Review of "The Heirloom"

SUBHEAD: A critique of a new novel set in a rapidly collapsing United States pitting techno-optimism versus reality. By Guy McPherson on 10 April 2011 for Nature Bats Last - (http://guymcpherson.com/2011/04/the-heirloom) Image above: Detail of "The Heirloom" cover art by Charlott Martin. From original article.

The Heirloom is a riveting, fast-paced story about some of the characters caught up in a rapidly collapsing United States. This tale meets the plausibility test requisite of a any good novel. On that front, I find it far superior to James Howard Kunstler’s post-peak superstition-laced novels, World Made by Hand and Witches of Hebron. The Heirloom is available for $4.99 for Kindle through Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/The-Heirloom-ebook/dp/B004JKMV8G).

Author Richard Davies is adjunct professor of English at Wichita State University. This debut novel is intended to be the first of a trilogy.

The central characters are Jerome Naiche, an internationally renowned physicist from UC-Berkeley and Harris Red Moon, his much-younger, self-absorbed assistant (i.e., driver). Naiche sees the light about “free energy” toward which he has spent his career work working just as the nation is unraveling. He co-opts techno-optimist Red Moon into driving the two of them to the eponymous heirloom farm in North Dakota, where Naiche’s daughter Kathy founded a back-to-the-land movement 16 years earlier (Kathy’s son Ben is the product of a one-night stand with Harris when she visited her professorial father in Berkeley). The rapid escape from Berkeley for the interior U.S. leaves behind Red Moon’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Emma, an activist for Earth Liberation Front.

At the most superficial level, The Heirloom is a battle between the newly enlightened professor and his long-time, techno-optimist driver. But this personal battle is a foil and metaphor for the larger struggle being waged between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a nascent anti-civ movement. Davies imbues his characters with sufficient complexity to destroy potentially abundant stereotypes: There are no white hats to inform the reader which of the characters are good guys, and no black hats to indicate the bad guys. These are real people with significant differences of opinion based on emotions rooted in personal histories.

The story is focused on characters and the rapidly changing world they inhabit. Davies subtly weaves in several important concepts while challenging mainstream views. The long-sought miracle of free energy, in the form of fusion, is a central theme. But Davies acknowledges early in the book that free energy doesn’t eliminate limits to growth (p. 23): “Even if fusion could be put in place with a finger-snap, the result would not be freedom but an immense population increase—until population growth stopped when the least link in the chain broke. No amount of energy in the world could make new, green, unpolluted, biodiverse land, or fertile oceans, or fresh water unless you counted desalination which would lead to immense piles of salt that had to go somewhere, which would lead to toxic salt dumps, which would lead to changes in the ocean’s chemical balance, which would lead to a plankton die-off, which would lead to the loss of half the world’s oxygen production, and which would lead to the death of the human species.” Most of the characters in The Heirloom, reflecting most people who have not thought about the issue as deeply as Davies, never awaken to the simple fact that there are limits to growth. Harris Red Moon is the archetype of this shallow level of thought.

Davies understands academia (and also recognizes academia as a mirror of American culture), and he provides a subtle overview (p. 25):

“Intercut with stock images from past senate visits were the absolute realities of life as an academic: the petty budget concerns, protecting one’s fief, the need to never appear ridiculous or out of step, the careful cultivation of one’s facade. Except for the freakish outlier, the star performer, or rainmaker, the academic species was surprisingly herd-like. Change was not in its vocabulary.”

Climate chaos makes an occasional appearance, as when the prominent physicist’s daughter, who runs the heirloom seed farm to which Naiche and Red Moon make their initial escape, pragmatically considers how to produce food in light of environmental collapse (p. 89): “Unfortunately, she had to presume that industrial man would continue to produce toxins and thus continue to induce climate change. This would cause the collapse of the ecosystem, and the real question would become, which way did the tipping tip? Would the world see a collapse of the thermohaline cycle in the ocean and thus a new ice age? Or would warming continue, forcing life to fall back into the Arctic and Antarctic regions? She sighed. How could she prepare for all these things? The undoing was as dangerous as the doing.”

The Heirloom covers a lot of intellectual ground without leaving a small geographic area. In addition to serving as a penetrating look at our present and our potential future, it serves as a coming-of-age story for Ben Naiche, grandson of the reborn physicist and son of Kathy (the physicist’s farmer daughter) and Harris Red Moon (the physicist’s long-time assistant). Young Ben is torn between the rapidly vanishing techno-world and the rapidly vanishing remnants of his native heritage. Like me, and most thoughtful people, he is torn between his own narcissistic desires and the longing for a more durable future for humanity and the living planet.

Ultimately, The Heirloom is a wide-ranging tale about the human experience. It is about life, love, death, honor, and people struggling to make their way in a world not of their choosing. The characters are developed sufficiently to become familiar. I cheered and booed along the way, sometimes at the same character.

For me, a novel is worthy if it satisfies two criteria: It tells me something about the world and something about the human condition. This book easily passes these tests, and it’s enjoyable, too. I recommend it very highly.

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Bolivia embraces Mother Earth

SOURCE: Shannon Rudolph (shannonkona@gmail.com) SUBHEAD: Law of Mother Earth expected to prompt radical new conservation and social measures in South American nation. By John Vidal on 10 April 2011 for The Guardian UK - (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/10/bolivia-enshrines-natural-worlds-rights) Image above: Indigenous Peoples from around the world, including Maori from New Zealand and Gwich’in from the far north in Alaska, came to the World Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth to share their wisdom and set new ground rules to ensure the protection of Mother Earth and the survival of the planet. From (http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/2183).

Bolivia is set to pass the world's first laws granting all nature equal rights to humans. The Law of Mother Earth, now agreed by politicians and grassroots social groups, redefines the country's rich mineral deposits as "blessings" and is expected to lead to radical new conservation and social measures to reduce pollution and control industry.

The country, which has been pilloried by the US and Britain in the UN climate talks for demanding steep carbon emission cuts, will establish 11 new rights for nature. They include: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered.

Controversially, it will also enshrine the right of nature "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities".

"It makes world history. Earth is the mother of all", said Vice-President Alvaro García Linera. "It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration."

The law, which is part of a complete restructuring of the Bolivian legal system following a change of constitution in 2009, has been heavily influenced by a resurgent indigenous Andean spiritual world view which places the environment and the earth deity known as the Pachamama at the centre of all life. Humans are considered equal to all other entities.

But the abstract new laws are not expected to stop industry in its tracks. While it is not clear yet what actual protection the new rights will give in court to bugs, insects and ecosystems, the government is expected to establish a ministry of mother earth and to appoint an ombudsman. It is also committed to giving communities new legal powers to monitor and control polluting industries.

Bolivia has long suffered from serious environmental problems from the mining of tin, silver, gold and other raw materials. "Existing laws are not strong enough," said Undarico Pinto, leader of the 3.5m-strong Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, the biggest social movement, who helped draft the law. "It will make industry more transparent. It will allow people to regulate industry at national, regional and local levels."

Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said Bolivia's traditional indigenous respect for the Pachamama was vital to prevent climate change. "Our grandparents taught us that we belong to a big family of plants and animals. We believe that everything in the planet forms part of a big family. We indigenous people can contribute to solving the energy, climate, food and financial crises with our values," he said.

Little opposition is expected to the law being passed because President Evo Morales's ruling party, the Movement Towards Socialism, enjoys a comfortable majority in both houses of parliament.

However, the government must tread a fine line between increased regulation of companies and giving way to the powerful social movements who have pressed for the law. Bolivia earns $500m (£305m) a year from mining companies which provides nearly one third of the country's foreign currency.

In the indigenous philosophy, the Pachamama is a living being.

The draft of the new law states: "She is sacred, fertile and the source of life that feeds and cares for all living beings in her womb. She is in permanent balance, harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is comprised of all ecosystems and living beings, and their self-organisation."

Ecuador, which also has powerful indigenous groups, has changed its constitution to give nature "the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution". However, the abstract rights have not led to new laws or stopped oil companies from destroying some of the most biologically rich areas of the Amazon.

Coping with climate change

Bolivia is struggling to cope with rising temperatures, melting glaciers and more extreme weather events including more frequent floods, droughts, frosts and mudslides.

Research by glaciologist Edson Ramirez of San Andres University in the capital city, La Paz, suggests temperatures have been rising steadily for 60 years and started to accelerate in 1979. They are now on course to rise a further 3.5-4C over the next 100 years. This would turn much of Bolivia into a desert.

Most glaciers below 5,000m are expected to disappear completely within 20 years, leaving Bolivia with a much smaller ice cap. Scientists say this will lead to a crisis in farming and water shortages in cities such as La Paz and El Alto.

Evo Morales, Latin America's first indigenous president, has become an outspoken critic in the UN of industrialized countries which are not prepared to hold temperatures to a 1C rise.

Video above: "Bolivia: Fighting the Climate Wars". From Guardian article. .

Japan raises nuclear disaster level

SUBHEAD: Japanese officials raise Fukushima crisis to highest severity Level 7, on par with Chernobyl. By Yuri Kageyama & Ryan Nakashima on 12 April 2011 for HuffPo - (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/japan-nuclear-crisis-severity-level-chernobyl_n_847849.html) Image above: Soldiers prepare for assignment in evacuation area in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster area. From (http://www.pics-site.com/2011/03/17/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-power-plant-that-was-damaged-by-earthquake). Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident.

The regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 – the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, there was no sign of any significant change at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.

The new ranking signifies a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than the previous level, according to the Vienna-based IAEA.

"We have upgraded the severity level to 7 as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water and the ocean," said Minoru Oogoda of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

NISA officials said one of the factors behind the decision was that the cumulative amount of radioactive particles released into the atmosphere since the incident had reached levels that apply to a Level 7 incident.

The revision was based on cross-checking and assessments of data on leaks of radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137, said NISA spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.

"We have refrained from making announcements until we have reliable data," Nishiyama said.

"The announcement is being made now because it became possible to look at and check the accumulated data assessed in two different ways," he said, referring to measurements from NISA and the Nuclear Security Council.

Nishiyama noted that unlike in Chernobyl there have been no explosions of reactor cores at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, although there were hydrogen explosions.

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"In that sense, this situation is totally different from Chernobyl," he said.

He said the amount of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was around 10 percent of the Chernobyl accident.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant, is still estimating the total amount of radioactive material that might be released by the accident, said company spokesman Junichi Matsumoto.

He acknowledged the amount of radioactivity released might even exceed the amount emitted by Chernobyl.

The company, under fire for its handling of the accident and its disaster preparedness before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, issued yet another apology Tuesday.

"We humbly accept this. We deeply apologize for causing tremendous trouble to those who live near the nuclear complex and people in the prefecture," TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda said.

In Chernobyl, in the Ukraine, a reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing a cloud of radiation over much of the Northern Hemisphere. A zone about 19 miles (30 kilometers) around the plant was declared uninhabitable, although some plant workers still live there for short periods and a few hundred other people have returned despite government encouragement to stay away.

Meanwhile, setbacks continued at Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear power complex, with workers discovering a small fire near a reactor building Tuesday. The fire was extinguished quickly, TEPCO said.

It said the fire in a box containing batteries in a building near the No. 4 reactor was discovered at about 6:38 a.m. Tuesday and was put out seven minutes later.

It wasn't clear whether the fire was related to a magnitude-6.3 earthquake that shook the Tokyo area Tuesday morning. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

"The fire was extinguished immediately. It has no impact on Unit 4's cooling operations for the spent fuel rods," said TEPCO spokesman Naoki Tsunoda.

The plant was damaged in a massive tsunami March 11 that knocked out cooling systems and backup diesel generators, leading to explosions at three reactors and a fire at a fourth that was undergoing regular maintenance and was empty of fuel.

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake that caused the tsunami immediately stopped the three reactors, but overheated cores and a lack of cooling functions led to further damage.

Engineers have been able to pump water into the damaged reactors to cool them down, but leaks have resulted in the pooling of tons of contaminated, radioactive water that has prevented workers from conducting further repairs.

Aftershocks on Monday briefly cut power to backup pumps, halting the injection of cooling water for about 50 minutes before power was restored.

A month after the disaster, more than 145,000 people are still living in shelters, and the government on Monday added five communities to a list of places people should leave to avoid long-term radiation exposure.

A 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius has already been cleared around the plant.

The disaster is believed to have killed more than 25,000 people, but many of those bodies were swept out to sea and more than half of those feared dead are still listed as missing.

Aftershocks have taken more lives.

In Iwaki, a city close to the epicenter of a magnitude-7.0 temblor Monday, a landslide brought down three houses, trapping up to seven people. Four were rescued alive, but one of those – a 16-year-old girl – died at the hospital, a police official said. He would not give his name, citing policy.

Around 210,000 people have no running water and, following Monday's aftershocks, more than 240,000 people are without electricity.

In all, nearly 190,000 people have fled their homes, the vast majority of whom are living in shelters, according to the national disaster agency. About 85,000 are from the cleared zone around the nuclear plant; their homes may be intact, but it's not known when they'll be able to return to them.

[Publisher's note: Like the Richter Scale (for earthquakes) the nuclear accident severity level is measured exponentially. NISA's former Level 5 rating for Fukushima is two orders of magnitude (100 times) less than the new rating Level 7. Anecdotal information from a resident of Kilauea, who has been measuring background radiation levels for some time, indicate that since Fukushima radioactive isotope dispersal reached Hawaii that background radiation has increased 50%. Normal in our state is about 5-20 CPM (count per minute) on a Gieger counter measuring alpha, beta and gamma particles. For a real time monitor of radiation count in Hawaii (Maui) visit (http://www.radiationnetwork.com/AlaskaHawaii.htm). At 11:54 am on 11/4/12 CPM in Kahalui, Maui was 15.]

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Pinky Show & Standing Army

SOURCE: Raymond Catania (may11nineteen71@gmail.com) SUBHEAD: Two free movies about imperialism to be shown at Na Keiki O Ka Aina Center on 4/22 at 7pm in Waipouli.

