Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Letters for Tuesday, May 19, 2009
•GMO crops are toxic
•Open your mind, KIUC
•Sovereigns vs. slaveholders
•Life just isn’t fair
GMO crops are toxic
GMO crops use herbicides, rodenticides, and pesticides just as sugar cane, pineapple, and coffee do on Kaua‘i. The employees are sickened by these harmful practices.
These crops have been banned in Europe and many other countries. Schoolchildren have been sickened, and whole families have become chronically ill with breathing disorders in the areas where GMO crops are planted.
These monocrops grown in this way poison the land, air and ocean. It would be very good if these chemical companies would use organic sustainable practices when farming these crops on our island of Kaua‘i.
Tashi Maclaine, Kapa‘a
Open your mind, KIUC
To Phil Tacbian, KIUC chairman of the board, and Randall J. Hee, KIUC president and CEO, thank you for your response. We truly appreciate it. (“Easier said than done,” Letters, May 15)
We will offer suggestions, even though we are not shearwater or petrel biologists, nor are we wind turbine mechanical engineers. We have not spoken to the major landholders for available land and we are not environmental law attorneys.
We are Kaua‘i residents, who can see the bigger picture. This has taken far too long and it warrants national attention. How long has KIUC and the Planning Commission been working on this?
I may have struck a nerve with my letter and that is good. You are asking for suggestions, which means, you are asking for help. That is good. We are getting somewhere.
We are your employer, you report to us. You should not make light of any suggestions from the very people you serve. “Think outside the box,” is a realistic suggestion to help you.
Mike Gresham, VP of Kaheawa Wind Power at www.altenerg.com, says “... but some creative, thinking-out-of-the-box approaches on the part of government and utilities could help spur renewable energy development.” This is a company who had major challenges on Maui, but they got it done.
My questions for you:
What is the average flight path/altitude of a shearwater or petrel? How many sea birds have been killed due to a wind turbine? How far up the mountains can a set of wind turbines be built? What time of day do shearwaters and petrels feed?
Can the turbines be turned off and on at specific times of day? What is the normal speed of a wind turbine? Have you contacted a few universities for answers to this as a project for them? Can our senators, governor or our president do something about this to speed up the process of reducing our fuel consumption, lowering our utility bills, providing sustainability and more importantly, drastically reducing the control that fossil fuels has on us?
When is your goal to have one hundred homes with wind turbine energy? A thousand? Ten thousand? How long has KIUC been working on the Habitat Conservation Plan, and what is your goal for completion?
If the DLNR and the U.S. Department of Justice are providing roadblocks in the form of an investigation, imua, go forward. Go above them or around them. If this investigation has been going on since March of 2007, more than two years, how long will this investigation take?
We appreciate how difficult this is. You say “problems,” we say “challenges.” Some people see obstacles, some see opportunities. It’s been long enough. We say, enough is enough, and so should KIUC and the Planning Commission. The best defense for letters like mine, is better communication, an open mind and humility. Olelo o olelo, holo ka holo.
Ken Posney, Koloa
Sovereigns vs. slaveholders
In today’s world, I perceive two fundamental types of people in the political spectrum — sovereigns and slaveholders.
Sovereigns are people who believe “free will” is an inherent human quality to be constitutionally protected against coercion or compulsion and balanced with the equal rights of each member of the entire human family.
Slaveholders in today’s world are people who believe that governments have a right to coerce or compel people to act according to the governments’ will.
All national governments today are slaveholders that terrorize people into fear of imprisonment if they do not surrender their natural free will and submit to the government’s bondage.
It’s time to protect and balance free will, and the constitution of united diversity provides a framework.
Triaka Smith, Lihu‘e
Life just isn’t fair
I am totally outraged to hear that the government took one of the detainees waterboarding 183 times.
Many of us here on Kaua‘i have to work two and three jobs just to make ends meet and hardly ever get to go to the beach anymore.
Why should the prisoners get to have all the fun?
Johnny Robish, Kapa‘a
•Open your mind, KIUC
•Sovereigns vs. slaveholders
•Life just isn’t fair
GMO crops are toxic
GMO crops use herbicides, rodenticides, and pesticides just as sugar cane, pineapple, and coffee do on Kaua‘i. The employees are sickened by these harmful practices.
