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.
Showing posts with label USS Superferry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USS Superferry. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
DO DOGS RIDE FREE?
DO DOGS RIDE FREE? The sow’s ear is busy again and trying to see how much manure it takes to convert it into a silk purse with today’s practically verbatim report of Hawai`i Superferry (HSf) spokesperson Lori Abe’s press release run in this morning’s Star-Bulletin.
But- miracles of miracles- the Honolulu Advertiser’s HSf cheerleader Christie Wilson, who has covered the boat’s promotional beat, actually either slipped up or tried to slip in a discouraging word or two on the contention that the skies for the interloping antelopes of our dear military boondoggle aren’t cloudy or gray.
After the perfunctory ingestions and regurgitations of the questionable recent rise in the numbers of passengers and cars- numbers that are, as un-noted in the corporate press, only verified by the StupidFerry people themselves- and a bunch of the usual Advertiser ad-supported drivel about how great the ferry is, she says this:
While critics of the new interisland service like to point out the 350-foot ferry is traveling half empty, Superferry President and CEO Tom Fargo sees the Alakai as half full and well on its way to acceptance as an interisland travel and cargo alternative.
But then surprisingly there’s this:
The gains in passenger and vehicle traffic are occurring while promotional pricing is in effect, and Superferry already is anticipating slower demand after August.
Ah, the soft prejudice of low expectations. But she goes on to actually further detail reasons for the expected downturn. What “full fare” will be is anyone’s guess but Wilson reports that:
For now, fares lower than what the airlines are offering and the novelty of the new interisland transport are attracting passengers, according to the survey.
Superferry had been offering one-way fares of $49 per person through the end of September, but the deadline for bookings was yesterday. New promotional fares are $10 higher.
Those $59 fares are good for travel through Oct. 31. Tickets for children ages 2 to 12, retired and active military, and seniors also went up $10, to $49.
Superferry also is extending a fuel surcharge waiver for promotional passenger fares. If put into effect, the surcharge — now at 65 percent — likely would eliminate the ferry's price advantage over interisland airlines.
That’s interspersed with a lot of excuses and more reasons for us to believe Abe and not our lying eyes.
But the fact remains that the only reason people are traveling by the boat is that the fares are so severely discounted that they are actually cheaper than any other form of interisland transport- even though all HSf’s original business plan numbers have shown it’s more costly per passenger to travel on the boat than via air.
“The survey” refers to a Qmark Research on-board survey of 347 of the more than 50,000 passengers on the USS Superferry from June 20- July 29- less than 1/3 of 1%.
And in a part of the poll conspicuously missing from Abe’s press release or the newspaper articles it confirms that most people are taking the ferry because it’s cheap or a novelty,
Amidst the high customer satisfaction numbers for which participants received a five buck voucher for participation (also unreported in the paper or press release) are these numbers
Reasons for using the Superferry
Lower cost- 51%
Wanted to try it- 47%
Need to travel with vehicle- 38%
Thought it would be enjoyable- 35%
Oceans landscape views- 6%
Positive experience/Enjoy form of travel- 10%
So presumably more than half would not travel when the fares go up And just under half say it was a one time thing. And the rest aren’t exactly going to be beating down the doors for another sightseeing trip at a much more exorbitant rate.
Only 38% cited a “need” to travel with their car- the prime type of passenger who HSf needs to make a business success of the venture. And it doesn’t say how many of those are taking their car because they save enough so they don’t have to rent a car due to the slashed prices- a condition that will disappear with normal fares
Another question is how reliable these kinds of customer satisfaction surveys are. If they are given- as they never are- by letting passengers grab a form, fill it out and drop it in a box, it might get their true feelings.
But when someone stands there with a clipboard and you have to tell the person working for the outfit that their service sucks, well it’s no wonder almost all of them say how wonderful it was- especially when being handed money AFTER answering the questions.
But perhaps the most insane part of all this is that these people who commented on the articles in the newspaper are touting how this shows that the ferry is a wonderful thing and will be successful in the long run- so shut up you idiots on Kaua`i
Parenthetically, Wilson reports: Superferry President and CEO Tom... Fargo said there are no plans at this point to resume service to Kaua`i.
