Good afternoon. My name is George Moose and I have the honor of serving as the vice chair of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace. And it's my pleasure to welcome all of you to this important discussion of current political and security developments in Somalia. A topic which judging by the size of this audience is clearly of great interest. We are honored to have as our guest today his Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia. And I would also like to welcome senior representatives from across the US government, from the State Department, the National Security Council, the Congress, as well as ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic corps and of other organizations. We are happy to be joined today as well by Ambassador Johnny Carson, a former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and now a senior advisor here at the Institute. Ambassador Carson will moderate today's discussion with President Mahmoud. For those of you who are new to USIP, we are an independent National Institute founded by Congress over 30 years ago and dedicated to the proposition that peace is possible, that peace is practical, and that peace is essential for US and for international security interests. We pursue this vision of a world without violent conflict by working directly with partners in conflict zones, equipping them with peacebuilding knowledge, training, and tools developed and tested in the course of our years of experience. Somalia is alas a country that knows all too well the devastating consequences of sustained violent conflict. I know that from personal experience Somalia was one of the countries I visited on my very first official trip as Assistant Secretary of State for Africa almost exactly 23 years ago, at a time when the seeds of the current conflict were being sown. This weekend the world witnessed in horror one of the most tragic consequences of the continuing conflict when 200 or more Somalis were drowned in the Mediterranean Ocean as they were attempting to reach Europe. There are enormous challenges that continue to face the country, but it's also clear that we are seeing signs that peace is indeed possible and we look forward to this opportunity to hear more about these developments. The United States has been an important partner and supporter in this evolution, the Obama administration's decision to nominate an ambassador to Somalia is another important step in building a strong US-Somali relationship. For its part USIP has been working for more than 20 years across the Horn of Africa to build peace and inclusive processes through the partnerships with the US State Department, non-governmental organizations, and regional stakeholders. In that context USIP has provided education grants, training, and resources to help Somalis strengthen the institutions and skills needed to build more stable resilient societies and states. With our associated non-profit Peace Tech Lab the Institute, for example, has helped to facilitate the important review of the 2012 provisional Constitution, working with Constitution drafting bodies with civil society organizations and government representatives. We have helped to train members of the Somali police force through courses on community policing methods that have proven effective in countering violent extremism. And through our generation change program we are helping to build the capacity of civically engaged youth ages 18 to 35 as they emerge as leaders in their communities. President Mahmood has been a critical partner and a supporter of these efforts. Indeed, I think it's fair to say that he was a peace builder before he was a president. Before deciding to enter politics he studied mediation and peace building at the Eastern Mennonite University Summer Peace Building Institute based in Harrisonburg, Virginia. When the current round of conflict in Somalia erupted he remained in Somalia where he established the Somali Institute for Management and Administration and served as an advisor and consultant to a number of governments, international organizations and NGOs. These efforts led to his decision to establish the Independent Peace and Development Party and to his election to Parliament in 2012. This background is clearly reflected in the approach that he has taken to Somalia's challenges since becoming president. Your Excellency, it is our pleasure to welcome you and in my pleasure to invite you to address this audience. Bismillah, Salam alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Ambassador Carson, Ambassador Moose, it's a great pleasure to join you today at the United States Institute for Peace, of peace. I'm honored to share with you some reflections and insights into Somalia. To discuss and talk about Somalia needs days, months and years but I will try to be very brief and summarize the most important elements that I would like to share with you as my experience. Ladies and gentlemen, almost four years ago upon my appointment as the President, I made a pledge on behalf of Somalia to pursue three imperative items, secure Somalia, democratic Somalia and progressive and prosperous Somalia. Somalia agreed to pursue political transformation by drafting and agreeing a federal constitution, adopting a federal model of governance and holding democratic nationwide elections by September 2016. We laid out this ambitious agenda knowing that we face the enormous challenge of trying to transform Somalia, which is not an easy matter. But we have specifically focused it on a specific agenda that we prioritized as the most important element of state building in a post-conflict environment. Somalia has been without a functioning state for some time. So in early 2013, we established the ambitious agenda or vision called the Vision 2016. That was outlining how we're going to move out of the current status of that day to a new status in 2016. We developed that vision with three parallel tracks federating the country, which was an option that has already been agreed by the Somalis, establishing a federal Somalia. The second track was reviewing the provisional constitution that was existing by the time. And the third was the democratization approach, which is making Somalia a democratic state or a country. This was the basis for the new Somalia that we have envisioned it in 2013. That was going to be done in a very difficult environment where the spaces for doing this exercise was very narrow, very limited, where the people were having much more priority, which was the security at the time. We've moved forward and today we have a federated Somalia, which I can claim that the federal Somalis structure has been put in place. Those federal units that have been established recently, they lack capacity, they lack enough resources to implement the real federation, but they are there. Somalia has been a territory that is ungoverned for a long time. Today we have someone who is responsible in a particular area of Somalia, someone who is in charge and who has full responsibility of that territory. Can he implement his responsibility enough? Can he has the capacity? All these are questions that are very legitimate. These nascent institutions are in place. They need nurturing and capacitating in Somalia. Today we have our professional constitution under review. Recently we have reviewed the constitution by technical teams. The constitution consists of chapters that has no much problem universal, some chapters that you will see in almost all constitutions, and there are certain chapters that are specific for the country in question, which needs specific attention. In Somalia there are chapters of the constitution that needs a lot of consensus building around them. Those chapters have been drafted, and last time our last meeting of the National Leaders Forum, we've discussed it. We shared the draft with the leaders of the regional states. We asked them to go back home, discuss with their people, and then next time when we get together we will discuss about the points that we need. In May 25 to June 5, a national constitutional conference has been agreed to take place in Garoepuntlan, where all Somalis of different corners of Somalia will get together and will discuss about the important chapters of the constitution. The National Leaders Forum will agree in three-day session, and then seven-day session, it's the public that will discuss at the national level. Then it will be taken back to the cabinet of the federal government and the parliament of the federal government, and then the process will wait until referendum takes place. That's where the second track, which is the review of the constitution goes on, regarding the third track, which was the elections and democratization of Somalia. Because of so many reasons that are in place until today, it was not possible to make, to achieve the goal, which was one person, one vote for Somalia in 2016. The circumstances in the ground does not permit that to happen. The challenge we had is, shall we wait and stay where we are until next term, or pragmatically we do what we can do right now, which was to do an election model that we agreed among us, and that election model is for 2016 only. We agreed also a roadmap from 2016 to 2020, on which we have clearly explained how to get out of the formula 4.5 and go to universal leverage of one person, one vote. Somalia's transition to state building, the journey started in 2010. A transitional government has been established, TNG, which was mandated two years. After two years, then we went back outside Somalia in Kenya, where a process that was going on for two years was there. Ended up in 2014 with transitional federal government, with transitional charter agreed on Somalia as a federal country. From there, the governments relocated back to Somalia, Joe Harferes, then Baydouble, then Mogudishu. And in 2012, the 8th parliament has been formed in Mogudishu by 135 members of the Somali clans, different clans of Somalia. This was a nomination, selection and nomination by these 135 elders. Now what we said is that two important things, one is that journey has to go further and take somewhere outside Somalia. If it happened in 2012 in Mogudishu in 2016, we want it to happen in different parts of Somalia, six different corners of Somalia. If 2016, the parliament was selected and nominated by 135 elders, more, a larger number of citizens to participate in the election of the next parliament, not a selection. Of course, for ease, for a pragmatic purpose, we maintained some of what was there already. The parliament, we keep the 275 seats of the parliament, which is too big for Somalia right now, but trying to reduce that number will need a lot of time and energy, which was not available right now. Keeping the formula 4.5, we maintained it for the reason being that there was no other tool or instrument readily available right now since constitution and others are in the making. So then what is different and the difference is taking the elections to different places of Somalia, involving or giving space, more citizens to participate in bringing the next parliament. That's what's new to this process now. Almost 14,000 citizens will participate the election. Although it's still, we're still using the clan system, but this time the clan itself, we need to be very fair within the clan and give number of different people to compete for the seat that represents