Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Musings: Con Job Too

Continuing with yesterday's “con job” theme, I wanted to draw attention to Ian Lind's commentary on Civil Beat, where he skewers the “kingdom defense” being used by some of the anti-TMT protestors.

It caught my attention because I have a young friend who has been similarly conned into believing that Dayne Aipoalani and the Kingdom of Atooi can protect him from the recurring charges of driving without a Hawaii license or license plates that recently landed him in jail.

Ian cites State of Hawaii v. Harry Fergerstrom, in which the court ruled the state “has lawful jurisdiction over all persons operating motor vehicles on public roads or highways within the State of Hawai`i. Persons claiming to be citizens of the Kingdom of Hawai`i and not of the State of Hawai`i are not exempt from the laws of the State of Hawaii applicable to all persons (citizens and non-citizens) operating motor vehicles on public roads and highways within the State of Hawaii.”

Ian goes on to write:

[T]here have been 41 cases brought before Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals and six cases before the Hawaii Supreme Court over the last two decades in which the courts rejected the argument that the state lacks jurisdiction because the Kingdom still exists.

Asserting the jurisdiction of the Kingdom may make for lively political theater, but as a legal argument, it’s clearly a loser.

And there’s a hidden benefit here for attorneys who pursue this line of argument. When the legal argument fails in court, those enthralled by its “obvious” validity can blame the bias of the courts, the power of the occupiers, and a continuing non-native conspiracy for the outcome while keeping their beliefs, and the reputations of their attorneys, intact.

Meanwhile, Hector Valenzuela, a College of Tropical Ag professor, and The Hawaii Independent are perpetuating another con job, one in which they agree that poor Hector has been hectored by the University of Hawaii for his anti-biotech stance.

As proof, they reference an article written by Paul Koberstein — one of those paid by the Media Consortium to write anti-GMO articles in Hawaii — and printed in the misnamed Independent, whose publisher, Ikaika Hussey, is on the board of Gary Hooser's anti-GMO HAPA group.

Koberstein quotes Hector as saying:

I am not an anti-GMO person, and I have never served as a spokesman for any anti-GMO group.

Yeah, I guess it's just a coincidence that for years Hector has been a prominent presence at just about every anti-GMO rally, meeting and march in the state; never missed an opportunity to utter anti-GMO quotes to the media, and offered “expert” testimony against biotech to both the Hawaii County Council and as a witness for SHAKA's anti-GMO moratorium.

The real problem with Hector is he has a tendency to play fast and loose with the truth, which doesn't endear to him to colleagues who value objectivity and scientific credibility. As a recent article in Slate reported:

Hector Valenzuela, a University of Hawaii crop specialist who also testified as an expert, said the same thing [as anti-GMO activist Jeffrey Smith]: that scientists hadn’t “conducted a single study” to assess the safety of GE papaya. Neither man mentioned the Chinese papaya feeding study in rats—published two months before the theoretical paper Smith had cited—which had found none of the harms Smith alleged.

As for Japan’s approval of the papaya, Valenzuela advised the council to look at U.S. government cables released by WikiLeaks. He said the cables showed “the lengths that the State Department goes to twist arms behind the scenes.” This was a clear insinuation that U.S. officials had coerced Japan’s decision. Smith mentioned the cables, too. But the cables showed no conspiracy. Nearly 6,000 of the leaked cables had been sent from U.S. embassies and consulates in Japan. They covered the years 2005 to 2010, during which Japanese regulators had debated and approved the GE papaya. Food & Water Watch, an environmental group, had searched the cables for references to pressure or lobbying by U.S. officials on behalf of GMOs. The group’s report, issued in May 2013, cited no cables that indicated any such activity in Japan.

Sadly, some 60 faculty members have bought into Hector's claim that his academic freedoms are being violated. After reading Koberstein's obviously biased article, they penned a letter to UH administrators, condemning the "academic freedom violations." Let's hope they employ a bit more discernment and critical thinking in their own classrooms, research and publications. I mean, really, you guys. Serious con.

