest groups that were clueless about local culture/politics and armed with their own agendas (i.e. not necessarily in the interests of Kauai) only strengthens the argument that they are far, far out of their league.

Anonymous said...

What the Philippines is going through is only a matter of time for us. Due to rampant growth, virtually almost 4 times our population since Iniki, and the fact that seed companies grow no food for us, only seeds that they experiment, and burn afterwards into the air after dousing them with a cocktail mix of restricted use pesticides, that is a trade secret to each company do you really think they will stick around on Kauai? That is a laugh. They will claim every penny of losses from the DOA, pack their bags and leave, leaving a huge mess behind, and no food for anyone to eat. Keep supporting something that does zero for our island in the long run, cannot feed us, and is in no way sustainable. And don't count on Walmart, Kmart, Home Depot and Cost U less to feed all of you, trust me. Don't expect the workers to not have to go home and care for their families. Looting is a definite possibility this time. We don't even know if those buildings can survive a major hurricane. I can tell you that a few of them tremble in the slightest wind, so don't count on it. All of these buildings were built after Iniki, and the average Hurricane Clamp, breaks at 180 miles an hour. Iniki doubled that. Without fostering Organic farming and true food production, and local productions of meat, and bread manufacturing as well as fruits and veggies, we have absolutely zero food security and this island will starve, unless like before the Military steps up and feeds us MRE's like they did before. After Iniki many major monoculture Export agricultural operations closed their doors forever, and were not replaced by food production, but by luxury gentlemen estates .The population is made up now of at least 50 percent of people who have not been here long enough to remember our hurricane. Don't expect Kumbaya in the streets and politeness people. We have been indoctrinated now with the comforts of the mainland. Then you tell me how right these seed companies are and how wrong those of us that are merely fighting for food security on this island, and sane pesticide regulations are.

Anonymous said...

"The only folks trusting the state to regulate this mess is those who need to be regulated in the first place."

And you put your trust in the county?

Joan Conrow said...

9:21 -- You're on to something there.

Anonymous said...

The government knows best. The feds and State know much more than we do. The County knows even more. business people are generally poorly trained and do not know how things really work. we have to trust the government, they should allow them to take care of all of our needs. Private businesses only take from the people. If Kauai county took all of the land, gave a piece to all of the people, we could all eat what we want. Wallmart, Costco, Pioneer these big corporations are only out for profit. None of them are run very good. The county should run everything, they should tell the doctors what to do, ration out food and land to all the people. I am sick and tired of having to work and see all of these people that are greedy and have big houses and nice cars. The county counsil is finally on the right track, correct the injustice, sieze the land, punish the capitalists and share the land and the money. It is time for all of us to get together and demand our rights for clean air, water, food, apiece of farming land and a fair deal.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, climate change will make this issue seem manini in a few years.

Anonymous said...

You are sadly right 11:02. And the largest contributor on the planet to greenhouse gases is....drum roll...industrial ag. Crime is they only procuce 30% of the world's food supply

Anonymous said...

Please tell us 10:11 exactly who at the state level you would trust to look after our well being here on Kauai. Either you are sadly out of touch with recent history or you have a vested interest in that state/biotech cozy relationship.

Anonymous said...

Joan, I just thought i would make the posts an even 60. It has been a great debate on your blog. Too bad we can't all meet in real life, sit down and debate all of this face to face. Now that would be something. Who is up for that? A Joan Blogger Party? We can have security there, oh say about 20 to 30 actors playing KPD and they can pat us all down, and check our stuff at the door. We can meet in a small 55 seat room, and take a name and wait 19 hours to testify. We can sleep in tents the night before, and take a number and wait our turn. I think that bringing a little realism into what the general public has had to go through to testify on this issue would be fun!. We can role play it out, with blue shirts and red shirts giving stink eye at each other, and each trying to change the others mind. And afterwards, we can eat separately, and sort of taunt each other with our catered lunches. The red shirts can invite the blue shirts to eat organic, healthy lunch, with veggies , fresh juices, water, fresh fruits and homemade dishes that are low in sodium, and salt and sugar, where the ingredients are mostly purchased from local Kaua'i farmers, (the real ones, the ones that actually grow food). and the blue shirts can invite the other side to eat heaps of sticky white rice, with lots of salty shoyu mounds of fatty Kalua pig, and fatty chicken with all of the skin and fat left on, and fatty red meats, with the fat nice and crusted (yummy!) and mayonaissy potato mac salad, washed down with chocolate cake with icing, and lots and lots of sugary soda. I mean I think it would be a lot of fun. Kinda like historical re-enactment, yanno? :D

Anonymous said...

Because that's what it's been for a lot of people, yanno, play-acting.

Anonymous said...

This administration needs to stop protecting unethical, guilty FOB's. The extortion coming from the building division where they know they have inspectors who are not only drawing the plans and walking them thought the permitting process but running the construction company that is building them is freaking outrageous.

Anonymous said...

'Auwe nohoi 'e! Now there's a pilau thought. I'd rather go to a party with gohan, rafute, kalua, na'au, loko, pipikaula, pinakbet, poi, caldareta, nishime, pork sour cabbage, won ton, haupia, coconut cream cake and talk stink about malihini than sit around with the malihini nibbling goat cheese, kale, crudités, wheatgrass and whatever while listening to them plot on how they can stuff their nasty agenda down our throats along with all that roughage. 61

Anonymous said...

"And the largest contributor on the planet to greenhouse gases is....drum roll...industrial ag."

While ag is a big contributor of greenhouse gases, it does not come close to transportation, electricity generation or manufacturing.

