Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

Yes, a ship can be arrested. It happens all the time.

According to this report from The Courthouse News Service, Feds Demand Tug After Costly Harbor Mishap (6/27/2016), the tug Maulani was involved in a mishap while towing the SBX-1 radar dome through Pearl Harbor. The allegation is that the tugboat caused an incredibly expensive communication cable outage when its towing cable dragged the bottom. Bad tug. So the feds want to see it pay the penalty.

You may have seen the radar dome as you drive along the coast—it spends most of its time not watching for North Korean missle tests as it was designed to do, instead whiling away its time in balmy Honolulu. As you may have guessed, it doesn’t really work despite its $2.2 billion price tag.

Here is a pic of the dome as it was towed into Pearl Harbor one day (see: Watching You Watching Me, 5/31/2008).

For the complete story, please click on the link above. The article is well-written, clear, and has juicy details of the incident and some background on the SBX-1.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/27/2016 09:40:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
Makemake au e relocate i ko oukou aina a me koʻu hopena makua kāne dala, a i ke koena o ka $ 3.5 miliona dala i loko o kona kapa hoike. … Pela kaʻu mea i keia mea o koʻu kumu no ka contacting ia oukou pela oukou e kokua mai oe iaʻu e hoolilo i ka kala iloko o ko oukou mooolelo pela au i hiki mai ai i ko oukou aina, e noho ilalo, a hoomau i koʻu hoʻonaʻauao, oiai oukou e kokua mai oe iaʻu i ke kālele 'i ke kālā.

(I want to relocate to your country and my late father funds, and the remainder of the $ 3.5 million dollars in its report. My late father Mr. David Dodo, ua'apu poisoned to death on the 21 July 2015. … So my thing is my reason for contacting you so you will help me to make the money in your account so I come to your country, to sit down and continue my education, while you help me to invest the money.) (Google translation)
”

by Larry Geller

I often wonder what the token Hawaiian language column that appears weekly in the Star-Advertiser means. Sadly, though I have lived here so many years, I cannot read it.

But actually, I can now… Google Translate includes the Hawaiian language.

I was put to shame actually by one of those “Nigerian prince” emails that popped into my inbox yesterday. A snip of it is in the pull-quote above.

Obviously, the Nigerians (or whoever they are) feel the necessity to communicate with people who live in Hawaii in their own language. This kind of makes sense, I suppose, in a Nigerian prince sort of way. Although the spams you and I generally receive are in English, no doubt they send German-language spam to Germany, Spanish-language spam to Venezuela, and so forth. So of course they should send me an email in Hawaiian. Some algorithm they use has put emails togther with their location.

Am I supposed to believe the email is genuine because for some reason this Nigerian girl speaks Hawaiian? It’s the same crappy email I get in English, but somehow I never questioned how it is that all these rich folks in Nigeria speak English. After all, everyone in the Prince Valient comic speaks English, as do the  fish in Sherman’s Lagoon. Prince Valient speaking anything but English would be weird.

But now there is a new question: just why is there a column in the Star-Advertiser in Hawaiian? There used to be real Hawaiian-language newspapers in this town. I am not suggesting it should not be there, but it does raise the issue of tokenism. Why? Because if it were important, the paper would translate it so I could actually read it! And how many news articles does the paper translate into Hawaiian? Hmmm?

Try giving testimony at the Legislature in one of the state’s official languages—Hawaiian—and of course they will not understand a word of it. The legislators sit poker-faced and listen but comprehend nothing. When this occurs, I do understand that an important point is being made. But a regular column that, face it, very few readers can actually read, is problematic—because the paper could translate it but doesn’t.

If what is written in the paper in Hawaiian was at all important to the editors they should have provided a parallel English translation. Without it, it’s something like that testimony at the Legislature.

Well, with Google now accepting Hawaiian-language text, it’s up to me to grab the next column, let the technology work, and read the message it is trying to convey.

Well, after writing the above, I went to the Star-Advertiser website. Since I am a subscriber, I can read the op-ed Kauakukalahale myself.

I plugged it in to Google Translate.

What critical local issue is being discussed? Rail? The failure of Hawaiian Homelands? No… it’s about… get ready for this …

Problems with the translation of English into Chinese at a Disney park in Shanghai.

