Musings: Niihau No-Fishing Zone Meets Resistance

Westside Kauai Rep. Dee Morikawa and other members of the state House will be meeting with the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) this week to discuss concerns about a proposed no-fishing zone around Niihau.

“I certainly don't support this,” Dee wrote in an email to me. “There needs to be a fact-finding study to see if the Niihau complaints are warranted.”

The Robinson family, which owns the island, claims fishermen from Kauai have been over-harvesting fish and opihi on Niihau. The Robinsons have gotten support from Oahu Sen. Clayton Hee and other Hawaiian legislators to introduce a bill banning fishing around the island.

“When you make a state law doing something like that, you set precedent,” a Kauai resident who occasionally fishes neat Niihau told me. “It's beginning to open like a can of worms. What's next? Larry Ellison on Lanai? Hawaiian Homes in Anahola?”

William Aila, director of the DLNR, reportedly is considering a similar approach to resolve resource “conflicts” at Molokai and Lanai, according to comments made at a November meeting with Kauai fishermen.

The Robinsons already have negotiated a memorandum of agreement with the state and federal governments to possibly include the waters around Niihau in the Hawaiian Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Final state approval is still needed.

Though all beaches in Hawaii are public to the highest seasonal wash of the waves, Niihau has long been considered essentially off-limits for shore landings — an unofficial ban the Robinsons enforced. Boating activity has increased in recent years, along with disputes between island residents and Kauai fishermen.

“There was small kine altercations,” the fisherman told me. But an incident earlier this year, in which Niihau residents reportedly confiscated fishing gear from Keala Lanning and his nephews, who were picking opihi, “seemed to start Bruce [Robinson] on the campaign to shut Niihau off.” Lanning unsuccessfully sought a return of his property through DLNR.

The fisherman acknowledged that "some people do take advantage," including setting net in front of the one village where all Niihau residents live. “That, to me, is not showing respect for the people. But it's not right to close the whole island, because the state owns out to three miles and up to the high water line.”

Fishermen at the November meeting with Aila expressed concerns about restricting access to publicly-owned resources. They also said Niihau, Kauai and Kaula are connected, so the Niihau marine ecosystem can't be managed independently.

Aila and the Robinsons have justified the closure by saying Niihau residents depend on the ocean for food because they have no refrigeration. Others say Niihau is a “special case” because it is one of the few places where Hawaiians can still engage in traditional subsistence lifestyles. 

The Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs is also weighing in with a proposed resolution contending that “in the recent months, outsiders have become even more bold and have raided the island of opihi and fish to the extent that oftentimes the people go hungry.” 

The resolution also maintains “the urgency of the plight of the Niihau people came to light through the Aha Moku Advisory Council on Oct. 18, 2013, when the latest report of ten commercial fishing boats were seen within the near-shore waters of Niihau taking as much opihi as they could gather.”

But others dispute those claims, saying fishermen haven't taken too much. Solar panels and generators do power refrigerators on Niihau, they say, and the Robinsons operate a barge that regularly brings in food from family members on Kauai. "The people there aren't starving," the fisherman said.

Though the Robinsons say Niihau has about 150 permanent residents, others say only about 30 to 50 people live there full-time. Many former Niihau residents have settled in Kekaha and Waimea.

Niihau residents also have access to wild game that is so plentiful, fishermen say, that some hunters pay Robinson for the chance to engage in eradication hunts, though they are not allowed to take the meat. The Robinsons also host expensive safaris for tourists who want to hunt the exotic game introduced there.

Some fishermen contend Bruce Robinson is seeking the ban in part to protect the resources for his own gain, because he reportedly has been selling opihi from the island for decades. Others claim that Sen. Hee and his friends were given “free reign” to hunt and fish on Niihau in exchange for supporting a no-fishing law.

There is also the issue of enforcement, with many asking how the state, which has a tiny staff of conservation officers, could enforce a no-fishing ban.

“I would support beefing up the DOCARE enforcement staff to police the island better,” Dee said.

“I think the politically right thing to do is have some sort of conservation in a way to satisfy both sides,” the fisherman said. “Maybe a closed zone in front of the village” where residents do regularly fish. But they can't easily access the rest of the island, he said, so it should not be closed to fisherman from Kauai.

Though Dee's district includes Niihau, she was not consulted about the fishing ban by the state, her fellow lawmakers or the Robinsons. Dee said she asked DLNR and the governor's office for an explanation of the proposal two weeks ago, but heard nothing back.

Dee said further public discussion on the issue “will occur when and if the bills are heard during the session. In the meantime, I have been listening to people and asking questions of those whom I feel may have suggestions. I'm also very accessible through my legislative e-mail [repmorikawa@capitol.hawaii.gov] and encourage anyone to submit concerns to me.”

Musings: Good Little Parrots

I happened to be down at the County building yesterday morning, in the rain, when the Harleys came roaring in, bringing toys and food for the island's many needy citizens via the Keiki Toy and Food Ride.

