Der Standard - 02.03.2020

Copyright©2020The NewYork Times

MONDAY,MARCH2, 2020

In collaborationwith INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

LENS

By TARIROMZEZEWA

Locals in Oahu knowthat thebest

waytoget fromWaikiki’scrowded

beaches tothecoolNorth Shore is to

drivealong theisland’seasterncoast.

Theroadisframedbymountains,

oceanand greenery so lush andbeau-

tiful,it’shardtofocus theeye on one

placefor toolong.

Onarecenttripalongtheroute,some-

thingelsestood out:the upside-down

Hawaiianflags.

Theflag, whichhas theunion jack in

thebottomleftcorner, insteadofthe

usual topleft, hung in storefronts in

Waikikiand wasprintedonT-shirts in

Waimanalo; it wasstuck onthebum-

pers of passingcarsinKailuaand flying

from thebacks of trucksinKahukuand

othertownsonthe NorthShore.

Theflaghas becomeasymbol ofsol-

idarityamongHawaiianswho oppose

theconstruction ofalarge newtelescope

on Mauna Kea,on theislandofHawaii.

MaunaKea,atabout 9,750meters

fromseafloortosummit,and 4 ,2 00 me-

tersabove sealevel,isone ofthebest

placesin thenorthernhemisphere,if

nottheworld,toobserve thecosmos,

expertssay.The telescope’s proponents

saythatitwill bringhundredsofjobs

to theislandand advancehumanity’s

study of space.

Butit hasfaced fierceresistance from

some native Hawaiiansfor whomMau-

naKea is sacred groundandaplace of

roots. Opponentsofthe telescopesay

they aretired of having theirlandtak-

en forpurposesthatbenefit others and

for thepromise of jobsthat fail to offera

living wage.

“The struggleatMauna Kearight

nowisone ofthebiggest issuesthathas

realignedmanyculturalpolitic al rela-

tionshipsinHawaii,”saidKyle Kajihiro,

anactivist andlecturer attheUniversi-

ty of Hawaii at Manoa. “It’ sreallyquite

anamazingemergenceofHawaiianac-

tivism of culturalawareness.”

Thebattleoverthe telescopehas

By KATRIN BENNHOLD

andMELISSAEDDY

COLOGNE, Germany—The last

timeHenriette Rekerran formayor,

she wasnearlykilled.She washand-

ingout flowers tovotersatabusy

marketin Colognein 2015,when a

mantookarosewithone handand

rammed akitchen knifeintoher

throatwith theother.Hewanted

to punish herforher pro-refugee

stance.

Five yearslater,Ms. Reker isrun-

ningagain.But sheisanexception.

Sinceshe recoveredfromacomato

findherself elected, far-rightdeath

threatshave becomean everyday

reality, notjustfor her, but foran

increasingnumber of localofficials

acrossGermany. Theacrimonyisfelt

in townhallsand streets. Theeffect

hasbeenchilling. Some have stopped

speaking out.Manyhavequit, tried

to armthemselves, or takenpolice

protection. Therisks have mounted

to suchan extent that someGerman

townsare unable to fieldcandidates

at all.

“Our democracyisunder attack

at thegrass-roots level,” Ms.Reker

said.“This isthefoundationof our

democracy,and it is vulnerable.”

Thetrend,the localofficial sand

analystssay,reflectsaworrying

breakdownof civilityandpolitic al

discourse in an increasingly polar-

ized Germany, wherethe insidious

influenceofanangry farright is

changingthe rules ofbehavior.

Mayors have notbeenthe only

onestosufferasGermany’s political

andsocial fabric hasstrained. The

February 19 shootings in thewest-

erntownofHanau,nearFrankfurt,

that left 11 people dead were just the

latest attacksaimed at ethnic mi-

noritie s. Germanswho openly sup-

port immigrationhave increasingly

beentargeted, too. Butgiven the

decentralizednatureofGermany’s

politicalsystem,attacksagainst

Hawaii relies

on tourism,

butnatives

saythey

aretired

of others

benefiting

whilethey

struggle.

Dinner With theLoudand theNaked

German

‘Politics

Of Hate’

Ta ke To ll

WhoseIslandParadiseIsIt?

Agoodmealsatisfies. Agreat

mealdoesso much more.But the

makingsofagreatmealare notthe

same foreveryone.

