Anti-GMO petition on Kauai needs modification

Those who oppose genetically modified organism (GMO) crops on Kauai are going to need to perform some modifications — of the legislative variety— if they hope to get an anti-GMO question on the ballot.

Mona Clark, the deputy county attorney, has said the measure is an initiative, not a charter amendment, because it pertains to third parties (agribusiness companies) rather than the form and function of government.

After scrolling through the 18 pages of the full text, we’d have to agree. And if it’s an initiative, it needs more signatures than the petitioners, the group Kauai Rising, collected.

One last observation: Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura voted "silent" on the question of putting it on the ballot. That’s an added option in use on this Council, one that ultimately counts as a "yes."

Too weird, people. Yes or no. Those are your choices.

Drones proving valuable outside of war zones

The association of the term "drones" with violence — death from the skies — is impossible to shake, given their notorious use in stealth attacks. That’s why it’s hard to imagine marine mammals and other benign critters in their sights.

And yet, that’s what’s going on now with researchers in the northwestern atolls surveying seals, turtles and birds. Something just like the Predator drone is watching them.

Seems incongruous. Unless the latest al-Qaida or ISIS recruit is … the monk seal? If so, the end is near, truly.