Maybe I don’t need to read these columns after all. The Nigerian prince email was about as relevant.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/26/2016 08:20:00 AM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

by Larry Geller

First, Speaker of the House Joe Souki blasts Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s leadership:

Honolulu Star-Advertiser transportation reporter Marcel Honore reported last week that HART has already spent $96.6 million in design work and property acquisition for those four final and mostly-likely-never-to-be-built rail miles.

“This screws it up royally,” said Speaker of the House Joe Souki, one of the Legislature’s biggest rail supporters.

“For both mayor and Council, it shows that both don’t have the bravado to be a leader,” said Souki, who offered this advice: “Find the money, the money is there.”

[Star-Advertiser p. E1, On Politics: Mayor’s race is important, but rail transit is more so, 6/19/2016]

Then he sponsors a fundraising reception for Caldwell:

Go figure.

Terrible puns:

I would have loved to see how Souki and Caldwell danced around each other after Souki’s earlier remark about Caldwell’s leadership ability, or rather, the lack thereof. Odori-ko  (踊り子) means “dancer” in Japanese.

But Odoriko is also a limited express train service in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which runs between Tokyo and Shizuoka Prefecture. The Japanese train has been running since October 1981. Honolulu’s train, now to be limited to stopping at Middle Street, may begin running … when?

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/25/2016 12:01:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
While the full extent of Mateen’s contact with the FBI is unknown, it is clear that it extended into the realm of planning a bogus terror attack. The question now is whether manipulation by a FBI informant had any impact on Mateen’s deadly decision.

“The FBI should scrutinize the operating procedure where they use undercovers and informants and pitch people to become informants,” said Rowley. “They must recognize that, in this case [with Mateen], it had horrible consequences if it did, in fact, backfire.”—Alternet
”

Read the article on the Alternet website:

Before Omar Mateen Committed Mass Murder, The FBI Tried To 'Lure' Him Into A Terror Plot: New revelations raise questions about the FBI’s role in shaping Mateen’s lethal mindset (Alternet, 6/19/2016)

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/19/2016 04:38:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
The implications of the court's ruling or rulings in this case will be vast.—Courthouse News
”

by Larry Geller

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, meeting Wednesday in Honolulu, heard four cases challenging the Hawaii state court rulings striking down three counties' ordinances seeking to regulate the use of pesticides and GMO crops. Videos taken by the court are posted below for convenience.

The Courthouse News service has posted an excellent summary by reporter Nicholas Fillmore. See: Ninth Circuit Digs In on Hawaii GMO Rules (Courthouse News Service, 6/17/2016). The article appears to be a very complete summary of the courtroom action--check it out. The reporter concludes:

After more than three hours of testimony, Judge Thomas thanked the audience and thanked the lawyers for their interesting arguments on issues of such importance.

The Ninth Circuit is the biggest federal appeals court in the country, covering Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The implications of the court's ruling or rulings in this case will be vast.

15-16466 Alika Atay v. County of Maui

Published on Jun 16, 2016

Alika Atay and other ballot proponents of a Maui ordinance which establishes a temporary moratorium on the cultivation of genetically engineered organisms, appeal from the district court's summary judgment in an action challenging the ordinance

15-15246 Robert Ito Farm, Inc. v. County of Maui

Published on Jun 16, 2016

Appeal from an order denying intervention in an action brought by Monsanto Company and others challenging a Maui ordinance prohibiting the cultivation of genetically modified organisms pending further review.

14-17538 Hawai'i Papaya Industry Assn. v. County of Hawaii

An appeal from the district court's summary judgment and permanent injunction against enforcement of Hawaii County Ordinance 13-121, which governs testing and cultivation of genetically engineered crops.

14-16833 Syngenta Seeds, Inc. v. County of Kauai

Published on Jun 16, 2016

The County of Kauai and others appeal the district court's order entered in favor of Syngenta Seeds, Inc. and others in an action challenging Kauai's County Ordinance 960 which regulates pesticides and genetically modified organism crops.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/17/2016 05:32:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

by Larry Geller

APRIL 1, 2018 (HONOLULU)—Eager crowds lined up this morning at the turnstiles all along the route of the new Honolulu Elevated Ice Skating Rink awaiting the former rail line’s reincarnated grand opening.