Besides the stuff collected by the bikers, workers from the island's four chemical/seed companies, supported by some corporate funds, donated more than $1,000 worth of toys. Though a lot of the workers don't make much money, and many support relatives in the Philippines with their pay, they still managed to come up with a significant amount of cash to benefit a local charity.

And I couldn't help but think, how have the anti-GMO groups given back to the community lately? I don't mean individuals in those groups, because I know many are involved in worthwhile endeavors through their employment and/or volunteer activities, but the groups themselves. Because they do have money — money to fly people to other islands to testify and march, money to buy ads and run their various campaigns.

They've gotten money from the anti/pro-GMO groups that fund them, money from selling tee-shirts, money from donations, money from a benefit concert, money that will never be fully accounted for, much as they demand full transparency in others.

Just curious why groups that supposedly formed because they're so worried about the community aren't simultaneously doing something to help it — other than push through a badly flawed bill that could help the chemical companies and the state definitively establish their pre-emptive powers over the counties.

Because Kauai is all about giving back, and I'm not seeing it from that particular segment. Perhaps it's because a lot of the newbies in those groups don't understand local culture, just like they don't know history.

Which is why they kept proclaiming — with the aid of newcomer TGI reporter Chris D'Angelo — that last summer's red shirt march on Rice Street was the biggest coming together of people ever on Kauai. 

Wrong. Take last Friday's Lights on Rice event, which had 2,000 marchers in the parade alone, and some 10,000 people total in attendance. Friday night football games regularly attracted 5,000 people, and back in the day, the union rallies attracted far larger crowds than the march, as a percentage of the total population. But since Chris doesn't know any of that, he accepts the misinformation that's fed him as fact.

Whenever I write something critical about the red shirt movement, or highlight its connection to the real estate and construction industry, I get a comment or two about how I must be working for the chemical companies. Because there couldn't possibly be any other reason for finding fault, right?

Just like I got heat when I dared to criticize the petition drive to hold an election on the KIUC smart meter opt-out fees. Oh, we're not trying to stop you from having an opinion, I was told, we just can't understand why you would express it, why you would say anything that might hurt “our side.”

The message seems to be that if you hold any sort of progressive views, you should just quietly march in lock step with all the others, parrot all the commonly held stances, and if you see something wrong or stupid going down, then look the other way and keep your mouth shut.

How, pray tell, is that any different than a county worker in, say, building or planning, who sees one of their colleagues accept a platter of sashimi, a bottle of Scotch, from a developer, but doesn't say anything, because hey, that's my co-worker, or my cousin, or my classmate?

Wrong is wrong and stupid is stupid, no matter who is doing it.

Which leads me to today's article in The Garden Island on red shirt leader Felicia Cowden — the second fawning piece that Leo Azumbuja has written about her in the past three months — which designates her as “the voice of agriculture.”

Really? Where in the world did TGI ever get that patently erroneous idea? When you consider all the real true farmers on this island who have devoted their lives to agriculture, who have struggled to actually feed large numbers of people, keep irrigation systems alive, ag lands from being developed, TGI has the hubris to proclaim a home gardener living off her investments "the voice of agriculture?”

Gee, Leo, you might want to stop parroting what you hear in the KKCR/Facebook echo chamber and get out in the community more. Because I can tell you, if you asked them that know, "who speaks for ag on this island?" they sure as heck wouldn't say Felicia. What an insult to farmers.

Musings: Finagling Foragers

Scarlet streaks and swirls smeared the sky, stained the sea a similar shade. And then the sun rose as a golden orb from water that warmed sand untouched by footprints, save for the tiny tracks of ruddy turnstones foraging in the foam.

Birds and crabs aren't the only creatures foraging on the beach. Let's not forget voracious upscale realtors like Neal Norman, who is making a small fortune selling oceanfront digs to Julia Roberts and other wealthy elites. Neal has listed Julia's Haena house for $17 million — after selling her the old Faye estate (with its vacation rental permit) on Hanalei Bay for a reported $13.4 million in 2011.

Though Neal personally owns an oceanfront house on conservation land in Haena — where part of the public beach has been stolen by sandbags thickly vegetated in irrigated naupaka — he doesn't dabble solely in seaside real estate. A look at the current listings page on his misnamed "Hawaii Life" website shows a plethora of properties that would be best termed as a blatant misuse of agricultural land.

Like the seven properties totaling more than $80 million in the Kauapea-Kilauea road area above Kauapea (Secret) Beach — an area that not so long ago was being successfully farmed, until rising property taxes drove out the farmers.

He's also the listing agent for other multi-million-dollar estate properties on ag land in Kalihiwai Ridge, Anini Vista, Kalihiwai and Kapahi and he's selling the ag estate lots that displaced Growing Greens, a longtime nursery on Kawaihau Road.