The problem is that many are the self-same people who bemoaned what they saw as go! Airline’s “predatory pricing” having forced Aloha Airlines into bankruptcy with the same kind of business plan of offering lower rates than profitability warrants.
Yet these same people are back lauding the Superferry for their low fairs with a “see we told you” line that ignores that the company is still hemorrhaging money on every voyage and that no one’s going to take their boat at double or triple the prices when they can fly for less- unless maybe if they for some reason need their own cars or trucks... like maybe for stealing imu rocks.
And guess what- in another part of the survey that went unreported the 43% who did not take their car said these were the reasons:
36%- Don’t need a car this trip
28%- Someone picking me up using their own car
22%- Plan to rent a car
14% -Trip too short
And that’s now, without of course the regular fare for a car plus the “waived” fuel surcharge.
With the winter a’comin’ and less trips at presumably full fare it’s hard to see these unreported parts of the survey as a positive indicator
If this doesn’t spell trouble it’s hard to say what does.
With Wilson’s perfunctory mention of some of the potential gray clouds gathering, how long can the Superferry count on their bought and paid for mouthpieces to insure that never is heard a discouraging word?
We don’t know but we do know that mama always told us to watch where you step when you’re out there where the buffalo roam.
But- miracles of miracles- the Honolulu Advertiser’s HSf cheerleader Christie Wilson, who has covered the boat’s promotional beat, actually either slipped up or tried to slip in a discouraging word or two on the contention that the skies for the interloping antelopes of our dear military boondoggle aren’t cloudy or gray.
After the perfunctory ingestions and regurgitations of the questionable recent rise in the numbers of passengers and cars- numbers that are, as un-noted in the corporate press, only verified by the StupidFerry people themselves- and a bunch of the usual Advertiser ad-supported drivel about how great the ferry is, she says this:
While critics of the new interisland service like to point out the 350-foot ferry is traveling half empty, Superferry President and CEO Tom Fargo sees the Alakai as half full and well on its way to acceptance as an interisland travel and cargo alternative.
But then surprisingly there’s this:
The gains in passenger and vehicle traffic are occurring while promotional pricing is in effect, and Superferry already is anticipating slower demand after August.
Ah, the soft prejudice of low expectations. But she goes on to actually further detail reasons for the expected downturn. What “full fare” will be is anyone’s guess but Wilson reports that:
For now, fares lower than what the airlines are offering and the novelty of the new interisland transport are attracting passengers, according to the survey.
Superferry had been offering one-way fares of $49 per person through the end of September, but the deadline for bookings was yesterday. New promotional fares are $10 higher.
Those $59 fares are good for travel through Oct. 31. Tickets for children ages 2 to 12, retired and active military, and seniors also went up $10, to $49.
Superferry also is extending a fuel surcharge waiver for promotional passenger fares. If put into effect, the surcharge — now at 65 percent — likely would eliminate the ferry's price advantage over interisland airlines.
That’s interspersed with a lot of excuses and more reasons for us to believe Abe and not our lying eyes.
But the fact remains that the only reason people are traveling by the boat is that the fares are so severely discounted that they are actually cheaper than any other form of interisland transport- even though all HSf’s original business plan numbers have shown it’s more costly per passenger to travel on the boat than via air.
“The survey” refers to a Qmark Research on-board survey of 347 of the more than 50,000 passengers on the USS Superferry from June 20- July 29- less than 1/3 of 1%.
And in a part of the poll conspicuously missing from Abe’s press release or the newspaper articles it confirms that most people are taking the ferry because it’s cheap or a novelty,
Amidst the high customer satisfaction numbers for which participants received a five buck voucher for participation (also unreported in the paper or press release) are these numbers
Reasons for using the Superferry
Lower cost- 51%
Wanted to try it- 47%
Need to travel with vehicle- 38%
Thought it would be enjoyable- 35%
Oceans landscape views- 6%
Positive experience/Enjoy form of travel- 10%
So presumably more than half would not travel when the fares go up And just under half say it was a one time thing. And the rest aren’t exactly going to be beating down the doors for another sightseeing trip at a much more exorbitant rate.
Only 38% cited a “need” to travel with their car- the prime type of passenger who HSf needs to make a business success of the venture. And it doesn’t say how many of those are taking their car because they save enough so they don’t have to rent a car due to the slashed prices- a condition that will disappear with normal fares
Another question is how reliable these kinds of customer satisfaction surveys are. If they are given- as they never are- by letting passengers grab a form, fill it out and drop it in a box, it might get their true feelings.