Honolulu Mayor Tam, elected some say on the basis of his suggestion to refrigerate the already frozen Honolulu rail line and turn it into a profitable tourist attraction, officially opened the skating rink as man-made snow sprinkled the assembled guests and press corps.

“This will not only be recognized by Guiness as the world’s longest artificial skating rink, but it will qualify Honolulu to bid on the 2022 Winter Olympics.”

Tam also announced the awarding of concessions to local businesses to rent skates, protective knee pads and helmets to tourists and to daily commuters (with a Kamaaina discount). Other vendors will offer snacks and souvenirs.

The estimate that commuting to town via ice skates would take less time than waiting for a train will be tested for the first time as skaters lined up for an inaugural race from East Kapolei to Middle Street. The winner will be awarded a lifetime supply of shave ice.

When the opening bell sounded, crowds rushed onto the slick surface. Most were first timers who found that ice skating is not as easy as it appears on the TV screen, and casualties were reported within minutes of opening. Mayor Tam indicated that he would prefer to watch rather than step out on the ice.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/17/2016 11:36:00 AM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
Among various concerns for the elephants, the  [Association of Zoos and Aquariums] criticized the zoo's limited shade, brackish pools and untested chlorine levels in the pools.
…
Meanwhile rocks in the yard could hurt the animals' feet and pose problems if the elephants threw them, according to the report.

"Of course the AZA had a major problem with the elephants," [Former chief of the Zoological Society Catherine] Goeggel said. "Lack of water. No enrichment. This barren, sad exhibit."
  
Goeggel noted that "the elephants were recently found playing with a car battery that got in there somehow, or they unearthed."
”

by Larry Geller

I have not seen a better compendium of reasons for first auditing then shutting down the Honolulu Zoo than this Courthouse News article by Nicholas Fillmore. Please read it.

… Goeggel noted that "several of the keepers at the zoo came from Las Vegas, where the animals do shows."
     "I was watching them put the animals through their paces, and it reminded me of the circus," she said. "They had the animals doing tricks, basically, with use of an 'ankus,' this nasty bull hook they use in the elephants tender spots, in the armpit, behind the ears."
     Goeggel worried that things will get worse if the zoo gets a bull elephant.
     "When they're in musth they're uncontrollable," she said.

[Courthouse News Service, More at Stake Than Money for Honolulu Zoo, 6/16/2016]

Why an audit? The article mentions that only a small part of the funding actually goes to the zoo. If true, all the more reason to shut it down, but the numbers should be established first by a competent and independent audit.

It’s not just the AZA criticism that begs for shutting down this facility. The article concludes with this report:

… the Honolulu Zoo scored poorly as well with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA reports have flagged rusted metal, flaking paint, inaccessible areas and a moldy, wooden nesting box as posing significant dangers to animals.

There’s much in this report that is shocking. After reading it, think if you want to weigh in somehow on this issue. If we the public don’t care, who will care for the animals?

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/16/2016 12:22:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
ThinkProgress reports that between 2009 and 2012, 40 percent of mass shootings started with a shooter targeting his girlfriend, wife or ex-wife.
…
Last year alone, nearly a third of mass shooting deaths were related in some way to domestic violence.
”

by Larry Geller

Related: In Orlando, as Usual, Domestic Violence Was Ignored Red Flag (Rolling Stone, 6/13/2016)

For the final segment of today’s Democracy Now (tonight or tomorrow morning on `Olelo or on the web here) Amy Goodman interviewed journalist Soraya Chemaly, the author of the Rolling Stone article linked above.

[Amy Goodman]: We turn now to this often-overlooked connection between domestic violence and mass shootings. ThinkProgress reports between 2009 and 2012, 40 percent of mass shootings started with a shooter targeting his girlfriend, wife or ex-wife. Just this month in California, a UCLA doctoral student gunned down his professor, prompting a lockdown on campus. But first, Mainak Sarkar allegedly killed his estranged wife in Minnesota, climbing through a window to kill her in her home, and then he drove thousands of miles to California and killed his professor. Last year alone, nearly a third of mass shooting deaths were related in some way to domestic violence. And the majority of mass shootings in this country actually take place inside the home. Just this past weekend, as national attention was fixed to the massacre in Orlando, a man in New Mexico allegedly gunned down his wife and their four daughters.

