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."

Mason Chock Picked for Kauai Council

Mason Chock is the newest member of the Kauai County Council. He will finish out the term of Nadine Nakamura, who left to work as the mayor's top aide.

Mason will be sworn in this afternoon, and then immediately take the hot seat tomorrow morning, when the Council will again take up the issue of the mayor's veto of Bill 2491. Mason has indicated he will vote for an override, giving the Council the five-member majority it was lacking yesterday.

The vote was headed toward a deadlock between Mason and former Councilman KipuKai Kualii, who came in eighth in the last election. Councilmembers JoAnn Yukimura, Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum favored Mason, while Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa wanted KipuKai.

A tie would have left the decision up to Mayor Bernard Carvalho, which prompted Council Chair Jay Furfaro to pick Mason.

“I want to make sure the decision is made at this table,” Jay said. “I had a good relationship with KipuKai...but I can't end today's session with a 3-3 deadlock with the vote going to the mayor.”

Though casting his vote for Mason, Jay promised he would help KipuKai in the next election.

Mason is the president of Kupu A'e, Kauai Team Challenge, and the former director of Leadership Kauai.

He seems like a neat guy. I had the pleasure of doing a story on him a few years back, and thought I'd share it with you here:

Mason Chock never expected he’d be forced into a career change at age 30.

But when the helicopter he was riding in crashed into the side of Waialeale during a search and rescue mission five years ago, Chock’s days as a firefighter were over.

He just didn’t realize it at the time. Chock, accustomed to being super fit as a member of the fire department’s rescue team, was certain he’d bounce right back from his injuries.

He didn’t. Instead, the crash left him with three crushed vertebrate, chronic pain, and serious depression as Chock faced a lifetime of physical limitation and the tough question: now what?

“It was a heartbreak for me because I fully intended to stay a fireman,” says Chock, who retired in 2005 after 11 years with the fire department. “It was a big blow. It was hard coming to terms with this is where you are now, and this is where you’re going to be.

“But it was a wake up call, too, a whole process of transition,” he adds. “There are no accidents, only lessons to learn. If we just realize they’re all lessons, we can move forward.”

For Chock, that meant figuring out a way “to find beauty and fulfillment in other things,” and he had an inkling it involved helping others.

While boarding at Kamehameha School — a tradition passed down from his parents and now being carried out by the eldest of his own two sons— Chock found he enjoyed interacting with people and went on to earn a business degree at the University of Hawaii, planning to become an entrepreneur.

Instead, he joined the fire department, where he discovered “how rewarding it is to serve the community,” and began volunteering with various culturally-based youth education programs, including Waipa and Kanuikapono.

After his accident, Jessica Higa approached him about creating the Kauai Team Challenge, a program that teaches confidence- and team-building skills through the use of a ropes course. It employed some of the same skills Chock had learned as a rescue worker, so he helped Higa set up a course at Waipa and he took a group of orphans from the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center through it.

“That’s where I really got the interaction with the children,” he says. “That really, really intrigued me. I could see the transformation in them right in front of me. It was a very satisfying and rewarding experience.”

While continuing to work with Kauai Team Challenge, Chock also began running a federally funded pilot program that provides mentoring for children of prisoners. Leadership Kauai tapped Chock to run its new youth program, Pi`ina Hoku, which places the same emphasis on values, leadership skills and service as its adult program.

Chock was first exposed to the program when its adult members came through his ropes course. “I was really attracted to Leadership Kauai,” he says. “I was intrigued by the diversity, the principles of leadership, the focus on values and also the cultural aspects. You really get an understanding of why people view things the way they do.”

Chock, who was born and mostly reared on Kauai, says kids also need “more role models,” and he’s aware that he is one. “They look at me and they see themselves. They know that I’ve gone through the same things they have. I don’t give them any excuses. I don’t baby the kids in my programs. I teach them they’ve got responsibilities, too.”

Besides his work with youth, Chock has an active real estate license and is co-owner of a promotional products company. He also raises Hawaiian herbs for medicinal use and loves to dive and get in the water whenever he can.