Then there's the $3.5 million, 63-acre ranch property at the base of Kalalea mountain in Anahola, which he advertises as:

Approved 5-unit CPR project AND Tentative Subdivision Approval for a 12-lot agricultural subdivision (with density potential for up to 19 home sites). Water supplied via two existing County water meters and supplemented by a private well which is capable of over-supplying the residential and agricultural needs [wink, wink] of the parcel.

To be fair, Neal does have one property euphemistically listed as a “farmer's delight” — a 35-acre parcel in the Moloaa hui with “farm dwelling rights” (more wink, wink) and ag water only. No doubt the $950,000 price tag would delight a bonafide farmer.

In short, Neal is a classic example of a guy who is steadily destroying agriculture on Kauai by driving up land values to the place where they simply cannot afford farming.

But that doesn't stop him from pretending he's something different, as in a lover of the land and a friend of farmers. As his website proclaims:

What’s more, Neal has cared for Kauai’s “aina” by planting thousands of trees for the benefit of future generations and serving on agriculture boards and committees so that farmers would be able to develop improved and reliable organic standards.

Neal also supported Bill 2491 and GMO Free Kauai, which again raises the issue of just what and who are really behind this movement. If you follow the progression, Neal and his co-horts are running out of ag land to sell on the North Shore, so they've moved into Kapaa and are headed southwest — once they dislodge those pesky seed companies.

But I'm sure Neal is driven soley by his love for Kauai, rather than pure greed. After all, as his website gushes:

Neal is grateful for the wonderful life he gets to enjoy everyday on Kauai and is a strong believer in giving back.

Great! Glad to hear it!  So how about giving us back our ag land, Neal? Oh, and the beach, too, while you're at it.

Musings: Opt for Fair

Adam Asquith has filed a motion for a TRO to stop KIUC from collecting the $10.27 monthly smart meter opt-out fee until a vote on the question is held next spring.

At least, that's part of what he's asking for. What he really wants is the elimination of any fee at all, regardless of how a majority of the members vote. In his “prayer for relief,” Adam requests a court order suspending the fees until:

KIUC establishes policies that do not extort fees from the plaintiff for preventing the invasion of the privacy of his home by the Defendant [KIUC]

Or in less dramatic rhetoric: no opt-out fee period. At least, none for Adam. And what the utility gives Adam, it has to give everyone else.

People should have the right to “opt-out” from having a smart meter installed, and about 10 percent of the co-op members have exercised it. But it's unfair to expect the other members to pay the costs of reading the analog meters — costs that KIUC justified to the satisfaction of the Public Utilities Commission. 

I've primarily heard two arguments from those who think everyone should pay for what the state Consumer Advocate has termed “cost-causers.”

The first: People shouldn't have to pay for their health and privacy. Perhaps not, but they do it all the time. They pay for supplements, gym memberships, organic food, better quality bike helmets, encryption software, unlisted numbers, phone scramblers, etc., etc., all to ensure health and privacy. Why should having an analog meter be any different? And in any case, those making this argument aren't really saying “people shouldn't pay.” They're saying “all of you should pay for us.”

The second: It's punitive, penalizing those who opted-out. The PUC — headed by Mina Morita — nixed that argument in its decision and order approving the fees:

Such a cost recovery approach from the cost-causing customer is reasonable. Thus, the perception that the assessment of the one-time and monthly recurring charges constitutes a penalty for customers that have opted-out of using standard meters is without merit.

In short, KIUC has sufficiently demonstrated that it incurs costs in installing and utilizing non-standard meters, and such costs should be passed on to the cost-causing customer and not to customers that have chosen to utilize standard meters.

Adam, and the other members who circulated a petition that will bring the fee to a vote of the members in January, think the initial decision to impose a fee should have been made by the whole membership. 

But it's not like the members never had any say. The fee was approved through a public process that included a KIUC meeting, with opportunity for member testimony, and a PUC review with public testimony. The fee was also approved by the Consumer Advocate, who stated:

1. "[O]ne of the significant issues that is being addressed is cost-causation, in which utility costs incurred to benefit a specific customer group of customers, or customer class, are assigned as much as possible to the customer, group of customers, or customer class that causes those costs to be incurred to prevent other customers or customer classes from paying for or subsidizing the 'cost-causer.' This is sometimes generally referred to as 'the costs following the cost-causer.' "

That seems a reasonable rationale, reached through an open process, and it's what's been adopted elsewhere.

But no, it's not enough, the process will go on, dragged out by those who aren't necessarily concerned primarily with their fellow coopers — despite lofty language about democracy and transparency. 

Let's face it: the people who were not happy with the original decision to install smart meters are of course not happy with the decision to charge opt-out fees. Just as they will not be happy with the election results, or anything that arises having to do with smart meters. Because what they really want is to get rid of the smart meters altogether.