But when someone stands there with a clipboard and you have to tell the person working for the outfit that their service sucks, well it’s no wonder almost all of them say how wonderful it was- especially when being handed money AFTER answering the questions.
But perhaps the most insane part of all this is that these people who commented on the articles in the newspaper are touting how this shows that the ferry is a wonderful thing and will be successful in the long run- so shut up you idiots on Kaua`i
Parenthetically, Wilson reports: Superferry President and CEO Tom... Fargo said there are no plans at this point to resume service to Kaua`i.
The problem is that many are the self-same people who bemoaned what they saw as go! Airline’s “predatory pricing” having forced Aloha Airlines into bankruptcy with the same kind of business plan of offering lower rates than profitability warrants.
Yet these same people are back lauding the Superferry for their low fairs with a “see we told you” line that ignores that the company is still hemorrhaging money on every voyage and that no one’s going to take their boat at double or triple the prices when they can fly for less- unless maybe if they for some reason need their own cars or trucks... like maybe for stealing imu rocks.
And guess what- in another part of the survey that went unreported the 43% who did not take their car said these were the reasons:
36%- Don’t need a car this trip
28%- Someone picking me up using their own car
22%- Plan to rent a car
14% -Trip too short
And that’s now, without of course the regular fare for a car plus the “waived” fuel surcharge.
With the winter a’comin’ and less trips at presumably full fare it’s hard to see these unreported parts of the survey as a positive indicator
If this doesn’t spell trouble it’s hard to say what does.
With Wilson’s perfunctory mention of some of the potential gray clouds gathering, how long can the Superferry count on their bought and paid for mouthpieces to insure that never is heard a discouraging word?
We don’t know but we do know that mama always told us to watch where you step when you’re out there where the buffalo roam.
Friday, August 1, 2008
NO LITTLE KIRK, WE SAID YOU COULD HAVE “A” DOG
NO LITTLE KIRK, WE SAID YOU COULD HAVE “A” DOG: Curiouser and curiouser is an apt description after 10 days down the rabbit hole in the case of the deadline-missing candidates.
Because a “preliminary” half-ruling by former “de facto” State Elections Chief Kevin Cronin has determined half the equation in saying that soon-to-be-former House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell did not withdraw from running for his old post until after the filing deadline- doing so on Wed. July 23, not before the filing deadline on the 22nd- enabling the Democratic Party to pick their replacement candidate, Isaac Choy
But as to whether Caldwell- or anyone- broke the law as the ruling infers, by illegally filing for a second office without withdrawing from the one he had previously filed for, Cronin exercised his “I’m not here” privilege and was silent.
According Ian Lind who today provided the pdf file of Cronin’s ruling:
That appears to bounce the issue of Caldwell’s candidacy for the city council back to city clerk Denise Decosta, who by law (Section 12-8 HRS) must decide on challenges to candidates for county office. Now that Cronin has ruled that Caldwell remained a candidate in his House district until sometime on the morning following the filing deadline, and state law prohibits a candidate from filing for more than one office, Decosta appears to have less wiggle room in determining whether Caldwell’s council filing was valid.
So Decosta, who if she wasn’t a law-breaker herself at best aided and abetted Caldwell in breaking the law prohibiting the filing for more than one office, will be the one to decide whether Caldwell’s filing for council is valid regardless of how the insufficient-valid-signatures issue with Caldwell’s filing plays out.
If she rules Caldwell, having had his filing accepted by her office, legally filed for council she would be the one who was the scoff-law for allowing him to file for two offices at once. But if she rules that her office made a mistake in accepting it and bans Caldwell from the ballot, it’s all’s well that ends well- for her... unless of course Caldwell sues her for screwing him- despite the fact that he apparently didn’t know or intentionally broke the law despite the fact that he makes the laws..
Caldwell’s kind of like the guy with two girlfriends. He’s thinking the worst that could happen is that he’ll have to chose one or the other if they find out about each other. But when they do uncover his scheme they both ditch him.
It appears that Kirk is in for a rude awakening when he wakes up to find that after diddling around with two constituencies his new bed in the political gutter.