“I definitely have lined up a pretty intensive schedule in this lifetime,” he says. “But realizing, wow, I’ve made a difference in somebody’s life, that’s what keeps me going. The human spirit is pretty strong.”

Musings: Council Punts 2491

The Kauai County Council moved into uncharted waters today, recessing its meeting when it became clear the votes were not there to override the mayor's veto of pesticide/GMO Bill 2491.

In what Councilman Tim Bynum termed “a desperation move” to save the bill, the Council recessed until Saturday, giving bill supporters a chance to appoint a seventh member tomorrow who will vote their way. A veto override requires five votes, and the Council is down one member since Nadine Nakamura left to become Mayor Bernard Carvalho's top aide.

The abrupt about-face came after a Council majority decided last week to vote on the veto bill with just six members. 

Councilman Mel Rapozo said he felt the selection shouldn't be driven solely by the candidate's stance on 2491 “and obviously that's what's going to happen. Unfortunately, if someone is opposed to 2491 they won't get consideration for this seventh seat.”

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, who previously said she would be “horrified” to use Bill 2491 as a litmus test for candidates, said perhaps they could interview candidates without bringing it up. But Councilman Gary Hooser already has been polling candidates for their stand on the bill he sponsored.

Gary orchestrated the unusual procedural maneuver once it became clear that Councilman Ross Kagawa, the swing vote, would not support a veto override.

Though Gary previously has cited the bill's urgency, tonight he was calling to slow things down. “A decision of this magnitude I believe warrants the time it takes to make a decision properly.” He said a delay until early next week would allow the Council to consider a seventh member “and talk to the governor and Department of Agriculture to see how serious they are about these issues. We could take the time we need to talk to these decision makers.”

Ross, who puzzled many by speaking against the bill from the onset, but voting for it twice, gave a lengthy statement explaining his moves. He said the 18-hour meeting that led to a 3:30 a.m. vote on the bill was a “grueling process. We rushed through a lot of amendments and we should have taken our time. And now look, where are we? Addressing a veto.”

Ross said the mayor had promised he wouldn't veto the bill if his request for a one-month deferral was granted, “but we got excited and shot it down.” He said he had talked with a lot of people and “the community is definitely split on this issue. There is no doubt for me that many more of the people I talk to are against the bill because they believe the state can and should have oversight."

Ross also revealed that when he was living in Waimea Valley, his one-year-old daughter suffered seizures, though the cause was unclear, and “one time we almost lost her.” He said testimony given by westside parents whose children are suffering medical problems that could be due to pesticide exposure was “absolutely gut-wrenching and something needs to be done. But I don't believe this bill will prevent them [the pesticide operations] from continuing. If it's tied up in court, how will the situation get better?”

Ross said he would instead work with the state and Mel, who also opposed the bill, “in getting some answers to those families that are suffering.”

Jay has been trying desperately to get the bill out of the Council, where it has eclipsed all other issues. Though he drove it to a vote after the 18-hour meeting, it bounced back under the mayor's veto. Gary warned in today's meeting that the issue won't go away, even if the veto isn't overridden.

The Council will begin considering a new member tomorrow. Some 20 to 30 candidates reportedly have expressed interest, but Jay has not released the list to the public. It's confirmed that Jan TenBruggencate, Mason Chock and Fern Rosenstiel were nominated. Former Councilmembers Kaipo Asing, Dickie Chang and KipuKai Kualii submitted their own names, along with Pat Gegen, Jimmy Trujillo and Felicia Cowden.

Four Council members must vote to approve a candidate, who could be sworn in as early as tomorrow afternoon in order to attend Saturday morning's meeting. If the Council deadlocks, the mayor will choose a replacement.

If the veto is overridden, both Jay and JoAnn said the bill should go to court for a ruling. Jay said the county might use the pro bono legal services offered by Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice attorneys.

Musings: Little and Late

In an apparent attempt to pre-empt a pending pesticide/GMO disclosure bill, the state Department of Agriculture has crafted a “Kauai agricultural good neighbor program” that calls for voluntary buffer zones and restricted use pesticide (RUP) disclosure.