Which is their opinion, and they're entitled to it, but at what point do you decide — as a member-owned cooperative — that ship has sailed? Or do the 10 percent who don't want smart meters get to keep using new ploys to hold the other 90 percent hostage at the dock?

Musings: Best Intentions

It's a new moon today, the last moon cycle of 2013, a good time to reflect on the year thus far and set intentions for the dynamics that will shape the year ahead.

I'd like to believe the Ulupono Initiative has all the best intentions in starting up a demonstration grass-fed dairy farm at Mahaulepu, on land Grove Farm initially slated for the cultivation of taro, a tried-and-true, high-demand crop. Still, I can't help but wonder if it will become a bargaining chip in the hotly-contested Hanalei Ridge resort project. Because, you see, Ulupono is a philanthropic endeavor of billionaire Pierre Omidyar, a major investor in the plan to build a resort and 36 houses on the ridge above Hanalei Bay.

I've always had a hard time reconciling Pierre's interest in promoting both sustainability and the inherently unsustainable ultra-luxe travel market, but he has apparently found a nexus, as in how can you deny me that resort when I've invested $17 million in a dairy farm experiment on the other side of the island?

And nobody has put that kind of money into Kauai ag except for the reviled five — Sygenta, BASF, Dow, DuPont/Pioneer, Kauai Coffee — targeted by Bill 2491.

I'd like to believe the folks behind 2491 and the Big Island ban on new GMO cultivation had the very best intentions in promoting that legislation, but I've been rather disturbed to discover that Monsanto — poster child for bad agricultural practices and the evils of corporatism — emerged from the fray not only unscathed, but in an advantageous position.

That's right. Monsanto quietly negotiated a memorandum of understanding with the Maui Mayor's office that is even more slack than the limp Kauai Agricultural Good Neighbor Program negotiated by the state. And its extensive Oahu operations remain untouched.

So while its competitors — DOW, Syngenta, BASF, DuPont/Pioneer — will be required to disclose pesticide use in great detail, pull land out of production to create buffer zones, and either fight a lawsuit or try to convince the state to do the suing, with all the subsequent bad PR, Monsanto will be enjoying business per usual.

Curious, how prominent Maui County anti-GMO activists like Walter Ritte and Courtney Bruch were fighting so hard for the Kauai and Big Island bills, even as Monsanto was weaseling out in their own backyards. Where was the fury, the outrage, at Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa for negotiating that wimpy MOU, which effectively headed off legislation? I mean, if people are getting sick and dying from biotech pesticides on West Kauai, wouldn't folks living near the fields on Molokai, Maui and Oahu be similarly suffering? So why is Monsanto alone given a free pass to continue as it has?

Meanwhile, I'm sure Monsanto has only the best intentions — as in ensuring steady profits for its shareholders — in launching a new “charm offensive” to improve its tarnished image. As Politico.com reports:

Focusing on serving the agriculture industry with high-yield crops, feeding the world and making a steady profit for its shareholders has served Monsanto well in recent times. But the ostrich approach to public relations has not yielded dividends for the company’s image.

Monsanto was declared “the most evil corporation of the year” in early 2011 by NaturalNews.com. Earlier this year the company confronted an international “March on Monsanto” Facebook campaign.

Such negative attention, the company observes in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission report, could influence future policy decisions: “The degree of public acceptance or perceived public acceptance of our biotechnology products can affect our sales and results of operations by affecting planting approvals, regulatory requirements and customer purchase decisions,” Monsanto says.

Aaron Perlut, a founder and managing partner of Elasticity, a St. Louis-based consulting firm specializing in reputation management, still thinks Monsanto’s shift toward engaging in the conversation is an important development.

“Typically when I counsel large companies in crisis I would suggest having a reasonable discussion because public opinion tends to side with reasonable parties even in a challenging argument,” Perlut says.

So if you can sufficiently infiltrate and disrupt a well-intentioned movement to make it appear unreasonable.....

And finally, I'd like to believe the University of New Haven has only the best intentions in developing a process to detect possible contaminants in cannabis — except, as the Associated Press reports, the project “is an extension of the law enforcement-related marijuana DNA profiling the school has done over the past five years under a $100,000 grant from the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program. The school created a marijuana DNA profile database that has helped federal authorities determine where illegal pot growers and dealers got their product.”

Which master is the school serving?

Musings: Liquid Fuel

The night passed in restless, shattered sleep, thunder crashing, booming, rain drumming, drenching, branches breaking, one small dog panting in my ear, the other whining beneath the covers. Lightning flashes illuminated the backyard, a familiar landscape made eerie by jagged white light. I drifted in and out of dreams, warm, secure, fully understanding the meaning of snug.

Morning dawned dark, showers still falling, subsiding long enough for a raincoat-clad walk down to the river, swollen, but already receded from a nighttime high marked by mashed, flattened grass. Waterfalls, thick and white, tumbled down mountains, disappeared behind floating curtains of white cloud.