the clan itself. So we have 14,000 citizens electing 275 MPs in six different locations of Somalia. The journey that started in Arta, Kenya, Mogadishu, now into the headquarters of the federal member states in 2020 is planned to go down into the district, which is the lowest level of administrative structure in Somalia, which we are planning and we put in place a roadmap that indicates what will happen when in the next four years of the new term, where the government is compelled to implement that roadmap, including local elections, state elections and national elections at the end. So that will be the end of the journey when we reach one person, one vote in all districts of Somalia. Now the elections are more of demographic, indirect college electorates and in 2020, we are expecting it will be direct elections with one person, one vote. This is the new Somalia that we are working on the political. Why I have started my presentation, the politics is we believe that so many good things the world can do for Somalia. There is only one and one thing that the world cannot do for Somalia, but can do with Somalia. When we were having famine, the world brought us food. When we have insecurity, the world brought us forces to fight with us against the terrorism or against the other evil force. But in 25 years, the world has been trying to fix the political problem of Somalia and it didn't happen it. We realized that it's only the Somalis who can fix the political problems of Somalia, the politics of Somalia. The world still can play an important role in fixing the politics, but the world cannot do that for us and that's what we have tried. In the past, the fixing political problems of Somalia, the world has been sitting in the driving seat and the Somalis were sitting in the back seat. Now is the time we decided to take the driving seat and we request our international partners to sit on the back seat to help us do that and we're doing that. The agenda for the state building of Somalia is too many, too big and too diverse. I've taken only the political one, but one which is very important and priority number one was the security. The security Somalia, as many of us know, it started in Shabab controlling all over the country in 2010 and 2011, whereby 17 districts in Mogadishu, the government was controlling only six districts out of that 17. The remaining 11 districts and the rest of south central regions of Somalia was controlled by Al-Shabab, except Somalilal and Buntilan. There is where the war against Al-Shabab started today. Al-Shabab, they do not control any significant town or location that's known. They remain as a part. The challenge is still there. The insurgents war is still there. The terrorist activities of suicide bombing, roadside bombing, targeted assassinations, all of them are still there, but Shabab is not a known fighting force that has control over a geographic location. One of the reasons why that has happened in the past was Somalia was a territory that is governed by no one. Now there is a people governing zone. The intervention of Amazon in 2007 and establishment of Somali National Army has created enough space today we're talking about elections and we're expecting that space will be further expanded to have been one person, one vote in 2017, in 2020, inshallah. On the other frontier, the war against the extremism is not military only. It has other facets, economic, social. The war in the military front has rigid some advanced stage, but the war in the front of the economy and the social services are still lacking behind. Somalia is a very rich country in terms of resources available in that country, in terms of its strategic location, but because of bad politics we've never benefited those richness and wealthy. It's time now the federal government of Somalia is diverting its attention towards the stimulating and recovering the economic aspects of Somalia and we have made a good starting on that. Today the Somali diaspora is coming back to Somalia and investing back to the country at different levels. Still the Somali government is struggling with reforming substantially the public finance management institutions of the country so that we're going to have a trustworthy institutions that can deal with the international partners. After 22 years, the IMF has produced, after 27 years sorry, the last time when IMF produced report on Somalia was 1988 in 2013 we have the next report that indicated 3.7% of economic growth in Somalia that has shown prospectus. Somalia has concluded successfully the chapter 4 review of the International Monetary Fund and we are entered last week the staff monitoring program that will go on for another one year to make sure that Somalia has access to the international financing institutions and will go into the Hibik program so that Somalia can benefit the international tools for development and reconstruction. On conclusion, I would like to say a little bit about the future of Somalia. Somalia has a very prosperous future because of its wealthiness, because of its clear direction of fixing and transforming the country in terms of politics and in terms of the national institutions. It was not an easy task, a task that can be done overnight because this is a young nation that's going to rebirth again. We're changing almost every system that was existing in the country. Highly centralized governance system now is highly decentralized governance system. We were having systems that have been put in place during the Cold War now we're changing all those systems. We're getting, because of the federal system, almost every law that was existing in Somalia has to be reviewed with minor changes, major changes taking place including and starting from the constitution. With this we hope that Somalia will soon be a better place that attracts the international investment. This is a country that has the longest coastline in the African continent. Unfortunately we do not benefit that. Serious challenges we have in illegal fishing, destroying the ecology of the oceans. We have a lot of containers that have been thrown out by the sea. Those containers we don't know what's inside it, but this is a very good indicator that toxic waste has been damped in Somalia. Those containers they don't have signs, nothing written on them, we don't know the day they explode what will happen to those areas that's that. Fishing illegal fishing, billions of dollars have been estimated, the fish that illegally been taken over. All this is happening because Somalia cannot afford to protect its own resources. This is what's more important for the generations of Somalia to come and this cannot happen without having a functioning state in place in Somalia. And this is the priority, the top priority of Somali government. After a long statelessness in Somalia after a long time civil war, we do not expect the wounds will be healed overnight, but we are in the process of healing the past wounds. We are in the process of addressing the reasons for those grievances that happened in the past, building the trust among our people and building the trust of our people towards the state. This is very important. The last time Somalis went into the elections was 1969, 47 years have passed since then. Who's there in Somalia today who participated those that elections of that election of 1969 and who can do this today? One of the benefits of the electoral process that is happening this year is it's a learning process. So that in 2020, inshallah, we will be doing a perfect election. We will do the mistakes and the beautifulness now in 2016. I thank you very much. Mr. President, thank you very, very much for a great presentation. We've got a few minutes to take questions and I'm going to invite you over here to sit down. And we have a few from the audience coming in. Mr. President, Somalia under your leadership and under the leadership of your predecessor have made extraordinary progress. And as one of the former UN special representatives has said recently Somalia has moved from a failed state to a fragile state. The question I have this afternoon to start off with is do you believe that the international community and the UN who have been strong partners with you have become wary of working with Somalia? And I ask that because we've recently seen several things that have come up. The European Union has reduced its stipends for some of the Amazon troops as one indication. But do you think you're getting the continued support from the international community and the UN that you need to go the next step? Thank you, Ambassador Johnny. I think one important thing is Amisum has came to Somalia in 2007. Next year 2017 is 10 years. For a country 10 years looks like it's too long. For Somalia it's not. However, the space that we're talking today that we're going to do election is we did the first cut of the federal system of the country. All this has become possible because of the Amisum in collaboration with Somalia National Army that has widened the space that the government to exercise and do its mandate. So I think Amisum has been a very useful tool for Somalia, African problems, for African solutions. It has been an experiment that I can say is successful. Regarding the issue, yes, there is nothing that continue. This was a gift. These gifts cannot continue. The world now after all these long years investing Amisum is getting fatigue. It's very rational. What we have been asking the world is which we have say it was short of what the world was supposed to do is investing Somalia National Army or Somalia Security Forces. This has not been enough. Attention has not been given in the past. Multilaterally, unilaterally and pilaterally there are many countries who have supported our security sector enormously among which is United States. But the very small amount of what has been spent in Amisum will make a lot of difference in Somalia and that's what today we are brought that the world has realized that without having a robust, reliable, professional, well-equipped Somalia Security Forces to maintain Amisum another 10 years is not possible. So what we are expecting is a very short period of time we will have these forces and today discussions are going on on how to make sure that at the shortest period of time that Somalia Security sector and Somalia Security Forces will be developed to take over and that's going and we are I would like to say tangible changes will be seen soon. Great. Mr.  A question from the audience. How is your administration addressing the deep-seated clan animosities that have been built up over the decades in Somalia? One thing I do agree with the person who asked that question. There is a level of mistrust among Somali and this mistrust is a quality that's always available to any post-conflict environment. As I said the wounds of the Civil War has not been healed completely and has not been healed well but the healing process is a process that takes time. We started with and healing cannot have been it isolated. I've been working in beast-building reconciliation at the local level for 15 years before I became the president and I would like to share my experience with you is that even beast is not possible without institutions in place.  