CarenOsten Gerszberg found an

unexpectedly

delightful in-

gredientwhile

on ameditation

retreat in Massa-

chusetts: silence.

“Sittingat

meals—not

speaking,read-

ing, scrolling

or watching ascreen—wasatrue

exerciseinbeingin thepresent

moment,” shewrote in TheTimes.

“Movingthroughthe buffet line,I

piledmyplate high with theflavor-

ful vegetarianfood,expressed my

gratitude(silently!), andcounted

howmanycolorswere onmy plate.

Mybest entertainment:anexqui-

sitely placed bird feeder outsidethe

dininghallwindows.Every meal

providedanall-out warbetween

squirrelsand birds.”

Perhaps sucharetreatwould

be theright settingfor some ofthe

NewYork dinerswho write to Pete

Wells, theTimes restaurant critic.

They find theincreasingnoise in

restaurantstobedistasteful,and

have askedMr. Wellstowrite about

theproblem.

Thelonger heputit off, he finally

wrote,“theharderit wasnot to no-

tice that Iwas avoidingthe subject.

AndwhenIasked myself why, Ihad

to admitthatIdon’t really believe

loud restaurantsare aproblem.

“The truthis, Ilovethem.”

Theway Mr.Wells seesit,restau-

rantsare one ofthefew placesleft

where realpeoplestill soundlike

realpeople.

“There is theskipping, ques-

tioningrhythmofflirtation;the

confidentbleat of peopleshowing

offmoney;the squawk of debate,”

he wrote.“People gettingtoknow

each otherareloudin oneway,and

oldfriends areloudin acompletely

different way.”

That noisecan sometimes be as

vitaltothe diningexperienceasthe

food on thetable,Mr. Wellsargues.

Otherwise,the l eftovers in there-

frigeratormighthavebeenenough.

“Wegoout for other reasons,”

he wrote. “Wegotolookaround,

maybetobenoticed, usuallytotalk

to thepeoplewecamewith. Some of

us want adrinkor two, andalmost

allofuswanttoloosenthe knotsof

tensionthatdaily lifeties.”

Forthose wholoosenallthe knots,

though, stayinghomeis probably

thebetterchoice.

“I feel freerand moreimagina-

tive whenIamnude whilecook-

ing,”JackClark said as he stood

cookingpasta foradinner party at

hishome atanudistresortinFlor-

ida. He wasnaked, of course,as

were most ofhisguests.

This wasasituation that Mr.Clark

wouldnot have been comfortable

with in thepast.Dinner parties,that

is,not nudity.

“I wasaveryshy andnervous

andintroverted person,”hetoldThe

Times. “I’d stay isolated.Ididn’t

have alot offriends. ThesecondI

wasnude,thatdisappearedintwo

seconds. Mywholelife

changed.”

Oneofhis guests,

KarynMcMullen,said

sheusedtohatedinner

parties likethisone.Except thedin-

erswere notnaked,sothe parties

were notreallylikethisone.

“Theywerealwayspretentious,”

shesaid.“There wasall this small

talk Ididn’tget.Now Iget to be

myself. Idon’t have to hide it when I

don’tunderstandsomeone.”

Everyone is equal, it seems, when

they areall sittingbutt-nakedon

towels.

Andthoughnudists have to take a

little morecare toavoidgreasesplat-

ters (“Ihavescars allovermytum-

my andthe top ofmy boobs,” Nancy

Rehling said),manybelievecooking

is better whendone aunaturel.

“It’slikeapainter when hismind

is free of everythingelse,”Mr. Clark

said.“He paints whatever.”

ALAN MATTINGLY

Fo rcomments,write to

[email protected].

ContinuedonPage3 ContinuedonPage3

INTELLIGENCE

Timeto face thetruth

in China. PAGE 2

PHOTOGRAPHSBYMARCOGARCIAFORTHE NEWYORKTIMES

Hawaiianswanttoeducate

tourists aboutthelandandhow

they interactwithit. Markingan

anniversaryof theU.S.takeoverat

IolaniPalace,theHawaiianroyal

residence, top, andafarmtour.

JASONHENRYFORTHE NEWYORKTIMES

WORLDTRENDS

‘TheMarshal’s’iron

grip in Libya. PAGE 2

ARTS&DESIGN

Wheredoes Banksy

gofromhere? PAGE 4

Adinnerparty

at anudistresort

inFlorida. “I feel

freer,”onemansaid,

“whenIamnude

whilecooking.”