The Anti-Science Debacle

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Do The Right Thing Hawaii They Shout!

Once again, Senator Josh Green is the on my radar again.  It’s amazing that a senator no less is joining the ranks of those who want to send us back to an utopian agrarian society.  He’s apparently hell bent on supposedly doing the right thing.

Well, I’m starting to think that these pandering politicians don’t even have a clue of what the right thing is anymore.  At the SB793 hearing, he was cutting off his fellow senators questioning about the extent to which the law was needed.  Instead of letting Senator Thielen and Senator Chun-Oakland finish asking their questions, he rudely stopped them from getting their answers and kept the public from knowing the answers of the quantities really being used by all industries.  

Not only did he cut off questioning, he rudely chastised Tom Matsuda of the pesticide branch of the department of agriculture for not having the figures of the pesticides.  If he sponsored this bill, shouldn’t he have gotten the numbers himself? He also shouted out that they use “gigantic” amounts, which is far from the truth.

As a leader figure, his arrogance and rude behavior is so disappointing for a public figure.  I teach my kids to be humble and respectful and here is a community leader showing how not to be.  I also teach my children to be honest when you speak and here he can’t even be honest. No wonder Hawaii is going down the tubes when leaders who should be held to a higher standard can’t even even be used as a good example.

The more I think about these poorly written laws, I realize that the passage of these aren’t going to do a thing for these activists and they know it.  They already don’t trust government and what they are doing with inspections and licensing.  Who is to say that a law is going to suddenly win their trust? They don’t trust the FDA, EPA, or USDA for that matter so why would they even bother to ask for a label from the FDA, whom they don’t trust.  The truth is obvious.

These people’s actions have shown that they have no second thought about being honest or even willing to come to the table to work with others in the community.  They can cut in line at hearings with bogus claims, exaggerate number figures, cherry pick studies, send death threats, make false accusations all over the social media, create fake websites and buy domain names, graffiti up the community, call for crop destruction, make wanted posters of pro-science folks, and so on. 

While the activists are busy pointing fingers at everyone else not being honest and transparent, they forget that 3 more fingers are pointing at themselves.

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The GMO Free Club Needs To Own Up To The Facts
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The GMO Free Club Needs To Own Up To The Facts

After sitting in the anti-pesticide, anti-farming House Bill 1514, I really have to wonder about the things that were being said in there. With the companion bill, Senate Bill 793, still alive, I have to wonder how much of what was being said would be believed by the committee members.

There were some really far out things being said but to someone who may not quite understand all the issues or how to debunk the claims, these things may become truth. I almost felt as if this hearing was not about why Hawaii needed to pass arbitrarily made buffers and onerous disclosures, but how much misinformation can you get in. The things being said ran the entire gamut of everything anti-farming.

One woman talked about the sea turtle study linking pesticide to tumors. She apparently misread the study as it had nothing to do with pesticides but with excessive nitrogen levels which they authors erroneously linked to farms. The study had multiple problems from a small sample size and flawed methodology that the conclusions were based upon.

Then there were worries of being infertile due to living by the farms. One testifier claimed that as a single mother of four, she was worried about not being able to have more kids. It’s likely that she read misinformation that GMOs cause infertility.

I’m pretty skeptical of all of the claims being made because it really seems all too well orchestrated. Joan Conrow blogged about Hawaii SEED’s plan last year after their own pesticide drift tests found nothing alarming. The Department of Health also ran multiple tests and found no cancer clusters or alarming levels of pesticides that would cause harm.

I’m not surprised that the whole thing around the need to protect my keiki bit was front and center. The Center for Food Safety set an entirely new website to coach folks on how to testify. Their goal was to have people attribute their illnesses to pesticides from GM fields primarily. Of course there was no hard evidence but nonetheless, having the claims repeated helps to ingrain the message or so they hoped.

Kauai County Council member, Gary Hooser, also pulled a fast one in the hearing also by interrupting the testimony claiming that the neighbor island folks had planes to catch and needed to testify first. They got in ahead of those who came early to testify. The truth was, they didn’t have flights to catch and they showed up at the labeling bill hearing at 2:30 pm. In fact, they even had enough time to have drinks at Nico’s around dinner time!

Despite the preferential treatment made for the outer island folks even though they didn’t need it, Ashley Lukens of the Center for Food Safety made a public complaint that the hearing was rigged.



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From what witnesses said at the senate hearing for the companion bill to this one, SB793, Lukens was going in and out of the Chair Josh Green’s office. On top of that, during the hearing Green was witnessed making winks at the activists and her in attendance. They appeared to have preferential treatment also but no one openly complained.