As far as we isolate the responsibility of the crime to the individuals committing this type of trust and animosity will keep continuing and that's possible only when we have a functioning institutions in place but the other way around someone can claim how can we get a functioning institution without having trust first of all trust is started somewhere it's not something commodity that can be purchased from the supermarket but it has to be built the federal government of Somalia has started that and right now we are very much involved in integrating the Somali national army making them a national forces that have national character and in other time there has always been reconciliation conferences going on in many places we believe the healing process have started it has been achieved a tremendous progress but there is a long way to go yet to have restored fully restored trust within the society and the society and the state takes a little more time. Mr. President you have two large powerful and influential neighbors both of whom have large Somali indigenous populations they both have been countries that have contributed to Amazon and the efforts to bring about stability I'm thinking of Ethiopia and I'm thinking of Kenya how are your relations with those two neighbors? First of all in Kenya we don't have a long history with Kenya our history with Kenya started at the time of independence in 1960 before that there was no long because Kenya was not independent we were not independent colonial powers were dealing among them there was clan conflicts and wrestling of life so it is traditional but what we have a long long history is Ethiopia history of 700 years is there in history and most of this history is not a good history history of conflict history of crusade history of jihad that's been very difficult history for that couple of centuries that history ended up in 1990 both Somali state and Ethiopian state collapsed because of the the difficult problems that we are having and we making the other one to fail we failed both of us. Ethiopia may be for different reasons it took three years to bring back the state at the beginning and they keep continuing building still they are in the process of state building after 20 more than 20 years Somalia it took longer for its own odd reasons but what we have realized is that both Somalia and Ethiopia has no choice or option other than to peacefully coexist and to do that we need to make some shared interests among the two nations this itself is not something that can happen overnight but we started and that discussion has rigid a very good level at the political level there are still difficulties I will not say that this is going to happen this good relationship that we're looking forward is not going to happen in one term or two term or short term but it is it has a beginning and we begin Somalia has realized that at the political highest level discussion with Ethiopian government they also see that they don't have any more appetite to continue that old history yes today Somalia there are Kenyan forces there are Ethiopian forces Ugandanist, Brundianist all of them came to Somalia with the good intention of supporting Somalia to defeat this international agenda of al-Shabaab and I do believe that one is that is out of place and they will not be in Somalia it is the responsibility of the Somalis to do whatever possible that makes Somalia a peaceful place if that is to give the final defeat of al-Shabaab if that even causes to negotiate al-Shabaab peacefully whatever makes Somalia a very stable country that's our duty and we do believe that those forces will leave Somalia sooner rather than later Mr. President our time is up this afternoon but I want to take this opportunity to thank you again to for coming to USIP and to compliment you and your colleagues and your fellow citizens on the enormous progress that has been made over the last six or seven or eight years in rebuilding and strengthening Somalia bringing it back so thank you again for your presence here this afternoon and I'm sorry that our time has exhausted I know you've got a busy schedule thank you Mr. President thank you very much and I will give my apology to my friend we would have taken more time but we will have time is we have a very hectic schedule and to run early I apologize and I thank you very much for coming and giving me this opportunity to present to you Somalia I hope many of you I'm I'm selling Somalia but many of you I'm not selling Somali from you but you are also selling Somalia I thank you very much all of you thank you we hope to have you back again thank you very much


Down up. Hey, are you ready for technique number two most powerful Tai Chi technique? Here we go It's called rise and fall. Here's how you do it bring our hands up and bring our hands down Say I see something whoa, that's your natural reaction your hands just come up rise fall down Okay, and training Just do on the chest Down up like us you're short. He's coming for you duck. Boom. All right, so that's rise and fall


Mr. Emra Ilgen, president of the Ufuk Dialogue, thank you very much for the very kind invitation to join you at this 10th anniversary dinner. And I bring you the very warm greetings and felicitations of the president, President Mohamed Buhari, who also wishes the Ufuk Dialogue very happy 10th anniversary. Congratulations to the Ufuk Dialogue Foundation on 10 years of significance and impact. Your work in promoting unity and peace through inclusive dialogue has been nothing short of priceless. The impact of platforms like this builds on an honest commitment to fostering peace and productive nationhood can be missed by the imperceptible, but they constitute the foundational principles upon which all great civilizations are built. Principles such as dialogue, consensus, mutual understanding and respect, a celebration of diverse perspectives and cultures that translates into a solid, colorful whole. And this kind of diversity in many ways is what constitutes the beauty and magic of Nigeria. It's not hard to imagine how much more force we can be when we fully harness the opportunities that our multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-religious makeup present to us. And this is where your work in Ufuk Dialogue, in advocating and espousing dialogue and creating bridge-building platforms and opportunities has proved its importance. We wholeheartedly commend you. At the root of what we consider to be the resilience of Nigeria as an entity and perhaps Nigerians as a people is a history of constant negotiations. We've not always gotten it right, but we've never stopped talking. We've never stopped reaching across our subtle and sometimes not so subtle divides to forge an understanding of each other and to fashion out evolving systems for our mutual existence. We've done this past and unfortunate civil war and through several iterations of our republic and we must and will continue to do this. It is true that the last two decades we've faced severe threats to our mutual coexistence. Violent extremism in the north has resulted in the northeast in particular, has resulted in the destruction and unfortunate loss of lives of many. Banditry and kidnappings have traumatized families and rattled states in parts of the country. Just and also we've seen agitations, secessionist agitations, especially in parts of the south and the east of Nigeria in particular. These have affected and slowed down economic activities in those parts of the region. Our government led by Mr. President is frontally confronting these security challenges and will relentlessly continue to do so, fully aware of their socioeconomic and psychological impact on Nigerians everywhere. And we Nigerians and we as Nigeria will surely prevail. But there are no simple solutions as we effectively bring the full power of government to bear in tackling insecurity and its threats to our collective existence. We must also mind some of the underlying issues that give rise to them. In many instances, these are factors of shared greed and naked criminality. Yes, there are also genuine grievances on the suspicions and fears, feelings of exclusion and marginalizations, misunderstandings and differences of opinion, all of which can be resolved to the benefit of the whole through sustained dialogue and negotiation. The fact remains that nationhood is a hard one endeavor that requires the sincere efforts of leaders who are willing to sacrifice some of their personal interests to achieve a consensus that is win-win for all, leaders not only from within government, but across every sphere of influence. We need great personal examples along religious and ethnic lines more than ever before. Men and women of influence willing to go one step ahead of the rhetoric to demonstrate the true meaning of brotherhood and why the common humanity that binds us as Nigerians is greater than the difference that makes us or maxes out as unique. Leaders who stoke our fears and suspicions of each other as a means of advancing their own personal quest for power and private enrichment are all around us. This unfortunately has not only served to perpetuate a sense that the leadership elites, including some social and religious leaders, seek only their own interests. But the truth is that though poverty in my language might be different from yours, its effects are agnostic. Hunger respects neither tribe, religion, nor political affiliation. Even though we sometimes speak of the importance of dialogue and unity in terms of necessary compromise, the truth is living and working together as one people is also a matter of self-interest because we stand to gain more from it. We stand to gain more from being together than otherwise. Achieving sustained and productive nationhood gives us all access to each other's strengths just as it covers our witnesses. Beyond the finite resources that we find beneath our soils are infinite amounts of talent spread across our country. And even as we speak, the Nigerian football team, the Super Eagles, are doing us proud in Cameroon, outclassing their opponents one match at a time at the ongoing nation's cup. Making up the team are Nigerians from across ethnic lines and religions. They are inspiring dribble from the Igbo man. They threw pass from the Hauser player. The goal by the Maverick Ishekiri guy, or the striker of Yoruba origin, all count for Nigeria. We all count for Nigeria. No matter where we come from, no matter what faith we profess or what language we speak, we have Nigeria in us. We are Nigeria, and indeed Nigeria is us. Only recently, the world lost a global icon at Bishop Desmond Tutu, an exemplary leader who, in a time of great reckoning, set an inspiring example of forgiveness, of tolerance, of peaceful coexistence for the rest of the world. But at Bishop Tutu's lasting legacy is a credo of Ubuntu, the notion that a person is a person through other people, that my humanity is tied to yours. And as a great at Bishop, so beautifully rendered it in his own words, and I quote, he says, we think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out. It is for the whole of humanity, end of quote. Variety and diversity are to be enjoyed and not weaponized. It is the wisdom of unity that makes the different sounds and tones symphony and not chaos. Let the symphony become louder. Let me again congratulate the Ofuk Dialogue Foundation on your 10th anniversary, and to wish you greater success in the years to come. Thank you very much, everyone, for listening. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.


The Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation has named Stewart C. Mills Jr. its 2017 Philanthropy winner. Executive Director Carl Samp tells Lakeland News Mills has always helped others such as buying meals for veterans. Mills also has a strong connection with a 1945 graduating class from Brainerd High School and has helped sponsor the reunion. Samp says a lot of Mills Philanthropy is done anonymously and quietly. Mills has donated to organizations including the Crow Wing County Fair, Brainerd JC's Ice Fishing Extravaganza and the Governor's Fishing Opener. He'll be recognized on July 13th at the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation annual dinner at Grandview Lodge in Niswa. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.


out these things, I'm thinking about my own internal behavior is responsible for my own outcomes, whether or not other people's own internal behavior out there is the reason for their outcomes in life, I do think that it plays a big role and I think that oftentimes people underestimate it, but it's something that I don't forcibly, rigidly kind of force on people where I say like no, because yeah there's just too many things that I don't know about like what happened in their life and, but I would say that they probably, they'd almost certainly the research does seem to suggest so that they would actually be better off with more internal locus of controls and internal locus of control just means if they believe that their outcomes were more a result of their behavior, and that might be hard to hear because I think a lot of people don't want to believe that, but it's just what the research says, I mean like a lot of people you guys talk about data, I can show you all the papers if you want to see it, so Abdul asks, can you briefly summarize your metaphysical religious beliefs, if any, and the reasons for that, yeah so definitely would be a theist, definitely would be a Christian theist, there are different arguments philosophically, you could say maybe one would be historical, so it's a cumulative case, so there's not like a single argument that I'd say like it's the moral argument, and then the arguments are, it's not that I would, I think one thing to keep in mind is I don't think that the arguments, I wouldn't give them like a 0.9 or 0.95 or 0.99 credence, or even necessarily a 0.8 credence, but I'd give them like let's say a 0.6 credence in terms of, I have a, let's say if I have a 0.6 probability that I assign to each of the premises, and thus I assign a 0.6 probability to the conclusion, that sounds like it matches, right, like it, so that I might have let's say five arguments that give me a 0.6, and in terms of like each of them, I say oh that, I give that like a 0.6 of it being a sound argument, those together give me reasons to think like yeah I don't have certainty, but I think there's like reason enough to believe in a God, or the Christian God, so I think the minimal facts argument is a pretty strong argument, so it's an inductive argument, I think one, some things that people, well anyway, I don't want to, I'm not going to get into deductive versus inductive arguments, but hopefully that gives you an idea, and then thanks for your question Abdul, but yes, so thanks so much folks for hanging out here, and let's see, I'm a huge fan of the Mandalorian, if you guys did not know that, it's probably best, it's probably time that you know that now, nobody's a bigger fan of the Mandalorian than me, so do appreciate it folks, I want to say thanks so much, really excited, I will let you guys go, but thanks again for your huge positivity and support and kindness seriously, I could go on and on just about how much you guys mean, James Bond says, I'd love to see Richard Carrier in future debates if possible, me too, that would be epic, Dessel Drace says what happened to the debate, that was, I think we got done with it like a half hour or 45 minutes ago, so it is in this stream Dessel Drace, you'll just have to scroll back on the little timeline, and then I'm trying to make sure I didn't miss any, I just love the questions, John W says, sorry I guess I am like an ex-smoker, I just want to hear other ideas and don't like the addiction I was on in that so-called Christian religion, you're saying you were addicted to the Christian religion, I'm like totally, so beaten and starved is what these folk would do, I don't fully know what you mean, but I do have to run, so I'm so sorry that I can't, but I appreciate you sharing that, and then Dessel Drace says I'll debate you on minimal facts right now, I appreciate that, but I've got to rock and roll, I think if you want to debate somebody else, it's something that, one thing I highly recommend to debaters is before I do debates again, because I owe like three or four people debates, so like Paul Palogia, I say it wrong, Palogia, whatever your name is, basically Palogia, I think for years now I've owed him a debate on the minimal facts argument as well, but I've always said I'm like I'm really sorry, just if I do it, which I do want to do, but I want to have like plenty of time to prep, and during my PhD it's hard to run the channel and then prep for debates, and then also do the PhD, like the PhD is a side project, but I appreciate the offer, and I think that there's probably other people that'd be up for it, and said, Tuss B. Box, love the talks James, you're awesome, thanks so much Tuss for being so supportive, that means a lot, thanks Liliaja for being so positive and fabulous, that's nice of you, appreciate it, and let's see, John W says I was a bastard and the Christian faith condemned me as my father was a pedo and his sins will visit me, so I pay for something he did, I don't really, I'm seriously sorry to hear that John, condemned me as my father, yeah I just, I totally don't, like it's not my view that you're condemned as a result of your father's sins, and so I'm so sorry that you had to deal with that John W, seriously, I'm just really sorry, that is really bad, like I agree with you, I'm so sorry you had to go through that, and I get why you're feeling the way you do, so thanks for being honest though, thanks for being real, and Randolph, John W, take care as well, thank you, I saw that, wishing you take care as well, you're right Dave Langer, I did promise when that I would hang out with her and her sister, so I should go, but Jazebhan, my subject of my PhD is organizational psychology, so it's kind of like business psychology you could say, so it's really fun, I love doing it, and but yeah, Tioga says years, yes Tioga, years, okay, so thank you guys, seriously appreciate you, I hope you have a great night, thanks for hanging out, it's always fun, keep sifting out, they're reasonable from the unreasonable.


