GETTING PERSONAL: Looking for justice in the 5th Circuit Court on Kaua`i has long been an exercise in futility. But now apparently it’s gone beyond perpetuating attacks on the community’s right to plan their future and may result in a personal financial slap down of one of the most committed kanaka maoli activists on the island.
As we’ve mentioned a few times lately, with the appointment of two judges with close ties to the county, it’s gotten worse for those that are frustrated with some of the blatant flouting of laws and administrative rules by both administrative and legislative officials.
But although former deputy county attorney, Judge Kathleen Watenabe has yet to rule against the county when it comes to process when it comes to protecting rich land owners’ “right to despoil” it’s been quite the opposite.
One of those cases was the Thousand Friends suit to require an EIS for two east side developments and enforce a planning commission requirements for the project.
We won’t rehash the specifics but suffice to say that planning department incompetence was at issue and their seeming inability to properly include a “finding of fact” by the commission– and to understand that was all that was needed- was key according to attorney Dan Hempey.
Nani Rogers was one of the plaintiffs in the suit who agreed to lend her name to the filing in order to protect the `iwi kupuna - the bones of her ancestors- and now, even though the case is going to be appealed she’s being hit with a court-cost bill of $38,919.04 which includes $10,000 to be paid to the county of Kaua`i.
One of the attorneys, Lyle Hosaka, of Coconut Plantations, has gone so far as to ask Watenabe to allow him to cross examine Rodgers in court as to her assets.
Rather than try to characterize it further we’ll post an email from Nani which we received this morning followed by a letter from her attorney David Frankel detailing what he calls the “egregious” request by Hosaka.
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Re: Help! this is an attack on a Kupuna who protects na iwi kupuna
Aloha kakou,The story of what these insidious lawyers are trying to do to me should be hitting all the newspapers and tv stations! Can you folks help?
This case is not about Naue na iwi kupuna, Naue court date is in October, 2010.
This is about other na iwi kupuna that needed protection against the construction of two huge resort developments in Waipouli, Ahupua`a o North Olohena.
Coconut Beach Development, LLC applied for permits to build on approximately 20 acres of land (TMK: 4-3-02:15 and 16 a.k.a. Lot 3 and 4.) Plans for the parcel include the development of six hotel units and 334 condominium/ timeshare units to be constructed in three phases.
Coconut Plantation Holdings, LLC applied for permits to build on 12 acres of land in Waipouli Ahupua`a, Kawaihau District, Kauai, Hawaii (TMK: 4-3-007:027) Plans for the parcel include the development of a condominium project on approximately 9.73 acres of Lot 6 with 192 condominium/ timeshare units and 6 hotel units.
Also included in the case was the Kauai Planning Dept. for granting these permits without an EA. My part was to protect the cultural resources at Waipouli as described in Thousand Friends of Kauai& Puanani Rogers v. Dept. of Planning, County of Kauai et al., Civil No. 07-1-0007.
We went to court to petition for an EA for these two properties. Plaintiffs named were Kauai Thousand Friends(KTF) and by their invitation to join them, Puanani Rogers. I applied and requested legal services to Native Hawaiian Legal Corp.(NHLC) in January 2007,. My request was granted and my assigned lawyer was David Kimo Frankel of Honolulu who would work jointly with KTF lawyers Greg Meyers and Dan Hempy of Lihue. My NHLC legal services contract states: "NHLC will assess the following: The merits of the claim that the development needs an environmental assessment and whether litigation can protect traditional and customary practices."
Court filings and hearing began from January 2007 THROUGH Oct 9, 2009. Kauai Thousand Friends and Puanani Rogers were denied their claims, so on October 9, COCONUT PLANTATION filed their motions for Costs in the amount of $7,265.34.
On December 3, 2009, the Court entered its Order Granting the COUNTY OF KAUAI Defendants Motion for Bill of costs in the amount of $10,187.04.
On December 17, 2009, the court entered its Order Granting in Part and denying in part intervenor COCONUT BEACH filing of costs against Plaintiffs in the amount of $21,466.66 with interest at the statutory rate of ten percent per annum.
I added it all up and the total came to $38,919.04.
KTF and NHLC will be filing an appeal to stop the construction of the two resorts.
You have also seen the e-mail from the attorney for Coconut Plantation, Lyle Hosaka, threatening to get a court order to allow him to cross examine me in court regarding my assets. (see his message below) No hearing date has been set for that, nor do I know if the judge received or granted the bad, nasty lawyers' request to do their nasty deeds...
I need help with documents that I may present to the court that will protect me if and when I refuse to enter their courtroom. I was told by some people to use Convention IV per Prof. Francis Boyle. I need to research that. I don't want to step into that courtroom, as a Kanaka maoli and through past experience I know that I was discriminated against because I am Kanaka maoli, my political activism and the Naue na iwi case; and because the court refuses to acknowledge all traditional and customary rights of cultural claims, practices and beliefs.
KTF is an organization that has no money so they are not feeling any threat, but KTF and NHLC will be appealing the judgment to permit the building of the resorts. KTF members are very concerned about my situation and are offering to support and help me as much as they can.
Mahalo a nui for taking the time to read this long message.
I am praying that the judgment for costs may go away if the appeal is granted. I am praying for kokua and support, not necessarily for money, but for prayers and solutions.
Me ke aloha ana`ole,
Kupuna Nani Rogers
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Forwarded text:
From: David Kimo Frankel
Sent: Fri, April 9, 2010 1:43:31 PMSubject: it gets worse
Lyle Hosaka, of Coconut Plantations, is doing something even more egregious.
He has requested information from far more banks than Joe Stewart did, including several federal credit unions:
Garden Island, Kauai Community, Kauai Government Employees, Kauai Teachers , Kaumakani, Kekaha, Koloa and McBryde.
He has also asked the Court for an order allowing him to cross examine you in court and to bring:
1. Any and all pay stubs you received in the past 6 months.
2. Any and all account statements that you received in the past 6 months
3. Any and all check registers.
4. Any and all documents evidencing a debt owed to you.
5. Any and all documents evidencing ownership of and/or an interest in real property
6. A list of all 3rd parties that owe money and/or property to you
(The preceding post has been edited from its original content)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
GETTING WARMER
GETTING WARMER: Now that the Kaua`i Island Utilities Co-op (KIUC) election is over one of the first issues that the new board may have to grapple with is the price of the electricity that Pacific Light & Power’s (PLP) proposed “solar thermal” power plant sells us.
If the article in the local newspaper this weekend is accurate KIUC’s President and CEO Randy Hee is balking at paying whatever PLP is asking- although apparently no one will say much that is.
Naturally, alternative, carbon-free energy advocates are up in arms and accuse Hee of having no interest in getting off fossil fuels and based on the current foot-dragging Hee and the board it’s no wonder.
Westside activist Bruce Pleas is quoted in the article as saying that paying a small amount more in order to get off oil might be acceptable while many of the comments on the article were typified by the person who said:
All who are not onboard with solar power are basically neanderthals (sic) protecting themselves from extinction, nothing more than that.
Time to step aside all you freaks who want to hamper progress your day is done.
The problem here is that few are recognizing that framing the issue as one of price alone is a Hobson’s Choice at best.
The main “problem” with solar power is the night according to many. Solar Thermal addresses a little of that challenge.
According to PLP’s press release for the project
Solar thermal parabolic trough technology works by precisely arranging mirrors to capture the sun’s heat. These mirrors focus sunlight onto a tube filled with heat transfer fluid, which is passed to a heat exchanger that generates steam to power Rankine and Organic Rankine cycle turbines. In this closed system arrangement, there is no need for new supplies of water, as the water cycle back through the system.
But that doesn’t mean that the generator continues to produce power throughout the night. The release says:
PLP Kauai 1 will include up to 3 hours of heat transfer fluid storage with the flexibility to shift power generation during the day in a manner most valuable to KIUC.
That means that even in the summer it will produce electricity only until about 10 p.m. which, though it gets well into the peak” hours still requires supplementation, especially in the winter when that goes only until 8 p.m..
The question is whether this type of system- where the price per kilowatt to consumers is apparently a lot higher than the cost to produce it- in a “we sell electricity to you” utility model is a better investment overall than facilitating true net-metering for photo-voltaic (PV) systems on people’s roofs.
Hee’s KIUC has been uncompromising on enforcing the cap on net metering where the meter runs backward and forward at the same price. Those slots are all used up so that now new PV system owners buy back their “excess” electricity at a premium, supposedly because of the problems of providing energy when the sun doesn’t shine.
But at the same time KIUC is only too happy to embrace a solar thermal system which, while it provides a few more hours a day of juice still faces the same challenge- and does it at a price that will raise a few eyebrows especially among those that advocate carbon free energy but can’t afford more than the “top rate in the nation” they currently pay.
A $70 million investment plus a goodly premium for “clean energy” is a lot of money to invest in something that really doesn’t help the individual co-op members with their electric bills the way home generation does.
Though plans for a revolving fund loan system to enable home PV systems to be built and paid back over the life of the unit are underway, they won’t fully benefit homeowners unless the rate of buyback is the same as the feed-in- plus a small fixed amount for use of the storage capacity of the grid.
If all we’re getting is that extra three hours of steam heat storage, that capacity doesn’t have to be part of a $70 million project where the cost per kilowatt is outrageous.
Steam and other storage mechanisms currently in use and/or under development can just as easily bring us clean solar that will last 24 hours a day as a solar thermal unit which may be obsolete in a few years. And it can do it in a way that serves the individual consumers rather than investors.
All it takes is a change in the current mindset at KIUC from that “we sell you electricity” investor-owned model to one of a true co-op that serves the needs of the members first.
If the article in the local newspaper this weekend is accurate KIUC’s President and CEO Randy Hee is balking at paying whatever PLP is asking- although apparently no one will say much that is.
Naturally, alternative, carbon-free energy advocates are up in arms and accuse Hee of having no interest in getting off fossil fuels and based on the current foot-dragging Hee and the board it’s no wonder.
Westside activist Bruce Pleas is quoted in the article as saying that paying a small amount more in order to get off oil might be acceptable while many of the comments on the article were typified by the person who said:
All who are not onboard with solar power are basically neanderthals (sic) protecting themselves from extinction, nothing more than that.
Time to step aside all you freaks who want to hamper progress your day is done.
The problem here is that few are recognizing that framing the issue as one of price alone is a Hobson’s Choice at best.
The main “problem” with solar power is the night according to many. Solar Thermal addresses a little of that challenge.
According to PLP’s press release for the project
Solar thermal parabolic trough technology works by precisely arranging mirrors to capture the sun’s heat. These mirrors focus sunlight onto a tube filled with heat transfer fluid, which is passed to a heat exchanger that generates steam to power Rankine and Organic Rankine cycle turbines. In this closed system arrangement, there is no need for new supplies of water, as the water cycle back through the system.
But that doesn’t mean that the generator continues to produce power throughout the night. The release says:
PLP Kauai 1 will include up to 3 hours of heat transfer fluid storage with the flexibility to shift power generation during the day in a manner most valuable to KIUC.
That means that even in the summer it will produce electricity only until about 10 p.m. which, though it gets well into the peak” hours still requires supplementation, especially in the winter when that goes only until 8 p.m..
The question is whether this type of system- where the price per kilowatt to consumers is apparently a lot higher than the cost to produce it- in a “we sell electricity to you” utility model is a better investment overall than facilitating true net-metering for photo-voltaic (PV) systems on people’s roofs.
Hee’s KIUC has been uncompromising on enforcing the cap on net metering where the meter runs backward and forward at the same price. Those slots are all used up so that now new PV system owners buy back their “excess” electricity at a premium, supposedly because of the problems of providing energy when the sun doesn’t shine.
But at the same time KIUC is only too happy to embrace a solar thermal system which, while it provides a few more hours a day of juice still faces the same challenge- and does it at a price that will raise a few eyebrows especially among those that advocate carbon free energy but can’t afford more than the “top rate in the nation” they currently pay.
A $70 million investment plus a goodly premium for “clean energy” is a lot of money to invest in something that really doesn’t help the individual co-op members with their electric bills the way home generation does.
Though plans for a revolving fund loan system to enable home PV systems to be built and paid back over the life of the unit are underway, they won’t fully benefit homeowners unless the rate of buyback is the same as the feed-in- plus a small fixed amount for use of the storage capacity of the grid.
If all we’re getting is that extra three hours of steam heat storage, that capacity doesn’t have to be part of a $70 million project where the cost per kilowatt is outrageous.
Steam and other storage mechanisms currently in use and/or under development can just as easily bring us clean solar that will last 24 hours a day as a solar thermal unit which may be obsolete in a few years. And it can do it in a way that serves the individual consumers rather than investors.
All it takes is a change in the current mindset at KIUC from that “we sell you electricity” investor-owned model to one of a true co-op that serves the needs of the members first.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
(PNN) SOURCES SAY MAYOR TO ANNOUNCE “NEW” KEKAHA LANDFILL SITING BY APRIL 15
SOURCES SAY MAYOR TO ANNOUNCE “NEW” KEKAHA LANDFILL SITING BY APRIL 15
(PNN)-- Mayor Bernard Carvalho has told multiple reliable sources that will be announcing the new landfill site on or before April 15 and, according to many, that site is likely to be the one across the highway from the current landfill in Kekaha.
According to reports the previously selected “Umi” site in Kalaheo was “mis-scored” when the fact that it is currently in long term agricultural use by Kaua`i Coffee was not considered and Carvalho has told many community members that he will have an announcement of the new scoring results by April 15.
“Discussions continue in regards to the next steps on the landfill siting. The Mayor is hoping to issue a statement on this matter later this month” according to county spokesperson Mary Daubert who would not confirm the date or the selection of Kekaha..
“Kekaha Mauka” was announced as the site ranked second by a task force earlier this year and a source close to the current process who asked not to be identified told us that it is likely to be the one “selected” on the 15th.
But anyone who thinks that the Kekaha community will be up in arms over environmental justice concerns had better think again.
“I don’t really have any objections” community leader Bruce Pleas told PNN “ as long as the ‘host community benefit (HCB)’ is sufficient and the community buys in”.
Although he thinks that there could be some new more innovative ways to deal with the current and new site he doesn’t think most of the people of Kekaha will object since they have already bought into the concept of being paid by the county for hosting the current landfill.
But that presumes problems with the current HCB can be resolved.
Under a current program the county has set up a HCB Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) which is deciding what to do with $650,000 plus another $80,000 in yearly monies designed to compensate the town for the last 57 years of hosting, the first the “dump” and later, the “sanitary landfill”.
The problem is that the money is still under county control according to a source close to the advisory group who asked not to be identified because it is “too controversial a topic and it will take skill and time to assess the broad range of perspectives, attitudes, and feelings emanating from the community of Kekaha”.
The original amount of $650,000.00 which the County Council approved has not yet been "received" by the community, our source told us.
“That amount is in the Solid Waste department of the County of Kauai. The additional amount of $80,000.00 is also with the Solid Waste department. Presumably, an amount will be allocated annually to the community when the landfill is sited, until such time when the County of Kauai decides that no Host Community Benefit Fund will be awarded.”
How the money will be distributed and how the final decision on how to use it will be made remains problematic, with the HCB CAC wanting to make sure that the community gets to make the final decision and the administration wanting to retain final say over how the money is spent.
“As matters now stand... (a)t the last (CAC) meeting, it was decided that some recommendations would be made in writing to the Mayor for the Mayor's consideration as to whether the recommendations should be implemented. At that meeting, also, a formal request was submitted by the community organization to have the HCB Fund allocation awarded directly to the organization to hold in behalf of the community with the understanding that the HCB Fund CANNOT be expended by the community organization without the approval of the community in determining as to how that fund should be expended.” our source said in an email.
If that issue can be resolved the question remains as to whether the community will buy into hosting the new landfill without some guarantees over how much more money they will receive, how the money will be distributed and their ability to determine how the money will be spent.
For his part Pleas wonders whether there isn’t another more innovative way to use the existing footprint.
Places on the mainland have been “mining” their old dumps that contain mostly metals, glass and other recyclable items after all the organic waste has decomposed, he said.
If that were done to the 36 acre closed “phase 1”- using the in-use “cells B and C” for the “mined” non-recyclable materials- we’d have not just have a huge area for a “new” landfill site but could have all of our prior solid waste placed over currently required “liners” to insure against leakage into the water table and ocean, Pleas said.
But that would require implementation of a “zero waste” program which the county council recently nixed in approving a coordinated solid waste approach contained in the latest iteration of the county-funded R.W Beck study.
Also dealing with all the toxic materials- which any long time Kekaha resident will attest were dumped there over the years, especially by the nearby navy base- could make such a project problematic.
The county has grappled with siting a new landfill since at least 1988 when then-mayoral-candidate JoAnn Yukimura called the lack of landfill space a “crisis” that needed immediate attention.
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Another long weekend a’comn’. Be back Monday.
(PNN)-- Mayor Bernard Carvalho has told multiple reliable sources that will be announcing the new landfill site on or before April 15 and, according to many, that site is likely to be the one across the highway from the current landfill in Kekaha.