The bees, undeterred by the uncertainty of the weather, were already venturing out. I touched the landing board to assess its wetness, felt the heat of aliveness emitted by the hive. A beam of sunlight pierced the sullen sky and the birds belted out a joyous greeting, expressing their gladness, and mine, for the incomparable nourishment of rain. 

Musings: Sweet Feast

Thanksgiving Day dawned gold, vivid reminder of the riches proffered with the start of each day. Waialeale was fully revealed, and blushing rose, a splendid sight that elicited spontaneous song of homage and joy.

On the beach, coarse sand still held hollows made by monk seals, turtle tracks not yet smudged by human feet. Late November ocean, glassy, warm, clear, called out "come swim!" and I did, as the albatross giggled on the surrounding hills. 

Joyous, endlessly grateful, blessed beyond measure, this day, and every day, I returned home to find the bees busily working the tiny ironwood blossoms, partaking in their own sweet feast.

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.” 

Musings: City Views

Honolulu media usually don't pay much attention to Kauai, but now we're on their radar in a big way for the first time since the Superferry.

Today, Civil Beat has two stories on us. One is about whether Mayor Carvalho will face any re-election fallout for vetoing Bill 2491. The other is about how the planning department has clamped down on requests for public records following a Civil Beat report that showed Kauai was the fastest and cheapest in responding to requests. Now there's some unintended fallout for you…. Auwe!

In the piece on Bernard, reporter Sophie Cocke writes:

The unconventional advocacy group Babes Against Biotech, which has emerged in recent years as a highly visible presence in Hawaii’s anti-GMO movement, nicknamed him “the birth-defects mayor.” The group’s organizers — young women known for their bikini-clad pictures and pin-up calendar — plans to canvass on Kauai to secure Carvalho's electoral defeat in 2014. (The group claims to have 9,000 members.)

Given an absence of substantive public polling, it remains unclear how many people on the island actually respect or support Carvalho's decision, or support Bill 2491.

So, despite a rally by at least 1,500 people [a figure now often inflated to 4,000 and even 6,000] to encourage passage of the bill in September, no one knows for sure where a majority of Kauai's 65,000 residents stand.

“One of the things that is really interesting about this entire process has been that you have a very active group of people who have dominated the conversation,” said Jan TenBruggencate, a former Honolulu Advertiser reporter who runs a communications consulting firm and is a member of the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.

TenBruggencate even suggested that there may be a silent majority against the bill. "So I have heard people surmise that some of the supporters of the measure on the council could actually lose votes. And that the support for the bill is relatively thin.”

I don't think the off-island-based Babes hold any political sway on Kauai. There's a big difference between visibility and clout. People here don't go for cheesy theatrics, just like they don't go for screaming at the mayor or the red vs blue divisiveness. Yes, the bill passed, but the process left a lot of appalled people in its wake — folks who vote.

As I told Sophie, though she didn't use the quote, it's meaningless to canvass against someone unless you have a better candidate to offer in his place. So far, no one has stepped forward to run for mayor, and I don't really see anyone on the horizon who could beat the big guy.

I wonder, though, if the surprising vote to make newly-appointed Councilman Mason Chock vice chair of the Council is an attempt to insta-groom him for the mayor's post. Before he voted for himself as vice chair, Mason said something about how he keeps getting the call to lead, and so he must heed it. Which is fine, so long as it doesn't turn into a Messiah complex.

An awful lot can happen in a year, so it's hard to say what people will be thinking when the election rolls around. And let's not forget the Democratic machine, because surely it will have something to say on the topic, too.

Musings: Fake Out

After a chilly, star-dense night, the morning dawned thick around the edges, with orange gilded cumulous clouds consolidating in the east and a thin layer of fleece floating above the summit of gray-green Waialeale. Overhead, next to a waning moon, Jupiter gleamed gold, then white, then finally faded in the bright light of day.

Remember how I told you how The Media Consortium, a group of supposedly independent “news” sources, was planning to send reporters here to give folks “honest, fair, and accurate journalism” about “pesticide-based pollution, GE food, corporate influence and other important topics?”

One of those first reports is now posted on the Truthout website, under a donation appeal that reads: Truthout doesn't take corporate funding - that's how we're able to confront the forces of greed and regression, with no strings attached. Instead, we need your support: make a donation today by clicking here.

Like I said before, mainland groups are using us and this issue to raise money.

Anyway, this “honest, fair” report quotes only pro-2491 activists Malia Chun — reportedly the sister of newly-appointed Councilman Mason Chock— and Josh Mori. Some of my favorite laugh-out-loud comments and assertions:

"Because there is no disclosure, everything we say is not based on fact," Chun says.

Stands of genetically engineered corn are not what you would expect to see on a tropical island that once hosted sugar cane plantations and has kept its population happy for generations with coconuts, breadfruit, taro and papaya.

