HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0377.124 2024-2026From: - Topher Dean
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2025 3:28 PM
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To: Council Testimony
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Subject: Pohakuloa Resolution 234-25
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Dear County Council Members,
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I've read the statements of other people and organizations and I agree with
what they are saying, please protect Pohakuloa; but I want to share a personal
story. You may have had a similar experience to the one I'm about to tell
you, but if you haven't, I highly recommend it.
Several years ago I was hiking on Mauna Kea, alone. I was deep into the
wilderness and far above the treeline. The silence is profound. In our
everyday life we don't realize how noisy our .society is, we've just become
used to it, but on top of Mauna Kea you can escape that frenetic world. The
Mauna is massive, and the power of creation completely envelopes you. Out
there, by yourself, just you and the mauna, it's easy to see why this place is so
sacred to the Hawaiian people.,
To say I was having a spiritual experience is an understatement. I could
hear my heart beating, my breath coming into me and leaving. I was going
within, connecting to everything, to the creator. It was so beautiful, so
moving, unparalleled power and beauty; then suddenly... the sound of tanks
firing their weapons rang out. It shattered my experience. It brought me to
my knees and tears poured forth.
To go from something so beautiful, so close to God, then instantly falling
down to the depths of perversion, was sickening. Truthfully, I'll never
recover from the whiplash of that moment. Humanity's obsession with war,
violence, greed and materialistic selfishness is so far away from where we
need to be. We are not going to survive if we don't abandon this
perversion.
Let it start now. Let's say no to death and destruction, pain and suffering,
and yes to life, joy and beauty. Please, before it's too late. Restore
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Pohakuloa's sacred beauty. No more military activity on the Mauna. Must
the military desecrate every single island? Do they really need to keep
expanding their disgusting enterprise everywhere they go?
Humans competing for Earth's dwindling resources can only lead to one
outcome, extinction. The inverse is cooperation, kindness, compassion,
sharing and working together to make a better world. Support Resolution
234-25 You won't be sorry, and do yourself a favor, head out into the
wilderness, alone, and look within.
Fight with aloha,
Topher Dean
Founder, Clean The Pacific
President, Recycle Hawaii