AMEC, TMT and the Military on the Mountain

I found this 2005 article on Wired Magazine about the building of the TMT Project:

…The TMT project will be the first realization of a new breed of super-scopes, known as Giant Segmented Mirror Telescopes. The National Academy of Sciences, in a report called “Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium,” said these scopes are the top priority for ground-based astronomy.

It will be built by AMEC, an international project-management and engineering firm, and an association of Canadian Universities. The U.S.-based Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, the California Institute of Technology and the University of California are also bringing their expertise to the table…

So I thought to myself who is AMEC and what other projects are they involved in.

I was kind of shocked to find this on the AMEC website:

Environmental planning supports transformation of US Army division

Location:	Pennsylvania and Hawaii, US
Client:	US Army
Value:	(Project) US$5-6 million
Scope:	Environmental planning, range design
Date:	2002 – 2006
Contact:	Paul Pettit (paul.pettit@amec.com)

Six army brigades across North America, including infantry divisions in Pennsylvania and Hawaii, were being transformed into Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs). The SBCTs are designed to be rapid-response, technologically advanced units, trained in the use of the new Stryker armoured vehicles. For this to be achieved, new training and support facilities were required which is needed to be built safely and with minimum disruption to the local environments and communities…

…Developed by the military in the 1970s, adaptive optics was used for the first time in 2003 on one of the twin Keck telescopes that straddle the summit of Hawaii’s dormant Mauna Kea volcano….

More Here

Sounds like the same thing the TMT supporters are saying?

So the connection I’m seeing, is AMEC, the Builder of the TMT also has a vested interest in Stryker Brigades that coincidentally will be training on Mauna Kea also.

Things that make you go hmm???

Ironman Cologne… The Smell of Sweat: “Eau De Toilette Spray”

Avon is coming out with a cologne that is named after the Kona Ironman Triathlon.

Avon Products, Inc. announced today that it has joined forces with the Ironman brand to launch a signature men’s fragrance collection named after the legendary triathlon. The Ironman Fragrance Collection, featuring an eau de toilette spray, after shave conditioner and anti-perspirant, will be unveiled just before this year’s Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. As world-class athletes embark on the ultimate test of endurance, Avon debuts the ultimate celebration of the determination, drive and passion to accomplish the tremendous feat of Ironman. The collection tagline, “Anything is Possible,” is also the Ironman mantra for their worldwide events.

More Here

I can only imagine the smell of the cologne… Sweat ;)

Santana to Open a Church on Maui in Near Future?

I just saw this Rolling Stone Article and it states:

…That’s when he (Carlos Santana) plans to hang up his guitar for good, start a church in Maui and become its resident preacher. “I’m going to stop playing when I’m 67 and work on what I really want to do, which is to be a minister, like Little Richard,” he (Santana) says…

Big Island Football Playoff Scramble

Hat tip to ESPNHawaiiBlogspot

Division 1: Kealakehe 3-0, Kea’au 2-1, Honoka’a 2-1

– If Kealakehe wins over Keaau – Kealakehe is first half D1 Champion

– If Keaau wins over Kealakehe, and Honokaa beats Waiakea – First half champion would be determined by a point differential tiebreaker between Kealakehe, Keaau, and Honokaa

– If Keaau wins over Kealakehe, and Waiakea beats Honokaa – Keaau would be First Half champion based on head-to-head tiebreaker with Kealakehe

Division 2: Konawaena 3-0, HPA 2-1, Kohala 3-1

– If Konawaena beats HPA – Konawaena is the First Half D2 Champion

– If HPA beats Konawaena – First half champion would be determined by point differential tiebreaker between HPA, Konawaena, and Kohala

Kohala has a bye week this week, and have decided to not play a game, so they will wait for HPA and Konawaena to duke it out.

Atmospheric Blur SHOULD NOT Be Considered in Weighing In on the TMT Project

I’m not gonna lie and pretend I know anything about what I’m blogging about here on this TMT project, just putting out some things that I see every now and then.

…Berkley University has found an “improved technique to remove atmospheric blur has produced the sharpest whole-planet picture ever taken from the ground…

…The multiple-star technique produces sharp images over a wider area of sky – an area about three times larger than that produced by single-star adaptive optics systems employed on large telescopes such as Keck II and Gemini North in Hawaii…

I asked Andrew Cooper about Lighting on the Big Island and he responded with a very interesting read that deals with this Atmospheric Blur.

If these Berkley findings are true, then Atmospheric Blur should not be considered when placing the TMT on top of Mauna Kea as we have now seen that it can be dealt with other ways.

Hawaii Newspaper Actually Attributes an Article to a Blogger

It’s very rare that you see newspapers attributing their articles to a person’s personal blog entry.

I’ve got to give props to the Tribune Herald and John Burnett, for at least giving some credit to Aussie John Lefvre for his recent reporting on the Poretsky case.

