Mel's Internet Universe | The Hawaii Files

Chaotic Five: Classic Rock Lives in Hawaii

2012-01-22T12:30:00.001-10:00

There is hope rock still lives in the next generation. Caught a free Ala Moana Shopping Center concert featuring these pint size rockers who excel in musicianship and can belt out the classic rock tunes with the best of them. They're Chaotic Five, billed as Hawaii's youngest classic rock band.

Young they are. Most of them seem to be just around 10 years old... maybe younger. The songs they sing are decades older than they. Last night's set included covers of Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," Heart's "Barracuda," Guns n Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine", Blondie's "Call Me" and Journey's "Separate Ways" and "Anyway You Want It". Wow. They rock.

Check the video links below:

More Links:

Chaotic Five on YouTube

Chaotic Five on Facebook

Oppsed to SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-18T03:30:00.000-10:00

Yes, I'm opposed to censorship of the internet by the music and movie business. The bills written to do this should be opposed by everyone who values a free and open internet. Don't let government take this away from us.

LINKS:

https://blacklist.eff.org/

http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2012/01/18/sopa-and-protect-ippipa-an-update/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Photos of the Week: Sunday Morning Sunrise

2012-01-11T05:20:00.004-10:00

This series was taken on the morning of January 8, 2012 at Ala Moana Beach Park at the Magic Island end. Getting up early for the sunrise usually yields a special, visual treat.

The Latest Update on Rail

2012-01-03T17:30:00.008-10:00

HonoluluTraffic.com's Cliff Slate is a longtime opponent of the rail project.

The Latest Update on Rail
From Honolulu Traffic.com

I am still opposed to the rail project. Honolulu Traffic.com released the following statement regarding rail (see below). In a related development, former Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano has announced that he will look into the possibility of running for Honolulu Mayor on an anti-rail platform. Cayetano has also been a longtime opponent of fixed, heavy rail. As a result, Dr. Panos Prevedouros who also opposes the heavy rail project announced that he will not run for mayor this election season. He may support Cayetano's bid.

Here is the statement from HonoluluTraffic.com:

Revised 12/31/2011.
The revision are marked in red

Where the Rail Project stands today

Here is the sequence of events that has to occur before the City can begin building rail:

1. The City/HART has been given permission by the FTA to enter the Final Design phase. However, FTA put so many qualifications on their “approval” of the financial plan that it is not really an approval at all. See our discussion on the main page of December 29.

2. Congress must approve the $1.5 billion in federal funding for the project.

3. The FTA and the City must agree on a Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA)
that will for the first time spell out what federal funds will be available to the
City.

4. At some time before the FFGA the FTA may approve a Letter of No Prejudice

(LONP) allowing the City to start rail construction using its own funds.

5. During this period the city and FTA must also prevail in the federal lawsuit,
Honolulutraffic.com et al. v. FTA and the City.

The precarious state of the financial plan for rail was made clear to the City when they were given permission to enter the Preliminary Engineering process a year ago. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) wrote,

“Further, the City should be aware that FTA's standards for the financial rating are higher for entry into final design than for entry into PE. The higher standard for final design includes an assessment of the robustness of the financial plan against increases in costs, shortfalls in revenue streams, and competing demands on funding sources. Some elements of the current financial plan may not fare well in the stress tests that FTA will apply to evaluate robustness. These elements include the projected revenue stream from the General Excise Tax, the diversion of FTA Section 5307 funds from ongoing capital needs of the bus system, and the increasing share of the City's annual budget that is required to fund the transit system. Were this plan submitted today in support of a request to advance the project into final design, its weaknesses would likely cause FTA to deny the request. Therefore, continued development and strengthening of the financial plan will be a crucial part of the PE effort.”

Further the FTA wrote in its FY 2011 Financial Assessment,

“Given that GET surcharge revenues are highly leveraged in the financial plan, any shortfall in revenue would have material consequences on the City's ability to finance the local share of project cost, unless other sources of capital funds are identified.”

And here is what the FTA wrote in their FY2011 Financial Assessment:

“The capital cost estimates/planning assumptions sub-factor is rated Low. The major factors contributing to this rating are: (i) material downside risks to the GET surcharge revenue forecast, and consequently the inability to cover all debt service cost; (ii) no net debt capacity; and (iii) lack of information to substantiate the City's capacity to absorb a material amount (up to $535 million) of cost risk. In addition to these concerns, bus capital funding - clearly needed as evidenced by the relatively old age of the bus fleet - depends on a much higher level of Federal funding than has previously been the case.”

These concerns were made clear to the City prior to the bombshell revealing that the City and the EPA had entered into a consent decree for a $3.5 billion revamp of the City sewer collection system to be completed by 2020 and a further $1.55 billion for sewage treatment plants to be upgraded by 2034. Including finance charges this will total $7.2 billion.
For the City to make the financial plan robust is going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, since the City is legally only allowed to use the GE tax surcharge, private funds, state and federal funds for construction; it may not use the General Fund.

In addition, the FTA made it clear that for rail construction they do not like the City using the $244 million in federal funds originally scheduled for bus purchases.
The City has nowhere else that it can legally turn to make up the shortfalls except federal New Starts funds presently forecast at $1.55 billion. That amount is so far out of line with what other cities are being awarded that only through Senator Inouye stretching his influence to the limit is Honolulu being considered for such a large sum.

The strange thing about the approval of the City/HART financial plan is that virtually all the same issues are raised in the approval letter. See the FTA letter at: www.honolulutraffic.com/FTA_letter_122911_OCR.pdf

Our initial legal action was a complaint filed in federal court on May 11, 2011 by plaintiffs, Honolulutraffic.com, Governor Ben Cayetano, Judge Walter Heen, Professor Randal Roth, Senator Sam Slom's SBH Educational Foundation, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, Dr. Michael Uechi MD, and Cliff Slater, against the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the City and County of Honolulu (City).

Since then the City and the FTA have responded separately denying everything and, in addition, have jointly filed Motions to dismiss some of the plaintiffs, and to dismiss some of our allegations concerning historic properties. Our attorneys believe these are nuisance motions intended to delay matters and to try run up our legal bills so that we would be unable to continue with the lawsuit.

We have replied to their motions and the first phase of our lawsuit, Honolulutraffic.com et al. vs. FTA and the City and County of Honolulu, will be heard in Federal Courtroom AHA KAULIKE (place of equity) this Wednesday at 10:00 AM by Judge A. Wallace Tashima, a Senior Ninth Circuit Judge of California. The order of business is first to hear the Defendants' Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings, followed by a Status/Scheduling Conference.

The hearing and the subsequent judge’s ruling resulted in the city/FTA Motion being denied on both counts. The judge has further ordered the city/FTA to produce the Administrative Record in its entirety by February 6, 2012. The scheduling conference resulted in an estimate that the final hearings and rulings should take place in mid- Summer.
At the moment we await the Administrative Record.

Full details of the environmental process are available at
www.honolulutraffic.com/processdocs.htm Full details of the lawsuit are at www.honolulutraffic.com/LegalProcessDocs.htm

Link to the original document (PDF)

The following was released by HonoluluTraffic.com on January 1, 2012:

January 1, 2012.
Aloha Everyone,

I’m sure you have heard that the city has announced that they have received permission to enter “Final Design”, and the city is alluding to a more optimistic outlook for federal funding. The Star Advertiser headline was,

“Rail project cleared for federal funding”

However, that headline was plain wrong. You had to read further on in the Star Advertiser to find out what the federal government was really saying.

“[FTA Administrator} Rogers noted the city's current financial plan proposes several ways the city might raise additional money if construction costs escalate unexpectedly or if the anticipated local or federal funding does not materialize.
“For example, the city suggested in its September financial plan that it might seek state approval to extend the half-percent excise tax to help cover any shortfall, and noted that extending the surcharge by two years, through Dec. 31, 2024, would generate an extra $740 million. The city also suggested that, if necessary, it might engage in "value capture" strategies to raise additional money if there is a shortfall.
Those might include issuing tax increment financing bonds, which would allow the city to borrow against expected future increases in property tax collections.”

When you read the FTA’s actual letter, the wording is even stronger:

“FTA notes that the financial plan HART submitted is sufficient to advance the project into final design. However, it must be further strengthened before FTA will consider awarding an FFGA. Specifically, the financial plan states that additional revenues may be obtained from an extension of the General Excise Tax or implementation of value capture mechanisms. However, these revenue sources require actions by the State of Hawaii and/or the City that have not been taken and which are beyond HART's ability to control. Prior to the Project's consideration for an FFGA, HART should demonstrate the availability of additional revenue sources that could be tapped should unexpected events such as cost increases or funding shortfalls occur.
“Additionally, HART made assumptions in three areas that require further justification or amendment: (1) the containment of bus and HandiVanoperating expenses; (2) the increasing share of the City's annual budget required to fund the transit system; and (3) the diversion of Section 5307 funds from preventive maintenance to the Project. Prior to the Project's consideration for an FFGA, HART should either provide further documentation justifying the reasonableness of these assumptions or consider revising these assumptions to more closely follow historical patterns.”

Carefully read the “value capture” strategy. And the last sentence from the Star Advertiser explains it all: “Those might include issuing tax increment financing bonds, which would allow the city to borrow against expected future increases in property tax collections.” In plain English, the city can borrow on the property tax hikes that they know are coming but have not yet even told you about! Do you think they are taking you for granted?

You need to email, tweet and/or post on your Facebook page your objections to more taxes for rail. Note that Verizon recently proposed a $2 user fee for people paying their bills online. Within 24 hours, they dropped the idea because of the thousands of emails and tweets they received that were adamantly opposed to it.

Here are some of the email addresses and tweet information you need to make your voice heard. Send emails, or tweet, all your friends and any email lists you have to voice your objections to any more taxation for the rail monstrosity. And, especially email your council members with the following addresses. Make sure you include your address so that they know you are a constituent of theirs. Ask your friends to do the same.
ianderson@honolulu.gov
akobayashi@honolulu.gov
rcachola@honolulu.gov
ngarcia@honolulu.gov
tberg@honolulu.gov
emartin@honolulu.gov
Stanley Chang <ccldistrict4@honolulu.gov>
bharimoto@honolulu.gov
tgabbard@honolulu.gov

Rail proponents have started lobbying State Legislature members whose votes they need to increase General Excise Taxation and any other new taxes. Make sure they know where you stand.
Find your representative at: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/members/legislators.aspx?chamber=H
Find your senator at: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/members/legislators.aspx?chamber=S

All the best to everyone for the New Year!
Aloha,
Bobbie and Cliff Slater

Comment: The rail project must be stopped.

Happy New Year - 2012 is Here

2012-01-02T04:45:00.009-10:00

The New Year arrived with the usual pomp and noise in Honolulu yesterday. 2012 will be an election year so excitement in the political field will be prevalent.

Here in Honolulu this author celebrated the arrival of 2012 with the usual low-key stance as he normally does... The major highlight of New Year's Day was to wake up early and catch the first rays of the new light of the new year. Sunrise fans flocked to Diamond Head lookout and other similar destinations to witness the first sunrise of 2012 and document all of its colorful glory. Pictures from Diamond Head lookout are posted here as well as on Flickr.

The second New Year event this author attended was the small celebration that took place at the Don Quijote Store on Kaheka Street. Things got underway at 9AM with lion dances and the bursting of hundreds of firecrackers. The lion dancers then proceeded into the store followed by a crowd of customers eager to complete their morning shopping.

Photography is generally discouraged at Don Quijote, but yesterday's event was a good excuse to break out the camera and get some images from inside the store.

Happy New Year of the Dragon.

More photos on Mel's Flickr Photostream.

Photos of the Week - December 30, 2011

2011-12-30T17:05:00.000-10:00

There is not much to post about lately mainly because I got sick during the holidays. Nevertheless, I still managed to make it to the Big Island of Hawaii (actually got sick there) and take a series of not so great pictures which I have decided to include in this final wrap for 2011.

So here are a collection of Big Island photos from December 2011. Mostly of the Waimea and Honokaa areas with a few Hilo and Honolulu Airport photos thrown in.

Not doing a year end wrap as I did before. However if you like lists you can visit my Top 100 Hits of 2011 page. Coldplay's "Paradise" emerged as my most played and highly charted hit on Mel's Weekly Top 20 music charts which is also blogged here. Check it out and give the videos a spin.

Hopefully 2012 is a stellar year full of events and good picture opportunities. Happy New Year.

Best Photos of 2011

This photo from the late 1990s was my most popular photo on Flickr for 2011. It is of the QE2 docked at Honolulu Harbor.

Above is a slideshow of all Oahu / Honolulu images I published to Flickr in 2011. There are more than 700 pictures here. Enjoy.

Photos of the Week: To December 15, 2011.

2011-12-15T06:15:00.001-10:00

Lunar Eclipse of December 10, 2011.

A total eclipse of the moon was visible in most parts of Hawaii not impacted by rainy and cloudy weather. This is the site that early risers were treated to when earth's shadow covered the surface of the full moon after the home planet travelled directly between the sun and moon.

More eclipse photos on my Flickr site.

Hawaiian Sunset and Rainbow

Sunset from Kaka'ako Waterfront Beach Park, Dec. 14, 2011.

This rainbow was also spotted from the park on December 14.

Mel's Flickr Website

Photo of the Week:Night Shot of McDonald's in Moilili

2011-12-04T11:30:00.003-10:00

DSC00189 - This is a night shot of McDonald's in Moilili, located at 2121 South King Street in Honolulu, Hawaii. The reason I shot this is because the restaurant has a new facade up which replaces to old, traditional red one that's been there for years. Frankly I like the old face of McDonald's better than the "let's compete with Starbucks" look. Photo was taken on 12-3-2011 using a Sony Cybershot U30 point and shoot camera, hand held, no tripod. Below the EXIF data for this shot is a picture of what the place used to look like.

Dates

Taken onDecember 3, 2011 at 10.13pm GMT+10 (edit)
Posted to FlickrDecember 4, 2011 at 11.18AM GMT+10 (edit)

Exif data

CameraSony DSC-U30
Exposure0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperturef/2.8
Focal Length5 mm
ISO Speed100
Exposure Bias0 EV
FlashNo Flash
OrientationHorizontal (normal)
X-Resolution72 dpi
Y-Resolution72 dpi
SoftwareQuickTime 7.6.6
Date and Time (Modified)2011:12:04 11:15:12
Host ComputerMac OS X 10.6.8
YCbCr PositioningCo-sited
Exposure ProgramProgram AE
Date and Time (Original)2011:12:03 22:13:25
Date and Time (Digitized)2011:12:03 22:13:25
Compressed Bits Per Pixel2
Max Aperture Value2.8
Metering ModeCenter-weighted average
Light SourceUnknown
Color SpacesRGB
Custom RenderedNormal
Exposure ModeAuto
White BalanceAuto
Scene Capture TypeStandard
CompressionJPEG (old-style)
Viewing Conditions Illuminant TypeD50
Measurement ObserverCIE 1931
Measurement Flare0.999%
Measurement IlluminantD65

Here is the same McDonald's with the old facade.

Photo above was taken on July 24, 2011 using the same Sony Cybershot U30 camera.

Pictures of the Week to November 30:The Old Paauilo Store, Haina & Honokaa's Sunset Clouds

2011-11-30T07:00:00.006-10:00

Spent most of the Thanksgiving week on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here are some of the images.

The Old Paauilo Store Torn Down

These images of the old Paauilo Store were taken in November 2009. Unpublished until now, the building was recently torn down and the store relocated to the building that also houses the post office. Paauilo Store has been a favorite stop for many people over several decades. Today it is mostly a convenience store for people on the way to or from Hilo. The store is conveniently located on the side of Highway 19.

The Paauilo Post Office building is also the location of the Paauilo Store.

The old storefront with the stairs leading up to it.

More Pictures of the Old Paauilo Store

The Old Macadamia Nut Factory in Haina

These 2 photos are of the old nut factory that used to be in operation in Honokaa through the 50s, 60s, 70s and I thin into the early 1980s.

