Musings: What Were They Thinking?

After hearing rumors for years that the FBI was investigating the Kauai Police Department, the federal agency yesterday did actually arrest a former vice squad lieutenant on theft, money laundering and embezzlement charges.

Lt. Karen Kapua, who was fired from KPD last December, was charged with stealing $75,000 in federal grant money intended for undercover drug buys, and laundering part of the dough to pay off personal debts.

You have to wonder what the hell she was thinking. According to Hawaii News Now, which broke the story:

Law enforcement experts say the theft of money used for evidence is usually easy to detect. "Whenever there's an expenditure, there has to be a voucher for that expenditure and given two officers or agents sign for that money," [Hawaii News Now law enforcement expert Tommy] Aiu said.

As the Kauai Humane Society pinches pennies to keep its doors open, and struggles with a never-ending wave of unwanted dogs and cats facing near certain euthanasia, the Kauai County Council has adopted a barking dog law that places an additional burden on the beleaguered agency.

KHS Director Penny Cistaro estimates she will need to hire additional staff and buy a vehicle to enforce the law, which amounts to an annual cost of at leat $18,000 and a one-time cost of $20,000 and $36,000. This, at a time when the agency is struggling to reduce the unwanted pet population through spay-neuter and education programs that should have first priority.

And really, does the county want to start spending its precious resources to sort out squabbles between neighbors? As a friend noted, this is the sort of law that represents the changing population on Kauai — people with little tolerance, and less ability to work things out amongst themselves.

What's more, the Council adopted this crummy law with no clear idea of where the money will come from. What the hell were they thinking? Let's hope Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. has the sense to veto this bad bill.

Of course, this isn't the first time the Council has adopted a law with enforcement problems. Case in point: transient vacation rentals.

Though the county can impose a $10,000 per day fine on people who are illegally running such operations, and pursue criminal charges, it hasn't done so aggressively or consistently. Right now, there's no financial incentive to shut down.

Why isn't the county slapping serious fines on illegal TVR operators, especially those who reopen after being closed down? The money could fund more enforcement efforts and it would end what planning director Mike Dahilig describes as a cat and mouse game.

This powerful tool is available to the county, but it's not using it. What the hell are they thinking?

It really makes you wonder if the county is indeed serious about addressing this ongoing problem period, much less in an effective manner.

And finally, after years of claiming that Navy sonar and radar is killing the reefs, Terry Lilley is seeking money to actually try and prove his allegations. Oh, and take down the farms, too.

Donate $100,000 to Terry and his crazy theories? What the hell was he thinking?

Musings: Kick 'Em While They're Down

As Hawaii agriculture clings to the ropes, anti-GMO groups are moving in with a few dirty kidney punches and groin kicks.

Just days after anti-ag activists partied down at the news of Hawaii's last sugar plantation closing on Maui, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sent out an email urging people to call their legislators to lobby against the seed companies that produce the Island's most valuable crop:

With legislative session upon us, it’s time to let our elected officials know what matters most to us: the health and safety of our families and the environment. The chemical industry’s experimentation with pesticide-promoting genetically engineered (GE) crops increasingly threatens Hawai‘i’s public health, biodiversity and food independence.

None of that is actually true. There is no evidence that Hawaii seed crops are harming public health and biodiversity. If anything, they are supporting food independence by keeping farm workers employed and irrigation systems and other ag infrastructure in good repair.

But CFS keeps saying it, and the more gullible, agriculturally ignorant members of the community believe it. Tellingly, since CFS knows so many of its followers can't actually think for themselves, it tells them exactly what to say when they call their representatives.

Equally telling, given the cavalier attitude that so many anti-GMO activists had toward the hundreds of sugar workers who will lose their jobs, CFS uses a graphic that treats seed company workers as expendable:

Yes, the seed companies provide far fewer jobs than tourism or the military or other sectors of Hawaii's economy. But they offer the best jobs in agriculture, in terms of pay, benefits and highly skilled workers. 

Does CFS think local farm workers should be forced to work in exchange for a squalid camp site, like so many of the transient “woofers” who labor on organic farms? Or does it just not care what happens to the people who are employed by the companies it so desperately seeks to shut down?

CFS continues:

You have the power to hold your legislators accountable for making pesticide regulation a top priority this legislative session.

This is more of the false narrative that CFS and its allies, including Earthjustice and Kauai Councilman Gary Hooser's HAPA, keep perpetuating. In reality, restricted use agricultural pesticides are some of the most heavily regulated substances in the Islands, with both state and federal agencies involved.