It’s pretty sickening to hear of this “it’s not fair” crying. No one from the ag community was going in and out of the Chair’s office of did any backdoor dealings to get a bad law put on the books. In fact, some legislators refuse to speak to the ag workers and some have even leveled their own accusations at them. None of us are photoshopping up memes to scare people. We do speak of fear of losing our farm land with badly written laws. We, as small farmers, are fearful of how much longer we need to keep defending our work from misinformation.

Lukens wants to play the victim card and make false accusations to hide the truth to her followers that their law was flawed to begin with. Never will you see the truth being stated by her or others. The best they can do is continue to misinform and play the “everyone is bought” nonsense. You can continue behind that facade that your intention was only to protect people, which obviously is not the truth when you target a selective group.

People can only stand the smell of bullshit for a short time and after awhile, it’s time to scrape the crap off.

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The Real Bullies: Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety Attack the Local Farmers

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Will justice ever be served for the Hawaii County farmers?

It’s interesting that the activists’ groups like Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety always claim that the agribusinesses are liars and bullies. I guess they forgot the rule that when you point fingers at others, 3 more point back at oneself. “We want honesty,” is their followers’ rallying cry. The problem is that these groups can’t even be honest and don’t recognize the bullying they do themselves when they attack Big Island farmers in the courtroom.

Case in point is how CFS is ramping up its efforts with the Vandana Shiva blitz and garnering the attention of the media this past month. This group picks the most fraudulent of speakers to “educate” others, when in reality all she does is indoctrinate in ideology with very little evidence based information. She also is an extremist who supported Natural News’ Mike Adams’ call to murder scientists and journalists who supported biotechnology! It’s no wonder the local activists here do exactly the same thing in their commentaries but then are called the extremists of the movement.

The Center for Food Safety isn’t even honest in what they tell the media with their interviews. Many news stations were reporting that they are Honolulu based last week. This group is nothing close to being locally based and is essentially a satellite office of their Washington, D.C. one which started up last year. There were no corrections being made to these stories either so many people think that this is a local grassroots movement. They are clearly here to work on their financial sustainability if anything.

Like other activists, Ashley Lukens, CFS director, loves to play up the doctor bit too and neglects to mention that she’s holds a political science degree, not an ag one and has no experience or related education. She of course flaunts around the Dr. title as if it gives her added credibility. It’s no different than how they use Dr. Stephanie Seneff, aka RoundUp causes all diseases in the world fame artificial intelligence engineer, to tout their “education.”

The politicians are also jumping on the CFS dishonesty train too. Senator Josh Green brought in activists to “educate” political leaders on the issue of pesticides. Forget the fact that there are millions of acres of GM crops grown in the Midwest and these same crop protection products have been used for 40 years with no documented evidence that it causes autism, activists’ science is what our politicians prefer to use to make laws here.  On top of that, I just read the other week in an interview with Rep. Chris Lee that what they are attempting to enact in Hawaii will not affect small farmers regarding the pesticide issue. He’s been wined and dined and apparently repeating the rhetoric of CFS. Today, the Senate ag chair, Russell Ruderman, too is lobbying for his activists’s friends to defend Hawaii County.  Ruderman has his nose stuck in anti-Monsanto conspiracy theories and no sense of fairness or accountability and chooses to meddle in a level of government that is not in his scope.  These groups and the politicians they use don’t care who they attack seem to enjoy catering to the factless fear feast.

It’s no surprise that these groups always say one thing and do another. Center for Food Safety expressed to politicians that they aren’t going after the small farmers. Earthjustice attorney, Paul Achitoff, also stated that he fights for farming communities but is fighting against it now. Turns out that it’s not true because they are joining with the San Francisco based Earthjustice to appeal Judge Kurren’s ruling on the Big Island GMO ban. The agribusinesses aren’t affected by this ordinance in Hawaii county because they have no operations there at all. It’s the small papaya farmers and other local farmers who are having to defend their livelihoods! Of course they are going to state that Monsanto mantra against the organization who is helping to defend these farmers.

To fuel the fire, CFS loves to smother it’s news posts with the same old corporate hate. Instead of actually naming the true plaintiffs in the Big Island case, they title their post with, “Chemical Companies Undermine the Will of the People of Hawaii County.” There is no mention of the real local farm groups involved in the case at all and it closes the post with the same chemophobic messages used to take advantage of people’s ignorance on agriculture.

There are no links or documentation outlining any of the pertinent filings or details of the case also. It’s the typical cherry picking of information that these groups thrive on because they know most activists believe without questioning. A true skeptic would want to see the filings and other court or county documents also but these groups condemn any questioning of their motives or facts for that matter.  Questioning this movement will get you shunned and isn’t tolerated.  Hawaii is definitely a great place for Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety to establish due to the many industries available for them to sue and pad their coffers and a host of people that they can use as pawns.

These groups are so willing to use taxpayer dollars and farmers’ time play this conspiracy laden game with no consideration of how scare county resources really are. It’s like a game with no forethought as to the real consequences and impacts. Since when has it been a practice for activists to be held to a higher standard and code of ethics to be able to defend the county? These people show that they essentially have no ethics but can be trusted to do the right thing? With 3 bad bills passed due to the influence of these groups, it’s pretty sad that Hawaii County wants to use them to defend such a bad law. It’s pretty shameful that leaders can even consider using these people to represent them.

Then again, if these groups proceed with an appeal and follow suit with their bad track record, it many really blow up in their faces. Many of our laws are made by case law and a victory for the farmers in this case will set a huge precedent across the nation. A loss to the activists will only further strengthen the farmers’ rights to technology and even uphold scientists access to use biotech research. This would apply across the nation because of the precedent it sets for other lawsuits. Heck, it may even jeopardize their prior laws made to ban GM coffee and taro! What will they cry about that?

It’s sad that Hawaii County can actually consider using activists’ lawyer in these cases that shouldn’t have even made it this far. Politicians have a responsibility to the public to use facts and evidence to make fair and just laws. They all took an oath to act as such. When bad laws are made because of dishonest efforts, resources are wasted and everyone loses. Have we become any closer to reaching those goals of food security and sustainability when it’s taken to the courtroom? How much do we have to lose to realize it’s time to start listening to rational stakeholders who stand with facts?

If you’d like to express your opinion on this matter and get farmers back on track, please send the Hawaii County Council an email at: counciltestimony@hawaiicounty.gov

Read the Hawaii County Council Agenda here:  Hawaii County COUNCIL 02.04.2015 Agenda

Center for Food Safety & Earthjustice’s request can be read here: CFS.EarthJustice COM to Hawaii County

CFS Andrew Kimbrell’s disturbing anti-technology anti-science essay, Cold Evil.

 

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Tales of a Lazy Anti-GMO Activist: “Science is Propaganda!”

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The latest disturbing trend that I’ve been observing with the activists, whether it be an anti-vaccination or anti-GMO one, is stating that science is propaganda. This clearly tells me that either they don’t understand the scientific process or some of the basics or don’t quite understand what propaganda really is. Honestly, it’s just them being plain old lazy to actually put some brain power to actually think about what’s being said. There, I said the painful truth about it.

Most activists seem to not even understand what propaganda really is. As one can see from the definition, it’s politically motivated. The fact that the activists are attempting to influence laws without evidence to support such regulations creates a slippery slope as to the necessity of the laws to begin with. These folks are very effective and getting others to repeat the mantras of people are being sprayed, kids are being sprayed, birth defects, and the aina is being poisoned. It doesn’t matter if all the multiple tests and studies done show otherwise. It’s a fear based statements that the least informed tends to latch on to easily.

When these emotionally hot statements are repeated over and over, it becomes fact to people, irregardless of what the data points too. Propaganda needs no fact to back up what’s being said and it’s effective when it’s fear based as we have seen. Whether the message is vaccinations will cause autism or GMOs means pesticides, it scares people and puts them on the emotional high horse crusade to protect themselves against this perceived evil.

If one should ask for evidence, it’s against the unspoken code that you do not question or doubt what’s being said. The evidence that is provided only repeats the same statements and few people if any know how to skeptically question the sources and just believe. A crusade against something so bad cannot tolerate dissenters or doubters for that matter. It will utterly destroy the energy and emotion that drives this battle and endangers the stature of leaders who benefit from the numbers of people engaged in their movement.

A perfect example of this is Kauai County Councilmember’s statements on pesticide usage there. He repeated over and over that there was 18 tons being used. As a result, people repeated it but never questioned it. The reality was much different but the repeated statements became truth despite the facts that it was half as much. Facts don’t matter and nor does being honest with their followers also. He could have easily corrected them but refused to do so because he’d likely create doubt in many people’s minds. Kauai County Councilmember, Gary Hooser, created so much fear that his followers turned very ugly on the social media and in the communities. That likely got the level headed voters to put him lowest on the totem polem this past election.

When activists claim that, “There’s propaganda on both side,” they’ve just shown that they aren’t able to critically assess what’s being stated. Instead of researching out the facts and critically vetting sources, it’s way easier to shut down logic and critical thinking all together. Why bother doing the hard work to actually open your mind and learn when it’s easier to dismiss science as propaganda? It’s easiest to live in fear and on emotions than it is to step back and actually think. It’s also more fun to have more people on your side too.

Creating doubt in your followers is dangerous in an ideological movement. Questioning of the information is a threat to its very existence and can topple the leaders that perpetuate it. It simply can’t be tolerated. The next best thing is to now tell followers to just dismiss evidence all as propaganda. Forget intellectual honesty and considering that you just might be wrong about what you thought. Don’t bother doing any real research and use the statement, “Science is propaganda.”

Yeah, you said it and you can continue repeating those same erroneous statements because you’ve acknowledged that you refuse to attempt to think critically or logically about the issue. That is a good reason why those who think like that should not be involved in policy making. No logic and no critical thought invested in the process means harmful unintended consequences that affect everyone. Haven’t we already learned that with all the bad bills passed across our islands?

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The Link Between The SHAKA Movement and the Matrix

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Yes, you’ve read the title of this post correctly. There is a link between the SHAKA Movement and the Matrix. If you visit the website, the Galactic Connection, you’ll find this post about how to get that Matrix device removed. Yes, these people seriously believe stuff that is from the movies. It will cost you $144 and you can even buy some oils along with it!

Well, what does the Galactic Connection have to do with SHAKA? It was on that site that the group was first announced. The same folks in California are selling implant removal devices and alien information are behind this movement. Seriously, people believe this stuff!

Need I say more about whether or not these folks use evidence in making decisions?! A yes vote means you haven’t quite researched your facts.

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Slander, Lies, Rants: Are you Proud to Be A SHAKA Anti-GMO Activist?

Let’s get one thing really clear here before you continue reading this post.  Many of the anti-GMO activists haven’t quite figured out or thoroughly read my blog to learn that I’m not paid to write it.  If I did, I still have yet to discover where my checks from Monsanto and Dow are going to.  They apparently must know because they keep thinking I’m paid to write this blog, but sorry to burst your shill bubble, you’re dead wrong.

If you have a bit more logic, you might ask, then why do I write it? Honestly, I’m sick and tired of the misinformation and outright lies that are being said about biotech farmers, scientists, researchers, and other agriculture supporters.  I also don’t care for the ugliness that is being perpetuated across our islands in the social media and the environment.  Posting these uglies are a good reminder of who these anti-GMO activists really are and holds THEM accountable for THEIR actions of no aloha.  If the activists didn’t resort to this kind of stuff, I’d have nothing to write and it would be wonderful.  That would be the day because these people apparently don’t give a rip about what they do or say so it gives me plenty to write about.

The blog post I wrote a few days ago apparently upset the SHAKA Movement folks again.  There apparently is a lot of hurt feelings going on there as they posted this in their group.  Just read their conversation on this post for yourself.  (Warning: Anti-GMO bad language ahead.  Keep your literate kids away from your computer.)

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I find it funny that they call this blog hateful.  It’s their own postings that make it hateful!  I can’t make up the comments they write nor do I have photoshopping skills to manipulate things.  So where’d the hate come from? These people themselves are the sources of it!

There is hope that some of these people do recognize that these actions aren’t right and aren’t helping the cause.  Yes, activists, please stop giving others reasons to expose your ugliness and bleeding Hawaii of your new kind of aloha.  It can no longer be ignored by others already.  You can blame me for “staging” this stuff or being “slanderous” or whatever accusation you can think of, but the fact of the matter is that it came from what you have promulgated in our communities.  Isn’t slander when you say stuff to harm a person’s reputation?  Is it still slander when the source if yourself?!  Ask yourself, do you want to be associated with all of this un-aloha?

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While you drive along the coast of Maui near Olowalu, this is a beautiful site you get to see! “Stop GMO” scrawled on a barrel to remind you of Maui’s hospitality.

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More coastal property vandalism on Maui.

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Vandalism on signs going up to Pukalani.

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Parents bringing their kids to their protests with scary images scrawled on GMO cotton sheets with chemicals.

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Defacing of stop signs on private property.

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Tourists get to be greeted by “Monsanto go away” messages at Kahalui airport!

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A company banner stolen and defaced with the anti-GMO aloha.

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Highways are great places to scribble your graffiti on it with “evict Monsanto” and the best one of all, “Burn da crops!”

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Public property is a free for all when you’re an anti-GMO activist! Get your chemical laden spray paint and all of it’s drift and spray away!

I can’t forget to mention another collaborator with the SHAKA Movement either!  How could I not include the aloha of the Babes Against Biotech?! Here’s what they instigated at conference there in Kaanapali last year.  I possibly could not have staged these at all because these were posted all on their social media pages.

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image001The best sign at that event had to be the one that they walked up and down the beach with.  The message written on there just warms your heart and brings wonderful feelings of joy. It also appears to be drawn on with synthetic chemicals likely with a lot of fumes on a Monsanto derived cotton sheet too!

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Oh, yes, and if these people ever get a hold of your photo, just wait and see what they will do with it.  They will make wanted posters of you and put them on public property once again!

