THE CONTADINA CONSPIRACY

THE CONTADINA CONSPIRACY: This week is commonly known as "are you insane?" week. Okay no it's not... we made that up. So sue us.

But it's a different March Madness that is driving us batty, not the one that has been- and will be- absorbing all of our time and keeping the care and feeding of this beast to a minimum.

It's "Crossover" week at the state legislature when, every year, there are a number of Frankensteinian, "what could you possibly be thinking" bills that have actually passed either the house or senate and are "still alive"... and about to be considered by the power-drunk, disconnected-from-reality officials on the other side (certainly not "our" side) of the lege.

But this year the sheer number if not the content of a passel of piss-poor provisions- ones seemingly designed to eliminate all environmental and land use protections in the name of "economic development"- can only be the product of a group of truly warped, if not criminally corrupted, minds.

We were going nuts over which was more important- this week's conference tournaments or compiling a list of these bills and giving a brief explanation of each... maybe even come up with an algorithm of the precise angle and number of times we should bang our head against the wall.

It was looking like the latter was losing out to that soothing sound of sneakers screeching on gym floors.

But wouldn't you know darn it- you're in luck.

Eleven term State Representative Cynthia Thielen- a Republican of all things and the ranking member of the House Energy and Environmental Protection, Water, Land and Ocean Resources and Judiciary Committees- has penned a handy-dandy guide to what she calls the "Dirty 8 (that) Erode Three Decades Of Landmark Environmental Law," as published in yesterday's "Civil Beat."

In her tome she lists the bills that have "crossed over," describing each and prefaced by the history of how the Hawai`i Environmental Protect Act (HRS § 343) and Shoreline Management Area legislation (HRS § 205A) came to be law.

She writes that :

our State Legislature is ignoring what this body established over three decades ago by now passing legislation that exempts government projects from this public environmental review process. This includes exemptions for government departments and agencies with long track records of being in violation of this landmark law, such as the Department of Transportation (think back to the lawsuit against DOT's H-3). This is a sad day for our public, and it brings shame to our Legislature.

Uh, we might have mentioned the SuperFerry instead but why quibble.

Thielen goes into greater detail and for how diabolical these eight pieces of crap really are and we urge you to read it in full... if you really want to get infuriated that is.

But, somewhat truncated, here they are:

1) HB530 is perhaps the worst of the Dirty 8 as it gives the Office of Planning the ability to grant or deny Special Management Area permits and shoreline setback variances for State structures and activities in shoreline areas. HB530 essentially exempts DOT and the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) from the Coastal Zone Management Act. More specifically, HB530 has the potential to exempt an undersea cable from environmental review.

2) HB2145 is simply titled "Relating to Economic Development" yet it states it is the policy of the State to complete certain key projects by December 31, 2023, such as the undersea, interisland cable and fixed rail.

3) HB2154 endangers Hawaii's shorelines by adding a temporary exemption from the Special Management Area Use and Minor Permit requirements for certain airport development.

4) HB2324 exempts the upgrading and new construction of broadband facilities on State and County property from State and County permitting processes.

5) HB2325 requires the State and Counties to approve, approve with modification, or disapprove all broadband related permits within 45 days. If no action is taken, the application will be approved on the 46th day. This bill allows for automatic approval of projects without first considering their impact.

6) HB2611 (and its Senate companion SB2873) temporarily amends Chapter 343, HRS, to clarify current EIS exemptions for certain secondary actions. The Department of Transportation sought the exemptions instead of seeking the Environmental Council's approval for secondary action exemptions on highway projects.

7) HB2613 exempts the Department of Transportation, Harbors Division from the permit and site plan approval requirements relating to submerged lands within the State land use conservation district, which contains important natural resources essential to the preservation of the State's fragile natural ecosystems and sustainability of the State's water supply.

8) HB2690 streamlines the geothermal development process by exempting all exploration and drilling from any environmental review, allowing such activity in all State land use districts and conservation district zones and repealing geothermal resource subzone provisions under State land use law.

She concludes by saying

As the Dirty 8 bills move swiftly through the Legislature, we are in danger of rewriting our legacy of environmental law by exempting projects from the specific environmental review processes which protect our vital natural and cultural resources and ensure our economic stability. These bills ignore decades of law introduced by Hawaii's esteemed leaders and environmental pioneers, and threaten the integrity of Hawaii's environment and the prosperity of its people. Instead of tearing down environmental protections and reversing laudable statutes, we should be heeding the wisdom of our predecessors and ensuring a viable future for generations.

If you want to help kill the beast where it lives, tracking bills is easier than ever. Have you pitchfork and torch at hand and go to the Capitol web site Once there enter the house bill (HB) number at the top on the left where it says "Bill Status/Measure Status." That will let you know what the number of the senate version (SB) is- once it is given one.

Then, when it says (at the bottom of the status page) that a hearing has been scheduled you can click on the "Submit Testimony" button which takes you to a page where you can do just that.

If you can't wait you can email all the senators at sens@capitol.hawaii.gov or all representatives at reps@capitol.hawaii.gov . Although tracking the bill and submitting testimony when it is scheduled is said to be more effective it's incredibly difficult and time consuming especially when you're opposing things like eight lousy tomatoes shoved up our little bitty cans- and especially since hearings only have 48 hour notices, even less if they don't feel like it.

Be back Monday.

Go 'Cuse.

MEET THE NEW BOSS...

MEET THE NEW BOSS...: It wasn't that long ago that we all laughed at the prospect of former Governor Lingle running for senate whether Senator Dan Akaka decided to run again or not.

One debacle after another had left most of the state's voters with a distinct "don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out" attitude toward her future in Hawai`i politics.

And why not? In arguably the most Democratic state in the country she had cozied up to the national Republicans two years earlier, opposing our "native son" in the presidential race. Then she dissed every teacher and somehow every parent in the state too with her "Furlough Fridays" in a manner that belied her usual and notorious PR perfect pitch. She had made a show- one that no one really believed- of trying to convince people her veto of civil unions was a "tough decision." And no one had forgotten the SuperFerry debacle which left both sides blaming her for either trying to force the doomed-from-the-start "H4" down our throats or, in "entitled" Honolulu, bungling the effort.

Yet this week's archetypical Stepford Wife announcement of her candidacy caused not just the usually out-of-touch-with-Hawai`i-politics Cook Political Report to call the race a "toss-up" but had many local pundits treating her candidacy with credibility.

So assuming something changed, what was it? Still the same robotic and vaguely spooky Lingle? Check. Still the same predominately Democratic "fool me twice.. ya can't get fooled again" electorate? Check. Still the same draconian congressional Republican cabal that she cozied up to in '08? Check.

So what's the difference? It well may be the rocky row her replacement has hoed.

As Governor, Neil Abercrombie couldn't have mimicked more of her specific blunders if he tried. Suspending the state's environmental protection laws for fishy reasons? Although declaring an emergency to move Nene geese that had been causing the same problems at Lihu`e Airport for a decade isn't exactly the SuperFerry, it was the same thread of political expediency that runs through both in the minds of the electorate.

But in the one place where Abercrombie could have put a wedge between "what a Democrat in office will do" and "what the Republican did," his tin-ear handling of the teachers' union negotiations left many asking what the difference is.

Abercrombie's now infamous "I'm not your pal" statement to the unions and the viral YouTube screaming match with a nurse were followed by the same imposition of a contract and violation of the tenets of collective bargaining that caused massive protests at state capitols in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio after Republican governors in those states imposed similar anti-union measures.

Even though criticism of the actions of the teachers' union's tactics in fighting Abercrombie's unilaterally-imposed, force-fed contract got most of the press, the antipathy toward Abercrombie still simmers just beneath the surface among the unions whose support will be crucial if either Mazie Hirono or (god no) Ed Case is to send Lingle back out to national Republican pastures.

It's a long time between now and a year from November and it's said voters' memories are long in Hawai`i. But those memories are made not just in broad sweeping brush strokes but in the daily paint splotches and, to mix metaphors, once a crack appears in the veneer it's hard to plaster it over to keep the wood from splitting right down the middle.

Abercrombie would do well to keep, if not a low profile next January when the legislature meets, at least one that doesn't rock his own party's boat. Because if Hirono or Case loses to Lingle many Democratic fingers will be pointing his way and it will be a short two years until the '14 gubernatorial election where he'll need all the party support he can get.

BLOW ME

BLOW ME: There's a big difference between an angry young man and an angry old man.

While the former may be credited with social movements that change the world, the latter is usually associated with sending back soup in a deli.

We never had a big problem with what many have contended is our own need for anger management, especially given the need for ginning up a good infuriated rant when the powerful take a dump on the little guy. But after some recent personal turmoil we've found that we just can't seem to find the requisite ire anymore, cold soup notwithstanding.

Until, that is, we started to pay attention to what's being called "The Big Wind" project.

For the uninformed the billion-dollar-idea is to build a slew of windmills in order to fulfill the wasteful gluttonous Honolulu population's bloated energy needs, not on O`ahu but on Lanai and Molokai, and connected by an underwater cable.