And finally, I recently linked to a Facebook post with a video clip of baby sloths being bathed in an animal sanctuary. But the adorable clip soon drew fire from a spate of no-nothing know-it-alls:

I read elsewhere that sloths do not need baths unless it is for medical reasons. Please confirm 

I also heard that they should not be rubbed, it scares them...but idk for sure.

I lived in Panama a few years and I was told sloths have a natural oily skin and they stink to make them less prone to predator attacks since they can't defend themselves.

Which therefore suggests that they shouldn't be bathed "clean" right? This video makes sloths "pet-like" but instead National Geographic should be educating us on how they naturally live and survive. Stinky and oily and all!

When I saw the green solution she was putting them in I thought great she's gonna "re-stink" them! But she said a herbal mixture of tea and leaves?!? Wow was I wrong...I just shook my head!

I think they're wild animals and need to be left alone.

A sanctuary is fine to rehabilitate them but they should try to let them live as naturally as possible.

It wasn't "necessary" for them to bathe the sloths clean, surely their natural oils protect them from parasites in the wild.

Sloth's grow algae on their bodies that protect them in the wild by way of camouflage. These baths are making them more susceptible to predators.

Finally, someone from the sloth sanctuary weighed in:

Hi all, these sloths were bathed because they had a skin condition. It's generally not good for their natural pH balance unless it's absolutely necessary. Sloths do not smell. Or have any kind of odor to protect them against predators. The male Bradypus secret an oily substance from their patch only. This is musky smelling but certainly not bad in anyway. Hope this helps

I couldn't resist adding my own two cents:

This comment thread is a great example of how people make assumptions and pass judgment w/o knowing anything about what they've just seen! And next thing you know they're all fired up about Natl Geo mistreating sloths! The serious downside of FB and social media!

Because how many times has this same stupid scenario been repeated on just about every topic under the sun, breeding ever more ignorance and tilling fertile soil for the next con job.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sadly 60 UH faculty have, like so many others have been snookered by the fistees anti GMO mob. So glad we have you Joan to show us the truth.

Anonymous said...

Most of the lawyers the court appoints to defend criminal case HATE getting sovereignty defense clients. There is a Hawaii Supreme Court order that forced the lawyer to try the sovereignty defense, even where the lawyer was refusing to do it. The Supreme Court instructed that it is for the court, and not the attorney, to decide whether the defense is valid. If forced the attorney to raise the sovereignty defense agains this judgment. Ironically, the same court has never decided one such case in a defendant's favor.

Ian Lind also has a good primer on the complexities involved in defending Native Hawaiians.It is at:
http://www.ilind.net/2015/07/13/hawaii-rights-are-anything-but-straightforward/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ilind%2FHygx+%28i+L+i+n+d+.+n+e+t%29

Anonymous said...

You mean every time I spout off I may not be correct?

Go figure!

Anonymous said...

Of course if the State would reconcile with a Native Hawaiian government and recognize its inherent sovereignty, (like it has been promising to do since 1993) all these poor Kanaka going to jail for not having the required government papers could stop.

Anonymous said...

On another note, so does Ross still think its up to the people now that the Mayor like run for a third term?
Or does that only apply for Mel?

Anonymous said...

Shiet Imma get mines attitude by these lolos without ollos should have they pic on Bolos.

Anonymous said...

Why not? Ross is a political genius.

Anonymous said...

2:40pm. I would say so, despite all the fear mongering he voted against bill 2491 because of pre-emption concerns. Pretty good for a newcomer I would say.

Anonymous said...

As a former academic, speaking at a time when there are serious current and very real threats to academic freedom, I am utterly disgusted to see the latest ongoing UH drama.

Making blatantly fraudulent and false claims to promote special interests as Hector Valenzuela has repeatedly done is highly unethical, and is in no way an exercise of academic freedom. Equally pathetic is the actions of other professors (clearly not scientists) to defend his unethical actions and behavior in the name of academic freedom. One should never confuse deliberate lying and the spreading of propaganda with academic freedom.