And you know it couldn’t happen to a nicer- or at least more appropriate- guy.
Anyone who observes- or cares about- the legislature knows Caldwell primarily for his blind devotion to Speaker Calvin Say and for his penchant for obstructing legislation by assuring it gets killed, if not by him then through his support of powerful committee chairs.
If the speaker didn’t like a bill or it didn’t serve their leadership faction politically he was the hatchet man. He and Say killed dozens of good bills this session- the kind people look at and say “how did that not get passed?”- and pulled the same crap when veto overrides were proposed, denying a vote on many of them by claiming, as he did during session, that “there weren’t enough votes”, without even bother to hold one.
He’s been a real champ at these political moves, shielding legislators from having to commit on controversial issues in an election year.
Cronin also has more problems of his own today after breaking another law and running up against common sense because he reportedly already ordered the ballot to be printed without allowing the parties to examine them (in violation of state law) and included Caldwell’s name on the ballots even though his ruling practically obviates the rejection Caldwell’s council filing
It’s quite the biblical parable. But presumably there will be some other twist such as Cronin’s decision being nullified because perhaps his self-proclaimed “de facto” leadership status might be insufficient to allow him to make the decision in the first place.
We just heard the Mad Hatter say to stay un-tuned
-----------------
And in a follow-up to our SuperScamFerry story yesterday there are two seemingly conflicting stories out of ferry-builder Austal’s home town newspaper, the Mobile Press-Register, regarding the copmpany’s military contracts and plans to build warships for the Navy.
The first, published Wednesday, is headlined
Audit: Austal failed to keep tabs on LCS Company didn't keep Navy managers informed
It tell us that the big Navy shipbuilding contract they are depending on might be on shaky ground saying:
Austal USA failed to keep Navy managers informed about the cost and schedule of the littoral combat ship under construction at its Mobile yard, according to a recent report that also faults the Navy and the project's lead contractor, General Dynamics Corp., for failing to ride herd on the company.
Overall, the review by the Naval Audit Service outlines a "significant breakdown" in internal controls over the high-profile project, now some $300 million over budget and a year behind the original timetable.
Program managers "were not provided valid and reliable cost, schedule and technical performance information for decision-making purposes," the report said.
"These issues raise concerns regarding Austal's management processes impacting the timeliness, accuracy, reliability and validity of performance management data that (Navy leaders) were supposed to rely upon to manage the contracts."
But then today there’s this:
Austal begins $254M facility; Shipyard counting on expansion to win more military contracts
Austal USA is banking on a $254 million expansion of its Mobile shipyard to lay the groundwork for large-scale U.S. military work.
Austal broke ground Thursday on a modular manufacturing facility that promises faster, less expensive ship construction at a time when the Defense Department is trying to rein in costs, particularly on ships.
Whether the U.S. Navy responds with new contracts remains to be seen, but one Washington, D.C., analyst said he feels there's a good chance the multimillion-dollar gamble will pay off.
"I don't think there's ever a guarantee in life," said Jay Korman, senior Navy analyst for consulting firm Avascent Group. "But when you look at the progress they've made on their program, they are right on track. I think the military customers will come ? that's the bottom line."
Gotta file this one under “huh?”
Because a “preliminary” half-ruling by former “de facto” State Elections Chief Kevin Cronin has determined half the equation in saying that soon-to-be-former House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell did not withdraw from running for his old post until after the filing deadline- doing so on Wed. July 23, not before the filing deadline on the 22nd- enabling the Democratic Party to pick their replacement candidate, Isaac Choy
But as to whether Caldwell- or anyone- broke the law as the ruling infers, by illegally filing for a second office without withdrawing from the one he had previously filed for, Cronin exercised his “I’m not here” privilege and was silent.
According Ian Lind who today provided the pdf file of Cronin’s ruling:
That appears to bounce the issue of Caldwell’s candidacy for the city council back to city clerk Denise Decosta, who by law (Section 12-8 HRS) must decide on challenges to candidates for county office. Now that Cronin has ruled that Caldwell remained a candidate in his House district until sometime on the morning following the filing deadline, and state law prohibits a candidate from filing for more than one office, Decosta appears to have less wiggle room in determining whether Caldwell’s council filing was valid.
