Mel's Internet Universe Weblog

Creative Students & Their Robots

2008-07-03T05:40:00.001-10:00

Hundreds of students from several Hawaii State public schools converged on the State Capitol yesterday for a 21st century style robotics exhibition. Here are kids who are on the cutting edge of technology. Most of them who participate in the program have formed teams where they build robots of all shapes and sizes to perform specific tasks.

There were large robots that were used to lift light objects such as colorful oversized balls to tiny little robots that just did stuff on a small table. Several robots were built from lego sets while others resembled re-assembled Nintendo Game Boys that were tasked with duties ranging from moving small objects around to just racing around a track. A couple of them did their tasks underwater.

Most of the robots were remote controlled, several of which were operated from laptop computers.

The robotics program is being pushed by the Lingle administration as a way for students to become interested in mathematics, science and technology. It is hoped that the skills they learn in the program are carried over into the students' adult lives so that they could one day work and develop new technologies for the future. Whatever the motives, the robotics program can only be good for Hawaii.

Links to additional information

These robots are programmed to lift and catch these balls.

Students remote controlling their robots.

Panos For Mayor

2008-07-02T05:30:00.002-10:00

Dr. Panos D. Prevedouros and supporters held a press conference yesterday where he stated his intention to file papers and run for the office of Mayor of the City & County of Honolulu. Dr. Prevedouros is running on a general platform to "fix Oahu" and specifically to help stop the $6 billion fixed rail project.

Prevedouros run for Mayor and his possibility of actually beating incumbent Mufi Hannemann is quite a long shot. First of all Mufi is the incumbent and has a campaign war chest of more than $2 million. He will also have the backing of all the major public sector and some if not most of the construction unions and trades.

By contrast Dr. Prevedouros campaign fund as of today is probably "zero". He will be running a grassroots type of campaign that will rely on people more than on money. He already has the backing of the Stop Rail Now organization and the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

Dr. Prevedouros run for mayor will be a 2-pronged attack on the costly rail project this fall (assuming that the Stop Rail Now campaign is successful by placing the question on the ballot).

The primary election this coming September will be the first test of the candidate's strength. If any candidate can claim at least 50% + 1 of the total vote, he or she will automatically become Honolulu mayor. If candidates cannot get more than 50%, then the top 2 candidates will continue in a runoff during the November 4 election.

I am happy that Dr. Prevedouros is offering himself as an alternative choice to the well entrenched incumbent. This will be the first Mayoral race where I actually will have someone to vote for instead of just tossing in a blank vote into the ballot box.

Additional Links

In an unrelated editorial published yesterday, former Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano chimes " ...I concluded that rail transit was not appropriate for Honolulu." I've known for many years that the former Governor has been against the rail. It is probably one of the reasons why this project never took off during the 8 years he was in office. The editorial on Attacks on Opponents of Rail are Troubling is a good read.

Time to "Dump Muffy"...

Photos by Mel. More at this link.

People in Hawaii Are Too Stupid ...

2008-06-30T06:45:00.002-10:00

Don't Let Them Vote on Rail

The rail issue is front and center in Hawaii these days. Commercials, editorials, radio debates, articles and letters to the editors are flying from all sides of the issue as the battle plays out in the media. Stop Rail Now's citizen driven campaign to get the rail question on the ballot continues as the petition count has reportedly surpassed the 30,000 count on the way to an August 1 deadline.

Meanwhile, Mayor Mufi Hannemann, members of Hawaii's Congressional delegation, many State Legislators (mostly all Democrats), big labor unions, highly paid P-R firms and hacks (Keith Rollman, Bill Brennan) hired by the Mayor have waged an all out war of discredit against the leaders and supporters of Stop Rail Now.

Today I got this graphic message in email. Paints a great picture of what the rail loving steel wheelers want.

Click here to see large version of graphic

The Biggest Used Book & Music Sale of 2008

2008-06-28T22:45:00.004-10:00

The best bargains for used books, magazines, record albums (LPs), CDs and more are at this year's 61st Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale. The sale is bigger than ever, spilling out of the traditional McKinley High School Cafeteria into adjacent areas.

All of the books are spread out between the main cafeteria building, a tent on the "mauka" side as well as in the breeze way of an adjacent building. The music sale is being held in a big tent on the ocean side of the cafeteria where thousands of record albums (LPs) and compact discs are on sale, most for $3 or less.

Needless to say, this sale is the bookworm, music fan and pack rat's favorite. Today I got some great bargain books by Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke, Art Bell and more for $1.50 each or less. And some of these are hard backs. I also got several record albums but so far only 1 CD, an out of print title by the rock group, The Connells.

The sale runs from now to July 6 with 2 days off on July 3 and 4 in observance of the Independence Day holiday. The last day of the sale is 50¢ bargain day on everything not sold during the week.