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Can you feel the love, aloha, and feeling of cooperation and collaboration of these activists? I bet you can definitely feel that this is a group that is workable and reasonable.  I bet the politicians that these people are supporting are just as lovely too and share the same values of these people of aloha.  Of course, these folks want to “educate” the public and have their activists target farmers in the community or even involve themselves in county matters.

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As a kid, my folks taught me to not associate with people who would reflect badly upon oneself.  Hanging around hoodlums made you one of them even if you didn’t participate in their antics.  My friends were the nerd folks and boy were we picked on as kids.  At least, I never got into trouble and developed a bad reputation as a person and we all kept each other up and up.

Too bad that lesson doesn’t apply to us when we become adults.  It really should because who would be proud to associate with these kind of people and their antics.  It’s so no local style to be like this but I have to remind myself that there is a new local style emerging in our islands where it’s about me, myself, and I and what I eat and grow and I’m being poisoned but am still alive and healthy enough to protest, graffiti, and say nasties on the social media.

Oh, yes, and I’m not the only one who has seen the ugly side of the anti-GMO activists and speaking up about it.  Even a Maui News blogger, Harry Eager, has experienced this kind of behaviors.  Are you going out to call him for his un-aloha spirit for pointing this out?!

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Take a good look at all of this and ask yourself, “Is this the Hawaii I want for the future? Is this what I want my kids to think is okay? Is this the kind of actions that should be tolerated in our communities? Is this the pono thing to do things in Hawaii?”  If you can’t figure out the answer, then I know you don’t know how to respect the local values and culture we have here in Hawaii and you don’t share my roots in agriculture.  What you’re doing is something that local folks would never do.

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The Bleeding of Aloha: Ugliness of the Anti-GMO Movement in Hawaii

The last 2 years have been very tumultuous here in our state in regards to biotechnology.  Hawaii as a state has been the subject of the heavy hand of activism based in fear and misinformation and it hasn’t been pretty at all.  Here’s a summary of what’s happening now across our state.

Maui County: A GMO Moratorium Vote

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Last year, in the county of Kauai, the notorious anti-GMO bill was passed and invalidated in federal court.  It did not stop the mainland based SHAKA Movement managed to garner some 9000 signatures to get an anti-GMO, anti-ag bill placed on the ballot.  Despite many of the anti-GMO candidates losing in the primary election, groups like the Center for Food Safety are still working on stirring the pot in this county.  Voters will get to decide on the issue on November 4th.  This has activated the activists into some interesting behaviors in our the community there.  There have been campaign signs vandalized and also stolen, which is not surprising at all.

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Gubernatorial candidate, Duke Aiona, had his sign spray painted on Molokai.

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The ballot initiative signs on Molokai that asked voters to vote no were changed to “yes” votes.

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A vote no sign was taken and frame broken on private property of Christy Gusman.

 

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Proud vandals on Instagram boasting their activities of re-doing the vote no signs on Maui.

The activists have even resorted to defacing private property in the name of this movement.  These are photos from the historic whaling town of Lahaina, where someone had some chemical fun with spray paints to get their message across.

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These people who claim to “malama the aina” or care for the land and be “pono,” or righteous, apparently forget these thoughts as they go about this campaign.  The sad thing is that long time local folks, like this 90 year old senior citizen, are landing up cleaning up their messes.

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Not only was there graffiti and theft going on there on Maui, Molokai, and Lanai, but there was also reports of people being harassed by the activists at the County Fair by these people, who were shoving their brochures to vote yes on the ballot initiative.  How do I know that?  My mom experienced that at the fair herself and gave the activist a piece of her mind.

Someone also took out a Craigslist post against Monsanto too.  They took images of Monsanto workers and their families and posted it on these ads to target them.  (The ad was flagged and eventually removed.)

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Not only were fake ads put out against the biotech workers, but fake profiles were made of workers by stealing their images and turning their names into heinous ones instead.  Here someone took the profile picture of a biotech employee and was using it to comment on the social media as the Earthly Farmer.  (This is the same tactic done by the anti-GMO activists on Kauai!)

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These SHAKA activists also took to photoshop to make posters of biotech employees also to help create the demons.  Just look what they did to Dave Stoltzfus.

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The missing part of this initiative in Maui County has been recognizing the economics of what a “temporary moratorium” to study the effects of GMOs there could do to those islands.  A long time, well known economics expert, Paul Brewbaker, was recently hired by the Maui Chamber of Commerce to study the effects of this proposed initiative there.  What he found was that it would be devastating to this county, which is no surprise.  It will have a major impact there and would hurt many local families there.  It’s estimated that unemployment may rise to some 25% on Molokai alone!