These crops have been banned in Europe and many other countries. Schoolchildren have been sickened, and whole families have become chronically ill with breathing disorders in the areas where GMO crops are planted.
These monocrops grown in this way poison the land, air and ocean. It would be very good if these chemical companies would use organic sustainable practices when farming these crops on our island of Kaua‘i.
Tashi Maclaine, Kapa‘a
Open your mind, KIUC
To Phil Tacbian, KIUC chairman of the board, and Randall J. Hee, KIUC president and CEO, thank you for your response. We truly appreciate it. (“Easier said than done,” Letters, May 15)
We will offer suggestions, even though we are not shearwater or petrel biologists, nor are we wind turbine mechanical engineers. We have not spoken to the major landholders for available land and we are not environmental law attorneys.
We are Kaua‘i residents, who can see the bigger picture. This has taken far too long and it warrants national attention. How long has KIUC and the Planning Commission been working on this?
I may have struck a nerve with my letter and that is good. You are asking for suggestions, which means, you are asking for help. That is good. We are getting somewhere.
We are your employer, you report to us. You should not make light of any suggestions from the very people you serve. “Think outside the box,” is a realistic suggestion to help you.
Mike Gresham, VP of Kaheawa Wind Power at www.altenerg.com, says “... but some creative, thinking-out-of-the-box approaches on the part of government and utilities could help spur renewable energy development.” This is a company who had major challenges on Maui, but they got it done.
My questions for you:
What is the average flight path/altitude of a shearwater or petrel? How many sea birds have been killed due to a wind turbine? How far up the mountains can a set of wind turbines be built? What time of day do shearwaters and petrels feed?
Can the turbines be turned off and on at specific times of day? What is the normal speed of a wind turbine? Have you contacted a few universities for answers to this as a project for them? Can our senators, governor or our president do something about this to speed up the process of reducing our fuel consumption, lowering our utility bills, providing sustainability and more importantly, drastically reducing the control that fossil fuels has on us?
When is your goal to have one hundred homes with wind turbine energy? A thousand? Ten thousand? How long has KIUC been working on the Habitat Conservation Plan, and what is your goal for completion?
If the DLNR and the U.S. Department of Justice are providing roadblocks in the form of an investigation, imua, go forward. Go above them or around them. If this investigation has been going on since March of 2007, more than two years, how long will this investigation take?
We appreciate how difficult this is. You say “problems,” we say “challenges.” Some people see obstacles, some see opportunities. It’s been long enough. We say, enough is enough, and so should KIUC and the Planning Commission. The best defense for letters like mine, is better communication, an open mind and humility. Olelo o olelo, holo ka holo.
Ken Posney, Koloa
Sovereigns vs. slaveholders
In today’s world, I perceive two fundamental types of people in the political spectrum — sovereigns and slaveholders.
Sovereigns are people who believe “free will” is an inherent human quality to be constitutionally protected against coercion or compulsion and balanced with the equal rights of each member of the entire human family.
Slaveholders in today’s world are people who believe that governments have a right to coerce or compel people to act according to the governments’ will.
All national governments today are slaveholders that terrorize people into fear of imprisonment if they do not surrender their natural free will and submit to the government’s bondage.
It’s time to protect and balance free will, and the constitution of united diversity provides a framework.
Triaka Smith, Lihu‘e
Life just isn’t fair
I am totally outraged to hear that the government took one of the detainees waterboarding 183 times.
Many of us here on Kaua‘i have to work two and three jobs just to make ends meet and hardly ever get to go to the beach anymore.
Why should the prisoners get to have all the fun?