The book sale is a benefit for the Hawaii State Library System and for the first time, music sales benefit Hawaii Public Radio.

SciFi books can be had this week for as little as a dollar (or less)!

Books are also on sale in the building and a tent next to the cafeteria.

Links to more information & content:

Let's Draft Panos for Mayor

2008-06-27T06:10:00.000-10:00

It's a longshot, but there is now a campaign underway to draft Dr. Panos D. Prevedouros for Honolulu Mayor. If he decides to run, there would definitely be someone for me to vote for in the upcoming Honolulu mayoral election. Dr. Prevedouros is definitely against the mass transit rail proposal that is being championed by well financed and well connected incumbent Mayor, Mufi Hannemann. He is also an engineer, which could be a huge benefit for the city and county, since he would probably shift the city's priorities from building new things to maintaining long neglected infrastructure such as roads and sewers.

Here is a letter I sent to the Draft Panos website:

Dear Dr. Prevedouros,

Four years ago I had to throw a blank ballot in for the Mayor's race because I knew back then both Mufi Hannemann and Duke Bainum were both for building rail transit.

Now with the rail debate front and center, we need someone to carry the flag of STOP RAIL NOW all the way to the Mayor's office and occupy it so that rail is never built. I'll make room for you in the HOTLANE if you run for Mayor.

Please do it, you're the last best hope for a better Honolulu.

Aloha,
MEL

Anyone interested in getting someone with a true alternate agenda into the Mayor's office, Panos is the guy. Visit the Draft Panos website today and urge the guy to run.

Additional Links:

Draft Panos.com
Dr. Panos Prevedouros - Civil & Environmental Engineering
Dr. Prevedouros Personal Website

King Kamehameha Celebration

2008-06-07T22:30:00.000-10:00

The 92nd Annual King Kamehameha Celebration Parade was held today (June 7) in Honolulu. Several bands, colorful Pa'u riders mounted on horses, beauty queens in cars, dignitaries (also in cars) and a couple of floats made their way through Honolulu and into Waikiki. The parade is one of the longest in Honolulu, covering 4 miles from the Iolani Palace area, passing the nearby statue of King Kamehameha the Great and snaking its way on Punchbowl Street, Ala Moana Blvd., and Kalakaua Ave. before finishing in Waikiki at Kapiolani Park.

Thousands were on hand through the parade route. The weather was hot and sunny but people did not mind. As usual any parade is a natural photo opportunity. Shutterbugs were out in force snapping pictures at almost every step of the way. I took some time out to take several pictures as the parade made its way past Ala Moana Shopping Center.

There is a State Holiday on June 11 to commemorate the birth of King Kamehameha who is credited with uniting the Hawaiian Islands under one government.

Links to the photos are here, with a few more samples shown below.

Stop Rail Now Continues

2008-06-03T07:00:00.002-10:00

People at this corner of Fort Street Mall signed the petition to put the rail issue to the ballot as the Stop Rail Now campaign continues. Volunteers were out in force yesterday in Downtown Honolulu getting signatures for the citizen initiative. Last I heard they were close to having 12,000 people signed up. For more info on the campaign, go to www.stoprailnow.com. You can download a petition from the website. Sign it and send it back.

Honolulu's mass transit project will be the biggest taxpayer boondoggle ever created in the City and County of Honolulu. The cost will be at least $6.4 billion to build (taking in possible cost overruns, eminent domain issues, etc.). How much it will cost to operate and maintain is still largly vague. Time to stop the Mufi train and explore other alternatives to this massive build-out is now.

Sharper Image Stores Closing

2008-06-01T22:45:00.001-10:00

Another high tech retail store is going out of business. Sharper Image, a familiar high-end gadget retailer at Ala Moana Shopping Center is holding a close out sale along with dozens of other stores throughout the nation. Apparently the chain went bankrupt due to the weak economy. An auction firm bought the stores assets and decided to liquidate inventory and close stores. The new owners will concentrate on e-commerce and catalog sale retailing instead.

I was quite surprised to see the "Store Closing Sale" sign as I went by yesterday. While Sharper Image had all kinds of neat gadgets, there was nothing that I truly needed. While it was a great place to look at gadgets, I never had the motivation to buy anything from Sharper Image in all the years they were in Honolulu.

Sharper Image Stores to be Closed and Liquidated (Reuters)

Photo taken outside Sharper Image's Ala Moana Center store on May 31.

Four Bucks and Climbing!

2008-05-30T06:45:00.000-10:00

The price of gasoline keeps climbing daily. I shot this picture on Monday when the cheapest gas at this Chevron station was priced at $3.99. Yesterday when I drove by, the price had climbed to $4.01. Don't know what it is today, but I suspect if it is not the same, the price went up.