[Democracy Now, When It Comes to Orlando Massacre, Domestic Violence is the Red Flag We Aren't Talking About, 6/14/2016]

Time for a discussion is limited in a short video/radio segment, but there is an implicit call for action. My interpretation: police departments should spend less time spying on mosques and Muslim communities and more time refining their response to domestic violence incidents.

Unfortunately, as the interview mentions, police intervention is not an option for many abused spouses. This subject deserves far more attention no matter where we live. One last snip from the Democracy Now interview transcript:

Soraya Chemaly]: … With domestic violence, we tend to think still that it’s private, very often separated from the way we think about public violence or terrorism. And if we consider, however, the connection between institutionalized and state-sanctioned violence—and in this instance, I’m actually explicitly talking about extremely high levels of domestic violence in our policing communities; some estimates of self-reported domestic violence put that number at about 40 percent of policing communities—you begin to see the overlap between private behavior and public behavior, and then the implications in terms of state action or inaction. For many people who are suffering from domestic violence, going to the police is simply not an option, either for matters of their community and race or gender and sexual identity, but also simply because they feel that they don’t have faith that when they go to the police, that as an institution it will be supportive. And so, until we better address domestic violence in policing communities itself, it’s very difficult to say that the police are an active resource in these situations. They understand the violence, for sure. But the question is: How do they respond to it?

Police are under scrutiny as protests continue across the country against police violence, even if our local newspaper fails to report on it. Is this mention of domestic violence in “40 percent of policing communities” part of a larger and more pervasive issue that cries out for reform?

This is an important program, but it also calls for a community response and a focus on recognizing and remedying domestic violence.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/14/2016 04:55:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
Except for a dark shadow, all is normal in the land of Japan.
”

Japan Right Now–And the USA

13 June 2016

Nº 432 | Johan Galtung, 13 Jun 2016 - TRANSCEND Media Service

Except for a dark shadow, all is normal in the land of Japan.

The local levels function very well with diligent Japanese working together to lift them up.  Except for those with nuclear power plants, particularly one of them, on the coast, hit by a tsunami.  Except too for rural communities laid waste, people aging, leaving, empty villages, hit by having to import rice instead of cultivating it.

Ride the trains, walk the streets with the Japanese; as brisk and busy as ever.  A little older, more canes, fewer bicycles, more cars, better streets and roads, cars run faster.  In addition, a little fatter, sharing aging and putting on weight with developed societies all over.

Missing are older ladies on bikes navigating the narrow streets with elegance, skirting pedestrians by a centimeter or two–bikes ride on sidewalks in Japan not on the streets–heads high, unperturbed.

Not missing are school classes of lovely children following the teacher with a flag–the small girls being as sweet as anywhere in the world or more so.  Judging by their faces the future looks bright.

Tokyo has modernized almost to the extreme. From a concoction of villages with scattered houses of all shapes and colors to a megalopolis of skyscrapers.  Totally void of any charm, but mega-modern.  We all pray they can stand an earthquake or two.  There was a small one during the night; maybe just informing us all that “we are still here”.

Restaurants are filled to the brim, food as delicious as ever.  Plus a more recent phenomenon: tables just for women, or having the room that evening, joking, laughing, self-assertive, accompanied by no males.  Next, tables only for children; accompanied by no parents?

Ancient Japan shows up as temples and shrines and gardens, as beautiful, as spiritual as ever.  It is all there, to our delight.

But under the shadow of the relation to the USA, occupied for 70 years, a colony, micro-managed in the smallest detail and spied upon.

The leading author and politician, governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, caused a major stir in 1989 with his book, The Japan That Can Say No.  But very few say no.  They do not say yes either, they may prefer not to know.  Or deep down to suffer from a servility that may one day explode in a burst of anger and violent revolt.  How come?

One interpretation: the USA-Japan war from 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor till the Instrument of Surrender 2 September 1945 ended with not only military but spiritual defeat. After the Meiji Restoration Japan had constructed a state Shintoism using Western Christian models with a divinity, the Sun Goddess, bestowing divinity on her offspring, the emperors.  However, she was defeated by a Western rex gratia dei–emperors, presidents, PMs by the grace of God. Defeated by FDR-Truman by the grace of a US God that proved stronger than Amaterasu-o-mikami. That God resided in Washington DC, USA.  The theory explains not only the submission, but also the strong desire to learn and internalize things American; to be one with those higher and victorious forces.

Another interpretation is more geo-political, realist.  It would pick up how USA-FDR decided long before Pearl Harbor to defeat Japan, having watched Japan imposing itself on the Ching dynasty 1894-1905, Russia 1904-05, then growing economically and expanding territorially; very far from just being “opened up” by a Perry to trade with USA. This is the story of provocations, preparations for war and more importantly for occupation of Japan, showing how some were warned and some not–like the commander of the fleet in Pearl Harbor who was sacrificed with a fleet with the youngest ship being 27 years old and no aircraft carrier–to prove to the world that Japan had attacked.

The two theories do not exclude each other; in fact, they support each other.  At the level of geo-politics, Japan fell into the well-prepared trap, was not only defeated but also genocided; at the spiritual level Japan underwent a conversion that made the defeat acceptable.

More than that, maybe even desirable.  If the USA is really as so many Americans believe a chosen people directly under God, superior to Japan as proved by the war contest, by how that war came about, submission, even servility, under such power follows.  Moreover, if USA is threatened by Satan’s forces–as it looks right now–it becomes not only a duty but also an honor to be called upon to share the burdens as “collective self-defense”, shoulder to shoulder, around the world.

The USA has become a Patron, a Lord, Japan a dependent vassal.

As such, the USA has not only the right but also the duty to impose itself on Japan, including micro-managing and spying.  By doing so on Japan, not a small power itself by any means, USA confirms its divine status–the Americans call it “exceptionalism”–and Japan’s closeness to Higher Forces.   Like Archangel Gabriel, who carries out the Father’s will–or like the Son called upon to “judge the living and the dead”?  Under, yes, but to be under the Highest does not mean to be low.

To reduce USA to a geo-political power-greedy state reduces Japan  not only to a defeated outcast in this world, but to a Japan so stupid as to have fallen into the Pearl Harbor trap, and on top of that to be duped into de facto colonization and accepting it.  There will be very strong forces of denial from the top of the major ministries (finance-foreign-defense), themselves conveyors of the US demands on Japan and the vehicles of their realization.  A hard battle due to come.

However, demystification of USA-Japan relations is bound to come.  But only from the source acceptable to “The Japan that Says Yes” (yes-yes-yes-yes–): from the USA itself.  From a USA losing one war after the other since Korea 1953, a USA of war fatigue, for whatever reason.  To a Japan deeply worried about Trump not only for pulling troops out leaving Self-defense to Japan itSelf, but for becoming Great alone, not bestowing indirect greatness on others.  Making Japan ordinary.

We will see.  Probably quite soon.  And hopefully nonviolently.

______________________________________

Johan Galtung, a professor of peace studies, dr hc mult, is founder of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment and rector of the TRANSCEND Peace University-TPU. He has published 164 books on peace and related issues, of which 41 have been translated into 35 languages, for a total of 135 book translations, including ‘50 Years-100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives,’ published by the TRANSCEND University Press-TUP.

This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/13/2016 11:50:00 AM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

by Larry Geller

This isn’t disappeared news—by 7 a.m. this morning at least four email announcements appeared in my inbox. You probably received some as well. No? How come?

Read: Civil Beat: Finding Our Place In Hawaii’s Media Landscape (Civil Beat, 6/8/2016)

Civil Beat has applied to become a 501(c)3 non-profit and will be accepting donations to keep running. What does this mean? It’s time for congratulations, but also for some concern.

Suppose they don’t take in enough to cover operating expenses? This is a problem plaguing many Hawaii non-profits. It’s a new ballgame for Civil Beat.

Will Pierre Omidyar continue his support? Omidyar is also the driving force behind The Intercept. Will he be shifting his attention more to that platform?

We shall see. Also, we’ll be able to see their 990 form eventually to learn how they’re doing.

My concern is only that Civil Beat continue and prosper. We badly need the kind of journalism they have exemplified over the past six years.

Good luck, Civil Beat!

Update: in my original post I forgot to mention that the Civil Beat paywall has been taken down. Fantastic. I hate paywalls. But on the other hand, I hope the revenue that subscriptions brought in will be replaced.