 By Raymond Catania on 11 April 2011 for Kauai Alliance for Peace & Justice - 

 
Image above: The imperial home of the US Embassy in Iraq is the former palace of the Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard. From (http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodkern/291642779).  

WHAT:
Two free movies. "Pinky Show - Hawaii versus U.S. Imperialism" (short) "Standing Army" (feature)  
WHEN:
Friday 22nd April 2011 at 7:00pm  

WHERE:
Na Keiki O Ka Aina Center (The Children of the Land next to Papayas) Waipouli - Next to Papaya's Natural Foods The opening film is the animated short called the "Pinky Show - Hawaii versus U.S. Imperialism". The following is from Pinky's intro at the start:

"Every place has many histories. I can't think of any place that can be described or understood through just one story. In fact, studying all these different histories is one of the things that makes learning about places so fascinating! "On the other hand, we also have places like Hawaii, where there are stories being told about it that are so contradictory, so opposite from each other, that you have to wonder, is it really possible for all of these competing versions of history to all be true? "For example, here are two very VERY different ways of understanding Hawaii. Version Number One: Hawaii is the "50th State" of the United States of America, Hawaii voted to join the U.S. back in the 50's, and now it's just a really nice place to go for your vacation. That's one. "Version Number Two goes like this: Hawaii is not a part of the United States, actually it's a nation under illegal occupation since 1893, and a hundred plus years later there's still Hawaiian Nationals fighting the U.S. for independence. Have you heard this version before? No? "If you haven't that's understandable because, this story is very well-known - I guess you could say this is the 'official' story - and this one is definitely not nearly as well-known. Can two stories that are almost exact opposites from each other both be true? Or is one of them more substantiated by historical facts than the other?"

Secondly there is the feature film "Standing Army" which documents the over 700 U.S. military bases around the world which is a major cause for the U.S. economic crisis.

"Today there are more than 766 US bases scattered around the globe, spanning across more than 100 countries and hosting more than 250.000 soldiers, in addition to the one million-plus soldiers stationed in the US. Acquiring military bases and new territories through acts of war is not something new in history, and the United States are no exception. Almost every single war waged by the US in the course of the 20th century has left behind a trail of new military bases, not only within the borders of the defeated countries. This ever-evolving history is the starting point for this documentary, which will attempt to reveal the mechanisms, purposes and hidden strategies of the bases, as well as the risks they pose for the countries that host them. A blend of stories, history and reflections. A journey across six countries and three continents: Asia, America and Europe." - International Movie Data Base (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1543883/)

Here's a trailer.

  
Video above: A trailer from "Standing Army". From (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asOa8rgvrOc).

 Discussion and free refreshment will follow. The center is located in Kapaa next to Papaya's Natural Foods. this event is being sponsored by the Kauai Alliance for Peace and Social Justice.

 For more information call Kip at 822-7646 or contact Ray at may11nineteen71@gmail.com. Visit http://kauaiallianceforpeace.blogspot.com. .

Kilauea Pavillion Debate

SUBHEAD: Response to developers counter argument regarding the agland commercial project.

By staff on 11 April 2011 for Preserve Kauai’s Rural Character - (distributed by email from Preserve_Kauai_s_Rural_Character@mail.vresp.com)

Image above: This artist’s rendering shows a proposed Anaina Hou project in the Kalihiwai Ridge subdivision near Kilauea. From (http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/article_92b63a7a-827b-11df-9870-001cc4c03286.html).

You may have received a marked-up rebuttal to a full-page ad in The Garden Island entitled “Should One Developer Be Able to Determine the Future of Kauai?”

We are so sorry to have to say that almost every single statement in the rebuttal, which came from the developer, was either dreadfully misinformed or an attempt to mislead the reader. So, we are obliged, yet again,to correct the record, below.

However, the biggest issue of all remains: Do we really want to allow this dangerous precedent to be set that would open the floodgates to commercial development on ag land? And do we really want to accelerate the disappearance of Kauai’s famous rural character?

Mahalo for taking the time to understand the facts. Residents can differ on this project if they so choose, but let's at least stick to the facts. Please come voice your concerns -- Tuesday, April 12th, Planning Commission public hearing, 8:15am.

Note: Our responses below are in blue. Original is in black. Developer's comments were in red.

"Should One Developer Be Allowed to Determine the Future of Kauai?"

A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

HAWAII STATE LAW currently protects agricultural land from commercial development. However, that may be about to change—if the developer of the Anaina Hou-Kilauea Pavilion gets his way. He has applied for a Special Use Permit, which would enable him to build a commercial amusement complex

--This is not an "amusement complex," as repeatedly coined by the opposition. The Kilauea Pavilion is characterized as a community center with uses created specifically to address community events, uses, and requests, including theater, dance and music shows, potential community college satellite classes, a place for forums and meetings, community fundraisers, and endless other uses, mostly to support community ancillary services. It has never tried to be an amusement theme park or complex.--

Regardless of how the developer characterizes his own project to the community, the legal definition is “Amusement Commercial Facility.” We did not “coin” this term. The Kauai Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO Section 8-1.5, Definition #70) defines the indoor cinema as “Indoor Amusement, Commercial.” The CZO (Section 8-1.5, Definition #96) defines the outdoor amphitheater and the miniature golf course as “Outdoor Amusement, Commercial.” The CZO defines the entire project as a “Commercial Facility.” Therefore, we are taking the language directly from the governing ordinance when we call the facility an “Amusement Commercial Facility.”

on land zoned as “Agricultural” by the State. The County has not before granted a Special Use Permit for commercial development on State-designated agricultural land.

-- An outright misstatement. Numerous Special Permits have been granted before in the State Agriculture District for uses determined to be "unusual but reasonable" and which support community uses and businesses, including many very beneficial things on the North Shore such as the Kaua`i Christian Academy, Banana Joe’s Fruit Stand, Church of the Pacific, and the old Guava Kai center, amongst others. Special Permits can be utilized for good projects wanted by the community. --

Though the County has granted the Special Use Permits that the developer lists above, these projects have all qualified because their use is defined as either agricultural or as a place of worship. Special Use Permits can also legally be granted for a category defined as “outdoor recreation,” such as a soccer field (not to be confused with “outdoor amusement,” which is what this development would be). The County of Kauai has never before granted a Special Use Permit for commercial development on State - designated agricultural land. This project would set a very dangerous precedent, endangering all State ag lands on our island.

Once this precedent is set, agricultural lands across Kauai would be fair game for commercial developers. All they would need is a Special Use Permit. The most obvious danger to such a precedent would be that it would open the door to a more rapid transformation of agricultural lands into commercial developments across the island. No more open spaces. No more country. But there is another grave concern: the availability of agricultural land for commercial exploitation will drive up real estate costs. Farmers would have to compete with developers for land that should be covered with food, not shopping malls. Goodbye, sustainability; Hello, skyrocketing land prices.