I bought $20 worth of gas just to top off my Toyota Corolla this week at Lex Brodie's. There are 2 price tiers for gasoline there. Cash customers get a few pennies off per gallon at Brodie's. I usually pay cash for most routine purchases.

As prices climb, Hawaii drivers are adjusting their driving habits. I generally travel only in the urban core of Honolulu and rarely venture out. Now I am more prone to stay home since the price of gas keeps on climbing. Someday as my Mom says, we may go back to "horse and buggy days".

Con Con Cost Task Force Announced

2008-05-28T06:15:00.001-10:00

Lt.. Governor James "Duke" Aiona (at podium) announced the creation of the Constitutional Convention Cost Task Force yesterday. The bi-partisan group is supposed to present the public with a report on how much a Constitutional Convention will cost the state before the November elections this fall. The report is expected to be released in August.

Members of the task force include Lt. Governor James R. "Duke" Aiona, Jr. (chair), State Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser, State Senator Gordon Trimble, State House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan, State Representative Joseph Souki, Pi'ilani Kaopuiki, President, League of Women Voters of Honolulu, Kaipo Lum, Board Member, Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce, Chief Elections Officer Kevin Cronin, Office of Elections, State Attorney General Mark Bennett, State Comptroller Russ Saito and State Budget and Finance Director Georgina Kawamura.

Senator Hooser was quick to take to the podium at yesterday's press conference to voice his opposition to holding a con-con. He cited the erosion of environmental protections, loss of native Hawaii rights and the weakening of the public education system as some of his concerns.

Others such as State Attorney General Mark Bennett support the con con to help restore balance to the criminal justice system and bring about changes that give citizens a greaeter say in their government.

Initiative, referendum and recall as well as setting term limits for State Legislators are all good proposals that could be added to the constitution through the approval of a con con.

Costs for a possible con con have ranged from a low $10 million to a high of $70 million.

A citizen driven website at HawaiiConCon.org was recently started to help people decide the merits of whether or not holding a Constitutional Convention is a good idea.

Stop Rail Now Opens HQ

2008-05-28T05:15:00.001-10:00

I attended the Stop Rail Now grand opening of their campaign headquarters this past Monday, May 26. The Stop Rail Now headquarters is located in a small building on the 2nd floor at 627 South Street. There, the organizations many volunteers coordinate the petition drive campaign to get the rail question onto the November 4, 2008 general election ballot.

Stop Rail Now needs more than 40,000 signatures in which to get the question on the ballot. As of this past Monday they had already surpassed the 10,000 signature mark. Stop Rail Now has been in operation for little over a month now. They are a worthy organization to support, especially with your signature. Stop Rail Now is also looking for volunteers to help in the signature gathering process. Go to the Stop Rail Now website for details.

Photo captions
1. Top photo: Stop Rail Now volunteers sign waving on South & Queen streets
2. Middle photo: Stop Rail Now volunteers at work.
3. Above: Sign the Petition. Put the rail question on the ballot.

More Stop Rail Now photos

Remember....

2008-05-26T11:00:00.000-10:00

Memorial Day 2008. Remember the sacrifice. Cherish our freedom. God Bless!

Inter-island Travel Prices Increase Again

2008-05-22T04:15:00.002-10:00

Citing the increasing cost of fuel, Hawaiian Airlines raised the price to fly inter-island yesterday. The lowest Hawaiian Airlines ticket price for a one-way inter-island trip is now $64. That is $6 higher than Mesa/Go!'s latest advertised low fare of $59. The public will be lucky to get even these high low prices because most seats will be selling for a lot more.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES: Lowest ticket price for inter-island travel is $64. Most seats are going for $74, $84 and $94. Travelling from Honolulu to the Big Island? Add another $5 to each ticket.

People flying on Hawaiian to the mainland will have to pay a $100 fuel surcharge penalty on top of their ticket. Ouch!

MESA / GO!: The cheapest ticket available on "Hawaii's Low Fare Airline" Go! is $59. There are hardly any flights available for that price on the one-time price champion. Now you have to pay mostly $94 to fly in-between islands on this "discount" carrier. I guess the Go! board has finally come to their senses (after driving Aloha Airlines out of business) and realized that the red ink on their operation had to be stopped at the expense of the flying public. The Go! website no longer touts their "low" fare as prominently as it used to. Their print ad from yesterday (below) was still trumpeting the $59 fare which is up from $54 a week ago.