The announcement came on the eve of today's County Council vote on whether to override Mayor Bernard Carvalho's veto of Bill 2491. The hotly contested measure would require Dow Agrosciences, Syngenta, BASF, Dupont/Pioneer and Kauai Coffee to implement buffer zones and disclose pesticide use and cultivation of genetically modified crops.

The good neighbor program also would apply only to those five entities, though it is not as strict as Bill 2491. It establishes a 100-foot buffer zone where RUPs cannot be used between fields and homes, schools and medical facilities, whereas Bill 2491 sets a 500-foot buffer. The bill also creates buffer zones for streams, roads and parks, which are not covered in the program. Both exempt mature orchards.

The “good neighbor” program for disclosure is significantly weaker than Bill 2491, in that it excludes homeowners and general health care providers from notification prior to pesticide applications. It specifies:

Under this program, farm operators on Kaua‘i will notify schools, hospitals, and medical clinics that register with a participating farm operator on Kaua‘i (“registered entities”).

Pre-application notification will be made to those registered entities only in cases when the application of an RUP will be made along the entity’s property line abutting a 1000 foot notification zone as measured from the outside of the proposed treated area.

The “good neighbor” program for public disclosure of RUPs would take effect much more quickly than Bill 2491, whose disclosure provisions wouldn't be triggered for another year. However, the program doesn't include any disclosure of general use pesticides, as the bill does, nor would it specify where the pesticides were used.

Instead, the program calls for disclosing only the total volume of each RUP used and total acreage affected. The data would be posted monthly on the state's open data portal, while Bill 2491 requires annual disclosure of pesticides used the prior year.

The program also proposes more outreach:

Farm operators on Kaua‘i would establish a farm by farm practice to continue and improve good neighbor relations and understanding of farming. Neighbors that are geographically located nearest the above mentioned operations would be the primary focus of the good neighbor program which may involve a farm operator working with individual neighbors to address their concerns about RUP applications.

Farm operators on Kaua‘i and their nearby neighbors would discuss their respective questions, such as the science behind pesticide formulation, registration, and use, and the actual conditions on and around farms.

The program does not address the disclosure of what genetically modified organisms are being grown on Kauai, as is required under Bill 2491.

The voluntary program will take effect Dec. 1, and will remain in effect for one year, when it will be evaluated for effectiveness.  If the Council overrides the veto today, Bill 2491 is due to take effect in nine months, though a threatened legal challenge could delay its implementation.

HDOA also plans to ask the state Legislature to fund 10 additional inspector and pesticide education positions statewide in this upcoming legislative session, according to a press release posted on the HDOA website.

Musings: Deconstructing Dirty Tricks

As the County Council prepares to vote tomorrow on overriding the mayor's veto of pesticide/GMO Bill 2491, the smell of dirty tricks hangs heavily in the air.

I'm talking about the eleventh-hour allegation that former Councilwoman Nadine Nakamura, now the mayor's top aide, orchestrated the bill's take-down with Councilwoman JoAnn Yukumura and county Communications Director Beth Tokioka via text at the marathon Oct. 15 meeting.

The accusation — subject of a post by blogger Andy Parx and memo to the mayor from Councilman Gary Hooser — was made by Kauai newcomer Jennifer Ruggles. Jennifer claims she was sitting behind Beth at the meeting and had an hours-long, unobstructed view of Beth's phone, thus allowing her to document the three women strategizing and “conspiring for a deferral” throughout the 18-hour meeting.

It all sounds very dramatic — until you look at it with a discerning eye.

First, consider the source. Jennifer is a paid political activist with the Pesticide Action Network who just six months ago was stirring up shit on the Big Island. She incorrectly reported in the Oct. 17 PAN blog that the bill was “veto-proof,” and on Friday had a letter in The Garden Island claiming she “recently participated in the democratic process for the first time.”

Jennifer also can be seen in the disturbing video of the mayor's veto, which starts with the camera man accosting Beth and demanding to see the messages on her phone. It is apparent in the video that he doesn't know who Beth is, which makes it highly unlikely Jennifer would have been attuned to the intrigue supposedly playing out on Beth's phone in the Council chambers.