The CFS call to action was accompanied by the usual fear-mongering and distortion of the facts, a tact that Paul Achitoff, lead attorney Earthjustice, also took in a Civil Beat commentary published yesterday.

Both CFS and Earthjustice are mainland-based groups that opened offices in Hawaii to systematically seek to destroy biotech crops. Both groups make money from suing federal agencies over biotech and frightening people into sending them donations. CFS, in turn, funds HAPA, creating one big cluster fuck of self-interested anti-ag advocacy under the guise of “public service.”

Should these self-serving people be dictating agricultural practices in the Islands? People with zero ethics, who will happily tell a lie to bolster their cause? People who don't care about putting hundreds of farm workers, most of them locals, out of work?

People who have no understanding of the complexities of Island ag? People who are working to destroy viable ag, but doing nothing to create something real on the tens of thousands of acres now fallow?

People who engage in agit-prop to create fear and mistrust among community members?

Hawaii state lawmakers, most of whom live in urban areas and have little understanding of ag, must resist the pressures exerted by these advocacy groups and their frightened, confused supporters. 

They must rely on experts in the agricultural community, people who have devoted their lives to the land, to make policy decisions — not misinformed activists who have been stirred up to support a dubious cause.

With so many pressing issues facing Hawaii, it's encouraging that lawmakers are sensibly looking to focus on housing, homelessness and fiscal responsibility this session. 

Far too much legislative time has been wasted on a manufactured controversy that has divided our community — solely to benefit the coffers and agenda of mainland advocacy groups and political demagogues. 

Musings: Barking up the Wrong Tree

The transient vacation rental issue is back before the Kauai County Council tomorrow, with planners presenting an update on (chuckle) enforcement and a public hearing on the proposed homestay B&B law.

The Council will also consider a bill requiring lobbyists to register. It's been introduced, with no hint of irony, by a Councilman who actually engages in unregistered lobbying — Gary Hooser. He contends his bill is driven by a desire for “full disclosure.”

Yet he refuses to reveal who is funding his HAPA group, nor how much it spends on lobbying — like its opening day “food justice” event at the state Legislature — under the guise of education. Hooser also engages in the highly unethical practice of using county letterhead to advocate for positions that support HAPA's agenda.

Hooser tells The Garden Island:

We usually know who the lobbyists are because we’ve been here for a couple of years, but the public doesn’t know who they are. The public is watching John Smith on TV, they don’t know whether he’s a lobbyist or not, and it’s important for them to know also.

You know, like when Hooser goes to the Lege — or crashes the Sygenta shareholder meeting in Switzerland — and makes like he's speaking on behalf of Kauai and/or the Council, when he's really just shilling for the anti-GMO Center for Food Safety, which provides a hefty chunk of HAPA's funding. 

Yeah, li' dat.

Which is not to say the county shouldn't have a lobbying disclosure bill. Only that it's amusing to see someone with zero ethics, like Hooser, trying to waddle his way over to the high road.

The Council will also squander more valuable time on the barking dog bill, which has been rendered toothless. But that hasn't stopped Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura from tracking down “new information” to belabor in a presentation to colleagues who have long since tuned her out.

If only she and Gary had spent some time boning up on the real big issue before them tomorrow: the proliferation of visitor accommodations in residential areas, which has had a direct impact on housing prices, real property tax rates, long term rentals and a sense of community.

But then, JoAnn and Gary apparently have no qualms about letting the problem escalate through adoption of the proposed homestay/B&B bill, which they support and want loosened up. This bill would allow the county to permit an unlimited number of overnight accommodations, so long as the owner supposedly lives on site. It also bans these uses on ag land, a restriction that JoAnn and Gary oppose.

But since the county has no real enforcement, the bill basically opens the door for another flood of legalized hoteliers outside of the designated visitor destination areas where all tourist accommodations are supposed to be.

Here are some things the Council needs to consider in deliberating on the B&B/homestay bill:

Enforcement

In the TVR Enforcement Update that Planning Director Mike Dahilig made to the Council on Oct, 15, 2014, one of the main operational challenges cited was “illegal TVR’s now seeking safety in homestay use conversion.” This bill serves to legitimize, rather than curtail, these activities. And until county planners can get a handle on monitoring the permitted TVRs — much less the hundreds of illegal TVRs — it's unwise to add more to their workload.