Interesting that the Hawaii Tribune gave credit in there online version but not there print version…

And the West Hawaii Tribune that ran the same article by Burnett gave no attribution.  So goes in the blogging world.

Maybe some day a local paper will actually credit me for something they have followed up on? ;)

Ukes for Obama

Gotta love these guys on the Mainland!

Big Island Film Festival Seeking Entries

Big Island Film Festival is now accepting films for it’s 2009 festival, May 14-17.  Both feature and short narrative films are being accepted.  We do not accept documentary films.  We try hard to showcase films shot in Hawaii or by filmmakers in Hawaii.  We also give Golden Honu Awards to the Best Hawaiian Feature Film and Best Hawaiian Short Film.  We give a 25% discount to filmmakers from Hawaii or films shot in Hawaii, if directly submitted to us.  In 2007 we were selected by MovieMaker Magazine as one of “Twenty Film Festival Worth the Entry fee”.  Attached you find Submission Forms and Rules.  Find out why Big Island Film Festival is a very special event which celebrates the independent narrative filmmaker.  You can visit our website bigislandfilmfestival.com

For more info contact Leo at bigislandff@ aol.com.

Leo W. Sears
Executive Director/Founder
Big Island Film Festival
Waikoloa Beach Resort

Today’s KO

Some people just never learn:  (Warning….it’s a gross one)

More on Kona’s New Fish Farms… The Video

I blogged about Kona’s new fish farms here.

Big Island Video News has a great new video on the site that explains a bit more on the project here.

Na Ono o Ka Aina

Those that know me… know why this is special to me.

National Geographic will be doing some further stuff on this project soon:

I Guess We Don’t Like Porn?

Just saw this interesting post that mentions:

…The states with users least likely to visit adult sites are the newest states in the union, Hawaii and Alaska… More Here

While I don’t know the statistics, I can tell you that I used to live a few blocks from Diamond Head Video across the street from the convention center, and when Hawaii Born Porn Star Nautica Thorn came to sign autographs there… the line-up went around the block.

Flier Courtesy of Shakazine

I wasn’t there… but could see the line up and it was interesting that there were quite a few wahines in the line-up looking for a signature from her ;)

I don’t even think she’s that hot!

RIP Michael Marzi

I’m saddened to hear that former House Candidate Anthony Marzi’s brother Michael has passed away despite our prayers

Heaven just got a bit better.

“Last night, my brother Michael Anthony Marzi passed away.  He was suffering from Lymphoma.

I just wanted to thank everyone for the support, not only in my candidacy, but in this difficult time for our family.

The funeral will be on Wednesday at Borthwick mortuary.” Anthony Marzi

Don’t Shoot the Messenger… “Few Women In Abuse Shelters Are True Victims Of Violence”

I can’t help but to think the following is untrue:

“Few Women In Abuse Shelters Are True Victims Of Violence”

Post Chronicle writer Carey Roberts writes:

Lachrymose tales of battered women abound when representatives of abuse shelters come calling, hat in hand, for taxpayer money. But what is the truth of the matter — are abuse shelters really brimming with hapless victims trying to break free of the cycle of violence?

The answer to that question is a surprising “No.” In the great majority of cases, women at abuse shelters have suffered no physical injury or harm…

She then goes on to say:

… the Hawaii Department of Human Services reports only 8% of persons at shelters require emergency medical attention – and emergency care can include non-abuse related problems like getting an abscessed tooth removed…

…So if the women in these shelters are seldom there to salve their injuries, what are they doing there?

One common reason is drug and alcohol abuse.

A resident at the First Step shelter in Harrisonburg, Va. revealed, “I soon discovered that I was the only woman there for protection purposes. Most of the other women were using the shelter as a halfway house. The other women had been kicked out by their spouses for drug use, and had no where else to go.”

I think this writer has no idea what its like to be a battered women.  Abuse comes in all forms.  Just because a lady isn’t physically harmed or injured, doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be able to go to a shelter.

My mom worked at an Shelter for abused women, and I myself saw many of the Abused Women that were taken in.

When I read crap like that above…it pisses me off.

There is no excuse for domestic abuse… And a writer writing something like this just burns my britches!

Of course this comes on the announcement that October is Domestic Abuse Awareness Month:

…There were six domestic violence-related homicides each year in 2006 and 2007 in Hawai’i. This year, through mid-August, that number has grown to seven, showing that there is still much to be done in the prevention of this destructive behavior…

More on Poretsky Murder in Thailand and a Direct Link to the Aussie that Covered the Story

In today’s West Hawaii Today, there is more on the Poretsky murder that I blogged about earlier.

The Tribunes article quotes Australian photojournalist John LeFevre who covered the trial.

Interestingly enough, LeFevre left the following comment on my blog today here

Lefevre is asking me to point my readers to his actual articles on the event that happened instead of the AP version, as the AP version is not quite as complete.

You can find those here, here and here

Here is a picture of the killer behind bars:

William Thomas Douglas. Four years reduced to two years jail for killing an American. Photo John Le Fevre