http://themomhui.com/Kauai Snarklectic would like to honor all of the Mothers that take a stand against things worldwide. Many times, the worst antagonizers of these women are other women. On Kaua'i, that woman is Joan Conrow. | |||
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| THE MOM HUI: Grass roots, Local, mostly Native Hawaiian, no hippies or trust fund babies here. Yet, Joan Conrow would have you believe much different about this group. The founder, part of the Ritte Ohana, has been constantly under brutal fire from Joan Conrow and her ilk, ever since the issue of GMO's came up all across the state. Joan frequently ripped the flesh of of Walter Rittes bones in her scathing blogposts regarding him, and his efforts to support efforts on Kaua'i. Joan, does NOT support Native Hawaiians, she merely uses them for her own personal gain, for either sensationalism, name dropping or nosing in on some "story" she is "covering" as a "Journalist", to use as fodder against them some day when she wants too, and is in the mood for it. Joan is no friend of the Moms Hui, Hawaiians, or frankly anyone else for that matter. Don't believe us? Check out the next pic to see why. |
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| If you will notice, every single group or organization or person listed here is regularly on Joan's hit list. And not just sometimes, but with the frequency of the average heartbeat. No love here from Joan and her kind, in the Pro GMO, Anti 2491/bill 960/Regulate the GMO cronies. Yap, going against women and mothers. That is what Joan Conrow is good at. But before we get into the nitty gritty of Joan's brutal angst against women and mothers, lets have a look at who exactly is running the show at the Mom Hui. Joan usually says it is hippies, mainland transplants, trust fund babies or Uber wealthy rich money from somewhere else other then Hawaii. Hmm, well let's just see if Joan the Saint of all Snark and the Mother of all Twisted Commentary is right about that. |
MERCY RITTE HAWAIIAN BORN AND RAISED FOUNDER OF MOM HUI
KAUA'IS REPRESENTATIVE (ALAKA'I) BORN AND RAISED KAUAI HAWAIIAN
BIG ISLAND REPRESENTATIVE(ALAKA'I)BORN AND RAISED BIG ISLAND HAWAIIAN
MAUI REPRESENTATIVE(ALAKA'I)BIG ISLAND BORN AND RAISED
OAHU REPRESENTATIVE DECADES INVOLVED< RAISED UP BY AN ORGANIC FARMER PLANTATION HERITAGE
So, let's see what Joan has to say about people involved with the MOM HUI, and the kinds of groups, and people that they support and support them, shall we? Hang on to your seats kiddies, this is a LONG POST.
NOMI CARMONA< WEARING A MOM HUI TSHIRT< WRITES A LETTER TO JOAN CONROW AND GETS A RESPONSE> READ NOMI'S ENTIRE POST HERE:
In Response to Ms. Conrow’s numerous degrading and libelous posts about myself and Babes
Against Biotech:
Aloha Ms. Conrow,
It is my generation that has been fed GMOs practically since birth, which your generation allowed
and fed to us. We are, like many groups, taking over the torch for our kupuna who have been
working on this issue and are tired and that is why I am sending you this note. Out of respect for
your being my elder and on behalf of those in my generation who will not tolerate the conditions
left to us by prior generations. If GMO animal feeding studies are any indication, our natural born
right to procreate safely may be lost with the widespread consumption of pesticide laden GMO
foods. If we don’t start addressing these issues alongside our reproduction and the effects of
agrochemicals on human reproduction, it is not you who will have to deal with the repercussions,
it is our grandchildren and their children however many we are able to produce. We need to
reach each other to protect our future generations and you may be surprised to know, our
supporters are a majority of women of many age ranges especially 2534.
We are primarily in an
age group that is making families right now and becoming Aunties and Mothers and we are
deeply concerned we are in a toxic, agricultural and genetic crisis.
I think it is time we meet Joan so I can try to understand what I have done to create this hostility
from you. If you would like to meet me personally so we could talk, I would really like to
understand why you are so upset with me and/or Babes Against Biotech. If I have done
something to offend you, I would like to clear it up personally with you. You may not approve of
our generation’s lifestyle, what with the bikinis and the Instagram and the Twitter, but this is how
we live. We don’t come to the Capitol in bikinis and boardshorts, but you must understand we
live in beach communities in the Hawaiian islands and we are not ashamed of our lifestyles. We
are not attempting to be something we are not, we are not attempting to force ourselves into
some other version of what you or other people think we should be. We are happy, empowered
women and men who love the genes we are in and are not ashamed of the human form. In fact
we find it precious and beautiful and want to protect the gene pool and future generations from
GMOs and related pesticides. The bulk of our work is in policy and political research and any one
of our members or subscribers could tell you that. I know you know that since you are a
journalist.
"I personally find it offensive to suggest that because of the way I look, or what I am wearing, that
you have the right to insult me or degrade me. We do not degrade ourselves, we are not
ashamed of our bodies or our thoughts but what you do attacking us, degrades us. Our definition
of feminism supports and celebrates other women and each woman’s right to choose how to
live and be themselves in their very own special way. Babes Against Biotech is rooted in a
sisterhood, we support one another, we love each other, and we celebrate one another’s rare
gifts, unique heritage and puzzle pieces. We want to help remind people why our genetic
heritage is important and we need to protect our genes, no matter where you come from, your
DNA made you specifically and is cherished and we want to insulate it from potential damagedue to genetic manipulation by a highly unregulated industry".