Grandfathering

B&Bs/Homestays have always required a use permit, and as I previously reported, the planning department did issue some in the past. Any existing operations that lack use permits are illegal and should not be “grandfathered,” a term reserved for uses that were previously legal until a new law subsequently outlawed that use. As we saw with the TVR debacle, the illegal guys were made legal, and the guys who had been following the law were forever barred from getting a lucrative TVR permit. That is morally wrong, and it was a mistake that should not be repeated with homestays.

Hanalei-Haena

More than 50 percent of Kauai's TVRs are located between Hanalei and Haena, an area that is in the tsunami zone, subject to frequent floods and lacking adequate emergency response capabilities. The TVRs have already irrevocably altered the North Shore. Let's not worsen the problem by adding in homestays/B&Bs.

Big Picture

The county General Plan states: "Alternative Visitor Accommodations permitting processes should consider the cumulative impact that a large concentration of alternative visitor units can have on a residential neighborhood.”

The county has never looked at this cumulative impact. Indeed, 65.2% of the permitted TVRs on the North Shore are within the special management area, which has its own cumulative impact requirement, but not one has an SMA permit. Why is that?

It's extremely poor planning to allow an unlimited number of B&Bs/homestays to seek permits without looking carefully at the impacts. In its reports to planning, the county Housing Department has alluded to the impacts that visitor accommodations are having on long-term rentals. This is a serious problem that is adversely impacting local residents.

The Council should request that Housing conduct a full assessment of the impact of TVRs/homestays on the long-term rental market before allowing any more visitor lodging in residential neighborhoods.

As Caren Diamond of the Protect Our Neighborhood Ohana observed in written testimony submitted to the Council:

This proposed ordinance needs substantial work as it does not take into account the many challenges that have been created due to the passage of the TVR ordinances to Kauai’s residential neighborhoods, infrastructure and safety. Adding to those challenges at this time would be imprudent. Please do not consider permitting more resort units outside of the VDA in these residential areas.

Musings: Winning! Losing!

As the food industry and anti-GMO groups continue to wage war over labeling, Campbell Soups has copped a brilliant marketing move, introducing a label that discloses genetically modified ingredients in a favorable way.

At its What's in my food website, Campbell calls for a national approach to mandatory GMO labeling, while reasserting its confidence in biotechnology:

We continue to recognize that GMOs are safe, as the science indicates that foods derived from crops grown using genetically modified seeds are not nutritionally different from other foods. We also believe this technology will play a crucial role in feeding the world.

And then it deftly directs those who want to avoid GMO ingredients to its organic product line. 

Kudos to Campbell's for not caving in to the irrational calls to abandon GMO ingredients, and for educating consumers about food. Besides, Campbell's is realistic enough to know that it's impossible to source sufficient non-GMO and organic commodities to meet its needs. Three-quarters of the company’s products contain ingredients derived from corn, canola, soybeans or sugar beets, the four largest genetically engineered crops.

I think we're going to find that people will keep buying what they like to eat, and what they can afford, even if the label reveals the presence of GMOs. And thus the attempt by anti-GMO activists to kill GM crops via the stigma of labeling will fail. Big time.

Meanwhile, it's especially amusing to see anti-GMO activists laud Campbell, which means they're effectively endorsing a product that advertises that GM crops are safe and advantageous for farmers:

Winning! Losing! Somehow it all plays the same.

I found this recent piece in The Conversation interesting, as it touches on the roots of the anti-GMO drive:

You can trace the anti-GM movement to two things. First, increasing disillusion, especially in Europe, with the progress of left-wing ideologies in the former Soviet Union and its allies. And second, a growing awareness of environmental problems in the years following the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s landmark attack on synthetic pesticides, Silent Spring. These created a breeding ground in which movements like anti-GM could flourish: as the socialist cause faded, environmentalism began to take its place.

At the time, some environmental pressure groups were in need of a new vehicle through which to channel protest. Accordingly, these organisations adopted a vigorous and at times violent opposition to all things GM, including imports and, above all, their cultivation on European soil. They frightened enough people to create a public outcry.

Helping this along were scores of green politicians who saw political advantage in adopting postures which could frighten the population with threats to their food.

Gee. Sound familiar? We're seeing the exact same thing play out in Hawaii, albeit 20 years behind the times, per usual.

Meanwhile, in keeping with my own thinking as a leftist bewildered by the “progressive” opposition to agricultural biotechnology, Australian comedian JR Hennessy weighs in:

Every now and then you’ll come across a really thoughtless issue that conflates itself with proper, material progressive politics, wheedles its way into the discourse and won’t go away. For the green movement, one of the issues that keeps rattling around is genetically modified food, which has absorbed so much energy and airtime that you have to wonder what exactly the point of it is. It’s like a reasonably legitimised version of anti-vaccine paranoia, the latter of which we have largely banished to web forums with offensive colour schemes.

A fact remains: if, like so many in the Greens base, you believe that the future of human development is a progressive world where food security and sustainability are assured and the distribution of resources is somewhat equitable, you’re gonna have to pick between boosting crops with genetically modified foods, or some kind of reduction in population. And if we’re honest here, the latter is rarely achieved through pleasant or progressive means. And it’s normally not developed nations who are forced to enact population reductions.

So embrace it, mates. Vaccinate your kids and feed them nutrient-rich GMO food. They should be strong and healthy for the revolution.

From an anti-vaxxer website. Yes, people are this dumb.

I was thinking, too, that with the demise of HC&S on Maui, state lawmakers will be loathe this session to pass any bills that could further harm Hawaii ag. Which means the Center for Food Safety and Babes Against Biotech lobbyists will find it much harder to hawk their messages of fear. 

Besides, they're all gonna be heralding hemp, the new miracle crop. Hawaii activists who previously reviled "industrial ag" are now lining up behind industrial hemp. As Modern Farmer reported:

The one big benefit of hemp? Its environmental footprint is relatively small. It requires few pesticides and no herbicides. It’s an excellent rotation crop, often used to suppress weeds and loosen soil before the planting of winter cereals. On the other hand, it requires a relatively large amount of water, and its need for deep, humus-rich, nutrient-dense soil limits growing locales.

And hemp cultivation is highly labor intensive. Loflin, the Colorado farmer, took to social media to recruit 45 people to help him harvest his crop by hand over a weekend. “Use of a mechanical combine,” the Denver Post reported, “would have harmed the plants’ stalks.” That’s one reason prices are so high — about six times the cost of wood pulp.

Consider, for a moment, that the world's leading hemp exporters are China, Romania, Hungary and India — all of which have much, much lower labor and business costs than Hawaii.

Modern Farmer continues:

Production of hemp varies considerably year to year, but in general, it had been steadily but slowly rising. In 1999, 250 million pounds were produced, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization; in 2011, it was 280 million. That’s pounds, not tons.

Compare that to the 200,000 tons of cane sugar that HC&S produced each year.

Returning to Modern Farmer:

The FAO says the increase is mainly due to rising demand for food, supplements and body-care products made with hemp. Sales of such products are at the mercy of consumer whims. It would be better news for hemp if industrial uses comprised the main driver of demand. Once hemp becomes more commonplace, consumers might prefer to just go back to Aveeno lotions and Dreyer’s ice cream.

None of which is to say that the outlook for hemp is not bright. It certainly seems to be, as long as we keep things in their proper perspective.

Musings: Sugar Blues

As Hawaii's sugar industry slowly collapsed over the past two decades, each plantation closure was met with mourning — sadness at the loss of jobs, lifestyles and another piece of Island heritage, and uncertainty over the future of the land.

But when HC&S, the very last plantation in Hawaii, announced yesterday that it would be shutting down its Maui fields by the end of this year, there was jubilation and gloating among anti-ag activists. As hundreds of workers faced layoffs, beginning in March, and the fate of 36,000 acres remained uncertain, these activists partied down.

Displaying incredible insensitivity — and a stunning ignorance of land use, agriculture and economics — they took to social media to declare their delight at the demise of the state's largest farm.

Among them were Trinette Furtado. Three generations of her family worked for the plantation, allowing her to attend UH. And then she turned around and kicked HC&S in the teeth, joining a lawsuit to stop cane burning.

Trinette posted:

2016 is the LAST SUGAR HARVEST!!!!!

HC&S is CLOSING!!!

‪#‎WeAreWinning‬! ‪#‎PeoplePower‬ #‎SlayingDragons‬

Exactly what have you won, Trinette, aside from unemployment for local people? What make-believe “dragons” have you slayed? And as Kilauea keeps belching her vog, who ya gonna blame for the respiratory problems you guys attributed solely to cane smoke?

Then there was this tone deaf asshole:

‪Trish Teeters‪ Why are they so negative? "We are so sad!", they should be excited to look towards a better future.‬

Tell you what. I'll pull the rug out from underneath you as you stay positive. Because I'm sure you'd be rejoicing, Trish, if you knew you were gonna lose your job — a good job, with union wages and benefits — and you had no idea how you were gonna pay your bills and feed your kids. But never mind, the layoffs are just a PR ploy by HC&S:

‪Ian Shepherd‪ Teach them to manage other crops. No layoffs. The layoffs are just a bitchy movement to make the other side have a point to complain about.‬

A mindless Maui State Senate candidate also weighed in:

‪Terez Amato Lindsey‪ Holy shit!!! I have a bottle of champagne that I am ready to pop!!!!‬

OMFG!!! I just heard!!! HC&S is ending burning in 2016!!! I am COVERED in chicken skin!!!! This is an OUTSTANDING opportunity for our island!! WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!!!!!‬

Yup, folks, these are the kinds of people now running for office. And what, exactly, do you imagine this OUTSTANDING opportunity to be, Terez, when you look around at what's happened on the other islands when cane died? Meanwhile, I'm sure the displaced workers agree that it's an AMAZING DAY! Be sure to send them a few bottles of that bubbly.

Oh, but no worries. These ringleaders have the solution:

‪‪Karen Chun  We need to push for A&B to give them educational/serverance package. With the thirty million dollars they'll save in just one year of stopping cane, they could give each worker $44,000 to live on and go to retraining, if needed.‬

Sure, Karen, why not? And maybe you could get a job and donate your inheritance to the cause, since you believe it in so strongly.

‪Bruce Allen Oatway‪ Good news & bad. They could have kept everyone working by switching to hemp... an easy transition and in fact created more jobs at better wages with the benefit of creating even more local businesses that manufacture hemp products and thus converting the lands to organic soil, using little water. Now we'll see... more disgusting cattle? Nothing they can plant there will be edible. Just like the pine fields. Good for nothing, except hemp, for 30 yrs or more... time will tell.

‪Butch Rick‪ Exactly HEMP leads the way now no weeping for anyone they will have thousands of new jobs if they get smart and grow hemp now d o it‬‬

Right. Save your tears because it's such an easy transition — except for one little snafu. Hemp is illegal in Hawaii, you dumb fucks. And god forbid there should be “more disgusting cattle.”

‪Mark Guagliardo‪ Thought came to mind, will we now a odor problem and global warming methane issue, they say they are stopping the pollution of cane burning, are they going to replace with another polluting profit venture at the expense of our health and enjoyment just for profit?‬

‪Tom Crocker‪ This is long over due and amazing. Hope they will not continue to poison the aina one way or another. Cattle poop can really screw up both fresh and salt water, by causing algae blooms, etc.‬

Hey, let me introduce you to Friends of Mahaulepu. You guys have got a lot in common. Because animal poop is very bad, but your poop, and that produced by 7 million tourists, doesn't cause any problems at all. Unless it's feeding into those injection wells that have created the algal blooms and dead zones off west Maui.

‪Christi Ash‪ ‬ They will try to turn these lands over to Monsanto corn/soy/rice/bananas‬

‪Elaine Albertson‪ Uh-huh...not only will they lose a boatload of jobs up front, but it will happen as it did on Kaua'i...the chem co's moved in almost immediately‬

Actually, Elaine, there was quite a lag before the “chem co's moved in” — long enough that some laid-off plantation workers had burned through their unemployment benefits and were facing home foreclosures. But then, what would you know of such things, since you're entirely subsidized by the taxpayers? And in case you hadn't noticed, even though it's in your own backyard, the "chem co's" are downsizing, not expanding.

‪Christi Ash‪ ‬ ‪Sigh... I hope we are wrong [about GMOs replacing sugar]. The other option is development. ‬ ‪Wish we had allies to help create the bread basket after remedies to the land. 

Gee, welcome to the real world, girl. Maybe you should have lined up the “allies” — aka, real farmers — “to help create the bread basket” before you and your cohorts began working to dismantle ag in Hawaii. Because if you knew any history, you'd see that the end of ag is typically followed by cattle pastures, overgrown fields of guinea grass populated by feral pigs and cats, and then development, though not of the affordable kind.

‪Marty Martins‪ I just hope the land doesn't turn into an urban nightmare or a bunch of gated communities for California fat cats.‬

No, I'm sure A&B is going to turn it into a big public park, or open it up, free of charge, to whomever wants to dabble in hemp and kale.