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/31/this-giant-chart-shows-where-all-our-greenhouse-gases-come-from/

http://www.whatsyourimpact.eu.org/co2-sources.php

How's your carbon footprint?

Anonymous said...

"Please tell us 10:11 exactly who at the state level you would trust to look after our well being here on Kauai."

Currently, no one. But Governor Abercombie, like the politicians on the Council, tends to react to political pressure. What if, instead of thousands marching to "pass the bill", thousands marched to "enforce the law"? What if all this media attention that is focused on a bill that may not be legal was focused instead on the State's abysmal record in enforcing the Pesticide Law, Air Pollution and Water Pollution laws? What if you had people holding signs at the airport that said "Stop The Poisoning Governor"? What if you hung out at his representative's office on Kauai demanding to know what he's doing? What if you flooded Abercombie, Kouchi, Kawakami and Tokioka with phone calls, e-mails and face to face pleas for some action?

That may not get results. But the county bill is and always has been doomed because it will either get thrown out by the court after years of legal bills or it will be poorly enforced after years of trying to figure out what to do and who will do it. And if you want to know about the county's record with issues that are clearly its responsibility, ask Joan, Glen Mickens, Caren Diamond, etc. That will tell you all you need to know about how this will end.

Anonymous said...

9:42. Do you believe state laws are tough enough to cover the citizen's concerns? There is no disclosure. No buffer zones. Only token over sight of chem activities. State over sight is exactly what those boys want. Kind of similar to how they wrote their own FDA standards against their own industry back in the good ol Reagan years.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the impacts globally of industrial ag:
The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) was an international effort involving the World Bank, the UN Environment Program (UNEP), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization, UNESCO and other international institutions that conducted a three year study (2005 – 2008) to evaluate the relevance, quality and effectiveness of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology. The project involved 900 participants, including 400 scientists, development experts, and 110 countries, examining the intertwined problems of global agriculture, hunger, poverty, power and influence. Their findings sent shock waves through the conventional agriculture establishment. The majority of the countries involved approved the findings. The USA, under pressure from the powerful Biotech Industry, did not approve the findings; making this important information not well known to our citizens. If you want to read more, google the IAASTD findings.
As far as the question of greenhouse gas contribution: industrial ag is number one when you factor in the transportaion network integral to it's long distance marketing, and one must include methane gases from industrial feedlots and hog farms. One much overlooked factor that pushes it over the top is the CO2 that is not sequestered by soil that has been rendered unhealthy by chemical pesticide and fertilzer over usage.

Anonymous said...

The same transportation network that carries every product that you buy in stores or on the net ? That one? Or the one that flies thousands of people all over the world on an hourly basis? With regard to a carbon footprint, we have met the enemy and he is us.

Anonymous said...

"What if council just passed a law stating that pesticide experiments are an industrial use and not an agricultural use? Get the "right to farm" out of this debate, because they are not farming - they are testing industrial toxins."

Interesting approach.

Anonymous said...

10:31 AM

OMG! Is this a real post, no it's not possible that someone in this day and age with even the minimum of education to function in society would actually believe the things written.
Communism does not work, and what you suggested was communism. It has been proven that way in every instance, USSR, China, North Korea, Cuba and any other place that it was tried.
But now I read it again I can see the real message
"sieze the land, punish the capitalists and share the land and the money"
You want something for nothing, thats the outcome that will make you happy.
Work for yourself and stop hoping to live of everyone elses hard work.

Anonymous said...

"9:42. Do you believe state laws are tough enough to cover the citizen's concerns? There is no disclosure. No buffer zones."

I don't know if the state laws are tough enough. But compare the Pesticide Law, Clean Water and Air Pollution laws (that are the state's responsibility to enforce) with Bill 2491 (and you can use any iteration -- original bill, or the subsequent drafts) and tell me which legislative schemes are, in theory, more comprehensive and provide greater protection for people's health and the environment. It's hard to say the state laws are not tough enough because it appears they're not being rigorously enforced. The state law requires disclosure of what RUPs are purchased but don't require disclosure of where, when or in what amount the RUP is applied. The federal laws require buffer zones in accordance with the RUP's label and who knows if those buffer zones are enforced. The pesticide/biotech industry should be closely monitored and regulated. But does the county have the resources or personnel needed to enforce 2491 and is it up to the task?

Anonymous said...

Why not give them a chance and let them try. They have the most at stake; after all this county is in reality an island and our county government is the government of the island. State and Feds are offshore entities who will just make the industry push more paper, which is how they would have it.

Chuck Lasker said...

As the recipient of yet another anonymous cowardly insult on your blog, Joan, I would like to ask why you allow anonymous comments. Right to know and all that - it seems like people should have to stand behind their words instead of spewing their vile hate and misinformation as cowards. Anonymity breeds hate and lies, as well as duplication to create an appearance of popularity of an opinion.

To the anonymous coward who insulted me, no I don't get paid a dime from anyone on either side of the issue. I have no skin in the game at all, unlike many paid local activists. I argue for what I believe is best for Kauai, that is all. Like Joan, I fight mostly about tactics - lies, fear-mongering, misinformation, hate, threats... If I see any of that from the pro-GMO side, I fight that, too, as anyone can see looking at my publicly available Facebook feed.

Joan and I are on opposite sides of the GMO issue, but we can argue like adults. And we use our names, like adults, instead of throwing rocks from behind trees like grade school children.

Anonymous said...

"Referring to the work of US investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, the report points out that the notorious defence contractor Blackwater, later renamed XE Services and now Academi, had sought to become "the intel arm" of Monsanto, the agricultural and biotechnology corporation associated with genetically modified foods. Blackwater was paid to "provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm."