• Hooray for Ned Whitlock • Feeding the world, really? • A good runner • Sentence makes no sense • GMOs and bees • Beach of hope Hooray for Ned Whitlock Ned’s vision in the (July 30) issue of The
• Hooray for Ned Whitlock • Feeding the world, really? • A good runner • Sentence makes no sense • GMOs and bees • Beach of hope
Hooray for Ned Whitlock
Ned’s vision in the (July 30) issue of The Garden Island newspaper offers an alternative for the Westside in keeping with Hawaiian values. I’m sure up to 500 workers among those who would be displaced if the seed companies left would rather have their own 20 acres and their own farm. Isn’t this a better carrot to follow than breathing pesticides for a living?
However, in order to make it happen we need that food processing facility that Ned describes. I charge the mayor, the city council and the seed companies to change their ways and provide such a facility. I charge Grove Farms with the responsibility to provide leases and water for these 500 farmers, and I charge the current employees of the seed companies to change their vision of continued drudgery making money that will go to the Mainland to one of the independence and security of their own farmstead.
Life can be better and the aina and our children protected at the same time. Here’s to your health and wealth.
Marjorie Gifford
Princeville
Feeding the world, really?
In the Aug. 3 issue of The Garden Island, yet another letter proclaiming the chemical companies’ noble reason for existence: feeding the world. And the heart-rending revelation by a Dow Chemical testifier the night of July 31, that they, in conjunction with Bill and Melinda Gates, are developing a drought-resistant sorghum for some African country or countries. Yay!
Then, unwanted, unbidden questions arose, extinguishing the thumping koom-bah-yah in my heart.
I ask that gentleman to answer these questions, if only to restore the almost unbearable lightness I felt upon first hearing his stirring words:
1. Will these sorghum seeds be given, or will they be sold, to these people?
2. Will these plants at maturity have viable seeds, or will a “terminator” gene have shut them down?
3. If the resultant seeds are viable, will those farmers be able to save some for replanting, or will they be punished if they try to do so?
4. If these farmers are not allowed to save and replant “their” seeds, will they have to buy each year’s seed from you?
5. Can these seeds be grown without special needs, or do these farmers have to buy Dow Chemical herbicide, pesticide and synthetic fertilizers for which these seeds may have been “engineered?”
6. If these farmers have to buy these seeds, (and, if necessary, other Dow chemicals), and if there are unforeseen disasters, natural or otherwise, and they then fall into debt to Dow Chemical, what will be the fate of these farmers and their lands?
Please answer straightforwardly, with source references.
Wayne Jacintho
Hanapepe
A good runner
I want to give a public mahalo to Tyler McCandless (former NCAA All-American long distance runner and two-time Kauai Marathon winner). It was so nice of Mr. McCandless to visit Island School, among other schools, to promote education, running, a healthy lifestyle and the Kauai Marathon Keiki Fun Run. Of note, Mr. McCandless is also a scholar. He is a Ph.D student in the Department of Meteorology at Penn State University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Mr. McCandless was kind enough to come to Island School twice in one day. He first spoke with the Island School elementary students and later visited and ran with our cross country team.
Tyler is a world-class athlete and word-class gentleman. We hear so many negative things about professional athletes. How fortunate that we had the opportunity to spend time with such a positive role model. From myself, our team and the Island School Ohana, mahalo for your time, generosity and of course, the many pairs of Newton running shoes!
Eric Wortmann
Island School
Cross country coach
Sentence makes no sense
Nagao gets probation for 17 counts of burglary? This, with a history of non-compliance? I can hardly believe the injustice system on Kauai. I will plan my next vacation elsewhere!
Ruthann Jones
Soquel, Calif.
GMOs and bees
There are many reasons given to the decline in bees, but one argument that matters most is the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and “Terminator Seeds” that are presently being endorsed by governments and forcefully utilized as our primary agricultural needs of survival.
Say goodbye to flowers, too.
Robyn Labrador
Kapaa
Beach of hope
In Glouster, Mass., a charming fishing town just north of Boston where I grew up, there’s a bronze sculpture of a helmsman set on sea green granite base. Inscribed on the base are the words: “They That Go Down To The Sea In Ships 1623-1923.” It’s a tribute and memorial to all those who lost their lives while fishing.
Thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard, losing lives at sea is a thing of the past. Soon, above Lihue on Kalepa Ridge, an antenna will be installed for the purpose of activating a program called “Rescue 21.”
It’s an advanced search and rescue communications system that helps the Coast Guard more effectively locate and assist boaters in distress.
Rescue 21 improves the Coast Guard’s response time and reliability, and thus takes the “search” out of search and rescue.
It also establishes a better coordination with other emergency services, such as 911 operators. The marine radio presently utilized by mariners will work with the new system.
However, it will work better by using a marine radio equipped with Digital Selective Calling, as most newer models are. If properly registered with a Mobile Maritime Service Identity number and interfaced with Global Positioning System, the radio signal transmits vital vessel information, position and the nature of the distress (if entered) at the push of a button. To learn more, visit www.uscg.mil/rescue21. Welcome to the 21st century boaters!
Making Rescue 21 operational in our local waters has been discussed for years with the hundreds of recreational and commercial boaters who have taken my Safe Boating Classes and Vessel Inspections. Soon it will be a reality.
Semper Paratus, my boating friends.
Jim Jung
Kapaa
