TMT groundbreaking - live

[Punatic007]

quote:

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Originally posted by rainyjim

I am glad that we have this opportunity to share our differing views on these hawai'i centric topics here on punaweb.

After seeing all of these varying viewpoints I am now leaning towards agreeing with the sentiment put forth by a few already:

These protesters seem focused on a 'shake down' they saw an opportunity to squeeze some 'heavy pockets' and are capitalizing on it.

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Makes sense given this protest is irrationally based, and not too hard a crowd to manipulate, the brainwashed apologists in guilt mode. It also has a strong edge of disrespect, another sign of sinister hidden motives.

[Chas]

Forgive me if this was already posted. I looked back through the thread but didn't see anything about it.

TMT has new website to counter "misinformation"

News article here:
http://www.kitv.com/news/TMT-tries-to-co...n/32353330

Website here:
http://www.maunakeaandtmt.org

[Chunkster]

I overheard two protesters talking in the Safeway parking lot this morning as I loaded my groceries. They were worried about proponents of TMT getting better organized and having demonstrations and petition drives of their own. "We've gotta make sure people don't accept them as a grass-roots movement, or we're in trouble." Says a lot right there.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

They were worried about proponents of TMT getting better organized

Like if TMT supporters placed a roadblock 100 yards down-slope from the protesters to check who's going up the mountain, and then the protesters would need to set up another roadblock 100 yards in front of the supporters...

Pretty soon Saddle Road will be the largest population center on the island, and we'll all have to quit our jobs and become multi-border patrol agents.

[kalakoa]

soon Saddle Road will be the largest population center on the island

...but will the new town have high-speed internet?

[ironyak]

Originally posted by rainyjim
These protesters seem focused on a 'shake down' they saw an opportunity to squeeze some 'heavy pockets' and are capitalizing on it.

I tend to understand, and often agree, with your posts, but this one has got me stumped. Can you walk through how you came to this conclusion? In particular, how is the support shown by thousands that rallied in Honolulu or the 46,000+ signatures on the petition is explained as part of this 'shake-down'?

[OnoOno]

quote:

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Originally posted by ironyak

Originally posted by rainyjim
These protesters seem focused on a 'shake down' they saw an opportunity to squeeze some 'heavy pockets' and are capitalizing on it.

I tend to understand, and often agree, with your posts, but this one has got me stumped. Can you walk through how you came to this conclusion? In particular, how is the support shown by thousands that rallied in Honolulu or the 46,000+ signatures on the petition is explained as part of this 'shake-down'?

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It appears they won't leave until they are paid off .... or bulldozed off.

There are a lot of empty people with empty lives who glom onto any crack-pot "cause de jure" in an attempt to give themselves meaning.

Ono - So Fast - So Tasty!

[PunaMauka2]

ironyak,

the striving for objectivity and non-judgmental pep talk sounds good, but by the same token beware the fallacy of the golden mean in this case. there comes a time to assess what we have gathered, sometimes what we find is not so balanced. perhaps for you much of this is rather new and unusual, so i can understand to a point ...to a point that is. on this matter i have wearily seen much more than enough, time and again, first hand, to clearly identify and understand the ugliness and often ridiculous hypocrisy permeating this particular line of activism here. i've simply seen and heard too much close up to feign an objective opinion-gathering stance on the hooplah. some may try to frame conveying witnessing all this over an extended period of time as "anti-Hawaiian", which would be complete and utter nonsense, BS of either the naive or disingenuous kind. psst, it's all kinds skin tones caught up in this raised fist wacky wing protest fetish, don't be fooled into believing we are witnessing some righteous mystical link to the past.

but yeah... sally forth.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

for reasons only known to himself

That amount of self awareness might in fact be true dakine, but let's not jump to conclusions just yet

[Obie]

Another well written article that explains what is going on:

http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/04/as-maun...bout-jobs/

I really like these two statements !

Richard Ha, a Big Island resident and banana farmer, thinks a lot of Big Island residents feel similar to Kay. Ha, who is also Hawaiian, thinks that members of a younger generation are driving the activism because they weren’t around when he and others were testifying about the proposal. While there are many older people who support the blockade, the leaders of the effort tend to be in their 20s, and college campus protests abound.


“It’s not like we didn’t do anything,” Ha said, recalling the public hearings he attended to share his concerns about the telescope’s impacts. “The folks that are in college now, they were in the ninth grade when we started. They were not in the room, they had no idea what took place.”

From Ha’s perspective, many Big Island residents don’t want to appear disrespectful to Hawaiians but are afraid of losing educational opportunities for their kids if the telescope isn’t built.

TMT has pledged to spend a million dollars a year to help Big Island students learn science, technology, engineering and math. The organization has already given half a million dollars to more than 30 classrooms on the Big Island. The organization is also launching a separate program to help get college students and others into the workforce.

That sounds good to Arlene Hussey, who runs the farmers market in Laupahoehoe. Hussey, who moved to Hilo in 1963, remembers taking part in protests against the development of the hotels Hapuna Prince and Mauna Lani when she was younger. But she said she hasn’t heard prominent Hawaiian elders on the Big Island speak out about the Thirty Meter Telescope, which makes her skeptical of the blockade.

“When I read their website all I see is anger and frustration,” she said of the activists. “You get national news, you get five minutes of fame, you get arrested — what does that accomplish?”

• Civil Beat reporter Jessica Terrell contributed to this