• Motocross response
• Ezra decision
• Kerry’s record
• Council meetings
Motocross response
This letter is in response to the letter in The Garden Island on August 5 claiming motocross riders were riding on the beach near Wailua.
Why do you want to shut us down? These people that you are talking about are not members of our club. All of our members know that is illegal to ride on or near the beach. All of our members know that they should always wear protective gear. Whenever the road gets bad, who makes it better for everyone to use? Our club president does!
We invite everyone to the Wailua moto-x track, especially the letter-writer. See if we have trash all over the place. We keep our space clean.
The track opens at 10 a.m. on weekends and holidays.
Come by and see all of the wonderful families and excellent talent that we have here.
Leilani Furugen
Kauai Motorcycle Racing
Association treasurer
Ezra decision
I applaud Judge David Ezra for his recent decision requiring the USDA to reveal the locations of genetically engineered biopharmaceutical crops in Hawai‘i (“USDA told to disclose ‘biopharm’ locations,” Thursday, August 5).
Biopharmaceuticals are plants that are genetically engineered to produce pharmaceutical proteins, industrial solvents, or vaccines. They are not meant for human consumption. To date, there is not a single biopharmaceutical drug on the market.
Nonetheless, multinational corporations like Monsanto have been risking the agricultural future of our islands for these failed experimental crops. Island breezes can blow pollen far from its parent plant; human error can cause seeds to be mixed up. On the Mainland, a company called Prodigene grew pharmaceutical corn that then contaminated food crops, forcing farmers to destroy thousands of bushels of contaminated soybeans; Prodigenehas also grown biopharmaceuticals here in Hawai‘i. If Hawaiian food crops are contaminated by the biopharmaceutical crops being tested in our islands, it could give our local agriculture an undeservedly bad reputation and devastate our agricultural economy.
Local farmers and gardeners should have a right to know if their crops are at risk of being contaminated by neighboring biopharmaceutical crops. The fact that the companies have kept the nature and location of these crops a secret from the people of Hawai‘i is a disgrace. The fact that our politicians and state agencies have allowed this to happen is a terrible shame. Thankfully, the legal system has begun the process of making these biotechnology experiments more transparent and accountable to the people who have to live with them: the citizens of our state.
Noli Hoye
Kilauea
Kerry’s record
In the August 6, 2004 newspaper, one writer, who “prefers to rely on facts,” not only gets his first “fact” wrong, but, then states opinion and disingenuous inference as fact.
1. Kerry won’t release military medical records. When the U.S. Navy sent Kerry his official naval records, his military medical records were not included. This caused a delay. Kerry reconstituted the military medical records from his personal files. Since April 2004, they can also be found at http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/medical.html.
2. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group’s information is the truth. I agree with Republican Sen. John McCain (AP 8/5/2004): “I deplore this kind of politics,” McCain said. “I think (their) ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is, none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded. Many of his crew have testified to his courage under fire. I think John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. I think George Bush served honorably in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.”
3. Kerry’s 1970 anti-war comments were dishonorable. Many still believe that Vietnam was a righteous war, and opposition at the time was dishonorable. That is an opinion, not fact. Those who do still believe this face an uphill battle to revise history. It is my opinion and memory that opposing the war was a courageous action, and doing so as a veteran was uniquely courageous given the vicious opposition of that time.
4. Kerry fails to vote 40 percent of the time. This statistic only applies to the time that Kerry has been campaigning. To link it to a 20-year career is a disingenuous inference and certainly not a fact. People who “rely on facts” are to be admired; but, only when they actually do so.
Pete Antonson
Lawa‘i
Council meetings
During every campaign season, each candidate running for office claims to be concerned about “the people.” Unfortunately, once a candidate has been elected, that concern seems to fall along the wayside, along with other campaign promises — at least until the next election cycle begins and the votes of “the public” are again needed.
On Kaua‘i, we have a number of concerned citizens, with legitimate concerns about public policy, who take the time and trouble to attend public meetings. These are intelligent people, dedicated to making sure elected and appointed officials keep the “best interests” of the community at the heart of their deliberations.
Unfortunately, many of our County Council members seem to consider these citizen activists as a “nuisance,” interfering with their work. Council members do allow these citizens to speak, but keep a close watch on the time clock and bang the gavel down the minute their “three minutes are up.”
By contrast, I have observed that real-estate developers (known as “applicants”) and certain other people friendly to the council are treated with the utmost respect, and are allowed almost unlimited time to state their opinions.
Having attended and spoken at many public meetings, I have been a frequent recipient of this disdainful attitude. I always have the feeling of being “rushed” through my comments. It is quite apparent that the council members are not really listening, and are only marking time until the “nuisance” is out of the way, so they can get on with the business at hand and the preconceived decisions they have already reached.
One only has to watch council proceedings on Ho‘ike and note the time allowed for each speaker, as well as the unlimited time the council members themselves take for their own personal “campaign speeches” — with no one banging a gavel or telling them “Your three minutes are up.”
Barbara Elmore
Lihu‘e