So Decosta, who if she wasn’t a law-breaker herself at best aided and abetted Caldwell in breaking the law prohibiting the filing for more than one office, will be the one to decide whether Caldwell’s filing for council is valid regardless of how the insufficient-valid-signatures issue with Caldwell’s filing plays out.
If she rules Caldwell, having had his filing accepted by her office, legally filed for council she would be the one who was the scoff-law for allowing him to file for two offices at once. But if she rules that her office made a mistake in accepting it and bans Caldwell from the ballot, it’s all’s well that ends well- for her... unless of course Caldwell sues her for screwing him- despite the fact that he apparently didn’t know or intentionally broke the law despite the fact that he makes the laws..
Caldwell’s kind of like the guy with two girlfriends. He’s thinking the worst that could happen is that he’ll have to chose one or the other if they find out about each other. But when they do uncover his scheme they both ditch him.
It appears that Kirk is in for a rude awakening when he wakes up to find that after diddling around with two constituencies his new bed in the political gutter.
And you know it couldn’t happen to a nicer- or at least more appropriate- guy.
Anyone who observes- or cares about- the legislature knows Caldwell primarily for his blind devotion to Speaker Calvin Say and for his penchant for obstructing legislation by assuring it gets killed, if not by him then through his support of powerful committee chairs.
If the speaker didn’t like a bill or it didn’t serve their leadership faction politically he was the hatchet man. He and Say killed dozens of good bills this session- the kind people look at and say “how did that not get passed?”- and pulled the same crap when veto overrides were proposed, denying a vote on many of them by claiming, as he did during session, that “there weren’t enough votes”, without even bother to hold one.
He’s been a real champ at these political moves, shielding legislators from having to commit on controversial issues in an election year.
Cronin also has more problems of his own today after breaking another law and running up against common sense because he reportedly already ordered the ballot to be printed without allowing the parties to examine them (in violation of state law) and included Caldwell’s name on the ballots even though his ruling practically obviates the rejection Caldwell’s council filing
It’s quite the biblical parable. But presumably there will be some other twist such as Cronin’s decision being nullified because perhaps his self-proclaimed “de facto” leadership status might be insufficient to allow him to make the decision in the first place.
We just heard the Mad Hatter say to stay un-tuned
-----------------
And in a follow-up to our SuperScamFerry story yesterday there are two seemingly conflicting stories out of ferry-builder Austal’s home town newspaper, the Mobile Press-Register, regarding the copmpany’s military contracts and plans to build warships for the Navy.
The first, published Wednesday, is headlined
Audit: Austal failed to keep tabs on LCS Company didn't keep Navy managers informed
It tell us that the big Navy shipbuilding contract they are depending on might be on shaky ground saying:
Austal USA failed to keep Navy managers informed about the cost and schedule of the littoral combat ship under construction at its Mobile yard, according to a recent report that also faults the Navy and the project's lead contractor, General Dynamics Corp., for failing to ride herd on the company.
Overall, the review by the Naval Audit Service outlines a "significant breakdown" in internal controls over the high-profile project, now some $300 million over budget and a year behind the original timetable.
Program managers "were not provided valid and reliable cost, schedule and technical performance information for decision-making purposes," the report said.
"These issues raise concerns regarding Austal's management processes impacting the timeliness, accuracy, reliability and validity of performance management data that (Navy leaders) were supposed to rely upon to manage the contracts."
But then today there’s this:
Austal begins $254M facility; Shipyard counting on expansion to win more military contracts
Austal USA is banking on a $254 million expansion of its Mobile shipyard to lay the groundwork for large-scale U.S. military work.
Austal broke ground Thursday on a modular manufacturing facility that promises faster, less expensive ship construction at a time when the Defense Department is trying to rein in costs, particularly on ships.
Whether the U.S. Navy responds with new contracts remains to be seen, but one Washington, D.C., analyst said he feels there's a good chance the multimillion-dollar gamble will pay off.
"I don't think there's ever a guarantee in life," said Jay Korman, senior Navy analyst for consulting firm Avascent Group. "But when you look at the progress they've made on their program, they are right on track. I think the military customers will come ? that's the bottom line."
Gotta file this one under “huh?”
Thursday, July 31, 2008
NO, NO- IT’S A JUST WHISKERLESS BARKING CAT
NO, NO- IT’S A JUST WHISKERLESS BARKING CAT: When Larry Geller posted a story about an article from the BYM Marine & Maritime News Wednesday on Hawai`i Superferry (HSf) maker Austal’s final Joint High Speed Vessel proposal to the US Navy he sure didn’t think he’d wind up on the obituary page of the Honolulu Advertiser today
The profoundly exaggerated news of Larry’s demise notwithstanding, his original post pressed others in the local alternative press into action with a lot more details coming from the “owner” of the USS Superferry story Joan Conrow to come up with some expanded coverage, quite obviously spurring a story in this morning’s Advertiser.
They are all a must read. And they all detail how military use of the Superferry is indeed- despite HSf’s past attempts to hide and deny it- moving along quite nicely thank you with a new ramp designed for military use being included in the new “under contraction” HSf and the possible retrofitting of one on the ferry currently in use.
But the real news came from Maui Professor Dick Mayer who did a little digging and provided this from an article today in the Mobile (Alabama) Press-Register. about hometown’s Austal’s prospects for landing the Navy contract to build 10 and maybe more of the military vessels based on the same design as the HSf vessels
The article states:
"We have the trained workforce ready today, we have the facilities available today to support construction, and we have already built a vessel of very similar design right here in Mobile," he said, referring the Hawaii Superferry.
Austal was one of three bidders awarded a design contract in January, and company officials said that they anticipate a contract award before year's end.
But that’s followed by what may be the punch line to the whole HSf joke.
The Mobile shipbuilder also said Wednesday that it had won new work to provide "additional features and equipment on the second Hawaii Superferry to facilitate its use by the military."
Part of a $190-million, two-ship contract, the vessel is being built for Hawaii Superferry Inc. The first superferry is in service in Hawaii, but the company's plan to run an inter-island ferry service has been plagued by environmental protests, and company officials could be positioning the vessel for sale to a third party. (emphasis added)
Browning said he met recently with Thomas Fargo, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who is Hawaii Superferry's chief executive, and there was "no mention" of plans to sell the second vessel.
"However, the national defense features we are adding to HSF 2 would enable the vessel to be chartered to the military if they so desired," Browning said.
Well this drove Conrow up a wall. In today’s post she says:
Now I don’t mind if HSF 2, or even the Alakai, for that matter, is made into a military ship, although it bothers me that the HSF spent so much money lobbying in an effort to get us taxpayers to pick up the tab. But I’m a fan of full disclosure, and when Hawaii Superferry came to town, asking for all sorts of state help and public acceptance for what is proving to be a rather dubious commercial enterprise, I think they should have been totally up front about their military aspirations.
Then we all could have weighed the issue more carefully, and asked such probing questions as whether HSF really is committed to the state for the long haul, or if we’ll be left holding the bag for those expensive harbor improvements, tugboat operations and litigation — and have no alternative form of transportation to show for it.
And then there’s still the unanswered question of why Gov. Lingle went out on such a limb to ensure the Superferry sailed. Surely it wasn’t just the replica of the Alakai she received from top Superferry investor John Lehman, who bequeathed a similar gift on that other key ferry skid-greaser, House Speaker Calvin Say, within months of the special legislative session being convened. (Sen. President Colleen Hamabusa, on the other hand, got only a framed photograph.)
But slow by slow, it seems the truth is being revealed, and perhaps one day the full tale will be told. Somehow, though, I don't think it will be The Advertiser that breaks the story.
In the grifter and carnie world they say the best “mark” is a fellow con artist. Think. the movie, The Sting”.
And it’s now become apparent that we’ve been the perfect suckers.
Lingle, Say, Hamabusa and most of the gullible public took it all at face value when we heard we were going to be magnanimously gifted with an interisland ferry. Thoughts were of a “free lunch” that wouldn’t cost the state taxpayers a nickel in the long run.
But it’s beginning to become painfully obvious that “we was tooken” and former Navy Secretary and 9/11 Commission member Lehman and his military-contractor breakfast club at Lockheed never really planned to help Hawai`i with a new form of inter-island transportation but rather just to demonstrate the prototype ship for his and Austal’s military boondoggle.
So if you were going to pull off this scam to get the Hawai`i pols and taxpayers to support this demonstration project but not lose your shirt in your cockamamie money-losing business plan, you’d have to not only wind up selling the boat to the military once it served it’s purpose but make sure people wouldn’t lynch you when it’s all over.
