The City and County of Honolulu is looking to ship out its trash to Washington.

Why not? We already ship our prisoners to Texas and Oklahoma. Why not send what’s ours away for other communities to deal with?

And of course it makes sense! It costs twice as much to ship it away then it does to take care of it here. Money well spent if it’s out of the way…

Seriously, I’m at a loss here. The ideas that come in to solve the challenges we face do not seem like they are adequately debated and/or thought through.

Look the rail situation. It gets more clouded each day. You got a 4 billion dollar legacy project that none of the current elected officials are going to have to with deal the endgame repercussions as it’s not going to be fully operational for another ten years. I predict that an Oahu Councilmember will run for a state elected office and get it and then hypocritically come down on the City when the **it hits the fan. Every week, almost daily, something new comes up with the rail. You got landowners that will now be forced out and “given fair market value” which I’d guess is no where near what they’d make if their business stays put and/or they were sell to a private investor.

I suppose that is the nature of politics. Again I ponder and ask, how does the community really get to weigh in? How does the Average Joe and Jill Da Kine’s voice concerns and remain in the know on it all? I never wanted to be a community watch-dog as Malia Zimmerman likes to call herself . But maybe that’s what it takes. More of us voicing our concerns in all media ways possible. I’m willing to bet myself and others in the community could connect better with the everyman and everywoman than some of the douche bags that be.

But then again, maybe I’m just an angry pedestrian.

Shoots.

JMAW

Check out this blog from the Honolulu Advertiser site.  Capitol Journalist Derrick DePledge reported on some bad blood brewing in the House of Representatives amongst the staff of all people.  It’s amazing to see the response and feelings of the people there, not to mention the names being thrown around.  I won’t go into details, as you can read it for yourself.  This is my comment on it all.

In my opinion, it’s obvious that politics has itty bitty nasty bits but the way that people are talking on these blogs, it’s obvious to me why Kimo Public feels like we stay taking it in the behind from the government.  

This is my second session at the Capitol.  I’ve seen so much in such a short time and still believe there is room for change but it’s the fact that people are getting so worked up over BS that’s frustrating.  I can see both sides of the coin.  I always try to take the middle path, it just makes no sense that there’d be such a fuss over a party.

Why would someone have to be forced to do anything?  Perhaps it’s the lingering effects of Hawaii’s illegal occupation or the martial state that was here in WWII.  Perhaps, it’s the effects of having one political party that’s too big for it’s own good.  Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…

I wanted to run for office this year.  I live in House District 24, University and Manoa area.  I was still at UH, when the current Representative, Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell was elected.  I never saw him once.  He had 3,000 potential voters there and not once did he come to us.  I heard this from the Horse’s mouth so to say, but that is beside the point.  I wanted to run because I love this area, I love the students.  

I thought, I could be young, and inject some new blood, energy into the process if you will.  As much as I believe that, the current culture there, man, ugly.  And there are some amazing people working there, on both sides of the aisle, from Representative to Senator, to Permanent and Session staff, really amazing people, but the true challenge is the culture.

How do we change the culture?  How do wash away the sand so it doesn’t get in the places it has no business in, like a party for example…

Shoots.

JMAW of Hawaii

The City and County of Honolulu City Council members will be meeting to discuss the issue of mass transit on Oahu, the most populous island in Hawaii, for the 5th time, yes that’s five times, today.  The issue has been quite the nightmare and is being explored to death, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on where you stand on the issue.

For advocates of the issue, getting it right the first time is important, so it makes sense for the Council members to be in agreement before implementing a project that could rival the Iraq War in cost (3.7 billion cost, for one county, c’mon).  It’s also important that they hammer out a few details before breaking ground because some of the areas that have been selected initially (Salt Lake) don’t make so much sense (how about linking the UH campuses, another example of students getting it in the …).  Other benefits include clearing up traffic on the congested H1, H2, and at times H3.  Eh, here’s an idea, why not not build an H4, it’d be cheaper, nah, nah, I kid.

Opponents of Mass Transit argue the pollution family (noise, physical blight, and environmental impact) as the reason for not implementing this project.  Others are supportive of the project but wish a different type of rail choice was made over the more reliable but noisy steel.  There is a push to get the Phileas rail installed.  Phileas is a bus transit system that runs on a fixed track and the biggest thing I’ve heard about it is that it makes less noise.  

All this fuss about noise.  I wonder if it really makes that much difference.  I mean a leaf blower and a lawn mower are both loud in my opinion so does it really matter if one is louder than the other?

Will this issue be resolved today or anytime soon?  Is this just a legacy project for Mayor Mufi?  Stay tuned same rail station (that’s a funny one), same rail time….