According to a major recent study which Harvard and Johns Hopkins took part in, whole genes
may transfer from diet into the bloodstream, what we are eating affects the DNA in our blood (1)
and we are concerned. We care about that and about being able to maintain ethnic and genetic
diversity which strengthens the population. The calendar BAB are told to wear whatever they
want and shoot in their favorite places in nature because we want to celebrate their unique DNA
and show their connection with the earth. No one is feeling degraded and certainly not
dehumanized, rather we are very human and not ashamed. We are happy to show the world
how much we love and treasure one another and how together, appreciating our femininity,
masculinity or definitions in between, we will grow together to protect our future children. If a BAB
said she wanted to wear a sleeping bag for her photo shoot, we would support that! We do not
encourage our members to be ashamed of their looks, their bodies or what they are wearing,
rather we support them in our shared vision with respect to their autonomous choices and
working within the frame of their personal decisions.
A true feminist, to us and many who support us, does not attack other women on the basis of
their looks, or what they are wearing, we would call that discrimination and hatred toward
women. The hatred toward other women coupled with insecurity leading to unhealthy
relationships are my largest concerns within female mentality today. You are essentially
insinuating that because of how I look, how I live and how I present myself, that my intellectual
capacity is diminished. That is truly a shame and I implore that you look at all women as valuable
with minds valuable regardless of their appearance.
I request that you please work with our generation and understand we are not you, we are
ourselves, we have different frames of reference and likely different lifestyles. To insinuate a
woman must appear to you a certain way in order to gain your respect, is in my opinion,
antifeminist
in itself. A true feminist as we hope to help redefine
it, supports and is supported by
her fellow sisters empowered to choose for themselves what they would like to do to contribute
to the greater good. This is our choice, no one has forced us to do this, we are happy to do this
and we are invigorating many of our peers on the issue which fosters our sisterhood and in turn
the brotherhood that we call Bros Against Biotech. By disrespecting our choices to live as we
see fit and engage with our peers, you are disrespecting these women and men. You disrespect
my human right to choose my lifestyle based on your opinion of what is appropriate. It seems
you have curried favor with the biotech industry by attacking Babes Against Biotech and
numerous other Bill 2491 supporters who are working to defend future generations from
pesticide poisoning and GMO contamination. You may not agree with our lifestyle, but I spend no
time attacking you yet you have time to repeatedly attack me. We do not feel degraded by our
own actions or we would not commit them. How is your behavior not degrading toward us?
The legal definition of discrimination includes the unequal treatment of persons, for a reason
which has nothing to do with legal rights or ability, based on race, nationality, creed, color, age,
sex or sexual orientation. I am sorry Ms. Conrow but your posts against us are discriminatingand perpetuating discrimination against myself and Babes Against Biotech on the basis of our
creed, because you do not agree with our system of beliefs, opinions and principles. In addition,
the appearance discrimination you are publishing is in the words of the Washington Post: “Just
like racial or gender discrimination, discrimination based on irrelevant physical characteristics
reinforces insidious stereotypes and undermines equalopportunity
principles based on merit
and performance.”
I am sure this is not your intention, to discriminate against people of different demographics than
your own. These are our choices, not yours, these are our beliefs, and a growing number of
individuals share them. Some do not and we wish them aloha. They do not have to join us, but
we send them our love. We however, do not spend time discriminating against you and we ask
that you do not spend time discriminating against us. To me, I am doing my best to be respectful
to you because I consider you an Aunty in terms of societal respect where even if you wish me
harm, I wish you well. In the same token, please respect my right to speak up for my generation
and the choices of Babes Against Biotech.
Furthermore, according to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation "also
refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and
membership in a community of others who share those attractions." We are attracted to people
who resist genetic contamination and the global takeover of our food supply by GMO producing
chemical companies. Just like the weeds and bugs are evolving to resist the repeated pesticide
spraying, so are we. Our sexual orientation includes finding attractive other human beings who
understand the risks of and work to prevent the dangers of open air genetic engineering and
pesticide abuse particularly in regards to our agricultural and food commodities. Our sexual
orientation is one that wishes to procreate with equally conscious individuals or have the choice
to do so safely. Therefore it could also be possible you are discriminating against our sexual
orientation which for us is more about the right to procreate safely in healthy environments with
well aware individuals, respect to natural genetics, natural evolution and reproduction, and less
about your desire to classify us as “T&A.” If due to the long exploited issues surrounding truly
degrading women (See ‘Boobs Against Biology,’) you cannot view the female form in its natural
state without classifying it as degrading, it may be a reflection of your views of women. If you are
unable to view people in their natural state without simply seeing them as “tits and ass,” that may
be more of a reflection of your personal perspective of humanity rather than any negative
insinuation about our support and aloha for all mankind, including their bodies. We love our other
human beings, including you. I pray for you Aunty, because I feel you must be really upset to
spend so much time attacking someone who doesn’t even have any kind of personal relationship
to you and I am going out of my way to be kind to you. I have even publicly asked over ten
thousand of our supporters to send you aloha and reach out to you kindly to support the good
work you have done regardless of your repeated attacks because to me, you are my Aunty and I
love you anyways though I can see you do not understand me.
Also no, I am not Mexican, in case someone was hoping to discriminate against me based on
race or origin as well. I am Cuban, B. Sicilian, Greek, English, German, Scotch and Irish hanaithese chemical companies the generations before us left us. I won’t live a lie and pretend to be
someone I am not to please you and I don’t think my peers should have to either. My testimonies
relay facts with in depth campaign fund analysis and statewide political assessment from the
last two years of my life which I have dedicated full time to environmental and agricultural
protection, GMO regulation and pesticide policy in Hawaii.
Just because I don’t look the way you require a woman to look in order to gain your respect as a
human being, does not mean I am not doing good work with my peers. Just because I am
photographed in bikinis, does not make me a murderer, exotic dancer or prostitute as you have
insinuated. What you are doing and encouraging is, in my generation of feminism, called:
"Slutshaming;"
that is, publicly or privately insulting a woman because she expressed her
sexuality in a way that does not conform with patriarchal expectations for women. Slut shaming
reenforces
the virgin/whore myth of female identitywomen
are either virgins and, like their
virginity, are worth protecting; or, they are whores, and because their hymen has already been
broken its okay to break their spirit or their bodies through psychological or physical violence.” (2)
It should be noted the word, “slut” does not have to be used to constitute “slutshaming.”
According to feminist and published author Soraya Chemaly, slut shaming is, “embarrassing,
insulting or otherwise denigrating a girl or woman for her real or extrapolated sexual behavior,
including for dressing in a sexual way, having sexual feelings and/or exploring and exhibiting
them.” (3) I encourage you to research slutshaming
and why many people across the world are
standing up to the kind of actions you have taken against me and expel the idea that archaic
definitions of appropriate sexuality should condone or excuse attacking a woman for her
sexuality or the assumption thereof, whether true or false regarding her sexuality or alleged
sexuality. Insinuating that someone you don’t like is comparable to a murdering, exotic dancing,
prostitute constitutes both libel and slutshaming.
I respectfully disagree with the false statements you have made about me but I respect your
legal and philosophical right to your opinion excepting slander and libel. In case you are not
aware of the Hawaii defamation qualities of libel they include:
1. A false or defamatory statement;
2. An unprivileged publication to a 3rd party;
3. Existence of negligent fault or actual malice when the plaintiff is a public figure;
4. “actionability
of the statement irrespective of special harm or the existence of special
harm caused by the publication.” (4)
In addition, defamation per se is recognized legally in Hawaii, “when the statement under review
is harmful, in it of itself. As such, the plaintiff does not have to prove harm, as it is assumed that
the mere accusation resulted in significant reputational harm for the plaintiff In Hawaii, the
following types of accusations are considered defamatory per se:
1. Criminal conduct
2. Trade libel
3. Loathsome disease4. Certain sexual accusations” (4)
I want to resolve your anger toward me and know more about who you are and why you feel so
heavily toward me. Insinuating I would engage in a lap dance in a public hearing, comparing me
to a convicted murderer and prostitute who was apparently molested in jail, is uncalled for, and
literally by definition “a published false statement” to damage my reputation; a written defamation
(libel) and in my personal opinion, not incredibly mature. Depending on the jurisdiction, libel can
be either a civil or criminal offense. I think you may be mistaken about who I am if you truly
believe what you have written about me and I urge you to reconsider the repeated
sexualitybased
attacks against women including myself.
We are all learning, I forgive you, regardless of whether or not you apologize and I would like to
humble myself, and ask for your time despite your numerous public insults against me. I can
only hope for the best and hope that you would be willing to listen to someone else’s perspective.
Let’s squash this and get back to the issues that matter like, stopping the continued poisoning of
kids and community members. That’s what it is, frankly. Because I am blunt with that does not
mean I am inaccurate, I just have a different style and identity than you and what you are used to.
That’s okay. You don’t have to like me, this is a free world, but I would encourage you to spend
more time working on productive efforts you support rather than tearing down other women
because you don’t like the way they look, their sexual identity or their lifestyle choices. It is no
different than bullying someone for their appearance, beliefs or sexual orientation. Let’s change
the future and shift the dynamic from verbally assaulting women you don’t agree with to finding
what we do have in common and working together for the good toward our shared interests.
I would like to invite you, Joan Conrow, to please sit down with me and let’s figure out what I can
do to make peace with you. We as people do not have time for this kind of libelous nonsense
being written by you in this blog. There is a lot of work to be done and we can either work
together, or agree to disagree and be aloha, or you can be upset and have a really hard time
every time we cross your mind and the people who support us and know otherwise will start to
tune you out as many already have due to your consistent attacks against Bill 2491 supporters.
You have done a lot of good work, let’s not spoil that now with slutshaming,
libel and
discrimination against people for their beliefs, sexual orientation and appearance. There are
more important issues than attacking a nonprofit
or woman that has, regardless of your opinion,
raised GMO awareness, which was the initial goal. We have certainly expanded since we started
and we are growing and evolving every day and I ask that you grant me the privilege of sitting
down with you to make pono whatever wrongdoing you feel I have committed against you that
you would repeatedly verbally attack other women.
It is with much love I am reaching out to you, so I can try to understand why you feel such
intense hatred toward myself and our organization and do my best to make that right with you
and learn in the process. You can reach me at nomi@babesagainstbiotech.org and I will be
available to meet with you, schedule permitting, any day before January 8th on Kauai.Much mahalo for reading and happy holidays.
Aloha,
Nomi Carmona
President
Babes Against Biotech
(+) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/
content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052002298.html
(1) http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0069805
(2) http://feministcampus.blogspot.com/2009/11/slutshamingvsrapejokes.
html
(3) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sorayachemaly/
areyouaslutshamerthe_
b_1093045.html
(4) http://kellywarnerlaw.com/hawaiidefamationlaws/
___________________________________________________________________________
Please scroll down to see
Ms. Conrow’s response in red:
“If anyone would like to read Nomi "BAB" Carmona's longwinded,
errorfilled,
repetitive, tedious,
condescending, selfjustifying
rant in response to this post, it can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JFrQmMqbHSsZebvls1AKQG5ZU4Q1PZoKtQE2TBJV8K
A/edit?usp=sharing
As an example of its idiocy, it starts with this:
It is my generation that has been fed GMOs practically since birth, which your generation
allowed, and fed to us.
Uh, Nomi, GMOs were not introduced into commercial farming until 1996. I'm pretty sure you're
older than 17. Plenty of folks in my generation, including me, were speaking out against GMOs
years before you sashayed onto the scene. So don't be lecturing me on an issue about which I
am far better informed than you.
If you want to be taken seriously, get your facts straight. Especially since you claim "The bulk of
our work is in policy and political research." December 30, 2013 at 11:56 AM
1
Aloha Ms. Conrow,
1 Scroll to next page for response from Nomi CarmonaI'm not misinformed, my generation is the Millennials, Generation Y. We were born between the
1980's and the 2000's. Specifically 19822002.
So, yeah... If you're going to pull the whole alleged
superiority thing then you should know. Kind of think you're missing the point but I wish you well, I
tried, I'm still willing to sit down with you.
Several other women you have attacked with your blog have expressed a desire to have some
kind of a loving intervention with you and find out why you are attacking community members and
how we can help you reconnect to a happier place and be supported by other women so you
don't feel a need to attack them. We would love to come bring coffee and scones or brunch or
something and talk story and figure out what is going on with you and how we can bless you.
Welcome to my generation, and as I said in my opening sentence, our kupuna, are getting tired.
We know people were working on this before us and that is why my opening statement is based
on that transition from the kupuna to the next generations and respect for you as my elder.
Therefore, I am focused on repeatedly showing you kindness no matter how much you attack
me.
Aloha! Happy holidays!
(Nomi Carmona)
Nomi, and BABS (Babes agaisnt Biotech) Have had absolutely no mercy from Joan. Joan originally accused Nomi of being "scantily clad". She was wearing, as she stated a MOM HUI tshirt, and shorts. Hardly risque. Unless you hate MOM HUI T SHIRTS.
Let's begin, with a search for Joans favorite person to ream a new hole on. Lets do a search for Dr. (AS IN DOCTOR , ie knows a lot more then Joan does or ever will), Vandana Shiva, and then lets type in Joan Conrow and see what happens. What ensues aint a love fest people. Literally DOZENS of blogposts reaming this woman. Lets have a look, shall we?
KauaiEclectic: Musings: War by Proxy
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/04/musings-war-by-proxy.htmlApr 23, 2014 - Posted by Joan Conrow at 8:55 AM .... I have run down the rat holes of Vandana Shiva, Gilles Eric (The Ratman ) Seralini, Tyrone (No 'Nad ...KauaiEclectic: Musings: Fooled Again
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/04/musings-fooled-again.htmlApr 25, 2014 - We've also got the Vandana Shiva-backed Friends of Navdana, which discloses little about its activities, ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 9:05 AM.KauaiEclectic: Musings: When Succor = Sucker
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/05/musings-when-succor-sucker.htmlMay 2, 2014 - As for Andrew Kimbrell, Vandana Shiva, Nomi Carmona et al, the movement offers self-aggrandizement ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 9:32 AM.KauaiEclectic: Musings: Rewind
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/02/musings-rewind.htmlFeb 14, 2014 - ... they have a new video out that features Councilman Gary Hooser along with Vandana Shiva, attorney ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 9:09 AM.KauaiEclectic: Musings: Welcome Mat
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/01/musings-welcome-mat.htmlJan 14, 2014 - Posted by Joan Conrow at 8:52 AM ... Even to this day, here on Kauai, there are still true believers in Jeffery Smith and Vandana Shiva.KauaiEclectic: April 2014
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014_04_01_archive.htmlApr 30, 2014 - Posted by Joan Conrow at 8:53 AM 17 comments: ..... We've also got the Vandana Shiva-backed Friends of Navdana, which discloses little ...KauaiEclectic: Musings: Fisticuffs
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2013/01/musings-fisticuffs.htmlJan 16, 2013 - January 16, 2013 at 11:36 AM · Joan Conrow said. ... Dr. Vandana Shiva, a visiting wahine food and community advocate from India, is a ...KauaiEclectic: Musings: Blaze Away
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2013/01/musings-blaze-away.htmlJan 19, 2013 - As Dr. Vandana Shiva noted, “The agrochemical companies have now mutated into the biotech ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 10:34 AM.HawaiiSEED - And to Joan Conrow!... | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=233569556776043...Though Kauai residents flocked to hear the words of anti-GMO activists Dr. Vandana Shiva, Andrew Kimbrell and Walter Ritte, it remains to be seen whether their ...End the GMO Paranoia: Knowledge is the Key to Fighting Fear
hawaiifarmersdaughter.com/.../end-the-gmo-paranoia-knowledge-is-the-...Apr 8, 2014 - Joan Conrow chronicles this tale of a campaign of manipulation and ... Hawaii SEED also brought in Vandana Shiva to spread their .As you can see, Joan Conrow, ass-isted by the ever friendly MOTHER, JONI aka TOKYO ROSE from Maui, a GMO farmer who grows GMO papaya, who is no where near as snarky as Joan, she is jsut smarmy, also helps to put down another woman, here to try and help moms, like the Mom Hui. So, lets see who else is on Joans hitlist. Lets try a search for Ritte and Joan Conrow and see what we get, shall we?