The Haina Baseball Park

The baseball field in Haina is still used for senior league and other baseball or softball games. People have been known for also hosting parties here.

Honokaa's Sunset Clouds

This picture was taken on November 27, 2011 at my Mom's home in Honokaa.

Picture of the Week

2011-11-20T12:45:00.001-10:00

SBH Sunrise Breakfast on November 17

IMG_2470 - Lois and Phyllis Shimabukuro of Mikilua Poultry Farm, Inc, who market the Ka Lei Eggs brand, spoke about eggs, local business support, agriculture, marketing and shipping as pertaining to their business at the monthly Smart Business Hawaii Sunrise Breakfast this past Thursday, November 17.

They answered a lot of our questions regarding eggs, egg farming, egg branding, marketing and shipping. One of the interesting things I noted was that today's chickens are bred to make smaller eggs - though people in Hawaii prefer larger eggs. Mikilua Poultry Farm I learned also operates a retail, boutique egg store in the Kaimuki area of Honolulu.

More on Ka Lei Eggs:

www.kaleifoods.com/

Safeway Beretania in Honolulu, Hawaii

2011-11-19T08:33:00.005-10:00

Safeway Beretania, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

This store was recently in the national news after a couple accidentally walked out without paying for their $5 sandwiches one night. They had paid for their groceries, all $50 worth but forgot to wave the sandwich wrappers at checkout. The lady who is several months pregnant and her spouse ate the sandwiches in store.

Both along with their toddler aged daughter were detained by store security and arrested for shoplifting. As part of the police department's standard procedure, their daughter was taken into custody by child protective services after the adults were booked and arrested.

After posting bail some 18 hours later the parents were reunited with their child.

The story made national headlines because the store manager could have simply allowed them to pay for the forgotten sandwiches which they really wanted to do after being stopped in the parking lot. The people simply forgot and did not want to steal the sandwiches. Workers in the store had seen them eat the sandwiches and placed the wrapper in the shopping cart. They simply forgot to get the wrapper waved at check-out.

Anyway, local media picked up the story and before Safeway knew it this incident became news nationwide, much to the embarrassment of the supermarket chain. Public sentiment was definitely with the young family and pregnant mother. Safeway was looked upon and probably still is from now on "the bad guy".

After the bad publicity, Safeway decided to drop the charges.

Bottom line, pay for everything or you could lose your freedom and your children! Yikes!!!!!

More

www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/15930625/safeway-drops-shopli...

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/safeway-sh...

www.hawaiireporter.com/?p=41818

The reason I also took photos of this store is that in a few months it will be closed with Safeway moving to a new location on Beretania Street just a block away (see adjacent photo below).

The old Safeway sign will probably be taken down after the store changes location.

The new Safeway location now under construction and near completion at the corner of Beretania and Piikoi Streets. Looks quite big. I hope they have enough parking.

Generally I don't shop at Safeway. I find their prices to be the most expensive for most grocery items in Honolulu. I certainly however will check the new store out after it's opened. If they follow the themes of recently constructed stores in Hawaii (Kapahulu and Hilo), Safeway will feature a coffee shop area with free wifi. That is an attraction.

Pictures of the Week - Ala Moana Beach Park Afternoon

2011-11-13T06:00:00.001-10:00

Friday, November 11 was the perfect day for an afternoon at Ala Moana Beach Park. Hardly anyone was there because no one except the Honolulu Police Department and other security agencies could bring a motor vehicle into the park because of the APEC conference. As a result, the park was hardly occupied with people. There wasn't much noise, there were no tents, no inflatable jumping machines, no loud music and no crowds. A very rare, Hawaiian Day at the beach, thanks to APEC security.

As usual the afternoon photo opportunities were great, yielding several nice sunset shots and a rare opportunity in spotting a resting Hawaiian Monk Seal at the end of the Magic Island beach area.

This Hawaiian Monk Seal was napping near the wall at Magic Island.

More Photos on Flickr: 11-11-11 Set

APEC - A Pain in the Ass for Many People in Honolulu

2011-11-12T02:15:00.012-10:00

The "Road Closed" and "No Parking" signs along with barriers everywhere, traffic tie-ups, Waikiki check-points, and numerous restrictions will be the soured, lingering memories of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference (held Nov. 8 to Nov. 13, 2011) long after this event is over for most people living and doing business in many parts of urban Honolulu and elsewhere on the island of Oahu.

APEC started off with a series of restrictions put into place by the federal, state and city governments: NO PARKING, Road closures, Waikiki access restrictions, security check points, no canoe paddling, cancelled events (including 2 Veterans' Day parades), boating and general aviation restrictions, plus loss of revenue for many small businesses not connected with APEC. Heads of state from places such as China, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States (including President Barack Obama) all converged in Honolulu, creating the cascading series of security hassles and traffic mess.

This blog entry details some of the hassles in photos that Honolulu residents had to put up with during APEC week.

Traffic check point at Kapiolani Blvd.

The Hawaii Convention Center was one of the major venues for APEC dignitaries. The area was closed off to the public including streets and sidewalks nearby.

NO PARKING signs became a familiar, annoying presence on many streets in Honolulu that were near APEC venues or on detoured routes constricted motorists were required to take.

Barriers such as this were erected around Waikiki venues used for APEC. Photo by Larry Darling on Flickr.

A street in Waikiki cut off from public access. Photo by Larry Darling on Flickr.

Huge traffic tie up along Ala Moana Blvd. near Ala Moana Shopping Center.

View my slideshow with all of the photos I've taken surrounding the APEC event. Just press the arrow to get it started. Photos by Mel unless indicated.

APEC photos by Mel on Flickr

Pictures of the Week - QE2 and Vistafjord

2011-11-07T00:15:00.010-10:00

Queen Elizabeth 2 in Honolulu: I have taken several pictures over the years of Cunard Line's Queen Elizabeth 2. Every chance I had to catch her in Honolulu Harbor, I took the opportunity to photograph her. My first encounter with the Queen was in February 1989 when I shot a series (mostly unpublished) of the luxury liner docked at Pier 10 and being turned around in the harbor later that night for her trip out.

The QE2 like her other Cunard Line sisters embark on an annual around the world cruise with Honolulu Hawaii as a major stop.

The photo above was taken sometime in the mid 1990s. Until this past week it has lived in obscurity in a box filled up with other prints that I had processed back then. While cleaning my closet last weekend, I found this picture and the one below and decided to scan and publish it. Reaction to the QE2 photo above has been largely positive and appreciative. Thank you Flickr users.

Someone on Flickr helped me identify the ship docked at Pier 9 (photo below; taken on the same day). The smaller ship was also a Cunard liner at the time called the Vistafjord. The ship sailed for many years with Cunard until she was sold in 1999 to another cruise line. Today she sails as the Saga Ruby.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 last stopped in Honolulu in March 2008. She was taken out of service in late 2008 and sold to a firm in Dubai. The ship is tied up in Dubai, her fate uncertain, though original planes were to convert QE2 to a floating hotel.

The two photos were shot using my Minolta XD5 35mm SLR camera. The prints were scanned and digitally fixed to bring out the colors.

More Photos: Cruise Ships in Hawaii (Flickr)

What's Up With the Honolulu Star Advertiser Bothering People With Telemarketing Phone Calls?

2011-11-02T21:45:00.002-10:00

The Honolulu Star Advertiser has stooped to a new low early this evening. Here I am at home, minding my own business, eating my early dinner.

I get a phone call. I pick up the phone. And guess what? It's some telemarketer calling me from the Star Advertiser!

What's up with that?

My telephone number is on the National DO NOT CALL Registry. This means firms like the Honolulu Star Advertiser should not be calling me and asking me to buy a subscription or anything else. The Honolulu Star Advertiser is cheating by using telemarketing as a sales tactic.

I have never, ever done business with the firm since they became the Star Advertiser. Many, many years ago I did subscribe to the weekend Honolulu Advertiser just to get the TV schedule and ads.

But that subscription expired a long time ago. When I cancelled I told The Honolulu Advertiser to never to call me up for a subscription renewal. I should have never been contacted by the new entity because I have never done any business with them except browse their website anonymously when it was free up to this past August.

Now I don't want to have anything to do with the Honolulu Star Advertiser in terms of being a subscriber ever. The Star Advertiser gives favor to one bunch of subscribers over others in terms of what they get based on where they live. Plus some people get plum deals of $52 for 52 weeks for both print and internet editions combined. Most do not I presume.

Needless to say I gave the hapless woman on the line a piece of my mind.

I continue to hold my ground of not wanting to subscribe... now or ever. Getting a telemarketing call from their subscription department further cements my position.

People not subscribing? I would not be surprised. Most people have long disassociated themselves with paper editions of newspapers. And so far I think most people do not want to subscribe to an online version either.

You can get a lot of information online for free without having to subscribe to "a paper". That is what I do. I don't need the Star Advertiser.

No one wants to be bothered by telemarketers, email spammers and junk faxers. I highly suggest Star Advertiser to stop using telemarketing as a sales tactic. It just turns people off.

More stuff on the Honolulu Star Advertiser at HawaiiThreads.com.

Pictures of the Week - to October 29

2011-10-30T09:00:00.011-10:00

Caught this lady on October 29 (yesterday afternoon) doing promotion for "The Clothes Chick" store at the corner of Keeaumoku and Kanunu Street. Clothes Chick is a "recycled fashion retail" outlet with at least 2 stores in Honolulu. Apparently the first store is in the Kapahulu area. The second store is the one on Keeaumoku St. next to LikeLike Drive-In. Clothes Chick is definitely not the kind of store I'd go to, but if you are a woman, it might be worth checking. There's plenty of parking around the LikeLike Drive-In area and cheaters have been known to park at WalMart just across the street. Heh.

Photo taken with iPod Touch camera.

This is a photo taken on Thursday, October 27 of Dick Rowland, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and Marissa Marissa Capelouto of Oahu Express, a freight shipping firm at the monthly Smart Business Hawaii "Sunrise" Networking Breakfast. Capelouto was the featured speaker for the month. She spoke about her years growing up and living in the Philippines and the many opportunities she had business after moving to Hawaii. She has an interesting story and has worked for several shipping firms. A few years ago she bought Oahu Express and has been successful at running this firm.

Photo by Mel, taken with Canon D600.

And finally from the "Beautiful Hawaii" category of blog posts, comes this weekend's best sunset. This series was taken at Ala Moana Beach Park on October 29 in clear sky conditions. I used a Sony Cybershot P50 camera to take this with some post production work afterward.

I have more than 9,700 photos posted at my Flickr.com site.

Minor Earthquakes Swarm Big Island

2011-10-20T02:00:00.000-10:00

A swarm of minor earthquakes hit the northwestern part of Hawaii, the Big Island starting at 2:10 pm yesterday. The earthquakes started with a 4.5 tembler that was felt throughout the northern part of the island including Waimea and Honokaa along the Hamakua Coast. More than 40 earthquakes, most of them small and unfelt rocked the epicenter which is located near the area Waiki'i and Pohakuloa. See the map below for location of the earthquake swarm (in red).

While talking to my Mom yesterday afternoon, one of several aftershocks greater than 3.0 shook her home in Honokaa again. To say the least, she and I suspect many others remained jittery if not annoyed through the rest of the day.

Could this swarm trigger a bigger earthquake or even worst an eruption of long dormant Mauna Kea mountain. Scientists have stated "earthquakes in this region are most likely caused by structural adjustments within the Earth’s crust due to the heavy load of Mauna Kea". Not volcanic as they would like us to believe.

Earthquakes are not uncommon on the Big Island. They are nearly a daily occurance. Most of them are located near the active volcano of Kileauea in the Southeastern area of the island. The USGS tracks volcanic and seismic activity on the Big Island and throughout the state on a daily basis. An active map of recent earthquakes can be accessed by the public here.

Here is a mainland blogger's take on the earthquake swarm.

From the USGS Recent Hawaii earthquakes site, here is a list of all the earthquakes that have occurred in the region starting yesterday afternoon.

 MAG    DATE    LOCAL-TIME  LAT     LON    DEPTH    LOCATION
        y/m/d     h:m:s     deg     deg     km

2.2  2011/10/20 00:50:01 19.859N 155.550W 13.9    9 km ( 6 mi) WNW of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.5  2011/10/20 00:05:28 19.881N 155.544W 17.8   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.1  2011/10/19 23:55:07 19.881N 155.542W 17.2   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 3.4  2011/10/19 23:42:06 19.860N 155.539W 15.3    8 km ( 5 mi) WNW of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.8  2011/10/19 23:32:11 19.880N 155.542W 16.4   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.4  2011/10/19 22:08:39 19.872N 155.542W 17.3    9 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.2  2011/10/19 20:39:45 19.883N 155.542W 18.1   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.1  2011/10/19 20:15:40 19.876N 155.546W 17.4   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.6  2011/10/19 20:04:29 19.887N 155.544W 16.6   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.4  2011/10/19 18:42:08 19.884N 155.542W 17.7   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 1.9  2011/10/19 18:32:04 19.883N 155.541W 19.2   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.2  2011/10/19 18:12:08 19.875N 155.539W 16.6    9 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.5  2011/10/19 17:21:26 19.871N 155.549W 14.3   10 km ( 6 mi) WNW of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.7  2011/10/19 17:16:08 19.881N 155.546W 19.3   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.3  2011/10/19 16:14:31 19.844N 155.546W 14.8    8 km ( 5 mi) WNW of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.0  2011/10/19 15:48:54 19.880N 155.548W 17.6   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.2  2011/10/19 15:42:19 19.895N 155.554W 17.2   11 km ( 7 mi) ENE of Waiki`i
 2.3  2011/10/19 15:29:13 19.881N 155.547W 17.0   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.5  2011/10/19 15:24:05 19.875N 155.537W 17.9    9 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.1  2011/10/19 15:22:20 19.890N 155.545W 17.6   11 km ( 7 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.7  2011/10/19 15:11:01 19.863N 155.533W 17.0    8 km ( 5 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.1  2011/10/19 15:04:37 19.880N 155.545W 18.0   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 3.3  2011/10/19 14:59:00 19.884N 155.539W 19.5   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.4  2011/10/19 14:57:03 19.855N 155.542W 14.8    8 km ( 5 mi) WNW of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.6  2011/10/19 14:48:01 19.881N 155.541W 16.7   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.0  2011/10/19 14:45:55 19.884N 155.533W 18.7    9 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.8  2011/10/19 14:45:17 19.879N 155.545W 15.2   10 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.1  2011/10/19 14:33:40 19.886N 155.548W 18.1   11 km ( 7 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit
 1.7  2011/10/19 14:31:52 19.858N 155.527W 16.2    7 km ( 4 mi) WNW of Mauna Kea Summit
 2.0  2011/10/19 14:30:47 19.838N 155.408W 16.7    7 km ( 4 mi) ENE of Mauna Kea Summit
 4.5  2011/10/19 14:10:04 19.883N 155.532W 18.8    9 km ( 6 mi) NW  of Mauna Kea Summit

 
This post will be updated if we get more quakes of an increased magnitude. Historically most large earthquakes are followed by smaller aftershocks over a period of hours, days and sometimes weeks.

Top Photo: Mauna Kea mountain is a long dormant volcano and is the highest peak in the State of Hawaii towering near 14,000 ft. Astronomy is the major industry atop Mauna Kea mountain as the topmost peaks are dotted with optical and other types of astronomical observatories.

The earthquake swarm occurred several miles downslope on the northwestern side of the peak.

Stupid in America - How to Fix Education

2011-10-17T01:45:00.003-10:00

I highly recommend everyone who is interested in how the education system could do better to watch John Stossel's latest update of his program "Stupid in America". The program highlights some of the major problems that the education system is having throughout the United States and the alternate and better solutions that are available to get students to learn and improve their test scores. One of the major obstacles from allowing this to happen are the teacher unions which dominate most public (government) schools.