How? Maybe by intentionally going forward with a bad business, making bad business decisions and purposefully getting people to oppose it to insure the boat would eventually have be sold (to the military) without people even knowing they were conned because they blame themselves- and protesters or environmentalists- for the demise of their “free lunch”.... the best kind of scam of all.
The most superlatively run cons have a partnerships where one of the scammers is also scamming the others because they’re too busy conning others to realize they’re being taken.
Ever wonder why an obvious idiot like Garibaldi was put in charge? Garibaldi thought he was going to con everyone else into actually accepting the ferry, be a hero and make a lot of money. Lingle thought she was going to con everyone to put a higher-office feather in her admiral's cap
Everyone involved was out to con someone into something for their personal enrichment, whether monetary or otherwise including many of the “regular people” who thought they were getting insanely cheap transportation or a way to steal and smuggle back neighbor island resources or at least exploit them on the cheap.
That explains why they tried to deny any military use at first when no one- as Joan said to light our bulb- would have really cared if it was indeed a ferry project for Hawai`i and also a demonstration of the catamaran design for military purposes.
Normally you’d think they’d promote it. Why would they hide it?
Well maybe, if their plan all along was really to leave us high and dry so to speak, they were afraid people would look back and see the real purpose once they were “forced” to sell HSf’s boats to the military.
We in the islands - even those who support HSf- keep asking ourselves how these guys could be so stupid as to their business plan, their machinations with the state, the EIS debacle, the “in-your-face, Supreme Court” attitude that caused the Kaua`i protests to swell, all the PR blunders, starting service in the winter-swell season and other idiocies?
The most rabid Superferry proponent even asks “how could these people be so stupid.”
The answer is they weren’t and aren’t.. Nobody is that stupid. They always had this as their real plan.
How do we know- The same way the bunko squad does- when you use that as a premise, everything else falls into place and makes perfect sense.
You don’t even have to connect any dots but rather think about what makes all this “make sense”. Then you see the real reason they tried to deny, cover-up and hush up the military connection until the uproar in the alternative press got so loud the newspapers had to cover it..
But let us know if you still don’t believe this- we may have a bridge to the neighbor islands to sell you. Maybe you can sail your ferry under it.
The profoundly exaggerated news of Larry’s demise notwithstanding, his original post pressed others in the local alternative press into action with a lot more details coming from the “owner” of the USS Superferry story Joan Conrow to come up with some expanded coverage, quite obviously spurring a story in this morning’s Advertiser.
They are all a must read. And they all detail how military use of the Superferry is indeed- despite HSf’s past attempts to hide and deny it- moving along quite nicely thank you with a new ramp designed for military use being included in the new “under contraction” HSf and the possible retrofitting of one on the ferry currently in use.
But the real news came from Maui Professor Dick Mayer who did a little digging and provided this from an article today in the Mobile (Alabama) Press-Register. about hometown’s Austal’s prospects for landing the Navy contract to build 10 and maybe more of the military vessels based on the same design as the HSf vessels
The article states:
"We have the trained workforce ready today, we have the facilities available today to support construction, and we have already built a vessel of very similar design right here in Mobile," he said, referring the Hawaii Superferry.
Austal was one of three bidders awarded a design contract in January, and company officials said that they anticipate a contract award before year's end.
But that’s followed by what may be the punch line to the whole HSf joke.
The Mobile shipbuilder also said Wednesday that it had won new work to provide "additional features and equipment on the second Hawaii Superferry to facilitate its use by the military."
Part of a $190-million, two-ship contract, the vessel is being built for Hawaii Superferry Inc. The first superferry is in service in Hawaii, but the company's plan to run an inter-island ferry service has been plagued by environmental protests, and company officials could be positioning the vessel for sale to a third party. (emphasis added)
Browning said he met recently with Thomas Fargo, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who is Hawaii Superferry's chief executive, and there was "no mention" of plans to sell the second vessel.
"However, the national defense features we are adding to HSF 2 would enable the vessel to be chartered to the military if they so desired," Browning said.