Dunna dunna dunna dunna Rail!!! (Old School Batman reference just in case you no know)

Shoots.

JMAW

Owning a dog with my girlfriend, I am always wondering why public parks don’t allow pets.  In my opinion, if you can take care of your pet, they should be allowed to roam the public parks like anybody else.  I mean, we are able to take them on public sidewalks, do why not a park?  Is the city scared of doggy poop?  People throw all their chicken bones and leftover ribs all over the ground.  Why not prohibit that?  As a responsible pet owner, we always carry a bag to throw away our dog’s waste when he does do his business.  We don’t just leave it on the ground for others to step on.

So why do we have to take our dogs to a specific doggy park?  I understand that it gives the dogs a chance to socialize, but why do we have to segregate them from other grassy areas?  OK, I’ll admit that not all dog owners are responsible people.  You can prohibit those people, or give them warnings until it is prohibited for them to bring their dogs until they are able to properly train them.  But for the other dogs who are trained properly, it is very unfortunate to keep them within the walls of a condo and not allowing them to be outside besides the sidewalk next to speedy cars.

Just my opinion.

Both China and Russia have expressed concerns over yesterday’s mission to destroy a faltering spy satellite over Pearl Harbor.  There is reasonable doubt that the mission was intended to destroy the satellite because it contained 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a toxic fuel that could have damaging effects if it reached Earth’s surface.  China and Russia feel this mission was really designed to test an anti-satellite weapon.  China underwent similar criticism from the U.s. just last year when they too downed an old satellite.

What is really behind this mission?  The reasoning behind this is rather faulty either way.   Depending on the evidence that the satellite was at risk of malfunction, I would conjecture that this mission was not necessary.

The statewide democratic caucus is tomorrow, starting at 7 pm! Let your voice be heard. The caucuses meet by precincts, so be sure to make it to your particular district’s caucus site.

To find your caucus site, visit the HawaiiDemocrats.org site or follow the link below:

FIND YOUR CAUCUS SITE

The caucus tomorrow is designed to decide which Democratic Presidential candidate Hawaii would like to see on the ballot this fall. In addition, you will elect precinct officers, district officers, and delegates to the State Convention.

Reading up on some of the news happening around our island, I came by a story reported by KGMB 9 news about a family from Punchbowl who traded in their van and bought two cars, only to find them breakdown just a few days later.  The victim purchased a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipise and her mom bought what looks like to be a 1998 Nissan Altima.

The victim purchased their car from Deals on Wheels on Nimitz Hwy, which is a used car dealership right before Nimitz turns into H1.  She said that she has been paying a ton of towing fees, and her mechanic checked it out afterwards and told her it was going to cost her $3000 to fix.  She purchased the car for $10,000 after the trade-in.

The owner of the dealership said that he is not bound to help her out in anyway, but that he would send her car to his mechanic to check out and fix what he thinks is necessary.  The owner buys his cars from auctions and checks them out, but I’m assumming doesn’t do a thorough inspection of the vehicle.  In fact, when they opened the hood the car, the engine bay had some modifications for the 3 seconds it was on TV.  I quickly noticed a modified intake, but was not able to check what else was different.  People who modify their cars incorrectly oftentimes suffer the consequences of their car not working properly, and voiding their warranty at the same time.

The owner of the dealership did make a good point to bring your own mechanic to check out the car, but I feel that it is the duty of the dealership to make sure the car is in working condition and not to sell as is, unless you tell them what’s wrong with the car.  I understand the dealership wants to make money, but at the same time, the victim could have been involved in a severe accident due to a problem with a car.  It’s not just about making money, but selling someone something that is safe.

Now I’m more inclined to purchase a used car from a reputable dealership, ones that do thorough inspections, or even certifying the car which comes with a warranty that is given to a new car.  This ensures that the car is most likely safe, and also guarantees that problems will be fixed if a problem does arise.  Yes, you are more than likely to pay more for that vehicle, but I think safety and less headaches is worth the money.

The other day my family and I went to Wendy’s to get something to eat.  Surprisingly there weren’t that many people in line, but I guess maybe it was 1:30pm.  First off, I noticed that they finally moved the soda machine out to the dining side instead of behind the register, so now you can get free refills without having to ask them.  Now that’s a plus.  Next, they made two vertical lines towards the two registers instead of a Disney-like wrap around line.  Another plus.  So what’s there to gripe about?