ISLAND AIR: Ticket prices to fly inter-island on this airline range from $63 to $73 on the low end to $93 for an "unrestricted" ticket.... whatever that is. Remember Island Air operate smaller Dash 8 propeller airplanes. Passengers may also have to stop once or twice on other islands if they are flying to either Maui or the Big Island from Honolulu. The main reason to use Island Air is to go from Honolulu to Molokai or Lanai, or from the Big Island to Maui. They have more flights from these points than Hawaiian or Go.

HAWAII SUPERFERRY: As mentioned in the previous posting on this topic, Superferry trips between Honolulu and Kahului will cost $49 per person and $65 per standard vehicle starting in June.

WHAT WILL THE PUBLIC DO? Adjust of course and fly less. It is a given. Prices go up, people travel less. The airlines will probably have to adjust again, and increase their fares or eventually cut back on schedules, aircraft, routes and/or personnel. We're back to 2004 and possibly worst.

Hawaii GOP Convention Tightly Scripted

2008-05-19T05:00:00.002-10:00

This media release from Eric Ryan came in today.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HONOLULU, Hawaii ― May 18, 2008 ― Hundreds of well-meaning Hawaii Republicans from all counties statewide traveled at their own expense to Waikiki and participated in our 2008 State Republican convention. During that time, many duly elected party delegates witnessed a carefully scripted event.

The attached internal document was provided by an undisclosed party official. This document carefully outlines the exact verbiage and that was followed. This included the adoption of rules, motions, and other matters that are considered highly debatable. Rulings provided by the chair were also pre-scripted and pre-determined, indicating a biased position on the part of the party leadership who should have remained unbiased during the proceedings. Delegates and alternates weren’t even allowed to discuss their own party’s platform, though hours were supposedly allotted for such discussion.

The General Session proceedings were conducted in an atmosphere of malfeasance. Please pay particular attention to General Session [beginning on page 7 of the attached document]. All outcomes were predetermined and every delegate’s and alternate’s time was completely wasted.

QUOTES FROM RYAN

“The need to change our party leadership has never been clearer. We’ve been railroaded by insiders for too long who only care about protecting their power base and preventing the discussion of our platform and principles.”

“We’ve strayed a great distance from our party’s beliefs and we don’t even bother to tell voters what we in. If party leaders spent as much time implementing a winning strategy as they do circling the wagons to prevent reform, Hawaii would be a different and better place today.”

“Adding insult to injury, when asked about releasing the actual vote tallies, Willes Lee said it’s nobody’s business. Considering this in light of party leader’s unwillingness to promote our party and our solutions and our candidates, no wonder we keep losing at the ballot box.”

IMPORTANT LINKS
Aiona sets sights on 2010 campaign at convention
Hawaii Republican Party Rejects Ad Campaign Donated by Party Supporters
Convention Script (800+K PDF)
Photo caption: Platform chair Darwin Ching checks his script.

GOP Convention Weekend

2008-05-18T22:00:00.007-10:00

Contentious is a word that I would use to describe most of the business sessions of the GOP Hawaii Convention sessions held on Saturday May 17. Members were divided among those wanting to return the party to a traditional and conservative base while others want to continue with the moderate and "Democrat light" ideology pursued by the Lingle administration and her many supporters. A division among supporters for Senator John McCain and Congressman Ron Paul for President of the United States was also apparent, but not a concern to me.

The Platform remains a major issue for many in the party. Not only did the party end all discussion and proposals for the platform in April, they did the same thing at the full session of the convention. Members were forced to approve the 2006 platform as the 2008 platform through a series of motions that cut off all possibility to amend or even discuss the document. Clearly supporters of this action outnumbered the many who wanted to open the process to discussion at least. No way. The vote was taken and the 2006 platform ended up being rubber stamped into place as the official one for 2008.

As mentioned in this blog and elsewhere, the point of contention against adopting a new, conservative platform is the Akaka Bill. The Democrat crafted bill is designed to allow Hawaiians to be recognized by the federal government as a tribe and allow them to create their own government within the framework of the one we have now. The Hawaiian plank of the proposed platform would have not allowed for the support of the Akaka Bill and instead would grant Hawaiians and everyone else the opportunity to take charge of their own lives without relying on government handouts and more programs.

In the end, pro-Akaka Bill advocates such as Attorney Bruss Keppler (shown below, left) got their way in squashing a better platform. Mr. Keppler was seated in the delegate area while continuing to support Democrats through financial contributions in the thousands of dollars.

The air of contention also hung over the selection of delegates to the National Convention in Minnesota. The process of conducting the vote was flawed. Blank write-in ballots were issued by the party for members to write-in the names of those people running for delegate and alternates. The problem? The list of names that were handed out on paper to delegates was incomplete. A new list of both delegates and alternates were to be posted on the giant TV screen. Nearly a half hour of the meeting was wasted on getting the names.