In the past months, the drama around Bill 2491 created thick tension on an otherwise tight-nit island of 67,000 residents.

Yes, we're tightly bound by those uku.....lol.

Reports like this are what made me shudder when I read Gary Hooser's Star-Advertiser commentary, reprinted on his blog:

Their communications and public relations budget is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars as demonstrated by the number of radio spots, newspaper advertisements and direct mailers.  They hired prominent community leaders, conducted unethical “push polls”, and employ an army of industry bloggers and social media experts that attack the credibility and integrity of their opponents at every step.

Gary, surely even you can see that both sides are actively engaged in propaganda campaigns.

I think people do want truth. But all we seem to get are fakers and fake outs.

For a dose of truth, consider this:

Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the so-called “Apology Bill” — Congress' big “yeah, we admit it was totally illegal for us to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy and colonize the Islands so hey, brah, sorry 'bout that.” 

And that's as far as it went, even though Sen. Slade Gorton said at the time: 

"...the logical consequences of this resolution would be independence."

In a recent email, Hawaiian national Pilipo Souza shared his frustration over the nothingness that followed the apology, sharing a quote that activist Russell Means issued during one of his many visits to Hawaii to advise kanaka on sovereignty issues:

"Native Peoples of the Americas will not know Sovereignty until the White Man admits they are not Free!"

But for some reason, none of those independent media outlets seem at all interested in covering this core-truth issue in Hawaii. I've been pitching them for decades, and all I've ever gotten is a big yawn.

Here's another bit of fakery, from an article buried in The Garden Island about how Mayor Bernard Carvalho has decided to locate the adolescent drug treatment center on Grove Farm land along Maalo Road. 

Hey, isn't that where the dump is supposed to go? What a great plan: Put the throw-away kids next to the rest of the island's discards. Still, I suppose it is a step up from the late Mayor Baptiste's plan to rehab the old dog pound, which the Humane Society had declared unfit for its strays. Anyway, here's the rest of the fake-out: 

Kimberly Cummings, a certified substance abuse counselor and program director at Women in Need, said the facility would also serve both boys and girls to ensure all adolescents are given the treatment they need.

All adolescents in need? Then how come it's only got beds for up to 10 kids? And it may not have even that. The actual number of beds will depend, according to Dr. Gerald McKenna, on "what the community can tolerate."

There will be no limit, however, on how much rubbish can be dumped in the same community.

Musings: Staring Down Illusions

In recent days, my musings have turned to the interconnectedness of things, and by this I don't mean ecosystems, but human systems. I've been thinking a lot about the few who control so many — often by perpetuating the illusions of choice and popular will — and why they want this control, and how they get it.

As so often happens, when I start pondering something, information comes my way that shines light upon it.

Which is the case with this graphic, sent out of the blue by a friend, that depicts the corporate centralization of so many consumer products. Click to enlarge.

Then another friend sent a link to this video, “Defense Against the Psychopath,” which explains why certain individuals are driven to gain power. It also shows how their followers help them achieve control over other people and social/political agendas. It was fascinating to see so many correlations to local events and personalities. Recognize anyone?

So what it leads me to is this: What do you — and I — really, absolutely know to be true?

And are you really so sure you can tell the good guys from the bad guys?

Musings: Puppet Masters

Newly appointed Kauai County Councilman Mason Chock is enjoying a meteoric political rise, winning the post of vice chair at only his second meeting.

Ironically, Mason was picked for the second-most powerful position on the Council after saying he didn't feel qualified to even head a Council committee. He has never served in political office.

Councilman Mel Rapozo, a veteran politician, won support for the position from Council Chair Jay Furfaro and Councilman Ross Kagawa. But Councilmembers JoAnn Yukimura, Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum voted for Mason.

In violation of the sunshine law, JoAnn earlier sent emails to all her colleagues announcing her desire to serve as vice chair. However, she couldn't secure a nomination. 

Curiously, Gary didn't say a peep about JoAnn's actions, though he raised a stink about county communications director Beth Tokioka allegedly violating the sunshine law in an episode where its provisions did not even apply to her.

Could it be that Gary and JoAnn subscribe to situational transparency, to go with their situational ethics?

Meanwhile, in another jaw-dropping move, Tim, architect of the second failed vacation rental law, was named chair of the planning committee. JoAnn, architect of the first failed TVR law, is vice chair.

The reorganization occurred after Nadine Nakamura left the Council to work as the mayor's top aide. Last Friday, Jay joined Gary, JoAnn and Tim in picking Mason to help override the mayor's veto of Bill 2491. Mason will finish out the final year of Nadine's term.

Musings: Curious Alliances

Round white moon on one side, pink streaks shooting from a glassy sea on the other, and in between a flock of fat ruddy turnstones, running along wet sand as fast as their little legs will carry them until they lift off in fluttering flight.

Seems like a lot of mainland reporters are taking flights to Kauai these days, and apparently even more are planned. The Media Consortium has launched a “two-year collaborative project involving ten news organizations that will send reporters to Kauai to cover issues regarding pesticide-based pollution, GE food, corporate influence and other important topics,” according to an announcement by the Food Integrity Campaign. The release goes on to state:

This effort mirrors FIC's mission, which seeks to enhance overall food integrity "by strategically working to alter the relationship of power between the food industry and consumers; protecting the rights of those who speak out against the practices that compromise food integrity; and empowering industry whistleblowers and citizen activists."

It's sponsored by the Media Consortium, whose website maintains: 

Millions of Americans are looking for honest, fair, and accurate journalism-we’re finding new ways to reach them.

I'll be curious to see how the Media Consortium manages to satisfy both its mission and FIC's agenda.

I've also been curious about the fascinating alliance that formed between the biotech industry, the federal government and environmentalists, leading to a push for ethanol as part of the “green energy” movement to slow global warming.

As a lengthy Associated Press piece reports, ethanol has been extremely effective at boosting corn prices — which in turn drives up food costs — and selling lots of GMO corn and soy seeds. Those are the two crops most commonly used to produce ethanol in the U.S.

Though it's been great for biotech seed sales and corn farmers, who planted 15 million more acres of corn last year than before the ethanol boom, it's had devastating ecological impacts:

As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies, an Associated Press investigation found.

Five million acres of land set aside for conservation — more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined — have vanished on Obama's watch.

Landowners filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon dioxide that had been locked in the soil.

Sprayers pumped out billions of pounds of fertilizer, some of which seeped into drinking water, contaminated rivers and worsened the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where marine life can't survive.

Hawaii imposed an ethanol mandate supposedly to boost biofuel production in the state, but as we all know, there is no local production. Which means we're importing GMO-based ethanol to add to the gasoline here. Kinda crazy, huh?

As Henry Curtis of Life of the Land notes in a blog post::

Ethanol is green in the sense that, after factoring in all of the generous state and federal tax breaks and subsidies, a lot of money could be made.

It's time to end the ethanol mandate for gasoline — if the Hawaii Legislature is willing to tackle the issue. Sounds like a natural cause for the pro-2491 movement to take on, another way to hit biotech in the pocketbook.

And finally, Mayor Carvalho has responsed to Councilman Gary Hooser's allegation that his staff — namely communications director Beth Tokioka — was texting Councilmembers “in an attempt to influence the vote and actions of members of the Council on Bill No. 2491, Draft 2.”

Though Carvalho acknowledged some texts were exchanged between Beth and Councilmembers JoAnn Yukimura and Nadine Nakamura, he said there was no attempt to influence their decisions.

Both JoAnn and Nadine ultimately voted to approve the bill, though the mayor had sought a deferral.

The mayor went on to note that the County Attorney had checked with the Office of Information Practices and was told it's not a violation of the Sunshine Law for texting to occur between members of the Administration and the Council during meetings. Furthermore, texts sent from a personal phone are not considered public records.

Council Chair Jay Furfaro also announced at last Saturday's meeting that texting is not prohibited by the OIP. Furthermore, texting is not prohibited by Council rules – the same rules Gary used to recess the vote on the 2491 override and bring in a new member to vote his way.

Musings: Chuckables

Out with the dogs in the time of way early, before stars-on-black turned to wisps-on-baby blue, before crickets gave way to bird song, walking down the road, following that big yellow moon.

I found it to be far more inspirational and joyful  than following politics, a pursuit that so often pushes spectators to that place of having to chuckle so as to avoid an up chuck.

Like when Council Chair Jay Furfaro — responding to a comment about JoAnn Yukimura and “three Caucasians” recessing the 2491 vote to bring in a new member to vote their way — pulled out a piece of paper and said, “this is a document that makes of my family...a petition to William McKinley to reinstate the Kingdom of Hawaii. We are Americans.” Oh. OK. Thanks, Jay, for making it clear you're not just another haole. For a heart-stopping minute there, I thought you were going to declare yourself a Hawaiian national. Shucks.

Or when new member Mason Chock, happy and eager as a puppy, spoke earnestly of “how deeply honored I am to be amongst mentors across the table who voted on my behalf.”

Yikes. The Council as mentors. That's a scary thought. And now for the next phase of Mason's education: how to swim with political sharks. Because really, what kind of people would intentionally create a situation that causes a decent guy like Mason to start his political career with a taint?

Which leads to how JoAnn said, at the meeting where Mason was voted in to override the mayor's veto, “We've seen so much leadership in the past few days on Bill 2491 and that's why we're a very exceptional island.”

Or when I got this mean flash of deja vu seeing the same trio — Jay, JoAnn and Tim Bynum — that gave us half-baked TVR laws opposed by the Administration following the same path with 2491. I can just see the tee-shirt slogans now:

Litigate the Law. Draft the Rules. Implement the Law. Enforce the Law. Please Enforce the Law. Pretty Please Enforce the Law. Five Years Down and Still Nevah Enforce the Law.