And welcome to tomorrow now before we get started with our interview I did want to give a huge shout out to all of the patrons of tomorrow We'll talk and make this specific segment of this episode happen These are our patreon premier members These are people who've contributed ten dollars or more to this specific episode and a huge shout out to all of the new Premier members we've had more premier members getting added this week since I think believe the history of the show So welcome to all of our new premier members We also has our patreon producers These are people who've contributed five dollars or more to this specific episode and each one of these different levels Gets a different reward. So check our different sections over at patreon.com Slash TMRO to see what kind of reward level you can get It starts at one penny and goes all the way up to ten dollars or more. All right, let's go ahead and get started We're joined by dr. Barbara Cohen from the Marshall Space Flight Center. She's the Lead at the Planetary Science Group there also works on as a principal investigator for a bunch of other projects including the lunar Flashlights so welcome Barbara to the show Thanks, Ben. I'm happy to be here. All right, let's talk about a lunar flashlight a little bit first off It's a really cool name. What is it? Lunar flashlight is a very small satellite It's about 10 centimeters by 20 centimeters by 30 centimeters So it's about the size of two loaves of bread. We call it a 6u cube sat In cubes at worlds a cube is 10 by 10 by 10 centimeters And if you stack six of them together, it's six u's or six units So it's a very small satellite and it's going to go to the moon and we're going to look for Exposed water ice now exposed water ice probably only exists in very very very cold places Like the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles So we're going to skim over the lunar south pole and we're going to look for water ice in those permanently shadowed regions Now of course if you just had a camera or a spectrometer that was a passive instrument You would use sunlight bouncing off of those areas and collect those photons to look at them Permanently shadowed regions of course don't have sunlight bouncing into them. So we have to take an active illuminator That's our flashlight. So we're taking four lasers with us. We're going to shine them down into those shadowed regions We're going to collect those photons and we're going to look at the spectrum that comes back and water ice is going to absorb Some of those photons so if we get fewer photons back than we sent and we know that water ice absorbed them If we get all the photons back that we sent we know there's no water ice there. Hey, what does that get? Let's say we find some water ice. I mean we found water on the moon. We've looked for different things a couple times Yeah, yeah, exactly right. So it feels like we've found this before. So what is this specific thing get us? Sure, so water on the moon like water on Mars We discovered a bunch of times but actually scientifically each one is different And it means a different thing for people who may want to go there and use those resources So the water on the moon that we know about now there's water locked in the minerals very very small amounts That's not something that you're going to be able to crack open a mineral and drink So it's it's scientifically interesting, but not a great resource same for the water that's on the surface That's from the solar wind interaction So as hydrogen comes streaming in from the Sun and it interacts with the silicate mineral silicates are 50% oxygen Those hydrogens and those oxygens bond and make H2O molecules But again one molecule on the surface isn't enough to drink We do know that at the poles there are deep deposits of water ice We know that from radar measurements, but underneath a meter or more of lunar regolith Lunar regolith is very hard to dig through imagine having to dig in your yard a meter or more That's a lot of work to do just to get to something So what we're looking for specifically is Accessible water frost that maybe humans could go use in the future and we could use this for a number of things For potentially drinking but more likely for like rocket fuel and things like that for habitation on the moon Sure, absolutely anything that you need hydrogen and oxygen or water for All right possibly other elements too There may be other things in there mixed with it that you could use something like methane or ammonia or CO2 anything like that as well Also things you probably wouldn't want to drink What's really interesting about this particular mission is how it's going up You're not going up on an atlas or a delta. You're actually going up on one of the first space launch systems Tell us a little bit about that Sure, so the exploration mission one for the space launch system It's going to be the first time that we check out that whole rocket stack You might remember a couple years ago We sent the Orion on a delta as a checkouts light But this is the first time we're going to stack that Orion on top of the big monster rocket And we're going to send that whole stack out where Ryan's going to do Loop around the moon and come back But while it's doing that we're going to deploy 13 different CubeSats actually so they're in the adapter ring between the Orion and the rocket There's space in there for a whole bunch of little satellites. They're all going to be 6u satellites They're all going to be the same size But the great thing about going on this rocket is that we get beyond low Earth orbit We don't get deployed in Earth orbit and that means you can use low impulse in space propulsion methods to go to Different places in the solar system So we're using green propulsion to go to the moon other people are going to be using things like ammonia There's a mission called me a scout that's going to be using a big solar sail to go to an asteroid So these kinds of things don't have enough propulsion or a lift to get us off the earth They have enough to move us around the solar system once we get out of Earth's gravity well Actually that worked out brilliantly because both Shire and warp 11 asked what kind of propulsion you're using To move around so the next question coming up is space Mike which says will you be going into a polar lunar orbit to investigate the poles? Yep, good question. We are going into polar lunar orbit That means that we have to spend some time getting into the correct plane So we do a couple earth flybys to change our plane get into sort of a polar orientation get captured into a low energy Transfer and spiral down around the pole and you guys were talking before about how close do you know is getting to Jupiter Lunar flashlight is going to get within 20 kilometers of the South Pole That's pretty sporty. Is that the end of the mission when you're getting that close or you are you using you slinging by at that point? Yeah, we have a very elliptical orbit And so the paralun is going to be about 20 kilometers and the Apollo is going to be about 9,000 kilometers It's going to take us about 12 hours to do a single orbit but we're only taking data right over the South Pole and of course to get the best signal with a very small laser in a Very small satellite. We need to get very close to the surface What kind of power you're going to be using on the vehicle and how long do you think it's going to last? Well, we have solar panels that power the vehicle and those will last a good long time There's no problems with that. Our lasers are powered with standard lithium ion batteries actually And so they'll probably last a good long time, too We think that because we are coming so close to the pole We get perturbed by the gravitational field of the moon quite a bit And we'll have to do trajectory corrections pretty much every trajectory and that's going to Deplete our propulsion. We use most of our propulsive force to get into the transfer orbit to get into the capture orbit And then we'll only have a little bit left to do these kind of corrections And when that runs out that'll be the end of the mission And what do you have any like awesome plans for the end of the mission like crashing into the moon and doing something neat? Well, we are going to crash into the moon There are restrictions on all missions, of course as to how you can dispose of the mission and for lunar missions We have to have a disposal plan that takes away from the Apollo historic sites So we can't just let it crash wherever we want it to we're gonna have to do a controlled Litho breaking maneuver and so we'll probably do that somewhere around a pole Unfortunately, it's going to be too small I think to be seen by any of our orbiting assets and LRO our lunar reconnaissance orbiter We hope will be there, but there's no guarantee that that'll be there at the time to observe it anyway It won't be observable from Earth. It's pretty small Would would L if LRO was if the lunar reconnaissance orbiter wasn't the right position would it be able to see it? Or is it I mean you're pretty tiny It's pretty tiny. I think we would have to Do some before and after imaging. I'm not sure that it could see it Actually a question from one of my co-hosts asking how much off-the-shelf components? How many off-the-shelf components is lunar flashlight using? That's a really great question and it's one of the reasons I tried to make the distinction in the beginning The lunar flashlight and these other satellites are not really cube sets as we understand them cube sets have grown to be an amazing part of spacecraft building that even university students can do by buying kits and assembling them and launching them those kits typically have Components that are designed for Earth orbit, right? So we're inside a nice magnetosphere and we don't have a lot of radiation And once you're in Earth orbit, you don't need a lot of propulsion So typically they don't have all the things that we need to have also we need a radio That can send and receive an x-band because that's how far away the moon is We can't use the uhf for example So we have a lot of components that are not off the shelf. They are spacecraft components interplanetary spacecraft components We hope that things like the radio will become catalog items these very small components for small electronics Rad hard electronics So we hope that some of these will become catalog items, but right now they're pretty much custom So the u part or the cube set part of it is really the external envelope and everything inside of it is custom So taking kind of that concept and the idea of the space launch system being able to bring you a lot further than normal Using off the shelf components and the space launch system combined Are you going to be able to go out further using lower cost satellite for other missions? Because I know you do a lot more than just lunar flashlight Are you looking at these combination of things for things in the future? Yes, exactly. All of these cube sets are very much pathfinders for doing planetary science with these very very small buses I think that um in our development what we've seen some of the Um difficulties that we've had to overcome and some of the challenges that we've had I think really point to the best use of these satellites as maybe daughter ships to larger missions And sending them into environments where you wouldn't want to send your main satellite So exactly what you're talking before about jupiter's radiation belts You know, maybe you could send some of these into the great red spot as probes For things like enceladus where you've got plumes Maybe you could send one of these through the plume if you were trying to perturb an asteroid Maybe you could crash one of these into an asteroid and watch from a larger spacecraft bus So I think these as daughter satellites are going to be very helpful and very capable Be able to communicate back to their Mother spacecraft rather than communicating all the way back to the earth Having to bring all their own propulsion things like that. Now. Are you tied to the space launch system? Because you know rockets with nasa unfortunately are tied to politics. We're about to get a new president There's not a zero chance that space launch system will be canceled.  We have a design Guideline to be compatible with other rockets, but honestly the space launch system and the kubesats are tied together Because we want to be able to show the capability of the space launch system Not just for a ryan, but for other payloads and secondary payloads as well So we're very excited to be a part of the space launch system talking about communication a little bit further K. McCoy asked Does the lunar flashlight uses a deep space network to talk to earth? Or do we have some kind of system to talk in a lunar spacecraft that isn't quite as big as this deep space network? Maybe t-dress, which is the tracking data relay satellite system Something like that.  Right. Yeah, so we looked at losing t-dress a lot of lunar missions have looked at using t-dress as well There are some very special Configurations or geometry that you might be able to use t-dress. We're not in one of them So we are using the deep space network. We are launching in 2018. We hope We don't know that the lunar reconnaissance orbiter will be there for us as a relay satellite So we are having to we're required to take our own communication to correspond with the To talk to the deep space network Is that a problem you're working on solving? Because if you're going to be sending a bunch of cube sets up You want these smaller satellites bringing huge communication arrays isn't going to be something you can do or you guys working on a Intergalactic communication network, so to speak Um, I don't think so. I know there are plans for the deep space network to keep going and to upgrade its 35 meter dishes will only need the 35 meter dishes for lunar A lot of universities actually are very interested in having their own Antennas to be able to talk to their cube sets and they already do that universities talk to their own cube sets in low-earth orbit There are some that would like to upgrade to have that capability to talk to deep space cube sets as well Space mic asks if you have any other lunar missions coming up that are kind of cool Yeah, so on that same mission the em1 there are a couple other lunar cube sets Sky fire out of Lockheed martin is going to make a flyby of the moon and makes the measurements and then go out into deep space There are two other orbiters one is luna map. There's luna with an h like your muscle luna map And it has a big h because it's looking for hydrogen deposits So when we talked earlier, we're looking for the water on the surface There's also water buried deep underneath and that this luna map is going to be looking for those very high resolutions So it's going to make a skimming orbit just like ours. It's going to come down very close to the south pole You're working on some very very very cool things Where can people go to get more information not just on lunar flashlight, but all the projects you're working on Well, you can go to the nasa marshal plenitary website. It's called plenitary.mfsc.nasa.gov I'll say I was looking at your bio before I let you guys look at your bio and my favorite line in there is that you're A lunatic at the very bottom. I thought that was absolutely hilarious. I thought that was brilliant, but I love this This is great. Uh, that's my license plate too. Oh really? That's fantastic. Well now i'll know forever up Up at marshal space flight center. We'll see All right, that's awesome. All right. Thank you so much for taking time out of your saturday to join us It was a great amount of fun. I hope you won't be a stranger to the show and we're looking forward to the launch of SLS on exploration mission one to watch lunar satellite and a bunch of other cube stats and uh, ryan's gonna be awesome Yep, it'll be great


And welcome to this week's edition of Business in Hawaii. I'm Daelyn Yanagida, and we are broadcasting live from the ThinkTech studios in downtown Honolulu. If you want to join us, we are live at www.thinktechhawaii.com, and you can also subscribe to our programs and get on our mailing list at that site as well. The theme of business in Hawaii is to share with you stories of local businesses by local people, and they share with you how they were able to build successes in a challenging environment. Today in the studio we have Tom Walker, president and founder of Ohana Nui. Tom is also a baker of super delicious cookies that I'm super excited to try. Tom, welcome to our show. Thank you. Thank you. Please share with us Ohana Nui, who you are. I came from New York, worked for 30 plus years in advertising, publishing, design, photography, all creative industries. I came over about five years ago for a month to do a photo book for a best known around natural geographic photographer that lives there, Paul Chesley. So I came for a month to edit and sort of design, and then it grew into a year, and five years later I'm still here.  I want someplace new. And I have no desire to go back. Fantastic. That's great. And Ohana Nui sort of came out of looking at opportunities. You know, I love packaging and branding. And I found that New York is a very crowded jaded market. It's there's so much of everything here. There's such an opportunity, particularly the tourist market, for high-end products. And I love you to packaging. And that was sort of the beginning of it and seeing that, okay, you've got your own tourism, it's a lot of it comes through Honolulu. Could I create something for that? And Honolulu is experiential brand. In other words, the products are trying to capture and taste, smell, sense, you know, what the experience of Hawaii is to take home as a remembrance of your visit or to give to friends back home to make them jealous. So I started with cookies because it's, besides being branding, I love to bake.  So I actually brought some to try. These are the panillo cookies. They are in three different flavors. And they're sort of done as gift boxes. They're all macadamia-based. And so the artwork on your boxes are you? You, right. They're sort of based on some old artwork, but I tried to update it. This is actually Kaimana Beach. And then you have Diamond Head and Imauna Kea. So they're kind of narratives in themselves. So they're precious objects. The first cookie is... Oh, beautiful packaging.  I brought some milk. You're obviously a marketing person. You wanted everything. Exactly.  Thank you. To cleanse your palate between the flavors. Production staff needs some of this. So the challenge here is the humidity. And you need to create a cookie if you want it to be dry and crunchy, which I am. How do you get... Keep it that way and make it different. This has crystallized ginger in it. Oh, nice. So it's butter, crystallized ginger, macadamia nuts, a few other things. All right, guys. Here it goes. I'm a huge crunchy cookie fan. That hits the spot. Okay, so I was trying to find local flavors. And this next one is leaking pineapple. So it's candy pineapple. That was so good. Right? Is it sort of got... Oh. And then you get the crunch, you get the chew. It's sort of... And it's not that artificial ginger flavor. It... Oh, no. Well, you know, there's different points in my life of like epiphanies.  And I've always tried to like chase the monkey on that. And then this is like, oh my God, that sort of gets it. Now, this next one is sort of... That does get it. This is a little different because it has the sort of saltiness of the leji moe sprinkle over the pineapple, which is a lot sweeter than this. So it's a good counterpoint. That saltiness goes really, really well. That is amazing. Yeah, they're kind of different, but the same, you know, you get the crunch and the chew. And they actually hold up well in the humidity. If you leave the package open, they get soft. But I have friends that prefer them that way. That is so good. I need some of those. I didn't bring the third one, which is a mocha chocolate, which has a little bit of lemon and rye, and it has a chew in it, too. Amazing, really. And they're available at Island Olive Oil in Ward Center and in Kailua Center. And then we're launching in Neiman Marcus in about two weeks. And I have a top secret fourth flavor we're doing just for them. So in November, Neiman Marcus and... So the Olive Oil Company, Ward Center, Kailua Center, I think. And then Neiman Marcus. Now, with those in mind, higher end type of high line. So is that your target? Very much. So, you know, Omiyagi, if you know what that is, you know, I lived in Japan as a kid and I've always remembered their attention to detail and packaging and presents, presents to give to people. And I found when I came here, you know, it used to be, you'd always take home Hawaiian host macadamia nuts. Like now they're everywhere. Okay, can we create something that you can only get in Hawaii? You can't get anywhere else. Maybe it's a little more expensive, but it has a presence to it. So that was the whole point behind this. And I also, in developing this, I've also looked at other lines of other products, not only cookies, but things that scented products, fashion items. And how can we expand this? So I'm not a cookie company. I'm experiential brand Omiyagi. Something special that they can't get anywhere else but here. So can we expect that out of your Omiyagi line, the high line of Omiyagi that we'll see other things? Oh, lots. Yes, I've been working on this for a few years, but I have a whole line of products because I don't believe that what I'm selling is a cookie. I mean, that's part of it, but it doesn't work out. You've got to change and have another product or if that doesn't work, change it. So the whole idea is something that represents a portion of the island, you then smell, taste, or those things that you remember from being here. And so, oh yeah, I've got a good five, 10 other things I'm looking to create. So is this baked in your home? No, it's a kitchen, an incubated kitchen in downtown. Oh, nice. I'm actually looking to expand. And we just really got the cookies into the store in the last couple of months. So prior to that was kind of a year testing it with people and giving sample boxes out. So now we're just, it's the big thing is the expansion, which is the other challenge about when you start a business, like, is it scalable? Talk to me about that. Yeah. Well, again, I think when you go into the high-end item, and I think particularly if you do research in terms of products and cookies, there's not a big profit margin on a cookie per se. It's a fragile product. So there is a lot of waste. So how can you create greater value to it in terms of packaging? So we're looking at things that are probably cost a little more, but the greater value to the user. So everything we're looking at is like, okay, is this someone to pay a little extra to take home? That is just not a bag of cookies from Safeway. And every product is like, okay, whether it's a candle or whatever, is it uniquely Hawaiian or can I get it somewhere else? And I think the big challenge today is the economies of scale where you have local businesses pushed out by chains stores. Right. And everything's kind of the same. And it's sad because I've done a lot of traveling in my life. There was a time you'd go someplace, bring something home that no one had. Now you go, and these things are like, I've been in Dubai. They had Hawaiian host macadamia nuts there. Okay. So for those folks out there who are watching and they're saying, well, I've always wanted to start a food business. Where do you find your resources here in Hawaii? The interesting thing, and the first thing I have to, I'm constantly reminding myself, is the internet. And the things that are available today that weren't available five, 10 years ago, just if you wanted to know how to run a business, if you're looking for online, like accounting services, if you're looking for recipes, testing recipes, or you're looking for success stories. I think a lot about starting a business, it's one thing to have a passion, but is it a worthwhile business to get into? And there's a lot of stories already out there. And if you research cookies alone, you can sort of see where the sweet spot spots are and aren't. And you learn very quickly from other people's successes and mistakes. And mistakes are a great way to learn. You'll make them and we'll all make them. But again, if you can already experience that through someone else, so much the better, then getting resources, the whole idea that you don't have to go through a phone book, if you remember the yellow pages. You go online, you can see if it's available, you can order, and thank God for Amazon Prime. I can't tell you how many things I've ordered from there, just a test to try. And then once you figure out, okay, that's the product I want, you're working a source out on a wholesale level. But those things weren't available five, 10 years ago. So starting something like this was in a very different effort five, 10 years ago. So as owner of a startup, you have a great product, you have partners who are wanting to put you out there, the olive oil company. And because of the age of technology, do you feel the pressure to go online that you have to? No. And I come out of particularly my advertising background as digital media.  You need to do it. You need to be there. But particularly for a business that's really focused on a local, develop, or say the relationship, develop the market locally. You can take a lot of time setting up a website, and you do need that. You need to be on Instagram, you need to be on Facebook. But those come after the fact or in parallel. First and foremost, get a good product, understand what your audience is and where they are and how to get to them. This says a lot of things to distract you out there.  With your packaging, did the inspiration on the packaging come from these three pillars? Because I think that's what makes Ohananui so special. In fact, it gives me chicken skin. It's interesting because I find being in Hawaii, being in paradise, and Hawaii is a global brand, and everyone has a vision of what it is.  And there's so many different versions of that. And I'm always in awe of another person who comes and gets enthused about another thing here. And what is paradise? What is it to be in paradise? And there are certain things that resonated with me in terms of the culture here and also the culture that's coming from, that I'm writing from the Japanese and the Portuguese. And it's like, how can you sort of add to that and also highlight what's already existed in respect to the local cultures? It's just an interesting, unique place. And it's the only place for what, how many thousands of miles? It's just amazing. And there's very few island cultures like that. I say Bali, Hawaii, that have that kind of international recognition when you say the word Hawaii. And if you can distill that into a package, you'll be a success. So I know that you recently had like a launch event or a tasting event. Yes, we had a wine and cookie tasting. Tell us about that. How'd that go? Well, the whole, you know, part of this, the inspiration is also kind of like biscotti. These are double baked, like a biscotti to be crisp. They pair up nicely with wines. So we did a Prosecco, rosé and a white and with three different cookies and worked out very well. And then some out for the cakey. Perfect. Well, I unfortunately missed the event, but I... We're gonna have another one in Kailua in October. Fantastic. I can't wait. These cookies are amazing. We're gonna go to a quick break. This is Business in Hawaii and we'll be back shortly. Hi, I'm Ethan Allen, host on Think Tech Hawaii of Pacific Partnerships in Education. Every other Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. I hope you'll join us as we explore the value, the accomplishments and the challenges of education here in the Pacific Islands. Welcome back. This is Mrs. in Hawaii and today my very special guest is Tom Walker. Tom is the president and founder of Ohana Nui. I got a chance to taste these amazing cookies. They're very unique. They're not like other cookies that you may taste, you know, with some Hawaiian branding and whatnot. They're very, very special. Thank you. But where I want to go in this last half of our show is how special Ohana Nui is because it's not just an Omiage company, a Highline Omiage company. It is founded on values, pillars that are so, so much more telling. Okay, let me please share with us. I sort of feel like there's three areas you need to look at as one, you know, who is your audience? Can you give a quality product to them? Something that takes back captures the essence of Hawaii and also that the locals can enjoy too. So it's understanding who your audience is, but to also understand who the community you're working with, particularly in the business community. And I would say this for people that's starting out, I belong to the Hawaii Venture Capital Association. There's several organizations you can get involved. Just get to know the people because you learn a lot and you can work together. You know, one of the side things that I'm looking to, with a few other companies here, is helping them with their branding and developing how their businesses work here. It's a small community and you learn from them. And you also feed off the energy. When you hear success stories like, oh, they did it, I can do it too. That's important because you can beat yourself up and think, oh, it could be better or I should have done this. When you hear other people going through it, it gives you that sense of action. So very important to be a play a part of that community. And also understand island economies, which are kind of unique because you have sort of this closed ecosystem and limited resources, limited, you know, ingredients and manpower. Can you create something that, say, when it gets successful, doesn't leave the island like a lot of brands do? Again, this is more about quality, not quantity. So if we can do different products and work with other people who are creating products here, maybe bring it through the Ohana Noe brand. So it's recognized to represent quality, unique products, limited quantities. Then your price point goes up for them and everyone benefits. So that's kind of that, you know, how do you make the island economy work? And then the third part is giving back. And I was looking for something in everyone, you know, coming out of marketing, everyone's looking for, you know, it's called cause-related marketing, like tie into something. And it'll resonate. And I've been looking to something to tie into. And because I'm very, I swim a lot. I'm at the beach a lot and do a lot of underwater photography. I've been involved in Kaimana Beach, which is featured on one of the little boxes. I think we even have a picture that we might be able to throw up of Kaimana, right? Do we have- Anyway, so these are, this is one of the turtles that lives at Kaimana. Kaimana is kind of a special place in that it's a very popular local beach. Not as many tourists get down there, but there are two endangered species that love that beach, monk seals, Rocky who gave birth recently, and the green sea turtle. And they live in frolic with the people. They seem to be fine with the people on the beach.  This is Rocky who I captured. This is two hours after Rocky gave birth to- Oh my goodness. To seal the same Kaimana. What a picture. Yeah, I actually had come back from New York on a red eye, and I just wanted- I'd been gone like two or three times. I just wanted to go somewhere. I just wanted to see my turtle friends, and I got down there, and Rocky had just given birth, and I had my camera got up on top of the building and shot down. Amazing. And it really is a special place. And the fact that nature and people can sort of exist together there is pretty amazing. I was there a couple of weeks ago shooting with my GoPro, and someone said my little turtle friend who I call Curly of Larry, Mo and Curly of the Three Stooges had a wire around his neck. So I swam out there and photographed him.  He's coming for everybody. He's very tired. I got back to land and talked to the lifeguard and got the number of the turtle hotline for the Hawaii marine animal response team. Got a machine.  