Yet as Andy reports, citing an email from Jennifer:

"I felt concerned because it didn't seem ethical that the person who works most closely with the mayor, who after his presentation revealed the administration's agenda in opposition to the bill, should be lobbying JoAnn Yukimura and conspiring for a deferral with Nadine Nakamura during a public hearing," Ruggles said.

"The lobbying was especially inappropriate because it was happening during public testimony. Beth initiated these conversations disregarding the many people who had slept overnight to have their voice heard."

Let's just take a moment here to dispel the bullshit notion that anyone had to sleep overnight to have their voice heard. The campout was all part of the street theater and the drama.

Then consider the timing. If Jennifer was so deeply alarmed, why did she wait a full month to make her concerns known, which “coincidentally” takes it to the doorstep of the veto vote?

Finally, consider the substance. Andy claims in his post that the text-a-thon reveals:

In essence, Nakamura had set up the bill for veto by crafting and introducing the measures that her future boss would use as a reason to veto the bill.

However, Andy fails to mention that those very same amendments were introduced in committee, where they were supported by Gary Hooser and all the red shirts clamoring for the bill's passage in its amended form.

Andy goes on to claim:

Had the mayor vetoed the bill the day after it passed it would have left plenty of time for Nakamura, who eventually voted for the bill that night, to vote on the override which specifically requires five votes according to the county charter.

Except that's not true. With the six-day notice required by the state Sunshine Law, it would have been virtually impossible to get the override on the agenda in time for Nadine's last Council meeting on Oct. 23. And there's no guarantee she would have overridden it, anyway, when she had moved previously for a deferral.

Andy also claims:

The first irony in all of this, one that  [Councilman Tim] Bynum and Hooser intimated at, is that most of the midnight-hours at the Oct. 15-16 meeting had been spent proposing and passing amendments that were written, researched and insisted upon by Nakamura. 

Except if you actually watch the video of the meeting, you will see that the late-night amendments were introduced by JoAnn and Gary, with Gary and Tim supporting JoAnn's more questionable revisions.

Andy also repeats the spurious smear that Tim made against Nadine, where he accused her of “highly inappropriate and unethical behavior” for expressing her concerns about the challenges she would face implementing the bill as the mayor's managing director.

As someone who has watched the county administration fail to implement the vacation rental bill — even in the totally gutted form that Tim sponsored — I appreciated Nadine's candor in addressing that key issue.

It's an issue I've been raising since the get-go, which leads me to the underlying flaw of Bill 2491: its sponsor, Gary Hooser. Gary has been far more concerned with gaining personal notoriety as “the people's candidate,” the David that faced down the multinational's Goliath, than in ensuring we have a meaningful bill that works for this county.

Gary wanted all the glory, which is why he failed to consult with Nadine, the Council's top vote-getter, before introducing the bill. Instead, he and Tim, the two weakest members on the panel, were its sole champions. As a result, Gary had to sit back and let Nadine and JoAnn have their way with the bill in committee, because he depended on their votes to move it forward.

Now, with the eviscerated bill barely clinging to life, it's sad to see him resort to dirty tricks for the second time in as many weeks. The first was the fake huhu, fanned by Andrea Brower, over the supposed “one-two punch” of the mayor vetoing the bill and releasing the legal opinion, a ridiculous claim that The Garden Island swallowed hook, line and sinker.

For those of us watching this travesty unfold with growing distaste, tomorrow's vote can't come soon enough.

Musings: On Armistice, Peace

It's my favorite kind of weather, with the trees sighing and shaking, rain splattering against windows, squalls floating across the mountains like lacy curtains opening and closing, all driven by a ferocious wind that reminds us nature is bigger and tougher than all of us, though not our enemy.

“Happy Veteran's Day,” I said to my favorite kupuna, 95-year-old Miss Gennii, one of the first women to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard, back in World War II.

“I remember when it was called Armistice Day,” she said with some distress.