And, in a SuperFerry redux, it seems that the state and the electric company HECO are going to ram it down the throats of the people who live there whether they like it or not.

And like it they don't.

On the PBS program Island Insights last week local Molokai activist Walter Ritte explained that on a recent trip to Honolulu he had to go shi-shi and walked up to the bathroom where on his approach the door opened up automatically. The the toilet flushed itself when he was done. Next the faucet rained down water without him touching it and when he finished washing his hands the self-activating paper towel dispenser automatic rolled out a sheet to dry his hands.

And, to paraphrase Walter, these people want to screw up half of Molokai rather than give up their robotic bathrooms.

But the thing that spurs anger among Lanai and Molokai denizens is the same sense of entitlement by the Honolulu settlers and their local enablers who have taken the attitude that they are somehow owed the project.

And, the people who live there be damned, they're going to get it.

Just like with the SuperFerry, O`ahu denizens just don't get it. They just can't figure out why we wouldn't welcome them to come in an take whatever we've got- which ain't much- since "we're all in the same canoe," forgetting that we've built our canoe to accommodate about a tenth as many people.

And if you want to see an example of exactly the attitude that irked Kaua`i and Maui then, and Molokai and Lanai today, you need look no further than a commentary in today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser by columnist and business lawyer Jay Fidell.

He starts off demeaning the residents for even questioning the project calling objections "a litany of charges" and saying "(w)e all know that these endless demands for information and meetings aren't for a good reason, but only to perpetuate the potshots."

But it only gets worse.

Fidell then launches into a rant of entitlement claiming that Honolulu's need is justification for turning Molokai into their personal power plant.

He starts off by saying:

Claims of ownership in the wind don't work in the 21st century, especially in a state that must shift to renewables, and quickly, to survive. The wind, like the air, is a public resource. No group, even an indigenous one, can "own" and deny it to others. These claims are not and cannot be in the public interest; they distract and obstruct implementation of the state's clean-energy mandate.

And how exactly are you planning on harvesting that wind? From up in the sky? No, on the land- the land that serves first and foremost those who live there not people who think their wants justify the theft, as is the American custom.

Then comes the big one - the extortionate threat we heard from many in Honolulu during the SuperFerry debacle.

The rhetoric suggested that one island can tell another island to take a hike, but that's not sustainable when one island is dependent on taxes paid by the other. Aren't we all one state; don't these resources belong to all of us? Two islands, not even political subdivisions, openly turning their backs on state policy can only lead to constitutional crisis. Didn't we work this out in 1865?

Grrrrrrrr. Why not cite 1893 Jay?

Then comes the last refuge of a scoundrel in Hawai`i- the use of the tourism bureau sense of "aloha."

Ritte has his own windmill and wants to return to subsistence living, which is his right. But he wants the many to support the few, and in return the few to withhold from the many. That ignores local values of kindness and sharing.

Kindness and sharing? The real "local value" of aloha is respect. You don't come in with a sense of entitlement and take advantage of the good nature of the people to steal them blind- you ask and abide by the answer. It's reminiscent of the old story about how when westerners got here they had the bible and the people had the land. And in a few short years they had the land and all the people had was the bible.

It's been said that the billion dollars could put photovoltaic system on every roof in Honolulu generating as much or more juice then the Big Wind project. But then of course HECO couldn't really execute their business model of "we sell you electricity."

Insanely enough, at one point Fidell argues against this suggestion by claiming that photovoltaic is "intermittent" in that it only generates electricity during the day. Of course he fails to mention that the same is true of wind which doesn't give juice when the wind stops blowing.

Finally he says "the best thing (Ritte) can do for the people of Molokai is to negotiate a good benefits package. This would be a matter of fairness."

Fairness? What, your gonna give them $24 in beads and trinkets? Or another Mahele where this time you give them the land and they give you a community center and a highway right through the middle of the pristine area currently used by the majority of Molokai citizens for subsistence, according to Ritte.

It should be noted that the offer of free electricity for the people of Molokai and Lanai has never been on the table.

The sense that people in Honolulu are "owed" this project may, by itself, be the biggest impediment to the Big Wind. But they didn't see the handwriting on the side of the SuperFerry and, it seems, they won't be noticing which way the wind is blowing now.

FERC YOU

FERC YOU: Anyone surprised at the FERC KIUC debacle wave your electricity bill in the air.

Okay- you can go back to sleep now. Because unless you were under the proverbial rock for the past decade you must have been fast asleep to be shocked at anything "this co-op" does.

Since day one when barnacle-on-the-butt-of-Kaua`i Gregg Gardiner convinced a group of good old boys and girls and Democratic Party bosses to pay way too much for the liability that was Citizen’s Electric- and stick the resultant debt on the backs of the island working people- the hew and cry of warnings has been a loud if ineffective undercurrent of stomach churning rage from rate payers.

"We're all for a co-op- just not THIS co-op" was the slogan of the original "nitpickers" whose moniker was proudly taken from former Mayor Marianne Kusaka's attempt to denigrate the effort that saved members $50 million and should have brought the price down by another hundred million.

But the makeup of the board was a who's who of the then, two factions of the Democratic Party- the old guard represented by aging, "442nd" party boss Turk Tokita vs the new guard of then-former Mayor and then-out-of-politics progressive JoAnn Yukimura.

And when the bylaws and rules were forced down the throats of members in an all-or-nothing vote- removing the promised precepts of the Sunshine law and giving all power to the board- the course was set for today's dictatorial decision-making by a handful of the power elite.

With today's news from Pacific Business News (via the local newspaper) that William Tam, deputy director for water at DLNR said that "the state does not want Hawai‘i's (sic) in-stream flow standards to be decided by a federal agency in Washington D.C. that does not have any experience with or understand Hawai‘i’s streams" and the announcement of an effort from anti-FREC forces leader Adam Asquith to get signatures to a full page ad fully explaining all that's insanely stupid about going through the feds, the tide seems to be turning- that despite the "that's my story and I'm stickin' to it" stance of the stumble-bums on the KIUC board.

And that includes the original three opponents- Carol Bain, Ben Sullivan and Jan TenBruggencate who were elected to be the voice of reason but who now, reportedly, have switched sides.

What the board seems to have forgotten are the lessons of another recent debacle- the ill-conceived and supremely bungled Superferry and the resultant battle.

The reason why, shockingly, the people of Kaua`i seemed to oppose the big bad boat was not the boat itself but for the way it usurped the processes that, although usually ineffective, are at least supposedly there to protect us from deregulatory invasion from Washington D.C. and Honolulu.

Just as the feds and state conspired to remove the environmental assessment and impact statement process for the Superferry, once again a bunch of power mongers have decided to allow a federal process to negate the unique water rights and management laws that have been carefully developed over decades in Hawai`i.

Then when challenged the powerful wielded their power to lie and deceive in such a blatant way that nobody failed to get the "sit down and shut up" message that General Linda Lingle and her unified command threw in the faces of those who usually, unless riled up by a lack of respect, act like sheeple.

And now though few understand the ins and outs of water usage, citizens feel the same kind of "like it or lump it" missive coming from elected officials who fail to get the message that their arrogance, not the project, is the becoming the issue.

Though it's too early to tell the rising tide of indignation over the attempted FERC KIUC sleight-of-hand indicates that the same kind of outrage that swept the island over the Superferry fiasco might just be at hand.

Because, as "this co-op" circles the wagons, the natives are getting restless.

AND WE WERE GOING TO TAKE THE DAY OFF

AND WE WERE GOING TO TAKE THE DAY OFF: When is news not news? When it's in our local newspaper in an article penned by journalism’s worst enemy, Leo Azumbuja.

Yes we're tired of criticizing his "work" (note the quotes)- it's too easy.

But today’s article proclaiming that the SuperFerry bill that has been hanging around the legislature is still alive is so disturbingly inaccurate that it constitutes journalistic malpractice.

If you're going to cover the legislature the first rule is to know something about the process and then look at the legislative calendar.

Because despite Azumbuja's lede proclamation that "(t)he economic crisis that refuses to leave the Hawaiian Islands has not been sufficient to sink the idea of a state-run interisland ferry system" the fact is that today is what is known as "Second Decking Deadline" when as "Civil Beat" put it today

The House and Senate must get their respective bills in final form today in order for the measures to be voted on next week and make second crossover April 14.

The deadline to get bills to the House Clerk is 10 p.m., but the Senate Clerk had not announced its deadline as of late yesterday.

Next up: conference committee, which will pretty much consume the last two weeks of the month.

If Azumbuja had bothered to look at the status he'd have noticed that on March 23 it was referred to the Senate Ways and Means (WAM) Committee where it died after failing to be scheduled for a hearing. And since hearings must be noticed 48 hours in advance the bill will not receive an okay from WAM.

He would have also noticed had HE had read the bill, as he accused 16th District Representative Dee Morikawa of failing to do- he'd have noticed that the current bill was amended by the house with a "defective date" of July 1, 2030.