Give education to the private sector or allow more charter schools to operate, free of centralized government control and union meddling, and you get a better system where students love going to school to learn and improve test scores. It is all about student achievement first, not about protecting the teachers with mechanisms such as "tenure".

This is a good watch. Check it out.

Hulu.com: Stupid in America - John Stossel (Fox Business Channel)
YouTube: Stupid in America - John Stossel (original show as aired on ABC's 20/20 - 2007)

Hawaii Political Platter - U.S. Senate Race

2011-10-13T06:00:00.010-10:00

The U.S. Senate Race - Former Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle threw her hat into the U.S. Senate race to succeed Daniel Akaka in 2012. She made her announcement on Tuesday, October 11. Ms. Lingle will have a primary race against perennial GOP challenger John Carroll, a former airline pilot and state senator.

Hawaii's primary election will occur in August 2012. Linda Lingle is expected to win the GOP primary and more than likely face U.S. Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, who has been endorsed by Hawaii's senior U.S. Senator, Daniel Inouye. Ms. Hirono will be challenged in the Democratic Primary by former U.S. Congressman Ed Case.

The 2012 U.S. Senate race will be an expensive race for all candidates involved with millions of dollars pumped into the campaign war chests of the front runners. Linda Lingle is expected to raise up to $10 million this season.

While I have voted for Linda Lingle in the past, I officially remain non-committed in this race. I have some serious problems with the things Linda Lingle supports like the pesky Akaka Bill, clean energy, rail, and maybe too much "bi-partisanship". I have never forgiven her for allowing the general excise tax increase to fund rail to pass in 2005. Every purchase made in Honolulu funds the expensive and ugly $7 billion rail project as a result of her 2005 decision.

Despite my serious concerns for these issues, the alternate candidate(s) [Democrats] have nothing better to offer. This will be a hard choice.

The headline is yesterday's newspaper.

Recent Sightings at Honolulu Harbor

2011-10-09T16:30:00.001-10:00

I seem to have been spending a lot of time lately at or near Honolulu Harbor. My photos reflect that fact. In the past week I've spotted and taken pictures of three cruise ships and a rocket launcher vessel that all came into Honolulu Harbor over the past week.

Latest arrival is the Celebrity Century, an 815 ft. long cruise liner belonging to Celebrity Cruises. The vessel came into Honolulu Harbor after sailing in from Hilo. Its next stop is Lahaina, Maui. The ship is our lead photo for this blog post.

The Celebrity Century arrives in Honolulu Harbor October 9.

This past weekend Sea Launch Odyssey, a large, private, towering seagoing vessel built on top of a former oil rig was in town for a few days. The ship dwarfed nearby Aloha Tower and as others have reported, caused a distraction along Nimitz Highway.

Ryan Ozawa of the Hawaii Blog has some good photos of Sea Launch there and on Flickr. Below is one of his photos of Sea Launch Odyssey taken from up high.

Two other cruise ships visited Honolulu this past week. They were the Golden Princess (above) from Princess Cruises and the MS Westerdam (below) from Holland America Line. Both were in port on October 4.

Last but not least is the Japanese resarch vessel Riasu Maru tied up at Pier 9 for several days.

More photos of ships and vessels in Honolulu Harbor
A photo set by Melvin Ah Ching on Flickr.com.

New Website for Hawaii State Legislature

2011-10-08T10:06:00.000-10:00

The Hawaii State Legislature's website got a major revamp this week, moving all of the most commonly used links and functions to the front page. The design is a bit cluttered and not very artistic, but it is functional. Gone is the abstract picture of the capitol and the menu choices that were to the right of the graphic.

Now it's all menu that allows users to create an account to login. That is useful if you become or are a regular user of the site. A login I.D. gives users access to several features such as personalized bill tracking, not having to enter personal information such as name, address, email and phone number over and over again every time you send in testimony, and the ability to receive emailed hearing notices (something that was already a regular feature of the site).

The front page menus have links to bill status, order of the day, keyword search, archive, legislator directories and bios, committee hearing notices, special reports, citizen's guide, Hawaii Revised Statutes, broadcasts, RSS feeds and more.

I only wish that there would be a little more color and photos to the site, but again, it is functional and will be useful once the session starts again in 2012.

Check it out at
capitol.hawaii.gov/

Steve Jobs: 1955 - 2011

2011-10-05T23:00:00.010-10:00

Forever Steve, Forever Apple. Thank You.

Apple Store Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, HI. The light is off. Photo by Ryan Ozawa.

http://www.apple.com

More on Mel's Macintosh Universe Blog

Sunset at Honolulu Harbor

2011-10-04T22:45:00.002-10:00

There were some great sunset shots at Honolulu Harbor today. Two cruise ships made port calls into the harbor. The Princess Cruise ship Golden Princess spent most of the day tied up at Pier 10 near Nimitz highway. The picture featured above is shot from across Nimitz near the end of the sunset sky which presented these brilliant, waning colors. The other ship, MS Westerdam belonging to Holland America Line was tied up at Pier 2.

A couple shares a moment of the setting sun at Pier 9, Honolulu Harbor. The sun sets behind Sand
Island during the fall season.

A keiki hula troupe practices at Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu Harbor.

MS Zaandam in Honolulu

2011-10-03T06:00:00.008-10:00

Holland America Cruise Line's MS Zaandam paid Honolulu a port call early yesterday morning. She is one of the frequent cruise ships that sail in and out of the islands during the fall and winter seasons. She was last spotted by this photographer in Honolulu on January 30, 2011.

MS Zaandam is 777 ft. long, weighs more than 61,300 tons, has 10 decks and can carry up to 1,432 passengers. She has a crew contingent of 615. Top cruising speed is 23 knots or 26 mph.

She leaves Honolulu at 2300 hours tonight. Her next stop is Nawiliwili, Kauai.

Previous photos of MS Zaandam in Hawaii:

Honolulu, January 30, 2011.

Spotted in Hilo, October 2010.

Ross in Waikiki Nearly Complete

2011-10-02T16:00:00.006-10:00

Workers are putting the finishing touches on this brand new Ross Dress for Less Store located on the Seaside Ave in Waikiki. The store occupies the site of the former Waikiki #1 and #2 theaters. The new store will have 40,000 sq. feet of retail space. It will be the latest discount store in Honolulu to offer both tourists and residents an affordable alternative from what is currently available in Waikiki.

These photographs were taken early evening on October 1. The store looks very close to finished as workers were hanging fixtures and stocking merchandise. Reports state that Ross will have a grand opening for the new Waikiki Store later this month. I would not be surprised if they have a "soft opening" in the next few days if they haven't done so already.

Old time residents and visitors may fondly remember this building as the location of the aforementioned Waikiki #1 and #2 twin theaters. The building was constructed in the early 1970 and remained in operation until 2003. I went to many movies at this theater complex including blockbusters such as "E.T.", "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade" and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" to name a few.

The property now begins a new life as a welcomed discount retail outlet. Hopefully Ross will be successful here.

Top 2 frames: Entry way to the new Ross Dress for Less store in Waikiki. Below: The boarded up Waikiki #1 & #2 theaters before the transformation of the building into retail.

Video: Should Rail Be Built or Not

2011-10-01T15:26:00.001-10:00

Malia Zimmerman of HawaiiReporter.com interviews Professors Randy Roth and Panos Prevedouros, both of the University of Hawaii on the latest update to Honolulu's heavy rail project and the status of the impending lawsuit against the city. The premise: "Should rail be built?"

My short answer: NO!

Rail costs way too much money, will be disruptive, ugly, not reduce traffic congestion and is a scheme to line the pockets of the politicians, unions and developers with taxpayer dollars. The cost that is thrown around for this project is about $5.3 billion but in reality will cost a whole lot more to build and to maintain.

Hawaii's taxpayers cannot afford to fund this expensive, ugly train.

Watch the video. Visit the linked sites below.

HawaiiReporter's YouTube Channel
HonoluluTraffic.com

2011 Aloha Festivals Parade

2011-09-24T08:25:00.002-10:00

Here are some photo higlights from this year's Aloha Festivals Parade in Honolulu.

Hawaiian Airlines always has one of the best looking floats in the parade. This year was no exception.

The Polynesian Cultural Center student workers marched down the parade route in lively style that highlighted the place's international make-up.

The float of the Aloha Festivals Royal Court.

COMMENTARY

This year I decided to stay under cover from the harsh Hawaiian sunlight and heat. The annual Aloha Festivals floral parade was shot from the second floor parking garage at Ala Moana Shopping Center overlooking the makai lanes of Ala Moana Blvd.

I used my Minolta X7A 35mm camera to shoot these photo with a Minolta 35 - 105mm MD zoom lens, set mostly to the longest telephoto position. I should have used my long 70 - 210 zoom to get to the action or shot this at street level as I did in past years.

One thing I have noticed about recent parades. Lack of large floats. Years ago there used to be about a dozen (and maybe more) elaborately decorated floats at these parades, many using custom platforms to glide down the parade route. Today most floats are pulled by tractor trailer trucks or placed on smaller vehicles.

The cost and time to construct a float are probably the biggest factor in their relative scarceness. The fact that this parade no longer gets national network TV attention is probably another factor too. Making up for the lack of floats are of course many marching units including bands, businesses and non-profit organizaitons. The pa'u riders remain a stalwart of this and the annual Kamehameha Day parades. That is a good thing. Throw in the usual gaggle of politicians, dignitaries, beauty queens and car clubs, and you still get a decent parade.... but not like the ones I remember from before.

Still the "Aloha" is there and people come out to view the parades. That is the main thing. This parade and others throughout the state keep Hawaii's tradition on the map and offers a lasting legacy for generations to come.

Slideshow from photos I shot at the parade (above).

This guy has a fine looking 97 photo set on Flickr:

Photo stream by David.

Video Segments From Channel 808:

Video streaming by Ustream

Segment 1

Video streaming by Ustream

Segment 2
September 24, 2011.

Hawaii Business All Stars Honored

2011-09-22T23:00:00.000-10:00

I had a good night taking photos at the 4th Annual Small Business Hawaii Education Foundation Awards dinner last Friday night, September 16. The annual event is a gathering of business leaders, mainly in the area of small business to honor several of their own people. This year Joe Nicolai of JN Services was named Small Business Person of the Year. Others so honored included Win Schoneman, owner of Bubbies Homemade Ice Cream & Desserts in Hawaii Kai, Tyler Roukema, owner of the Outback Steakhouse also in Hawaii Kai, Jim Dooley of HawaiiReporter.com, and 4 others. A complete list of the honorees is posted at the Smart Business Hawaii website. I shot about 700 photos that night of which about 60 have been published. They are viewable by clicking the slide show above and also on my Flickr website as well as on SBH. Selected photos are shown below.

Collage of the major award winners Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, Joe Nicolai with former Governor Linda Lingle, Win Schoneman (in maroon colored shirt), Tyler Roukema, Jim Dooley with Malia Zimmerman, Wendy Dantas with Lani Moo for Glenn Muranaka and Marissa Capelouto.

Smart Business Hawaii Awards Banquet Recap
SBH Award Banquet Photo Set on Flickr

SBH Success All Star Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser of Mikilua Poultry Farm with her family.

The Harley Davidson Motorcycle that was up for auction.

Joe Nicolai with former Governor Lingle.

Red Ink Could Shut Down the U.S. Post Office

2011-09-05T20:11:00.000-10:00

video platform video management video solutions video player

With just about everyone doing communications via computer, tablets and smart phones these days, it is no wonder that the U.S. Postal Service is trouble. Hardly anyone ever sends out cards or letter these days. So quaint. So slow. Email and social networks via computers gives all users instant communication and gratification. The only good reason to keep the post office in business is for delivery of packages and bulk mailers for many businesses. Fact is the "junk mail" business is what keeps the most revenue coming in to the U.S. Post Office.

I cannot even remember the last time I got a letter. I still get a few Christmas cards and a birthday card on occasion from my mother. That's it. Once or twice a year for mail that is worth opening. Everything else, if I did not ask for it, is either junk advertising mail or paper bills. The only time I look forward to getting any mail is if I order something from a place like Amazon.com and they deliver the hard goods in the U.S. Mail... or maybe Federal Express (a private competitor).

The U.S. Postal Service is seeking help from the U.S. Congress. According to the ABC News report referenced in the embedded video, the postal service doesn't want money. They want authorization to make some big changes like closing rural post offices, cutting Saturday deliveries and laying off personnel. One of their largest expenses is paying for employee retirements.

Of the 3700 or so post offices that may close nationwide, at last report only 3 or 4 of them were targeted in Hawaii. I however suspect more. In time people in outlying areas of the islands who rely on the Post Office will have to travel quite far to get and deliver mail or adopt to new methods of communication, which most of us already use. Tablet computers, desktop and laptop computers or at least a smart phone. Times they are a changing.

Post offices such as this one in Honokaa could someday close if the U.S. Postal Service is to survive on reduced resources and facilities.

Pictures from the Big Island of Hawaii

2011-08-31T19:10:00.001-10:00

The Big Island of Hawaii is one of my favorite places. Of course I have a huge bias for liking the place since I was born there and have gone to most of the places on the island. There are a lot of memories from my younger days there. Both of my parents grew up there along with my sister and brother. Today I live in Honolulu and return to the Big Island as frequently as possible to get in touch with family and see a few sights. This small collection of photos are of some of the places I visited on the Big Island this summer of 2011.

Top photo: Queen Lilioukalani Gardens in Hilo, Hawaii.

The green floor of Waipio Valley as taken from the lookout point.

Spencer Beach Park in Kawaihae. This used to be a favorite place to hang out with family. It still is for many young families.

The Big Boot in Waimea is near the KTA Super Store.

Along Mamane Street in Honokaa, Hawaii.

The Peoples' Theater was featured in the Japanese movie "Honokaa Boy".

Hilo International Airport on a rainy day.

Beautiful Honokaa sunset.

More photos can be seen on my Flickr site - Big Island Photos August 2011.

Pictures from the Neighborhood

2011-08-15T18:00:00.013-10:00

This is a Flickr.com slideshow of photographs taken around and near the neighborhood I live in. This is mainly the Ala Moana / Pa'awa neighborhood which I include Ala Moana Center, the Hawaii Convention Center, most of the area above Kapiolani Blvd. up to King and Young Street and bordered by Pi'ikoi and Kalakaua Ave. That is a lot of area which includes a lot of businesses and public use facilities. The major retailers in the area include WalMart, McDonalds', Don Quijote, Like Like Drive In and Walgreens. The residential areas consist mainly of multi floor condominiums and low rise apartments buildings. There is a smattering of office buildings and one hotel in the area. The area is also well known for its many eating places and "watering holes". Take a look at this part of urban Honolulu and Hawaii.

The time frame setting of these photographs start at 2006 and go to the present. The slideshow will be updated from time to time.

Photos by Melvin Ah Ching Productions

Hawaii Leadership Academy @ Winners' Camp

2011-07-20T06:00:00.004-10:00

Winners' Camp Delorese Gregoire talks about the upcoming Hawaii Leadership Academy to be held at their Kamehame Ridge location from July 24 to July 30. Delorese is a goal driven person filled with positive energy and drive, which is probably a requirement to keep an operation such as Winners' Camp a success for the past 26 years.

More information on Winners' Camp

Video by Bob Sigall.

Hawaii to be Showcase During APEC

2011-07-17T08:01:00.003-10:00

Hawaii Convention Center, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

The Hawaii Convention Center will be the location of the upcoming APEC conference that will take place in November 2011. The President of the United States and several other world leaders are expected to attend. The State and City will be putting their best foot forward to make this convention a success and probably more importantly, a P-R piece for the state by "cleaning things up."

One of the biggest problems there is surrounding the convention is the "homeless problem". News reports have recently stated that a "homeless sweep" may be forthcoming prior ot APEC. The homeless problem has been a chronic burden to the City and County of Honolulu as well as the State as many agencies have tried to solve it.

Personally I am not all too crazy about the APEC convention. I live fairly close by to the convention center. I suspect increased security will probably have an effect on traffic and access for people who live and work in the area.