Going non-profit may be risky in a town where the cost of living is so high and income so low…  there is not much left for many families to donate to the best of causes. So my fingers are crossed hoping it works out—for them and for all of us who need the quality journalism that democracy depends upon.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/08/2016 08:00:00 AM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

by Larry Geller

APRIL 1, 2017 (MEXICO CITY) – Traffic in Arizona towns bordering with Mexico and as far away as the outskirts of Tucson were plagued by random automobile collisions and traffic accidents last week as first-time drug users took to the roads under the influence.

Mexico strikes back

The chaos was the result of the first retaliatory salvo launched by Mexican drug lords angered over the completion of the first section of President Trump’s Great Wall along the Arizona-Mexico border. Unable to supply markets in the US by means of mules or by hiding drugs in commercial truck cargos, Mexican drug lords switched to one of the most modern technologies—autonomous fixed-wing drones—to preserve their lucrative incomes.

Trump was right—Mexico did pay for the Wall (which was built largely, by the way, by Mexican contract laborers). But they paid China, contracting with Chinese research labs and factories to produce a fleet of flat-winged, autonomous drones capable of carrying cargo largely undetected over the Wall and into the hands of their US agents.

Some have called Trump’s agression and the Mexican response “Wall War I.”

The chaos in Arizona last week started Wednesday when police decided to jam the GPS frequencies used by satellites guiding the drones. When they fired up their jamming transmitters, motorists over a wide area suddenly found their car GPS units going crazy. Meanwhile the fleet of drones, carrying heavy payloads of illegal drugs, dropped out of the sky onto people’s lawns or backyards. Kids hunted fallen drones the way they might search for Easter eggs around the neighborhoods.

At first motorists crashed as they were distracted by poking at their GPS units trying to get them to respond. By far the largest number of fatalities were caused as car and truck drivers followed GPS guidance and turned the wrong way into one-way streets or avenues. Others drove off piers or crashed construction fences.

By the end of that first day a new hazard prevailed. Drones crashing short of their destination gave up their payload of illegal drugs to whomever was nearby. Suddenly there were newly-minted drug users throughout the Tucson suburbs, shooting up with no experience with dosage or the effects that powerful opiates would have on their judgment.

Drug-addled Arizonans packing guns used them on fellow drivers as they dug into their stashes and then took to the roads. Hospital emergency rooms were crowded with overdose victims and injured motorists and passengers.

Drug lords carpet-bomb Tucson streets

Although the GPS jamming had ceased, Mexican drug lords began pelting Tucson neighborhoods on Wednesday with small drug drops. Many of the packages included instructions in broken English to encourage experimentation with the deadly contents.

Trump denounces Mexicans as “terrorists as well as rapists”

President Trump’s denunciation of their tactic in a press conference that evening as an act of terrorism only encouraged drug kingpins to escalate their drops the next day. Police in Tucson as well as far-away Yuma reported ongoing drug-related shootings and gun violence related to the random drug drops.

President Trump was said to be closeted with his advisors yesterday in the White House Situation Room. An unauthorized report indicated that he would likely appeal to the Israelies to install a version of their "Iron Dome" missle defense along the Wall to shoot down drones before they could cross into US territory.

No US drug dealers were apprehended because the drones did not reach their destinations, and as they crashed, their programs automatically erased their data.

The death toll in Ariona is still undetermined.

Mexico is planning to exhibit their technology in CeBit 2018 in Germany.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/06/2016 11:52:00 AM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

by Larry Geller

I find it strange that there are not significant protests to the mismanagement resulting in the meltdown of the Honolulu rail project. The current re-thinking of the route demonstrates a massive and expensive #FAIL. Where are the crowds demanding that heads roll? Or demanding anything. It’s too quiet. Responsibility can be apportioned not only to HART but to our City Council and the Mayor’s office and Department of Transportation. It seems to me that taxpayers are owed not only an explanation—but a best-possible fix.

As citizens and taxpayers, should we just accept this debacle with a ho-hum attitude? It didn’t happen by itself, or by chance. It is not inevitable. Should we just uncomplainingly continue paying our excise tax surcharges without questioning the ability of our city government to handle the crisis that after all, they created?

It didn’t, and doesn’t, have to be this way.

Let's see... Portland was to put in an extension to its light rail system at a cost of $44.3 million per mile. I didn't follow up to see if it actually came in at that cost, but anyway, note that this is a tiny sum compared to the current cost for Honolulu's fiasco-on-steel-wheels which is about $405 million per mile.