Johnny Robish, Kapa‘a
Related headlines
- Letters for Tuesday, May 19, 2009
- Letters for Wednesday, November 26, 2008
- Letters for Saturday, November 22, 2008
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of kauaiworld.com.
leftygoleftier wrote on May 19, 2009 7:21 AM:
" I say we force Mega-Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and every other psycho-pathic, right-wing, fanatical nut job to go water boarding out at Poli Hale on a 15 to 18 foot northwest swell next winter. With no life guard and no leashes. Let's show them water boarding Kauai style and see if they decide to actually talk and tell the truth for once. "
drdrillandfill wrote on May 19, 2009 7:23 AM:
" Aubrey, maybe Johnny Robish is questioning why we are concerning ourselves so much with the treatment of Muslim terrorists when we have so many major issues that really need our attention! "
tunataxi wrote on May 19, 2009 7:26 AM:
" Waterboarding is too good for them. Cut off their heads and post it on the internet like they do. I'm not kidding either. "
KALAPAKI wrote on May 19, 2009 9:17 AM:
" I agree with Johnny Robish. Waterboarding was a useful tool in eliciting information from terrorists. This information included crucial details about an attempted terrorist attack on LA Airport that was thwarted thanks to info gleaned from waterboarding. I would rather have terrorists waterboarded than innocent Americans killed. The hand-wringing apologists for the terrorists remind me of the appeasers of Hitler. "
jr1956 wrote on May 19, 2009 9:18 AM:
" Johny Robish, great letter, keep em coming... and to Audrey of course it's tongue and cheek, Johny's just having some fun, Kimo "
gr808 wrote on May 19, 2009 10:33 AM:
" The #1 killer of birds here and worldwide are automobiles, clear glass window panes and ferrule animals. Wind farms are not the danger to birds that the protectionists are claiming they are. Studies of the Altimont Pass and other wind farms in Ca. have shown that they kill very few birds and the previous numbers of bird kills were overestimated. It’s just another way for some bureaucrat to justify their job by offering up another million dollar survey.
A more appropriate study would find what form of renewable energy would work better here on Kauai…
hydroelectric (at what cost/percentage?), wind (at what cost/percentage?) and solar (at what cost/percentage?) to meet or EXCEED the states 20/20 goal set out by the legislature.
The more time we waste on the implementation of renewable energy, the more costly it will be when the time comes that we have no other options to supply our demand for power. Imported oil can no longer be trusted for that supply, its costs are too high (environmentally and monetarily) and the risks of supply interruption grow daily.
KALAPAKI- If I tell some FED that YOU have a plan to attack LIH, you won't mind being detained indefinately while you get water boarded right? I'll bet you'll admit to anything thinking you'll be set free. "
A more appropriate study would find what form of renewable energy would work better here on Kauai…
hydroelectric (at what cost/percentage?), wind (at what cost/percentage?) and solar (at what cost/percentage?) to meet or EXCEED the states 20/20 goal set out by the legislature.
The more time we waste on the implementation of renewable energy, the more costly it will be when the time comes that we have no other options to supply our demand for power. Imported oil can no longer be trusted for that supply, its costs are too high (environmentally and monetarily) and the risks of supply interruption grow daily.
KALAPAKI- If I tell some FED that YOU have a plan to attack LIH, you won't mind being detained indefinately while you get water boarded right? I'll bet you'll admit to anything thinking you'll be set free. "
spacini wrote on May 20, 2009 6:35 AM:
" Lefty---time to moveon(.org). You and your ilk are tiresome in your constant soundbites and blogs about an administration that's no longer in power. Try something constructive..even your messiah Obama knows that harping on past issues does us no good in trying to combat larger, real issues, like the economy.
DRdriilandfill has it right...focus on problems that need our attention and quit the distractions and false outrage (a la Pelosi). "
DRdriilandfill has it right...focus on problems that need our attention and quit the distractions and false outrage (a la Pelosi). "
manawai wrote on May 20, 2009 8:02 AM:
" The comments here reflect just how bad the drug prblem is here on Kauai. "
gr808 wrote on May 20, 2009 11:31 AM:
" Drunk drivers here in the good ‘ol USA kill (and injure) more Americans EVERY YEAR than terrorists ever have!!! Why are they not considered terrorists? Should we waterboard them if we suspect them of being drunk? How about detain them indefinitely? Or worse, cut their heads off like one post suggests? Because this is America and we live by different standards!!!
Some Americans have a messed up sense of priorities along with some flawed logic.