Most people don't. Most people don't remember the horrific “War to End All Wars,” which left 20 million dead, nor do they remember the ceremony on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 that officially marked its end, at least on Europe's western front.

Nor do they remember the resolution that Congress passed on June 4, 1926:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed.

[This day] should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations."

Another act of Congress, approved May 13, 1938, made Nov. 11 a federal holiday, "dedicated to the cause of world peace.”

But all that changed after the slaughter of World War II, which left 50 to 70 million people dead, followed closely by the Korean War. In 1954, during the height of the “cold war,” Armistice Day and its crucial emphasis on peace became Veterans Day, a time to honor everyone who participated in military service.

Which is fine, they should be honored for their service, their sacrifice.

But in an era when the U.S. is still waging a full-on hot war in Afghanistan and drone wars in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and who knows where else; fighting its own citizens in the decades-old war on drugs, and engaged in an unending battle with a nebulous enemy under the catch-all “war on terror,” don't we need at least one day dedicated to peace — to the attainment of peace through good will and mutual understanding — more urgently than ever before?

In the absence of an official holiday or celebration, I'll share these words from Peace Pilgrim, a woman who “lived to give, rather than get,” and walked thousands of miles over 28 years, spreading a message of peace:

"When an evil is attacked, the evil mobilizes, although it may have been weak and unorganized before, and therefore the attack gives it validity and strength. When there is no attack, but instead good influences are brought to bear upon the situation, not only does the evil tend to fade away, but the evildoer tends to be transformed. The positive approach inspires; the negative approach makes angry. When you make people angry, they act in accordance with their baser instincts, often violently and irrationally. When you inspire people, they act in accordance with their higher instincts, sensibly and rationally. Also, anger is transient, whereas inspiration sometimes has a life-long effect.

Or as she stated, even more succinctly:

"This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, 
and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."

Because, of course, world peace begins within.

Mahalo to my friend Mollie Osborn for sharing Peace Pilgrim's book with me.

Musings: Smells Stink

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Exactly as planned.

Musings: Giving Way to Good

Venus, bright as a UFO in the west and just an arms width from a golden crescent moon, gave way to Jupiter, burning like a yellow coal directly overhead, which gave way to clouds the color of a shiner, streaks of pink and a band of gold in the east.

Slowly, KIUC's reliance on fossil fuel is giving way to renewables, with groundbreaking planned today on a $40 million solar project that will allow our utility to burn 1.7 million fewer gallons of oil every year while keeping tons of emissions out of the air. And it might even save everyone a few bucks. 

Meanwhile, up in Wainiha, swaths of naupaka, heliotrope, spider lilies and other coastal landscaping are giving way to sand. That's right, the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands is finally making landowners give us back our beach under authority of Act 160.

In some places, as much as 20 feet of beach has been cleared. And when the beach is just 60 feet wide, well, that's significant. Now folks can actually walk that beach when there's big surf without fearing for their lives.

For example, this is a BEFORE picture of the beach in front of actor Pierce Brosnan's place, where an April 2011 post documented his long-term, systematic planting of the beach, replete with chicken shit and wood chips.

And here it is AFTER the state made him, and other landowners, get their vege off the public beach:

To give you an idea of the extent of encroachment along the stretch of beach near YMCA Camp Naue, this picture shows an area where one lot has been cleared, but the other hasn't yet come into compliance:

And yet another example of a cleaned lot next to one not yet cleaned:

Clean up is under way at this lot, where ironwoods were removed:

Unfortunately, Joe Brescia is still encroaching, but feel free to use his lawn chairs and hammock, since he's positioned them on the public beach:

Of course, the state will need to stay on it, since seeds are already sprouting:

But at least for now we have our beach back!

Big shout out to Caren Diamond, who proves once again that persistence, coupled with civility, intelligence, networking, scrupulous research, and a carefully executed lawsuit or two, can bring about positive change. 

If it weren't for people like Caren, Lucinda Pyles (her Oahu counterpart), Mina Morita, Harold Bronstein and a few key others — Rep. Derek Kawakami, who championed the bill's extension, and Sam Lemmo of OCCL for following through on enforcement — this problem would not have been addressed. We owe them a super-sized mahalo for devoting countless hours of their lives to protecting our beaches.