But then, how many of the pro crowd will actually tune in to the mundane details of making a law a reality? Especially when frequent flier Walter Ritte is exhorting them on Facebook to now direct all their energy toward.... no, not demanding health studies for people impacted by biotech; no, not better regulation of pesticide use; no, not occupy lo'i; no, not affordable farm lots; no, not protection of ag land, but GMO labeling.

Because, of course, Bill 2491 was, at heart, all about GMOs, despite Andrea Brower's flat out lie to the contrary on the PBS Insights show. That's why its sponsor, Gary Hooser, included the GMO moratorium and aligned himself with GMO-Free Kauai way back in January. And that's why a certain Waimea resident, despite being dusted for a decade by Pioneer's pesticides and rallying his neighbors, wasn't even consulted on the bill because he didn't oppose GMOs.

Thunk, bump, thunk, bump, bump, bump. That's the sound of westsiders being thrown under the bus.

Which brings us to this shot of the 2491 victory crowd. Wearing a white blouse, front and center, why, it's Realtor Mimsy Bouret, who sold out the North Shore to vacation rentals. Gee, do you suppose the real estate crowd is salivating over those sunny westside ag lands with their awesome views?  Never mind the poison. That didn't stop folks from snapping up the old pineapple fields. 

Look closely, folks. Because as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Finally, a few readers have suggested I stop allowing anonymous comments. Though the section is often uglier and more inane than it might be if folks owned their words, I made the decision at the onset to allow anonymous comments because I know how little Kauai operates. Lots of folks are afraid to put their names on their thoughts, for whatever reason. Even more love to make kissy face while talking stink behind someone's back. Why shouldn't comments reflect that very real dynamic of our island? Because they're being left by your friends, ohana, neighbors and colleagues, after all. Think of it as the Kauai antithesis of Brand X, as in Uncivil Bleat.  If you don't like the comments, don't read them. Enter at your own risk.

Bill 2491 to Become Law

The Kauai County Council today overrode the mayor's veto of Bill 2491, allowing the pesticide/GMO disclosure measure to become law.

The ordinance is now likely headed to court, where the stakes are high for those of us who value home rule and local control over pesticides. A key issue is pre-emption: whether the state or the county has the right to regulate pesticides.

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, who voted for the bill after amending it heavily, said she thinks “the court will strike it down.” If that happens, she said, “so be it.”

However, if Kauai County loses its legal bid, it could set a precedent that would prohibit any county in Hawaii from regulating pesticide use by the biotech industry. Instead, the state and federal government will hold full sway.

The national response has run the gamut from an opinion piece in Forbes that termed the pending court battle a “legal Armageddon" to the mainland-based Center for Food Safety vowing to defend the law "on behalf of local residents and groups if necessary." It did not say it would represent the county government.

Mason Chock, who was chosen yesterday to complete Nadine Nakamura's Council term, said citizens had expressed “discontent” to him about the process that led to his appointment. The Council, after saying last week it would take the veto override vote without a seventh member, abruptly changed course on Thursday when it became clear it didn't have five votes for an override. Mason said he was assured by council staff the process was legal.

Mason then went on to vote for the override, saying “given the opportunity to make a difference in the health of a child's life, I'm gonna take it.”

Councilman Ross Kagawa told of westside residents who have shared their concerns about serious health problems they believe are caused by pesticides.

“The people here are not the kind to make things up,” he said. “We need to get answers for [them] about what's happening. This bill will not give [them] those answers.” He said that is one reason why he voted against the override.

An environmental and public health safety study is included in the bill, but has to be approved by a resolution, which the Council recently deferred. Mayor Bernard Carvalho said he would be sending the Council a bill next week to allocate funding for the study. The Council, however, has gotten hung up on who should decide the parameters of the study.

It appeared from the mayor's comments that the state and biotech companies will move forward next month with the recently announced "good neighbor" buffer zone and pesticide disclosure program. But the program is entirely voluntary, and much weaker than Bill 2491. However, the new law isn't due to take effect for nine months, and it will be over a year before its pesticide disclosure mechanism kicks in.

The new law does not address the severe dust issues that have been plaguing the westside community for more than a decade, nor does it restrict how much poison may be sprayed on Kauai.  Instead, it imposes buffers around parks, schools, medical facilities, homes and streams where the companies can neither use pesticides nor grow crops. Pesticides may be sprayed in roadside buffer zones if signs are posted.

Council Chair Jay Furfaro was concerned about the conflict that erupted around the bill, saying "we need to learn how to deal effectively without damaging relationships in our community."

"I've been bothered by the divisiveness that the issue has expressed in our community," Mason said. "Healing will not occur until we unfold the truth."