09-25-2019, 04:03 AM
hoping you might have taken things seriously
I'm not the one bending over backwards to make sure that a small vocal minority gets its way over the interests of the larger population. From where I sit, nobody is taking any of this seriously: I have yet to see any substantive action, just endless words. It's especially "serious" when the Attorney General uses the word "unlawful" ... and then promptly does nothing.
Hence this commentary: if we're not going to use anything stronger than words, then the telescope community might as well hire expensive lawyers to use the biggest words possible, printed on nice letterhead, hand-delivered. I think the words "breach of public trust" might apply, or at least "breach of contract", assuming that the ground lease terms stipulate access and/or availability of the land for the intended purpose.
so many local people's jobs and futures are being affected
I hate to point this out, but: those people should have thought of that before they moved here. The islands have a very limited job market, and local employment is not guaranteed. Anything could happen, from a volcanic eruption to a hurricane to a newly-empowered "native" population deciding they've had enough and the rest of you can go back where they came from.
Another thought: if the protestors want to claim "native", perhaps we should sequence the DNA of every single one, and only allow protest rights to those with a minimum 50% blood quanta. If anyone can assert their "rights" just by claiming to be Hawaiian, well then I'm Hawaiian too, where can I set up my unpermitted structures on beneficiary land? I would like a personal acre, but I can make do with a quarter-acre, especially if it comes with good road access and a set of colorful flags.
I'm not the one bending over backwards to make sure that a small vocal minority gets its way over the interests of the larger population. From where I sit, nobody is taking any of this seriously: I have yet to see any substantive action, just endless words. It's especially "serious" when the Attorney General uses the word "unlawful" ... and then promptly does nothing.
Hence this commentary: if we're not going to use anything stronger than words, then the telescope community might as well hire expensive lawyers to use the biggest words possible, printed on nice letterhead, hand-delivered. I think the words "breach of public trust" might apply, or at least "breach of contract", assuming that the ground lease terms stipulate access and/or availability of the land for the intended purpose.
so many local people's jobs and futures are being affected
I hate to point this out, but: those people should have thought of that before they moved here. The islands have a very limited job market, and local employment is not guaranteed. Anything could happen, from a volcanic eruption to a hurricane to a newly-empowered "native" population deciding they've had enough and the rest of you can go back where they came from.
Another thought: if the protestors want to claim "native", perhaps we should sequence the DNA of every single one, and only allow protest rights to those with a minimum 50% blood quanta. If anyone can assert their "rights" just by claiming to be Hawaiian, well then I'm Hawaiian too, where can I set up my unpermitted structures on beneficiary land? I would like a personal acre, but I can make do with a quarter-acre, especially if it comes with good road access and a set of colorful flags.