Of course like any bill it can be pulled by the full body for a vote. But that virtually never happens, with last year's civil unions bill being an exception that had even long time legislative correspondents scrambling to find the last time it had happened.

Of course most anyone who really cared about the SuperFerry Bill had, most likely, received a notice from anti-SuperFerry Activist supreme Dick Meyer of Maui last week that the bill was apparently dead after not showing up on the final WAM hearing notice. But for those who rely on the Kaua`i "newspaper of record" to record the actual record it's the same sad story written by a man seemingly incapable of telling one accurately.

BALLAST OF A THIN MAN

BALLAST OF A THIN MAN: We were watching an interview with Bob Woodward about his new book on the Obama administration in which he didn’t identify any of his sources- except for the president himself- but rather used extensive interviews with White House staff to come up with what he called “the best available version of the truth”.

And that’s the true definition of good reporting.

But you’d never know it if you live in Hawai`i where the corporate creed has devolved news into a “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it” operation.

So it’s no surprise that, typical of almost all of yesterday’s reporting on the “auction” of the two Superferries, this morning’s Starvetiser said that the reason for the endeavor’s demise was that “the company encountered major problems, including legal challenges and inconsistent service.”

But as anyone with an unjaundiced eye knows Hawai`i Superferry (HSf) Inc. imploded due to a business plan- or more accurately a lack of one- that was designed to fail, many think intentionally since the whole venture was only a demonstration project for the current military use of the design.

But to our shock and awe, while watching the six o’clock broadcast of (what passes for) Hawaii News Now(adays) the usually banal and particularly uninformative Howard Dicus came on for his jittery Skype segment (not available at their web site) and reported some semblance of the “best available version” of the Superferry debacle.

After noting that most people think the HSf shut down due to the lack of an EIS and court rulings he conspiratorially leaned into the camera and, almost whispering as if letting a select few into the club of the informed, told the audience that what most don’t know is that they were unable to meet expenses and had been from the start.

News is often referred to as the first draft of history. But when history is written by lazy sycophantic corporate shills afraid to state the obvious, the need for a second draft and a better “version of the truth” is compellingly self-evident.

PEA POD POLITICS FOR PEABRAINS

PEA POD POLITICS FOR PEABRAINS: As many read last week Goofy Mufi Hannemann had his usual blinders on in ignoring an Associated Press article the week before that confirmed what we all knew- that Hawaii Superferry (HSf) Inc.’s claim that they were victims of the courts and those crazy environmentalists was a bogus piece of PR from a company that was actually drowning in red ink created by their own lack of a realistic business plan- although the article missed a chance to dig deeper and find out the ferry was created to fail as part of a military demonstration project for the littoral design.

Mufi’s pledge to bring back the same vessels- even though their size was half the reason for the bankruptcy- demonstrates just how much more damage there is to be done if a Hannemann administration gets it’s hands on the already damaged machinery of the state under the equally mentally and morally challenged Linda Lingle.

And as if to underline some of that damage, in an article about the delays in obtaining an environmental impact statement (EIS) for a UH coral reef research project it was reported that:

Part of the delay is that the state body that could grant UH an exemption to the EIS requirement has not met since Aug. 17 of last year...

The council tried to hold a meeting in late June, but was unable to book adequate state videoconference facilities, Steiner said.

"It seemed like we were moving forward, then it just stalled," she said. "I think that it is not a priority to our state or to our administration to have an active Environmental Council."

Steiner said council members have expressed concern that the group is being penalized possibly for ruling in 2007 that the state Department of Transportation erred when it exempted Superferry harbor improvements from an environmental review. That decision was later supported by a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that eventually led to the demise of the interisland ferry.

Though the administration pooh-poohed the connection it’s just another symptom of how the state apparatus- especially for environmental protection- is still addled by Lingle’s denial of what even proponents view as the boneheaded way she handed the Superferry EIS and how it continues to hamstring the state EIS process, having created a pissed off Environmental Council and an administration bent on revenge.

Hannemann and Lingle apparently share one thing- a pig-headed battering ram style that scares the heck out of those who have been looking forward to a change of approach in November.

WHERE NEVER IS HEARD A DISCOURAGING WORD

WHERE NEVER IS HEARD A DISCOURAGING WORD: When we reported on April 7 that Mayor Bernard Carvalho said he would announce the siting of the new landfill by April 15th according to some- or by “the end of the month” according to the county’s spokesperson- we weren’t too surprised when the deadline came and went without comment by the administration.

It’s been impossible to find out what’s happening in hizzonah’s super-secret world since apparently his selection of the Kalaheo “Umi” site- one that sits smack in the middle of the coffee plantation- was received dead-on-arrival.

We reported that, to the surprise of many, a large number of people in Kekaha including prominent community leaders were actually, if not in favor of, at least resigned to, having the “new” site nearby the current one.

That’s what makes Carvalho’s statements last night on PBS’ Island Insights regarding the new siting even more perplexing and eyebrow raising than they would normally be.

After claiming that the Umi site was, so to speak, dumped in his lap when he came into office- an odd contention considering he made the announcement and took credit for making the long delayed decision at the time- he told of a new super-secret and faceless cabal that is re-reviewing the options.

“We collectively brought a whole team together to see how we’re going to do this” he told host Dan Boylan who asked a question from “Carol on the Westside” regarding when he would make a decision.

Who this “team” consists of is unknown but as anyone who has followed Carvalho’s tenure in county government knows, forming secret decision-making committees has been his modus operandi since his days as Community Assistance Director when he did the same for a few projects including the then nescient bike path.

But there were surprises a plenty from Carvalho last night.

He also said that the “team” was now talking about siting not just a landfill but what he called a “resource recovery park”.

Though he didn’t really explain it fully except to say it would include “education... composting (and) greenwaste”- features of the current and proposed landfills all along- it is presumed that it would include the materials recovery facility (MRF).

In the county’s typical cart-before-the-horse “fire, ready, aim” fashion the MRF will not be built before the new curbside recycling program goes into effect in September leaving the carefully separated recyclables without a destination for sorting, evoking visions of Honolulu’s long delayed trash-shipping bundles stacked up somewhere on Kaua`i awaiting disposition.

And, showing that we’re really no closer to a decision than we were in April- or even in April of 2008 when Mayor Bryan Baptiste was still alive- he announced two things.

First was that “what we really need is a willing land owner (and) a willing community”- something that has actually plagued the new landfill siting process for around two decades showing we’re no closer than we were in the ’90’s.

Then came the stunner. Despite the willingness of Kekaha to accept the new site- as long as the number of dollars contributed to the “community benefit program” currently designed to bribe them into not complaining over the existing landfill was increased- it may not get sited there afterall... despite what Carvalho said to many last April.

He told Boylan that he was seeking “a centrally located area hopefully where this park concept can benefit the island”.

Those who have followed the process lo these many years will remember that the only “centrally located” site designated in past consultant studies is in Kapaia where the decision to site it there in the 90’s blew up in Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s face when the nearby Hanama`ulu resident claimed “environmental discrimination” based on the then-new power plant also sited in Kapaia plus the predominantly Filipino ethnic makeup of the town.

The upshot seems to be that since Carvalho apparently is facing no serious opposition to reelection this November the massive solid waste problems that have plagued the island since, well, seemingly forever, are now back on the back burner- a place they will remain for, most likely, another four years while we build Mt. Kekaha to the sky, probably spending the time begging the state Department of Health for another “expansion”.

Oh- and Carvalho also said he now favors reviving the interisland ferry concept but this time with “resonating positive energy- forget the negative energy”, describing his vision of a united island community with everyone dancing happily on the conga line to automotive invasion of our roads parks and facilities.

Keep dreamin’- We got ya positive energy right hea, B’nard.

THAT DOG NEVER DID HUNT

THAT DOG NEVER DID HUNT: The Superferry is making headlines again today but as Joan Conrow pointed out this morning, the Honolulu Advertiser’s story missed the mark in reporting that “Hawaii Superferry wants to abandon both its catamarans when the real story, as reported in the Mobile (AL) Press Register (P-R), is that it was anything but about what Hawai`i Superferry (HSf) Inc. wanted to do but rather about the fact that the “Government (is) to repossess Hawaii Superferry”

One things that stands out is a discrepancy between how much of their “investment” in the project HSf maker Austal is eating on the deal, with the Advertiser reporting the figure at $29.9 million and the P-R saying it is only 11 of that 29 million that they will “write off”.

As Joan points out a key passage in the P-R article- at least for those of us who have seen through all the gorilla dust and spin and seen how the project was always about demonstrating the aluminum catamaran design of Austal’s so that they could get the huge military contract they have now signed- says:

Browning said that Austal approved lending $23 million to the ferry venture in part because the deal would help raise the profile of Austal's U.S. shipyard, which at the time had been operating in Mobile for only a few years. Although it succeeded in doing that — the Mobile shipyard in November won a potential $1.6 billion contract to build up to 10 high-speed fast ferries for the military — Browning said the company's lending days are over.

But another couple of passages in the P-R article were, well, pretty outrageous, the first saying

Talks among MARAD, Austal and Hawaii Superferry broke down last week, Austal officials said....