So I raced home. Okay, it's illegal to touch it, bother a turtle. I got that. But I was so worried about, okay, if I get busted for this, so be it, I'll put up a GoFundMe, I'll raise money, but I grab like nail clippers, scissors, whatever, just ran back down. Luckily, before I got there, they called back and a woman from the Hawaii animal or marine animal response team was there.   And I thought, okay, this is who I want to give to because it was so immediate. And it's a strange place. I mean, there's some fishermen there. And, you know, it's just, the ecosystem is such that there's- Is that the actual rescue? Yes, that's the rest of the rescue. And what was great about what they did is, Brittany, the woman, got the wire off around the turtle's neck and then we all sort of, she helped, we sort of helped her get the lure off. The hooks will actually dissolve, but the lure could hook on something and whatever. And the turtle was fairly chill. I mean, I think he was tired, but I also think he knew we were trying to rescue him. But I mean, this is like five minutes walk from the house and what's amazing for anyone that's in Hawaii is, I'm the first year or two I'm discovering the island, the hiking and the sailing, whatever. When I discovered the underwater, there's another whole part of this island that's incredible to know about. And it's changing. The ecosystems are changing. The pollution, the rising temperatures, anything we do to, you know, preserve or help the environment. So very much, Ohana Nui is looking to give a percentage of profits to that cause. So again, this whole idea of like looking at your audience, servicing a good product, work within the business and local community to do something that has value and then to give back. And I think when you do that, there's a sense of satisfaction that comes. It's very different than just, oh, making money. It's like, oh my God, this person just like emailed me and said, thank you for saving the turtle. You can actually, I had the GoPro with me. So I videotaped the whole thing. If you go to ahananuilife.com, you can see the video of the save. And it was exciting. And again, if I can somehow help that cause. Actually, the rescue of that turtle was actually covered. I don't even know where it was covered, but I was on the news. They actually called me. God, I give them the video and everything. It was it was amazing. Yeah. I just I am so impressed by the response team being there so quickly, but also engaging the tourists, rather than saying, stand back, we'll take care of it. Enrolling them in the process, I think made an advocate at everyone felt they were helping saving. I think that resonates out that we can all make a difference to the environment here. And again, at the time we see these hurricanes everywhere around the world, they don't make a difference. So very much ahananui, we want to make a difference. One cookie at a time. So how did you put your three pillars together? I mean, the alignment is almost almost magical, right? Because you have a passion. You have a passion for the ocean, photography, advertising, marketing. Here's the thing is I find whenever, and I've worked a lot of publishing photography, advertising, once you focus on something you want to do, the opportunities you see is just come alive. They're always there, but you sort of filter them out because it's not about what you're looking for. But if you set yourself up, to want to do something, and then open your eyes up to the possibility.  No, I'm looking to create a product that ends up being a successful business that gives back. You see other opportunities. So that's, that's I think a large part of, of being aware of the opportunities. Also, aware that you might make some mistakes. You've got to take a step back, in turn direction. So being flexible in terms of what you're doing, and be able to make a course correction. I've had a number of guests who talk about entrepreneurship and startups, and that Hawaii is a perfect climate for, for entrepreneurship and startup businesses. When you decided that you were going to start up a business, was it the cookie that drove it? Or was it the passion for? It was the desire to live here. And I've always been entrepreneurial, even though I've worked in the corporate world, I've always been involved with startups. So it was an opportunity to bring together everything I knew. And again, comparing this to New York, I said, oh, there's such opportunity here. It's like, oh, why don't they do this?  And because it's the only game in town for thousands of miles, it's sort of, it's doable. You know, I say, you know, a lot of when you do cookies, you're looking for distributor. Here you can go to all the stories yourself. You can develop, you know, direct relationships with each of the star owners. And I think that's what's sort of missing from a lot of, you know, more recent, you know, product development. Because the mainland, the big cities are kind of filled with chain products. There's no one to talk to to say, do you like this? Here, I know a lot of, you know, I actually met the couple that run Island Olive Oil, live in my neighborhood. And I was introduced to them on the street by a fellow that owns, do you know the Newt store? So they live in, and we all live in the same sort of complex. So we're just meeting them on the street and say, oh, you know, he's doing cookie. Oh, we have a store. I want you to do my cookie in our store. And it grew out of that.  And that's one of the special parts about, you know, I think just living in Hawaii. Absolutely. And being particularly in Honolulu, there's such potential. And we just endless, you know, tourism year round, take advantage of it. There's so many things we can do to serve as that industry. The conversations that people have to connect their businesses together, they're authentic, they're organic. And I think you're right. That's what's beautiful about entrepreneurship and startup businesses in Hawaii is that you can network. But you have some experience in that. What about for those folks who this is their first rodeo? Well, what kind of advice do you have for them? Well, again, you know, first of all, we're living in such a credible place. So it's just inspiring to be here. And I think that sort of drives you to figure out, okay, how can I greater take advantage of what's here and what's unique about this place. But I go back to the point of like the internet. If you don't know something, it's easy to learn and never assume, okay, this is not rocket science or not sending someone to the moon. This is not brain surgery. This is basically, if you don't know something, get on and there's a YouTube video on it. If you don't know how to do bookkeeping, if you don't understand social media, there's something on it on the web. And that was not available 10 years ago. And I constantly am reminding myself how fortunate it is to be living in this time. Could not have done this 10 years ago, 20 years ago, it just wasn't possible. So take advantage and also the local organizations, the venture capital group, another small business, so the small business development group is very helpful in understanding what needs to be in place. And business owners here have that Aloha spirit in them. And they're so willing to mentor entrepreneurs. And I think that's, it's magical. We have just a couple of minutes left, but I'd love for you to tell our audience, first of all, where to find you. You can go, the website is HananuiLife.com. At the cookies are available at Island Olive Oil in the Ward Center and Kailua Center. And in November, they will be in Neiman Marcus on the third floor. Fantastic. I wanted to thank you for joining us and sharing. Certainly. Sharing your wonderful cookies. I can't wait for the production staff to try them. But good luck to you. And I'm going to be looking for you. And I'm going to tell the story about your packaging and your passion. And the turtles. And turtles and the turtles. Unfortunately, we are out of time, but thank you to our guests and the awesome production staff here in the studio. If you would like to be a guest on our show, please email your information to shows at thinktechhawaii.com. Business in Hawaii airs every Thursday at two o'clock, and we look forward to seeing you here next week.


The whole topic particularly in Japan also in Asia generally is the development of cities and how cities interact with water systems and whether they are the piped water systems but also the natural water systems, how do we use sponge cities for example, so how do we use natural systems to actually help provide services both for the humans but also for the environment and that's going to be a key area that we're definitely going to have some workshops and even we're talking about a whole stream for a whole day that is actually going to focus on how do we optimally connect the water systems within the city to actually enable the livability, the resilience and ultimately the productivity of the cities in the future. One of the avenues that we've been exploring is what's the best integration and it's not whether or not you have centralized or decentralized system but what's the best integration of centralized and decentralized solutions in a city space for example because some elements you can do better in a central way, some elements will be better off doing in a decentralized way. One of the key areas of this congress is going to be the digital economy or internet of things and what we're looking for there is particularly how and where do we take advantage of those developments and how can we influence them in a positive way so they're actually providing some really good support and new opportunities and new solutions for the water industry in particular in conjunction with everyone else. I believe and I've seen it from my own experience we cannot get the best solution for any one problem if every one of the professional groups or disciplines works in isolation and works out to the best possible knowledge the best solution for their area. In disaster management whether that's earthquakes whether it's tsunamis whether it's even volcanic activities so there is a real expertise here that is actually very valuable for others to know about and share so we definitely have a strong focus in this space. IWA is a great platform a great network of a whole lot of professions in a whole lot of discipline areas and a whole lot of different backgrounds experiences and obviously geographic distribution as well.


Roger, one killer. Last player standing. She's camping it. Peek me. Enemy remaining. Oh my god. That's all me! That's the definition getting killed. That's me! I'm the best in the world. So I saved a day.