I call the result of the GMO vote

SHAKA vandalized my sign

The anti-GMO initiative will lose. Big time.

Tonight I attended the lecture on "History, Future and Science of Genetics in Agriculture." About 75 people were there. Significantly, almost no Japanese-Americans.

The AJA vote is not as large, proportionally, as it used to be, and perhaps not as cohesive as it used to be. But it is still true that if an issue doesn't matter to Maui's AJAs, it doesn't matter at the ballot box.

The talk by Harold Keyser and Sally Irwin was long on facts. F'rinstance:

* Toxicity of pesticides has declined by a huge amount -- a factor of 34 -- since the EPA started disallowing the worst kinds, which was around 1965. Most of the decline came before GM crops were introduced around 1996, but the trend remains down. Total amounts used are also down.

* In 2012, the use of GM seed in developing countries exceeded use in developed for the first time.

* It is not true that Europe has banned GMO crops. It imports most of its animal feed, and almost all of that is GMO sourced. It is true that only 2 GMO crops have been approved for growing in Europe.

* Introduction of GMO varieties is regulated and the average time for approval is 7-9 years.

You may have heard different but them's the facts.

The lecture will be posted at www.facebook.com/BiotechCropScience within a couple of days.

Another lecture at Maui College, giving a forum to the anti-GMO side, will be held in a couple of weeks (exact date still open).

Judging by T-shirts, and because I know quite a few of the people who attended, I guess about 15, maybe 20% of the crowd were SHAKA.

I was pleased to see them, less pleased to find that SHAKA had vandalized my Vote
No yard sign overnight.