Anonymous said...

Ross is a political genius. He gets even the new transplants to vote for him because he sounds so sincere while he is giving them the shaft.

Anonymous said...

The Hawaii Supreme Court recognized that cultural practices, including gathering rights, are protected and can be a legitimate defense to criminal charges. If a criminal defense lawyer doesn't have the skill or is otherwise lacking, get out of the arena and go practice tax law.

Anonymous said...

I would say why birds and cats and dogs? Why not cockroaches or geckos or pigs or goats? Someone must give God's other creatures the same consideration.

Anonymous said...

I love any politician who thinks the end of term limits and raising the excise tax are great ideas. I love Ross. Ross loves Mel. Mel loves himself. Love is the answer. NOT.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Joan, just saw a fb post about klayton kubo and an interview he did for a french newspaper

Joan Conrow said...

And no doubt he was his usual articulate and eloquent self.

Anonymous said...

The kicker is that he seemed suprised that it was printed and said "I told the reporter to send it to me before so at least can make some corrections. A lot of mis wordings. This Is Why I don't like to do interviews."

Anonymous said...

Hector, the Hawaii Martyr.....poor thing, with a tenured lifetime UH appointment and nearly limitless academic freedom. Also able to moonlight. Out for hire (rates for participating in the Pioneer lawsuit, but may be higher now):
"My current rate of compensation for this work is $200 per hour for technical tasks. My current rate for deposition and trial testimony is $500 per hour."

Anonymous said...

It's better that Valenzuela spend his time selling his junk science to the likes of Gerard Jervis and Kyle Smith in court than to further embarrass the University of Hawaii in the classroom or public. He should be assigned to a ten square foot office in Na'alehu and told to stay there.

Anonymous said...

"I read elsewhere that sloths do not need baths unless it is for medical reasons. ***Please confirm***

***I also heard*** that they should not be rubbed, it scares them...***but idk for sure."***

Talk about a "sloth" . . .

Anonymous said...

Hector one shill if he gets 500 an hour for his "expert" testimony. Is everyone in the antigmo camp for the money??

Anonymous said...

Where is Kubo interview?

Anonymous said...

http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2015/06/03/poisons-de-paradis_4646102_3244.html?xtmc=kubo&xtcr=1

Anonymous said...

http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2015/06/03/poisons-de-paradis_4646102_3244.html?xtmc=kubo&xtcr=1

John McHugh said...

I think it is extremely disingenuous for a tenured faculty position at the University of Hawaii to make the claim that they do not have academic freedom. If they did not they would not become tenured and elevated to the rank of full professor! What else does Hector want!

What it comes down to is that you and I and every other working citizen of the Hawaiian Islands who is paying taxes is paying Hector his salary. He is a government worker and public figure and should expect to be criticized if there are those of us in the taxpaying public who are unhappy with the job he is doing! What is wrong with expecting him to do his job which is to support the vegetable crop industry (note: not not the organic farming industry! the University has a separate position for that!). After all, he is the University of Hawaii Vegetable Crop Specialist for the entire State! I am a vegetable crop farmer (watercress next to the Pearlridge Shopping Center - my ex-wife's 3rd generation family farm) and have seen Hector on the farm only once since his hiring in 1993 and that was the year I saw him. When we had the Aster Yellows outbreak that nearly destroyed the watercress industry in 2001 - 2003, where was Hector?!? Where has he been since then? Mostly proselytizing his anti-modern agriculture and organic agenda!

So poor Hector. Grow a pair and man up! If he was assisting the progress of the vegetable crop industry in Hawaii he would not have the time on his hands to be out there testifying against the use of the tools of modern agriculture! And people, please remember, agriculture is not the bugaboo of pesticide application. The use of pesticides in agriculture of all forms in Hawaii is still a small percentage of the overall use of pesticides in the modern world we live in!