To make matters worst, it was ruled that anyone could submit any type of ballot on paper to the counters, as long as they did not surpass the 3 congressional district and 11 at large district vote count for both delegates and alternates. The McCain campaign distributed a printed ballot with their delegate list on it for submission.

After the votes were counted, it was indicated that 60% of the delegates had turned in the handwritten ballot and not the pre-printed McCain ones. Delegates from the Ron Paul campaign later protested the validity of the McCain printed ballots, to no avail.

A clear slate of McCain pledged delegates and alternates were elected.

Anything bright happened at the convention? Certainly. Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona made his 2010 campaign speech for the State's top seat. He spoke about lower taxes, better education, getting tough on crime and support for the Constitutional Convention. Governor Linda Lingle praised her Lt. Governor, her cabinet staff and neighbor island liaisons. Candidates running for office were able to introduce themselves and meet people. Lunches and dinners were served to those who sprung extra money to attend them. The "Obsession" movie on radical Islam was shown. A good time was had by some.

Perhaps by a slim chance, what was done at the convention this weekend will turn into election gold in November. Don't hold your breath.

Photo captions:

The face of anger from conservative delegate on the shutdown of platform discussion.
GOP leaders confer before platform meeting of convention. They wanted to shut down platform discussion very quickly and did through a series of staged motions.
Bruss Keppler, GOP delegate who has given thousands of dollars to Democrats.
Stop Rail Now people were there to get more signatures for ballot amendment.

Links

www.flickr.com

GOP Convention Day 1

2008-05-17T05:00:00.001-10:00

The first day of the Hawaii State Republican Convention was an all day affair held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort in Waikiki that featured a number of speeches, candidate workshops, a luncheon and presentations. The convention gives Hawaii Republican party members an opportunity to meet the candidates, their leadership and get ready for both the National Convention and elections to be held later this year.

PLATFORM & RESOLUTIONS

The party's platform has been a point of contention during the drafting process between party members who want a return to more traditional and conservative values, vs. the current leadership who advocate a moderate to liberal platform. Work on crafting a new platform was stopped in April and the 2006 platform was adopted as the 2008 version.

A very brief session conducted by Platform Committee Chair Darwin Ching (photo above) was held to entertain proposals for commemorative resolutions only. Ching stated that any substantive resolutions and possible amendments to the 2006/2008 platform will be on the agenda sometime today. Should this happen, today's session may prove to be interesting.

FILM ON ISLAMIC TERRORISM

Perhaps the highlight of yesterday's proceedings was the showing of a documentary film titled "Obsession: Radical Islamic Terrorism." The film is a riveting, eye opening piece that outlines radical Islamic teachings and goals through the use of footage obtained from various Arab TV networks. It features snippets of people from both the Islamic world and the West talking about the worldwide threat from radical Islamic organizations. Images of recent terrorist acts, bombings and large groups of extremists chanting "Death to Israel," "Death to Britain," and "Death to America" are chilling and unforgettable. A major portion of the film compared the threat of radical Islam to that of Nazi Germany during World War II.

The bottom line: Radical Islam's goals are to wipe out Israel, the United States of America, Britain and all of Western society. These people are indoctrinated from a very early age to hate all that we hold dear . They want to conquer the world and convert it to its radical view and religion at the expense of everything else. The war on terrorism will be with us for a very long time and in order for America and the rest of the world to survive, we must continue to fight and never let down our guard.

Additional Links

Will the Haze Clear Up?

2008-05-16T07:51:00.004-10:00

VOG THIS WEEK

Honolulu and the rest of the State of Hawaii have been plagued with a thick layer of volcanic vog again as the tradewinds subsided and the gray haze drifted over all of the islands. As most people know, vog is created by the debris kicked into the sky by the ongoing eruption of Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. Normally the vog travels in a southerly direction, away from most of the state. However, when the winds change all of the stuff drifts over the state and becomes a hazy mess. Forecasts call for the vog to lift by Sunday or Monday.

HAZY REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

The Hawaii Republican Convention starts today at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort in Waikiki. There may be some heated debate, if allowed, on the recently aborted platform issue in which GOP members loyal to the Lingle status-quo shut down in late April.

The event will probably end up being a lackluster convention where the most accomplished will be to vote for delegates to the upcoming National Convention on the mainland late this summer. About the only possible excitement in this will be a proabable strong surge among supporters of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who is still a candidate in the race despite Senator John McCain's immense lead in the delegate count.

Personally I am officially undecided on the McCain vs. Paul issue as the candidates I previous supported have fallen by the wayside a long time ago. It is more than likely that I will end up voting for the Republican presidential candidate in November over Barrack Obama, who seems to be the close choice for the Democrats.

Meanwhile the goal among the conservative leaning Republicans is to build the party and return it back to those core values that make being a Republican, Republican.