To all the cowards that support torture…wait till it’s you’re turn…you might think differently.
Aloha- "
Some Americans have a messed up sense of priorities along with some flawed logic.
To all the cowards that support torture…wait till it’s you’re turn…you might think differently.
Aloha- "
sjones791 wrote on May 20, 2009 12:51 PM:
" Nice letter Johnny Robish. . . I'll bet someone was paid handsomely to come up with a term like "waterboarding" that doesn't sound menacing. Call a spade a spade: it's torture. "
sunklhammer wrote on May 20, 2009 7:01 PM:
" Apparently there are some idiots on this island who can't make the distinction between waterboarding, and REAL torture...like the kind where, if you're lucky enough to survive it, you're physically as well as mentaly scarred for life.
I'll take waterboarding any day, compared to having my eyes gouged out, or my tongue cut off.
Good post, Johnny! "
I'll take waterboarding any day, compared to having my eyes gouged out, or my tongue cut off.
Good post, Johnny! "
gr808 wrote on May 21, 2009 6:53 PM:
" How many SUSPECTED terrorists at GITMO were charged with a crime? 500 (of the roughly 900) were released by the Bush administration without being charged or found guilty of any crime...many after years of being in prision. Only a few have ever been charged with a crime. Indefinite detention without charges is un-American. Torture is un-American. Anyone who supports this kind of activity is un-American.
sunklhammer-
waterboarding any day? I'll have my attorney draw up release of liability, no indemnity and some other minor contracts. We can go to town making a great you-tube video somewhere say in Nigeria or Cuba (where I can't be held liable if I accidentaly let the water run too long) ?
Sarcasm aside, fight terror the real way...quit being cowards ! "
sunklhammer-
waterboarding any day? I'll have my attorney draw up release of liability, no indemnity and some other minor contracts. We can go to town making a great you-tube video somewhere say in Nigeria or Cuba (where I can't be held liable if I accidentaly let the water run too long) ?
Sarcasm aside, fight terror the real way...quit being cowards ! "
hulali wrote on May 22, 2009 9:27 AM:
" Waterboarding IS torture. It is morally wrong and against the provisions of the Geneva Convention which was promulgated and primarily written by constituents of the USA. I understand the military concept of taking (or threatening to take) one life to save many but it is still wrong. In extreme situations people will say anything to appease their tormentors. It does not neccissarily lead to valuable information. What about the innocent people that are tortured? What if it were you? Grabbed off the streets, jailed and torturted for years without the opportunity to prove your inncoence.
The definition of a terrorist is is someone who systematically uses terror, violence and intimidation to achieve an end. If we allow ourselves to rationalize the use of torture to ellicit information that might be beneficial to the interests of the USA then we have allowed ourselves to become as bad as them. Morality in extreme situations is not easy, and I can see how it would be enticing to take a small step ourtside what is right to try and save lives. But this is a slippery slope and can easily lead to other rationalizations that suport more brutality. How do you think the Taliban got where it is today? One step at a time, and if you ask them, they too believe their brutality is validated by a more important ultimate goal.
Waterboarding is torture and torture is wrong. The USA is what is is today because of our strength and pride in a society that respects the liberties and dignity of all people. The inalienable right to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness applies to everyone. The USA should take a stand against torture. "
The definition of a terrorist is is someone who systematically uses terror, violence and intimidation to achieve an end. If we allow ourselves to rationalize the use of torture to ellicit information that might be beneficial to the interests of the USA then we have allowed ourselves to become as bad as them. Morality in extreme situations is not easy, and I can see how it would be enticing to take a small step ourtside what is right to try and save lives. But this is a slippery slope and can easily lead to other rationalizations that suport more brutality. How do you think the Taliban got where it is today? One step at a time, and if you ask them, they too believe their brutality is validated by a more important ultimate goal.
Waterboarding is torture and torture is wrong. The USA is what is is today because of our strength and pride in a society that respects the liberties and dignity of all people. The inalienable right to life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness applies to everyone. The USA should take a stand against torture. "
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
RSS
Aubrey wrote on May 19, 2009 4:08 AM: