Off the News

Local agriculture takes another hit from vandals

The decision to become a farmer, never one made casually, may be made even less frequently, given all the recent obstacles.

If it’s not hard enough to make a go of things in a state where land costs are so high, where protesters are watching for pesticide abuses, the thin profit margin could be wiped out by vandalism, like the papaya tree destruction in Mililani in 2010, shown at right.

Last Thursday and Friday, yet another papaya farm was attacked in Puna, with more than 100 trees hacked down. The loss has been estimated at $3,000. In the big corporate world that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a few grand that the farmer surely doesn’t have lying around.

Does Hawaii want to increase its agricultural self-sufficiency, or not? At times like these, one has to wonder.

You can tune out, or talk to your seatmate

Lots of things can be addictive, but it seems that few infect the user like digital devices. It seems to have become worse over time, as a glance around at people with noses buried in iPads will attest.

Now it seems the Federal Aviation Administration is about to relax most restrictions on devices that don’t use Wi-Fi or transmit during takeoffs and landings. So, no emailing, Web surfing, phoning or texting. But you can stay plugged into your podcasts and stored movies or, for the more literate, read your e-books from the moment you stow your carry-on until you get off at the other end.

Really? We can’t wait the extra 10 minutes to be entertained? Heaven forbid we should turn and have a conversation with our seatmates.