Rule of law
Regarding the ongoing blockade of the Maunakea Access Road, it is time for the state attorney general to intercede.
As the chief legal officer and the chief law enforcement officer for the state, it is time for her to evaluate the current stalemate.
Because Gov. David Ige has washed his hands of this proliferating situation, the attorney general is obligated by law to see that Mr. Ige executes his duties and responsibilities.
Emotionalism on both sides aside, it is time for the rule of law to prevail.
Barbara A. Frey
Papaikou
‘The sacred’
Big science and technology can cover many sins, but how does astronomy, the mother of science, offend?
Many would agree to the damaging effects of much of our modern technologies, but astronomy would seem a more benign form of science as far as effecting our failures in this material world, but modern astronomy is very much a modern science and based on the same sources of financing, the same devotion to publishing, the same overuse of increasingly scarce natural resources to function, and is protected by the same corporate legal system.
Is the Thirty Meter Telescope proposal a metaphorical representation of this failure? Are the programs on the mountain providing real benefits? Or are the benefits so esoteric, they are little more than a glorified welfare program for the scientists and engineers involved?
Or is the offense more an act of arrogance and a refusal to listen, a refusal to hear in the sacred a valid human cognitive position? Or is it that any argument of indigenous peoples will be acknowledged, but not listened to?
Should not the idea of the sacred be accepted as an idea of at least equal, if not greater importance, than Western law, for that which claims protection of sacredness has a history of many thousands of generations of successfully guiding human cultural behavior, while our newer Western legal concepts are floundering terribly in protecting the commons and in protecting our natural resources from overuse and destruction.
Our science, our technologies, our business practices have, in the short span of 500 years, jeopardized our entire existence as a species. By our own pragmatic standards, we must grant those arguing from sacredness an equal position of their premises.
Certainly, if we wish to survive as a species, we must act more wisely. We must act as if we all know Maunakea is sacred.
Terry McNeely
Hilo
Truth in labeling
Interesting story recently in the Tribune-Herald about using the word, “Kona” when it comes to labeling coffee.
Labeling it as “Kona Coffee” or “Kona Blend” is regulated, but just the presence of the word “Kona” alone on the label can be misleading. However, on another note, some of us might question other food items such as honey, baked goods, eggs, fruits and vegetables possibly purchased at public markets and or membership stores, then being repackaged and resold at farmers markets and/or sold by roadside vendors as “Grown or Made In Hawaii.”
Could this be happening with coffee as well? I have met many legitimate folks in the food business, including the middleman vendors, but one should beware of those scammers who make the hard-working food producers look bad. Also, be aware of the sometimes loosely regulated labeling such as “certified organic,” “free range,” “grass fed,” “pesticide free” and “gluten free.”
Some of these words might be misleading as well.
Rick LaMontagne
Hilo