Well this drove Conrow up a wall. In today’s post she says:
Now I don’t mind if HSF 2, or even the Alakai, for that matter, is made into a military ship, although it bothers me that the HSF spent so much money lobbying in an effort to get us taxpayers to pick up the tab. But I’m a fan of full disclosure, and when Hawaii Superferry came to town, asking for all sorts of state help and public acceptance for what is proving to be a rather dubious commercial enterprise, I think they should have been totally up front about their military aspirations.
Then we all could have weighed the issue more carefully, and asked such probing questions as whether HSF really is committed to the state for the long haul, or if we’ll be left holding the bag for those expensive harbor improvements, tugboat operations and litigation — and have no alternative form of transportation to show for it.
And then there’s still the unanswered question of why Gov. Lingle went out on such a limb to ensure the Superferry sailed. Surely it wasn’t just the replica of the Alakai she received from top Superferry investor John Lehman, who bequeathed a similar gift on that other key ferry skid-greaser, House Speaker Calvin Say, within months of the special legislative session being convened. (Sen. President Colleen Hamabusa, on the other hand, got only a framed photograph.)
But slow by slow, it seems the truth is being revealed, and perhaps one day the full tale will be told. Somehow, though, I don't think it will be The Advertiser that breaks the story.
In the grifter and carnie world they say the best “mark” is a fellow con artist. Think. the movie, The Sting”.
And it’s now become apparent that we’ve been the perfect suckers.
Lingle, Say, Hamabusa and most of the gullible public took it all at face value when we heard we were going to be magnanimously gifted with an interisland ferry. Thoughts were of a “free lunch” that wouldn’t cost the state taxpayers a nickel in the long run.
But it’s beginning to become painfully obvious that “we was tooken” and former Navy Secretary and 9/11 Commission member Lehman and his military-contractor breakfast club at Lockheed never really planned to help Hawai`i with a new form of inter-island transportation but rather just to demonstrate the prototype ship for his and Austal’s military boondoggle.
So if you were going to pull off this scam to get the Hawai`i pols and taxpayers to support this demonstration project but not lose your shirt in your cockamamie money-losing business plan, you’d have to not only wind up selling the boat to the military once it served it’s purpose but make sure people wouldn’t lynch you when it’s all over.
How? Maybe by intentionally going forward with a bad business, making bad business decisions and purposefully getting people to oppose it to insure the boat would eventually have be sold (to the military) without people even knowing they were conned because they blame themselves- and protesters or environmentalists- for the demise of their “free lunch”.... the best kind of scam of all.
The most superlatively run cons have a partnerships where one of the scammers is also scamming the others because they’re too busy conning others to realize they’re being taken.
Ever wonder why an obvious idiot like Garibaldi was put in charge? Garibaldi thought he was going to con everyone else into actually accepting the ferry, be a hero and make a lot of money. Lingle thought she was going to con everyone to put a higher-office feather in her admiral's cap
Everyone involved was out to con someone into something for their personal enrichment, whether monetary or otherwise including many of the “regular people” who thought they were getting insanely cheap transportation or a way to steal and smuggle back neighbor island resources or at least exploit them on the cheap.
That explains why they tried to deny any military use at first when no one- as Joan said to light our bulb- would have really cared if it was indeed a ferry project for Hawai`i and also a demonstration of the catamaran design for military purposes.
Normally you’d think they’d promote it. Why would they hide it?
Well maybe, if their plan all along was really to leave us high and dry so to speak, they were afraid people would look back and see the real purpose once they were “forced” to sell HSf’s boats to the military.
We in the islands - even those who support HSf- keep asking ourselves how these guys could be so stupid as to their business plan, their machinations with the state, the EIS debacle, the “in-your-face, Supreme Court” attitude that caused the Kaua`i protests to swell, all the PR blunders, starting service in the winter-swell season and other idiocies?
The most rabid Superferry proponent even asks “how could these people be so stupid.”
The answer is they weren’t and aren’t.. Nobody is that stupid. They always had this as their real plan.
How do we know- The same way the bunko squad does- when you use that as a premise, everything else falls into place and makes perfect sense.
You don’t even have to connect any dots but rather think about what makes all this “make sense”. Then you see the real reason they tried to deny, cover-up and hush up the military connection until the uproar in the alternative press got so loud the newspapers had to cover it..
But let us know if you still don’t believe this- we may have a bridge to the neighbor islands to sell you. Maybe you can sail your ferry under it.
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