COUNCIL NOT HAZY ON STEEL RAIL

The Honolulu City Council's transportation committee chair killed a bill that would have put non-steel wheel alternatives back into consideration for discussion. Councilmember Nestor Garcia, chair of the committee, deferred the alternative technology bill yesterday in committee.

It looks like the steel wheel on steel rail favored by the majority of the Council and Mayor Mufi Hannemann will continue to be the only option left for consideration. The mayor is already plowing ahead with this thing.

Meanwhile the StopRailNow organization continues with its petition drive to get the rail question onto the November ballot. There is no volcanic haze in front of my eyes about my opposition to rail and the nasty tax increase perpetuated by Democrats and our Republican Governor on the Mufi train proposal. Time to stop the train is now!

Where are the Cheap Seats?

2008-05-13T05:20:00.005-10:00

The cost of inter-island travel has definitely gone up. The days of the fare war between Mesa Airlines' Go! and the other inter-island carriers is over. Fuel costs are up, Aloha Airlines is out of the passenger business and Mesa settled their $90 million lawsuit with Hawaiian Airlines out of court for $52.5 million.

Here is the latest breakdown of fares for a typical inter-island trip between Honolulu and Hilo for May 30 to June 11.

MESA AIRLINES' GO

Mesa advertises a low Go! airlines fare of $54 one-way (photo above). Reality check? I went to their website, and fares for my travel window were stated at $59, $69, $74, $89 or $94 depending on day and time of travel. Where's that $54 seat?

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES

Hawaiian Airlines remains the inter-island airline leader despite higher prices. They added more flight capacity and carried more passengers since Aloha Airlines called it a day on March 31. Hawaiian's fares for my travel window range from $59 on the low end to $109 on the high end. This is for coach seating, depending again on the day and time of travel. Note that some of Hawaiian Airlines' flights to Hilo stop at Maui before continuing. And they cost $84 for more time in the plane.

ALOHA AIRLINES

Totally out of the passenger business, Aloha Airlines continues to operate their freight service with hopes that they will be bought by another firm real soon. The airline closed their cargo operations for a few days and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which was a smart move on their part. This allowed them to continue the selling negotiatons without having to deal much with their unions as the airline was technically liquidated upon Chapter 7 filing.

ISLAND AIR

Flying to Hilo on Island Air? First you have to love prop planes to undertake this trip. Second you have to plan for at least 3 hours of travel time between Honolulu and Hilo. All of Island Air's flights to Hilo and back involve at least 1 stop on Maui. Two of their 3 Hilo flights also stop on Molokai. Price for these long flights? $73 or $83. Island Air is an airline to use if you are going to rural airports on the islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai. The are not a very good choice for going to Hilo from Honolulu.

HAWAII SUPERFERRY

They're not an airline. They are a ship. They don't go to Hilo but are planning on Big Island service starting next year to Kawaihae. Currently they sail at least once a day to and from Honolulu to Kahului. Hawaii Superferry's current fare is $39 per person each way. $55 each way for your standard sized vehicle. The prices go up to $49 per person and $65 per vehicle starting in June.

Yes, the heyday of cheap inter-island travel is over. Our travel choices are less. Bottom line is that if anyone wants to go anywhere, some serious financial bullets are going to have to be bitten. And of course people will adjust and probably travel less.

Hawaii ConCon Website Launched

2008-05-12T09:58:00.003-10:00

There was a press conference on Friday (May 9) at the State Capitol to formally announce the citizen driven website HawaiiConCon.org. Speaking at the press conference were a cross section of legislators, computer "geeks" and participating citizens. HawaiiConCon.org is a free website where Hawaii residents can go to get information and discuss the merits of whether or not a Constitutional Convention should be approved by the voters in the upcoming eleciton. The site also serves as a forum to discuss other issues impacting Hawaii.

As for a constitutional convention itself, I support the vote to hold one. There are some serious changes that need to be made to our state constitution and a convention will be a good vehicle to do it. Vote "yes" on this ballot question.

Additional Links

HawaiiConCon.org

Photo: Taken at launch press conference at State Capitol on May 9.

Honolulu Arbitron Radio Ratings

2008-05-07T02:24:00.004-10:00

The latest Arbitron ratings for the Winter period is reported in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. There are no suprises as the morning show team of Michael W. Perry & Larry Price on Clear Channel's KSSK FM & AM lead the pack of prime-time morning shows.

Overall the top 5 radio stations in the Honolulu market are:

KSSK 92.3 FM

KINE 105.1 FM

KRTR 96.3 FM

KCCN 100.3 FM

KPHW 104.3 FM

Ever wondered who the bottom dwellers are overall? You can see them at the Radio & Records Website. The 3 Honolulu Radio stations at the bottom of the Arbitron pile are:

3. KKNE 940 AM

2. KLHT 1040 AM

1. KGU 760 AM

Traditional radio listening is on the decline. How many of you regularly listen to the radio all of the time or at least some of the time?