According to reports the previously selected “Umi” site in Kalaheo was “mis-scored” when the fact that it is currently in long term agricultural use by Kaua`i Coffee was not considered and Carvalho has told many community members that he will have an announcement of the new scoring results by April 15.
“Discussions continue in regards to the next steps on the landfill siting. The Mayor is hoping to issue a statement on this matter later this month” according to county spokesperson Mary Daubert who would not confirm the date or the selection of Kekaha..
“Kekaha Mauka” was announced as the site ranked second by a task force earlier this year and a source close to the current process who asked not to be identified told us that it is likely to be the one “selected” on the 15th.
But anyone who thinks that the Kekaha community will be up in arms over environmental justice concerns had better think again.
“I don’t really have any objections” community leader Bruce Pleas told PNN “ as long as the ‘host community benefit (HCB)’ is sufficient and the community buys in”.
Although he thinks that there could be some new more innovative ways to deal with the current and new site he doesn’t think most of the people of Kekaha will object since they have already bought into the concept of being paid by the county for hosting the current landfill.
But that presumes problems with the current HCB can be resolved.
Under a current program the county has set up a HCB Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) which is deciding what to do with $650,000 plus another $80,000 in yearly monies designed to compensate the town for the last 57 years of hosting, the first the “dump” and later, the “sanitary landfill”.
The problem is that the money is still under county control according to a source close to the advisory group who asked not to be identified because it is “too controversial a topic and it will take skill and time to assess the broad range of perspectives, attitudes, and feelings emanating from the community of Kekaha”.
The original amount of $650,000.00 which the County Council approved has not yet been "received" by the community, our source told us.
“That amount is in the Solid Waste department of the County of Kauai. The additional amount of $80,000.00 is also with the Solid Waste department. Presumably, an amount will be allocated annually to the community when the landfill is sited, until such time when the County of Kauai decides that no Host Community Benefit Fund will be awarded.”
How the money will be distributed and how the final decision on how to use it will be made remains problematic, with the HCB CAC wanting to make sure that the community gets to make the final decision and the administration wanting to retain final say over how the money is spent.
“As matters now stand... (a)t the last (CAC) meeting, it was decided that some recommendations would be made in writing to the Mayor for the Mayor's consideration as to whether the recommendations should be implemented. At that meeting, also, a formal request was submitted by the community organization to have the HCB Fund allocation awarded directly to the organization to hold in behalf of the community with the understanding that the HCB Fund CANNOT be expended by the community organization without the approval of the community in determining as to how that fund should be expended.” our source said in an email.
If that issue can be resolved the question remains as to whether the community will buy into hosting the new landfill without some guarantees over how much more money they will receive, how the money will be distributed and their ability to determine how the money will be spent.
For his part Pleas wonders whether there isn’t another more innovative way to use the existing footprint.
Places on the mainland have been “mining” their old dumps that contain mostly metals, glass and other recyclable items after all the organic waste has decomposed, he said.
If that were done to the 36 acre closed “phase 1”- using the in-use “cells B and C” for the “mined” non-recyclable materials- we’d have not just have a huge area for a “new” landfill site but could have all of our prior solid waste placed over currently required “liners” to insure against leakage into the water table and ocean, Pleas said.
But that would require implementation of a “zero waste” program which the county council recently nixed in approving a coordinated solid waste approach contained in the latest iteration of the county-funded R.W Beck study.
Also dealing with all the toxic materials- which any long time Kekaha resident will attest were dumped there over the years, especially by the nearby navy base- could make such a project problematic.
The county has grappled with siting a new landfill since at least 1988 when then-mayoral-candidate JoAnn Yukimura called the lack of landfill space a “crisis” that needed immediate attention.
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Another long weekend a’comn’. Be back Monday.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
COURTING DISASTER
COURTING DISASTER: Another day another charge of sexual harassment in government offices on Kaua`i this time at the state judiciary as reported in today’s local newspaper.
While the county has racked up at least three current sexual harassment suits- those of Kristan C. Hirakawa, Kathleen M. Ah Quin and Margaret (Hanson) Sueoka- as well as at least two thus far confidential Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases, every time we’ve reported on them we’ve heard from judiciary employees that the county’s penchant for hiring and protecting harassers is nothing compared to that of the state court system on Kaua`i.
So the suit against former Deputy Chief Court Administrator Ernest Barreira, comes as no surprise. The fact that he’s a “former” deputy and was, according to the suit, fired for his actions against Leanne Rosa speaks volumes as to the veracity of her claims as does the presence of a lawsuit which means that she has been granted “a right to sue” by the EEOC and the Hawai`i Civil Rights Commission (HCRC).
But, we thought, at least it’s not the county this time.
Until, that is, we read the penultimate paragraph in the newspaper story:
Barreira said in a brief telephone interview Monday that he is soon to begin a new job with the County of Kaua`i Department of Finance, as a procurement officer.
Are you freakin’ kidding? How many ways is that wrong?
First of all is the obvious liability given the guys history as a serial harasser as the suit alleges, which is exacerbated by the repeated failure of the county to do anything about it’s own complaints as we reported last December. The council has already appropriated untold dollars to fight the current suits and complaints and will probably be on the hook for huge settlements in some if not all of them.
But the question of how this guy got a civil service job in the finance department with a record of being fired and sued for harassment just further confirms the corrupt hiring practices of Malcolm “Mel” Fernandez’s Personnel Services Division as we’ve detailed here, here and here.
Looks like we’ll probably be paying for this too. Aren’t ya glad to be a Kaua`i taxpayer?
While the county has racked up at least three current sexual harassment suits- those of Kristan C. Hirakawa, Kathleen M. Ah Quin and Margaret (Hanson) Sueoka- as well as at least two thus far confidential Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases, every time we’ve reported on them we’ve heard from judiciary employees that the county’s penchant for hiring and protecting harassers is nothing compared to that of the state court system on Kaua`i.
So the suit against former Deputy Chief Court Administrator Ernest Barreira, comes as no surprise. The fact that he’s a “former” deputy and was, according to the suit, fired for his actions against Leanne Rosa speaks volumes as to the veracity of her claims as does the presence of a lawsuit which means that she has been granted “a right to sue” by the EEOC and the Hawai`i Civil Rights Commission (HCRC).
But, we thought, at least it’s not the county this time.
Until, that is, we read the penultimate paragraph in the newspaper story:
Barreira said in a brief telephone interview Monday that he is soon to begin a new job with the County of Kaua`i Department of Finance, as a procurement officer.
Are you freakin’ kidding? How many ways is that wrong?
First of all is the obvious liability given the guys history as a serial harasser as the suit alleges, which is exacerbated by the repeated failure of the county to do anything about it’s own complaints as we reported last December. The council has already appropriated untold dollars to fight the current suits and complaints and will probably be on the hook for huge settlements in some if not all of them.
But the question of how this guy got a civil service job in the finance department with a record of being fired and sued for harassment just further confirms the corrupt hiring practices of Malcolm “Mel” Fernandez’s Personnel Services Division as we’ve detailed here, here and here.
Looks like we’ll probably be paying for this too. Aren’t ya glad to be a Kaua`i taxpayer?
Monday, April 5, 2010
SKULL-F-IN' WITH YA
SKULL F-IN' WITH YA : Since the departure of our local newspaper’s only reliable reporter there hasn’t really been a story worth reading.
So it’s no surprise that, in their frantic search to fill their “news hole”, they reprinted a press release promoting a group of fraudulent hoaxters that raked in the dough on the island this weekend and today.
According to the article:
LIHU‘E — Billed by organizers as an “extraordinary event,” a public workshop with Max, an ancient crystal skull believed to hold healing powers and be one of the oldest artifacts known to man, is Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m...
Lee Patrick Hanks is traveling with Max, and in a press release said Max is one of the oldest artifacts known to man, with testing suggesting Max is between 12,000 and 36,000 years old, though others feel he could be much older than that.
A bargain- at $77 a pop for their “workshop”.
But according to Wikipedia:
The crystal skulls are a number of human skull hardstone carvings made from clear or milky quartz rock, known in art history as "rock crystal", claimed to be pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts by their alleged finders. However, none of the specimens made available for scientific study have been authenticated as pre-Columbian in origin. The results of these studies demonstrated that those examined were manufactured in the mid-19th century or later, almost certainly in Europe. Despite some claims presented in an assortment of popularizing literature, legends of crystal skulls with mystical powers do not figure in genuine Mesoamerican or other Native American mythologies and spiritual accounts.
The whole story of the hoax- which started in the mid 18th century when a pre-Colombian art dealer named Eugène Boban started peddling one around the world- was exposed in an article by Jane MacLaren Walsh, an anthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, in the May/June issue of Archeology Magazine.
Though the press release in the local newspaper refers to how the “British Museum and many other archaeological authorities consider Max to be one of the rarest artifacts ever found “ Walsh writes that:
These exotic carvings are usually attributed to pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, but not a single crystal skull in a museum collection comes from a documented excavation, and they have little stylistic or technical relationship with any genuine pre-Columbian depictions of skulls, which are an important motif in Mesoamerican iconography.
They are intensely loved today by a large coterie of aging hippies and New Age devotees, but what is the truth behind the crystal skulls? Where did they come from, and why were they made?
She goes on to detail sixteen years of scientific inquiry into the subject after:
a heavy package addressed to the nonexistent "Smithsonian Inst. Curator, MezoAmerican Museum, Washington, D.C." was delivered to the National Museum of American History. It was accompanied by an unsigned letter stating: "This Aztec crystal skull, purported to be part of the Porfirio Díaz collection, was purchased in Mexico in 1960.... I am offering it to the Smithsonian without consideration." Richard Ahlborn, then curator of the Hispanic-American collections, knew of my expertise in Mexican archaeology and called me to ask whether I knew anything about the object--an eerie, milky-white crystal skull considerably larger than a human head.
Walsh details four “generations” of various crystal skull hoaxes since Boban, concluding by saying:
The skull that arrived at the Smithsonian 16 years ago represents yet another generation of these hoaxes. According to its anonymous donor, it was purchased in Mexico in 1960, and its size perhaps reflects the exuberance of the time. In comparison with the original nineteenth-century skulls, the Smithsonian skull is enormous; at 31 pounds and nearly 10 inches high, it dwarfs all others. I believe it was probably manufactured in Mexico shortly before it was sold. (The skull is now part of the Smithsonian's national collections and even has its own catalogue number: 409954. At the moment it is stored in a locked cabinet in my office.)
The local peep shows ended today and “Max” and his barkers are on to their next con job on some other “large coterie of aging hippies and New Age devotees” .
But in coming to Kaua`i these people sure knew where to find marks for their con.
Over the past month they paid $50 a pop for a series of paid email advertisements sent our by Richard Diamond (nee Moll) via his Museletter emailing list.
Kaua`i is thought to be a “vortex” for many mainland new agers and Diamond’s Museletter is the main place they go to find latest in new-age “services”.
Though Diamond’s popular daily listing of all things odd-ball “spiritual”- as well as various and sundry other more mundane offerings like cars and places for rent- is free, he also accepts paid advertising for “single page blasts” to his purported 2000 plus active addresses.
Diamond told us yesterday that he will send out the Walsh article via his Museletter when he comes back from his current vacation but declined to send out a “one page blast”- which are continuing while the Museletter is on hiatus- alerting his readers of the hoax.
The local newspaper has yet to publish anything else on the subject despite “comments” on the article at their web site replete with the URLs for both Walsh’s piece and the Wikipedia entry.
So it’s no surprise that, in their frantic search to fill their “news hole”, they reprinted a press release promoting a group of fraudulent hoaxters that raked in the dough on the island this weekend and today.
