Mauna Kea visitor center reopens
The visitor center on Mauna Kea was reopened this weekend after a month closure that supposedly forbid access by the public.
And yet, for that entire month, the state has allowed the protesters opposing construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to remain camped across the street.
To me, this illustrates where the state’s loyalties lie. They might talk a tough game, but they are really doing nothing to enforce the law and the legally negotiated agreements between the astronomical community and the various Hawaiian cultural institutions that had agreed on the conditions for building TMT. By allowing the protesters to continue to break the law and set up house on the mountain, the state is saying they really want construction to cease.
I say, maybe the time has come for astronomers to agree, and move lock, stock, and barrel south to Chile. In addition, maybe tourists should consider other places to visit, rather than a place that exhibits such hostility to outsiders.
Readers!
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Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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The visitor center on Mauna Kea was reopened this weekend after a month closure that supposedly forbid access by the public.
And yet, for that entire month, the state has allowed the protesters opposing construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) to remain camped across the street.
To me, this illustrates where the state’s loyalties lie. They might talk a tough game, but they are really doing nothing to enforce the law and the legally negotiated agreements between the astronomical community and the various Hawaiian cultural institutions that had agreed on the conditions for building TMT. By allowing the protesters to continue to break the law and set up house on the mountain, the state is saying they really want construction to cease.
I say, maybe the time has come for astronomers to agree, and move lock, stock, and barrel south to Chile. In addition, maybe tourists should consider other places to visit, rather than a place that exhibits such hostility to outsiders.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
More liberal sanctioned law breaking.
Occupy Hawaii.
Unrelated but related:
I watched a very beautiful helicopter fly over of all of the Hawaiian islands the other night, stunning! From the youngest, the big Island, of about 800 thousand years old, to the oldest, about 6 million years old, you can plainly and dramatically see the effects of erosion on the islands, the youngest is very big and very lush in vegetation and as you go North you can see how the islands are worn down by the atmosphere and erosion until you get to the oldest which is almost like a flat desert compared to the most Southern island.
Q: Since erosion is obviously diminishing and “threatening” the islands existence and is “adversely” impacting the environment of the Hawaiian people shouldn’t the government declare erosion as one of the most important issues to address and control? Is erosion a national security threat?
“Since erosion is obviously diminishing and “threatening” the islands existence and is “adversely” impacting the environment of the Hawaiian people shouldn’t the government declare erosion as one of the most important issues to address and control? Is erosion a national security threat?”
Perhaps the EPA should ban it?
There are islands to the North that were above sea level and that are very much under water as we speak, islands that have been “destroyed” by the atmosphere and erosion. The logic would follow that if we in fact control the climate to what ever degree that this would be something to be looked into to stop this threat.
The verifiable evidence does seem to indicate a valid threat to the security of the United States and the world for that matter and it should probably be looked into. Unlike “global warming” there is no question that this erosion threat exists.
I reiterate that it should always be the policy of government and industry to execute the highest levels of proven technology and developing technology in order to produce the cleanest energy and other industrial activities, in other words pollution.
“I reiterate that it should always be the policy of government and industry to execute the highest levels of proven technology and developing technology in order to produce the cleanest energy and other industrial activities, in other words pollution”
So in other words, we should be going 100% nuclear.
Its never a good thing to think about things in such absolute terms, there is stability in diversity as a general rule. Many reasonable ways to skin the energy cat.
Not only should we be building Nuclear plants, we should be spending money on fusion research instead of windmills……
I lived in Honolulu in 2000 while working on a Federal contract. I witnessed open racism and bigotry on the part of some Polynesians, to the point that I had equipment stolen from the job site and was confronted about why we didn’t hire Hawai’ians for the job (answer: because there weren’t any qualified people available). If you’re White and visiting Hawai’i, it’s probably a great place: if you live there; not so much. There wasn’t a week that went by where there wasn’t some sort of agitation against people of pallor.
King Kamehameha is one of my heroes, but his people often fail to live up to his standard (MLK would understand). There’s only one place in Hawai’i I want to see, but other than that, I’ll take my money elsewhere.