Who’s Running: Candidates Pulling Papers as of March 24, 2016
Hawaii DoE: Don’t Measure Students Ability to Speak English
‘Culturally Accurate’ Testing: DoE Latest Scheme to Move Goalposts
Where to Vote: Hawaii Democrats Presidential Preference Poll March 26
Anti-GMO Activists Push Hard for Sanders Win
KE: …Dylan Hooser's letter to the editor, in which writes:
Sen. Sanders has spoken out time and time again about reigning in the corporations ruining our great nation and the planet, in pursuit of profit. His average contribution is $27, from millions of individual, working-class people — not from Wall Street or the 1 percent billionaire-class ruling America.
Yes, down with the evil corporations and the greedy rich. Well, except for those corporations and 1 percent billionaire-class ruling Americans supporting the anti-GMO fight. They and their profits are perfectly OK. In fact, best keep the kala coming, because these supposed “grassroots” groups would collapse without it.
Dylan wraps up with:
Bernie Sanders is a refreshing breath of truth and honesty in the crooked world of politics and needs our help this Saturday.
"Truth and honesty in the crooked world of politics,” eh. Must be tough him to look Daddy Gary Hooser in the eye.
Speaking of which, Gary and Hawaii SEED are already trying to co-opt the April 4 public meeting of the Joint Fact Finding Group….
read … Musings: Political Ploys
Hawaii Democrats Will Quickly Lose Sanders Voters
SA: …But more than who will prevail between Clinton and Sanders, the bigger question is whether the Democrats can capitalize on the influx of new voters generated by this election. Will their interest in political engagement last? That didn’t really happen the last time the opportunity arose.
In 2008, Hawaii-born Barack Obama whipped up enormous enthusiasm from island Democrats — again, many of them young. The influx of new voters evidently was a short-term phenomenon, though: Voter turnout was not sustained through subsequent election cycles….
read … Bye Bye Voters
'Thirty Meter Telescope' could find Refuge from Hawaii in War-Torn Kashmir
TI: …India may be home to the world's largest telescope project - the $1.47-billion Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) International Observatory. Hanle in Ladakh has been short-listed as a prospective site by the TMT board following major hurdles in Mauna Kea, Hawaii - the first choice for the project. An international team is expected to visit Ladakh in a couple of months….
The Hawaii Supreme Court had in December 2015 cancelled the permit issued to TMT for constructing the observatory following claims that the plot in Mauna Kea was sacred. While Hawaiian authorities are working towards re-issual of permit, the TMT Board is scouting for alternative sites to avoid delaying the project.
India is already building edge sensors, actuators and system support support assemblies, besides contributing to the software of TMT.
After a meeting on this February 11, Henry Yang, chair of the TMT International Observatory Board, said in a statement: "Given the enormous investment and potential challenges ahead, it is necessary to also carry out a review of alternate sites."
TMT India programme director B Eswar Reddy told TOI that after the February meeting, the board has decided on two prospective sites - Hanle and another in Chile. "Yes, it was unexpected turn for the project which got delayed due to the decision of the Hawaiian supreme court….
India is expected to invest $212 million in the project.
(NOTE: Ladakh is part of the Kashmir region which has been under permanent assault by Pakistani-sponsored jihadis ever since the Hindus liberated it in 1949. It is also claimed by the Chinese Communists. Apparently fighting off Muslims and Communists is preferable to dealing with Hawaii courts and regulators.)
Wiki: Indian Astronomical Observatory
read … Ladakh to get world's largest telescope?
Former Rail Architect Nails HART: Crime, Lunacy, Big Bucks—Mistake after Mistake
IL: …Douglas Tilden was chief architect for InfraConsult, the projects main consultant, in 2007.
Tilden advocated for ditching the all-elevated design and instead adopting less expensive light rail technology, emulating transit projects all around the world.
“It is nothing short of a crime to run it elevated downtown and I told them that,” Tilden said.
The architect also had harsh words for the city’s political decision to begin construction in Kapolei and work back into downtown Honolulu, calling it “sheer lunacy.”
“The key goal of any transit system is to get the people interested by having it downtown first. Honolulu has made a huge mistake.”
He concluded: “I think Honolulu will be a poster child for how not to put a transit system in the city…they couldn’t be doing it any worse, it’s mistake after mistake.”
So here’s how it looks. The city paid big bucks to consultants, presumably to get the best available advice on how to make this transit project work. But the best advice of the consultant’s chief architect was ignored in favor of a plan that supported what the city’s political leaders favored. So the money paid for the architectural consultant was squandered because the city ignored his advice and counsel, and instead pursued its own course for other reasons.
You have to wonder how many other consultants are ignored unless they toe a predetermined political line.
read … Mistake after Mistake
Architect: HART a Poster Child for How Not to Put in a Transit System
PBN: …Tilden left the project after just a year.
“I didn’t believe in what they were doing,” he said. “They were putting in the wrong technology for the city.”
The architect, who recently retired after working in New York on the Grand Central Terminal, added that normally rail projects start in the downtown area and build out.
“From a transit point of view, what they are doing is sheer lunacy,” he said. “The key goal of any transit system is to get the people interested by having it downtown first. Honolulu has made a huge mistake.”
He concluded: “I think Honolulu will be a poster child for how not to put a transit system in the city...they couldn’t be doing it any worse, it’s mistake after mistake.”
When asked what he thought the project should do now he recommended they cancel whatever contract they have and make the rest of the system a light rail system….
read … One of rail’s first architects speaks out about elevated design
Caldwell’s Zoo Could Lose 10% of Animals
PBN: …What does the loss of accreditation mean for the business? It could lose as many as 90 exotic animals that are on loan through animal exchange programs. This is about 10 percent of the zoo’s 900 animals, according to Guy Kaulukukui, director of the city’s Department of Enterprise Services.
The news could also deter visitors. Vernon told PBN the accreditation is often used as a barometer for potential visitors.
“When the zoo is accredited the visitors know the experience they are going to have and they know the animals are going to have top notch care,” said Vernon.
The 42-acre zoo had an operating budget of $5.6 million in the budget year that ended June 30. For fiscal 2017, which began on July 1, Mayor Kirk Caldwell proposed a $6.8 million operating budget.
The zoo also receives money from the nonprofit Honolulu Zoological Society. According to tax reports on file with guidestar.org, the society in 2014 spent nearly $1.6 million on zoo programs and administration off revenues of $1.7 million. On Tuesday, the society said, “we will continue to support the city’s efforts for re-accreditation.”
Some councilmembers have been working to help the zoo maintain its accreditation. City Councilmember Ozawa and Councilmember Kymberly Pine introduced Bill 25, which would allow limited sponsorship of Honolulu Zoo exhibits or facilities….
read … Caldwell’s Fault
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