Musings: Funny, Sometimes

This morning, walking with the dogs through rosy rain so fine that it appeared as mist floating over the hills, past pig tracks in the mud, grass and weeds uprooted by their rutting, I thought about how it's funny, sometimes, the way things turn out.

Like the way Gary Hooser left the Senate in a failed bid for lieutenant governor, leaving us with Ron Kouchi, who was one of just a few senators in the entire state to vote against same-sex marriage, which Gary championed.

Like the way Scott McFarland, former community outreach specialist for DOW Agrochemical on Kauai, is now the interim CEO for Hawaii Health Systems Inc., which runs Mahelona Hospital, clinics in Kapaa and West Kauai, and Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital — places where many of the doctors and nurses who support Bill 2491 work.

Like the way the video showing Mayor Bernard Carvalho being mobbed upon announcing his veto of Bill 2491 — presumably posted as a proud portrayal of “people power” — is working instead to generate sympathy for the big guy, as expressed so well by a woman who told me, “I don't really know anything about the issue, but when I saw the video on Facebook, I felt sorry for him. I had compassion for him as a human being, because you could tell he was really hurting. It took a lot of courage to stand up to a crowd like that.”

Like the way Andrea Brower claimed the mayor's “double deception” of vetoing Bill 2491  and releasing the county attorney's opinion tipped the county's hand, without considering this scenario: the opinion reflected weaknesses in the bill that chem corp counsel themselves had pointed out to the county. Because really, Andrea, do you think former state Attorney General Margery Bronster and Paul Alston, who whooped the county's ass at Papaa Bay, need Deputy County Attorney MaunaKea Trask to write their playbook? 

And like the way the Hawaii Supreme Court finally took up the case of Prime Minister Henry Noa and other two other members of the Reinstated Hawaiian Nation — convicted of trespassing after occupying Kahoolawe back in 2006 — but only on narrow procedural grounds, without considering the larger issue of Hawaiian sovereignty. 

Funny. But no laughing matter.

Musings: Correction Through Connection

Out in the world when nearly everyone is asleep, darkness broken by points of ancient light, promise of a new day behind massing storm clouds, I am washed with chicken skin in recalling a vivid dream I had last night.

In this dream, people were pouring out of their homes and gathering in the loi, on the beaches, along the stream banks, in a spontaneous swelling of support for kanaka maoli. There were no signs, no costumes, no shouts, no slogans, no leader, so far as I could tell, save for the propelling guide of conscience stirring in countless hearts.

As I stand looking up at the stars, flesh puckering, my own heart stirring in the transitioning time between dark and light, I see, as clearly as the seven-starred constellation of Makalii, that overthrow and occupation are the fundamental hewa that must be corrected in Hawaii. Colonization is the the grave injustice upon which so many other wrongs have been perpetrated.

Why are we surprised that a nation that would, by force, dominate and enslave another, also allow the soil to be paved, the rivers to be poisoned, the iwi to be desecrated, the political system to be corrupted, the indigenous people impoverished, imprisoned for petty crimes?

Why do we rail against the symptoms, while failing to address the disease?

I think of Kamehameha, who waged war, and then returned to the loi, and my friend Kaimi, a true maka'ainana, who once told me that every kalo plant is a kanaka, a warrior in waiting. The necessary correction, he said, will occur not in the voting booth or offices of government, but through connection: opening loi, clearing auwai, working together to get kanaka back on their 'aina, the life-producing land.

When the deluge passes, leaving the clouds pale pink, the mountains misty, the ground soft and yielding, I step into my own taro patch and begin pulling weeds, discovering dozens of keiki beneath the overgrowth, ready to thrive.

As the weed pile expands, I reflect on a conversation I had yesterday with another young kanaka, who told me, I have become increasingly aware that politics is an outmoded and inefficient vehicle for positive change. As an empowered individual, I think I can accomplish more without the constraints of an inherited political system. 

And my reply to him was, I agree.