Austal Ltd. President Bob Browning said he was disappointed that MARAD decided to seize the ferries without involving Austal in a project to prepare them for military use.

Maybe Austal is “disappointed” but that is certainly good news for HSf- it seems that the “taxpayer guarantee” is now being “activated” which lets the owners off the hook for trying to find work for the apparently unwanted ferry, as evidenced by the lack of interest thus far in leasing the vessels even to the military.

But the bombshell in this, if true, might just be this sentence:

MARAD made the ferry loans under its Title XI program, which is supposed to support U.S. shipyards by reducing their reliance on military work.

With what we know now about how the whole deal went down in order to have Austal positioned to do military work, the fact that MARAD- the U.S. Maritime Administration- made the loan to “support U.S. shipyards by reducing their reliance on military work” points to one conclusion- the whole deal was a fraud.

Austal has admitted as much by saying publicly and repeatedly that their “investment” was in order to prove the ferry’s seaworthiness so it could eventually rely on military work, while knowing full well of the thus-far-unreported “strings attached” to the MARAD loan.

And by fraud we don’t mean just some petty theft- we’re talking about defrauding the taxpayer out of $136.8 million.

If nothing else it goes a long way in explaining the constant, adamant denial of military involvement in the venture- for no good reason- in the face the mounting evidence, as first reported by Conrow.

It also raises the question of what the liability of former Naval Secretary John Lehman may be now that MARAD has stepped in. Funny how he personally seems to be getting away scot-free, at least financially, when it was his machinations that cost everyone big bucks, including the Hawai`i taxpayers who will probably never see the $40 million Harbor improvements Governor Linda Lingle’s “Unified command” was duped out of .

As a matter of fact, he may turn a profit since, as the Advertiser article reports:

The company has no current source of revenue yet has to cover the cost of insurance, maintenance, security, storage and a skeleton crew for the catamarans at an Alabama shipyard owned by J.F. Lehman & Co., the project's main private investor.

So Lehman gets off from any financial responsibility for the fiasco he created and is most likely collecting “maintenance storage, security, and (salaries for) a skeleton crew” now that MARAD has taken “possession” of the boats.

We’ll see what happens in bankruptcy court where proceedings are now taking place in Delaware although the state is trying to move them to Hawai`i. But due to the insane bankruptcy laws that allow fat cats to form “limited liability” companies and duck out of obligations through bankruptcy yet stick working class credit card and home debtors with paying back every penny, don’t expect Lehman to be crying all the way to the bank.

---------

Correction:
Yesterday we said that Councilman Darryl Kaneshiro served in the Eduardo Malapit administration as Mala’s “Administrative Assistant”, a second-in-command “assistant mayor” position as defined in the county charter.

Rather, Kaneshiro’s service was in the administration of Tony Kunimura where he served as economic development director and, apparently, as a generic administrative aide. We regret the error.

LET HIM LIE

LET HIM LIE: We’re had birthday fun at the doctors today so we’re presenting a spectacular open letter by researcher Hope Kallai of Moloa`a to Admiral Fargo, Superferry chief honcho.



Aloha e Admiral Fargo:

Being a second-generation, 30-year Navy man, it would probably be safe to assume you to be a man with a deep understanding of protocol and procedure and appreciation for honor and accountability.

I am aware that you have been CEO of the Hawai`i Superferry, Inc. (HSF) for only about a year and that as Commander In Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from Oct 99 - May 2002, then as Commander of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) from May 2002-Feb 2005, you oversaw the preparation of many Federal Environmental Impact Statements for Hawai`i and the waters of the Pacific Ocean including:

Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2000 EA, May 2000
Mountaintop Surveillance Sensor Test Integration Center (MSSTIC) Facility Kauai, Hawaii EA, May 2000
North Pacific Targets Program EA, April 2001
2002 RIMPAC PEA
Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Pacific Test Flights Environmental Assessment, December 2002
Development and Demonstration of the Long Range Air Launch Target System EA, October 2002
USWEX EA/OEA FONSI
USWEX EA/OEA Vol. 1
USWEX EA/OEA Vol. 2
Hickam Air Force Base C-17 Globemaster III Beddown EAt, September 2003
Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Extended Test Range (ETR) EIS, July 2003
2004 Supplement to the RIMPAC 2002 PEA
Final Environmental Assessment: For Construction and Operation of a C-17 Short Austere Airfield (SAAF) Within the State of Hawaii, November 2004
Mobile Sensors EA, October 2004 Ballistic Missile Defense System Programmatic Draft EIS, September 2004 Mobile Launch Platform EA, June 2004
Final EIS Transformation of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (L) to a Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Hawaii, May 2004



Over a dozen federal EIS have been prepared by the Navy in Hawai`i since your retirement and since the initiation of the Superferry:
RIMPAC 2006 FONSI
2006 Supplement to the RIMPAC 2002 PEA
Flexible Target Family EA, December 2007
Permanent Stationing of the 2/25th Stryker Brigade Combat Team Draft EIS, June 2007
EA for MK-48 Mod 6 Torpedo Exercises in Hawaiian Waters, June 2007
Supplemental OEIS and EIS for Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) Sonar, April 2007
Composite Training Unit Exercises and Joint Task Force Training Exercises EA/OEA, February 2007
Ballistic Missile Defense System Programmatic Final EIS, February, 2007
Final Environmental Assessment: For Construction and Operation of a C-17 Short Austere Airfield (SAAF)
RIMPAC 08 Biological Opinion (NMFS)
Barking Sands Underwater Range Expansion (BSURE) Refurbishment Overseas EA, March 2008

It would seem you have great experience with EIS preparation. Perhaps you were not given a copy
of the last EIS performed by the State of Hawai`i for the last proposed ferry service, a fast PAX-only ferry servicing the southern shore of Oahu - the 1989 Oahu Intraisland Ferry System
available in the OEQC library
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Oahu/ 1980s/1989-01-OA-FEIS-OAHU-INTERISLAND-FERRY-SYSTEM.pdf.

Potential ship strikes to wintering humpback whales and green sea turtles outside of the harbor areas were a prime concern even though there were only about 2,000 wintering humpback whales in Hawai`i at that time. Discussions were held with National Marine Fisheries Service about routes and timings and abut open ocean impacts, not just harbor impact. The State of Hawai`i , during Gov. Waihe`e's term, knew that any major Federal action triggers NEPA. As you are well aware, any dredging of ocean waters to deepen or widen the channel or turning basin or the constructing of a pier for the ferry vessel triggers permitting review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including NEPA, Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act. The state knew that 20 years ago. Any federal study of harbor hydrology and bathymetry triggers the environmental review process. The EIS procedures were followed during Gov. Waihe`e's tenure and for this intraisland ferry proposal with minimal potential impacts.

The process of the Hawai`i Superferry has been severely flawed. With your expertise in overseeing EIS preparation, hopefully we can correct these procedures. The Superferry is not above the law; the Superferry must follow the same procedures that the Navy follows and the same procedures that previous ferry EIS followed 20 years ago.

As a submariner, you may be interested in the 1987 Final Impact Statement prepared by Atlantis Submarines for the Operation of Submersibles as a Public Attraction in the waters off Waikiki, Oahu , Hawai`i , now doing business as Atlantis Adventures (http://atlantisadventures.com/index.cfm). The tours would be at two dive sites in waters of -85' to -250' deep, 4,500 feet off Waikiki shore, between the Natatorium and Diamond Head.
This project included "habitat enhancement": sinking ships as artificial reefs for viewing because Atlantis thought the benthic environment somewhat boring.

Significant consideration was given to the exclusivity of the usage, impacts to cultural and recreational boating, surfing and fishing - with plans to cease tour operations during races. The area was a high vessel traffic area and the project was not projected to have significant impacts to whales because they usually do not frequent the project area, but impacts to humpback whales were considered. Recommendations were made to curb nighttime operations until after a trial period and to not do anything to "disturb the peace and safety of the whales." NOAA required a Section 7 consultation under the Endangered Species Act. The Atlantis operation was required to consider impacts to whales by both the submarine and escort boat operations. The EIS process did not prohibit Atlantis Adventures from operation.

Tim Dick, one of the co-founders of the HSF, said last week that the ship design was selected after consulting 20 year wave studies by UH School of Ocean Science .

From this, we developed a design specifically for Hawai'i including electric power plugs for refrigerator trucks, higher car decks to accommodate canoe racks for paddlers, comfortable leather sofas and coffee tables for families, and a design that would squeeze into Hawai'i 's dry docks. Many environmental "firsts" were designed into the ferry, including zero wastewater discharge, nontoxic bottom paint and next-generation ultra-clean and efficient diesel engines.

In November 2007, the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, using 25 years of buoy data, found the average annual significant wave height in Hawai`i to be 7 meters. The ship design Mr. Dick chose, the Alakai, is only certified to carry passengers in 6 meter seas. Perhaps with your expertise, HSF would have focused more on engineering and less on power plugs and paint. I understand that the paint job and branding is important, but community safety and the suitability of this ship design to the waters of Hawai`i are more important than paint.

Millions was spent on embedded technology but the Alakai has no life boats or marine evacuation systems. How can we, as a community, be asked to bring our kūpuna in wheelchairs on a ship with no way for them to exit in an emergency? Life jackets are just not sufficient to survive in our ocean conditions during emergency situations. Safety concerns, as you well know, would have been addressed during a proper EIS process. Maybe this community would rather have an evacuation slide rather than a ship than can carry 50 ton vehicles.

The Alakai that cannot have a scuppers because of the vehicle loading. With such a large exposed vehicle deck, given the intensity of Hawai`i precipitation events and waves breaking over the bow, how can the bilge design only accommodate 500 liters? These questions would have been addressed during a proper EIS process.


The Atlantis EIS included consideration of weather conditions and wave - knew they would not be able run when "Waves or sea swells which make the transfer of passengers from the barge to the vessel hazardous." HSF operational plans only considered downtime for annual maintenance. There was no consideration of downtime for ocean and weather conditions, with significant financial impacts. As an experienced mariner, please adjust operational ability to weather conditions in financial projections.

Before your tenure with the Superferry, decisions were made which have cost the state greatly. The State of Hawai`i spent $40 Million on barges to be built exclusively for Hawai`i Superferry vessels and caused them to be built in China , sending concrete and steel jobs overseas, in an economic time when our residents could certainly have used the jobs. This is a serious Jones Act violation - in the state with the second highest union membership in the US ! How many jobs did this decision cost our local construction and union workers? Again, a proper EIS could have avoided this.

Now, since HSF has installed stern-quarter mounted, folding ramps, the loading barges will not be necessary. Due to the artificial time restraints imposed by HSF, the decisions the state made have severely under-estimated the waves and surges of the harbors. The Manaiakalani loading barge in Kahului Harbor is only certified for a 1.43 meter (17 inch) wave! Average wave heights are 3-8 feet in Kahului. This error has cost over $5 million in continuing repair costs. If proper EIS procedure had been followed, this problem would have been avoided and saved almost $50 million. Hopefully with your expertise, these mistakes will not be made again. Please notify the people of Hawai`i about your company's plans for using the Huaka`i and re-fitting the Alakai with stern mount ramps. Please notify the HAR/DOT that dredging the harbor at Kahului to accommodate the setting of the mooring of the loading barge Manaiakalani will not be necessary.

Many times it has been mistakenly repeated that no other ship has had to comply with or perform an EIS. As you can see, many EIS have been compiled by the military and by private enterprises, including ferries. The previous ferry design was selected through the state bidding process. The sooner these studies are honored, the more expeditious the current process will be. In 2006, the U.S. Coast Guard prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment for Patrol Boat Support Facilities
USCG Station Maui to add a new boat to their fleet (which required dredging of 140 cubic yards of ocean floor). Because the high-speed ferry is a new mode of interisland transport, the EIS procedure, the ESA, NEPA and HEPA must be honored to the full intent and spirit of the law, as you well know and have spent so much of your career supporting. Mahalo for your expertise in fixing this flawed EIS process and honoring and learning from the EIS of the past and near present and holding the HSF accountable to the same standards as the Navy, the Coast Guard and private enterprise. I apologize for having to appeal to you in such a public forum, but since the Alakai has left the state and the HSF website was reduced to ticket refund status, there's no other contact listed. Thank you sincerely for addressing my concerns quickly and taking command of the EIS process.

Hope Kallai

ALTERNATE REALITY

ALTERNATE REALITY: It’s the rare individual who hasn’t shaken his or her head in both disbelief and frustration upon reading a press account of an incident they either witnessed or otherwise had first hand knowledge about, wondering if it was the same event as the one reported.

Sometimes it’s just the “playing telephone” effect where a story is conveyed through so many people that the end product is a garbled, barely recognizable version of the original message.

But the when Big Islander Jeff Satcher (through Brad Parsons) pointed us to some national CNN coverage of the community’s efforts to repair and reopen Polihale it seemed to be purely a whole-cloth spin on the real story.

Anyone who has followed the story locally saw a grassroots effort by a community, led by activist and former county council and mayoral candidate Bruce Pleas, to rally the Westside residents to avoid a possible two-year wait until the state could muster the resources to fix and reestablish access to the storm damaged area and do the job themselves- a job that would supposedly cost $4 million.

Slowly Pleas put together the muscle, negotiated with the state and eventually got Troy Martin to donate the materials and machinery to repair an all important bridge. Then the work started and it all came together in a little more than a week.

But to read Mallory’s take it was all due to co-owner Ivan Slack and his company “Napali (sic) Kayak”, a firm that actually operates under questionable legality, using Polihale as a pick-up destination for Na Pali kayak tours.

After three short paragraphs quoting Pleas (pronounced “place”) and describing him as “a local surfer who helped organize the volunteers (emphasis added) and describing the state’s interminably long-term non-plans for repairs, she gives credit where little is due

(I)f the repairs weren't made, some business owners faced the possibility of having to shut down.

Ivan Slack, co-owner of Napali Kayak, said his company relies solely on revenue from kayak tours and needs the state park to be open to operate. The company jumped in and donated resources because it knew that without the repairs, Napali Kayak would be in financial trouble.

"If the park is not open, it would be extreme for us, to say the least," he said. "Bankruptcy would be imminent. How many years can you be expected to continue operating, owning 15-passenger vans, $2 million in insurance and a staff? For us, it was crucial, and our survival was dependent on it. That park is the key to the sheer survival of the business."

So Slack, other business owners and residents made the decision not to sit on their hands and wait for state money that many expected would never come. Instead, they pulled together machinery and manpower and hit the ground running March 23 ...

"We can wait around for the state or federal government to make this move, or we can go out and do our part," Slack said. "Just like everyone's sitting around waiting for a stimulus check, we were waiting for this but decided we couldn't wait anymore."

Then after mentioning the state’s new “Recreation Renaissance” project- the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ (DLNR) rehashing of the roundly rejected “master plan” to commercialize the parks for tourism and as a money generator- it’s right back to Slack who last we heard still operates in a state park without the necessary state permits and in any case exploits our natural resources without paying a fair-share for the use.
.
In a Chaplin-esque “Modern Times” move our would-be hero Slack (or is it slacker hero) heard it was happening and got in front of parade to lead the crowd.

Yet Malloy just keeps up her misinformed version of the non-facts writing:

The park is a fixture on the west side of the island and a favorite spot for many in the area, but it's also a hub for tourists.

Uh, actually rent a cars are banned from using the road and the ones that do routinely get stuck and have to be pulled out by local bystanders. And at the end of the road it’s not clear how it could be called a hub.

Apparently this was all done due to our love for the tourism industry according to Malloy and Slack.

"Tourism is our lifeblood. It's what pays all of our bills," Slack said. "The money that pours in comes from tourism is really an important factor for everyone here in Hawaii, and it's such an important time to encourage tourism."...

"I think it's crucial to say the doors are open, everyone is ready," Slack said. "So when one of the most important parks in Hawaii is closed, it really changes things."

Now, because of their hard work, volunteers hope they'll be ready to send that positive message -- right in time for the tourist season.

Slack said he likes to have business up and running by April 15, and the season gets busy around May 1

The business owners and residents are hopeful that their generous contributions in time and resources mean the park should officially open soon.

And that’s why Polihale will be open soon- because we just love the tourists tearing up the road and overrunning our recreational facilities.

While being interviewed this week for a new documentary on the broad subject of changes in culture, politics and demographics on Kaua`i we were asked about the impression that outsiders have that after the Superferry debacle and people’s direct action in turning it back. There is a new activist community that is poised to push for a more sustainable future and get involved politically to force the corrupt governmental entities to get in line with that vision.

We thought for a minute and asked “well then, where are they? We certainly don’t see them where it matters- at the planning commission, county council and other board and commission meetings where the real decision are made. All we see there is the same old handful of faces.”

Maybe they’re all out working at opening Polihale, which we must admit is certainly as admirable as anything.

The Superferry uprising wasn’t as much about the military or even about state misconduct and outside well-connected businesses getting away with murder..

It was more about protecting our recreational facilities from an onslaught of tens of thousands of campers in thousands of SUV’s, all simultaneously descending on our already stressed-to-the-max if not fully over-used and trashed-out beaches and camping areas.

It just makes sense that if there is a group that is ready to act, they’d act to protect and keep available the precious places where we go to play when work is done.

And it might have been nice if the people and their motivation got the recognition from Mallory and CNN.

----------

Update: Someone called yesterday to say that he was listening to Rush Limbaugh and all of a sudden heard the name “Bruce Pleas” and Rush was telling the whole story of how “this is America” $4 million job done in 8 days by people, blah blah. But interestingly he credited Bruce and the community effort barely mentioning the kayak service- seems like maybe he might have done a little research and found “someone” had a little different version of the story.

Update 2: Well our friend didn’t quite get it all right but Limbaugh did talk about it pretty much with the same tone as CNN. Here’s a link to the transcript

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_041009/content/01125104.guest.html

GUARD DOG AND YAPPERS

GUARD DOG AND YAPPERS : Though yesterday’s Hawai`i Supreme Court ruling that “Act 2” was created for “a class of one” was obvious all along to anyone but the politically deaf, dumb and blind, at the time of the hearing many doubted whether the justices would see that.

Sure they could have looked at the fact that the original draft was written with the words “Hawai`i Superferry (HSf)” but dropped that and inserted the words “high capacity ferry” instead in the final version. Or they could have just read the transcripts of the special legislative session and reached the same conclusion.

But instead, in the final analysis all they had to look at was something that came to light only after the hearing- that the fact of the sunset date made the addition into service of another vessel meeting the description, a physical impossibility.

And that fact- not well expounded upon in the case filed by Maui Tomorrow (MT) and the Sierra Club (SC) which relied more on the environmental protections in the Hawai`i State Constitution- came to light only through the intrepid efforts of indefatigable Superferry opponent Brad Parsons who spent a few week going through Act 2 with a fine tooth comb looking for a smoking gun.

And he found out that it was staring us all right in the face all along.

We followed his almost daily reports trying to put together the facts that might add to the case but, we admit, we doubted that anyone would listen to whatever he came up with.

That is until one day when the latest installment of his work arrived in our inbox peaking our ears.

Parsons was working on the section showing how it would have been almost impossible to have another company use the law to buy a boat fitting the description to ever start service.

That work seemed to lead to one point that had been escaping scrutiny. Even if somehow another company could have used the law to enter the market someday- a questionable proposition to begin with- there’s no way they could have done it by the “sunset date” in the bill.

After a brief email exchange, Parsons made the case that it wasn’t just virtually impossible but was fully impossible for there to be another ferry covered by the legislation before the expiration date the legislation contained.

Certainly there was a lot of useless and even just plain wrong information from Superferry opponents along the way which was used to try discredit the opposition. The book “The Superferry Chronicles” was a plethora of misinformation such as the now ubiquitously reported number of 1500 protesters in Nawiliwili (no one who was there thinks there were any more than 1000 and even that might be high) to the repeated claim that “Act 2” was named that by Lingle to say that the Supreme Court’s original ruling was only “Act 1” in the Superferry drama yet to be written (it was actually the second “act” passed during the special session, the first being a legally mandated confirmation of a Lingle appointee) not to mention the claim that it wasn’t until late in the game that the project suddenly, somehow morphed into a military boondoggle (documents going back to 2001 uncovered by Hope Kalai show military involvement in the ferry project’s conception through U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye’s “ranking member” position on the Senate Armed Forces Appropriation Committee).

If it weren’t for articles written by people like Joan Conrow, Dan Hempey and Haunani Trask it might not have any credible information at all.

But our hero today is Parsons who dealt with the facts and worked his butt off until he found the one fact that would make all the others pale in comparison. Parsons kept at the facts and, in the final analysis there’s a good probability that his work was indeed recognized and formed the basis for yesterday’s Supreme Court decision.

It stands up while the attempts by some to blow off facts in favor of sloppily written pseudo histories- which well could have derailed opposition and eroded the credibility of those who actually researched the matter via original documentation rather than through sensationalization of a cursory examination of newspaper reports- have done little but provide a potential for a guilt by association discrediting of the work of Parson’s and other actual, credible researchers.

None of this of course would have been possible without the efforts of Isaac Hall and his supporters in MT and SC. But without people like Parsons and many others who stuck to the facts and knew they should be enough, we wouldn’t be here today.

And where we are today is that the HSf’s “surprise” decision to voluntarily stop operations is most likely because they have completed their military “mission” and now will be able to recoup their losses by selling the boat and suing the state for whatever they lost.

Too bad we can’t get clowns like Governor Lingle and the legislators who supported Act 2 to pay for it out of their pockets. And it’s too bad we can’t get all those voters who ignored the facts and kept the circus in town to share in that cost.

FERRETING OUT THE TRUTH

FERRETING OUT THE TRUTH: Leave it to a mainland outsider to come in and start asking questions to raise some hackles and renew some old, ahem, disagreements.

Seems that a student from New York City is here in the island nosing around about a question that caused some fierce disagreements during the run up to the Superferry operation on Maui and the lack thereof here on Kaua`i- why is the ferry running to Maui and not Kaua`i and what happened to make the difference?

Yesterday Joan Conrow published- pretty much in whole- the perspective of Karen Chun of Maui which is an interesting read. But it barely addresses what the student, Michelle Nitafan of the Department of Geography at NYC’s Hunter College really wants to know about for her master’s thesis (and an article by her professor).

Chun gives a perspective that more or less makes it seem like it was just a matter of two different circumstances on two different islands. citing culture, demographics and the differences in legal approaches with a lawsuit filed on Maui but not here

We won’t repeat the letter here but urge anyone reading this to read Chun’s letter for a better understanding of what Nitafan is likely to hear if she speaks to the so-called “leaders” on Maui.

In fact what made the difference was a concerted effort on the part of those Maui “leaders” to ban all non-violent civil disobedience (NVCD) at “their” demonstrations when the ferry came to Maui.

Juxtapose that with the Kaua`i concerted effort by a few activists to not preclude NVCD and not tell people what to do or don’t do- and do it in the face of attempts to “lead” the protests in a “legal and respectful manner” by organizations a politicians here on Kaua`i

Seems Nitafan and her professor wrote to Superferry activist Jimmy Trujillo after finding his name prominently in newspapers from the time and wrote the following

My name is Michelle Nitafan. I'm a post-graduate student working with the Geography Department at Hunter College of the City University of New York. I'm currently doing some thesis work in regards to the recent Super Ferry issue there.

My research is concerned with the discussion (and if I'm lucky, with a resolution) of why the Environmental Assessment was waived why Kauai and Maui took different steps in opposing the Super Ferry (strike through a surfing blockade at sea and court petition, respectively) how the different islands felt about it, then and now... I'm interested in gaining insight into Kauai's position in all this.

But the problem is that she is apparently speaking with most of the very people who almost thwarted the non-violent civil disobedience and lack of respect for Governor Lingle’s “Unified Command” that made for the difference in outcomes between Kaua`i and Maui.

Although some would like to believe that it was through the efforts of people like Rich Hoepner of People for the Preservation of Kaua`i (PPK) and David Dinner of 1000 Friends and politicians like JoAnn Yukimura and Mina Motrita that the protesters stopped the Superferry, those are in fact the very people who tried hard- and fortunately failed- to corral Kaua`i people into keeping all protests “legal and respectful”.

It was no accident though that people like Trujillo, Katy Rose, PNN and a handful of others- including many actual members of PPK and 1000 friends who were less than happy about the direction their leaders were taking- that the “message” on Kaua`i was not to listen to self appointed “leaders” here who were publicly urging the “legal and respectful” protest and instead urge people, through email and the grassroots “coconut wireless”, to “do your own thing” by refusing to condemn or try to prohibit NVCD.

And that was the difference in turning back the ferry here. It wasn’t the people who spent months gathering petitions or meeting night after night to plot strategy but it was the people who just showed up and felt they had the freedom to put their lives on the line by physically blocking the big bad boat and thumbing their nose at the state’s militaristic threats.

Apparently, from emails sent to PNN, the people Nitafan is thus far scheduled to meet with are people like Dinner, Yukimura- who fiercely fought for legal and respectful protest, especially at the Convention Hall appearance when Lingle was cursed and shouted down- and Irene Bowie Executive Director of Maui Tomorrow who was the chief of the “no illegal or disrespectful activity” at `our’ protest” on that island

Was it just the circumstances that Chun- who actually did get into her canoe and try to block the boat on Maui along with people like Hannah Bernard and a small handful of others- cited that led to things just “happening” as they did?

Or did the concerted efforts of a handful of Kaua`i people- experienced organizers who saw early on the pent up hostility to the ferry on the streets of Kaua`i and saw the probably that an organized leadership could actually hurt the chances of involvement by an already agitated populace- pay off.

After reading Chun’s essay at Conrow’s KauaiEcletic blog Rose put it this way in an email today.

I'm a little concerned that Nitafan isn't talking to more grassroots people who have deeper roots on Kaua`i.

A lot of malahini (like me) like to get out front and get in the limelight when in reality the young folks with the deep roots were the ones who stopped the boat right there with their bodies. I just hope that some of the people she sought out to talk to have the humility to direct her to the real heroes and heroines of August 26 and 27...
The fact is, by a large margin, the folks in the water never came to any of our haole-dominated organizing meetings where people with big egos blathered on for hours! And it's the people [from] those meetings who are "interpreting" the struggle for this research assistant!"

Both Rose and we have attempted to contact Nitafan by phone in Rose’s case and email in ours and we have not heard back from her. She is scheduled to be on KKCR Radio to speak about her project as we go to press, at 4 p.m. today.

It’s nice to know that someone is questioning what the difference was between Kaua`i and Maui and why the outcomes were so different. It would be a shame to see history written so that no one would see the real story behind the blockade here and the lack of one on Maui.

Many see it as a matter of the fact that Maui took the legal approach with Maui Tomorrow and the Sierra Club’s lawsuit where there was no such suit at the time from Kaua`i.

As a matter of fact that the ruling that the lawsuit only covered Maui Harbor and not Kaua`i had not been determined in the Supreme Court ruling made two days before the ferry attempted to enter Nawiliwili harbor and wasn’t a “fact” until the circuit court ruled such on Maui after the SC sent it to them for adjudication..

Yet they mistakenly say that was a factor if not the main reason why many here chose to put their lives in danger, saying that Kaua`i had no lawsuit of its own and so were less inclined to “legal” protest.

But really it comes down to the fact that many of those who were less involved in “organizations” and “meetings” and more into an anarchical style of grassroots organizing saw the obstacle as being the timidity of those organized leaders and worked hard to counteract it by not condemning- and in fact in some cases encouraging- civil disobedience.

They refused to “join up” with those who sought to control of what happened at the Nawiliwili those two fateful nights and it was their efforts that gave “permission” for it to happen that way.

It’s one thing to rabble rouse and organize and whip up a frenzied protest. It’s quite another to just let it happen.

SNIFF IT OUT SHERLOCK

SNIFF IT OUT SHERLOCK: The new book “The Superferry Chronicles” received quite the prominent although not-so-complementary review today courtesy of Honolulu Advertiser reporter and blogger Derrick DePledge who, after reading the book called it “a romantic and idealized view of the protests at Nawiliwili Harbor that stopped the ferry in August 2007”

The book by Koohan Paik- who in her bio lists “journalist” first among her credentials- and anti economic globalism author and activist Jerry Mander.(links courtesy of DePledge)- has caused some on Kaua`i to question whether Paik is exploiting or even “cashing in” on the actions and even legal miseries of others as PNN detailed last week

But DePledge questions the use of falsehoods based on apparently shoddy research that resulted in what he called:

factual errors that would be easy to chalk up as mistakes — we all make them — if they were not used by the authors to make critical points.

He listed some.

*The authors suggest Lingle and state lawmakers were sending a message with the name of the law that allowed Superferry to resume operations while an environmental impact statement is prepared. “In a direct slap at the court, they brazenly call it `Act 2.’” (Page 12) “In Special Session, the governor flippantly dubs the draft bill `Act 2,’ as if overturning a Supreme Court ruling were a mere trifle.” (Page 178)

The law was named Act 2 because it was the second bill passed during special session that was signed by the governor. The first bill, signed into law as Act 1, was a response to a state Supreme Court ruling on extended criminal sentencing.

*The authors claim Lingle did not give much notice for her meeting with Kaua`i residents and did not announce that the purpose of the meeting was to warn of the penalties for violating a new security zone at Nawiliwili. (Page 56)

Lingle gave a week’s notice that she would be coming to Kaua`i and described the penalties at a news conference at the state Capitol that was given front page and top-of-the-news treatment by daily newspapers and local television and radio.

*The authors describe “illegal Superferry donations to Lingle.” (Page 175) The donations from Superferry executives to Lingle’s campaign were not illegal. However, the donations were contrary to the Lingle campaign’s voluntary policy of not accepting contributions from companies negotiating with the state.

But the lack of acumen was not his only problem with the book. He writes

The authors do not break any new factual ground about Superferry and accept most of the critical theories about the project without skepticism. The central theory — so far unproven and denied by Superferry executives — is that Superferry is a military prototype designed to help shipbuilder Austal USA win lucrative defense contracts.
The book, which describes Superferry as an “uninvited menace,” is a celebration of direct action that is unlikely to persuade many neutrals.

While DePledge might be right about the slapdash journalism when it comes to researching facts, his contention that the “Superferry is a military prototype” theory is “so far unproven and denied by Superferry executives” is indicative of a the narrow view of what journalism is in today’s corporate news room.

Today’s journalism seems to take the concept of objectivity far beyond neutrality and instead of using investigative techniques that are universally accepted, boils down it’s coverage to a series of “he said, she said” competing quotes from anyone with a title and a tongue- the waggier the better.

Today’s reporter’s shun the utilization of the technique of comparing competing theories based on the factual material until, either the investigation peters out for lack of sufficient information to select from those competing theories or until one theory becomes the only plausible explanation for a series of events.

Though this system isn’t infallible- as the stream of release of innocents from jails proves- it’s the one that investigators- police, journalistic and detectives both real and fictional- have used for a century or more.

They all know that 99.9% of the time, when you eliminate the impossible and can’t even find an improbable that passes the laugh and smell tests, the theory turns out to be correct.

This is at the root of using inductive logic to solve a “case” where the deductive proof of a “confession” is not forthcoming. But many journalists from the post-modern school of “objectivity”- one only fully developed in the post WWII era- refuse to accept the validity of the technique.

Instead they ask those who would accept the indisputable validity of a certain “theory” to prove a negative. Nothing but an admission of guilt to suffice.

In plain English, it’s an “are you going to believe me or your lyin’ eyes” school of journalism and causes costly, time-consuming, investigative journalism to fall conveniently by the wayside in the “el cheapo” libel-phobic news “business” of the 21st century newsroom.

Two summers ago- before top Kaua`i journalist and blogger Joan Conrow’s brilliant series at her KauaiEclectic blog, her “U.S.S. Superferry?” investigative piece in Honolulu Weekly and her recap in a chapter of the Superferry Chronicles; before the Supreme Court ruling mandating an environmental assessment; before the name “Austal” (the builder of the Superferry which just last week landed a big contract for 10 Superferry-clone Navy warships) became a well known commodity among anti Superferry activists- PNN wondered in a column what the connection might be between the new aluminum catamaran ferry, similar naval vessels being considered by congress at the time and the financier of the project, former Secretary of the Navy under Reagan, John Lehman.

It didn’t take a genius to ask the question even way back then: was Hawai`i a guinea pig to show congress this thing is a viable Naval war ship?

But though formulation of the theory at that time was a stab in the dark nothing has been presented- except denials from some ferry executive- to refute the near certainty that the Superferry was a “demonstration project”. to show congress that the vehicle could ply shallow near-shore waters effectively.

As a matter of fact other officials- state and Superferry- have been quoted admitting the connection if not the actual intention to use our state apparatus to perpetuate a prototype without concern for the islands, its people and its economy

A frequent insightful commenter in various on-line publications- one who has identified himself only as an attorney and a Democrat and goes by the handle “Kolea”- addressed the state of denial by some of the Superferry-as-Navy-prototype “theory”.

He summed up the impossibles, the improbables and the all-but-certains this way in a comment on DePledge’s review.

As for SuperFerry serving as R&D for a proto-type for use by the military, that is the only sensible explanation. Otherwise, Lehman would have been an idiot to believe the SF made any business sense.

When local anti-militarist activists were insisting the SF was REALLY designed to carry Strykers inter-island, I had to tell them that theory did not make sense. But a review of naval national security debates convinced me Lehman was still promoting an idea from his days as Secretary of the Navy, the idea of a “600 ship fleet,: though he had updated in a few key ways. First, he had upped the number to “1000 ship Navy,” Secondly, he had looked with envy at the success Halliburton and Carlyle were having through the outsourcing of military functions to private companies owned by well-connected Bush cronies. Lehman proposed the “1000 ship navy” consist in large part of privately owned ships leased by the Navy for different lengths of time depending upon the shifting missions.

I see the SF as the development of a prototype ship, subsidized by Hawaii taxpayers and tested in our waters. As a private interisland ferry, IT never made sense. It is not viable and never was. The market did not exist prior to the current recession–simply check the passenger loads, both cars and people. People dreamed about a gentle cruise to another island for camping and holoholo, but the seas were too rough, voyages were cancelled with short notice and passengers were throwing up all over the boat. Ulpp! A bad idea.

The Navy has recently expressed a strong interest in the SF and ships of its type. Lehman headed up McCain’s “transition team” and would have been well=positioned to cash in as a “Naval Halliburton” had McCain won. Had “his ship come in.”

Lehman is either an extremely incompetent or conniving businessman. Or both.

To attack Paik and Mander for basing contentions on sloppy journalism is one thing. But to attack that which is apparent to all but the village idiot because it is “just a theory” that “you can’t prove beyond a shadow of a doubt” makes lies of theories like that of gravity and evolution or any prospective statement based on observations of frequent occurrences without variation from time immemorial.

There are, in logic, strong inductive arguments and weak ones. And sometimes people just can’t see the fleet because they’re too busy examining an individual boat.

A TALE OF TWO TAILS

A TALE OF TWO TAILS: A new book by local Kaua`i filmmaker Koohan “Camera” Paik and author Jerry Mander has some protesters who were arrested a little ticked at their absence from “The Superferry Chronicles: Hawaii's Uprising Against Militarism, Commercialism, and the Desecration of the Earth”.

As Joan Conrow reported this week, one arrestee wrote an email that was shared with Conrow about a man and his son who spent a night sleeping on the concrete in the pokey.

But what Conrow didn’t report is that the letter also contained criticism of Paik since “no one ever talked to anyone involved” adding “good luck with your book (I) hope ya make a million bucks off what some of us did.”

He said also said that he

“was kinda wondering if you guys were even there or is this book about all the legal crap and not really about people central in the whole protest. just curious since your advertisement is making all like intimate stuff.”

The rest of the email Steven Valiere forwarded to Camera and others says:

I was there and very much a part yet neither of you has asked me any thing. It’s kinda maybe like all the newspaper crap, story after story and no one ever talked to anyone involved, just an opinion of an outsider looking in? Not that it might not be valid just from a distance sorta.

By the by that was me on the front page of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin sitting in front with my arms out. Good luck with your book I hope ya make a million bucks off what some of us did.

And I am not meaning in any stretch to make less of all the extraordinary people that put in time and effort out of the water, the legals, (is that you guys?) and the phone calls and e-mails flying chanting rioting etc And lest we forget that wonderful night we all spent with our governor telling us how it was gonna be?OK- guys see ya at the opening! (edited for spelling, punctuation and capitalization)
Unlike many in the press we aren’t privy to the book which apparently isn’t released yet but is available at amazon.com for a lot less than the $20 retail price.

Paik’s response was a bit defensive but revealed some of the misperceptions people have about the lucrative field of writing and activism.

Aloha Friends,

Richard Diamond, who puts out the Kaua`i Museletter, received this hateful email after putting out an announcement for the book signing launch.

This is the third such vituperous message I've gotten. The first was when I was on the radio announcing auditions for a play based on the Lingle visit to Kauai. Someone called early in the morning and just started venting, just like this letter. I wonder if it's thesame person.

The second instance was from Elaine Dunbar, when I approached her for her mana'o to include in the book. She slammed the door of the KCC auditorium in my face, hissing that she wouldn't help out someone cashing in on the superferry incident. But, of course, we all expect this sort of behavior from Elaine Dunbar.

The reason I am forwarding this to you all, is a humble request to do what you can, if the moment arises, to correct any such misconceptions that people might have around this book. It shocks me to think that this book, which was nurtured purely out of a desire to celebrate our island communities and unite us, might become a source of division because of people like the writer of the following email spreading negative energy.

As for profits from this book, I have worked 24-7 on it, without pay, for over a year, and will receive one dollar for every book sold. To earn pay equal to that of an entry-level school teacher, I would need to sell 30,000 books, which is unlikely. Not to mention the publisher, who has invested tens of thousands of dollars. Our goal is not to "make a million," but to break even.If you can help in the small and simple way of just being aware of this kind of attitude and its dangers, I would be very appreciative.

mahalo,
camera

But upon reflection and a letter from one of those Paik shared the email with, Paik wrote

ADDENDUM

Upon rereading that email from Steve Valiere, I see that I was jumping the gun by calling it "hateful."

I suppose I made the assumption because it sounded so much like the phone call I got, here the guy refused to tell me his name, and just continued to yell in my ear about how he sacrificed so much and suffered under the brutality of the cops, while I was trying to get a word in edgewise that I, too, was there on the pier (though not in the water), and my only desire was to sing the praises through what I do (write) of the courage of those who did go in the water.

The sarcasm that I read in the email was so similar to that phone call, (which *was* hateful), that it triggered a certain response. But I'm all calmed down now. Sorry about that, folks.

camera

We also understand that Paik has approached Valiere to talk it out and will also have him on the panel during an upcoming event related to the book release,

What this does- and the reason we are giving it light is to ask what is being done for those like Valiere and the others who are still suffering at least psychologically at the hands of hateful wackos like Pete Antonson and Kimo Rosen- the latter of which is planning on a pro-Superferry demonstration at Paik’s book release event.

All in the activist community need to remind everyone who showed up to turn back the ferry, how we owe them a lot more than we could ever hope to pay. An occasional reminder that we still honor their actions now and then couldn’t hurt.

SALTY DOG

SALTY DOG: Dividing lines on the Hawaii Superferry (HSf) were reportedly drawn at Tuesday’s mayoral debate with candidates Mel Rapozo and Bernard Carvalho giving unqualified support and JoAnn Yukimura and Rolf Bieber coming down on the skeptical side.

Seemingly though, for most the determining factor is completion of the environmental impact statement (EIS) currently being undertaken.

Kauaians overwhelmingly, whether they favor or despise the HSf want to know all the impacts island wide and how they are going to be dealt with.

But ever since the Eco-Roundtable candidates’ forum there’s been a question as to the validity of the current Belt Collins EIS that was called the “Act 2 EIS” in a question to the candidates, as distinguished from a normal EIS under the Hawai`i and National Environmental Protection Acts, HEPA and NEPA respectively.

Though we’ve asked numerous people during the last month what the exact difference was we were unable to even get an approximate answer... until now.

Intrepid Superferry researcher and foe Brad Parsons- who was MauiBrad until he recently moved to our shores to become KauaiBrad- has a post at his Hawaii Superferry Unofficial Blog, explaining that Act 2 will not contain one of the most important elements of an EIS- the “no action alternative”.

Apparently one of the council members didn’t get it either and asked Brad to clue us in on what others have been referring to.

Brad wrote in reply

From reading Act 2 and Chapter 343 and from a speech I heard Dan Hempey give based on a conversation he had with Isaac Hall, my understanding is that Act 2 does not allow for the 'no action' alternative on the project being studied, further it does not provide for the governing authority to reject and not allow the project. The 'no action' alternative is a part of a real EIS under HEPA Chapter 343 and a federal NEPA EIS.

What this essentially means is that it’s a given that the EIS will not have to provide for mitigation of the environmental, cultural and social impacts because it doesn’t really matter whether they do or not.

In other words the boat is already in service so therefore the impacts somehow don’t matter and can and will be ignored.

But does the Hawai`i state legislature really have the right to say this? Apparently not.

HEPA is the state version of NEPA which details the federal mandates states must follow in preparing EIS’. And one of the most important is the evolved standard “no action alternative” which is in EIS’ for the “accepting” entity to use if they determine that either all the impacts are not identified or more importantly that the impacts are so great that they simply cannot be sufficiently mitigated.

Many think the latter would probably be the case in an “honest” EIS without spending hundreds of millions of dollars on improving our infrastructural capacity and protecting our resources

In the federal courts it has become quite clear that the “no action alternative” (NAA) is an essential element of any EIS.

Just recently here in Hawai`i, in cases involving both the Army’s use of the sacred Makua Valley on O`ahu and the Navy’s use of sonar, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lack of the NAA is reason enough to go back to the drawing board and has stuck down the EIS’ that didn’t contain them.

But the whole history of the HSf is littered with a total regard of federal law. That’s because it has suffered from a dearth of cases filed in federal court except for one that was thrown out, not on the merits but on technicalities, well before many pertinent facts were known and more than a year before the ferry first attempted to travel.

As PNN detailed in a series of articles last year, from the State Department of Transportation’s original “exemption” for the HSf that was struck down by the Hawai`i Supreme Court to the state’s lack of adherence to the federal Coastal Zone Management act by playing a shell game with the local Special Management Area permitting process, the state has routinely ignored federal laws that trump the state statutes.

But none of the attorney’s involved in getting adherence to State law have chosen to go to the Federal courts to get state compliance since that long ago ruling

Parsons closed his piece by saying

The following is a passage written by a legal expert involved and further explains it, "Act 2 changed the very purpose of HEPA just to accommodate the Superferry Corporation. Until November 1, 2007 (the day Act 2 took effect), HEPA had been based on the fact that EA studies were “critical to humanity’s well being,…and that an environmental review process” was necessary to “alert decision makers to significant environmental effects which may result from the implementation of certain actions.” Act 2’s stated purpose is to “facilitate the establishment of interisland ferry service and, at the same time, protect Hawai‘i’s fragile environment (italics added) by clarifying that neither the preparation of an environmental assessment, nor a finding of no significant impact, nor acceptance of an environmental impact statement shall be a condition precedent to, or otherwise be required prior to … operation of a large capacity ferry vessel company.”"

Rapozo has been duped- as has Carvalho, as have thousands of people on Kaua`i- into thinking that a there is an EIS being prepared that adheres to federal standards.

But as feared, the legislature’s “Act 2”- which threw out the "condition precedent" requirements of Chapter 343 of State law aka HEPA - not only allowed the HSf to operate while an EIS was being done but threw out any question of operation after it was done.

As mayoral candidate JoAnn Yukimura was quoted as saying at the debate

Yukimura said she needs assurance the issues that may be identified in the environmental assessment — such as traffic, drugs, overcrowded parks, invasive species and cultural theft — will be operationally addressed and “not just with words.”

It’s like asking if we want a chocolate bar and then giving us a chocolate-covered turd. When we break it open and look at it closely we complain that “this is nothing but a piece of shit”.

Apparently Rapozo’s, Carvalho’s and the Chamber of Commerce crowd’s answer to us is “yeah but it’s really great shit”