-- This is not a shopping mall. Part of the purpose of the downzone of this land last year was to prevent future shopping malls. This land was in the County Industrial and State Urban District up until last year. It was never utilized for the growth of crops, and if anything, the owners of the project are one of the few large ag-land owners on the north shore doing real, viable and long-term agriculture that feeds Kaua`i, with nothing exported off island. All previous owners of this property had planned for industrial parks, all with much greater footprints and much more intensive uses than the proposed Kilauea Pavilion, which again, was created to meet needs of the community. --

This is missing the point. The point is not that simply a shopping mall is being built, although commercial construction is proposed here. Furthermore, the downzoning was determined by prior conditions on this land, not primarily by the current owners. The point is that this could be a precedent that would be set if this Special Use Permit is granted. If this first Special Use Permit is granted to build commercially on ag land, it could open the floodgates for subsequent developers to build commercially on ag land. And yes, shopping malls on ag land could follow.

As for the developer’s agriculture, it is far from sustainable, and none of those agricultural uses would be located on this site. Have you ever seen a hydroponics factory? They are large warehouses crowded with plants dangling from plastic or wire support systems, their roots suspended in plastic troughs filled with an inert medium such as silica or vermiculite. Through these troughs flows a constant stream of commercial fertilizers dissolved in water. This chemical soup provides the crop roots with nutrients that promote rapid growth. Computers automate, monitor and control the entire process. Hydroponics is often mistaken as “organic” simply because no pesticides are used.

However, it is neither organic nor sustainable. All those man-made chemicals must be shipped in – if the Matson barge stops coming, no more food, if you’re relying on hydroponics. Because of all the chemical input, hydroponically grown food contains almost double the amount of nitrate residue than organically raised crops. In fact, hydroponic fruits and vegetables often show even higher chemical nitrate residues than those from chemically treated industrial-agriculture fields and orchards. This is according to the Center for Food Safety in Washington, DC.

As for the issue of zoning, the current zoning designation by the state is “Agricultural”, and by the county as “Open.” For several years, beginning in the 80s, the classification was “Light Industrial,” changed by the previous developer whose intentions were to build an industrial park. At that time, the county imposed a condition that the property must revert back to its original zoning as State Agricultural after two years if the industrial park was never built. As we know, no industrial park was ever built. But it wasn’t until January 2010 that the County realized they were years overdue in reverting the classification back to Agricultural and Open. Presently, the site is back to its original zoning as an ag lot, and commercial development is prohibited, according to Chapter 205 in the State Land Use provisions.

WHAT IS THE KILAUEA PAVILION?

The Kilauea Pavilion is part of the Anaina Hou development, proposed to be built on agricultural land behind Kauai Mini Golf. It would consist of a movie theater, conference rooms, --just one conference room-- and an outdoor amphitheater. Over the years, the developer’s aggressive public relations campaign has buried the most urgent issue at hand—the precedent of commercial development on agricultural land. –Again, "over the years,” this land was never “ag land.” It was industrial until last year.

This particular land historically was zoned ag land. Under the prior owner this land was zoned light industrial, and under those prior conditions it was to be downzoned back to ag land, as it is now. What we originally referred to was that the most important issue at hand of precedent has not been adequately mentioned until now, and that the developer's PR campaign to the contrary has been years in the making and relentless.

All Special Permits undergo review on a case-by-case basis.

The concept of case-by-case is unrelated to the concept of precedent. Yes, the permits are reviewed case-by-case. And if a precedent is to be set to build commercially on ag land, then the door would be opened for every other developer who wants to build commercially on ag land to be granted a Special Permit, regardless on the case-by-case basis. Case-by-case has nothing to do with the harmful, irreversible consequences of setting this precedent.

The decision is made based on the application's specific facts, including project uses, history, and community support, amongst others. The intent of this process is to ensure that nothing is precedent-setting. In the next column, we debunk six dubious claims of how “great” the project will be for Kauai.

SIX MYTHS ABOUT THE KILAUEA PAVILION

Myth No. 1 The Kilauea Pavilion will be great for the community.

The Kilauea Town Plan of 2006 designated this specific Open site to be zoned for agriculture or, if it is to be at all developed, as residential housing.

--Not true. As already confirmed by many who participated in the Kilauea Town Plan planning process, the Kilauea Neighborhood Association, and the text of the Town Plan itself, the Anaina Hou property was never slated for housing. Page 6-3 specifically states that it is the property across from Anaina Hou, the Kilauea Plateau, that had portions of land slated for housing. The opponents have repeatedly made this false claim but have never been able to support it with citations, because it is not true.--

The property across the highway from the Mini Golf where the proposed bypass road will someday be located is zoned Agricultural and has always been zoned Agricultural. Here is the requested citation, from Page 6-3 from the Kilauea Town Plan, from the last part of the paragraph with the subhead reading “Emphasize the town commercial core and prevent highway strip commercial development”:

“The land use plan also calls for the two undeveloped parcels along the highway frontage that are presently zoned for commercial and light-industrial use to be re-zoned for residential and agricultural use, respectively.”

With so many young people forced to move away from their island home due to the high cost of housing, are we to believe that a theater complex will better serve the community than residential housing? The only people that would be served by the Pavilion are North Shore residents who don’t like to drive to Lihue for commercial entertainment.

--This is a large group of people, actually, who miss the old movies on the North Shore , but most of all, are not able to participate in many cultural events and important meetings that are always held far away. The North Shore possesses a large percentage of the island’s population, yet hardly provides any services or facilities for them. Venues for community events, gatherings, and meetings are crucial to the health and well-being of any community.--

The only thing offered by the developer for which there is a real need is the movie theater. However, an outdoor amphitheater breaks zoning laws, and we don’t need it. The indoor theater breaks the zoning laws, too.

We need to think of the more pressing needs of the community at large.

Myth No. 2 The Kilauea Pavilion will give people jobs.

Yes, Anaina Hou did give jobs to people—people from off-island. During a Planning Commission hearing for Kauai Mini Golf, the developer promised that it would be built by a local company. Once its plan was approved, however, the work was instead given to a New Jersey contractor and his crew.

–Another outright lie. There were numerous local jobs provided during the construction of the mini golf course, which is why many construction workers, landscapers and tradesmen have come out to testify in favor of it. The New Jersey crew was only 6 people from Harris Miniature Golf who came specifically to build the miniature golf course ONLY. Everyone else of the 50+ crew was from the local work force. Shioi Construction from Lihu`e was the general contractor, who then hired local carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, etc, including James Nakagawa Paint from Waimea, H. Tanaka Plumbing out of Kapa`a, Rutan Refigeration from Lawai, and Raynor Kaua`i Overhead Door Company, to name a few. B&G Pacific, Inc. of Kilauea performed all the site work, including the highway improvements. Lawai Foliage and Landscaping did all the irrigation and course lights. The Fence Company in Kilauea installed the fence. Many local nurseries provided the plants for the botanical gardens. The list goes on and all the workers can testify that they worked on this.