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The anti-GMO activists decided to send their biology bachelor of science degree, newly minted “economic expert” Senator Russell Ruderman to supposedly debunk Dr. Brewbaker’s study.  Little does he disclose that he owns 4 natural health food stores on the Big Island and has no expertise in economics but he can “debunk” claims.  He’s the same state senator that published articles in the Big Island newspaper “educating” people on Bt.  This man is always overstepping his scope of expertise, which is typical of many anti-GMO activists.  Just take a listen to the claims he makes on the morning news.

The activists also decided to attack the Maui United Way because of the name they chose for themselves, Maui United.  The MUW wanted to avoid confusion due to the similarities of the name and sent a cease and desist order for use of the name.  These nasty folks tried to play the 6 degrees of separation and trashed the MUW for accepting a donation from Monsanto.  Here’s the MUW president’s response:

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Maui County is definitely an ugly place at this moment with this heated debate between those versed in science and those who prefer to reject the evidence.

 

Kauai: Remnants of the Ugly Storm Lingers

Kauai was definitely the poster child of a dysfunctional community last year with the entire anti-GMO movement centered there.  With key county council members staunchly wanting to pass their flawed Bill 2491, irregardless to it’s validity, it set off a firestorm of discord.  The Federal Court recently invalidated the law as expected and that didn’t end the vitriol.  None of the studies or evidence collected (Final_Report_Kauai_Air__3_15_2013_submitted-2) to refute the claims being made were ever considered by the activists.  The constant battle cry there is “stop the poisoning,” with the evidence showing no such support.  The story there is one of manipulation by the mainland funded Hawaii SEED and key leaders in the community.  The county has decided to appeal the bill and continue to drain the funds to push this faulty law through.

It’s of no surprise that in the primary election, the top vote getters were not the anti-GMO candidates, but the pro-ag supporters.  They have been the subject of vandalism also, which is quite unfortunate but not surprising once again.

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Kauai County Council Member candidate, Arryl Kaneshiro, had his banner slashed. His family are long time farmers on Kauai and pro-agriculture, which made him a target of the anti-GMO activists.

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Another candidate for the county council, Arthur Brun, has his sign vandalized also. He is also an employee at a seed company, Syngenta.

The vitriol has also spilled out into the community at public places also with the activists’ graffiti with their messages of “stop the poisoning.” Once again, they have fun with chemicals with no bounds and leave messes for everyone to see.

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This is what tourists and other visitors get to see when they stop by the historic menehune fishpond.

The MMA fighter mayoral candidate, Dustin Barca and his followers are demanding others follow their laws, but can’t even follow the laws in existence already.  He has his election signs up on public utility poles and on county owned lifeguard shacks.

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Signs on utility poles are against the law for safety reasons but Dustin Barca’s crew have no regard for this law apparently.

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A bumper sticker is vandalism on public property but following the law means nothing to this mayoral candidate.

 

Then there is Kauai County Council Member, Tim Bynum, showing his lack of emotional control and maturity at public meetings.  He has tried to initiate more anti-ag laws here and seems to be losing it when others don’t seem to agree with this tactic.

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The damage to Kauai’s community is done and it’s clear that it isn’t going to be changing any time soon with these types of leaders in office.  The community remains divided and the ugliness is still evident.

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Oahu: What the North Shore Drags Up

The latest fiasco with the anti-GMO movement ends with Oahu and the North Shore Neighborhood Board meeting last month.  From what my dad and brother said from attending it, the meeting was dominated by the anti-GMO activists.  The Center for Food Safety’s director was also there, Ashley Lukens, to stir the pot even further with her lofty agenda.  The activists were dictating to the community how they wanted farmers to farm despite not being farmers themselves.  The only 2 farmers were brave enough to speak up against vitriol that the resolution was withdrawn.

At yet another meeting, a week after the regular board meeting, the North Shore Neighborhood Board Ag committee met to amend the resolution that was discussed prior based on the testimony received.  There were about 30-40 activists there who were very rude and hostile and accused the chair of being “a Monsanto lobbyist and having a conflict of interest because she worked for the Chamber of Commerce.” The Chamber receives membership dues and donations from Monsanto as they from 225 other members. The NS Chamber is a 501 c3 and cannot lobby which was clearly explained to everyone in attendance there. A committee member made a motion to kill the resolution and eventually it was seconded and passed, unfortunately.  The baby was thrown out with the bathwater.  Even an anti-GMO supporter felt that their supporters were rude.

Activists have become the loudest voices there and not about any type of discussion in this issue.  According to one member of the chamber, she stated the following:

“I was verbally assaulted by an anti GMO guy about the corporate brick for Monsanto in our walkway a year or two ago, which was a fundraiser to restore the Haleiwa Mutual Telephone Exhange Building, the North Shore Chamber’s home and North Shore Visitor Center. Within a week the brick was gone/stolen. The anti GMO folks were also very rude and hostile at the recent NS Neighborhood Board Ag Committee meeting, making a personal attack on me, accusing me of being a Monsanto lobbyist and having a conflict of interest.”