Joan Conrow | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/joan.conrowJoan Conrow is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Joan Conrow and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the... KauaiEclectic: Musings: War by Proxy
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/04/musings-war-by-proxy.htmlApr 23, 2014 - Is it right for anti-GMO crusaders like Nancy Redfeather, Walter Ritte, Jeri Di Pietro, Nomi Carmona and ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 8:55 AM.KauaiEclectic
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/3 days ago - ... you live in Princeville, where laundry — clean or dirty — must remain hidden safely indoors. Posted by Joan Conrow at 8:30 AM 7 comments:.
You've visited this page many times. Last visit: 5/9/14KauaiEclectic: Musings: Woo Hoo!
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2013/10/musings-woo-hoo.htmlOct 16, 2013 - “I'm tired of flying over here,” said Molokai's Walter Ritte, though I'm not sure who in .... October 16, 2013 at 7:37 PM · Joan Conrow said.KauaiEclectic: Musings: Best Intentions
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2013/12/musings-best-intentions.htmlDec 2, 2013 - Curious, how prominent Maui County anti-GMO activists like Walter Ritte and Courtney Bruch were ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 9:09 AM.KauaiEclectic: Musings: Minimal Influence
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/03/musings-little-influence.htmlMar 21, 2014 - ... Molokai activist Walter Ritte proclaimed that labeling would be the next achievement. ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 7:13 AM ... Ms. Conrow, wish you could have been at the House Ag Committee hearing yeasterday. After a ...KauaiEclectic: Musings: Hoodwinked
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014/03/musings-hoodwinked.htmlMar 30, 2014 - All the usuals will be there: Walter Ritte, Makana, Dustin Barca (who apparently never read our bill, ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 9:02 AM.KauaiEclectic: Musings: Chuckables
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2013/11/musings-chuckables.htmlNov 18, 2013 - Especially when frequent flier Walter Ritte is exhorting them on Facebook to now direct all their energy ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 9:04 AM.
You visited this page on 5/3/14.KauaiEclectic: Musings: Significantly Insignificant
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2013/.../musings-significantly-insignificant.ht...Sep 6, 2013 - It also alleges that Walter Ritte, a board member of Hawaii Seed, may have violated election financing ... Posted by Joan Conrow at 8:14 AM.KauaiEclectic: April 2014
kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2014_04_01_archive.htmlApr 30, 2014 - Posted by Joan Conrow at 8:53 AM 17 comments: ..... Hawaii SEED tour, featuring Andrew Kimbrell, Makana, Walter Ritte and Vandana ShivaAS you can see, Joan reams and rips into Walter, who is beloved and respected in the Hawaiian community, so yet again, here is Joan RIPPING INTO NATIVE HAWAIIANS. Just read the taglines, they are super sharp tongued and vicious. SO, as the founder of the MOM HUI being a Ritte Ohana as well, it is safe to assume, that Joan certainly has no love for the Mom Hui, now does she? She does not respect the Hawaiian Ohana in Hawaii. Nope. She jumps into what THEY are doing, writes extensively about it, brown noses, and then when it suits her turns on them, and writes tripe about them. That is why Joan is the Patron Saint of Snark on Kauai. Read on kids it doesn't really get better. But you all need to be educated on this.IN CONCLUSION: JOAN CONROW IS NOT THE TYPE OF PERSON YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR HEART WITH.Especially if you are a mom, or a woman concerned about GMO's. Becasue she will take your words, and twist them into little pretzels, and feed this pap to her snarikie fistie minions, who then go on other social media, and continue the hewa laua'e, ad nauseum. (IE: the pukey shit)Oh wait, we arent done yet: read onFriday, April 4, 2014
Musings: Feasting on Fear
The feast of fear that was intentionally served up to pass Bill 2491, the pesticide/GMO regulatory bill, is now serving to feed the small frenzy of opponents to the dairy.
“I am really anxious about the impending Hawaii Dairy Farm plans,” writes Jackie Hoban in a trembling letter to the editor that begs our elected officials to “protect us” from certain “environmental disaster” — the same verbiage so frequently uttered in the 2491 fight.
Geez, Jackie, it's a fricking dairy with cows on important ag land, not a nuclear waste incinerator. And I thought, ya know, this crap is getting out of hand. It's time to expose the very deliberate fear-mongering that drove the 2491 campaign in hopes of quelling the scourge of paranoia running rampant through our community.
It began in 2012, when Hawaii SEED started working with the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) to conduct “drift tests” in hopes of finding evidence that pesticides were indeed blowing in the westwide wind.
Except it didn't work out as they'd hoped. According to the minutes of a Jan. 20, 2013 SEED Strategy Meeting “Pesticide: Break‐out Group Report Back,” which were widely circulated:
The Hawaii SEED drift monitoring project is NOT yielding the kind of info to move this work forward. This project will be closed.
In other words, they weren't finding anything damning. So they decided to shift their strategy:
Next steps:1. Collaborate with others who are testing for pesticides in water, blood, soil, animals (die‐off like urchins) and look for allies like surf riders, dept of fish and wildlife, health department. Strategy: pressure OTHERS to do the testing
2. Door‐to‐door or public surveys:Target native hawaiians , moms, Ag. Laborers, middle classGoal: Tell the story of epidemic sickness in Hawaii that may be related to pesticides.Use this as ammunition to pressure health department into addressing the effects of pesticides statewide.
