Military

Cars Damaged Onboard in Rough Seas - Is this Design Ready for JHSV?

kauaibrad — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:30:59 -0800

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Cars Damaged Onboard in Rough Seas - Is this Design Ready for JHSV? Additions made below on 1/6/09 7:45pm:

Well, I've still got at least one more post to do on the lack of studied need being established by the PUC and Act 2: A Closed Class of One (Part 5). Will get that up soon. I've been enjoying a break from this. Also, the updated page for seeing the State Supreme Court decision when it comes out is the following: http://www.state.hi.us/jud/2009jan.htm.

Web-Surfing Some Big Wave Peak Oil Posts

kauaibrad — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:07:51 -0800

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Web-Surfing Some Big Wave Peak Oil Posts From: http://www.drmillslmu.com/peakoil.htm

"Should the oil markets themselves begin to 'connect these dots' then all our lives are going to be impacted violently and immediately. ...as soon as Peak Oil is recognized that for all practical purposes the situation is already upon us, then a fast and vicious "resource grab" will be initiated. The price of oil in the markets will begin to rise dramatically. This will initiate a circular hedging hoarding mentality in large end-users, governments, and multi-nationals. This will then have a myriad of devastating effects..." --Steven Lagavulin

From: http://deconsumption.typepad.com/deconsumption/2005/03/the_most_import.html
March 16, 2005
"The Most Important Thing You Don't Know About 'Peak Oil'"

Act 2: A Closed Class of One (Part 4)

kauaibrad — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:58:33 -0800

Monday, December 29, 2008

Act 2: A Closed Class of One (Part 4) Revisions on 12/31/08 Begin with the 4th Paragraph Down:

This Part 4 will look at the timing and logistical problems and incompatibilities with the possibility of whether there could be a second 'large capacity ferry vessel' company that could get approval to operate under Act 2. Part 5 of this series will look at how 'need' was and was not estabilished by the PUC, commented on formally by Mina Morita, and how Act 2 subtly altered that PUC conditioned 'need' to at one point what Act 2 calls 'critical' need, regardless of the fact that there was never a formal study undertaken to determine if in fact these designs would satisify any 'need' at all.

Review of the Book "Superferry Chronicles" (Pt. 1 of 3)

kauaibrad — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:23:07 -0800

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Review of the Book "Superferry Chronicles" (Pt. 1 of 3) The overall sense I get from the book is that all of Hawaii and specific islands like Kauai and Maui by their centuries of history and culture have world class potential that is dependent upon the aina and akamai decisions by the people and that residents and political leaders should not prematurely sell themselves short with fake, unsustainable decisions and projects.

The book is in three parts. I'm going to review each part. But, first, I should say why the review.

Ordnance found in cleanup

andrea — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:40:39 -0800

Posted on: Sunday, November 23, 2008
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081123/NEWS01/811230338/1001
Ordnance found in cleanup
Munitions not thought to be at Bellows site; some residents alarmed

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

WAIMANALO — Halfway through a community-initiated cleanup project, a Bellows Air Force Station landfill that was supposed to be ordnance free has yielded six torpedoes and numerous shell casings.
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The military said all of the ordnance were dummy models used for practice, but residents were alarmed at the discovery nonetheless, especially since they were told from the beginning that no munitions or excess contaminants were in the dump and therefore the cleanup didn't qualify for cleanup funds.

Landfill 24, or Pier Dump, was used from 1942 to 1945 as a landfill and burn pit.

The Marines own the land, but responsibility for any cleanup of the site fell to the previous owner, the Air Force, which sought funding through the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. However, the site did not qualify because materials there did not pose unacceptable risks to human health or the environment.

With the landfill just feet from the beach, the community pushed for a cleanup and prevailed with the help of U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, and a $2 million earmark.

Work began in September, is 50 percent completed and is expected to be done next month, officials said.

Settlement lets OHA access some Stryker training areas

andrea — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:47:28 -0800

Posted on: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081118/NEWS01/811180360/1001
Settlement lets OHA access some Stryker training areas
Deal with Army aims to ensure protection of cultural resources

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Army have settled OHA's 2006 federal lawsuit claiming the Army failed to protect Native Hawaiian cultural resources when it brought the Stryker brigade to the state.
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OHA representatives, along with an archaeologist, will be able to survey certain Stryker training areas at Schofield Barracks, Kahuku and Pohakuloa as a result of the agreement, the state agency announced yesterday.

Through the surveys, OHA said it and Army representatives "aim to ensure the appropriate identification and treatment of cultural and historic resources located in Lihu'e, the traditional name for the Schofield Barracks region," as well as other parts of Hawai'i.

The settlement means the Army can put behind it another legal case involving the $1.5 billion Stryker brigade of 4,000 soldiers and about 328 of the armored eight-wheeled vehicles.

The unit is deployed to Iraq. The soldiers and vehicles are expected back in Hawai'i in February or March.

JHSV Contract Awarded Well Over Budget

kauaibrad — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:02:50 -0800

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

JHSV Contract Awarded Well Over Budget On Nov. 13th, the JHSV contract was awarded by the DoD Naval Sea Systems Command to, "Austal USA, Mobile Ala., is being awarded a $185,433,564 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) for the firm quantity of one Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV)..."

Shipyard Workers Demand Investigation Into Navy Contract

kauaibrad — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:41:42 -0800

Look what the webbots brought back last night and today:

Review of Navy contract award sought Nov. 16, 2008 Portland Press Herald - Maine
"...Keenan said there is concern that the Navy's latest decision 'will create more layoffs and there is fear that cost, quality, craftsmanship...not taken into consideration when contracts are awarded. I, like the 3,000 other shipbuilders, just want peace of mind that it was a fair competition with bids reflecting what it truly costs to build and deliver the final product (Joint High Speed Vessel) to the Navy,' he wrote."

Shipyard Workers Demand Investigation Into Navy Contract Nov. 15, 2008 WMTW ABC TV - Bath, Maine

Supreme Court On Sonar: Navy Trumps Whales

andrea — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:06:47 -0800

Published on Thursday, November 13, 2008 by The San Francisco Chronicle
Supreme Court On Sonar: Navy Trumps Whales

by Bob Egelko

WASHINGTON - Threats to national security are more important than possible harm to whales and dolphins, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in lightening restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in anti-submarine training off Southern California despite its potential effects on undersea creatures.

[A humpback whale breaches out the ocean not far from the Farallon Islands. The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary protects 948 square nautical miles off the California coast, just a few miles west of San Francisco. Threats to national security are more important than possible harm to whales and dolphins, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in lightening restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in anti-submarine training off Southern California despite its potential effects on undersea creatures. (SFC)]A humpback whale breaches out the ocean not far from the Farallon Islands. The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary protects 948 square nautical miles off the California coast, just a few miles west of San Francisco. Threats to national security are more important than possible harm to whales and dolphins, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in lightening restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in anti-submarine training off Southern California despite its potential effects on undersea creatures. (SFC)

Another letter about the Superferry

andrea — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:15:19 -0800

Another letter about the Superferry

As 2009 approaches, the Hawaii Superferry is preparing to add a route to the Big Island.

I can almost hear some people muttering as they read this: “Oh, no. Not another letter about the Superferry. How many times do we have to listen to these rantings?”

According to educators, new concepts need to be heard at least seven times to even penetrate our consciousness, let alone understand the theory behind them.

This letter is for those who still don’t “get” why we are “protesting this new cheaper, alternative of travel.”

Let me say it in a word, “design.”

Not so much the design of the boat, as egregious as it is in terms of it’s “too fast to avoid whales and monk seals” speed, nor its two “slicing through the water and everything else in its way” hulls (compared to one, water deflecting hull on a cruiseship), nor the fuel consumption which far surpasses that of an airliner (and it’s not even bio-diesel) nor the size, which is roughly the same as a football field, and which even the manufacturer admitted was too large for an inter-island passenger conveyance.