‪Kimberly Usher‪ The part where it says what they will do is not easy to read...Be scared of Ag Park...On Big Island all the employees were given 10 acres, and they all began growing GMO papaya...‬

Yeah, you definitely don't want to give sugar workers any land. Just send 'em off to mow yards or work in the hotels. Because we can't have them exercising free will in what to produce. They must grow what the activists tell them to grow.

‪Michael Wilmeth‪ Bye bastards‬

‬

‪Dave Stein‪ I hope they don't get into GMO's!‬

‬

‪Michael Wilmeth‪ I VOTE FOR ORGANIC FARMS‬

Sure, why not. A vote is all it takes. Not a farm plan, or back-breaking labor, or investment capital, or markets. Just a vote. Or better yet:

Deb Mader Creagh Demand locally grown, organic food. This will create more jobs. #PeopleBeforeProfits

So tell us, Debbie dear, are you planning to get out in the fields? Do you have money to start an organic farm? Or do you, a mainland transplant, imagine this flood of organic food will arise simply because you demand it? And how fortunate that you “work for Aloha Aina” — do you even know what that means? — and thus needn't be worried about such distasteful matters as a job and profits.

Ken Kleid "Time for the farmers to step up and plant food producing trees, and grow grass for cows, goats, sheep, deer, chickens, etc. Maybe start a chicken egg farm, dairy for milk etc, and many tropical crops that can only be grown here. We have the chance to be less dependent on the mainland for our food. What a concept."

Hear that farmers? Step up and start growing food. Now. But not in those horrid ag parks. And don't worry about opposition to your dairy plans, or trying to market your $6.50--a-dozen eggs against cheap mainland imports, or where you're going to bottle your milk or slaughter your livestock. It's all good. AMAZING, in fact.

‪Nikhilananda Ni‪ ... HC&S/A&B is stopping sugar cane mostly as a "bottom line/financial" decision.... they have been losing money for yearsssssssss.... our tax money, in the form of subsidizing sugar, thanx, in part, to our former "dan" senators, still was not enough to sustain them and NOW is the time to cease operations.... our work begins, as they will want to continue making money from the thousands of acres they still control!.... 

And we certainly can't have anyone making money off the land. Unless, of course, it's the high-end realtors like SHAKA's Mark Sheehan, who are financing this anti-ag movement.

‪Paul Gomez‪ The end of BIG Poison is near. Rejoice!‬

Yup. No poison at all in those termite treatments that happen every time a house is sold, or when the resorts and vacation rentals spray for bugs, or the golf courses green their links or the landscapers kill the weeds. It's only ag that's poisonous and dirty. Why, with the demise of sugar Maui will be downright pristine.

After much gleeful posting, it apparently dawned on darlin' Deb that they were coming off a bit callous:

Deb Mader Creagh Please be mindful of others. Our brothers and sisters, Auntys and Uncles, for whom this news means a job loss, or fear of change, fear of losing something meaningful to them. Use this time to educate, inspire, dream and participate in a brighter, healthier future.

Yeah, let's just dream a little dream. Hell, let's sleepwalk right through our life here in paradise. Because that's the problem with these big landowners. They aren't dreaming big enough. Yeah, yeah, I know they've experimented with just about every crop known to man, trying to find something that's viable.

But if they would've just consulted with the antis, we'd be totally food self-sufficient now, with full employment.

Don't the Big 5 know how easy it is to keep ag land in ag — without cattle or monocrops or pesticides or ag parks or noisy tractors or dust? Why, it's as simple as coming up with a catchy hash tag and racking up a bunch of likes on Facebook.

When I chastised one armchair activist for her insensitivity, she replied:

I don't know what's happened with you. You don't seem to be the same person who did the TVR work, or the same person who came so highly regarded by a couple of progressively minded friends.

What's happened with me? This sickening, clueless, heartless reaction to HC&S's closing by so-called progressives is what's happened with me.

I've seen the environmental and progressive movement in Hawaii co-opted by people who have no compassion, no sense of history, no respect for agriculture, very little understanding of the land use process, crazy ideas about what's feasible in Island ag, no science education, a complete willingness to accept and disseminate propaganda, and a creepy propensity to turn into the kind of “get 'em” mob that's depicted in Rod Serling's “Monsters on Maple Street.”

These people are not progressives, which is why I've been so outspoken in exposing their ugly, ill-conceived movement. It's gaining some political traction in the Islands, while diverting attention and energy from real problems and meaningful solutions, and it needs to be stopped.

