SUBHEAD: Not all is lost. We can be thankful for Maui's passing its GMO Moratorium Initiative.
By Juan Wilson on 5 November 2014 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2014/11/election-hangover.html)
Image above: A grocery store employee wipes down a soup bar with a display informing customers of organic, GMO-free oils, in Boulder, Colorado Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. From
(http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/05/361586991/gmo-labeling-colorado-voters-reject-food-measure-maui-voters-approve).
After the millions of dollars spent by Monsanto and DOW to snuff the GMO Moratorium Initiative on the Maui County ballot we can be cheered. But this national election has bitter taste and acrid stink to it.
As examples, the voters in Colorado and Oregon did not support their GMO labeling legislation. See (http://grist.org/politics/food-votes-gmo-labels-rejected-in-colorado-probably-oregon-berkeley-taxes-soda/). Republican peak energy and climate change deniers now control the US House and Senate. See (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/us/politics/midterm-elections.html).
In general America has finally made some real progress on legislation on gay rights and the decriminalization of marijuana. But we really are in denial about the near future regarding to our economy, energy, food security and environment.
The 2014 election could be compared with the 1980 election when Ronald Reagan led a wide reactionary victory. At the end of the Jimmy Carter presidency America was in deep denial about the energy crisis that had emerged in the 1970s and the stagflation that had become a symptom of an America passed its peak.
Reagan's slogan "It's morning in America" was a rejection of the initial steps to conserve energy and live within the means of the environment that was identifed with hippie and alternative social movements. Reagan's neoconservative agenda and has had lasting negative ramifications to this day. It's advocates like Rumsfeld, Bush, and Cheney have left still festering wounds.
The 2014 election's shift to the "right" is again a reactionary rejection symptomatic of self denial and self delusion. Our closest allies, the European Union and Japan are in the same boat. The ponzi schemes of paying off debt with more debt is over. Now the transfer of wealth from the bottom of the social pyramid is well under way.
Kauai County Voting
To see a full accounting of the fourth count of votes on Kauai click on this link (www.islandbreath.org/2014Year/11/141105cok.pdf).
Kauai Mayor
Here on Kauai the mayoral election was not surprisingly won by the incumbent Bernard Carvalho with 14,688 votes. His challenger was Dustin Barca, a retired professional surfer and martial arts practitioner. He did better than many thought. He got more than half of Carvalho's numbers with 8,195 votes. Barca's most important qualification for the office was his rejection of GMOs on Kauai and in your diet.
Kauai Council
The top vote-getters were three who will strongly support GMO corporate interests. The top two who were incumbents, Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa, who already have a bill in motion to overturn the Bill 2491 that set down regulations on GMO company pesticide experimentation. Kaneshiro will follow that effort.
If you look at this list of seven council winners from highest to lowest vote-getters it looks a gradient from most conservative to most liberal. In the middle is Kipukai Kualii. He has stumbled politically in the past. As the swing vote on the council he has a great responsibility to tip the balance of power to the greater long term interest of Kauai.
I'm sorry incumbent Jay Furfaro lost his Chairmanship of the Council to Mel Rapozo. I did not always agree with Jay, but I he did a heroic job leading the council through the controversial 2492 testimony and voting. He calmed what may have turned into violence when it mattered.
I'm also sorry that incumbent Tim Bynum lost to someone like Ross Kagawa. Tim became a better councilman over time . He strongly supported 2491 and other environmental issues. Ross Kagawa often seems confused and uninformed.
It is too bad that Felicia Cowden did not get enough votes to displace establishment shill Arryl Kaneshiro. She would have been a breath of fresh air on the council. But Furfaro, Bynum and Cowden lost... and Kauai will be a different and nastier place because of it.
.
By Juan Wilson on 5 November 2014 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2014/11/election-hangover.html)
Image above: A grocery store employee wipes down a soup bar with a display informing customers of organic, GMO-free oils, in Boulder, Colorado Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. From
(http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/05/361586991/gmo-labeling-colorado-voters-reject-food-measure-maui-voters-approve).
After the millions of dollars spent by Monsanto and DOW to snuff the GMO Moratorium Initiative on the Maui County ballot we can be cheered. But this national election has bitter taste and acrid stink to it.
As examples, the voters in Colorado and Oregon did not support their GMO labeling legislation. See (http://grist.org/politics/food-votes-gmo-labels-rejected-in-colorado-probably-oregon-berkeley-taxes-soda/). Republican peak energy and climate change deniers now control the US House and Senate. See (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/us/politics/midterm-elections.html).
In general America has finally made some real progress on legislation on gay rights and the decriminalization of marijuana. But we really are in denial about the near future regarding to our economy, energy, food security and environment.
The 2014 election could be compared with the 1980 election when Ronald Reagan led a wide reactionary victory. At the end of the Jimmy Carter presidency America was in deep denial about the energy crisis that had emerged in the 1970s and the stagflation that had become a symptom of an America passed its peak.
Reagan's slogan "It's morning in America" was a rejection of the initial steps to conserve energy and live within the means of the environment that was identifed with hippie and alternative social movements. Reagan's neoconservative agenda and has had lasting negative ramifications to this day. It's advocates like Rumsfeld, Bush, and Cheney have left still festering wounds.
The 2014 election's shift to the "right" is again a reactionary rejection symptomatic of self denial and self delusion. Our closest allies, the European Union and Japan are in the same boat. The ponzi schemes of paying off debt with more debt is over. Now the transfer of wealth from the bottom of the social pyramid is well under way.
Kauai County Voting
To see a full accounting of the fourth count of votes on Kauai click on this link (www.islandbreath.org/2014Year/11/141105cok.pdf).
Kauai Mayor
Here on Kauai the mayoral election was not surprisingly won by the incumbent Bernard Carvalho with 14,688 votes. His challenger was Dustin Barca, a retired professional surfer and martial arts practitioner. He did better than many thought. He got more than half of Carvalho's numbers with 8,195 votes. Barca's most important qualification for the office was his rejection of GMOs on Kauai and in your diet.
Kauai Council
The top vote-getters were three who will strongly support GMO corporate interests. The top two who were incumbents, Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa, who already have a bill in motion to overturn the Bill 2491 that set down regulations on GMO company pesticide experimentation. Kaneshiro will follow that effort.
If you look at this list of seven council winners from highest to lowest vote-getters it looks a gradient from most conservative to most liberal. In the middle is Kipukai Kualii. He has stumbled politically in the past. As the swing vote on the council he has a great responsibility to tip the balance of power to the greater long term interest of Kauai.
| Names of winning candidates | Votes | Percent |
| RAPOZO, Mel | 13,147 | 7.8% |
| KAGAWA, Ross K. | 12,387 | 7.4% |
| KANESHIRO, Arryl | 11,971 | 7.1% |
| KUALII, KipuKai | 9,985 | 5.9% |
| YUKIMURA, JoAnn | 8,941 | 5.3% |
| CHOCK, Mason | 8,730 | 5.2% |
| HOOSER, Gary | 8,257 | 4.9% |
I'm sorry incumbent Jay Furfaro lost his Chairmanship of the Council to Mel Rapozo. I did not always agree with Jay, but I he did a heroic job leading the council through the controversial 2492 testimony and voting. He calmed what may have turned into violence when it mattered.
I'm also sorry that incumbent Tim Bynum lost to someone like Ross Kagawa. Tim became a better councilman over time . He strongly supported 2491 and other environmental issues. Ross Kagawa often seems confused and uninformed.
It is too bad that Felicia Cowden did not get enough votes to displace establishment shill Arryl Kaneshiro. She would have been a breath of fresh air on the council. But Furfaro, Bynum and Cowden lost... and Kauai will be a different and nastier place because of it.
| Names of losing candidates | Votes | Percent |
| FURFARO, Jay | 8,165 | 4.9% |
| BRUN, Arthur | 8,120 | 4.8% |
| PERRY, Darryl | 8,076 | 4.8% |
| COWDEN, Felicia | 7,917 | 4.7% |
| BYNUM, Tim | 7,602 | 4.5% |
| DeCOSTA, Billy | 7,243 | 4.3% |
| LARANIO, Tiana | 5,665 | 3.4% |
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