This is the type of image Hawaii State and County officials would like to project during the upcoming APEC conference in November.

The harsh reality of Hawaii's chronic homeless population will dog the state's image during the APEC convention. A homeless sweep, probably in the name of increased security could be in order for the Waikiki area.

Could this be the type of images that are beamed across the world during the APEC conference this coming fall?

Three 717s Added to Hawaiian Airlines Fleet

2011-06-30T18:15:00.021-10:00

It was announced today that Hawaiian Airlines is expanding their inter-island Boeing 717-200 fleet with the addition of 3 "new" planes later this year. The 3 planes are being leased from Boeing Capital Corporation. The acquisition of additional aircraft will increase Hawaiian Airlines' inter-island fleet of Boeing 717s to 18. The airline also purchased the 15 Boeing 717s they already operate.

Hawaiian Airlines will be expanding their inter-island flight schedule to about 20 flights per day between Hawaii's major island airports of Lihue, Honolulu, Kahului, Kona and Hilo. The airline will also be hiring 40 to 50 more personnel to support the fleet expansion.

Hawaiian Airlines is the oldest inter-island carrier in Hawaii, with 82 years in the market. They have been flying the Boeing 717-200 series since 2001 after DC-9 operations were phased out. The Boeing 717-200 is a derivative of the old McDonnell Douglas DC-9, an aircraft type that has been part of Hawaiian's fleet since 1966.

Boeing produced a total of 156 717 aircraft between 1999 and 2006. The model has been discontinued but is still supported by the manufacturer. Hawaiian Airlines is one of two U.S. carriers still flying the Boeing 717. The other is AirTran, who this year merged with Southwest Airlines.

Images: Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 top photo - in flight by Daniel T Jones
Ground photos by Melvin Ah Ching.

Hawaiian Telcom to Offer Cable TV Services

2011-06-25T14:15:00.004-10:00

It has been one of Hawaiian Telcom's long standing plans - become a cable TV provider for Hawaii. The State Dept of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) granted Hawaiian Telcom a 15 year franchise fee to set up and operate a competing cable TV system that will mount a challenge to longtime incumbent Time Warner Oceanic Cable.

Hawaiian Telcom is the state's largest phone company. They recently came out of bankruptcy. Due to a changing marketplace where many people have opted for cellular phone service instead of a traditional landline, the phone company has decided to pursue to cable TV option and offer its services as a package along with telecom and internet services.

More details at the following links:

Hawaiian Telcom gets a license for cable TV
Hawaiian Telcom Gets OK To Offer Cavble TV
DCCA Press Release (PDF)

Publisher's Comment: Competition is usually a good thing. We'll see how this pans out for consumers in relation to prices and packaging offered by Hawaiian Telcom. Hopefully the new competition will bring cable TV prices down or at least stabilize them at a certain level. It is also hoped that better TV channel packages are offered or even the possibility (highly unlikely) of ala carte cable.

This post also appears on the Hawaii Radio and Television Guide Blog. Photo by Ryan Ozawa.

A Beautiful Hawaiian Sunset

2011-06-20T07:00:00.000-10:00

Taken from Kaka'ako Waterfront Park with a Canon S5 iS camera. Below is the cropped version of the same photo.

Point Panic Panorama taken with iPod Touch camera.

Sunbeam through the clouds. Taken with Canon S5 is.

Welcome to Hilo International Airport

2011-06-19T11:00:00.014-10:00

Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 at Hilo International Airport

Welcome to Hilo International Airport

This is the first in a series of posts that will come from photo groups, sets and streams that mainly come from my Flickr.com photos and YouTube videos.

This post focuses on Hilo International Airport. It is one of the bigger but most underutilized airports in the State of Hawaii. Hilo International Airport (ITO / PHTO) serves the community and county seat of Hilo Hawaii which includes most of the eastern and southern part of the island. The Big Island has a population of about 185,000 people. I would say about half the population at least lives on the eastern side.

Hilo International Airport is one of two major airports on the Big Island. The other is Kona International. Hilo International airport has 2 runways, with 8/26 being the longest at 9.800 feet. That runway is used for nearly all flight operations and can accommodate aircraft as large as the Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The second, crosswind runway is 3/21 at 5,600 feet long. That is used mainly for general aviation, though in a pinch it can handle some of the smaller jets that come into Hilo.

Hilo International Airport has a main passenger terminal building complete with jetways that can accommodate up to 8 aircraft at its main gates. There is room on the tarmac to park a few more planes using old fashioned stairways.

The main passenger terminal area has two security check areas, though only one is usually used. Inside there are ticketing counters, baggage handling facilities, a restaurant, bar, snack and souvenir shops plus a lounge for Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club passengers. The main waiting area is beautifully done with nice, living room type chairs and sofas, not what you'd get at most airports. It makes waiting for your flight rather pleasant.

One of the main criticisms from the time the passenger terminal opened is that from most areas of the facility, people cannot see the aircraft. There is no view of incoming or outgoing aircraft from the first floor lounge. It is only when passengers are allowed to the second floor gate area is where aircraft can be viewed.

The comfy living room type furniture is popular feature at Hilo's airport.

The second floor leads to and from the 8 gates at the airport. It is only from this level that passenger can actually see arriving and departing aircraft.

Airlines currently serving Hilo International Airport include

Hawaiian Airlines - inter-island flights
Mesa Airlines dba Go! Mokulele - inter-island flights
United Airlines / Continental - direct jet service to LAX and SFO.

In addition to passenger service, Hilo International Airport is also used for helicopter air tour services (popular for viewing the volcano eruptions), the military, freight operations, charters and general aviation. A new freight terminal is under construction near the U.S. Post Office building not too far away from the passenger terminal. Carriers offering freight service to and from Hilo include Fed Ex (they bring in their McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft) and Aloha Air Cargo (using Boeing 737-200s). Other smaller carriers such as Trans Air also service Hilo.

Interisland Airways Shorts 360 charter airplane parked at Hilo.

HISTORY

Hilo International Airport began in 1927 and was known as General Lyman Field for many years. The airport was first serviced by a commercial air carrier in 1929. Inter-island Airways flew their Sikorsky amphibious airplanes into Hilo from Honolulu and Maui. That airline eventually became Hawaiian Airlines.

Through the years the airport was expanded and reached its zenith in the late 1960s and 1970s when Hilo served as the "second gateway" to the State of Hawaii with direct mainland flights. The first mainland to Hilo flights started in 1967 with the arrival of Pan American and United Airlines. Shortly after that Braniff, Northwest Orient Airlines, Western Airlines, and Continental Airlines served Hilo.

The service was successful for a few years until airline deregulation set in the late 1970s. After that mainland and overseas carriers saw more profitability by sending direct flights to Hawaii's other airports in Kona, Maui and Kauai. The last airline to offer direct Hilo to Mainland flights until United's re-emergence to the market in June 2011 was American Trans Air (ATA). Their service stopped after ATA went bankrupt in 2008.

In addition to mainland flights, Hilo has always been the eastern most destination for most inter-island air carriers. Among the airlines that have come and gone from the Hilo marketplace are the following:

Island Air: still in business, service withdrawn
Pacific Wings: Still in business, service withdrawn

Mokulele Airlines: Merged with Mesa Go! Airlines.
Aloha Airlines: Late 1940s to 2008 (bankruptcy)
Mid Pacific Airlines: went out of business in Hawaii - 1988.
Mahalo Airlines: went bankrupt in 1997.
Royal Hawaiian Air Service: went out of business (1980s).
Discovery Airways: Intended to fly BAC-146 jets to Hilo; liquidated; issue regarding ownership (1990).

More history regarding Hilo International Airport can be found at this link:

HAWAII AVIATION: General Lyman Field / Hilo International Airport

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT HILO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Because the airport is underutilized by passenger services, it usually is a pleasant experience to check in and use the airport facilities. There rarely are large crowds of passengers trying to get to many destinations all at once. Most flights come in from and go back to Honolulu International Airport. One or two flights a day go to Maui with United's mainland flights happening once a day during the night time hours. Hardly very busy.

Hawaiian Airlines offers about 12 flights a day to and from Hilo utilizing Boeing 717 jet aircraft. Mesa's Go! Mokulele has about 4 flights a day with smaller Bombardier CRJ-200 jets.

Pick up and drop off at Hilo International is practically hassle free. Hardly any traffic, usually plenty of parking in the main metered lot. There is a car rental stand just across the main terminal. A U.S. Post office is just down the road. The airport is located about 2 miles away from the nearest hotel and shopping districts.

The weather in Hilo varies. Mostly it rains and is overcast. However there are clear weather days especially in the morning when flying into Hilo is very pleasant as one gets to see some nice views as aircraft take-off and land at the airport. Check the following views out and landing video:

Window seat view, final approach into Hilo, Runway 8L.

Landing video into Hilo International Airport, November 2009.

Aerial view of Hilo International Airport's main terminal.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Hilo Airport Photo Gallery
Air Nav: PHTO
Yelp! Hilo International Airport

News Behind the News - Lowell Kalapa

2011-06-14T18:00:00.001-10:00

News Behind the News - Tax Foundation's Lowell Kalapa on the Impact of Hawaii's New Tax Hikes from Johnson Choi on Vimeo.

HawaiiReporter on Jun 10, 2011

Behind the News - Tax Foundation's Lowell Kalapa - Are Hawaii Residents being taxed to death? Find out all about Hawaii's new taxes and tax hikes imposed in the 2011 legislative session and what that means for your pocketbook?

Video interview with HawaiiReporter.com's Malia Zimmerman. Recorded June 10, 2011. Linked from Think Tech Hawaii's Vimeo stream.

God Bless America

2011-05-31T06:45:00.000-10:00

God Bless America, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

Spent the Memorial Day afternoon up at Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific. Got this flag shot using my Minolta X700 35mm SLR with Fujicolor 200 ISO film. Processed at Walgreens who burned the images to CD. Enhanced in iPhoto on Mac OSX and published to Flickr.

More photos below:

This slideshow features Memorial Day photos taken at Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery and Diamond Head Memorial Park. (More photos to be added later today).

T-Shirts Blowing in the Wind

2011-05-29T17:45:00.001-10:00

More than 800 t-shirt designs from around the world were hung out to dry as high art during the windy weekend at Kaka'ako Makai Gateway Park this weekend, May 27 - 29. Most of the T-shirts came from Japan that were designed by artists from all over the world who paid a small fee to the organization sponsoring the event.

That chief sponsor is the Seaside Gallery in Kochi Japan who have made it an art to stage various outdoor exhibitions of several types around Japan and the world. According to their brochure, some of the exhibits included the T-Shirt Art Exhibition (here in Hawaii for the first time), Sand Sculpture, a Washed Ashore Exhibit, Whale Watching and a Quilt Exhibition in the Sea Breeze.

More information at:

www.alohaartweek.com

The main coordinator is the Seaside Gallery in Kochi Japan.

sunabi.com

E-mail: nitari@sunabi.com

This weekend's exhibit was open and free to the public.

One of the many individual designs. This one is touching remembrance of someone who has gone.

Slideshow:

The Rail Lawsuit

2011-05-23T19:45:00.008-10:00

Dr. Panos Prevedouros and Sam Slom discuss the rail lawsuit with Malia Zimmerman on her TV show "News Behind the News". A lawsuit was filed against the Honolulu Rail Project earlier this month on the basis of several environmental and cultural issues.

More on the lawsuit at the following links:

End of the World Tomorrow - See You on Sunday!

2011-05-20T05:00:00.022-10:00

OK, here it is... probably the official "end of the world" video. End of the World? That's what these people are saying on the video. Look for yourself. The end is coming... tomorrow, May 21 at 6:00 p.m. I wonder if that is GMT, Eastern Daylight Savings Time or Hawaii Time?

If it is Hawaii Time, the end of the world will definitely be late. Like maybe in another 400 million years! As we know everything in Hawaii runs on Hawaii time... so will the end of the world... that will be the ultimate Hawaii time event ever.

While I am not the partying type, events like this give many people a reason to party. So go ahead. The End of the World may be near, but the sun will surely come up to another wonderful day after.

Have fun.

MORE LINKS TO THE END OF THE WORLD

CBS News Video: News report by John Blackstone, CBS TV News.

R.E.M. "It's the End of the World as We Know It"

2012 End of the World website: Just in case the end doesn't come tomorrow.

Here's one of those doomsday believers.

One of the most fun "end of the world" movies I saw came out way back in 1951. From George Pal, "When Worlds Collide"... classic!!!!

Got this movie for $4 a few years ago at WalMart. Tomorrow will be a great day to watch it.

It will be a beautiful day on Sunday....

Update on Rail - It's Still an Expensive Waste of Money

2011-05-08T09:00:00.004-10:00

From Mel's Internet Universe | The Hawaii Files

The $7 billion rail project is slowly chugging along. The city has started some preliminary construction work like digging the road up along Farrington Highway, moving trees to different locations and acquiring one property to ram the train through. The project's official cost is reported to be around $5.5 billion but will probably cost more than $7 billion to build and much more to maintain.

Hawaii taxpayers cannot afford the high cost of rail.

Professor Panos Prevedouros offers the following status updates to this most costly public works project in Hawaii history. The following is taken from Dr. Prevedouros' email list:

1. Rail Bond Float? PLEASE DO NOT!

It appears that several of you are misinformed about the status of the rail project. Here is a five line update:

1. The city does not yet have FTA approval to enter Final Design.

2. The City has not completed Final Design. It is still collecting the necessary samples.

3. Only after Final Design is completed, the city can enter into a Full Funding Grant Agreement with the FTA.

4. Only then the actual dollar commitment of the feds will be set in terms of monies and year of expenditure.

5. At that point Congress has the prerogative to cut the funding, reduce the funding or grant it as stated.

See for yourself: http://www.apta.com/gap/legupdatealert/2011/Pages/2011April20.aspx

Congress cut FTA's New Starts by a whopping 20% for 2011.
The 2011 New Starts funds for the whole nation is $1.59 Billion and Honolulu is asking for $1.55 Billion!

Floating bonds before federal funds are secured is a dereliction of your fiduciary duty and lack of due diligence.

2. Council Member (Stanley) Chang on Public Trust

(1) Most city charter amendments pass with well over 70% majority. HART did not.
Bikeways passed with over 75% six years ago. Where are they?

(2) The HART amendment came with promises that HART will be free and that it will take politics out of rail. We now know that HART will cost several million dollars every year. Multi-billion dollar contracts for the rail have already been signed by politicians. All HART members are political appointees with zero rail experience. The public voted for NONE of this!

(3) Sewers and water mains are primary and imperative components of public's health and safety. Rail is not.

(4) Fixing sewers, water mains and installing two (2) very large secondary treatment plants will cost well over 10 billion dollars. This project package is by far the largest state project. We cannot afford it but we have to do it. (We cannot afford anything else.)

(5) Ignoring the state's financial analysis which was done by a truly competent and independent firm, and instead believing the city's customer-focused consultants and empire-building FTA is serious avoidance of due diligence. The evidence is abundant. The ears are deaf.

Having Carlisle meddle with infrastructure costs and priorities is already bad enough. We do not need more lawyer math and "public trust" smoke screens to hide fundamental inability to grasp reality, lack of relevant knowledge, and council votes based on backroom dealings (or worse.)

3. Portland's "High Capacity Transit" -- Lessons for Honolulu

Interesting excerpts of an actual evaluation of Portland's MAX light rail in 2011:
SOURCE: http://cascadepolicy.org/pdf/pub/5.2.11HighCapacityTransitStudy.pdf

High Capacity Transit is desirable when there are large numbers of people moving to geographically constrained destinations within a short period of time – such as commuters traveling to downtown San Francisco or midtown Manhattan. (Nothing in common with Honolulu.)

MAX was supposed to be a “catalyst for transit-oriented development” (TOD) at Cascade Station near the airport, but IKEA, Target and Best Buy are built away from the MAX stop and serviced by large parking lots. RESULT: 2.2% use MAX. (This will happen to the Ewa mall by Bishop Estate, Pearl Highlands, Pearl Ridge and Ala Moana Center.)