The workers.  OK, I know that not everyone does everything perfect.  Just listen to this story.  We decided to purchase two orders of combo 2, 2 5 piece nuggets, and 1 jr. bacon cheeseburger.  What did I get?  Oh wait, let’s see, first of all, she forgot the order because she messed up the order before me and it literally took 15 minutes to get it straight.  All he wanted was a baked potato with chili and cheese, but he got the plain one, then the one with bacon, and then one with cheese.  And each time she handed him the wrong potato, she proceeded to take the next order while our order was just sitting there getting cold.  Finally when we got it, everything was cold, we didn’t get the sauce for the nuggets even though she put it on the order, we didn’t get covers for the soda (they ran out next to the machine even though I asked for them), and when she did give me the covers, she gave me the covers for the large soda that wouldn’t fit, and finally she forgot the 2 orders of nuggets and gave me one order of fries.

Wow.  I know I know, I should cut her some slack.  I wasn’t mad at her or anything, but how did she end up working there?  Oh yeah, and I forgot to also mention that when she screwed up the potato order, a man came up to her and asked her why his chicken supreme (or whatever their called) came with just chicken and a bun with no tomato and fillings.  He came up later and also told her that he only received one order of fries when he ordered two.  To give her some props though, she did smile everytime someone got mad at her, but at the same time, she probably smiled because she was embaressed.

I’m happy that they hire everyone to give them a chance, but they should adequately train their employees.  Because they could potentially give out less food to customers when they ordered more like the example above, or just give you a wrong order.  Keep the customers happy, and they’ll keep coming.  I think I’ll give them one more chance…

As I was watching KHON news last night, I was nodding my head in agreement when they were airing a segment on holiday road rage.  Some of the people who were being interviewed voiced how they were being cussed at or blocked in because people were angry since they all want to go shopping but couldn’t get a parking.

All I can say is, CHILL OUT.  Seriously.  Who’s fault is it if you are last minute shopping?  I know, I know, you were too busy with work and family.  How about weeks ago?  Why do you have time now as opposed to before when you were just sitting at home watching TV or out playing golf?  How about shopping earlier whether it’s at the mall or even ordering online?  Many places give free shipping even to Hawaii these days, so don’t make that an excuse.

I was at Ala Moana last night, and yes it was crowded, but I kept my cool.  Parking spaces aren’t worth fighting for, especially since you don’t know what they’ll do to you if you steal their parking.  Karma might come clawing after you.  Just take it easy and life will be much easier.  Is it that much more satisfactory if you cuss at someone for taking a long time?  Would it make the world a better place if you honk relentlessly even though it means you wait another 30 seconds or so?  Does that 30 second actually matter?  Please people, put things into perspective.

Let’s be safe out there, and courteous as possible.  It’s Christmas.  We don’t want any grouches please…

I have a problem with the roads of Hawaii.  Basically they all suck.  Yes, even the newly paved ones.  The worst are the patches…where they become potholes after some rain.  All the rocks just break up where there used to be a pothole, and then it becomes a bigger one with rocks everywhere…everywhere enough for cars to zoom pass them and have them ping off your tires and dent your car.  And it’s not like the patches were even good to start with…they are sloppy at best when covering the hole, and high enough to be called a speed bump.

But after driving last night, I came up with another annoyance.  REFLECTORS.  Most of the reflectors on Kapiolani Blvd are missing.  Yes, congested traffic does cause more wear and tear, but they don’t ALL fall off at once.  When one does, they should replace them, but instead, they just shrug it off.  How about the ever so important blue ones that stand out to tell the firefighters where the nearest fire hydrant is?  I hope the city would fix those first above all.

But I have another gripe about these reflectors.  THEY DON’T WORK.  GET ONES THAT DO.  Last night it was raining, and I couldn’t see the roads at all.  Not even a little bit.  Not to sound cocky, but I feel that I’m a pretty good driver with no violations on record.  But how do you expect people to stay in their own lane when they can’t even see them?  I was looking for reflectors so that I could stay in my own lane, but I found that either the reflector was missing or even if it was there, it wasn’t shining enough to tell you where the lane is.  They are basically useless.  When I lived in California for a year during my graduate years, I could clearly see all the lanes even with the hardest of rains.  What’s the deal with the Hawaii ones?  Is the city that cheap?  Almost none of the cars were in their own lane…no wonder accidents occur here more than other states.

And just one more gripe…please clear those trees on Kapiolani Blvd.  After the high winds this past week, there are A LOT OF HUGE BRANCHES on the ground.  They could have easily fallen on a moving car causing an accident, and maybe even death.  It can also cause some major damage if the car gets hit or even if the car swerves to avoid it, and ends up hitting another car or pedestrian.

Cut the trees, pick up the branches (don’t rely on the cars driving past them until they get smaller…it damages our cars you know), fix the potholes RIGHT, change then replace the reflectors, and please, can you pave the roads?  Thanks!