Note: I also operate the Hawaii Radio & Television Guide website which I have redone as a blog. I will be cross posting some of the articles from that site back to this one.

Takeover at Iolani Palace

2008-04-30T22:45:00.002-10:00

"Hawaiian Kingdom Government," one of several sovereignty organizations in the State of Hawaii, took over Iolani Palace for nearly 8 hours today. Members of the "kingdom" blocked public access to the historic palace and adjacent buildings by locking all of the gates and placing guards at each entrance. Several state workers were either locked in the fenced complex or shut out of work for the day. The Iolani Palace grounds, managed by the State Dept. of Land & Natural Resources is home for the Friends of Iolani Palace, the non-profit organization that operates the palace as a historic museum, and the Hawaii State Archives.

For the most part the takeover of the palace was a quiet if not boring event, until the gates were re-opened by the protesters shortly after 2 pm. Media, state and county officials and the public waited for most of the day for something to happen.

Critics have wondered why harsher and swifter action was not taken by officials. Potential charges of trespassing and kidnapping could be levied by officials against Hawaiian Kingdom Government.

Additional Links:

"No Trespassing" sign at the main entry to Iolani Palace.

Hawaiian Kingdom Government protester watches at King & Richard Street entry.

State Sheriffs near the backyard mall entry next to the State Capitol.

More photos at this link.

Another Costly Recycling Mandate

2008-04-26T05:01:00.008-10:00

I hate environmentalists. They cost consumers more money every time lawmakers fall under their spell and concoct bills to "save the environment".

Think the dreadful beverage container tax. Every time consumers buy something in a beverage container, 6 cents is slapped onto the cost of the each container as an additional tax. Consumers who want to get the recycling tax back have to wash and collect the bottles and return them to a redemption center. Problem is consumers only get 5 cents back per bottle. The State of Hawaii pockets a penny on every beverage container purchase. This tax is slapped on top of the 4.72% General Excise Tax consumers pay for the product.

It has been reported that the bottle tax has allowed the state to land a multi-million windfall. It is nothing but a money grab, not an environmental law.

Now comes the new "Electronic Devices Recycling Program" in the form of SB 2843. This new bill will create a new mandate that "requires manufacturers of electronic devices to collect and recycle electronic devices. Establishes the electronic device recycling fund. Establishes a working group that includes TV manufacturers to develop a plan to recycle TVs."

This legislation will place many burdens on electronics manufacturers and retailers, both in and out of Hawaii.

The bill also establishes a new special fund to administer "all fees, payments, and penalties...." The state will collect an annual $5000 registration fee from device manufacturers.

The costs associated with this recycling mandate is certainly to be passed on to consumers. And that is very bad when Hawaii already has the rotten reputation of being one of the highest cost of living and taxed states in the union. The madness of more government mandated cost increases has to stop!

Hawaii consumers have long had opportunities to recycle their old electronic devices through several community based, volunteer recycling campaigns. Like the bottle bill, the public certainly does not need another forced mandate on recycling.

The Hawaii Electronic Devices Recycling Program is just another money grab, just like the Beverage Container Tax.

Photo: Voluntary computer recycling day.

Thick Ugly Vog

2008-04-25T20:32:00.004-10:00

Honolulu has been looking a lot like Los Angeles lately. Today the sky was filled with the thick volcanic haze known as "Vog" which drifted over 200 miles from the Big Island of Hawaii to blanket the entire State of Hawaii. The thick vog layer is a result of changing winds and the ongoing eruption of Kilauea volcano on the Big Island.

The Big Island's Kilauea volcano has been constantly erupting from the Pu'u'O'o vent since 1983. Millions of cubic yards of red hot lava has spewed out of the volcano and covered many miles of acreage along the southeastern areas of the Big Island. Lava reached the sea many times sending out clouds of hot sulfuric steam into the atmosphere. Some of these clouds have drifted over the islands through the years.

Last month, Kilauea's Halemaumau crater exploded into activity after a vent near a parking lot suddenly erupted sending a huge plume cloud of gas into the sky. The gas eruption started out small and eventually exploded into a larger event over the course of several days. Nearly a month later, the spewing gas has contributed more volume into the air than what Pu'u'O'o apparently delivers.

The island now has two eruptions going. Pu'u'O'o with its lava flows and Halemaumau with its spewing gas cloud. Note that Halemaumau has not had an explosive eruption since 1924. The last lava eruption from Halemaumau occurred in 1968.