The choice is your's folks. Are you going to turn the Islands over to people who party while the last plantation perishes?  Are you going to let their smug paid lobbyists, people like Ashley Lukens of Center for Food Safety, determine your future? 

Ashley Barbara Lukens January 4 at 6:00pm · Honolulu · 

Hey Kiddos, Samantha Ruiz and I are gonna be on PBS's insights this THURSDAY at 8pm waxing philosophical about being so young and hip and employed and stuff... I'm also going to probably piss off PBS's core age demographic, so if you were born after 1980 - TUNE IN!

I doubt Ashley, who has been seeking a guru or mentor to help her find balance in her life, will offer any insights, save for those into her own lack of sensitivity, ethics and humility.

And that, like partying as a plantation dies, burning a farmer's tractor, holding a “shame” banner at the Legislature, spraying anti-GM graffiti in public places, or creating distasteful memes of judges whose rulings displease you, is never hip or cool. 

Even if a lot of malihinis who have designated themselves "aloha aina warriors " claim that it is.

Musings: Fact-Finding and Terrorists

The Joint Fact Finding Group has again delayed its initial report on “Pesticide Use by Large Agribusinesses on Kauai.”

The draft report was due out today, with a public briefing set for Jan. 11.

But both the report and public briefing have been delayed indefinitely. As group facilitator Peter Adler noted in a press release:

Both have been deferred to allow additional time for the gathering and analysis of data, due to unforeseen circumstances. Both events will be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity.

Hmm. Intriguing.

The group, which began meeting last March, is looking at:

Quantitatively, what are the actual agricultural “footprints” Kauai’s seed companies occupy and farm?

What pesticides do they use, in what quantities, and at what rates?

Are there detectable and measurable human or environmental health impacts on Kauai associated with seed company pesticide practices?

If the answer is a possible “yes”, what are the documented health or environmental impacts on Kauai and what should be done?

Is current oversight and regulation effective?

Shifting gears, as the standoff continues in Oregon, where armed militia have occupied buildings at federal wildlife refuge, there's been significant discussion in both mainstream and social media about the terminology used to describe these guys.

The Washington Post called them "occupiers." The New York Times opted for "armed activists" and "militia men.” Others are wondering why they aren't being termed terrorists. Or is that a term reserved only for people of color?

I thought Nathaniel Aka'akamai Mahuka Kahula-Davis had a rather interesting take, contrasting the hands-off approach of the feds in Oregon with the heavy-handed way that state authorities responded to peaceful kanaka on Mauna Kea:

"We fight for our land they bring guns for us."

You can watch his short commentary here.  

Musings: Oh Joy

Oh, joy. It's an election year. 

Sob. Burp. Sigh.

Predictions: The Donald will eventually self-destruct and Bernie Sanders doesn't have a prayer. So that leaves Hillary Clinton as the next president.

Moving on to Kauai County, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. has another two years, which makes him irrelevant, both in general, and in terms of this discussion.

Justin Kollar is going to be re-elected as prosecutor. Why? There's no compelling reason to defeat him, and challenger Lisa Arin isn't offering anything better. Plus he's gonna have a little baby to add to his campaign trail appeal.

As for County Council, all the sitting members can run again, and unfortunately, they all likely will. But surely some can — and will — be defeated.

Councilmen Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa, the top vote-getters last time, are again assured of easy re-election, as is Arryl Kaneshiro, who has shown himself to be earnest and thoughtful.

But rather than rest on their laurels, it would be nice if they could use their popularity, and four-vote majority, to actually pass some meaningful legislation this year.

JoAnn Yukimura should bow out gracefully. I don't want to denigrate her years of public service, but 'nuff already. It's become painful to watch her in Council meetings, especially when she and Mel lock horns. Net result: She has zero effectiveness. Mason Chock and Gary Hooser are her only pals, and even those alliances are strained, considering how Hooser threw her under the Bill 2491 bus.

Hooser has announced his desire for re-election, but after perusing his most recent blog, it's pretty clear he doesn't give a shit about his job.

Titled “2015 rocked – A short candid review of the good stuff going on in my life during the past year ;)” Hooser's blog post covers, in this order: his kids getting married, crashing the Syngenta shareholders' meeting in Switzerland, serving as president of HAPA, “doing” two Grateful Dead concerts, going to the beach and watching Baby Hoos (Dylan) play soccer on Sunday afternoons.