Working group: Jeri [Di Pietro], Kawai [Warren], Mike [Broady], Dustin [Barca], Patty [Valentine], Lorrin [Pang], Brittany [Beers[
And voila, that's exactly what they did. They set about telling westsiders a story of “epidemic sickness” — even though no epidemic sickness has ever been documented — except they bagged the “may be related to pesticides part.” Instead, they claimed, unequivocally, that pesticides were making westsiders sick. Because it's so much easier to get folks frightened and riled up when you tell 'em something fer sure bad is happening, even if you're just making it up to advance your own political agenda.
It wasn't long before we started hearing, right on cue, the horror stories of illness, suffering and death, the unsubstantiated claims of elevated rates of birth defects, asthma, cancers, rare congenital diseases — though curiously, I've yet to find any evidence that health professionals ever reported these worrisome trends to the state Department of Health or any federal agency for further investigation.
The very public airing of these complaints in letters to the editor and on the airwaves of KKCR, which wholeheartedly embraced the propaganda campaign, coincided with Councilman Gary Hooser's introduction of Bill 2491. Yes, he was part of that January 2013 Hawaii SEED session, too.
What I find incredibly tragic is how westside residents were intentionally manipulated and used to advance a political agenda, resulting in a bill that does virtually nothing to address any of the fears that were mongered.Sadly, these fears may indeed be legitimate, though we'll never for sure, because the "red shirts" weren't actually seeking to quantify or resolve human and environmental health issues on our island but pass a local bill that could be used as ammunition in a national and international fight.
At the end of the Hawaii SEED minutes, the strategizers wrote:All of this has to do [sic] in a manner that is sensitive: Some sick people are employed by the companies making people sick.
Perhaps. But it's also pretty sick to intentionally sow the seeds of fear.
Which brings us back to the dairy. Once again we're seeing a slew of Google scholars weighing in on everything from livestock density to feed and pronouncing the dairy fatally flawed, Never mind that none of them have been privy to all the studies and research that have gone into planning this project for the past six years.
In other words, they don't have the full story or all the facts, just like in Bill 2491. But that doesn't stop them from fanning the flames of fear using absolutist rhetoric that leaves no room for discussion or debate — great clouds of flies, unbearable smells, kikuyu grass that won't grow fast enough to feed the cows, kikuyu grass that will grow out of control and blanket the entire island, cows that will be eating poison, cows that will be producing poison milk, cows that will be peeing and pooping poison, floods of poison wastewater bespoiling a coastline that is “pristine” — save for its resorts and golf courses.
Get a grip, people. I know that fear is exciting, and gets the old adrenals pumping better than caffeine, or even ice, but it's toxic, especially when it's manipulated, rather than based on a real quantifiable threat.
You may not like the plan, or cows, or milk or what have you, but having a dairy in Mahaulepu Valley is most definitely not the end of the world. So please, cool the rhetoric and your jets. And meditate on a popular post-Iniki tee-shirt slogan: Kauai, no place for wimps.
33 comments:
- Right on Joan! You are no wimp, awesome...! Kauai seems to have too many experts about land use. It's their way or the highway! Glad you're telling it as it is.
- Joan, I wish more people could read this. You nailed it. The dairy plan seems to be the new concept on producing milk (which many of us drink), the most environmentally sensitive way. Remember the commercial "Great cheese comes from Happy Cows", I think Kauai happy cows will produce great milk. Kauai was probably chosen because we have the land, water and climate that best suits this method. Not to mention, enough chickens and birds to eat the flies and their larvae. At least local milk is not as "dead" as milk shipped from the mainland. i was raised on raw milk, and let me tell you, it's delicious.
- "Is there any accountability in American politics for being completely
wrong? Is there any cost to those who say things that turn out not to be
true and then, when their fabrications or false predictions are
exposed, calmly move on to concocting new claims as if they had never
made the old ones?"
Today Kauai politicians are predicting doom from the dairy and/or seed growers.
Yesterday council members were predicting mass sickness from the plastic bag ban.
Before that all the stores were doomed when Walmart and Home Depot arrived.
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Joan wrote - "Once again we're seeing a slew of Google scholars weighing in on everything"
Without an understanding of the scientific method and led by a desire to confirm their own beliefs some become selective self-censors as they cherry pick their way through the web seeking affirmation.
Actually I wish their were more Google Scholars. I find it an excellent resource. Find it here http://scholar.google.com/
- Joan! You got it right! Google Search is the new college degree. And
if you do it long enough, you might even be a doctor of something. No
not an MD, or even a DC, a DO or a PHD. I think the new title should be
DGS (Doctor of Google Search) with diplomas awarded via the honor
system.
- I am not afraid of the dairy as being toxic, and agree with Joan that the sky is falling crowd is at it again.
However, I oppose the dairy for the reason that it perpetuates animal exploitation. Cows only "produce" milk when pregnant. The calfs are quickly slaughtered by a blow to the head with a hammer and sold. The mother is impregnated again - so some already obese human can have another Frappachino.
And since when has factory farming ever been good for the poor animals? - Fear...Ultimately,our greatest fear is death. How we die and when is not known, but we know it will happen. Why can't we just enjoy life to it's fullest. In this day and age, we are exposed to so many environmental problems. Yes, pesticides and anything that kills, vog, pollen, exhaust, smoke, alcohol, drugs radio waves, microwaves, radiation of all forms, tsunami's, hurricanes, earthquakes, space debris and it goes on and on. So don't worry and just be happy.
- I get that there are some who will exaggerate - however please don't
overlook the very real problems and pollution the dairy may cause and
the fact that it may be an economic burden rather than boon.
