Access to Mauna Kea

[Jimbo2017]

Tom. OMKM was involved the whole time. They are reporting directly to police. If the observatories have their own list or way contact authorities, then that speaks to the lack of communication of people with State agencies in this response.

Mauka Hilo-side

[dan d]

Not sure where to post this,

KIM a few loads short of a full barrel . Mustard gas???????


They called me because I could pass word on to the governor because this was a State Operation,” Kim answered. “With DOCARE people and sheriffs and police officers. And Governor – obviously a very difficult decision – said, no, we should not force physical force.”

“The question was of tasers. Question was mustard gas,” Kim said, although he later acknowledged to Hawaii News Now that “mustard gas” – a chemical warfare agent – was said in error and was never in the police toolkit.



HPP

[randomq]

Maui's mayor put a quick stop to road-blocking on Haleakala, arresting the very same folks now protesting on Mauna Kea:

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/08/1...b5a096dc91

quote:

---

While the Maui incidents weren’t exactly on the same scale, former Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa says authorities handling the TMT protest would have been wise to follow Maui’s example.

“We didn’t fool around,” Arakawa recalled. “It was, this is what the law is, and this is how you enforce it.”

Arakawa said the time for negotiation with TMT protesters was long past as the $1.4 billion project survived a lengthy governmental review plus legal challenges that went all the way to the state Supreme Court.

“It comes down to a simple question: Are we a community of laws, or are we a community where anyone who raises an objection can defy those laws?” he said. “We are legally bound to uphold the laws of the state of Hawaii and the U.S. That’s our obligation.

“We’re going to let a handful of people stop what most people believe is a good project? It hardly makes sense in a democratic society,” he said.

Arakawa said authorities should have taken decisive action at the beginning of the TMT protest because the task is only going to get harder.

---

[Chunkster]

“It comes down to a simple question: Are we a community of laws, or are we a community where anyone who raises an objection can defy those laws?” he said. “We are legally bound to uphold the laws of the state of Hawaii and the U.S. That’s our obligation.

Gee, d'ya think?

State Senator Elaine Inouye has become one of the few Hawaii politicians currently in office to take a clear stand in favor of clearing the road and building the TMT. Read her letter to Ige here:

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...-its-time/

From the letter, bolding mine:

Make no mistake, our future — and our children’s future — is at stake.

Although I take exception to her use of the offensive term "host culture," I give her kudos for speaking the overriding truth.

[rainyjim]

Chunkster, not that I disagree with you, but why do you find ‘host culture’ offensive?

[kalakoa]

Maui's mayor put a quick stop to road-blocking on Haleakala

Maui is somewhat more functional than the Big Island.

[Punatic007]

quote:

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Originally posted by rainyjim

Chunkster, not that I disagree with you, but why do you find ‘host culture’ offensive?

---

Can I answer that? Because it's unconstitutional. We are all equal under the law. How I host is just as important as how my polynesian descent friends host. No special privileges for anyone, in the eyes of the law.

[ironyak]

Punatic007 - Because it's unconstitutional. We are all equal under the law. No special privileges for anyone, in the eyes of the law.

Um, HI State Constitution, Article XII says otherwise (e.g. I don't have any rights to access undeveloped private property to practice traditional gathering)

"The State and its people do further agree and declare that the spirit of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act looking to the continuance of the Hawaiian homes projects for the further rehabilitation of the Hawaiian race shall be faithfully carried out.
...
The State reaffirms and shall protect all rights, customarily and traditionally exercised for subsistence, cultural and religious purposes and possessed by ahupua'a tenants who are descendants of native Hawaiians who inhabited the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778, subject to the right of the State to regulate such rights."

[Chunkster]

The term "host culture" implies that everyone who isn't Hawaiian is only a guest here and thus not really entitled to call Hawaii home. As Punatic007 correctly points out, and the current situation on Mauna Kea confirms, that concept feeds into the Animal Farm political concept of "All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others." It is clearly unconstitutional. Add the fact that politicians use "host culture" terminology to pander to such discriminatory ideology, and perhaps you can understand my distaste for it.

Now it won't take long for some protester or apologist to come along and say, "Our kingdom was illegally stolen," or "The XYZ Court of International Justice says we have a case!" The fact remains that this is part and parcel of the United States of America because 92% voted for Statehood in 1959 in a free and open election. That is not reversible.

@Ironyak: Just because no one has gotten around to contesting them doesn't mean that those articles of the state constitution you quote would meet U.S. Constitutional standards. The current SCOTUS might easily overturn them as race based rather than treaty based as some Native American rights are.

[kalakoa]

this is part and parcel of the United States of America because 92% voted for Statehood in 1959

There are those who claim the election was improper and so the results should be invalidated... sound familiar?

"I don't like the result, clearly the process is flawed."