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Hawaii governor extends halt to construction of telescope

Bowing to extortion: The governor of Hawaii has extended her stop order on the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope at Mauna Kea because of the protests of about 30 people.

I am sorry, but I remain very skeptical about the real motives of most of these protesters. In every previous example, the reasons for the protests always vanished as soon as the protesters got a deal and some cash for their trouble. I suspect this is what is going to happen this time as well.

They aren’t protecting their “sacred site” on Mauna Kea. They are using the sacredness of the site to extort cash and favors from the state and the telescope operation.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

3 comments

  • Cotour

    Are the Hawaiians religious freedoms and beliefs being trampled upon? Are they being forced by the state and the moneyed powers that be to tolerate a giant crown of technology to be built on top of their sacred religious site?

    This will be interesting to see if even more money or favor on another area of concern can “adjust” the religious beliefs of the Hawaiians. And if that does not happen where will this end up, in a dead end for one of the prime research sites on the planet?

    And if their beliefs can be adjusted what will that say about such things and how government deals with it in the future?

  • Edward

    If the site were so sacred or if their religious rights were being trampled upon, the site would have been rejected in the first place. The religion would have won the fight during the site location phase.

    Robert is almost certainly correct. In the real world, it is when the funds start flowing, when workers are sitting around getting paid to do nothing, that extortion tactics work best. Extortionists posing as environmentalists may have invented the tactic about four decades ago.

  • PeterF

    If I had a say in the development, I would cut my losses and lay off all the workers. So sad Governor but that “jobs” program was obviously not as important as political correctness. 1.2 Billion would go a long way to converting the current land based telescope design into a space based instrument. or maybe even a lunar instrument if they can wait?

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