According to the article:
LIHU‘E — Billed by organizers as an “extraordinary event,” a public workshop with Max, an ancient crystal skull believed to hold healing powers and be one of the oldest artifacts known to man, is Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m...
Lee Patrick Hanks is traveling with Max, and in a press release said Max is one of the oldest artifacts known to man, with testing suggesting Max is between 12,000 and 36,000 years old, though others feel he could be much older than that.
A bargain- at $77 a pop for their “workshop”.
But according to Wikipedia:
The crystal skulls are a number of human skull hardstone carvings made from clear or milky quartz rock, known in art history as "rock crystal", claimed to be pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts by their alleged finders. However, none of the specimens made available for scientific study have been authenticated as pre-Columbian in origin. The results of these studies demonstrated that those examined were manufactured in the mid-19th century or later, almost certainly in Europe. Despite some claims presented in an assortment of popularizing literature, legends of crystal skulls with mystical powers do not figure in genuine Mesoamerican or other Native American mythologies and spiritual accounts.
The whole story of the hoax- which started in the mid 18th century when a pre-Colombian art dealer named Eugène Boban started peddling one around the world- was exposed in an article by Jane MacLaren Walsh, an anthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, in the May/June issue of Archeology Magazine.
Though the press release in the local newspaper refers to how the “British Museum and many other archaeological authorities consider Max to be one of the rarest artifacts ever found “ Walsh writes that:
These exotic carvings are usually attributed to pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, but not a single crystal skull in a museum collection comes from a documented excavation, and they have little stylistic or technical relationship with any genuine pre-Columbian depictions of skulls, which are an important motif in Mesoamerican iconography.
They are intensely loved today by a large coterie of aging hippies and New Age devotees, but what is the truth behind the crystal skulls? Where did they come from, and why were they made?
She goes on to detail sixteen years of scientific inquiry into the subject after:
a heavy package addressed to the nonexistent "Smithsonian Inst. Curator, MezoAmerican Museum, Washington, D.C." was delivered to the National Museum of American History. It was accompanied by an unsigned letter stating: "This Aztec crystal skull, purported to be part of the Porfirio Díaz collection, was purchased in Mexico in 1960.... I am offering it to the Smithsonian without consideration." Richard Ahlborn, then curator of the Hispanic-American collections, knew of my expertise in Mexican archaeology and called me to ask whether I knew anything about the object--an eerie, milky-white crystal skull considerably larger than a human head.
Walsh details four “generations” of various crystal skull hoaxes since Boban, concluding by saying:
The skull that arrived at the Smithsonian 16 years ago represents yet another generation of these hoaxes. According to its anonymous donor, it was purchased in Mexico in 1960, and its size perhaps reflects the exuberance of the time. In comparison with the original nineteenth-century skulls, the Smithsonian skull is enormous; at 31 pounds and nearly 10 inches high, it dwarfs all others. I believe it was probably manufactured in Mexico shortly before it was sold. (The skull is now part of the Smithsonian's national collections and even has its own catalogue number: 409954. At the moment it is stored in a locked cabinet in my office.)
The local peep shows ended today and “Max” and his barkers are on to their next con job on some other “large coterie of aging hippies and New Age devotees” .
But in coming to Kaua`i these people sure knew where to find marks for their con.
Over the past month they paid $50 a pop for a series of paid email advertisements sent our by Richard Diamond (nee Moll) via his Museletter emailing list.
Kaua`i is thought to be a “vortex” for many mainland new agers and Diamond’s Museletter is the main place they go to find latest in new-age “services”.
Though Diamond’s popular daily listing of all things odd-ball “spiritual”- as well as various and sundry other more mundane offerings like cars and places for rent- is free, he also accepts paid advertising for “single page blasts” to his purported 2000 plus active addresses.
Diamond told us yesterday that he will send out the Walsh article via his Museletter when he comes back from his current vacation but declined to send out a “one page blast”- which are continuing while the Museletter is on hiatus- alerting his readers of the hoax.
The local newspaper has yet to publish anything else on the subject despite “comments” on the article at their web site replete with the URLs for both Walsh’s piece and the Wikipedia entry.
Friday, April 2, 2010
THEY WENT THAT-A-WAY:
THEY WENT THAT-A-WAY: Our piece on the directionally challenged nature of recent reporting by the county and local newspaper drew a few emails trying to clear up the confusion as to what exactly happened – or more to the point where- last Saturday when an heroic effort by a father apparently saved the lives of his two sons in the strong ocean currents off the notoriously treacherous Hanakapi`ai beach.
Some confusion might have been due to our own attempt at brevity in saying:
(W)hile there are a couple of “temporary” caves that “appear” on the Ke`e Beach side of Hanakapi`ai – usually in the summer but sometimes in the spring- there are never any that appear “around a bend” on the Kalalau side.
A friend who actually lived in the valley in the early 70’s mentioned the caves that are accessible at times down the beach on the Kalalau side but, as we said, the newspaper story referred to “around a bend” which we took to mean past the valley proper.
Either way, whether they were swept to the Kalalau side- which would be more likely due to the currents- or the Ke`e side something was wrong with the story.
Although out point was that the use of east, west, north and south rather than the island-friendly “in the direction of a location” description- causes more confusion than need be we were still trying to figure out what actually happened when we noted a comment posted yesterday, apparently from the father himself.
He cleared up the matter by saying that the use of the word “cave” was the real misnomer and indeed they were swept with the usual current toward Kalalau.
Although he reiterates the “west” description any examination of a map shows that at that point of Na Pali it is actually southwest and if anything more southerly then westerly... which reiterates our point as to the uselessness of the continental descriptions.
Although we haven’t been able to independently confirm that the comment was actually from the father, here apparently is his harrowing story of the rescue.
--------
I am the 43 year old father in the story. My sons were swept to the left of the Beach as you face the ocean. It is west. We were not in a cave but rather a small depression I was able to get us into just above the waterline. After I rounded the corner I only saw my younger son about 50 feet away in water that looked like the inside of a giant washing machine. Massive waves the size of cars pounded us. I thought Connor might be dead at that point because he was nowhere in sight. I went for Jack screaming for him to swim toward me with all of his strength, but I doubt anything could have been heard He would disappear under the massive waves for what seemed to be 15-20 seconds at a time then miraculously reappear. He is one tough little boy. Eventually we reached each other and I got him in the ring. The cliff walls were sheer and slimy, and the closest hand hold was way above my head an out of reach, but I was in the end able to get to it by timing the water rise. With one hand on I was able to push him up to a point where he could grab and he was able to pull himself to the first ledge. Just then a huge wave came and blasted him into the wall and back into the water. I got back in and we repeated the whole ordeal. When I got him up I shouted for him to climb as high as he could and he got into the small cave and he did a great job! I began looking around for Connor and to my amazement he was in the water about 15 or 20 feet from our location. He had been able to get onto a small rock but had gotten knocked off, I think by the same wave that had knocked Jack off. I was able to toss the end of the ring to him and pull him over to our location and got him up the rock and into the depression. This was not really what I would call a cave, more of a big edge barely out of the waves and extremely difficult to reach with the boys. We are reasonable rock climbers and my older son is a gymnast. timing the waves and not panicking was also key.
Some confusion might have been due to our own attempt at brevity in saying:
(W)hile there are a couple of “temporary” caves that “appear” on the Ke`e Beach side of Hanakapi`ai – usually in the summer but sometimes in the spring- there are never any that appear “around a bend” on the Kalalau side.
A friend who actually lived in the valley in the early 70’s mentioned the caves that are accessible at times down the beach on the Kalalau side but, as we said, the newspaper story referred to “around a bend” which we took to mean past the valley proper.
Either way, whether they were swept to the Kalalau side- which would be more likely due to the currents- or the Ke`e side something was wrong with the story.
Although out point was that the use of east, west, north and south rather than the island-friendly “in the direction of a location” description- causes more confusion than need be we were still trying to figure out what actually happened when we noted a comment posted yesterday, apparently from the father himself.
He cleared up the matter by saying that the use of the word “cave” was the real misnomer and indeed they were swept with the usual current toward Kalalau.
Although he reiterates the “west” description any examination of a map shows that at that point of Na Pali it is actually southwest and if anything more southerly then westerly... which reiterates our point as to the uselessness of the continental descriptions.
Although we haven’t been able to independently confirm that the comment was actually from the father, here apparently is his harrowing story of the rescue.
--------
I am the 43 year old father in the story. My sons were swept to the left of the Beach as you face the ocean. It is west. We were not in a cave but rather a small depression I was able to get us into just above the waterline. After I rounded the corner I only saw my younger son about 50 feet away in water that looked like the inside of a giant washing machine. Massive waves the size of cars pounded us. I thought Connor might be dead at that point because he was nowhere in sight. I went for Jack screaming for him to swim toward me with all of his strength, but I doubt anything could have been heard He would disappear under the massive waves for what seemed to be 15-20 seconds at a time then miraculously reappear. He is one tough little boy. Eventually we reached each other and I got him in the ring. The cliff walls were sheer and slimy, and the closest hand hold was way above my head an out of reach, but I was in the end able to get to it by timing the water rise. With one hand on I was able to push him up to a point where he could grab and he was able to pull himself to the first ledge. Just then a huge wave came and blasted him into the wall and back into the water. I got back in and we repeated the whole ordeal. When I got him up I shouted for him to climb as high as he could and he got into the small cave and he did a great job! I began looking around for Connor and to my amazement he was in the water about 15 or 20 feet from our location. He had been able to get onto a small rock but had gotten knocked off, I think by the same wave that had knocked Jack off. I was able to toss the end of the ring to him and pull him over to our location and got him up the rock and into the depression. This was not really what I would call a cave, more of a big edge barely out of the waves and extremely difficult to reach with the boys. We are reasonable rock climbers and my older son is a gymnast. timing the waves and not panicking was also key.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
TOO SMALL TO FLAIL
TOO SMALL TO FLAIL: The things that piss off the electorate really baffles us sometimes. Perhaps it’s the ease with which we fall for the misdirection ploy. Maybe it’s that when a scam is of the MEGO (my eyes glaze over) variety people go back to something they can understand rather than spend the extra time to figure it out.
But whatever it is it seems that the masses prefer to worry about getting a Woolworth’s Funereal (being nickeled and dimed to death) than receiving a full walletectomy.
That may explain why we generally get up in arms over the pennies our elected officials receive for their services instead of the legal- and not so legal- bribery system that is democracy American style which cost us untold riches on the back end.
A perfect example is Honolulu Advertiser columnist/blogger Dave Shapiro’s seemingly never ending crusade to mention the pay raise the legislature received a couple of years back at every opportunity as if it alone were at the root of all economic miseries.
But what Dave fails to mention other than occasionally and in passing is that the low pay for “part time” legislators has led to a system where the nature of the outside employment of most legislators is a direct result of the power of their positions.
It takes a special “boss” to let their employee spend three months away from their job as well as a slew of time between sessions. Just go down the list of legislators’ outside jobs and you will more often than not see “consultant”- usually with firms whose profits rise and fall with the actions of the legislature.
Combined with those direct bribes known as “campaign contributions” we’re stuck with a system that cost us billions in tax credits and special interest legislation often actually written by corporate crooks and cronies doling out the moolah..
But while we’re worried about the actual salaries that the reps and sens are being paid, keeping them low is what actually causes this fraudulent system to thrive.
In order to be a state legislator either you play the “consultant” game and ply the rubber chicken circuit or you’re independently wealthy. There’s no in-between and no opportunity for the citizen-legislator we all cite as ideal.
We’ve spoken to literally dozens of people over the years, ones who everyone wishes would run for office but don’t because they simply can’t afford it. Yet Shapiro and his mindless adherents want to keep the salaries at a low enough level to keep the current system in place.
And it’s the same nationally. This week we’ve noted four copies of a “chain letter” email we first started receiving about six months ago but has gone viral on the local progressive “lists”, entitled “An idea whose time has come”.
It reads:
For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws... The self-serving must stop....
This is the same congress that has not just allowed but perpetuated the fiscal system, bailing out Wall St. and the banks while people are being thrown out of their houses after being scammed by the self same crew- a crew that refills congressional campaign coffers like it’s a 7-11 refilling your 87 ounce Dr. Pepper.
Yet there’s no real regulation even proposed at this point for the banks or campaign finance. Instead the email proposes a:
28th Amendment to the United States Constitution
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ".
Are you freakin’ kidding? This is what gets your panties in a bunch? Not constitutional amendments denying the demented recent Supreme Court ruling confirming “corporate personhood” or the 30 year old “money is speech” ruling than makes public financing of elections a Herculean task if not an absolute joke?
Parenthetically that’s another tangential idiocy- people who say “I don’t want my tax dollars financing these politicians campaigns”. For every dollar we’d spend taking money out of political campaigns we’d be saving literally millions doled out to those that pay the legal bribes under the current system.
For instance we are now faced with a give-away to insurance companies instead of a single payer Medicare-for-all that would save us trillions because congress actually admits they are too controlled by campaign contributions to get it passed. It’s just one example of the cost of privately financed campaigns.
It’s the same stupid mentality that has people claiming the “moral hazard” of helping their neighbor payoff the impossible mortgage the bank scammed them into while thinking the trillions given out to “too big to fail” institutions was done in order to “save the financial system”.
It’s the same idiotic cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face “pay cuts for the legislature” mantra that actually makes sure that they have to live a shady existence to survive and serve at the same time.
Get off it folks. While we argue with the teller over the quality of the free toaster they’re giving out in the front of the bank the CEOs are shoveling cash out the back door.
We’re just too distracted by our own petty jealousies and craven covetousness to notice the fixed nature of the game of three-card-Monte being played out on the corner.
But whatever it is it seems that the masses prefer to worry about getting a Woolworth’s Funereal (being nickeled and dimed to death) than receiving a full walletectomy.
That may explain why we generally get up in arms over the pennies our elected officials receive for their services instead of the legal- and not so legal- bribery system that is democracy American style which cost us untold riches on the back end.
A perfect example is Honolulu Advertiser columnist/blogger Dave Shapiro’s seemingly never ending crusade to mention the pay raise the legislature received a couple of years back at every opportunity as if it alone were at the root of all economic miseries.
But what Dave fails to mention other than occasionally and in passing is that the low pay for “part time” legislators has led to a system where the nature of the outside employment of most legislators is a direct result of the power of their positions.
It takes a special “boss” to let their employee spend three months away from their job as well as a slew of time between sessions. Just go down the list of legislators’ outside jobs and you will more often than not see “consultant”- usually with firms whose profits rise and fall with the actions of the legislature.
Combined with those direct bribes known as “campaign contributions” we’re stuck with a system that cost us billions in tax credits and special interest legislation often actually written by corporate crooks and cronies doling out the moolah..
But while we’re worried about the actual salaries that the reps and sens are being paid, keeping them low is what actually causes this fraudulent system to thrive.
In order to be a state legislator either you play the “consultant” game and ply the rubber chicken circuit or you’re independently wealthy. There’s no in-between and no opportunity for the citizen-legislator we all cite as ideal.
We’ve spoken to literally dozens of people over the years, ones who everyone wishes would run for office but don’t because they simply can’t afford it. Yet Shapiro and his mindless adherents want to keep the salaries at a low enough level to keep the current system in place.
And it’s the same nationally. This week we’ve noted four copies of a “chain letter” email we first started receiving about six months ago but has gone viral on the local progressive “lists”, entitled “An idea whose time has come”.
It reads:
For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws... The self-serving must stop....
This is the same congress that has not just allowed but perpetuated the fiscal system, bailing out Wall St. and the banks while people are being thrown out of their houses after being scammed by the self same crew- a crew that refills congressional campaign coffers like it’s a 7-11 refilling your 87 ounce Dr. Pepper.
Yet there’s no real regulation even proposed at this point for the banks or campaign finance. Instead the email proposes a:
28th Amendment to the United States Constitution
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ".
Are you freakin’ kidding? This is what gets your panties in a bunch? Not constitutional amendments denying the demented recent Supreme Court ruling confirming “corporate personhood” or the 30 year old “money is speech” ruling than makes public financing of elections a Herculean task if not an absolute joke?
Parenthetically that’s another tangential idiocy- people who say “I don’t want my tax dollars financing these politicians campaigns”. For every dollar we’d spend taking money out of political campaigns we’d be saving literally millions doled out to those that pay the legal bribes under the current system.
For instance we are now faced with a give-away to insurance companies instead of a single payer Medicare-for-all that would save us trillions because congress actually admits they are too controlled by campaign contributions to get it passed. It’s just one example of the cost of privately financed campaigns.
It’s the same stupid mentality that has people claiming the “moral hazard” of helping their neighbor payoff the impossible mortgage the bank scammed them into while thinking the trillions given out to “too big to fail” institutions was done in order to “save the financial system”.
It’s the same idiotic cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face “pay cuts for the legislature” mantra that actually makes sure that they have to live a shady existence to survive and serve at the same time.
Get off it folks. While we argue with the teller over the quality of the free toaster they’re giving out in the front of the bank the CEOs are shoveling cash out the back door.
We’re just too distracted by our own petty jealousies and craven covetousness to notice the fixed nature of the game of three-card-Monte being played out on the corner.
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