Author: hawaiifarmersdaughter

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The Ad Hominen Attacks of Tokyo Rose

The real Tokyo Rose

There are a certain bunch of anti-GMO club members that have taken to bombarding the social media.  If there is anything with those 3 letters on them, you can bet you’ll find them there.  There was a post yesterday in Pacific Business News having an editorial board meeting about the issues at hand in our state regarding biotechnology.  Of course, when you put a comment after all the anti-GMO activists, you will get these kind of comments.  Note that I simply asked a question in response to the post.

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What I got was not a surprise considering that these activists have taken to bombarding the social media.

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This person has even accused me of antagonizing her too!  I can’t quite figure out how but once again paranoia sets in.

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Another thread starts up too on this same link.

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I do remember how she and yet another so called farmer posted some very “nice” comments on a farm fair picture on another ag FB page.

Here’s the no aloha comments posted by these same people in response to mine.

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Unreal what these people are capable of saying publicly.  Of course I was forwarded this clip too of how I acquired my nickname.

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There is no getting through to these activists.  When they have to start attacking people personally, it really shows that there is nothing in the form of evidence to support their argument.  They can only resort to name calling or accusations of being a shill.  This clearly demonstrates that these people are unreasonable and will only be agreeable to one single demand, their way.  Working with the unreasonable will get you no where.

From the Bad Skeptic link:

“The only thing the crier o’ shill proves is that they don’t give a flying f*@k about having an actual discussion, about hearing any viewpoint but their own, or about any reality outside of the one they’re already convinced exists. Saying, “I’m right, and that’s that! Neener!” is good enough for them.”

That’s fine with me but more reason why we can’t make laws and policy according to these activists demands.

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Why Speak out for Science?

I have to really thank my anti-GMO friends for all of the memes they posted that woke me up to the whole issue surrounding biotechnology.  If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here writing this post.

It is very unlike local style, or at least the way I was raised to bring attention to oneself.  Doing that was considered kind of a no-no.  However, after attending school in the mainland and living there for many years, you start to learn that if you don’t speak up, you lose.  I learned pretty quick that I’d get run over if I didn’t say anything.  So, thanks to that experience, I found my voice.

Why speak up for science?  Well, when you have the opportunity to see what science and research can do to help people in action, one can see the potential for it in making people’s lives better.  I always was told that whatever I choose to do in life, make for certain that you make others’ lives better.  That is my mission learned through my experiences.

I was lucky enough to go to school at Washington University in St. Louis for my schooling.  WUSTL is well known for its medical research and as part of my training, I had the opportunity to observe some of it.  I was assigned to observe patients in the Movement Disorder Clinic there.  The project at the time was doing test trials of botox on people with movement disorders.  Botox was not even on the market at the time but was being studied to see if it could help people with disabling and disfiguring movement disorders.

I saw many people that had a wide variety of disabilities resulting from abnormal muscle tone.  One woman had a blepharospasm where she had her eyes permanently shut for years.  Another was a man who held his neck to the left and could not drive or eat normally or care for himself with his head turned permanently.  There were teenagers with cerebral palsy who could not walk normally because of calf spasm.  Though all very different, these people could not function normally.  The hope was that botox could alleviate these disorders and restore function.

The doctor carefully examined each person and injected the muscles one by one with a lot of care.  The following week, these people would return and the results were amazing.  To see people open their eyes or keep their head in midline and walk normally was something they had never done for years that we take for granted.  The research gave these folks improved function and some sense of normalcy that we forget about.  These people cried in joy when they had their function restored.  I too shed tears witnessing these small miracles.  These experiences are events I will never forget.

Not many people will get to witness the beauty of science and how it truly affects people’s lives like I did.  Nor do people have the same educational opportunities.  It is very easy to fall into the trap of fearing what you don’t know.  But as someone who has learned and know the benefits of science, I feel a sense of responsibility to educate people and open minds and eyes.  Our future can only get better with more knowledge and research.  That is why I speak out for science!

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Small Kid Time: Lessons Learned on the Farm

Today, I am inspired to actually sit down and write this blog.  Why? Because the Hawaii that I was born and raised in is changing.  Some for the good and some for the bad.  Changes are occurring rapidly with how we live and do things in our islands.  Local people have to wake up and be part of what’s happening, which is the reason for why this blog is born.

I grew up in a time where life was pretty simple.  Our family lived on the North Shore behind the Mormon Temple.  We were raised in the country where there were no paved roads and mud puddles were our pools.  The grassy fields and prawn farms were our playground to wander in all day long without a care in the world.  Scoop net fishing, catching catfish, digging up worms, rafting down a stream on an inner tube, and playing mud were some of the activities we did when were done practicing piano or homework.  I really had the best childhood a kid could ever have.

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Here’s a great pic that brings back many of my childhood memories of growing up on the farm.  My grandpa would walk us down to the convenience store and buy us candy, then we’d cross the street and play at the beach.  Finally, it would  be back to the farm for more adventures.  As my siblings and I got older, little did we know that we’d become the laborers.

The farm life was not an easy one but it really taught me a lot of life lessons that are still instilled in me to this day.  My dad would always be on us to always do our best, quality job number one.  Never sit to work because that is being lazy.  Keep yourself busy, always.  Take initiative to do something or find something to do.  These were the life lessons learned on the farm that were pounded into our heads.  Don’t do things to make the family shame, make us proud of you in everything that you do.  Growing up, we’d get sick of hearing it every time it was farm day.  Now that I have my own kids, I’ve learned to realize how so many valuable life lessons were acquired on the farm.  It’s those things that you can never learn anywhere else.

My adventures and insights here are reflective of the lessons learned on the farm that are important lessons for all to learn about.