Whether the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) goes up or not, it doesn't really affect me much! Life will go on either way!
Yeah, it might see millions of light years away, but most of us are just concerned about what's going on here on Earth!
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Whatever side you on, you need to deal with the facts instead of just mindlessly repeating cliches!
It is NOT being built on burial sites or on any former temples!
It is in a barren part of the mountain, and environmental studies showed little risk to acquifiers!
The approval process has been going on for 7 years and was open to public input this whole time!
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Much of the opposition has to do with a mostly non-Hawaiian entity making decisions on what to do with Hawaiian land! The issue is magnified because Mauna Kea has spiritual meaning to the Native Hawaiians.
However, not all Native Hawaiians oppose the telescope! Within every ethnic group, people will interpret their traditional beliefs differently!
I don't think a telescope would be placed on Mt Fuji or Mt Sinai due to the sacredness of those mountains! So the opponents do have a point with this one!
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However, I think with all the opposition (plus viral tweets from Jason Momoa and Nicole Scherzinger), I really do think it's either TMT will be the last telescope built OR the last telescope has already been built and the TMT will be just a pipe dream!
Learn more by checking out Chloe Fox's "Everything You Need To Know About The Viral Protests Against A Hawaii Telescope" on Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/13/hawaii-telescope-protests-tmt-mauna-kea_n_7044164.html
That article shows multiple sides of the issue, with respect towards the grievances of the telescope opponents, but also stating that some of the common cliches are just false!
