Thai Girls Dancing

While at Kapiolani Park late yesterday afternoon, I was lucky enough to catch this group of young dancers at a Thai cultural celebration that was wrapping up for the day. It is interesting that this "traditional" music has a somewhat modern dance beat. Enjoy the video and the music.

USS Ronald Reagan Helps Stranded Cruise Ship

101109-N-1240O-213, originally uploaded by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan was involved in supply operations for the stranded Carnival Cruise ship "Splendor" this past week.

"The Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor sits adrift approximately 150 nautical miles southwest of San Diego. The ship lost propulsion and electrical power following an engine room fire. The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) was diverted from its current training maneuvers at the direction of Commander U.S. Third Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to facilitate the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to the cruise ship. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Erin L. Oberholtzer/Released)"

"PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 9, 2010) A C-2A Greyhound from Fleet Logistics Combat Support Squadron (VRC) 30 lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) with supplies for the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor. Ronald Reagan was diverted from its current training maneuvers at the direction of Commander U.S. Third Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to facilitate the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to the cruise ship. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd/Released)"



"PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 9, 2010) U.S. Coast Guard cutter MORGENTHAU (WHEC 722) patrols near the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) approaches the area. Ronald Reagan was diverted from its current training maneuvers at the direction of Commander U.S. Third Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to a position south near the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor to facilitate the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to the cruise ship. Early Monday, CV Splendor reported it was dead in the water 150 nautical miles southwest of San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd/Released)"



"PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 9, 2010) Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and embarked Carrier Air Wing 14 unloads bottles of water from a C-2A Greyhound assigned to Fleet Logistics Combat Support Squadron (VRC) 30. Ronald Reagan was diverted from its training maneuvers at the direction of Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, and at the request of the U.S. Coast Guard, to a position near the Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor. Ronald Reagan is facilitating the delivery of 4,500 pounds of supplies to CV Splendor after the cruise ship became stranded 150 nautical miles southwest of San Diego early Monday. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexander Tidd/Released)"

Photos and captions from the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet's photostream on Flickr.

The Carnival Cruise ship made it safely to port in San Diego under tow today.

I was a lucky visitor to have spent a day aboard the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan earlier this year. Carnival Cruise ships make some port calls in Hawaii during the late summer and fall season.

• A Day Aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, July 6, 2010.

Hawaii in Black and White

A photo slide show from Flickr, featuring pictures taken in Hawaii by various photographers. The catch? Most all are in black & white. Many are by me, with more being added all the time. The second slide show below are black & white images taken by me only. Some are good, interesting, etc.... others are - why did I do it?


Photos in the above set are all taken by Mel.

Who and What to Vote For (or Against)

Here are my recommendations for general election voting.

U.S. Senate - Cam Cavasso - yes the Republican is a very long shot, dark horse candidate running against U.S. Senator Dan Inouye. Despite that we need a change. Vote for Cam.

U. S. House 1st District - With the Republicans possibly gaining control of the House, a vote for current incumbent Charles Djou (R) is highly recommended over Democrat Colleen Hanabusa. As the ads boldly proclaim, State Senator Hanabusa has never met a tax increase bill that she did not vote for. Don't let her do this in Congress.

Governor & Lt. Governor - The Republican team of James Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan is my choice. They are less prone to be raising taxes, are more fiscally responsible and conservative, and will not support civil unions or same sex marriage.

State Senate - 8th District - East Honolulu/Hawaii Kai - Re-Elect Sam Slom. He has voted against every tax increase bill since being elected to office in 1996. His challenger, a person named Larry Price is NOT the KSSK radio personality who has the same name.

State House - I'm just making a blanket recommendation to support most if not all Republican candidates running for the various House seats. Most definitely do not vote for any legislative candidate that voted yes for HB 444 (see list in the next post below).

I'm not making any endorsements for Honolulu City Council since I don't have a race in my district and am not sure where the other district candidates stand on the hot button issue of rail. All I know is that most of the current city council members do support rail. That said, I'd recommend that you vote for anyone who does not support the rail project. We can't afford to build that while being mandated by the Feds to spend billions to upgrade the county's sewer system.

Board of Education - No endorsement for any candidate. However there is a Constitutional Amendment Question that asks if you'd like to change the current Board of Education selection process from an elected board to an appointed board. I would vote YES to go with an appointed board.

Constitutional Amendment Question: Appointed School Board - YES

Constitutional Amendment Question: Allowing State Legislature to withhold tax surplus funds and transfer to special emergency fund? A HUGE NO VOTE ON THIS. VERY, VERY BAD PROPOSAL.

There are 6 City Charter Amendments up for voter decision. The only one that I have a strong feeling about is QUESTION #1 which asks the public to approve the Creation of a Public Transit Authority. For anyone who opposes rail and supports political responsibility for this huge mess; a NO VOTE TO THIS QUESTION IS REQUIRED.

Sam Slom writes a great article on how to vote for these Constitutional Amendment and City Charter Questions.

Cliff Slater of Honolulu Traffic.com writes about and against the Public Transit Authority issue.

Whatever you do tomorrow - if you haven't voted - do vote. Polls open from 7am to 6pm.



I've gotten a lot of Congressional campaign mailers from both of the candidates in the 1st district - US Rep. Charles Djou and challenger Colleen Hanabusa - plus a smattering of printed matter from other candidates and PACs. After this photo was taken, I threw all of them away. So much for big bucks spent on dead tree media.

VOTE ON NOVEMBER 2