I am curious as to how Kauai cows can rotate three times faster on the same plot of grass - maybe they will record one of these information sessions that always occur when many of us work and I will hear the answer - We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Now, 12:54, if what you say is true I'm afraid I will have to oppose all dairies. But I'll go ahead and google that and get the real poop... er scoop on that. Hopefully.
- Holy Hoof and Mouth, Joan- Why do you insist on using facts and logic in your analysis?
- Great post, I wish more people could read this too. Do you have those
minutes from that Hawaii SEED meeting of Jan 2013 by any chance?
I wish the freedom of information act applied to them as well, I'd love to see the data that was generated by the "drift tests". Shouldn't it be posted on their websites?
Google scholars? Worse, it's the University of Facebook that rules supreme!
- If beef cattle allows for 1.3 cows per acre for grazing why is it different for diary cows? Will all the male calfs born be slaughtered? I'm fed up with Grove Farms lack of genuine concern for the local community. They got rid of all the leases for small farmers/ranchers so they could get premium dollar from the seed companies. Same kine aloha they showed to residents of Koloa Camp. Tressler's fed up? He's got anger issues and is great at alienating people. From what I hear those starting up the diary don't know what they're doing. If they're trying to be sustainable as Ulupono implies, how sustainable to the environment is 1800 cows crammed into less than 500 acres? How sustainable is it to ship the milk off island for processing? Will the price of milk be less or more? The Maha'ulepu coastline, long used as a favorite fishing and recreational spot, is what I'm referring to, not Po'ipu resort area long ago ruined for locals. Should we have another winter like this one, it is inevitable that cow shit and pee will make its way to the sea.
- Donʻt know if you heard Cabebeʻs show the other day promoting get this:
babes against biotech CHAPTERS and we are especially lucky to have our
very own KBAB as well as all the other islands. Even though
unfortunately the Kauai babe chapterette guest on his show could not for
the life of her explain what their purpose is.
And then they want to reel Punohu in for a calender theyʻll be doing. Hope he doesnʻt do something so cheesy. More prostitution of the culture, just what the state does.
Things go off the rail in the world of protest and people get so caught up in the frenzy and attention they completely steer in another direction. Ah, gimme that stage. Not sure what Iʻll do when I get up there though. - As much as Joan is correct about the protesters abandoning science and promoting fear, I'd like to point out that they are only adopting the previously successful methods of the corporations (FUD and denial) and the government (spreading ignorance and fear) have used to get their way for years.
- cool the rhetoric is right…adjective injection and pseudo concern doesn't sway anyone anyways.
They're hollow word smiths. My beef with the "dairy" is multi fold…"grass fed " ain't gonna happen and THEY know it. milk coming back from Oahu is not organic/golden Kauai produced or helping anyone here. killer, a few jobs. awesome, another brand of milk. Its still always going to be cheaper at Costco or those rare few of us who still drink milk buy the good stuff for a dollar more at the health food stores…17 million spent and wasted - Fear is a powerful weapon. It is constantly used by politicians, the
military, and locally to be a "prime mover" for any kind of action.
IF people knew the Truth about CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) ...no one would be eating at Mac Donalds or Burger King.
Fear is a useful tactic for manipulation.
Fear of the future and fear for the cattle.
What else motivates people to action?
(money, power, greed, sex, good food, music....maybe inspiration?)
Dr Shibai - What entertains me is that some people here thing a business must serve some higher purpose in order to be pono. That's BS. The great thing about capitalism is that an entrepreneur makes money (PROFIT) from serving people and/or providing a product that people want and a price they're willing to pay. I love the fake concern that the milk will be sent to Oahu for processing and shipped back and sold at higher prices than the milk we get from the mainland. Who cares? If consumers don't want it, the business will fail. If it becomes a nuisance, people whose lives and businesses are negatively impacted will sue and the problems will be resolved. So let it fail. Isn't that what you drawbridge folks want? After all a guy like Omidyar is really not very bright and loves to invest millions of dollars into losing ventures. Or so the little minds think.
- The problem with "so let it fail" means mass slaughter of cows.
Poor animals.
No one ever thinks about the poor animals - just as a commodity. Another business decision.
At least it is not next to the Hindu temple. - If the dairy fails they can easily sell the cows. There is a big market
for livestock on this island and throughout Hawaii. That might actually
be the happy result of a failed dairy, more cows in backyard farms.
- "What entertains me is that some people here thing a business must serve
some higher purpose in order to be pono. That's BS. The great thing
about capitalism is that an entrepreneur makes money (PROFIT) from
serving people and/or providing a product that people want and a price
they're willing to pay. I love the fake concern that the milk will be
sent to Oahu for processing and shipped back and sold at higher prices
than the milk we get from the mainland."
Don't commodify the Hawaiian language to sell a product if you're not willing to do in practice what the name implies. Ulu means to grow; growth. Pono means many things including goodness, right, righteous, moral, morality, correct or proper procedure, benefit, equity, just, fair etc.. The capitalistic model does not fit in to the Hawaiian concept of pono. Call it what it is and don't hide behind the benign marketing tool "Ulupono Initiative".
That being said a concern over the unsustainable practice of shipping the milk off island only to be sold back at the same price as mainland milk or higher is unbeneficial to the community that will deal with the impacts. Same thing use to happen with all local beef. Raised here, shipped to the mainland for finishing and slaughter and shipped back to Hawaii to be sold in supermarkets. I support local ranchers who raise and slaughter locally as I would support a diary that pasture fed 100%, milked and processed locally which logically would provide more than 15 jobs than the planned model.