Only then does he bring up his actual job — serving as an elected member of the Kauai County Council. Hooser offers this description of his term to date:

Had an interesting year on the Kauai County Council. Would not call it particularly productive but it was never dull. Though I tried really, really hard, it seems the 4 man majority that controls the agenda had other ideas. Two of the worst of those ideas was a repeal of the “barking dog ordinance” and new rules forbidding Councilmembers from asking questions during public testimony.

Gee, his enthusiasm for his job is palpable. Yawn.... And let's not forget his contribution to the inanity: the fireplace ban bill.

Why, pray tell, would you want to re-elect someone who admits he's totally ineffective and considers his commitment to the voting public and taxpayers less relevant to his life than watching his adult son play soccer, but slightly more meaningful than eating pecan pie in Georgia?

Hooser also takes credit for what he estimates is a 20% reduction in the seed companies'  footprint on Kauai. Oh, yes, Da Hoos is more powerful than global commodity prices. Not.

There's only one reason why Gary wants to be re-elected. Actually, make that two: Easy money and good benefits; and use of the County Council letterhead and title to advance his HAPA agenda.

Mason, meanwhile, took to The Garden Island with a mealy-mouthed, namby-pamby piece about how the Council isn't really working together well. He writes:

Like many organizations, we lack the commitment to building a healthy organization that problem-solves in a collaborative way.

No shit.

Though Mason uses the universal “we,” it's clear from his piece that he considers himself, a “leadership development practitioner,” above the petty dysfunction of his colleagues. Hence his proposal:

I have suggested that our council convene informally to work through these processes with the hope of bringing clarity, agreement, and action toward how we do business. Instead of governing as a team for the best interests of Kauai, we are in constant competition with each other. This can often result in ineffective political compromises that serve no one.

First, the “sunshine law” makes it tough to “convene informally.” Second, why doesn't Mason start setting a good example by demonstrating his leadership skills day-to-day in the Council? Most of the time, he just sits there like a bump on a log.

And has Mason forgotten his own role in creating the current competitive, dysfunctional climate on the Council? By which I mean his ethically questionable decision to fill Nadine Nakamura's seat on the Council for the sole purpose of overturning the mayor's veto of Bill 2491. His stance undoubtably played well with some voters, but it didn't endear him to Mel, Ross and KipuKai Kualii, who were on the other side of the issue and now comprise, with Arryl, the majority voting bloc.

That leads us to KipuKai, whom I really want to like. But I was uneasy about his ethics the last time he was on the Council, supporting former Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri in her misdeeds while his employer, the YWCA, was getting money from Shay's office.

Now he's involved with Kumu Camp, a downscale visitor accommodation project in Anahola that has irked residents and apparently skirted wastewater rules and regs. KipuKai is one of the developers, along with Robin Danner, who appears to be the author of a lovely missive sent on behalf of the Anahola Hawaiian Homestead Association.

It included an assessment of a state archaeologist's presentation on burials:

One of the smartest briefings we've seen, and totally educational on the burial process, which is not to stop development, but to care for our iwi kupuna when they are found.

Yeah, just dig 'em up and move 'em. No problem.

In fact, the AHHA board decided to notify DHHL and SHPDf inadvertent burials are located anywhere along the northern or eastern coastline, whether on Hawaiian Homes or not, we are happy to develop an awesome re-internment site at Kumu Camp!

I kid you not.  

Danner goes on:

Kumu Camp Report included a discussion about Pat Hunter Williams continuing her hateful lies about Kumu Camp, and her efforts to close down our campground.  Not a pono gal, as she has never come forward to speak with our board, or our President Kipukai Kualii, only to rant falsehoods about our people in blogs and such.  Its [sic] clear this non-Hawaiian doesn't know the HHCA very well, and that we as homesteaders we have a right to our trust lands for nonprofit and mercantile purposes.  She continues to lie about burials there, spreading misinformation about the Kumu Camp EA, and falsely claiming that there is some type of food operation.  The woman is pushing a petition to close Kumu Camp down and to deny native Hawaiians our right to operate the campground.  Pilau.  

Whoa. And people say I'm harsh. At least I'm accurate — and I put my name behind what I say, rather than hiding behind a community group.

In any case, this association does not reflect well on KipuKai. Will he distance himself between now and the election, or dig his hole deeper?

Ultimately, it all depends on who decides to challenge the incumbents. Chief Perry will soon be retiring from KPD, giving him plenty of time to again hit the campaign trail. Luke Evslin could probably win, but I'm not sure he has the stomach for the job.

Who else is out there?