At that rate, will it ever be extended to (say) UH Manoa? I doubt it.

Besides, although the current single rail route was set in motion by political whim instead of by urban planning, at some point we citizens should elect representatives who believe in urban planning with citizen participation. Cutting the line short at Middle Street is not a “plan.” It would be an act of desperation.

The current situation should be a lesson. It should, but maybe it won't. I'm surprised that Honolulu taxpayers are so passive. In effect, we are allowing the City Council and Mayor to sneak into our homes at night and pick our pockets to pay for a system that profits developers and construction interests—and of course the politicians themselves, through campaign contributions. Why do we accept this?

We could have done a lot more with that $8.1 billion. Ian Lind discussed the AIA recommendation for light rail in an article yesterday. That recommendation should have been considered as part of a sensible urban planning process. As Ian notes, the AIA study was simply dismissed.

What kind of transportation can a few billion dollars buy? The just-opened Gotthard Base Tunnel in the Swiss Alps is 35 miles long and was completed for $12 billion. That's $343 million per mile. In other words, this engineering marvel—the world's longest and deepest train tunnel—came in cheaper than Honolulu's old-school overhead rail.

Of course, I'm comparing apples and oranges here. My point is that we're paying dearly for something that likely should have been recognized as a costly mistake had there been adequate planning in place (for example, a plan that didn't deliberately ignore the cost of dealing with electrical power lines along the route). If something plans out as a mistake, you don’t do it.

We don't need an overhead train system. We could use a system that (like Portland's) would be economically extendable to other parts of the island.

Portland's entire system, part of their overall city plan, has been designed with a "pedestrian first" philosophy. A light rail system fits that philosophy—riders quickly and easily get on or off the tram or bus. Stops can be added, subtracted or moved over time. Not so an overhead rail system. Also, as the video below mentions, it's fast and cheap (usually) to build a street-level system. Businesses are inconvenienced only for a short time and shouldn't go bankrupt due to the crippling construction obstruction that we are witnessing now in Honolulu.

Just a word about that pedestrian-first philosophy, because it illustrates the value of overall urban planning. From a 2012 article:

In downtown Portland, and in fact, in Portland neighborhoods, the pedestrian is the first-class passenger. That's the rule. You don't have to press a button to cross an intersection. There are wide sidewalks. The intersection timing is such that there's enough time to get across the street. We don't build huge, wide streets that are impossible to cross. There are a hundred little things that implement the common-sense policy that in a city, the pedestrian comes first and everything is organized around that.

[Charles Hales, Senior Vice President, HDR Engineering, in e2 Transport, Portland A Sense of Place]

What a contrast.

In Honolulu, we expose pedestrians to unprotected crosswalks and other unsafe conditions, with the result that we set records annual for the number of seniors killed crossing the street. Crosswalk signals don't give enough time for those with walkers or canes to make it safely across. That's by design!

I mention this because I don't believe our transit plan was designed for the benefit of transit users. Our Departments of Transportation don't think that way—instead, the design will maximize the opportunity for development along the route.

That's not so strange given that (for example) our City Council members are beholden to rail and development interests. If our city government were looking out for our interests, the streets would already be safe and convenient for us to use. Bus routes would not be truncated. The Handi-Van would be an on-time and efficient service. Traffic laws would be enforced. We likely would not be looking forward to riding an inconvenient overhead rail system. It's all one fabric.

Finally on this point, please read my earlier article recounting how the rail route was chosen—especially note that it could have gone through Mapunapuna if Romy Cachola had prevailed at one point on behalf of a development interest. Where were we, the pedestrians/riders, in that planning process? We didn't exist then and still don't exist now. If the rail line should stop as is being considered at Middle Street, it will not be for our convenience.

Back to transport.

E2 Transport, Portland A Sense of Place was a video that ran on PBS but is currently unavailable. I posted a snip of it in that 2012 article in order to demonstrate that a light rail system boosts retail along the route. Property values are increased. A light rail system could run all the way to Waianae, and could catalyze economic development the whole way. Stores, churches, restaurants and bars would spring up along the route.

Please see the article, but here is the video snippet again for convenience (press the thingy at the lower right for full-screen):

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/03/2016 05:59:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
The small mid-century house originally on the property behind the fence in front of me was torn down in February to make way for a new 25-foot-high residential structure to be built by an investor from Tokyo. The home will sprawl out over the entire lot. The investor’s local agent says the man from Japan will be living in the new house about two months of each year.—Denby Fawcett in Civil Beat
”

by Larry Geller

Denby Fawcett: The Monster Houses Among Us (Civil Beat, 5/31/2016) is a must-read.

It’s news that has been “disappeared” from our daily paper because, basically, they depend to a large extent on ad revenue from developers. Developers of expensive housing, for the rich and ultra-rich.

I’d like you to read the article, and pass it on if you like. Why? Becasue it concludes with an appeal that makes sense. In fact, the only way that Honolulu will escape being paved over from property line to property line is if we answer its call for a backlash.

Architect John Black thinks the only hope to stop residential lot mini-mansions would be a backlash.

Black says it will take a change of attitude that puts less value on “monster houses” and more value on smaller houses that people can easily maintain.

Neighborhoods around us are in flux. It is impossible to predict what will happen next.   I just wish someone; anyone would step in and say, “Stop. Enough already!”

Honolulu’s poorly planned and economically bloated rail project is a wet dream for developers. Although the “promise” of affordable housing along the route occasionally breaks into print, it is really just that—a promise. Show me an area map detailing the location and number of affordable units and the low rentals that will be enforced in perpetuity (see: Units in Kakaako 'workforce housing' condo being flipped for big profits, HawaiiNewsNow, 5/26/2016).

In truth, what’s in the pipeline are houses and condos that will transform Oahu from a comfortable place to live into an affluent urban bedroom community. Tourism, booming at present, may tank when that transformation advances sufficiently. The rest of us will certainly suffer the consequences: extreme degradation of our quality of life.

It’s not just crowded homes and loss of open space, views and the scent of fruit trees. We will lose the ability to travel on our own streets and highways as more and more cars are added to the traffic.

Who will prosper? The rich investors, snowbirds, and the ultra-rich. Also, the commercial media, real estate firms, and Whole Foods.

So where’s the backlash already?

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/02/2016 12:31:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post

“
GM mosquitoes could provide a powerful control tool which, if used in a properly funded program with support from the public and relevant agencies, could — in my view — greatly mitigate the problem and yes, in short, save these rare birds.--Luke Alphey, a co-founder of British company Oxitec, quoted in Huffington Post
”

by Larry Geller

Hawaii’s native birds have been and continue to be threatened to the point of extinction by mosquito-borne disease:

Since human contact, 71 of Hawaii’s 113 endemic bird species have gone extinct, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. And of the 42 that remain, roughly 75 percent are listed as endangered species.

[Civil Beat, Can GMO Mosquitoes Save Kauai’s Endangered Birds?, 5/31/2016]

The article discusses using genetically modified mosquitoes to save the remaining species before it’s too late.

I suggested that we should get busy developing this technology locally in order to contain the Zika virus in BBC program suggests use of genetically modified mosquitoes could fend off a Zika outbreak on the Big Island (2/16/2016).

Zika will not just disappear in Hawaii, it will take constant vigilance, and lots of pesticide spray, to keep it in check. Releasing genetically modified males, which do not bite, into the environment can control those mosquitoes without harmful pesticides. The BBC article referred to in the link above explains how it works.

From the BBC:

Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals on the planet. They spread diseases - malaria, dengue and zika – that kill huge numbers of people and cause suffering to many more.

This should not turn into a “mongoose” situation; Hawaii foolishly introduced an alien species only to find that the scheme turned into a major plague of its own. This strategy leaves nothing behind.

Basically, the male mosquitoes mate and die. Their offspring do not live. Goodbye mosquitoes, or at least, vast numbers of them. No sprays needed. No mongooses left behind. Should it not work as expected, we simply stop doing it.

To save the birds we would need to get good at genetically engineering regular-type mosquitoes, not just the kind that carry Zika and dengue. All sorts of approvals would be needed. It would take some effort and time on our part.

But isn’t this a technology we should learn and deploy? So many birds have been lost already… and our tourist-based economy (tourists are kind of an invasive species in a sense) will keep re-introducing Zika to the islands until the rest of the world succeeds in eradicating it.

Zika is only temporarily in abeyance, and more endangered bird species will be lost—unless we get started with this technology that works on both problems.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 6/01/2016 12:03:00 PM   0 comments - add your comment links to this post