The capitalistic model is unsustainable and depends on continued growth at the expense of our natural resources. Our island of finite resources cannot endure unfettered growth without unwanted consequences to the lifestyle that most of us treasure. - Almost all of the cows raised here are still shipped to the mainland for finishing before they become your dinner. Some local ranchers do market grass fed beef but that is and will continue to be a niche market -- one that is still worth supporting, but still only a niche.
- Those who get too big for their pants will be exposed in the end.
- I buy local grassfed and slaughtered beef from Sueoka Store, Kukuiula Store, Ishihara, Medeiros and Kojima's. It may be a "niche" market but growing. Happy to support local ranchers and stores.
- I can't find a copy of the Jan. 20, 2013 SEED Strategy Meeting “Pesticide: Break‐out Group Report Back” minutes you refer to. Could you post the whole thing, please? To me your references to those minutes are the most powerful part of this post.
- I've lived next to a cow pasture for almost thirty years not realizing it was a toxic waste site. And I let my kids walk around pasture loaded with the cow pies. Please don't report me to CPS. Moooohoooo!
- I'd like to see the minutes of the chem corps strategy meetings as well!
- "I support local ranchers who raise and slaughter locally as I would
support a diary that pasture fed 100%, milked and processed locally
which logically would provide more than 15 jobs than the planned model."
Yep. More jobs, and some really expensive milk.
- April 6, 2014 at 1:41 pm,
The "chem corps" aren't 501(c)3 tax-exempt charities. - More cow poop = more mushrooms +++++
- Russia will not import GMO products, the country’s Prime Minister Dmitry
Medvedev said, adding that the nation has enough space and resources to
produce organic food.
Moscow has no reason to encourage the production of genetically modified products or import them into the country, Medvedev told a congress of deputies from rural settlements on Saturday.
“If the Americans like to eat GMO products, let them eat it then. We don’t need to do that; we have enough space and opportunities to produce organic food,” he said. - PLEASE DON'T MENTION Medeiros!
THEY RUN OUT OF HAMBURGER TOO OFTEN ALREADY!
OTOH, made some burritos for the last couple of nights and Tacos last week. Yum! And the New York cuts last week, pure ambrosia.
Compared to that stuff that Costco sells as "organic hamburger", well, there is no comparison. I wouldn't feed that Costco stuff to my cat. (and I don't have a cat) - So where is Hawaii SEED getting their money? FROM THE MAINLAND! Follow
the money and you'll see who is manipulating local groups and Hawaiians
by their fear mongering. Would Hawaii SEED release their financial
statements on their website? Of course not.
WE LOVE THIS LAST ONE!!
JOAN CONROW BEGS DONATIONS ON HER BLOG> AND DOESN'T REVEAL A DAMNED EFFING THING ABOUT WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN AND HOW> IN FACT WE CHALLENGED HER TO REVEAL WHO WHAT WHERE AND HOW FOR HER FUNDING RESOURCES>
JOAN CONROW WHERE IS YOUR 501c43 HAH?
HERE IS A GALLERY OF JUST SOME OF THE WOMEN THAT JOAN HAS DISSED AND RAGED AGAINST.
AND ALL OF THE WOMEN< MOTHERS< YOUNG TEENAGERS AND GIRLS THAT ARE IN SUPPORT OF BILLS TO PROTECT OUR AINA FROM PESTICIDES FROM AGRO-CHEMICAL COMPANIES IN HAWAII!
Joan has been VERY CLEAR in her UTTER DISDAIN FOR ALL FEMALE HUMANS ON THE PLANET that are against GMO's., The only praise she has, is for women that SUPPORT GMO's.
That is some gold plated plutonium balls to the wall kinda snark. Yap, that's the way steel balls Joan rumbles, LADIES.
Do not try to reason with her. She doesn't give a RATS ASS what you think, do or say. Her DONATION BUTTON ON HER BLOG SPEAKS VOLUMES for where her head, and heart are at.
DON'T TRY TO CONVERT THIS WOMAN.
All we can do now, is try and do some damage control, and make sure that poeple know that EPIC SNARK, isn't really EPIC INTELLIGENCE.
And the list goes on and on and on and on. As Nomi has said brilliantly, working agaisnt women, and Moms, you show YOUR true colors.
Moms Against GMO's blog, on WEEBLY for the Mainland Perspective
And your color, Joan is anything BUT pink.
It is PURE GREEN: with envy.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY FROM KAUAI SNARKLECTIC PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS BLOG TO EVERYONE YOU CAN!
Sincerely, The Kauai Snarklectic Publishing Team.
Amene.
As long as Joan is dissing, raging, snarking and doing her little fake exposes on everyone, WE will be pushing right back. We know we haven't said anything that isn't true. We make clear disclaimers here. We only react to what is being written about other people. We love hypocrites, liars, snarkers,ragers, racebaiters and manipulators. Its like mothers milk to us, pardon the pun. You ladies keep taking the high road, and let us tussle in the mud with Joan. We will continue to ask her for transparency involving donations to her blog, and what no profit they will be goig to. We hope its the foodbank since she keeps on getting her mug in the garden island for food donations. we will put up the post later where she says that "NO 2491 supporters ever give food to the foodbank, and that the seed corps are so generous, and that she does whatever it is she does there. Yap, sure Joan. Like we said before Snark does not equal brilliance, and it sure as SHIT doesn''t equal "reporting". Thank goodness WE take the low road proudly . Feel free to post and tell us what you think of our little blog, hah?
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