Other obnoxious things that these activists do include immature behaviors like this too:

Also at the Haleiwa Town Christmas Parade the last two years, which the Chamber sponsors/organizes, they have dressed up in hazmat suits and inserted themselves into the parade between Monsanto’s monster tractor and a cub scout troop probably scaring the kids.

Candidate signs have also been reported stolen and it isn’t a surprise that the person who is losing them is a pro-ag supporter.  Kent Fonoimoana, who is running for the House of Representatives in District 47, banned me from his campaign page for questioning his support of the GMO label and pointing out his alliances with the Sierra Club and Earthjustice.  He even requested a tour of my dad’s farm only to later that that he’d support farmers but still wanted a state law to label GMOs.  This guy is so disingenuous that I’m not surprised that his allies, the anti-GMO activists, have decided to steal signs from people’s yards.  If they have done it elsewhere, it’s pretty likely the same bunch of people.

Big Island: The Ugliness Remains

As the court hearing for the anti-GMO Bill 113 is awaiting its judgment, the same pattern of ugliness is occurring there also.  The contentious race is with the Monsanto obsessed Big Island county council member, Margaret Wille, against a newcomer, Ron Gonsalves.  He too has had signs go missing and recently had a sign damaged.  It’s all to clear that this is the work of the same activists over and over again across our islands.

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Even with the devastation of Hurricane Iselle, the activists didn’t give up their anti-aloha behaviors either and disrupted rallies that were there to provide information to farmers.  They were not there to help these farmers, rather there to harass them instead.

Aloha: Redefined by Activism is Ugly

Our state was known as the Aloha state and I’m really starting to wonder if that is what we really are becoming.  From the looks of our communities, it looks as if there is a new brand of aloha being cultivated here and personally, I don’t like it at all.  We will never move forward if only attacks in fear are perpetuated in our communities.  I hope voters make it loud and clear to these “leaders” that this is not our future.

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SHAKA Movement’s Maximal Misinformational Minute and More

Just when you thought that the misinformation campaign couldn’t get any better, it got pretty good again.  Not only have they bombarded the social media to indoctrinate their followers to their mantras but they have got it all compacted in a whole minute!  Just listen here or read it below.

“Aloha, this is Uncle Mac.  My ohana has been farming Maui for over 51 generations and now we have to get with the times.  Dats why we like us da GMOs.  It’s easy.  All you gotta do is get one license from da chemical companies dat rent da seeds cuz you no can own or save em for next year.  Den you sign one contract dat you not going tell no one nuthing.  Den you gotta study technical stuff like coexistence, den you almost ready for plant, but first you got to buy one space man suit to protect yourself cuz you gotta spray the chemical to kill everything and grow the GMO.  Den they have to inspect dat you did em right so you no get in trouble. If dis is da way you farm, den you no like the GMO bill. If you farm old skool like everybody else, den the GMO bill absolutely no problem for you.  It’s dat simple.”

The funniest thing about the whole Shaka Movement is that even some of their followers can’t even quite explain the law that they are proposing itself and don’t even know the content of it.

Not only do these people not like being questioned for their movement, but some will even try to show you a baseball bat for questioning them.

Not only do these people have so much aloha, but they will even beautify public property in the name of being allegedly poisoned.  Forget the fact that they exposed themselves to synthetic chemicals and aerosols and some solvents that are known carcinogens.  They likely did this without a space suit too!

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Oh, yes, and these malama the aina pono preachers (aka “I love the land and do what’s right but don’t quite know right from wrong) has no boundaries when it comes to private property either.  They come with the mentality that what’s yours is mine apparently.

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It’s funny that these same folks have all kinds of weird spellings and conspiracy theories about the whole biotech issue and when you point out the obvious, they are the first one to call you ignorant.  Sure, your internet knowledge and Google searches have made you a whole lot smarter than any farmer.  In this aspect, I make like an anti-GMO activist and don’t read the flood of “intelligent and thought provoking” comments.  It gives me inspiration.  NOT.

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Well, I can’t enlighten everyone about the wonders of biotechnology unfortunately.  Especially if people would rather socialize, I mean protest, something they clearly don’t understand but think they do.  So yes, keep sending those comments, and denying the facts and evidence.  Facts and evidence don’t need mantras and emotional terms of people and the aina dying or being killed because it just doesn’t stand beyond a reasonable doubt.

And please, don’t send me any comments about how you’re now going to save the turtles, protest the Mauna Kea telescope, surf by a Superferry, and hijack the North Shore Neighborhood board meeting with an anti-farmer crowd.  I would love to hear how you’re going to participate in a civil discussion about how agriculture will move forward first and foremost sans any mention of Monsanto.