Anonymous said...

with all the Ross bashing going on, give him credit for having his finger (correctly) on the political pulse. Right now, his score, 2 - 0. Homestays and (most likely) dogs. 3 - 0 when the term limit rollback happens. the screamers will scream; who cares? they don't get him elected, anyway. U Da man Ross. keep going like you're going. we love it !

Anonymous said...

with all the Ross bashing going on, give him credit for having his finger (correctly) on the political pulse. Right now, his score, 2 - 0. Homestays and (most likely) dogs. 3 - 0 when the term limit rollback happens. the screamers will scream; who cares? they don't get him elected, anyway. U Da man Ross. keep going like you're going. we love it !

Anonymous said...

sloths can smoke marijuana for medical reasons. bath optional.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Le Monde link. Another Eurodork graces Kauai to interview the usual suspects. While the bullshit is much more mellifluous in French, the message of Kubo and Chun is still conneries no matter how Eutodorks swallow it. And Gary Hooser's title in French is so vastly more important sounding, he should move to Paris and run in one of the more leftist arrondissements of Paris. Kauai is much too small a place for that ego, and given his good work in Switzerland, the French are sure to welcome him with open arms.

Anonymous said...

The National Geographic March 2015 issue:
The War on Science
Climate Change does not exist
Evolution never happened
The Moon Landing was fake
Vaccinations can lead to autism
Genetically modified food is evil

Anonymous said...

People are supporting Ross too. He cuts to the chase.

Anonymous said...

The use of pesticides in agriculture of all forms in Hawaii is still a small percentage of the overall use of pesticides in the modern world we live in!
That's the rub with today's focus only on the seed companies.

Anonymous said...

Ross is not afraid to call out the bs from the transplants, and he is smart enough to look them in the eye and tell them he cares. Lol. Ross Kagawa is da man!

Anonymous said...

Such high makamaka attitude Joan. Lost your humility somewhere along the way. Just another fn haole.

Anonymous said...

Such a smart lady, somewhere along the way you learned to think for yourself. Just educated .

Anonymous said...

I notice that only two of the people who supported Hector had anything to do with agriculture, one was retired from the Hilo campus and one is a project director for the aquaponics program. Where is the support from his colleges in CTAHR who know him well and have to work with him?

Anonymous said...

Amen!

Anonymous said...

Ross has a plan and it is working. A majority of voters are hard core local, west side Hgea types many or most of whom resent the white newcomers who dominate the North, East and Poipu areas but who don't vote. Those that do vote don't know how to plunk or block vote so are not efficient voters. Ross's plan is to drive a hard wedge between the groups with the "these transplants are trying to take over and don't understand our Friday night lights, dog barking, dirty lickings cultcha". Then he keeps his local braddahs focused on only voting for other local braddahs, then adds in the GMO companies and the chamber of commerce guys and bam! He has a winning formula that he extends to term limit issue and saving his buddy Mel (who is brains behind Ross).

Anonymous said...

July 22, 2015 at 8:40 PM said, "The Hawaii Supreme Court recognized that cultural practices, including gathering rights, are protected and can be a legitimate defense to criminal charges."

That's true in cases regarding gathering rights and cultural practices. That includes things like trespassing on "less than fully improved" land. But please tell me, when did the ancient Hawaiians invent automobiles? They never got around to inventing the wheel!

There is a Kauai trespassing case before the courts right now (State vs. Palama) where the Palamas were caught hunting pigs on other people's property. Palama claimed protected cultural practices. The State's view is that pig hunting is not a protected practice since it never occurred or existed before foreigners introduced large pigs to Hawaii. The Hawaiians had only small pigs that they kept in pens as they did with their food dogs. No need hunt in your own pen; just whistle.

Anonymous said...

2:56 my comment was about charges like trespass (TMT protesters). I agree that it would be hard to fashion a cultural practices defense to driving without a license or license plates. Maybe a cultural practice defense can be used in the barking dogs cases. If the buggah stay barking too much, just eat 'em.

Anonymous said...

Nah call the guy that has 14K .22 cal rounds. The serial cat killer would probably do a dog too.

Anonymous said...

Stupid Fucking Haole