The combination of the two eruptions and the shifting winds have created thicker vog and a greater health hazard to many people on the Big Island of Hawaii and throughout the state.

Volcano Links

Kilauea Volcano on a clear, calm day... photo taken June 2005 by Mel. The 2 photos at the top of this article show the thick vog in Downtown Honolulu as seen from the 5th floor of the Hawaii State Capitol.

Council Tied on Rail Vote; Bills at Legislature

2008-04-24T04:51:00.005-10:00

The Hawaii Political Stew

Rail Vote Deadlocked Again

The Honolulu City Council screeched to another 4 to 4 tie vote on the subject of picking a transit alternative after a lengthy council hearing yesterday. Bill 80 is dead as a result of this action. Mayor Mufi Hannemann vows to build a "steel wheel on steel rail" elevated, ugly and noisy train system that will sprawl from Kapolei to Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu. The cost to build the train is estimated to be at least $6.4 billion.

Eight of the nine council members were present at yesterday's council meeting. Council Chair Barbara Marshall was absent again due to a family emergency on the mainland. She returned to Hawaii yesterday but did not make the council hearing.

The Council has until July to craft a new bill that will enable them to have a say in a transit technology selection. If not, the Mayor will be able to go ahead with his plan. He already plans to push on without council approval.

In the meantime, the citizen's group Stop Rail Now keeps on moving with their ballot initiative campaign. Stop the train now.

Regulating Inter-island Airlines

The State Senate passed HB 2250 on a full floor vote by a 20 to 5 margin that will allow state regulation of the inter-island airline industry. State regulation of the airline business is subject to federal approval. HB 2250 passed out of the House earlier this year and is now on the desk of Governor Linda Lingle.

During yesterday's floor session Senator Kalani English indicated that he supported the bill so that smaller rural airports could get airline service. He claimed that airports such as Hana, Upolu Point, Kamuela and Princeville had little or no commercial airline service.

Apparently with state regulation of the airlines, it would seem that the government could force a carrier to fly into these smaller airports. The market has clearly spoken that demand for commercial flights into rural airports is almost non-existent. There already is some service from commuter airlines such as Pacific Wings and Mokulele Air into these rural destinations.

The reason for my opposition to this bill is that regulation would force routes and prices to be fixed, and possibly not allow for another cut rate carrier to come into the marketplace and offer consumers low prices (like Go).

Senators voting against the bill were Slom, Hemmings, Trimble, Whalen and Inouye.

Special Session for Turtle Bay Purchase?

The Legislature may have to come back for a special session later this year as the Lingle administration vows to pursue the state's purchase of the Turtle Bay resort. The purchase of the 850 acre resort is being considered as part of a misconstrued effort to keep development out of the area. The problem is that the state doesn't have the money to purchase this real estate. They are banking on buying the entire parcel and then reselling the hotel resort area to another private operator.

SB 2423 is still tied up in conference committee.

"Right to Dry" Bill

As if the legislature did not have more important things to do, there is a bill to force homeowner associations to allow residents to hang their laundry out to dry despite house rules disallowing the practice. This is another bad example of government intrusion into the private sector. Homeowner association rules should never be overruled by governmental interference such as this.

The Sierra Club who supports the bill as part of their environmental agenda has named this the "right to dry" bill.

Stop Rail Now!

2008-04-21T23:50:00.003-10:00

A new ballot initiative was kicked off yesterday at Honolulu Hale, Ground Zero for the supporters of Honolulu's most expensive public works project proposal ever.... the $6.4 billion fixed rail system. Opponents converged on City Hall yesterday to kick off a new campaign to put the rail question to the ballot.

Stop Rail Now is a citizen's effort to place the following question on the November ballot as a City Charter amendment:

"Honolulu mass transit shall not include trains or rail transit."

Sounds simple enough, an up down, black or white initiative question that allows voters to take a side on the very divisive issue and make a decision on it one way or another. This is good as a huge decision such as rail should not be left to the politicians, and especially our dictatorial Mayor, Mufi Hannemann.

Stop Rail Now will need to gather more than 40,000 voter signatures in order to get the question on the ballot. The deadline to get this done is August 1. It will be a daunting task, but with the rail issue being more on the forefront of local headlines, the initiative effort will be a worthy thing to pursue.

There will be sign-up drives at various public events to get voters on the initiative roll as well as opportunities for citizens to participate in the process. Initiative forms are available for download at the StopRailNow.com website.

Rail is a very costly and bad thing that should not be allowed to happen in Honolulu. Studies have shown and the city supporters have acknowledged that fixed rail will not solve Oahu's traffic problems. It is time to scrap the Mufi Train.

Additional Links for More Information:

Photo: Spokesperson Dennis Callan speaks to the media on the StopRailNow ballot initiative.