This was an error on our part. We thought we had thoroughly fact-checked our material on this point, but more recently came to learn that the gift shop was in fact built by Shioi and other local workers. We had researched only the miniature golf course which was built by Joe Pez and his New Jersey crew. We apologize, and had no intention of conveying only a partial truth.

The Kilauea Pavilion plans to continue to hire the local work force, which will involve many more people and will be built to the environmentally-LEED certified standards.—

Preserving land zoned Open Agriculture is far more sustainable than commercial construction on ag land, even by "environmentally-LEED" certified standards. For the reader, LEED is the acronym for Leadership in Energy Efficient Design, regarding the energy use of the buildings.

When the job was pau, they were gone. And as for the 35 jobs currently held by local people at Kauai Mini Golf, few of them are allowed to work over 22 hours per week. By not paying a living wage, the developer/owner is able to avoid providing full benefits.

--Kaua`i Mini Golf currently has 19 employees. 6 of them are full-time with benefits. Of the remaining 13, 6 are high school students and a few are college students, whose whose hours are dictated by school schedules (not to mention State Labor Laws for teenage employees). The "35 jobs" that the ad references must be also referring to the owner's other agricultural businesses across the adjacent diversified plantation, which are all full-time jobs except for 2, and provides full medical, vision and prescription benefits at no charge to the employees.

Our information was obtained by three young employees of Kauai Mini Golf who expressed disappointment in the limitations of hours they were allowed to work. Perhaps these workers were confused about the employee count of the golf course alone (as opposed to the developer’s total employees) when they said 35 workers. We will investigate this issue further.

Myth No. 3 The Kilauea Pavilion will be great for sustainability.

Anaina Hou claims to be all about sustainability, yet its site plan sounds a likely death knell for nearby Puu Kumu Stream. The only space available for a sewage wastewater treatment system is too small to handle 16 toilets and too close to the waterway to prevent contamination.

--The engineers, who are the experts in wastewater systems, have never expressed an issue with the space available, which is ample.

It is likely that the expert engineers were unaware that the previous industrial park’s wastewater system was denied by the Health Department due to its proximity to the Puu Kumu Stream. So far, no design has been completed or submitted for any wastewater system. Not only that, but the wastewater system must comply with Chapter 57 of the State Department of Health regulations. But with no design, how can the developer comply with the Department of Health? And how can the Planning Commission approve this project, with no wastewater system design?

Furthermore, because the Pavilion will be built to LEED standards, it will utilize a constructed wetland wastewater system, which is far more environmentally-friend than a standard septic system and outputs R-3 effluent, which is suitable and clean enough to be used for landscaping irrigation. This sustainable system is encouraged by the State Dept. of Health.

Without having any flow calculation of how much sewage is to be discharged from the facility, the design and size of the wastewater system is yet to be determined. The Planning Commission cannot justifiably approve a project when the wastewater system design has not even been completed, let alone approved by the Health Department.

Then, to add insult to injury, the spillway for all the oil and chemical run-off from the parking lot will be placed within the flood plain that slopes into the stream. If the raw sewage doesn’t kill the stream, the oil and chemicals from the parking lot will.

--These are simply sensationalist claims. Any systems utilized by the Pavilion will, like all other systems, be required to adhere to the Dept of Health codes and there will be no "raw sewage" floating around.

Again, it would be unconscionable for the Planning Commission to approve a system that has not yet been sited or designed, let alone approved by the Health Department, especially when this a part of one of the five requirements to be met for a Special Use Permit.

As stated above, the Pavilion is taking the extra step to be even cleaner and more environmentally-friendly than required.

Myth No. 4 The Kilauea Pavilion will have no adverse effect on surrounding neighbors.

There are 55 homes within the legally significant 1000-yard radius of the proposed Kilauea Pavilion. Neighbors living close to the proposed outdoor amphitheater are worried about the noise, traffic and lights that come with night-time crowds and concerts. The developer has promised to keep sound levels no louder than 55 decibels at the boundary line—below the volume of normal conversation. Is he joking? Clamorous concertgoers in the amphitheater’s lawn seating will be only a few hundred feet from neighbors. The developer’s promises to keep noise levels at 55 decibels are entirely unenforceable.

--This is contrary to the sound studies conducted by the acoustical engineers, who have determined that 55 dba is indeed possible at the property lines with the proper mitigation designs, and the applicant has committed to this sound level, as outlined in the settlement conditions that the Pavilion has agreed to. Additionally, the Pavilion will not have live music outdoors beyond 10:00pm.

Yes, you can turn down a knob on the PA system, but how do you keep down the noise of hundreds of revelers? This is totally unenforceable, and, moreover, downright un-neighborly.

Myth No. 5 The Kilauea Pavilion will not hurt the endangered Newell Shearwaters.

The Kilauea Pavilion is in a migratory path of the Shearwaters. The bright lights of the outdoor amphitheater will attract the keiki birds until they exhaust themselves in confused flight before dropping to the ground. This can happen even with the downward-facing lights that are supposedly “Shearwater-safe.” For this reason, Anaina Hou has applied for an “Incidental Take Permit” with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. An Incidental Take Permit implies the expectation that Newell Shearwaters will be killed, or “taken.”

-- The Incidental Take Permit is part of the Habitat Conservation Plan that Anaina Hou voluntarily chose to participate in to proactively help reestablishment more habitat for shearwaters. It is part of taking action and participating in a program that encourages preventative action and education rather than waiting for "takes" to occur and then addressing issues.

This is embarrassingly duplicitous. Actually, in order to qualify for an Incidental Take Permit, one is required to participate in the Habitat Conservation Plan, which entails paying large sums of money to various projects. It’s sort of like carbon trading; if you want to spew toxins into the air, you have to donate to some sort of clean-air project. It’s a way that development can get away with destroying the natural environment.

All lights at the Pavilion will adhere to the Department of Fish and Wildlife's requirements for outdoor lighting in a bird fly zone, and most of the outdoor lights for the outdoor theater will be under the roof. Kaua`i Mini Golf already has night time lights, and in fact, the public response has been that, "they're too dark!" These lights are indicative of the applicant's desire to minimize any effects on shearwaters.

“Minimize” still implies the expectation of unnatural "takings" of Shearwaters.

Myth No. 6 The Kilauea Pavilion conforms to all County and State ordinances.

Actually, the proposed Kilauea Pavilion is not in conformance to numerous County and States ordinances. Below is a summary of them:

1. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) 205-2, 205-4.5, 205-5, and 205-6 prohibit the building of any commercial structure containing a movie theater, business convention center, commercial kitchen and outdoor amphitheater with amplified music within State Agricultural Zoned lands. Following is a description of how the Kauai County Code (KCC) defines “Commercial uses.” Kauai County Code (KCC) 8-1.5(70) defines the Kilauea Pavilion’s movie theater as “Indoor Amusement, Commercial.” KCC 8-1.5(96) defines the outdoor amphitheater as “Outdoor Amusement, Commercial.

-- The Special Permit process allows for uses other than those directly allowed under the State Agriculture District to be permitted and allowed, providing that it is determined to be an "unusual yet reasonable" use and that it meets the criteria for a Special Permit. As such, Special Permits are often granted for unique uses on these lands, so it is not a black and white exclusion in State Agriculture Districts, but rather, subject to a process of applying for such a Special Permit.

One of the Planning Commission’s guidelines in determining if a use is “unusual yet reasonable,” thereby qualifying for a Special Permit, is if “the desired use would not adversely affect surrounding property.” But the amphitheater will have obvious adverse effects on surrounding similarly zoned property. There are no less than 55 homes within close proximity of the property. How can anyone believe that the crowd noise and traffic from an amphitheater will not adversely affect neighbors? The developer’s campaign to diminish these people and their legal rights is shameful.

2. KCC 8-8.2 and 8-8.3 prohibit commercially promoted party space for luaus,weddings, and other celebrations on land zoned by the County as “Open.” None of the proposed uses of the Kilauea Pavilion are allowed within the County of Kauai ’s Open-zoned lands.

-- Directly quoted from the KCC 8-8, the purpose of the Open District is "to preserve, maintain or improve the essential characteristics of land and water areas that are of significant value to the public as scenic or recreational resources; important to the overall structure and organization of urban areas and which provide accessible and usable areas for recreational and aesthetic purposes," amongst others. Further, some of the uses under Open that are allowed include "(8) Outdoor recreation concessions, (12) religious facilities, and (14) any other use or structure which the Planning Director finds to be similar in nature to those listed in this Section and appropriate to the District," which, in case this, both the previous and current Planning Director has.

The developer has confused the County’s definition of “amusement” with “recreational.” There are no facilities in the proposed development that fall into the County’s definition of “recreational.” The County defines the miniature golf course, and the indoor and outdoor theaters as “amusement.” Therefore, the County ordinances cited as applying to “recreational” here do not apply.

The developer neglected to cite the next section of the ordinance, which states that the purpose of the Open zone policy is “necessary to insulate or buffer the public and places of residence from undesirable environmental factors caused by, or related to, particular uses such as noise, dust, and visually offensive elements.” (KCC 8-8.1 Purpose (a)(3)).

This is an explicit description of why the amphitheater would be in gross violation of the law. Many families would be disturbed by noise if the Open space that should buffer and insulate their neighborhoods becomes an outdoor amphitheater.

And although former Planning Director Ian Costa deemed the proposed development to be similar in nature to an “outdoor recreation concession” and/or a religious facility, and would therefore qualify for a Special Use Permit, he was incorrect. It is not a similar use, by the County’s own definitions. There is no outdoor recreation – only outdoor amusement, and there is no place of worship.

3. KCC, Section 8-20.5(a),[a] states that a “Use Permit may be granted only if the Planning Commission finds that the establishment, maintenance, or operation of the construction, development, activity or use in the particular case is a compatible use and is not detrimental to health, safety, peace, morals, comfort and neighborhood of the proposed use, and will not be inconsistent with the intent of this Chapter and the General Plan.” Over 50 homes are in close proximity of the outdoor amphitheater that will bring noise, increased traffic and stadium lights at night. What peace? What comfort?

-- There are no stadium lights -- another gross exaggeration. But more importantly, the intent of this referenced Chapter is to provide for good communities and neighborhoods, which, again, community spaces encourage and promote. Community spaces like the Kilauea Pavilion promote, not reduce, health, safety, morals, and comfort of neighborhoods.

Regardless of whether you are for or against this project, our community has not been more divided in at least two decades, because of the social mayhem wrought by this agenda that deviates from established County and State general planning documents, ordinances, and statutes.

4. HRS, Section 205 and Chapter 13 of the Rules of Practice and Procedures of the Planning Commission allow a developer to be granted a Special Use Permit for an “unusual but reasonable use” of land situated within the Agricultural or Rural District. One requirement of “unusual but reasonable use” is that “the desired use would not adversely affect surrounding property.” Because the proposed uses would very much adversely affect surrounding property owners with the noise from the outdoor amphitheater and the increased traffic problems, this project does not qualify for a Special Use Permit. Noise, as stated above, as been addressed by committing to low levels of sound at the property lines and being able to meet them, not to mention the 10:00pm cut off time for outdoor amplified music. Traffic was addressed by proper improvements on the highway, which were completed to accommodate for the Pavilion. Further, most traffic that would come to the Pavilion is likely traffic that would occur on the highway in that area regardless, from people driving to these same events that would then be located in Kapa`a or Lihu`e if the Pavilion were not there. The Pavilion could potentially reduce traffic by allowing residents to travel less distance or even encouraging nearby residents who would otherwise drive to events to walk or bike over.

Where are the crosswalks and pedestrian improvements for people to safely walk?

In the settlement conditions, the Pavilion has also committed to traffic control plans that will be utilized in the event of larger events.

Again, you cannot enforce a sound limit on crowd noise, let alone for a full theater, with concertgoers on the sloping lawn that abuts the property of neighbors. Who are you trying to kid? These sorts of promises to mitigate unenforceable nuisances ring very hollow.

5. Kauai General Plan and the Kilauea Town Plan designated this specific site to be used for only agricultural or residential uses.

-- Already addressed above, see under Myth #1. This is not true and is simply a misinterpretation of the Plans. The Kilauea Town Plan does not designate this land for residential uses, but rather, parts of the property across from Anaina Hou, the Kilauea Plateau (page 6-3 of Town Plan). The Plan also designated this property to rezone to agriculture, which it did.

Again, here is the citation from the Kilauea Town Plan, from Page 6-3, from the last part of the paragraph with the subhead reading “Emphasize the town commercial core and prevent highway strip commercial development”:

“The land use plan also calls for the two undeveloped parcels along the highway frontage that are presently zoned for commercial and light-industrial use to be re-zoned for residential and agricultural use, respectively.”

6. Kauai Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, Section 8-8.4 states “Where a parcel is adjacent to, or within 1,000 yards of, a use district or districts other than Open District, no use permit shall be issued for uses and structures on parcelswhich are not generally permitted, or permitted under a Use Permit, in alladjacent or proximate districts.” This means that as long as any of thesurrounding properties are ineligibale for the same Special Use Permit, theproposed project is also ineligible. So, because the surrounding residentialproperties would never qualify for a Special Use Permit to build a commercial amusement center, the proposed project does not qualify, either.

--Actually, the surrounding properties could qualify for similar uses with the proper Use Permits.

No can. Those properties are Residential/Agricultural. Commercial is strictly prohibited.

The County use districts within 1,000 yards of the Kilauea Pavilion are Agriculture or Industrial,

Only the parcel on which the mini golf course is sited is zoned Industrial.

and uses similar to the Kilauea Pavilion's uses actually can be allowed in these districts, if they were granted Use Permits, which the ordinance allows.

No, the ordinance does not allow Special Use permits to build commercially on ag land.

In fact, there are many similar uses to the Pavilion, such as religious facilities, wherein large buildings have multi-functional uses, including congregation halls that resemble indoor theaters, kitchens, bathrooms, meeting rooms, and classrooms, that currently are allowed and granted in County Agriculture Zone.

Yes, but those facilities are not defined as “commercial.” The concept of “similar use” is immaterial to the fact that the law prohibits commercial development, with or without a Use Permit, on County Open District lands or on State-designated Agricultural lands.

Both the Agriculture and Industrial districts, which are the districts that surround the Pavilion, are less restrictive in terms of allowable uses and allow for even more lot coverage.

Only Industrial-zoned land, not Agriculture land, has less restrictions. And the only parcel in the area that is zoned Industrial is the one on which Kauai Mini Golf is located.

See also: Ea O Ka Aina: Kilauea Development on Agland 4/7/11

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Fukushima No Go Zone Expanding

SUBHEAD: The evacuation zone around Fukushima to be expanded due to patterns of high radiation counts. By Scinichi Saoshiro & Chisa Fujioka on 11 April 2011 for Reuters - (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/11/japan-evacuation-zone_n_847301.html) Image above: Kunio Shiga listens to a battery-powered radio in the living room of his home in Minami Soma, Fukushima prefecture, inside the deserted evacuation zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex in northeastern Japan on Friday, April 8. The 75-year-old man had been stranded alone in his farmhouse ever since Japan's monstrous tsunami struck nearly a month ago. From (http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/08/6433410-man-found-stranded-inside-the-evacuation-zone-near-the-dai-ichi-nuclear-plant-in-japan). Japan said on Monday it may extend some parts of an evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant if tests show high radiation outside the area, imposed after an earthquake and tsunami sparked the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

Japan has steadfastly refused to extend its 20 km (12 mile) evacuation zone, despite international concerns over radiation spreading from the six damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima which engineers are still struggling to bring under control a month after they were wrecked by the 15-meter tsunami.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the existing area was sufficient as the risk of an accident was now lower.

But the government might extend the evacuation zone if tests show high levels of accumulated radiation in specific areas, he said. The Asahi newspaper said evacuations may extend 30 km out from the plant.

"This won't be based on a radius zone-type (evacuation)...from the perspective of accumulated radiation, we need appropriate steps to ensure safety," Edano told reporters.

Story continues below

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told parliament last month that widening the area would force 130,000 people to move in addition to 70,000 already displaced.

Residents of one village, Iitate which is 40 km from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, have been told to prepare for evacuation because of prolonged exposure to radiation, a local official told Reuters by phone. The village has a population of 5,000.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has urged Japan to extend the zone and countries like the United States and Australia have advised citizens to stay 80 km (50 miles) away from the plant.

The Japan Times said authorities would soon forcibly close the 20 km zone, stopping people returning to their shattered homes to pick through the rubble for belongings.

The president of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which operates the plant, plans to visit the area on Monday, the first by Masatake Shimizu since the March 11 disaster.

Shimizu has all but disappeared from public view apart from a brief apology shortly after the crisis began and has spent some of the time since in hospital.

Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato was quoted by media as saying he would refuse to meet Shimizu during his visit.

Sato has criticized the evacuation policy, saying residents in a 20-30 km radius were initially told to stay indoors and then advised to evacuate voluntarily.

"Residents in the 20-30 km radius were really confused about what to do." Sato told NHK television on Sunday.

RADIOACTIVE WATER

Engineers at the damaged Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said they were no closer to restoring the plant's cooling system which is critical if overheated fuel rods are to be cooled and the six reactors brought under control.

In a desperate move to cool highly radioactive fuel rods, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) has pumped water onto reactors, some of which have experienced partial meltdown.

But the strategy has hindered moves to restore the plant's internal cooling system, critical to end the crisis, as engineers have had to focus how to store 60,000 tons of contaminated water.

Engineers have been forced to pump low-level radioactive water, left by the tsunami, back into the sea in order to free up storage capacity for highly contaminated water from reactors.

China and South Korea have both criticized Japan for pumping radioactive water into the sea, with Seoul calling it incompetent, reflecting growing international unease over the month-long atomic disaster and the spread of radiation.

TEPCO hopes to stop pumping radioactive water into the ocean on Monday, days later than planned.

Engineers are also pumping nitrogen into reactors to counter a build-up of hydrogen and prevent another explosion sending more radiation into the air, but they say the risk of such a dramatic event has lowered significantly since March 11.

POLITICAL FALLOUT

The triple disaster is the worst to hit Japan since World War Two after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a huge tsunami battered its northeast coast, leaving nearly 28,000 dead or missing and rocking the world's third-largest economy.

Concern at Japan's inability contain its nuclear crisis is mounting with Kan's ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections on Sunday.

Voters vented their anger at the government's handling of the nuclear and humanitarian crisis, with Kan's ruling Democratic Party of Japan losing nearly 70 seats in local elections.

The unpopular Kan was already under pressure to step down before March 11, but analysts say he is unlikely to be forced out during the crisis, set to drag on for months.

"The great disaster was a double tragedy for Japan. The first tragedy was the catastrophe caused by the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear accident. The other misfortune was that the disaster resulted in prolonging Prime Minister Kan's time in office," Sankei newspaper said in an editorial on Monday.

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Report Inside Fukushima Evacuation Zone Video report by Tetsuo Jimbo on 3 April 2011 for Video News - (http://www.videonews.com/special-report/031040/001810.php) The Japanese government issued the evacuation order on March 12 for the residents living within the 20 kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Since then, residents have left their homes, and the "no man land" has been out of touch with the rest of the world. A Japanese journalist, Tetsuo Jimbo, ventured through the evacuation zone last Sunday, and filed the following video report. He says that, inside the evacuation zone, homes,building, roads and bridges, which were torn down by Tsunami, are left completely untouched, and the herd of cattle and pet dogs, left behind by the owners, wonders around the town while the radiation level remains far beyond legal limits. Video above: Report by Tetsuo Jimbo inside Fukushima evacuation zone. From (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp9iJ3pPuL8). .

Skeleton Dance

SUBHEAD: The central truth that reflective persons can take away from these shenanigans is that American polity is unreformable.  

By James Kunstler on 11 April 2011 for Kunstler.com -  
(http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/04/skeleton-dance.html)


Image above: Tinted still frame from video below. Cue the xylophone.

Like the dancing skeletons of film history, here come the elected office-holders of the US government cutting their capers in the graveyard of empire, giving the paying customer - er... citizens - a nice case of the Friday night heebie-jeebies in a mock battle over inanities. It made for a few hours of diverting theater, with an emphasis on diversion - since the whole gruesome melodrama of the US budget finally hinged on a ploy to de-fund the Planned Parenthood organization, one of the few useful endeavors left in this land of depravity, monster trucks, and microwaved cheese snacks.

I don't believe for a moment that the political right cares about the well-being of fetuses, anyway. The abortion issue is just a convenient cudgel to bash their political adversaries on the left. Karl Marx, a useful polemicist if a hinky guide in practical politics, had an apt term for what has become the ideology of the American right wing: "rural idiocy."

It included all the familiar superstitions, phobias, obsessions, bugaboos, misconceptions, animosities, and sadistic impulses of simple country folk. Of course, today we'd have to update it as "suburban idiocy," because that is where the simple country folk of yesteryear have transpired to relocate, most traumatically in the Sunbelt, where today's car dealers, franchise moguls, and country clubbers, were only two generations ago digging chiggers out of their bare ankles after long days in the sharecrop furrows.

These folk believe all kinds of things that are not true, in fact lack the mental equipment for measuring the difference between what is true and not true and, having never known it, don't miss it. How else can you account for the burgeoning industry of "creation" museums all across Dixieland? These are the folks who, in the name of "liberty," want to regulate your sex life in accordance with the Southern Baptist Convention, the folks who want to start World War Three in order to promote the mythical "rapture," the folks who don't think twice about destroying the conditions that tend to support life on Planet Earth.

This is not going too end well for us, despite Congressman Paul Ryan's much-applauded "Path to Prosperity" proposal unveiled last week just before the whole battle degenerated into the ruse over abortion. The central truth that reflective persons can take away from these shenanigans is that American polity is unreformable. Nobody elected to congress will have the backbone to manage contraction, especially to cut payments to old people.

The medical system can't be fixed. It is made up of too many rackets benefitting too many enterprises and individuals. It just has to fail completely so that in the rubble of the system doctors and patients can reestablish some meaningful relationship between services rendered and the rate of payment.

The Obama health reform bill only illustrated the fatal weakness of progressive politics these days - the irresistible impulse to address issues of excessive complexity with added complexity. While most of the overt stupidity in our politics resides on the right, an equally disabling hubris and grandiosity reside in the political left. I suppose people who graduate from very selective and expensive colleges, and receive immense reinforcement from colleagues who preceded them there, develop an inflated sense of their ability to effectively manage things, especially complex things.

Many of these young, bright people cannot believe that our creaking and foundering systems won't yield to their managerial tinkering, and the net effect must be to turn them into very cynical careerists with nothing left but personal ladder-climbing and wealth accumulation - hence, the disgusting biographies of figures such as former public servant Lawrence Summers and Mary Shapiro of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The political left in America makes up in cynical cowardly avarice for all the mendacious stupidity on the political right, so we end up at this moment in history with a perfect blend of every bad impulse in human nature and none of the virtues.

Personally, I don't see how breakdown and revolution can be avoided now. Anyway, outside of politics itself is a gigantic realm of other things that are not trending well at all - things that will aggravate and amplify every political blunder we make. The combination of the breakdown in the world's oil allocation system and the disorders in money and banking are sure to obviate any momentary public relations triumph by one political faction over another. Reasonable people should expect turmoil going forward. The spectacles staged in congress are little more than skeleton dances performed by creatures lacking even the verve to be zombies and vampires.

Somewhere - perhaps in the Pentagon, or on some lonely Air Force base in a desolate corner of the nation - a colonel is watching his country collapse and thinking about what can be done. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, or just something that naturally happens when things are how they are? I don't know.

Media bullshit shout-out of the week goes to the dim James Suroweicki of The New Yorker Magazine, who said, astoundingly, on his political podcast that the nation's dire fiscal condition was "a myth," that "the recovery is underway...things are getting better." Suroweicki, the magazine's economics writer, also sees no problem with rising oil prices.


Video above: "The Skeleton Dance" by Walt Disney, 1929. From (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h03QBNVwX8Q).

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Fungicide found to be Frogicide

SUBHEAD: Syngenta, is the manufacturer of the fungicide chlorothalonil used to treat farm fields, lawns and golf courses.

By Craig Pittman on 8 April 2011 for Tampa Bay Times -
(http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/usf-study-concludes-that-common-fungicide-is-deadly-to-frogs/1162355)

 
Image above: Green tree frog endangered by Syngenta's fungicide chlorothalonil. From original article.

Two years ago some University of South Florida researchers began studying the effects of the most widely used fungicide in the country to see if it might kill more than just fungus.

Turns out it's also a pretty effective frog-icide.

"We were completely surprised to see it basically killed everything," said Taegan McMahon, the lead researcher on the study, which was published this week in a scientific journal called Environmental Health Perspectives. Frogs on farms with treated fields, frogs in ponds on golf courses, frogs in the back yard — the fungicide could be lethal to any of them, the study suggests.

"We don't know what the effect on humans could be," she added. "And we use it heavily in Florida."

The fungicide, chlorothalonil, sold under such names as Bravo, Echo and Daconil, is used to treat farmers' fields, lawns and golf courses and is an ingredient in mold-suppressing paint.

It's part of the same chemical family, organochlorines, as the banned pesticide DDT. It is known to cause severe eye and skin irritation in humans if handled improperly.

Chlorothalonil kills mold and fungi by disrupting the respiratory functions of the cells, explained Jason Rohr, an assistant professor who co-authored the study and heads up USF's Rohr Ecology Lab. At this point the researchers don't know if that's how it kills frogs, too, he said. They just know it's lethal. Rohr stated:

"We've previously studied a variety of other pesticides, such as atrazine, as well as herbicides and insecticides.We haven't seen one with nearly the mortality that we've seen with chlorothalonil."

Frogs and other amphibians play an important role in the food chain, which is why scientists began sounding the alarms in the early 1990s when they discovered many were disappearing. An estimated one-third of the world's 6,300 amphibian species are threatened with extinction, with the blame being pointed at climate change, loss of habitat, chemical use by humans and a spreading fungus — just the sort of thing a fungicide would kill.

However, McMahon said, no one has studied the effects this popular fungicide might have on frogs. For their experiment, the researchers used hundreds of tadpoles from southern leopard frogs, Cuban tree frogs, green tree frogs and squirrel tree frogs, held in jars.

Chlorothalonil's label says not to spray it directly on waterways, so the researchers did not do that. Instead, they used a federally approved formula that calculates how much of a concentration would run off of a farmer's field and wash downstream into a nearby waterway.

It killed nearly 90 percent of the frogs, no matter what species, McMahon said. When they doubled the dose, it killed all of them. Even weaker concentrations harmed the frogs' immune and liver systems and may have altered their stress hormone levels.

Protecting the frogs, Rohr said, might require the government to restrict its use to much farther away from waterways or else ban it entirely, as happened with DDT.

A spokeswoman for Syngenta, the Swiss manufacturer of Bravo and Daconil, challenged the study's findings.

"This study used a model that significantly overstated the potential exposure of amphibians to the fungicide chlorothalonil," said Ann Bryan. "The amount of chlorothalonil was 100 times higher than ever would be found in the real world."

Syngenta reported $11.6 billion in global sales last year.

Studies in Pennsylvania have found far higher concentrations of chlorothalonil in bee pollen. So now there are studies about whether it could be causing a decline in the bee population, Rohr said.

Now that the frog study is done, Rohr said his research group is already studying the effects on other species, such as snails, insects and plankton. Given what has turned up so far, though, he said, "This might be a chemical of concern in the next few years."

The study was done in conjunction with the Archbold Biological Station in Venus and the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma.

See also:
Island Breath: Syngenta Poisoning at Waimea Middle School 1/12/07
Island Breath: 2nd Poisoning at Waimea Middle School 2/23/07
.