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Shooting Ourselves in the Foot: The Banning of GM Technology and Research in Hawaii

There is a breaking news story that a possible case of Ebola is at a Honolulu hospital tonight.  It’s not confirmed however, but this shows how it is indeed a real problem worldwide should it spread. Hawaii is an international hub that so many people travel through making it a prime location for the spread of contagious illnesses.  Recall other illnesses that have made it to our shores several years back from H1N1, swine flu, and Dengue fever.  Diseases spread and it can be devastating.

According to the CDC website, genetic testing is used to diagnose this deadly disease.  Yes, the science used in genetic engineering is applied in making that diagnosis of the Ebola virus.  (Any protests to GM technology in medicine?)

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It is also interesting to note that several aid workers who had been infected with it in Africa managed to recover from this viral illness possibly due to GMO tobacco plants that produced an experimental drug.  You can read more about this treatment and outcomes here and watch the video below to hear his story.

So while the people of Hawaii are growing concerned about this contagious and very deadly illness, in Maui County, voters are seeking out a ban of GM technology until it is proven safe.  Hawaii has the perfect growing conditions to possibly be a contributor to solving this very deadly issue and yet the public will get to vote to block it from happening.  Our state could be at the forefront of helping to research and grow medications that can alleviate suffering and death but we’d rather use well read Google scholars to dictate laws that prevent us from being global citizens in helping others.  That’s just sad.

We are fearing a technology that can save lives but prefer to listen to lawyers from Earthjustice, the Center for Food Safety, and politicians like Gary Hooser, Tim Bynum, Elle Cochran, and activists like Nomi Carmona and Walter Ritte to dictate laws.  I can’t help but wonder if political science PhD. Ashley Lukens of the Center for Food Safety is rethinking her stance on blocking this technology when faced with Ebola.  Where’s Vandana Shiva and her life saving offer to the people suffering from this deadly disease?  Where’s the organic activists like Zen Honeycutt of Moms Across America and her claims that organic cures autism helping to alleviate the suffering of others?  Where’s Hawaii SEED and their donations to solve this problem? What’s the SHAKA Movement doing to revamp their ordinance should this disease and others spread across the world?  Will we leave ourselves handicapped to do anything to address this problem because we choose the “naturalistic” lifestyle and live in harmony with nature? Ebola is indeed natural and definitely something none of us want.

This is a real issue that we need to address and if we don’t, we won’t be ready for it should it escalate further and we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.  Think its not real? Think this is fear mongering? Listen to Dr. Kent Brantly, one of the survivors of the virus, tell his story of what is happening in West Africa.

I know some people are reading Natural News and alternative health sites that are telling you that Ebola is a made up illness and such.  Please have some skepticism and get off of those sites as they are making you look foolish for not even questioning it.  Questioning genetics and the science behind it only to call it propaganda isn’t considered skepticism.  That’s called being scientifically illiterate and not something you should be professing in the social media.  Those conspiracy theories aren’t helping your intelligence and critical thinking or logic either.  You can post them on the social media and believe them, but quite a few people know you’ve been made the fool but are too nice to not say it.

To pass bad laws like the Maui Moratorium one is irresponsible at best because the touters of it have no idea of the unintended consequences of such an action.  Do we want to block our options for very viable solutions because of what someone read on the internet and believes with no facts behind it?  I say no and you should too!

 

 

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Succumbing to Fear: The Mexican Limbless Baby Born Near GMO Crops

There’s only a few weeks more until the vote in Maui County to place a “moratorium” on the biotech crops.  So it shouldn’t be surprising that the activists are going strong with the fear mongering.  Here’s the latest scare image that passing around again to spook parents to buy into the ideology.

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Yes, it is indeed scary and refers to a mother in Mexico who lived by GMO corn crops.  Note that Mexico has NO crops approved for commercial cultivation to begin with!  And of course on the meme, there’s no source of where this photo comes from and any other details about it.  It just is terrifying for the unsuspecting person!

However, when you do a bit of searching on this image you’ll see a completely different story of the source.  The actual source of the image comes from a well-known anti-GMO website.  The story is completely different from the one being told by the poster.  It has NOTHING to do with GMO corn fields!

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Note that they defects that the baby pictured has is called tetra amelia syndrome is genetic in nature.  There is nothing to show that it has anything to do with pesticides and is extremely rare.  With GMO crops being grown globally and for the majority of farms in the US, shouldn’t this be more common.  It’s not.  It’s clear that this is fear mongering at best when you did further for the truth!

Here’s a corrected meme that should be passed around the social media so that more people don’t get freaked out by the outright lies that these activists have no problem spreading around.

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