Gresham Civic Station is a suburban location that has been intensively planned for more than 25 years, with expectations that this would be a showcase for suburban TOD. The entire area was bare dirt when MAX opened in 1986. Eventually, much of the site was built-out. RESULT: Although there are hundreds of apartments close to the newest MAX station at Gresham Civic Center, only 2.25% the tenants actually use light rail. (This will happen to Ho'opili and other pie in the sky TODs.)

The two-day observations at Cascade Station were perhaps the most revealing in terms of assessing the oft-made claim that light rail is a “catalyst for development.” Light rail is not only irrelevant to the commercial success of Cascade Station, it is a barrier to continued development due to density requirements near rail stations. (Maybe Honolulu developers will wake up to reality.)

LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION

HonoluluTraffic.com - keep elevated rail out of Honolulu.
HART Members Announced - HawaiiReporter.com
The Case Against Rail - from HonoluluTraffic.com
City's Rail Plan Financial Update - HawaiiReporter.com

Tax Day Brings Out TEA Party Ralliers

2011-04-16T23:00:00.004-10:00

Approximately 100 to 150 people showed up at the State Capitol on Friday April 15 to rally against more new taxes at the 3rd Annual Hawaii TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party. The political banter against more taxes and for smaller, more accountable government was on the menu as several speakers including State Senator Sam Slom, Honolulu Traffic.com's Cliff Slater and Professor Panos Prevedouros took turns addressing the small, but attentive crowd. Media coverage was picked up mainly by some of the broadcast TV stations, radio and independent bloggers.

The TEA Party proved to be a good event to remind politicians and the public that there are people out here who care about your wallets, your business and your government. See you at the 2012 TEA Party!

The monster of big government.

State Senator Sam Slom

2011 Honolulu TEA Party photos by Mel

Tax Day TEA Party This Friday

2011-04-11T05:15:00.003-10:00

The 3rd Annual Tax Day TEA Party happens this coming Friday, April 15 at the Hawaii State Capitol. The event starts at 4:00 pm and goes to 7:00 pm.

For more information go to overtaxedhawaii.com.

Here are photos from previous events:

No to the GE Tax Increase

2011-04-05T19:23:00.001-10:00

No to the GE Tax Increase, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

Senate Democrats in the Hawaii State Legislature want to increase the insidious general excise tax. Hawaii is already one of the most highly taxed states in the nation. And the Democrats want to take more money away from you and I via another tax increase. TELL THEM NO.

Oppose the GE Tax increase by calling all Hawaii State Legislators and say you do not support a GE Tax Increase.

Bill Status HB 793
www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/lists/measure_indiv.as...

Senate Ways & Means Committee Members / Contact List
www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/senatecommittees/commi...

Contact for All State Legislators (House & Senate Phone Directory)
www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/2011_Hse_Sen_Tele_Dire...

Email Testimony Form
www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/

Senate Ways & Means hearing tomorrow at 9:30 am in the State Capitol Auditorium.

Pictured is Win Schoneman (Mr. Bubbies) of Bubbies Homemade ice Cream in Hawaii Kai.

A GE Tax increase will harm many small businesses just like his.

Democrats Lead Charge To Raise General Excise Tax

2011-04-05T06:45:00.000-10:00

Alert! Alert! Alert! Hawaii Democrats in the State Legislature are once again proposing to raise the General Excise Tax. HB 793 which is scheduled to be heard in the State Capitol Auditorium on Wednesday, April 6 is a vehicle that has been re-written to do just that. If the bill passes and becomes law, the sweeping tax increase will add more than 25% to Hawaii's already burdensome cost of living.

Remember it was mostly Democrats who led the charge in 2005 to raise the GE Tax that year to pay for the $7 billion fixed rail budget. Now they want to raise taxes again to make up for a shortfall in the State's 2-year operating budget. They say the GE Tax increase is a "temporary" tax with a sunset date of around December 2013. Don't be fooled by that. Once a tax is raised it is there permanently. It is next to impossible to scale it back.

The best thing to do is oppose this and every tax increase now. Email, fax or best, call or personally drop in to your state legislator's office and tell them "I don't want a tax increase."

No New Taxes!

Government needs to make more cuts in order to cope with the budget shortfall.

The following information contain links to HB 793 and who you can contact to tell them "No New Taxes". Send testimony in now before the hearing date of April 6. The hearing for the GE Tax increase bill will be held at 9:30 am in the State Capitol Auditorium.

HB 793 SD1(Proposed Senate Draft)

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/Bills/HB793_SD1_PROPOSED_.pdf

WAM Hearing Notice for HB 793 SD1 – Wed. April 6, 2011 9:30 am State Capitol Auditorium

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/hearingnotices/HEARING_WAM_04-06-11_.HTM

Bill Status HB 793

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=793

Senate Ways & Means Committee Members / Contact List

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/senatecommittees/committeepage.aspx?committee=WAM

Contact for All State Legislators (House & Senate Phone Directory)

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/2011_Hse_Sen_Tele_Directory.FINAL.pdf

Email Testimony Form

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/

Star Advertiser Article 4-4-2011

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/119165714.html?mobile=true

Hawaii Unions Rally at State Capitol

2011-04-04T23:00:00.002-10:00

About 500 die hard labor union members and their supporters rallied at the Hawaii State Capitol in support of the "labor movement" nationwide. Hawaii public worker unions have enjoyed political support from the Democrat majority backed state legislature for many years. With the State Budget at a shortfall, it is almost certain that the public sector labor unions will support tax increases to keep their status quo. What they forget is that their own union members will also bear the burden of any and all tax increases.

About 500 union workers and supporters at the State Capitol.

If there were no investors to build and maintain hotels and other visitor attractions in Hawaii, there would be no employment for anyone.

If Wall Street firms and other big businesses did not invest in Hawaii, there would be no jobs. The economy would be even worst than it is today. Hawaii needs investment that is free and clear of burdensome taxes and regulations.

Photos by Mel

Additional Link: Unions Rally at Capitol

My Favorite Cars at the 2011 Auto Show

2011-03-24T03:00:00.014-10:00

The annual Motor Trend First Hawaiian Auto Show was held at the Hawaii State Convention Center this past weekend (March 18 to 20). Hundreds of brand new cars from various local dealerships as well as numerous classic and club cars were on display for the thousands of oogling eyes that came to view the vehicles. I don't know what the attendance estimates are, but it had to be in the thousands over the 3 day weekend. People love cars and they'll pay big money for one.

Believe me, most of the cars I saw there were out of my price range. However it is always great to see the new models because in a few years time, many will be on the used car market at significantly lower prices than what they are asking for today.

That all said, pictures of some of my favorite vehicles as well as all of the published photos I shot at the show are included in this post. Enjoy!

Top Photo: The unattainable Mercedes Benz SLS with the gull wing doors was probably the most beautiful car there. The price for it is way up there in the stratosphere, and largely off limits to most hard working, note paying mortals.

The State and the show sponsors are trying to push these expensive electric vehicles on the public. The Chevy Volt is one such vehicle that retails for about $45,000 and takes 10 hours to charge on standard household current. Electrics don't work for condo dwellers like me who have garages with rows of parking spaces for conventional powered cars and no electric outlets. I don't think condo owners would want to foot the bill for an expensive retrofit of condos to convert parking spaces to electric outlet charging stations.

2011 Lexus IS 250 - nice 4 door sedan that I would not mind owning.

2012 Ford C-Max - I just liked how this photo turned out.

The Ford Fusion seems to be a popular, practical sedan that has been around now for at least the last 5 years. Nice looking car from Ford.

The big block Ford Mustang Boss 302 V8 is back for 2011.

The 2011 Nissan Leaf is the latest electric car that is getting a lot of press in Hawaii. My comments about the Chevy Volt also apply to the Leaf.

Some people like funky styled vehicles. The 2011 Nissan Juke certainly fits that bill. Kind of funcky, somewhat affordable and maybe even appealing.

If I had some modest bucks to spend on a brand new vehicle, I'd probably get this practical 2011 Subaru Forester. Like last year's near identical model, I am impressed with the Forester's styling, size and interior roominess.

Here is a slide show of many of the 2011 - 2012 vehicles on display:

Many of the usual, local show cars from various car clubs were also on display in the classic car sections of the display. I loved the 1965 Ford Mustang fastback and the 1930's era Packard.

Additonal Links

Aloha For Japan

2011-03-21T06:30:00.001-10:00

Aloha For Japan, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

Shot this outside Don Quijote Store on Kaheka Street, Honolulu on Saturday near the travel agent's kiosk. Dozens of people signed this banner that I think will/was sent to someone or an organization in Japan or Hawaii supporting earthquake/tsunami disaster relief efforts.

The photo was taken with my iPod Touch camera and slightly enhanced in software.

A Fine for Taking Pictures

2011-03-18T06:45:00.000-10:00

While it is not common practice for me to go around taking photographs of human remains, the following directive from the State of Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources is somewhat troubling. Surely most people will use common sense when confronted with such issues, but the threat of a fine for taking a picture is over the top in my opinion.

Letter from the DLNR:

March 17, 2011

To: All news agencies

From: William Aila, Chair, Department of Land and Natural Resources

Re: Photographing Human Remains for newscasts.

Aloha,

I am writing in response to decisions by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now, to photograph Native Hawaiian remains and then to publish those remains in newscasts and on-line.

State law strictly prohibits photographing any remains over 50 years old unless expressly approved by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, or in the case of Native Hawaiian remains, by the Island Burial Council. In this case we are not aware of any such approvals.

Please note that HAR 13-300-32 (c) also allows the department to levy fines, up to $10,000 per violation.

Although the law is very stringent, we believe it only requires that people treat human remains, particularly those of Native Hawaiians with the respect they would show their own ancestors. In this instance reporters did not show any sensitivity for the remains of the dead or for Native Hawaiian desires to protect the sanctity of their kupuna iwi. In the future, we request that all news agencies show due respect for the dead and refrain from photographing human remains.

We also note that burial sites are subject to looting and for that reason the department is allowed to keep information of burial sites confidential under specific circumstances (13-300-31). For this reason, we also request that news agencies refrain from publishing the exact location or identifying features of burial sites, especially before families have been notified. Again, this is a matter of respect for the dead, regardless of ethnicity.

Sincerely,
{signed on attached pdf copy}

William J. Aila, Jr.
Chairperson, Dept. of Land and Natural Resources

Video Clips - Tsunami, Hawaii & Japan - March 11, 2011

2011-03-11T22:36:00.001-10:00

Hawaii Tsunami Video Clips

Sirens blaring at 1 in the morning, Waikiki, Honolulu

Kailua, Hawaii

This video was shot before 3AM, March 11 - Hawaii

Japan Tsunami / Earthquake Video Clips

Pictures of Japan tsunami & earthquake from Flickr users.

Massive Destruction in Japan, Loss of Life

Tsunami Wave hitting Sendai Airport, Japan

Aerial View, from RT

Tsunami Warning in Honolulu

2011-03-11T00:25:00.001-10:00

Hawaii as well as the entire Pacific Ocean is under a tsunami warning this morning. A magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan yesterday shortly before 8:00 pm Hawaii Time. Heavy damage from the earthquake and tsunami's have been reported from Japan.

A Pacific wide tsunami is expected to hit Honolulu this morning. I am on the 8th floor of my condo building here in Honolulu on 8th floor. Our building is about 2 blocks up from the border of the theoretical tsunami inundation zone as indicated by the maps published by the Civil Defense.

I will be updating this blog later today with more information regarding the tsunami and earthquake.

More photos:

Tsunami wave striking somewhere in Japan. From live video feed.

Another screen shot from Japan.

More devastation in Japan.

Photos from various Flickr feeds.

The End of the Space Shuttle Era - Discovery

2011-03-10T03:00:00.001-10:00

The Space Shuttle Discovery landed for the last time in its long career as the most traveled spaceship on Earth on Wednesday, March 9. The crew of the space shuttle took Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS) for the last time this month and supplied the station with a new storage module and a new humanoid robot among other things. The crew spent 13 days in space which included several days on the ISS to do installations, repairs and replenishment.

Discovery roared into space on its final launch February 24.

Here are some video clips of the last Discovery mission.

Discovery launch video.

Discovery docks with the ISS.

ISS gets new storage module.

Discovery press conference.

Space Shuttle wake up call. William Shatner.

Discovery landing video.

More STS 133 videos

Volcano Continues With Fissure Outbreak

2011-03-07T05:45:00.013-10:00

Spectacular aerial view of the new eruption outbreak. Isn't this cool? The fissure has expanded and lava is spreading around. Luckily this eruption is occurring in a remote area of the volcano where the lava won't have much impact on homes and private property. There is also no public access to this other than through videos, pictures and text at the HVO website and videos posted to YouTube and other websites. Those lucky enough to afford a helicopter tour may be able to catch this.

Photo from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory.
Kilauea Eruption Update Photos

Crack in the World - Amazing Fissure Breakout

2011-03-06T07:45:00.011-10:00

The ongoing saga of the 28+ year old Kilauea volcano eruption continues with this new fissure opening up away from the main activity area of Pu'uO'o crater. This video clip of just slightly over a minute captures the opening moments of a new "crack in the world" spewing hot lava from beneath the surface. Quite spectacular!

Additional Links:

Commentary

Volcanoes are quite fascinating. I've seen my share of eruptive activity when I was a lot younger and living on the Big island of Hawaii. Today I live on Oahu and rarely venture out to the area. My last trip to the volcano was in 2005.

Photo: Kilauea Volcano by macprohawaii. © 2005.

The Volcano is a hazard to many people living in Hawaii. Obviously those living down-slope from the volcano have been most impacted. Since the current Kilauea eruption started in 1983, hundreds of families have lost their homes in the Kalapana and Royal Gardens area on the Big Island's Southeast coast. Lava flows have covered up property and cost the state and landowners millions of dollars.

Earthquakes are also a statewide hazard. Most occur daily on the Big Island, but are too small to be felt. Big ones can impact any island, the most recent large earthquake having occurred in October of 2006. Check this link out for a list of destructive earthquakes in Hawaii.

People with respiratory problems suffer greatly from the "Vog" that often blankets the Big Island and the State on certain days (depending on wind conditions). The vog has created respiratory problems for many people who previously did not have such problems. It is an ongoing concern.

Huge plume of steam and ash rising out of Kilauea's Halemaumau fire pit in 2008. Photo by Alan Cressler.

More photos from my 2005 Volcano trip.

Queen Victoria in Honolulu

2011-02-06T17:45:00.001-10:00

This has been a good weekend for cruise ship spotters, the cruise ship industry and cruise ship tourism in Honnolulu. Over the last 3 days 4 cruise ships made port calls into Honolulu.

On Friday it was the Sapphire Princess and Cunard Line's Queen Elizabeth, both coming into the harbor 30 minutes apart. On Saturday, Honolulu's weekly cruise ship arrive, NCL's Pride of America made her usual port call.

Today Cunard's Queen Victoria, sister ship to the new Queen Elizabeth made her first stop of the year in Honolulu today. Her current cruise has taken her from Los Angeles to Mexico to Hawaii and back to Mexico and L.A. again.

Queen Victoria is a regular visitor to Hawaii. She comes in at least once a year. This year she is scheduled to call into Honolulu again on February 23.

Queen Victoria is a Vista Class liner, sharing many common design elements with other modern cruise ships from Holland America Line and P and O Cruises. The Queen Victoria is 964.5 feet long and stands 205 feet high from keel to funnel. She weighs 90,000 gross tons and 2,014 passenger and 900 crew. Queen Victoria was launched and put into service in 2007. She is one of three cruise ships operated by Cunard Line.

Cunard Line Queen Victoria
Cunard Line Queen Victoria Webcam

Queen Victoria shortly before entering Honolulu Harbor this morning.

Queen Victoria slowly making its way to Pier 11.

Cunard Line's MS Queen Elizabeth Stops in Honolulu on Her Maiden Around the World Voyage

2011-02-05T09:00:00.005-10:00

Cunard Line's newest cruise ship bearing the name "Elizabeth" sailed into Honolulu Harbor yesterday morning with barely a notice from the general public or the media. This was the new Queen Elizabeth's first visit to the islands on her maiden voyage around the world.

The 965 ft. long liner berthed at Pier 10 for 12 hours yesterday.

Queen Elizabeth weighs more than 90,000 tons and has the capacity to carry up to 2,547 passengers. She has a contingent of 996 crew members.

Queen Elizabeth was launched in January 2010 and put into service October 2010. She is on her first around the world voyage. Yesterday she came into Honolulu Harbor just slightly after 6:45 am and set sail for Apia, Western Samoa at 6:00 pm last night.

The new Queen shares the same design as her sister ship, Queen Victoria, which is set to arrive in Honolulu, tomorrow (February 6).

The new Queen Elizabeth succeeded the Queen Elizabeth II which sailed into Honolulu for the last time in March of 2008. That liner had a long service history since becoming operational in 1969. She was retired in late 2008 and is now sitting in a shipyard in the country of Dubai facing an uncertain future.

The new Queen Elizabeth sails into Honolulu Harbor under the very early morning sunlight.

The Queen Elizabeth II in Honolulu during her last stopover in March 2008.

Additional Links

Cunard Line Queen Elizabeth site
Cunard Line Queen Elizabeth Webcam

The Sapphire Princess

2011-02-05T01:45:00.002-10:00

Princess Cruises Sapphire Princess stopped in to Honolulu Harbor yesterday during the first of its 7 port calls to Hawaii this year. The Sapphire Princess is a regular visitor to Honolulu, sailing into the islands during the winter months. During the summer this ship cruises in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest coast.

The Sapphire Princess was built in Japan in 2004. She is 951 feet long, is 18 decks high and can carry up to 2,670 passengers and 1,000 crew. She was berthed at Honolulu Harbor's Pier 2. She next returns on March 4.

The Sapphire Princess tied up at Honolulu Harbor's Pier 2 while Cunard Line's new Queen Elizabeth enters the harbor channel.

Cruise Ships in Hawaii

Capitol Round-Up: January 31, 2011

2011-01-31T03:30:00.008-10:00

The Hawaii State Legislature completed its second week since opening day on January 19. Highlights (or lowlights depending on your point of view) so far include the following:

Governor's State of the State Speech: In typical fashion, newly elected Democrat Governor Neil Abercrombie made proposals to increase taxes or start new taxes and fees. Among them are a fee on timeshares, new taxes for soda and alcoholic beverages, taxing pension, and repealing tax deductions on state taxes paid. He likes to use the concept of "shared sacrifice". Sorry, but this is not good. Very bad for your wallet.

State of the Judiciary Speech: Recently appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Mark Recktenwald gave his first State of the Judiciary speech on January 26. Not suprisingly he asked for more funding to keep the judiciary branch going. Among his proposals is funding to fix the Honolulu Circuit Court building and constructing a new courthouse for Kona on the Big Island.

Senate Fast Tracks Civil Unions Bill: The Hawaii State Senate held a public hearing and voted in favor of passing a new Civil Unions bill (SB 232) with a 19 to 6 margin. Senators voting against the measure included Wil Espero, Mike Gabbard, Donna Mercado Kim, Ron Kouchi, Donovan Dela Cruz and Sam Slom. The bill heads over to the House for another round of hearings and a vote. It is likely this bill will pass there and be subjected to a final vote in both houses (if amended) soon before being sent to the Governor. The Governor is a supporter of civil unions. This is bad for people who understand and want to keep marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Governor Can't Get Obama Birth Certificate: Privacy laws have scuttled Govenror Abercrombie's plan to produce a copy of President Barack Obama's birth certificate. The controversy surrounding the President's birthplace continues. The President could end this himself by requesting a copy and producing it for the public. Probably not going to happen.

HB 1116: Rep. Rida Cabanilla introduced a new bill to slap a $100 additional fee on requests to get birth certificates for publicly elected officials. The bill is clearly aimed at those who have requested copies of the President's birth certificate.

Cats, Civil Unions and Senate Prayer: The issues that seem to be generating the most buzz this past week includes a bill banning feral cat trapping (SB13), the Civil Unions bill (SB 232) and the controversy surrounding the elimination of invocations at the State Senate. Numerous emails, faxes and phone calls are being targeted at state legislators on these issues.

Photo captions: Top photo, Governor Abercrombie's State of the State speech. Above: Gallery attendees at the Civil Union vote in the State Senate.

Honolulu Port Call for MS Zaandam

2011-01-30T19:45:00.003-10:00

Holland America Line MS Zaandam made a port call to Honolulu Harbor this morning. I was down at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park waiting for her arrival at 6:30 this morning. She was scheduled to arrive at 7 am. She came in a little later than that, all the better since the day was just starting and the lighting conditions were improving.

The MS Zaandam is 777 ft. long, weighs 61,396 tons and is 10 stories high. She has a carrying capacity of more than 1400 passengers. The ship was launched in the year 2000 and is a regular visitor to the islands along with her sister ship, MS Rotterdam.

MS Zaandam sailed in from Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai and is scheduled to leave at 11:00 tonight for Lahaina, Maui. She was tied up at Pier 10.

Just outside Honolulu Harbor near Pier 1.

Tied up at Hilo Harbor, October 14, 2010. All photos by Mel.

Flickr Photos: Cruise Ships in Hawaii

Shiro Matsuo Hawaii's Saimin King

2011-01-28T04:14:00.002-10:00

Shiro Matsuo Hawaii's Saimin King, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

Ukelele in hand, Shiro Matsuo treated attendees at yesterday's monthly SBH Sunrise Breakfast to a few songs and some advice on customer service, location, financing for his successful restaurant business... Shiro's Saimin Haven. The energetic youngster of nearly 92, is probably the oldest person to ever speak at an SBH Sunrise event.

He has many years of experience in the food and beverage business. He also talked about growing up near A'ala Park in Downtown Honolulu and of his time in the U.S. Military. A very colorful character, makes me want to drive all the way to Aiea to get a bowl of saimin!

Capitol Round-Up: January 23, 2011

2011-01-23T11:00:00.001-10:00

This past week marked the start of the 2011 Hawaii State Legislature. Hold on to your wallets. Taxes may and will probably go up. Democrats are in full control in both houses of the legislature as well as in the Governor's office. They are prone to bow before their union backers and raise taxes and fees this year.

The State House of Representatives finally got settled on the first day of the 2011 session. Speaker Calvin Say got to hold on to his post. The dissident faction of the House majority gave in and formed an uneasy coalition with Say and his backers. Several of the dissidents were left with no committee or leadership positions. You can go to the House link for more information in regards to their organization.

Over in the State Senate, the body welcome several new, returning and appointed senators. A new Senate President assumed his official duties. Maui Senator Shan S. Tsutsui is the new Senate President, taking over from former State Senator Colleen Hanabusa who resigned her seat to become a new U.S. Representative in Congress.

Senator Tsutsui presides over the 24 member Senate majority.

Senator Sam Slom is the only member of the Minority party in the State Senate. One of his first floor speeches of the new session was in defense of the time honored traditon of opening prayer before the start of each session. This year the majority voted to stop the practice of invocation before the start of each days' session after the Senate was sued by the ACLU and an individual zealot who is opposed to Christian prayer. You can watch the very short prayer floor motion below:

As a matter of disclosure, I work for State Senator Sam Slom as his chief of staff in his Senate office. Have been for 12 years.

On Tuesday, the Hawaii State Senate Judiciary & Labor committee will be hearing the first "Civil Unions" bill of the new session. SB 232 is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, January 25 starting at 10:00 a.m. in Capitol Room 016. Hearing Notice Link.

The annual Hawaii March for Life Rally which is a protest against the Roe v. Wade ruling on legalized abortions was held on the State Capitol grounds yesterday, January 22. Hundreds of young people showed up for the weekend rally that celebrates life and not the pre-mature death of unborn babies.

Read more about the Right to Life Rally here.

Governor Neil Abercombie will present his first state of the state address on Monday, January 24 starting at 10:00 a.m. in the State House chamber.

Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald will present his first state of the judiciary speech on Wednesday, January 26 starting at 10:00 a.m. in the State Senate chamber.

And that's the news this week from the Big Square building on South Beretania street.

Hawaii State Senate Opening Day Photos

Photos:

1. Kamehameha Schools Children's Choir on Opening Day
2. Senate President Shan S. Tsutsui
3. Fetus display at Right to Life Rally

March For Life on January 22

2011-01-19T23:07:00.000-10:00

Celebrating Life for Generations to Come

Hawaii Right to Life is sponsoring the 38th annual “March for Life Hawaii” rally to be held Saturday, January 22nd from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm at the Hawaii State Capitol grounds.

This family friendly event attracts over 1,000 supporters each year. This year’s theme, “Celebrating

Life for Generations to Come” is designed to educate and engage youth about the value and worth of

Executive Director Janet Grace said, “Although some may perceive “March For Life Hawaii” as a controversial event, our goal is to bring respect and dignity to the lives of those lost to abortion and offer life-affirming resources that address the secret shame often felt by those affected by it.”

She went on to say that Hawaii Right to Life works with outstanding organizations that provide compassionate, professional services and quality care for all people suffering the consequences of choosing abortion. “We believe all of society has been impacted by legalized abortion and we want our presence to offer healing and hope,” stated Grace.

This year’s “March For Life Hawaii” will provide fun-filled activities geared toward keiki such as face painting, games, story-telling and special prizes. There will also be sign waving, music, hula, inspirational messages, and a peaceful walk through the Capitol district honoring the countless lives lost to abortion over the past 40 years in Hawaii (one of the first states to legalize abortion in the United States).

Special guest speakers at “March For Life Hawaii” will be Miss Hawaii 2009, Raeceen Woolford, and Hawaiian world-champion surfer, Dane Kealoha.

Hawaii Right to Life is the state affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee. For updates and more information regarding events and speakers please visit: hrtl.org.

Editor's Comment: The annual march is a great vehicle to show your support for pro-life issues. - Mel

Photo from 2009 March for Life rally.

Smart Business Hawaii's Annual Conference a Success

2011-01-18T05:00:00.000-10:00

This year I was privileged to once again be the official photographer at the 35th Annual Smart Business Hawaii Conference held on January 12 at the Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu. This year's keynote speaker was nationally syndicated radio talk show host and author, Micheal Medved. He spoke on traditional American values and business issues during the hour and a half he spent at the conference.

The SBH conference attracted about 300 attendees and featured a number of speakers including former New York Mets and World Series championship pitcher Sid Fernandez, who spoke about the business of Major League Baseball; Hawaii Tourism Authority's Mike McCartney who painted a cautiously optimistic picture of the tourism industry for Hawaii, several small business entrepreneurs and journalists from HawaiiReporter.com.

The theme to this year's conference was "Recapturing Hawaii's Business Opportunities". More information about the 35th Annual Conference and its wrap-up can be found at the Smart Business Hawaii website.

Photos by Melvin Ah Ching Productions.

The last 8 minutes of Michael Medved's keynote speech. Shot by Mel.

Sarah Palin: America's Enduring Strength

2011-01-13T00:01:00.002-10:00

Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

This is good. You should watch it. The shooter is the sole person responsible for the assassination attempt and murders in Tuscon, Arizona. He only and no one else. Sarah's got it right.

Burned Out Neon at Like Like Drive Inn

2011-01-08T20:45:00.006-10:00

This is what we have. The two photos above were taken this evening on both sides of the famous Like Like Drive Inn sign on Keaumoku Street in Honolulu. As you can see instead of each side having "Like Like" in there twice, there is only one "Like" on each side. Most obviously the neon that lights up each side of the sign is down, so now we got only "Like Drive Inn" on each side.

Hopefully the good folks at the Like Like Drive Inn will get their famous landmark fixed so that is says "Like Like" once more (see photo at the bottom).

This is what the sign normally looks like when it is lit up during the night time hours.

Best and Worst of 2010

2010-12-31T23:45:00.052-10:00

A day aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was my personal highlight of 2010.

2010 came and went. Before the year is completely gone, are 5 good things and 5 particularly bad things about the past 365 days.

FIVE GOOD THINGS ABOUT 2010

5. It was a good year for music. I listened to many different types of music, charted many new songs and artists on my Weekly Top 20 and emerged with an interesting list of the Top 100 Songs for 2010. I even managed to make it to one concert, Dengue Fever, a rock group that my friend Daniel recently turned me on to.

4. State Senator Sam Slom won re-election to his State Senate seat. In other political news, Governor Linda Lingle nominated Judge Mark Recktenwald as Chief Justice. He was approved by the State Senate in August. The Civil Unions Bill (HB 444) was vetoed by Governor Lingle.

3. Republicans took over the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the fall elections. They made gains in the U.S. Senate too. President Obama is losing his popularity.

2. I spent many weeks on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2010 to be with my Dad, Melvin Ah Ching Sr. who was in frail health for most of the year. I cherished all the time I spent with him this past year and happily have photographs to show and memories that will last forever.

1. I was privileged to be part of a press contingent that sailed out to sea on the nuclear powered aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Reagan as a photographer for HawaiiReporter.com. It was a once in a lifetime event for me that I totally enjoyed and wrote about at HawaiiReporter.com and this blog. This was the highlight of my year.

FIVE BAD THINGS ABOUT 2010

Frankly there are probably more than 5 things that made 2010 a bad year. In some kind of hasty order here are my bottom five events or things that happened in 2010 to me or society as a whole.

5. The local Republican Party lost big time in the 2010 state elections. While Charles Djou won the special election to the U.S. Congress in May 2010, he lost the seat in November to State Senator Colleen Hanabusa, a Democrat. Mr. Djou has now indicated that he will not run for another office. Meanwhile, the Hawaii Republican party is in turmoil, listing badly like a sinking ship. Nine wins out of 76 legislative seats is not very good.

4. Professor Panos Prevedouros lost his 2nd bid to become Honolulu Mayor. Because of that the pro-rail faction of city, state and even the Federal Governments are fast tracking the $8 billion fixed rail project down our throats. Panos was the best chance we had to STOP RAIL NOW. He vows to run again for mayor in 2012.

3. Democrat Neil Abercrombie became Hawaii's new Governor after the November 2nd election. The heavily Democratic legislature is expected to fast track socialistic bills such as civil unions and more tax increases in the upcoming 2011 Legislaitve session. Hawaii is bending too much to the left and the damage done may be not be fixed for a very long time.

2. THE RAIL PROJECT is being fast tracked by the powers that are. It will cost $8 billion to build and many, many millions to maintain through the years. It will be ugly and very bad for all of the taxpayers on Oahu as well as in the State of Hawaii. Yes, I mentioned rail twice, because it is the worst thing that will happen to Honolulu over the next few (and many) years to come.

1. MY DAD, Mr. Melvin Ah Ching Sr. died. Personally this topped my year as being the worst event to happen in my life. Dad's health was in slow decline for the past 2 years. I thought he would hold on and live to see another Christmas holiday. Did not happen. On November 20 he fell seriously ill, was rushed to the hospital and passed away 9 days later. Life is fleeting. It was very, very sad to see Dad go. He was the foundation and rock of our family. He will be missed forever. Mahalo and Aloha Dad for everything you did.

Raise Gasoline Taxes? Hell No!

2010-12-29T23:30:00.020-10:00

It is with interest and great offense that I read in The Kona Blog that its author and a possible political candidate for future office wants to RAISE TAXES... mainly the gas tax on the Big Island. Blogger Aaron Stene writes:

"The Hawaii County Council should strongly consider raising the county’s fuel tax. I believe that 8.8 cents/gallon isn’t sufficient to maintain the county’s roadway inventory. You can see this by simply driving around Hilo.

I know this tax increase probably won’t be very popular and may negatively impact the residents of Ka’u, Puna, and Hamakua. However, I believe the positives out weight the negatives. I recently spent $230.00 to buy a new tire and have my front end realigned. This likely was caused by driving over a lot of potholes (e.g Kaiminani Drive). So, I’d rather pay more at the pump versus having to fix the alignment on my truck."

Aaron, you are damn right that a gas tax increase, will never, ever be popular. Tough luck for your truck. Sure, potholes are a problem as they are for every county in probably every state.

Still I think the majority of motorists would not want to have their taxes go up vs. the smaller possibility that a pothole may screw up their vehicle. Here in Honolulu we have many roads with potholes. I learn how to be careful, drive slowly and avoid most of them.

In the 38 years that I have been driving, I have never, ever run into a pothole that caused serious damage to my vehicle or tires. You were just a victim of either careless driving or simple bad luck.

To the few Big Island readers out there, Mr. Stene once toyed with the proposal of running for public office. Raising taxes is a very dangerous proposal to your pocketbook. He wants to be conservative, yet he takes on a liberal stance of wanting to raise taxes. Go figure.

No New Taxes!

Dad: 1927 - 2010

2010-12-19T06:00:00.002-10:00

Melvin Ah Ching Sr.

Husband, Father, Fireman, Community Leader, Movie Star

My Dad Melvin Ah Ching Sr. came from humble beginnings, born in the plantation village of Ookala, Hawaii to proud parents Sei Tong and Mary Pawela Ah Ching on Sunday, October 9, 1927.

For the first years of his life, he grew up in Ookala’s “pake” camp, part of the sugar plantation industry and culture that dominated Hawaii through much of the 20th century. Dad attended Ookala Elementary School before attending and graduating from Laupahoehoe High School.

In 1945 Dad was an enlistee to the United States Army where he served for three years near the end of World War II and beyond. Dad trained on the mainland for the invasion of Tokyo, but was lucky to never be sent there. After being stationed at Ft. Hood, Ft. Ord and Camp Beal in California, Dad was shipped off to the Philippines where he would spend most of his Army years.

By 1949 Dad transferred to the Hawaii National Guard where he served locally until gaining civilian employment at the Hawaii County Fire Department in Hilo starting in 1952. Through his long fire fighting career, Dad was part of the Honokaa Fire Station through most of the 1950s and 60s before accepting a transfer in 1967 to the Kamuela Volunteer Fire Station to become the first full time fireman in that community. It is there after fighting numerous fires, saving many lives and property, and being promoted to captain, that Dad ended his career with retirement in 1976.

While employed in the Fire Department Dad met a young, attractive lady who he first saw dancing the hula at a party. In 1955 he wed my Mom, the former LaVerne Healani Kealoha whom he stayed married to until the end of his time. Mom and Dad had 4 children: Melvin Jr., Esther (deceased), Sandra, and Randal. He was the best Dad — often a tough disciplinarian, principled, hard working, humorous, and fun. He took us to many places on the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as on vacations to Honolulu, Maui, Kauai and the mainland. He loved attending parades and public gatherings of all sorts. He encouraged us to get a good education, and seek career opportunities that could better enhance our lives.

Dad was a pillar of the Honokaa - Hamakua community. He was an active member of the Hamakua Lions Club, Hawaiian Civic Club of Hamakua, Honokaa Businessman’s Association, Honokaa Senior Citizens Center, Democrat Party of Honokaa, Hawaii County Retired Firman’s Association, Honokaa ILWU Pension Club, served on the Board of Directors of the Brantley Center in Honokaa, and the Hawaii County Nutrition Program. Dad was visible at many community functions often helping these various organizations selling food, setting up events, directing traffic, and delivering meals and stuff to the needy and the elderly.

After retirement from the Fire Department, Dad stayed very active running the MSR Ranch up at Nie Nie, being employed at Wackenhut Security at the Kohala Ranch Community Association, dabbled in some investments and even thought about driving for a taxi cab company and purchasing the Honokaa Peoples’ Theater. While employed at the Fire Department, Dad also became co-owner for a few years of Dairy Queen in Honokaa, owned, managed and developed a five unit residential apartment complex in town before selling that to the Kaneshiro family.

Near the twilight of his life, Dad continued to seek new and interesting opportunities. One day opportunity seeked him out. In 2008 Dad was cast in a small, non-speaking part for the Japanese movie, Honokaa Boy. When the movie came out in 2009 he got his 30 seconds of everlasting fame by simply giving “the shaka sign” to one of the cast members. For that he got paid $100 a day and got his name added to the end credits of the movie. I was very proud to see Dad in that movie and his name included on the ending crawl with the dozens who appeared and worked on the film. Surely this could have been the start of a new career.

Movie star or not, Dad will be remembered for his resilience, zest for life, meeting and taking on new challenges, helping many others, and being the best father and husband anyone could have. We’ll all miss you. Aloha.

Obituary

Melvin Ah Ching Sr.

Posted On December 16th, 2010 - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Nov. 29, 2010: Melvin “Mel” Ah Ching Sr., 83, of Honokaa, Hawaii, a retired Hawaii County fire captain and an Army veteran who served in World War II, died in Hilo Medical Center. He was born in Ookala, Hawaii. He is survived by wife LaVerne K.; sons Melvin Jr. and Randal; daughter Sandra; brother Herbert; sisters Florence Calabio, Sylvia Kuanoni and Patricia Parker; and a grandchild. Private services.

Melvin "Mel" Ah Ching Sr.

Published: Sunday, December 12, 2010 8:41 AM HST
Hawaii Tribune Herald

Melvin "Mel" Ah Ching Sr., 83, of Honokaa died Nov. 29 at Hilo Medical Center. Born in Ookala, he was a retired county fire captain, World War II U.S. Army veteran and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Honokaa Ward. Services held. Survived by wife, LaVerne Kealoha Ah Ching of Honokaa; sons, Melvin Ah Ching Jr. of Honolulu and Randal Ah Ching of Las Vegas; daughter, Sandra (Patrick Prieto) Ah Ching of Honokaa; brother, Herbert Ah Ching of Hilo; sisters, Florence Calabio of Kona (Big Island), Sylvia Kuanoni and Patricia Parker of Hilo; one grandchild; numerous nieces and nephews. Arrangements by Dodo Mortuary.

www.flickr.com

United Continental Airlines to Start Hilo - Mainland Service

2010-12-16T06:45:00.001-10:00

PRESS RELEASE

NONSTOP FLIGHTS FROM LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO BEGIN JUNE 2011

Continental Airlines announced new daily nonstop service to Hilo, Hawai'i, from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and once-weekly service to Hilo from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) beginning June 9, 2011.

The new flights complement Continental's and United's extensive service to Hawai'i. United, which has served the islands since 1947, and Continental collectively provide more mainland service to Hawai'i than any other carrier from their hubs at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Chicago and Newark/New York.

"We are excited to provide customers the only direct flights to Hilo from the mainland," said Jim Compton, executive vice president and chief revenue officer of United Continental Holdings, Inc. "These flights will offer customers convenient, nonstop service to the Big Island without having to connect in Honolulu."

"The addition of the two routes is welcome news for Hawai'i Island and the entire state, and a result of the momentum established by our tourism industry to lead Hawai'i's tourism recovery. Based on initial Hawai'i Tourism Authority projections, the flights could bring nearly 40,000 more visitors to the island and generate $50.6 million in direct visitor spending and $5.52 million in tax revenue," said Mike McCartney, Hawai'i Tourism Authority president and CEO.

Continental will utilize a 160-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the new routes, with 16 seats in first class and 144 seats in economy.

COMMENT

I think this is a great idea. Hilo has been without direct U.S. mainland airline service since ATA Airlines went out of business in April 2008. That airline had a daily Boeing 737-800 flight to and from Oakland California.

Both United Airlines and Continental Airlines used to fly directly to Hilo in the late 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Having another airline fly into Hilo will further utilize the underutilized passenger terminal, which is currently used by only Hawaiian Airlines and Go Mokulele.

Thai Girls Dancing

2010-11-14T02:15:00.006-10:00

While at Kapiolani Park late yesterday afternoon, I was lucky enough to catch this group of young dancers at a Thai cultural celebration that was wrapping up for the day. It is interesting that this "traditional" music has a somewhat modern dance beat. Enjoy the video and the music.

USS Ronald Reagan Helps Stranded Cruise Ship

2010-11-11T15:30:00.001-10:00

101109-N-1240O-213, originally uploaded by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan was involved in supply operations for the stranded Carnival Cruise ship "Splendor" this past week.

"The Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor sits adrift approximately 150 nautical miles southwest of San Diego. The ship lost propulsion and electrical power following an engine room fire. The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) was diverted from its current training maneuvers at the direction of Commander U.S. Third Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to facilitate the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to the cruise ship. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Erin L. Oberholtzer/Released)"

"PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 9, 2010) A C-2A Greyhound from Fleet Logistics Combat Support Squadron (VRC) 30 lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) with supplies for the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor. Ronald Reagan was diverted from its current training maneuvers at the direction of Commander U.S. Third Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to facilitate the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to the cruise ship. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd/Released)"

"PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 9, 2010) U.S. Coast Guard cutter MORGENTHAU (WHEC 722) patrols near the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) approaches the area. Ronald Reagan was diverted from its current training maneuvers at the direction of Commander U.S. Third Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to a position south near the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor to facilitate the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to the cruise ship. Early Monday, CV Splendor reported it was dead in the water 150 nautical miles southwest of San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd/Released)"

"PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 9, 2010) Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and embarked Carrier Air Wing 14 unloads bottles of water from a C-2A Greyhound assigned to Fleet Logistics Combat Support Squadron (VRC) 30. Ronald Reagan was diverted from its training maneuvers at the direction of Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to a position near the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor. Ronald Reagan is facilitating the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to CV Splendor after the cruise ship became stranded 150 nautical miles southwest of San Diego early Monday. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd/Released)"

Photos and captions from the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet's photostream on Flickr.

The Carnival Cruise ship made it safely to port in San Diego under tow today.

I was a lucky visitor to have spent a day aboard the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan earlier this year. Carnival Cruise ships make some port calls in Hawaii during the late summer and fall season.

A Day Aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, July 6, 2010.

Hawaii in Black and White

2010-11-10T04:15:00.001-10:00

A photo slide show from Flickr, featuring pictures taken in Hawaii by various photographers. The catch? Most all are in black & white. Many are by me, with more being added all the time. The second slide show below are black & white images taken by me only. Some are good, interesting, etc.... others are - why did I do it?

Photos in the above set are all taken by Mel.

Who and What to Vote For (or Against)

2010-11-01T06:15:00.002-10:00

Here are my recommendations for general election voting.

U.S. Senate - Cam Cavasso - yes the Republican is a very long shot, dark horse candidate running against U.S. Senator Dan Inouye. Despite that we need a change. Vote for Cam.

U. S. House 1st District - With the Republicans possibly gaining control of the House, a vote for current incumbent Charles Djou (R) is highly recommended over Democrat Colleen Hanabusa. As the ads boldly proclaim, State Senator Hanabusa has never met a tax increase bill that she did not vote for. Don't let her do this in Congress.

Governor & Lt. Governor - The Republican team of James Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan is my choice. They are less prone to be raising taxes, are more fiscally responsible and conservative, and will not support civil unions or same sex marriage.

State Senate - 8th District - East Honolulu/Hawaii Kai - Re-Elect Sam Slom. He has voted against every tax increase bill since being elected to office in 1996. His challenger, a person named Larry Price is NOT the KSSK radio personality who has the same name.

State House - I'm just making a blanket recommendation to support most if not all Republican candidates running for the various House seats. Most definitely do not vote for any legislative candidate that voted yes for HB 444 (see list in the next post below).

I'm not making any endorsements for Honolulu City Council since I don't have a race in my district and am not sure where the other district candidates stand on the hot button issue of rail. All I know is that most of the current city council members do support rail. That said, I'd recommend that you vote for anyone who does not support the rail project. We can't afford to build that while being mandated by the Feds to spend billions to upgrade the county's sewer system.

Board of Education - No endorsement for any candidate. However there is a Constitutional Amendment Question that asks if you'd like to change the current Board of Education selection process from an elected board to an appointed board. I would vote YES to go with an appointed board.

Constitutional Amendment Question: Appointed School Board - YES

Constitutional Amendment Question: Allowing State Legislature to withhold tax surplus funds and transfer to special emergency fund? A HUGE NO VOTE ON THIS. VERY, VERY BAD PROPOSAL.

There are 6 City Charter Amendments up for voter decision. The only one that I have a strong feeling about is QUESTION #1 which asks the public to approve the Creation of a Public Transit Authority. For anyone who opposes rail and supports political responsibility for this huge mess; a NO VOTE TO THIS QUESTION IS REQUIRED.

Sam Slom writes a great article on how to vote for these Constitutional Amendment and City Charter Questions.

Cliff Slater of Honolulu Traffic.com writes about and against the Public Transit Authority issue.

Whatever you do tomorrow - if you haven't voted - do vote. Polls open from 7am to 6pm.

I've gotten a lot of Congressional campaign mailers from both of the candidates in the 1st district - US Rep. Charles Djou and challenger Colleen Hanabusa - plus a smattering of printed matter from other candidates and PACs. After this photo was taken, I threw all of them away. So much for big bucks spent on dead tree media.

VOTE ON NOVEMBER 2

Faith Based Supporters Back Aiona-Finnegan

2010-10-31T07:45:00.021-10:00

Faith based, evangelical supporters of Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona came out in force on Friday (Oct. 29) for a grand time of sign waving and support for their candidates in the upcoming general election. The Aiona - Finnegan team is on record as supporters of traditional marriage, a union between a man and a woman and opponents to same sex marriage and civil unions.

If the Aiona - Finnegan team is elected to office, Hawaii's electorate stand have a better chance of not seeing another civil unions type of bill (similar to the vetoed HB 444) being rammed down the public's throats by the liberal Democrats.

Hawaii's voters chose to let the legislature reserve marriage as a union between a man and a woman in a 1996 constitutional amendment vote by a whopping 70%.

Several legislators who are supporters of civil unions and voted in favor of HB 444 are still on the ballot. Vote for their opponents to get these people out of office.

The civil union supporters up for elective office include:

State Senate

Chun Oakland, Suzanne (D)

Fukunaga, Carol (D)

(unopposed)

Hanabusa, Colleen (D)

(running for U.S. Congress)

Ige, David (D)

Ihara, Jr. Les (D)

Kokobun, Russell (D)

Taniguchi, Brian (D)

Tokuda, Jill N. (D)

Tsutsui, Shan S. (D)

State House

Belatti, Della Au (D)

Bertram, Joe III (D)

Brower, Tom (D)

Cabanilla, Rida T.R. (D)

Carroll, Mele (D)

Chong, Pono (D)

Coffman, Denny (D)

Hanohano, Faye P. (D)

Herkes, Robert (D)

Karamatsu, John Riki (D)

Keith-Agaran, Gilbert (D)

Lee, Chris (D)

Lee, Marilyn B. (D)

Luke, Sylvia J. (D)

Marumoto, Barbara C. (R)

(unopposed)

McKelvey, Agnus L.K. (D)

Morita, Hermina (D)

Nakashima, Mark M. (D)

Nishimoto, Scott Y. (D)

Oshiro, Blake (D)

Oshiro, Marcus (D)

Rhoads, Karl (D)

Saiki, Scott (D)

Say, Calvin K.Y. (D)

Shimabukuro, Maile S. L. (D)

Takumi, Roy M. (D)

Thielen, Cynthia (R)

(unopposed)

Wakai, Glenn (D)

(running for State Senate)

Wooley, Jessica (D)

Yamashita, Kyle T. (D)

You can view the votes for HB 444 yourself at this link.

Legislative candidates who are unopposed in the general election are already elected. Their names will not appear on the ballot.

Now is the time to vote for traditional American values as envisioned by the founding fathers. None of this civil union and same sex marriage stuff should be legislated. To prevent that from happening candidates like the Aiona-Lingle team and those legislators who support traditional marriage should be supported. We don't want to see another HB 444 being introduced again.

Here is a video clip of some very noisy Aiona-Lingle supporters:

Throw The Bums Out

2010-10-30T13:30:00.001-10:00

This Ray Stevens video has been around for a few months. It's timely this election season as its message proclaims "throw the bums out".... get rid of the RHINOs, liberals, socialists, tax & spenders... more "my wallet is not an ATM".

We need to put some patriots in, get rid of the Congresisonal "credit card"... throw the bums out. Have fun watching!

Link: Ray Stevens - "We The People"

HawaiiReporter.com's 9th Anniversary Gala

2010-10-30T05:15:00.006-10:00

HawaiiReporter.com held its 9th Anniversary Gala at the Waialae Country Club on October 15. The celebration commemorated the 9th year for the daily news website, often billed as the first in Hawaii

The Friday night gala was a successful party that featured recognition to the site's financial contributors, reporters, staff, and supporters. A silent auction was held and the keynote speaker was Jason Stverak of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.

HawaiiReporter.com is operated by publisher, editor and founder Malia Zimmerman and her business partner, Jay McWilliams. The two ladies started the site back in 2002 with hardly any knowledge or experience in the world of web publishing. They have grown the site from its humble beginings as a hackable Microsoft run blog to a premiere news and opinion source now running on a Wordpress back end.

Over the years HawaiiReporter.com has run several high profile stories including the sagas of the Koloko Dam disaster on Kauai, slave labor in American Samoa, the woes of rail transit and the ongoing fiasco of liberal Hawaii politics. HawaiiReporter recently added several new reporters to its roster including Greg Wiles and Jim Dooley, both veterans in Hawaii media.

Re-Elect State Senator Sam Slom

2010-10-28T05:15:00.002-10:00

State Senator Sam Slom is on a roll this campaign season. He once again is running for re-election to the State Senate seat from the 8th Senatorial District that encompasses a big chunk of East Honolulu that includes Diamond Head, Kahala, Aina Haina, Kuliouou, Niu and Hawaii Kai.

Senator Slom is a champion for limited government and optimized individual choice who supports "meaningful, systemic education reform, a fair business and investment climate, law enforcement initiatives and incentives to preserve, protect and value our environment."

He is a champion for the taxpayer and is a longtime signee and supporter of the Americans for Tax Reform "Tax Protection Pledge" where candidates vow never to vote for legislation that raises or creates new taxes. Senator Slom is a consistent voice and opponent of new and more taxes. He has voted against every new tax increase bill since taking office in 1996. We need him in the State Senate to continue the fight to help us keep more of our hard earned money in our own pocket.

I have known Senator Slom long before he became a State Senator. I met him through my employment at Paradise Printers in the mid 1980s. Back then I was working as a typesetter and graphic artist where I helped him put together the monthly Small Business News newsletter. Through those initial years of working on the newsletter, I got to know him and eventually moved the production of the Small Business News to the Macintosh platform and the worldwide web by the mid 1990s.

Our professional relationship and friendship grew over the years. Since the fall of 1999 I have been his Office Manager & Chief of Staff at his State Senate Office.

In the Democrat dominated State Senate, Hawaii truly needs a voice of reason and opposition to liberal Democrat policy. Senator Slom is that voice. Re-Elect Sam to the State Senate for 2010.

Senator Slom's opponent this election season is a novice candidate who has the same name as KSSK radio personality Larry Price. That person should not be confused with the radio guy and well known football coach. Listen to this clip from KSSK's Michael W. Perry:

Another video clip from Senator Slom:

Hawaii's Possible Communist Future

2010-10-24T13:30:00.002-10:00

I think this was just released by Citizens Against Gonvernment Waste. Reminds me a lot of the old TV commmercial about voting... you know, the one where the kid is walking around the Hawaii State Capitol in some distant, Orwellian future. This is kind of like that. A frightening thought about where we may going if the election turns out in favor of Democrats.

Hawaii Cannot Afford a Tsunami of Spending

2010-10-16T10:45:00.009-10:00

Check out this commercial if you haven't seen it yet. Electing Senator Colleen Hanabusa to the U.S. Congress will not be a good thing for Hawaii. She has long been a part of the tax and spend gang at the Hawaii State Legislature for many years.

You can view her legislative voting record on taxes at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/hanabusa-tax

Some of the tax bills she voted in favor of:

# In Favor a motion for 2010 House Bill 2866 (Relating to taxation). The motion passed in the Senate (20 to 5) on April 29, 2010, Governor's veto overridden in the Senate.

# # In Favor 2010 Senate Bill 2807 (Proposing an amendment to Article VII, Section 6, of the Hawaii Constitution relating to the tax rebate requirement). Passed in the Senate (23 to 1) on March 2, 2010, to propose a constitutional amendment to article VII, section 6 of the state constitution to authorize the legislature to determine whether excess funds should be used as tax refunds or tax credits to taxpayers of the state or diverted to the state's emergency and budget reserve fund. SHE SUPPORTS THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO ALLOW THE LEGISLATURE TO KEEP YOUR TAX SURPLUS REFUND. EVERYONE SHOULD VOTE "NO" ON THIS PROPOSAL

# In Favor 2009 Senate Bill 1230 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (24 to 1) on April 27, 2010, to clarify the definition of large and little cigars for purposes of application of the general excise tax; and to limit the general excise tax on the wholesale price of each cigar sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer to large cigars, as amended in conference committee.

# In Favor 2010 Senate Bill 2405 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (23 to 2) on April 14, 2010, to temporarily suspend the income tax net operating loss carryback deduction for losses generated in 2009 and 2010, places a cap on itemized deductions claimed on state income tax returns, deleted the contents of SB2405 and replaced it with the substance of HB1907 HD1, among other changes, as amended in committee.

# Favor 2010 House Bill 1948 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (23 to 2) on April 27, 2010, to require the refund to taxpayers of tax overpayments by requiring the Department of Taxation to provide refunds to taxpayers within 90 days of the filing of the tax return or the due date of the tax return, whichever is later; to require that all general revenues collected from an increase of the entire general excise or use tax rate shall be used first to pay tax refunds delayed from fiscal year 2009-2010 to fiscal year 2010-2011, as amended in conference committee.

# In Favor 2010 House Bill 1985 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (23 to 2) on April 14, 2010, to use this bill as a legislative "vehicle" to inpose a large number of tax and fee increases, including a 1-cent per cigarette excise tax hike on or after July 1, 2010, with another 1-cent hike on or after July 1, 2011, an increase in the tax on insurance policies, an increase in insurance license fees, and the elimination of an income tax deduction for political contributions, etc., and extending the sunset for the increase of fees from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2014, as amended in conference committee . INCREASES THE CIGARETTE TAX. BAD IF YOU ARE A SMOKER.

# In Favor 2010 House Bill 2866 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (21 to 4) on April 14, 2010, to establish a tax on the transfer of a taxable estate located in Hawaii by a nonresident who is not a citizen of the United States; and to specify a decedent shall be entitled to exemptions under the Internal Revenue Code before being subject to any taxes including up to a $3,500,000 applicable exclusion amount, among other things, as amended in conference committee.

# In Favor 2010 House Bill 1907 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (16 to 9) on April 27, 2010, to place a cap on itemized deductions claimed on state income tax returns based on adjusted gross incomes, applies to taxable years retroactively to Jan. 1, 2010; to change the repeal date on the caps on the itemized deductions to Jan. 1, 2016, and other changes, as amended in conference committee .

# In Favor 2010 House Bill 1907 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (23 to 2) on April 6, 2010, to place a cap on itemized deductions claimed on state income tax returns, applies to taxable years beginning after 12/31/09 and sunsets on 12/31/15, removes the refunding feature of the capital goods excise tax credit from 01/01/10 to 12/31/15, effective July 1, 2050, as amended in committee.

# In Favor 2010 House Bill 1985 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (22 to 3) on April 6, 2010, to eliminate the tax deduction for certain political campaign contributions, increase the cigarette tax, increase certain insurance producer license fees, and temporarily increase insurance premium tax rates, as amended in committee on March 31, 2010.

# In Favor 2010 House Bill 2421 (Relating to government). Passed in the Senate (22 to 3) on April 6, 2010, to promote economic development for Hawaii's locally produced food and energy industries, encourage food and energy self sufficiency, and address environmental concerns relating to climate change; increasing the amount of the environmental response, energy and food security tax from 5 cents to $1.55 per barrel of petroleum product, along with other changes to special funds appropriations, as amended in committee . THIS IS THE BARREL TAX ON PETROLEUM. VERY BAD.

# In Favor 2010 House Bill 2962 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (23 to 2) on April 6, 2010, to replace the language in this bill with SB2405, SD2 that changes Hawaii's tax law so it removes the prohibition to let Hawaii participate in the national streamlined sales and use tax agreement; and between 6/30/10 and 7/1/13 to prohibit tax liabilities to be reduced by tax credits under the techonology infrastructure renovation and business investment tax credits, effective 7/1/50, as amended in committee. COLLEEN HANABUSA WANTS TO TAX YOUR INTERNET PURCHASES. Voted the same for a Senate Bill too.

# In Favor 2010 Senate Bill 2405 (Relating to taxation). Passed in the Senate (21 to 2) on March 2, 2010, to adopt amendments to Hawaii tax laws to implement the streamlined sales and use tax agreement (which would collect sales tax on purchases from catalogs and over the Internet). Effective 1/1/2099. THE SENATE VERSION OF TAXING INTERNET PURCHASES. SENATOR HANABUSA LOVES THIS.

And from 2005 the notorious rail tax bill that increased the General Excise Tax by 12.5%. HB 1309. SENATOR HANABUSA VOTED IN FAVOR OF RAISING THE GENERAL EXCISE TAX!!!!

Users can go to the HawaiiVotes website to get an overview of tax bills voted on by Senator Hanabusa. While she has voted for some good bills, there are many others such as the ones listed above that she also voted in favor of, that is now costing you and I A LOT OF MONEY.

Time for a change. We can't have this kind of policy continue in the U.S. Congress.

Re-Elect Charles Djou for U.S. Congress District 1.

Animation That Makes You Think

2010-10-05T23:15:00.001-10:00

A lot of thought went into the creation of this animated video. The video was written by Professor Ken Schoolland, author of the "The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible" book, which has been published all over the world. This video was created and produced around the year 2006 and is available in several media formats and websites. For more information on "The Philosophy of Liberty" vist the following links:

Variations on a Theme

2010-10-02T12:46:00.002-10:00

Here we go... versions of the world famous Hawaii Five-0 theme done by various marching bands in the U.S.A. The original song was written by Morton Stevens and popularized over the decades as the theme song to the venerable hit TV series starring Jack Lord. The song was also recorded by The Ventures and became a top 5 hit in 1969. As a high schooler I remember playing this for band. Fun song. Easy to learn and play.

Today "Hawaii Five-0" is one of the most recognized songs on the planet and is once again the theme for the new "Hawaii Five-0" TV series now showing on CBS. Here are the videos... enjoy!

This one's funny...

There's more. Just do a search on YouTube.com.

Cruise Ships in Hawaii

2010-09-25T21:15:00.015-10:00

Carnival lines cruise ship "Carnival Spirit" sailed into town this morning for a 3-day stay in Hawaii. The cruise ship is a regular visitor to the islands at this time of the year as its cruise itinerary brings it to the islands.

It was a special treat to be up early this morning to catch not only the "Carnival Spirit" but the weekly port call of Hawaii's only cruise ship, NCL's "Pride of America". The early morning sunlight was great to get several good shots of these "floating hotels".

The cruise ship business is good for Hawaii's economy as boat loads of tourists visit the various island ports and spend their money here.

Two photos above: The Carnival Spirit. Photo below: NCL's Pride of America.

More Cruise Ship Photos

Stop Rail Now - Vote for Panos

2010-09-18T13:15:00.003-10:00

The deed is done. I voted this morning in the primary election. My vote was for Panos Prevedouros as he is the only one of all the candidates running for mayor and even other high executive level offices who have publicly come out against the $7 billion Mufi Hannemann backed "choo choo train" to higher taxation and bankruptcy.

Panos is the guy who I know will change our city priorities into fixing things that are needed to be fixed now. Roads, sewers, sidewalks, infrastructure and more. He is the right person for the job today.

AS you can see in the photos below, the polling place for my district at Washington Intermediate School has quite a garish, green paint job. Ick! Green gone wild. How can students eat in this place which is their cafeteria looking at these walls?

Regardless, voting in our precinct was uneventful at the time I was there, which was around 8:45 in the morning. The place was not very busy. The parking lot was about half full and the line fairly short. I took my time to carefully mark my ballot, making sure the black mark kept to within the rectangle square and not stray out of bounds, less it not be read by the vote counting machine. Every vote counts if you do it correctly.

As of this posting there is still about 5 hours before the polls close at 6 pm tonight. Be sure to vote if you haven't done so already.

Photos & story by Melvin Ah Ching. Copyright 2010 All Rights Reseved.

Candidates to Support or Oppose

2010-09-14T06:15:00.000-10:00

For various reasons, not all stated here, I opine and generally support the following candidates to elective office this fall:

Panos Prevedouros is the only candidate running for Mayor of Honolulu that will stop the $7 billion Mufi train. It's time for all opponents of rail and everyone else to vote for Panos Prevedouros, Mayor of Honolulu.

U.S. House First District: Representative Charles Djou, our current U.S. Congressman is already on the job and the most qualified of the top 2 candidates for that seat. He will be in a great position this coming November once the Republicans take over the U.S. House of Representatives this fall.

Governor: The ones I am not voting for are former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercombie mainly because he is a 1. communist 2. tax and spend liberal and 3. supports gay marriage/civil unions.

I am also not voting for former Mayor Mufi Hannemann because he is the biggest supporter of the $7 billion rail project and will ask the legislature to increase taxes to pay for it if elected. And while he is a Mormon, he can't be trusted on the the "civil unions" issue. Mufi would likely pull a Governor Burns on civil unions by letting a bill like that become law without his signature, despite his religious beliefs, because of pressure from the Democrat Party and the labor unions that endorsed him.

Republicans should not vote in the Democratic primary as it hurts GOP candidates. Don't listen to Mufi on this.

So going with a Republican vote for Governor this year, leaves me with a toss up between current Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona and former State Senator John Carroll. Each of them have strengths and weaknesses on some key issues. I oppose the Akaka Bill, expensive clean energy proposals, the Jones Act, civil unions and new taxes.

Lt. Governor: My choice in the primary is Adrienne King (see video below this post). House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan is qualified, but she should have ran for State Senate.

State Senate: It's too bad I don't live in the 8th Senatorial District because the only person qualified for that seat is State Senator Sam Slom. He's the real deal, a no new taxes kind of guy. His opponent, one Larry Price is not the same guy on KSSK radio.

State House: In my district I am voting Republican which means out with Scott Saiki (he voted for HB 444) and in with newcomer Gregory Cuadra.

Recommended House candidates in other districts include Chris Baron (18th), Julia Allen (20th) and Tom Berg (42nd). Kymberly Pine (43rd) should also be re-elected to her House Seat.

City Council: There is no election for city council person in my district. However if you are a voter in Honolulu's 6th district, a highly qualified, anti-rail candidate is Frank Lavoie. He is also a fiscal conservative and knows how to run a tight ship. He is currently chairman of the Downtown Honolulu Neighborhood Board.

City Prosecutor: I am undecided on this.

Board of Education At-Large: Voters can select 3 candidates in this crowded field. The only one that gets my vote so far this year is Malcolm Kirkpatrick, a perennial underdog who is scholarly and focused on some different (to the entrenched leadership) ideas for public education.

Absentee walk-in voting for this year's primary election started on September 3 and ends on September 16. Primary election day is Saturday, September 18. Dozens of polling places used at the last election have closed. It is likely your polling place may have moved. You can find out where your polling place is by going to the Hawaii State Elections website at the following links: