Welcome. This afternoon at 5, 5 p.m., 5 o'clock Rock, we're doing Community Matters. And that means we're talking about the Boy Scouts, the Aloha Council. Kimi Takazawa runs the place. Director Philanthropy, that's all. All right, well, a little of that. Okay, we have a special guest. We have Bill Wilson from Hawaiian Dredging, one of the guys who built the state and who is going to be honored soon enough on, he's coming soon, August 25th at the Sheraton Waikiki. He is going to be Hawaii's Distinguished Citizen. He's going to get the Distinguished Citizen Award. Welcome to the show, Bill. Thank you very much, Jason. Thanks for coming here today. Thank you. And Jason, Jason Kimura. Jason has just recently became an Eagle Scout. Congratulations, Jason. Thank you. Thanks for coming down today. Thank you for having us. So, let's start with you, Jason. What does it mean to be an Eagle Scout? What did you have to do to get all those badges? What did you have to do to, you know, become, you know, the highest rank of Scout there is, Scout Eagle Scout? So, you know, Scouting is, it's a journey. Started from first grade, Cub Scouting, and then fifth grade, we go to Boy Scouts. And the last seven years, we've learned skills, Boy Scout skills, first aid, not tying, building fires, using our knives, survival skills and whatnot. But the friendships are the guy, like my friends, the other ones who helped me pull it through, helped me finish my Eagle Scout. And, you know, it's a great, it's a great opportunity that I had, and I'm happy I accomplished it. Well, you've been involved in various organizations that make friends. One, Mid-Pack, you know, you've been going there for a long time. And you've been on a couple of teams at Mid-Pack. You've got basketball and... Oh, basketball and baseball. Baseball? Yeah. So, you have two teams you've been working with and you've got friends on both teams. But the Boy Scouts takes you further, right? Oh, yeah. It's, in addition to all of that, you're making friends with the boys. How does that work? So, you know, these guys, they're like my brothers. We've been together since first grade and five of them my age. We've been together the whole time. And it's like their parents, and their own son. So, and it makes it that much better, you know, and our leaders there. So, they take the time out of their busy lives to help us on consistent Friday nights, you know. And it really means a lot to me and it means a lot to them too. So, it's just, it's a good time.  I'm going to be a senior. You're going to be a senior. Are you going to graduate? You got a plan yet? Go to college. Of course. But that's as far as it goes right now. Okay, all right. Now, tell us about the merit badges you're showing over your right shoulder. Tell us about the ones you really care about. Well, the ones I really care about. Tell me you care about them all. Yeah, I mean, you know, I did these merit badges for a reason. I mean, some are required, but they help me open up to what real life situations could be.  You know, I could use some of those too. And it's always good, you know. Life-saving, I'm a certified BSA lifeguard, American Red Cross lifeguard. So, that's all cool to me. And it helps me become the person that who I am right now, you know. It's just...  So, Kimi, tell us more about Jason. Tell us more about the Eagle Scout program. Sure. So, Jason, not only is he... he just made his rank of Eagle Scout, but at our Eagle Scout banquet, which was held this past April, we have a scholarship. And so, he's an awardee of a $1,000 Fred Trotter scholarship, which was actually... one of his mentors there was Rhys Liget. So, we have to say thank you. He's also an Eagle Scout, and he actually helped sponsor that portion of that. And it was great because the night of the Eagle Scout dinner, because they were kind of paired together, and Rhys is also the one who gave them the award. They sat together. I hope you guys had a nice chat. Oh, yeah, that was great. And it was just great for him to... it was kind of like network, like in a more adult way with adult leadership. So, it was terrific. And he also, you know, he also explained how he is an athlete and also an Eagle Scout. I can tell. I'm looking at a resume, which includes a GPA of 3.5 and all those teams. Yeah. How do you do it? Do you sleep at night? I know. I have to give it to my parents. When I was younger, I couldn't drive, so they were the ones who brought me to practices, brought me to scouts every night, or every week. And if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have those kind of, you know, that history of sports and scouting at the same time. And I just appreciate them a lot. Yeah. And Jason, he's a really perfect example of, you know, a lot of times, people say, I have to do sports. I'll have to drop out. Or, you know, it was a mix. But he's an example of he can do it all, like not only has a great GPA, he has leadership skills. He was involved in two sports, you know, varsity basketball. He made his Eagle Scout. He had leadership opportunities in the scouting program. And, you know, there was a survey done and it's found that the kids who are in scouting actually were more participatory in a multi-variety of activities than non-scouts. So you can do it all. And Jason is a great example of someone who did it. Yeah. Wow. You run the way. Mm-hmm. And if you ever want to be a think-tech intern, you let me know. Oh yeah? I'll show you everything about video and whatnot. We'll think about it. I'll think about it. Think about it. All right. Well, okay, let's shift gears for a minute. Bill, it's so nice to have you here. Bill Wilson, Hawaiian Dredging. Great to be here. Great to have you. So, let's talk for a little bit about Hawaiian Dredging and your career there. Mm-hmm. Well, Hawaiian Dredging was founded in 1902. And so we've been around for 114 years. And through all of that, we're there for the oldest. For many years now, we've been the largest general contractor in the state of Hawaii. We're also the most diversified. We do the widest range of work. And so you'd see that in a bit of the design in the program that we've developed for coming up on the 25th, where we feature the buildings. We've built more hotels, more residential condominiums than any other contractor in the state. We also do a great deal of the road work, whether it's the H3 or the H2 or the H1 or major roads on the neighbor islands as well. So we're very active in doing that. What's the secret source over there? Well, we've got one heck of a lot of people that know what they're doing and do the wide range of work that we do. But in anything that you do in the state of Hawaii, it's the people that you have relationships with, that you do business with. And as a general contractor, we're very dependent on those capabilities and the success of contractors and suppliers to execute the work, but certainly also owners and developers, designers that help create the projects that help make Hawaii a better state. Never let it be said that general contracting is easy. It's not. I would never say that it is. I'm confident that most people in the public don't understand the risks associated with what we need to do, what we do do, as well as the challenges that come with it. And as you said, as a matter of relationships, maybe there's a common thread there between the two of you. Well, there certainly is. For many years, the company has hired people with Eagle Scout and Boy Scout backgrounds. Throughout, that certainly started long before I was there, given our history in the state. But we've certainly continued that through the years. And so, for most of the times, we have about 12 to 15 Eagle Scouts that are part of our salary workforce. So that's one of our salary employees statewide were Eagle Scouts. Of course, once you're an Eagle Scout, you're always an Eagle Scout.  That may not be as widely appreciated as an Eagle Scout. You've got to get the word out. But if you don't start with this program, it won't happen, Jack. So, how does you get involved in Hawaiian dredging? What training, what experience did you have when you finally joined it? 1974. I've been with the company for 42 years. Hawaiian dredging and its affiliated companies originally joined Dellenham Corporation, which was then the parent. Certainly the Dellenham family started that, started Hawaiian dredging many years ago. Originally, I have an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and ambassadors in business. I was offered a job in Honolulu. My wife, who I just married the year before, was from Honolulu. We met, we were undergraduates and so I threw my life away and moved to Honolulu. And it's, never look back, it's been a wonderful experience. What an experience, really. I mean, we can't, we can't forget that Hawaiian dredging has built the state, has been involved. You know, with all those relationships and projects, all that diversity of projects, you have built the state. We look around, you know, look down from 50,000 feet, we will see Hawaiian dredging hither and yon in Honolulu. And of course, how do you feel about that? Well, it's a source of pride for everybody in the organization. All of us that have joined it, you know, joined it well since it was founded, but you know, it's a great legacy that we've inherited and everyone that's there works diligently every day to maintain that. You know, one of the things that people always talk about is, you know, being number one, I can assure you that continuing talks of life that's very challenging. Let's look at some photos about Hawaiian dredging. What do we got here? We're going to see some of the projects now. Oh, wow. We're the original contractor for the Aloha Stadium in the 1970s. Oh, wow. This is a picture of the Alawai Canal. So in the 1920s, we'll dredge the Alawai Canal. Obviously, our name with dredging in it implies we're a dredging contractor. It's always fun today to explain to people that we don't, haven't done that as what we used to do and other items. This is a picture of one of the dry docks at Pearl Harbor that would have been one of the major projects early in the company's activities many years ago. Yeah. This is the Alamona Shopping Center. Oh, wow, yeah. It was developed by the land arm of Dillingham in the 1950s. It looks so small. Well, it's the Sears side. So that would have been, appears right after it was open in the late 1950s. And we've been involved in all of the expansions of that through the years today. And one of our major projects that we finished last year was the expansion which everyone is now enjoying with the new Nordstrom Bloomingdale's. And Sears is gone today from the center, but it was the center, the store that really allowed the center to go forward at the time it was developed. Are you involved in the condos that are growing on the Mackay side? No, we're not. Another contractor is doing that work. We did some of the foundation work there, but others, and we do foundation work for other general contractors. So while we are the state's largest general contractor, we also work for all the other general contractors when they need a foundation subcontractor. And although you're the largest contractor in the state, you are not actually the only contractor. No, we are. There are more than a number of other people. This is a picture of the El Lani Resort that we did in 2009 through 2011 for the Disney people. And so we're very proud to be part of that. It was a major project. And the largest single project ever built in the state of Hawaii. Huge. And let's see. This is the John Burns School of Medicine. We did that in joint venture with Kajima Corporation beginning in 2002, with completion in 2005. We awarded that project on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Hawaiian Dredge. And when I say that, not just the year, but the day of the year. March 3 is the day that we do celebrate. I can see you talking through the university and say, hold up one more day. We want to wait for our 100th anniversary. They actually set the date. Okay. And so we thought it was a very good date and auspicious. Wonderful. Absolutely. We have other pictures, too, of the Boy Scouts. Maybe you would take a moment and look at them. Oh, yeah. Now, what is that, Kimi? What is that?  This is the day actually. So this past Saturday was our Eagle Court of Honor, where we get honored for achieving the Eagle Scout rank. And I'm in the middle with two of my buddies who got the Eagle Scout with me. And all the other guys are assistant scout masters. So our mentors, our adult leaders who helped us get to that point. And as you can see, there's a lot of them. And it shows a lot of, there's a lot of commitment in that picture. A lot of people supporting you there. Oh, yeah. And we have one more, too. Ah, there you are, Jason. Do you want to see where your troop is from, chartered? So we're in True 49, chartered out of Honpahonganji, Hawaii, Betsuin, on Pully Highway. And we're, we're lucky to have this venue for us, because we give back to the temple by running the Bullen Dance every year. There's spring bazaar every year. And it gives us opportunity for leadership. Let me run those. And it's just to see how happy we are. It's amazing. This is taking it to Honpahonganji? Yes. Okay. It was. We're going to take a short break, Jason and Bill and Kimi. And we're going to come back and we're going to talk about your affair on August 25th and how you feel about that. Okay? We're going to explore what's going to happen. We're going to try to be with you in advance to be right back. Aloha. I'm Kirsten Baumgart, Turner, host of Sustainable Hawaii. Thanks for watching Think Tech this summer. We have a lot of terrific shows of great importance. And I hope you'll watch my show too every Tuesday at noon as we address sustainability issues for Hawaii. They're really pertinent as the World Conservation Congress approaches in September and the World Youth Congress that's focusing on sustainability next year as well. Have a great summer and tune in at noon every Tuesday. Aloha. My name is Carl Campania and I am the host of Think Tech Hawaii's Education Movers, Shakers, and Reformers. I invite you to come watch our show on thinktechhawaii.com. You can also see our shows on YouTube as well. You can Google search those. I appreciate the time. I hope that you do join us as we learn about education, about the educational system here in Hawaii, what the challenges are, what the benefits are and how much our kids are learning. So thank you. Thank you. I hope you join us. We're back. We're live with Jason Kimura, recent Eagle Scout, Bill Wilson, CEO of Hawaiian Dredging since 1970. Well, not since. No, that would be something. But he's been with Hawaiian Dredging since 1974. And Kimi Takazawa, who is the leader of the leaders, may I say. Sure. At the Aloha Council. Thank you. So now, Bill is going to have this fabulous thing. It's the kind of experience, Bill. Don't forget. It really is special. And if you look through the gee whiz, you know, the past honorees, we don't have time in this show to read them all. But they are really amazing, an amazing group of people starting in 1974. No. In 1983, coming forward, they are the leaders of the community for sure. Yes, for sure. So you selected, Bill, what's the process? So the process is, so first of all, our distinguished citizen dinner has been around. This is actually our 34th year. So thank you, Bill, for agreeing to be our honoree. And the process actually takes about a year in advance to plan. So we have like a list, and we kind of go over it. So as you can tell, a lot of the people who have honored become all different sectors of Hawaii in our community. So this year, we had, you know, try to see what kind of outstanding industries are going to be. So we have a lot of people who have a lot of talent, and who actually also was very involved with this community service as well, that we could honor, and who also kind of upholds some of the scouts of the law and their valleys and the way they conduct themselves for business. And Bill's name bubbled up. And so we decided to ask him, and we're just, the whole process with him and his team has just been really wonderful, really, just to say thank you. Your team has been terrific to work with. I have to do a shout out to Paolo and Richard and to Eric and Sheila. So Tom, thank you. So it's going to be Thursday in a couple of weeks at the Sheraton. And so typically these things, the Distinguished Citizen's Dinner, we have probably about 800 people in attendance. And what's really great about it is that it's not just what's a party. And so in the beginning, there's so many people from downtown who show up that it's not a den, it's a roar of people talking and networking. And you know, these are all supporters of Boy Scouts. They're all, you know, people steeped in business and in downtown. And it's actually, they're kind of rowdy and it's kind of hard to get them to settle down. Because they're having fun. Exactly. Exactly. So, yeah. So, is there room left? I mean, if anybody wanted to sign up, where would they go? Sure. So we always have Rome. They can go onto our website and email us as well. And for it, alohaconsonbsa.org. And we can go ahead and send them like information on that. And we love for them to come and join us and to celebrate Bill Wilson and the Boy Scouts. That's great. Yeah. One really fun piece is that we have about like 50 to 70 Boy Scouts come and they shake hands with everybody who's attending and it's really a great way for them to say thank you for this. It's the yin and the yang. It's the guys who've been through it. And I'm not favoring anyone over anyone else but again, I'm not going to read them all.  Ben Caetano, Walter Dodds, Warren Haruki, Vicki Caetano, gee, got two Caetano's there. Alan Doan of A&B, Mike May, Mike Fish from the newspaper, The Honorable Avatar, Governor Linderlingel, Chuck Stead, that goes on. Mufi Hanaman, Chat Wright, HPU, Peter Ho, Bank of Hawaii, everybody, they're all here. So how do you feel about this?  And so the question of, you know, how do they decide this was a good one, never quite sure. But, you know, our industry hasn't been one that's been as recognized. You mentioned some of the developers that have helped develop the work, some of which we've had the privilege of building. But the industry as a whole has not. And today there are 40,000 people working in the construction industry in the state of Hawaii. It is a high level compared to not as high as sometimes in the past, but a very good level. And so to be selected, to represent not just our company, but also to a degree the industry, it's a privilege. It's an honor and it's certainly humbling as well. Yeah. The history of Hawaii, I mean, it's the respect not only, you know, I mean, I think a contracting company has been around as long as you have a project in a state where it's difficult to do projects. You know, it's not easy around here. It's, to me, I distinguish between two kinds of people in the word and you can listen. Well, one is the people who follow through. Mm-hmm. And the other is the other people. Good advice. Follow through others. And you have to follow through thick and thin. Yeah. It's easy to do things where things are well and the difficulty is through the ups and downs. Yeah. And that's one of the real challenges of the construction industry in Hawaii is that it, there are ups and downs, there are peaks and valleys and that's what makes it hard on the workers in the industry because of the uncertainty and how many hours they're going to have spend 10 years in the industry from 1992 to 2002 when things were not strong. Yeah. And everyone was concerned about where their next job is going to come from and the industry contracted significantly. And so that's challenging for everybody in the industry. So you appreciate the good times when you do have them or the greater activity. There are certainly challenges in those times as well as you can read about today in terms of executing the work when resources are limited, particularly the necessary staff to execute the work for contractors and owners.  Sure. Well, for many years, one of the advertising things that we do is put together a tide calendar so people throughout the state know what the tides are. It's certainly part of our history. Tides in business or in the water? Tides in the water. Okay. So the fishermen and the surfers of the world, of Hawaii look forward to getting our calendar. I have it on good authority. It's the most accurate tide calendar published. There are others who pretend they make them. But I'm told ours is better. So it helps them do that, but it also features the many projects. And this year in the last couple of years, because a number of our projects go over a number of years, I mentioned Alamoana, but we're finishing in two months, both the 801 phase B as well as the collection.  But we're also starting other work. We have a rental car facility for the state on Maui, which is the largest single project underway in the state. But we're also doing a timeshare project for the Vistana folks, formerly known as Starwood, at Kanapali. And that's a major project as well. So busy on Maui as well as the Big Island currently. What I like about this whole thing with the Aloha Council and about the program on August 25th and about this show, it's the ying and yang. It's the people who have been in leadership positions and have demonstrated great skills and talent and leadership which Hawaii needs. We need that. It's really important and we need more of it going forward. We need young millennials too to stay around and become the leaders of the future. Because he's not going to last forever. I'm sorry I said that. And many people will say that's a good thing. So, I mean, you capture that when you have Bill sitting on the one side and Jason on the other side and they're comparing notes, then Jason has this exquisite opportunity to see real leaders in action rub shoulders with each other. Okay, see, I told you. How's it feel, huh? It's great. So, it's really brilliant that the Boy Scouts do this. So, a question. I know you're going to be making remarks there. And I'm hoping that you'll make just a pre-see of those remarks for us. Why don't you face camera? Let's see. Vivian. Vivian is that one over there. And if you could just talk to Vivian as if it were the 800 people into the valley of the 800 people. Well, if I do that too well, it won't come that night. So, I've got to leave the best part out, James. So, you're talking about a teaser to get people to come. Well, certainly, we've already covered a couple of things that I'm going to address a little bit. I think the other part of it is to thank the people throughout the industry that have made it possible for us to be successful. But also talk a little bit about some of the other activities that have been in through the years. And the effort to be sure that the community gets the support it needs to do the right things. Part of the theme is building dreams. And contractors don't decide what's built. Owners, developers, whether it's government or private entities, decide what's built. And then it's up to the contractor to figure out how to do it for less money and quicker than what I think is humanly possible. It's the challenge that we face. But it's what we grow up to do. And either we know how to do it or we'll figure out how to do it in the time frame we've got. It's the simple answer. There's a more glorious path to that. That's a teaser. But again, we couldn't do it without all the people that we work with all the time. And we all take a great deal of pride. All of us, not just the wine-dredging folks like Hawaii, what it is today and continue to be the best it can be in the future. I don't know if you're going to address Jason in the program on August 25th, but maybe you could take a moment and address him now and tell him what your advice is to him. He's a senior. He's got many years to explore his leadership capability. Well, Jason, I have three daughters, so I don't give advice to young men too very often. I've got three son-in-laws, but they're smart enough to marry our daughters. But with that, obviously you've learned a great deal. You've accomplished a great deal. And so I think the key thing is to figure out what it is you want to continue to do in life. Make sure it's something that you have a passion to do that you're going to love to do. You can make your way in whatever you choose to do. And I think as you do that, it's a cub scout, a boy scout as well as an eagle scout in terms of the leadership and the character that you've demonstrated. It's that character which will carry you through whatever you choose to do in the many years ahead. Wonderful. Thank you and touching. Thank you very much. Kimi, I'm going to let you close. What's it all about? Give us your thoughts about this discussion about the program on August 25th and about the notion of bringing them together once again. We're so lucky at Aloha Council that the Hawaii community has supported the scouting since 1910 since we've been around. This event is a huge one for us. We raised over half a million dollars and it's always been so, so successful. It's because of leaders like Bill who has kind of put themselves out there to be the honoree. It also has to do with the 12,000 kids that we support because it's so important that scouting stays alive especially now in this time of kind of uncertainty that our program I feel really, I'm a total believer that this program really builds the values and the substance for these young boys and girls to the kind of citizens that we want to have both in Hawaii and in the world. Thank you again, Bill and Jason, thank you so much for sticking it through and becoming Eagle Scout. You're going to be there Jason on August 25th? I believe I will be there. You're going to see this unfolding, all the notion of leadership and the history of the Boy Scouts and the history of leadership within the Boy Scouts, so no pressure. You already have the Eagle Scout designation. It's okay. Thank you so much Jason. Thank you Bill.


Hi, I'm Tori Strange from the surf station surf shop in St. Augustine, Florida And I'm here today to tell you about fins in longboards. How many fins do you want? The single-fen rides great. This is where it all started. A single-fen glides well through the wave It turns well. It knows rides well It's trusted by longboard surfers the world over Tri-fins. Tri-fins are the most popular in shortboards In longboarding, they're used for carbby turns and holding power They're real versatile. You can get a little more umph out of your turns with that inside fin, pivoting on that inside fin Has a little more drag than say a quad Or a single-fen. You've got a carpet, but all around it's very popular Especially where there's where the waves have a little more power Imagine taking your twin-fen and adding two Stabilizers for extra holding power and you have a quad. Quads have of course more drive than a twin-fen They're really fast, a lot faster than a twin-fen, but they don't slide at all with the extra holding power. They're carvy They're noticeably faster than a single-fen or tri-fen So you may ask why isn't the whole world riding quads? Well, they don't know ride as well You want to ride your quad in more of an open-face wave for carving or when you want to Beat out sections on small summer mushy days. They're definitely fast and really a lot of fun


This study found that the number of children and adolescents presenting to the emergency room with poisoning increased during the Covid-19 pandemic compared to before it. Additionally, the proportion of cases involving intentionality, females, and adolescents also increased. Furthermore, the severity of outcomes such as hospitalization and discharge against medical advice also increased. This article was authored by J.U.K. Shin, SAE Jung-Kwak and Sung Hyun-Yoon.


Hi guys, welcome back to my channel. Meks from the Meks Creation TV. If you're not subscribed, consider subscribing, press the notification icon below. If you want to be the first to know when I upload a new video, welcome to Meks Creation TV, the only channel with the old difference. The only channel with the stories from the lands. This is Meks Creation TV. Minimum wage in Katal Everything you need to know about the minimum wage 2021 March 21st of this year 2021 We see a very big land mark with the minimum wage bill introduced in Katal. The minimum wage bill introduced It was a great land mark for all workers in Katal including the domestic workers. A basic salary of 1000 which is near 275 dollars introduced. The minimum wage bill or the minimum wage law came into effect on 21st March of this year. However, too much questions have been coming in. Welcome to Meks Creation TV, the only channel with the two information. Everything you need to know about the minimum wage. First of all, the minimum wage is just the basic salary below which a worker may not be willing to sell his labor or service to most countries. They've introduced the minimum wages by legislation here in Katal. The law regarding the minimum wage that is law number 17 of 2021 which sets the minimum wage to all workers in Katal in the private sector including the domestic workers to a basic salary of 1000 Did you know that guys? to a basic salary of 1000 housing allowance of 500 food allowance of 300 everything you need to know about the minimum wage. Under circumstances that your employer provides accommodation for you we are talking about a decent accommodation your employer provides food for you which should be 3 meals per day nutritious 3 meals with a lot of karelos per day then your basic salary will be 1000 for 8 hours working Welcome to Meks Creation TV If you have not subscribed consider subscribing press the notification icon below you will be the first to know when I upload a new video share, comment I'll be happy to get back to you Let us look at the first scenario I'm talking about the things that you should know about the minimum wage the things that your employer did not tell you about the minimum wage is what I'm talking about guys right now Welcome to Meks Creation Channel 1. Let us look at scenario 1 or let us look at category 1 if for example your employer does not provide food for you your employer does not give you accommodation that means your basic salary which is 1000 when you add your food allowance which is 300 by the way your food allowance should not be less than 300 as per the ministry of labour your housing allowance which is 500 meaning that when you get the 1000 basic salary for 8 hours plus the food allowance which is 300 plus the housing allowance which is 500 you have a minimum salary or you have a basic salary of 1800 for 8 hours of duty per month you get what I'm talking about that is what you didn't know those are two things that you do not know about the minimum wage Welcome to Meks Creation Channel if you don't subscribe consider subscribing share comment I'll be able to get back to you I'll be able to get back to your questions check up the link below I'll be giving you all the explanations that you need to know about the minimum remember guys situation 2 if for example your employer pays up the food if your employer gives you the decent accommodation if your employer gives the nutritious meals if your employer gives you the decent accommodation then your basic salary per month will be 1000 for 8 hours worked but if your employee does not give you food if your employee does not give you housing allowance does not give you a decent housing facility then your basic salary or your minimum salary for 8 hours will be 1000 you add the food allowance plus the housing allowance which will give you 1800 for 8 hours of work this is gazeted in the ministerial meeting regarding the new minimum wage low Welcome to Meks Creation TV if you don't subscribe consider subscribing turn on the notification icon below if you want to be the first to know when I upload a new video things you should know about the minimum wage


3D printing technology has recently improved, but still faces limitations, and this paper proposes a new data-driven machine learning platform using multilayer perceptron and convolution neural network models to predict optimized parameters of the 3D printing process from model design to complete product. The proposed approach can quickly and accurately predict decisive parameters such as time, weight, and length while accounting for missing initial information and does not require knowledge of object shape, size, or material. A configurator is also proposed to simplify the 3D printing process by setting parameters for specific printer types. This article was authored by Fung Dong Ngyin, Tom Q. Ngyin, Q. P. Dao, and others.


So that we can center all our focus on you here, right here, cut, cut. You're about to stop Rege, you're not stopping Rege. You've confused everybody in the studio and most of them are gentlemen. So you have generally stopped Rege. Welcome, welcome, welcome. It's such an honor to have you on set. Karibu-san, I don't even know what I want to do. Just tell me all about you, how your journey has been, how do you feel being so the way you are right now, Malulianzia started from the barram, now a hei, a hei. Oh yeah, it has been a beautiful journey, the cameras over there. I can say thank God so far, doing great and I get good feedback from people. Alright, I started as a lead girl, like singing, dancing and all that. But till 2010, he's when exactly he started singing in live band music. That's when I started and I sang for eight years in live band music. That was 2018, when I stopped doing live band music and decided to start my journey as a solo artist. So I did it in Tanzania for live band and then I went to Dubai also for live band. So 2018, I came back to Tanzania and I decided to start as Winnie, as Brand, as solo artist and in 2019, I started releasing my songs and here I am. I want to ask maybe Tofautia, experience from a live band now just to being Winnie as a solo artist. When I put behind the scenes, you make very hard things look very easy because I know the pressure of production, but you're very very calm and cool. How do you feel about it? I can say live band is a beautiful experience as well because it's a place where I manage to learn a lot about music, especially vocals and all that, to have confidence on stage, to dance and enjoy the audience. So it's a lot about live band. This side is also beautiful because I'm alone, so I'm free to move around. I'm free to do my stuff when I want. And it's easy for me to reach a lot of people because I'm free to move around. But for live band, it was just some places. I would have thought to go and go, but I didn't want to go. I would do it once a year.  You didn't even have to tell me, I can just hear. And you've worked with so many heavy, heavy names. Everything is confidence. And I believe that I have something and if I want to do something, I have to reach someone and talk to them like I have this, can we share. So the good thing is they also like what I'm doing. They like my music. They say Mario, he liked my music. So we did something. Masaut as well, when I sent the project to him, he was so happy. He was so happy. Yeah, he liked the song as well. Masaut is a great singer. I know, I know. She's amazing, isn't she? Tell me how it was doing your first ever video, your first ever professional video. Were you afraid? Did you have butterflies? I was afraid, I was afraid, I was afraid. So I was saying in that Masaut video, there's a red outfit, by the way, it's for me to wear, it's for me to wear. I'm going to stop breaking it. Yes, so gorgeous, when did you get it? Okay, I have a designer back home. So she's the one who designed my video for Masauti. She's the one, I love. Thank you, shout out to you. Shout out to you indeed, it was phenomenal. Do you have a problem with, to say it in Malay, they first see you as a, I'm not trying to stop breaking it by saying this, it's just, there's no other way to say it.  Do you have, have you ever encountered that problem? Oh, sometimes, yeah. Guapo, you're trying to make a point, saying things mean what uncle is just checking out to the area. How do you deal with that? I know how to deal with it. So it doesn't bother me, clearly. Yeah, it doesn't. You're not a feminist, say my old man, she do what a man can do, what a woman can do better, no need to fight. You have such a vibe, I really like your vibe. What would you like to tell your fans in Kenya, especially? I can say that Kenyans are just amazing so far. I got a lot of comments on YouTube channel, on my YouTube channel, it's positive vibe. So I'm so happy you guys really, really invited me here. Well, so all I'm asking you is to keep enjoying my music, keep supporting my music because I'm going to do a lot of collaboration with Kenyans. Yes, and I'm going to do my own song. So I want you to support me. Just go in my YouTube channel, official Weenie, subscribe and leave your comment there on the video. Omenishika is there and follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, at Weenie Teasy, Weenie of WINI underscore Teasy. There's someone asking at the back here, it has style of music, it sounds like that of someone from Uganda, a bit of Bongo, is she from UG? Who is there? His name is Eman James, he's right there, just behind you the screen, up on the mountain, yes. Hey Eman James, we're about to pose reggae also you. Congratulations! Oh, that's good comment. Music is a language of love, so it can touch everywhere, it can be mixed of a lot of instruments and a lot of style of music. So yeah, but I'm not from Uganda, I'm Tanzanian. It's because your English is fantastic, it's a very, very good day. It's just a hint of the accent, that's why it sounds very exotic. Thank you. What is your greatest fear in life? Not to be happy. Wow, that's deep, that's deep. Like you can find yourself doing something that doesn't make you happy. Yes.   No, always I'm trying my best to do things that make me happy, but sometimes you don't get the right result you want, so you always end up not happy. On Tuesday, we were asking our viewers what they miss about being in primary school. In primary school, I went to, I don't know how you call it here in Kenya, but the primary school I went to is Kayumba, is the one that is for those local, local kids to get a point. So yeah, in school we used to have those mamas who are coming and they are selling ice cream, they're selling ground nuts, they're selling a lot of stuff. So I used to make sure that when I go to school, I bake for money from my father or my mother. So after breakfast, then I go out and buy ice cream. So those stuff, I miss them. We are spirit animals. Okay, so what we're going to do is, please if you could again just say your social media handle, so we make sure you get a serious following from Kenya. I would love my people from Kenya to support me, keep supporting me, so make sure you follow my YouTube channel, official weenie. Don't forget WINI, that's my name, official weenie on YouTube. Make sure you subscribe and yeah, be there, you'll get notification. And also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, same name, weenieteasy. My favorite things about you, just as we have been having a conversation, you are so fierce. You have such a, her performance is, you could pay money, a lot of it, and feel okay, because I'm a deliverer. And then I love how you're very simple, but I can be sure that. But I like how you're so simple and so kind. So thank you for coming on the show. This is your home. So if you ever feel like coming, please come back. Please come back. Thank you for having me, thank you. I noticed my DJ likes to be sang too. So maybe would you give him some sauce? Give him a form for him a little bit. Can I record it for you? Yeah. Hey, we're about to stop reggae truly today. No, at twice I found Facebook hashtag is Bounce Nation.  Can't start, let's go.


Thank you very much. This is a really important series here, Associate Professor Celebration, and we organize about three per year from Arvin's office. So he is traveling right now to a global location for the wonderful work he's also doing on the side with USAID and so on. So you've got the substitute. I hope you can bear with me for two minutes just to show the deep appreciation for the tenure system here and a huge congratulations to those who received tenure in recent years. We started this as one of the feedback from the faculty members and graduate students postdocs is that we should feature our recently tenured associate professors and congratulate them on their early retirement. I mean on their having the platform to dream big, aim higher and think outside of the box and to maximize the benefits of this highly unusual system in the labor market called tenure that we hold with great pride and it's not easy to receive tenure at Purdue Engineering. We would love to give them the opportunity to share with us what they did in research, in teaching, in engagement that got us where they are today. So with that I will hand it over to the two month old head, the brand new head of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, my great colleague and great leader for the AAE school here, Bill Crossley, to introduce the first speaker today. Thank you, Bill. Thank you, Mon. Well, welcome everybody. It's a neat opportunity to be here. I had the pleasure of introducing my colleague Dr. Sally Bain and this is called the Celebration of Associate Professors and it really is a celebration because while I'm two months and five days into my term as head, Sally is just basically two months because you started it, Associate Professor, just in August here. So this really is a celebration for Sally. She is recently promoted with tenure. Sally did her undergrad at the University of Virginia and then moved from Virginia out to Pasadena, California and did both her masters and PhD out at Caltech, did a short post-doc stint there, then came and joined us in 2011 here at Purdue. She's going to talk about her research. I'm not going to give those highlights. I just wanted to put in a little personal spin here. I had the pleasure of working with Sally on a project with the Boeing company a few years ago. It was a very large project to try to merge computational data about aerodynamics and experimental data because of Sally's role in our undergraduate aerodynamics laboratories, she does a lot of work in the large wind tunnel and so she was generating some of our experimental data for that. Fun project, got one of your students hired at Boeing and I keep running into Monion. She keeps doing better and better. So another example of Sally's great mentorship for her students and one of the fun things is that a few years ago we had celebration of faculty careers and I was introduced as one of the young old guys and so now I get introduced Sally as one of the young middle-aged people. Does that work? I'm there, yeah. I'm still one of the old guys. So with that let me introduce Professor Sally Bing. Okay, so this is quite a turnout. I have to say a little nerve-wracking. I'm going to assume you didn't all come to see me. So first of all it is really a great pleasure to be able to still be here, give this presentation and to be able to have a career like this at such a wonderful institution. So I didn't come up with a creative title for my talk and I probably have too many slides so I'll just get right to it. Bill already talked about my background. I got my Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering at UVA, had to do an undergraduate thesis there because we had a very small program that really got me interested in research and made me realize like this is absolutely what I want to do. I had a great mentor there who helped me get an NSF fellowship which took me to Caltech where I did my MS and PhD and I did a one-year postdoc there while I looked for a job and then came here in 2011 and now I'm very excited to be able to continue my career here as an associate and hopefully someday a full professor. So I wanted to touch quickly on my research, teaching and service since those are like the three prongs. As usual I put too many slides for research so I'll just try to go through them quickly. So my research interests really fall into three areas, experimental combustion, that's the area that I did my PhD in so I still do some of that work here. I always have to show off this picture here of this giant explosion coming out of the end of my 20-foot explosion tube at Sandia because it's a unique facility and the slow-mo guys even came and recorded a video of us annihilating a computer which I will play at the end of the presentation if there's time. And then the other two areas that I spend most of my time on really are plasmas for aerospace applications and then closely tied to that are plasma and flow diagnostics and that's an area that I started becoming interested in when I was at doing my PhD because I got a little bit of exposure to plasmas there but I quickly identified this is a cool area and so when I came to Purdue I really wanted to focus on that and sort of establishing my own way in that area and so far so far doing okay apparently. So I'm just going to really briefly touch on these but first what is a plasma so I apologize if you all already know this but I like this picture because people always say you know I say I work in plasmas they go what is okay plasmas that's my husband thinks it sounds cool because he watches sci-fi and there's lots of plasma drives and plasma warp cores and everything but I don't work in that kind of plasma which might be like way up there. So they basically a plasma is just an ionized gas with positive ions and free electrons and we can have lots of different kinds of plasmas depending on how energetic the electrons are what the gas temperature is and how many charged particles we have. So I decided to work in the area of what we call cold plasmas which you can see there with the little circle they are you know 10,000 degrees or less about there might be some colleagues who are I see one here who might disagree but and these are really interesting plasmas for a variety of reasons and the reason that I'm interested in these is because these plasmas basically when they're cold what we mean is they can be cold literally they can be room temperature but the electrons are much much hotter they're very energetic so you would generate these by applying a very large electric field so that's what I do and what happens is these energetic electrons create excited molecular states they dissociate molecules they ionize molecules so you have all these really active excited energetic particles in your gas and they can also locally heat the gas and so this actually opens the door for a lot of really interesting interactions between these plasmas and surrounding gases or materials so and so they're very chemically active they can provide localized rapid heating and they can also provide hydrodynamic effects and plasmas because it's all electronics we can turn them on and off practically instantaneously we can operate them at almost any frequency you can imagine we can generate them with no moving parts so they really are an interesting and promising candidate for a lot of applications that require tailoring of chemistry for instance or really fast response time so what has been really helpful to me tremendously helpful is the develop the establishment of the cold plasmas team here at Purdue because this brought together several very distinguished faculty who work in this cold plasmas area into this team which provided me a lot of really valuable mentorship and advocacy for which I'm very grateful and so this just shows like the kind of the range of things that we do on the cold plasmas team I work primarily in this plasma aerodynamic and combustion control but we have members that work there's a couple in the audience who work on everything from treating tumors to making plasma antennas and so this was a really important thing for me here in helping me to really advance in in the field is having these having these mentors for me okay so I know I'm already five or six minutes in so I'm good okay so um just a couple slides showing the kind of things I do so in the plasma and flow diagnostics my goal here at Purdue has been to bring together my capabilities as well as other folks capabilities and you can see here there's a whole big list of plasma measurements and so I do a lot of these myself I'm collaborating with other faculty with expertise in more advanced diagnostics and how to apply them to plasmas because I want to create here at Purdue like an in-house complete characterization team that I don't think exists anywhere else and then I do a lot of flow diagnostics this is actually a spark that we're generating between the electrodes and as you can see it generates a shockwave and a rather complex flow field so we do things like particle image velocity symmetry schlieren methods to um measure the effect of this flow and so here you're seeing uh there's not plan anymore but you're seeing vorticity contours so um this is important particularly for aerodynamic and combustion control um and then two uh two slides here on the two applications I'm most interested in one is plasma flow control particularly of supersonic flows so here this is a wedge in a supersonic Mach 2 flow we generate plasma here and this is the baseline flow with a shockwave and a separation zone and you can see in this little video when we turn the plasma on the whole structure moves up quite significantly okay you know so what but that's what's significant is that this is a high speed compressible flow that we are affecting with about a watt of electrical power so this is a rather new area but um along with uh collaborations with my colleagues we are really focusing on understanding what is the coupling that allows us to have this intrinsic control um and we hope to extend this also to hypersonic flows which hypersonics is a big initiative here at Purdue um and then plasma assisted combustion the idea is to use plasma to alter combustion these are not mine these are pictures from a few other projects that got me really interested in this where you can see that when we turn the plasma on the flame structure changes significantly so what I've been doing here is developing capabilities state-of-the-art capabilities to study plasma assisted combustion so one is this atmospheric pressure burner where we make a swirl flame um kind of like a gas turbine flame but uh lower power and we apply a plasma at the exit and we try to affect the combustion dynamics and so just a little video that's what the flame looks like we generate a plasma which looks like a fireball and try to affect the particularly the stability and then um in that kind of the outlook for that research is um in collaboration with a colleague in my department we've um built this high pressure gas turbine combustor with plasma actuation where we're going to actually try to demonstrate that we can affect combustion dynamics at gas at um engine relevant conditions and we already have some industry that are giving us some injectors and saying why don't you give it a try so um that the outlook for that is is really promising and this is a one-of-a-kind facility nobody has something like this so let's hope it works or I hope it works um I don't uh so quickly so I talk too much about research like everybody does um but teaching since I came here I I've been teaching the fluid mechanics and aerodynamics lab courses in our department so the three the fluid mechanics lab is required course so I get to to teach at least 250 students a year um in that class um this is a picture of our teaching lab where we have all kinds of wind tunnels and experiments for the students to get some real world experience um as far as that goes I I I'm really looking forward to hopefully uh helping to kind of revolutionize the way that we do our lab classes because like many departments we have a booming enrollment and I look at lab classes as a chance to give students real practical experience in things that their future employers are going to want to see um so I really hope to stay actively involved with the lab courses um and to hopefully we have some plans to implement some virtual labs to change the structure around um so that uh we can continue to give our students the best kind of laboratory um education we can I also teach graduate aerodynamics um which allows me uh we have a large uh undergrad enrollment there too so and I also teach that as a distance course so I've been able to um meet a lot of students from from outside of Purdue as well through that and also that's really forced me to work on my teaching style because if you're teaching to people 500 miles away you know you don't want them to turn you off so um so that's that's really been interesting and I I hope to continue to improve the curriculum there also to try to um teach them really what like we have a lot of students who are out there working and I want to teach them things that they'll actually use when they go back to the office and finally last slide um service within Purdue um different a few different committees I I enjoy doing the horizons mentoring program for first generation college students I've done that nearly every semester I find it really rewarding um I also do a lot of um as Bill said we have a a big wind tunnel the Boeing wind tunnel and I I enjoy helping a lot of student groups with doing their designing and implementing experiments in that tunnel because they really seem to enjoy it um and then last but not least outside Purdue I just listed one thing because my main activities are with a technical committee in AIAA which um once again my mentor has helped me to get a seat on that committee and I've become extremely active in in or they've appointed me active uh as a chair of every award subcommittee uh apparently I'm not sure how it happened but it's been great for my um networking and my visibility um because I uh it really gives me a chance a good excuse to reach out to people and start conversations because I have to ask them to review papers or to session chair so that's been a really wonderful thing I hope to I plan to continue doing that and I also hope as an associate professor to get more involved at the college and university level on on um in the service aspect so I think I'm out of time so that's it oh here let's see I'll just I'll just play this so nobody asks me any questions I have oh whoops I meant to mute it but okay yeah there we go highly scientific I'm sure sandia well sandia was delighted that we used their uh research team for that every graduate students dream about two months before dissertation defense is like this is not boom yes it's yeah so I always have to show that I think we do have a few seconds for not seconds a few minutes maybe for questions that we started a little bit late I think I'm supposed to walk around and make sure you speak into the microphone since we're recording that so do people have questions for sally also out of plug just really quick that uh we do want you in the aerodynamics lab as long as you're happy doing that that's a huge part of our curriculum that's as most schools have grown in size that's one of our pinch points is how do we get all of our students that exposure and sally and her team of teaching assistants have really helped us pull that off you have questions for sally yes good you don't need it they need it as everybody goes to goes through this uh in your process how do you balance your family and work um that's a great question I I do I do have two little boys um it was all I could do not to put a picture of them up here because I'm that embarrassing mom um I had them both while I was here they're two and five um I just made a decision early on that uh I would be as productive as I possibly could while I was in the office and that uh you know during certain hours um I was just going to put my phone away and I was going to interact with my kids and I tried to spend most of my time with them on the weekends um if I have a deadline of course all bets are off but uh you know and I'm sure it's affected my productivity negatively but the department you know I found colleagues are very supportive because they recognize you know if you uh if you get tenure but you don't see your kids right as kind of a you you kind of lost so I just try to yeah so I mean I I just made a decision that I was going to put them first after working hours unless I had a proposal to write and then yeah so now that there have been a faculty for so long if you can go back and give an advice to yourself 10 years ago and while you are in graduate school what advice would you give yourself when I was in graduate school or when I first started my job sorry either either or um well I think it applies everywhere um ask for ask for what I need um I I uh same thing in graduate school it took me a long time to learn to ask my advisor or other graduate students for what I needed I just did a lot of nodding like okay got it and I had no idea what anybody was talking about and then when I got here I had no idea what I was doing right fresh out of graduate school so I think going to people and saying I need help I need advice on this will you read this for me am I doing this right it took me a really long time and I'm still not very good at it so I think um you know uh ask for mentorship ask for you know um that that would have been the number one thing I would tell myself maybe one more question for so what's the coolest experiment you guys do in in your aerodynamics labs to you as the instructor to me um I let's say I really like this we have a little supersonic wind tunnel that's very annoyingly loud if you ever walk by the lab um you can probably hear the squeal um but I I love that because we we we put in like a wedge model and if you guys anybody you know supersonic flow you're going to get shock waves and expansion waves and we just set up some very simple optics and all of a sudden they can see the shocks and expansions and students always always find that really really neat because it's something that you can't see with your eyes you just sort of write down on paper then all of a sudden they're doing an experiment there they are they can see them and not only that but they actually agree the answers agree very well with theory so it's one of those cases where we can tell them like this is actually you know you know what we're teaching you in the lecture is actually true so that's that's my favorite one the students seem to enjoy that one the most please join me and let's celebrate sally bane


Okay, we're live. I'm Jerry Feidell. Here we are at 3 p.m., 3 o'clock rock on a given Wednesday, and everybody knows that energy is Wednesday, Wednesday energy. Hawaii is the state of clean energy, and we like to cover that as much as possible. And so we have Jeffrey M. Kissell, an old friend, a neighbor for a long time, and the CEO of Hawaii Gas for a long time, and now in what? Washington, D.C., with an energy policy think tank called EPRINC, dot o-r-g, talking about national, international energy policy. Welcome, welcome, and we're honored to have you on the show, Jeff. Thanks, Chase. Really nice to be with you again, in spirit, if not present exactly in Hawaii. I know that. So tell us about EPRINC and your life there. EPRINC is an organization that dates back to the Second World War. It is non-political, non-partisan, and non-profit. It's supported by all parts of the industry. And basically what we do is we do research on energy policy, look at the different alternatives, and we try to help shape the national debate on energy alternatives and energy strategy. And we do this by bringing data and facts to the table as opposed to a political argument. Oh, that's terrific. This is a great continuation of what you were doing in Hawaii with Hawaii Gas, no? It's a logical extension of that, and I'm really pleased to be able to kind of expand the reach to outside of Hawaii. But really the Hawaii model is something that the United States and the world as a whole have got to look at seriously and consider adoptable, because Hawaii, ever since I got there in the 1960s, has been a forward-thinking and really innovative leader in all kinds of public policy issues, starting from our Hawaii-prepaid healthcare to the fact that we were the first state to actually ratify the Equal Rights Amendment from the Constitution, even though it didn't pass, and a lot of other things. Energy policy, I think, is important now. We are a respite from high prices of oil, but we need to make some intelligent decisions on where we go from here. Yes, we do indeed. So what kind of issues are you working at, Ed Prink? What sort of papers are you writing? What sort of discussions are you organizing? Where's your head at these days? Well, we just looked at cafe standards, which is the fleet average mileage for automobiles. And we looked at the impact that that has had over the last three decades, and looked forward for another three decades to see what we might do to continue to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and improve the usage of fuel in transportation, not necessarily in terms of miles per gallon, but in terms of other things that might be additive, because at certain points you reach the law of diminishing returns.  And we have a couple of slides that I brought with me today that kind of demonstrate that. What we did was we looked at what happened with respect to greenhouse gas, and we looked at what happened with respect to fuel savings when we went from an average of 10 miles per gallon. We're looking now, Jeff, at a slide called, A Comment on Environmental Regulation. How much should we pay for the last 10 yards? Is that the one you're referring to? Precisely. And I'd like to use that as the basis for our discussion in Hawaii. You can see the savings were very, very substantial when we went from 10 or 12 miles to the gallon to 40 miles to the gallon. When we cut greenhouse gas emissions by three quarters, we improved the savings for the individual motorists by thousands of dollars. Now, if we were to go from 40 to 80 miles to the gallon, you look at the savings and the law of diminishing returns is really applying and clamping down on our ability to get much more out of just raising the mileage standards. We need to take a look at alternatives to driving and how we can actually utilize fuel more efficiently, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as improve mileage per gallon. Hawaii's renewable energy standards, generating nearly all of our power from solar, wind and other renewable sources, will go a long way to helping us go forward in that endeavor in the national debate, not just in Hawaii.  We have to think of other things. And one of them, the first one that comes to mind, in terms of fuel, to my mind anyway, is electric cars. So what do we learn from that chart of these electric cars? And what kinds of thinking and think tag conclusions have you and Eprink reached about the value of electric cars nationally and in Hawaii? We're writing a series of articles now on converting Hawaii's electric power generation from a petroleum and coal-based system to a renewable-based alternative. It's what Governor Ige in a very, very forward-thinking mode has proposed for the state. And I think it should be supported. Again, the law of diminishing returns has to be observed. But we got a long way to go before we start to run into that barrier. Think about it in these terms. Electric cars are one solution. There are other solutions. Get out of the car. Improve public transportation. Move your place of work closer to your place of residence. All of these factors need to be considered. And you've got to do it honestly. You've got to look at the total cost of generating electricity today for an electric car, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as dollars. Think about this. Hawaii takes three barrels of oil, almost four, to generate one barrel of electricity equivalent. Today, putting an electric car on the road actually costs Hawaii more in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption than using a standard economy vehicle. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. It means that we need to get prepared to reduce the cost of generating electricity and generate it from clean renewable sources. Well, we're involved right now in the World Conservation Congress, which is kind of related to the COP 21 conference a few months ago in Paris. It's all about sustainability. It's all about climate change. It's all about conserving, protecting the environment. And so my view, and I like your view, is that if you want to move to non-fossil fuel in order to conserve and protect the environment, you have to have new infrastructure, new ideas. I mean, you talk about multimodal transportation, it doesn't come free. Somebody has to design a new world around multimodal transportation, and that costs money. Do people understand that it costs money? It costs money, and you have to make choices. If you don't maintain your roads, no matter how efficient your vehicles are, they're going to be destroyed by the roads. So you've got to decide what pieces of infrastructure you need to invest in and when to time those investments. If Hawaii were to convert today, our report and our research shows, if Hawaii were to convert today suddenly to all renewable energy, you're talking about billions and billions of dollars that would be diverted from other infrastructure projects which may actually help Hawaii reduce its energy consumption and achieve its goals more quickly. It's time and speed versus money. It's planning, it's strategic planning. And a think tank like yours, an energy policy think tank like yours, could really lend some great lessons and great planning points for us. And I wonder how you see all of that, because I totally agree that if you do it all right now today, it's going to cost so much money that you won't be able to do anything else. And your list of priorities will be upside down. But if you do it over time and in a strategic way, then you can manage it or hopefully by virtue of the plan itself you can manage. But question, how do you do that planning? And I'm interested in your thoughts about who does it. And the methodology, the people, how do you get it to stick? How do you get the public buy-in on that plan? You know, these public discussions are very important. And I'm happy when people, regardless of their point of view, offer their information in the public forum so it can be critically analyzed. We'll crunch the numbers and we'll produce data. Other organizations are very much like us. They produce good data and crunch the numbers and they can fact check a lot of what people who are really good public speakers and are really good and authoritative people representing their own special interests say. But you've got to have that public discussion and public discourse. Well, you know, one of the things that strikes me about public discussion, you know, in Hawaii is a special place, of course. But, you know, we learned basic, you know, truths about humanity here is that when the public comes into the discussion, the public is uninformed. They start out uninformed. In fact, they've been informed by the six o'clock news, which doesn't tell them anything of consequence. And so the problem is that if you have a public discussion and you bring people in on the choices, first you have to educate them.  How do you do that? Well, the first thing you've got to be is honest. And you've got to lay out all the facts, the good and the bad. My colors on rail are flying from the mast. I advocated rail from the very beginning still do. The problem we had in Hawaii was that the people who advocated rail, just like if you recall, I was involved in healthcare, the people who were advocates of that were not fully honest with the constituents that they served. They didn't talk about the full cost. They talked about the part cost. That's what's going on right now in some areas of renewable energy. The renewable energy you get on your roof is not free. You pay $30, $60, $90,000, depending upon the size of your house, to put your solar energy converters on your roof. It is not free to you, and it's not free to the community. However, it doesn't mean it's bad. And the fact that it's not free is something we shouldn't be ashamed to discuss. Rail is not free. And we talked about its true cost. We wouldn't have had to fall back to these schemes for enhancing its value, shortening its length, and doing all this stuff when we got into trouble. I believe that advocating from a non-partisan, non-political position is really good for the community. That's why I'm involved myself in this work. That's great. And by the way, this discussion is so timely, topical, really. These are the issues that are being discussed. In fact, I just finished the morning paper and it led us to the editor on both of the points you raised about the health of the solar industry and about misrepresentations made to the public at the time rail was first adopted. We must be talking out of the same book, Jeff. Anyway, let's take a short break. We'll come back and we'll find out how you really feel. We'll be right back. Hey, Jeff Kissel. Aloha. I'm Kaui Lucas, host of Hawaii is my mainland every Friday here on Think Tech Hawaii. I also have a blog of the same day at kauilukas.com where you can see all of my past shows. Join me this Friday and every Friday at 3 p.m. Aloha. Hello, this is Martin Despeng. I want to get you excited about my new show, which is called Humane Architecture for Hawaii and Beyond. And it's going to be on Think Tech Hawaii from downtown Honolulu on Tuesday afternoon's 5 p.m. And we're going to talk about to make architecture more inclusive on the islands, which is one of the definitions of humane, which is being tolerant of many people, of nature, of many other influences. So we're going to have some great guests, like today's guest, for example, my collaborator, David Rockwood, who is the author of the awesome manifestation of humane architecture in the background. So see you on Tuesdays 5 p.m. I look forward to. We're back. We're live. We're in Skype with Jeff Kissel, Jeffrey M. Kissel, and he is a fellow at Eprink.org, which is an energy policy think tank in Washington, D.C. He's had years and years of thinking, writing, planning around energy as the CEO of Hawaii guests. And we are delighted to have him on the show to talk about energy policy and some of the work he's doing at Eprink in Washington. So, Jeff, where does this all go on rail? Right now, I don't know. I guess you'd say we're a tipping point. I have felt we were a tipping point for a long time. Then I'm not sure what's going to happen here. I don't think people really know. Everybody's got an opinion, but does anybody really know what's going to happen? Where do the economic forces, where do the energy policy forces take us on the question of finishing rail or not in Honolulu? You've got to look at the cost-benefit analysis critically. One of the benefits that has not been examined is the ability to get people to slam the door on their car and leave it shut. That is enormous. Now, a lot of people can make a lot of different arguments about ridership and convenience and all that stuff, but unless you actually do a deep dive into the statistics and see what a one, two, three, four, 10 percent reduction in passenger vehicle miles travel does, you won't have an ability to make a rational argument. Right now, shortening the rail line is going to reduce, we know this, it's going to reduce ridership. The question that should be examined, and I'm not telling you I know the answer, I just know the question, is what would happen if instead of shortening the rail line, now that we're in for all these costs, we actually extended the rail line and made it so that we could get a lot of people on that rail and let it be accessible and usable for the bulk of the population. That question needs to be looked at. Yeah, it's a question of money, a question of tax policy, it's a question of the economy, and whether the economy can support an increase in real property tax or gross excise tax. But one thing that came up, and I really am interested in your thought about it, is that this is money, it's just a question of money, and why should, there must be an answer one way or the other, why should we have to pay for rail at the same time as we build it? Sort of on a cash basis. Why don't we do it on a credit basis? Why don't we borrow the money and pay it off over time? Is there a rush here and spending it right away? Can't we do bonds? And Richard Borreca raised that in his column this week. Why can't we do bonds? There are people in the legislature actually lining up to suggest that, and that may be a solution to doing rail all the way as planned and finishing it, and then paying it off over time. What do you think? I think there are paths to success there. One of them that has to be looked at is doing bonds and raising fuel taxes, fossil fuel taxes, in order to pay those bonds all. Because the goal, as stated by the governor, and as advocated by most responsible leaders in the wise business community, is to reduce the dependence on petroleum and related fuels. You do that by bringing in alternatives. It is a perfectly legitimate use of the tax system to tax those fuels, and then use that money to bring in the alternatives. And that's a return on investment that really is worthy of understanding. You know, when I went to law school, my criminal law professor, his name was Gerhardt O. W. Muller. I still remember his middle initials, how do you like that? We're talking about, I don't want to say, 55 years ago. But in those days, he said, when the legislature actually adopts a bill that it cares about, it should say at the bottom right next to the effective day provision, it should say, we mean it this time. We really mean it. And if it really, really means it, it ought to say that twice. And so the problem is, like with the barrel tax, you know about the barrel tax, that was an idea where you taxed the thing you wanted to dis-incentivize, and you gave the money to something you want to do incentivize. It's got a beauty about it, a balance. It's a poetry in motion to do that. Unfortunately, what happened is the barrel tax got spirited off. The receipts got applied by the legislature. There's something that was not contemplated, that was not part of that formula, and it was not part of the spirit of the bill. And you worry about that happening again. We can make a really stiff barrel tax and collect a lot of money that should go to developing, you know, the things we want, multimodal transportation, for example, and then find that the next political cycle takes that money away from us and applies it to something else that it feels is more important. Where is my professor now? What do you think? Well, I, of course, read his treatise on the use of the rack. So he does take back a ways. I know this guy. If, you know, the financial system in America is a wonderful system, and you can do things that will enforce discipline if you use that system correctly. By that, I mean if you issue a bond and require that the bond be funded by a petroleum tax. I'm reluctant to use the barrel tax because that's kind of a misunderstood effort. I think so. If you indenture that tax to pay off that bond, face closed, it's done. And we know for sure, and we have lots of statistics nationally and internationally, that when oil hits the equivalent of $5 a gallon for gasoline, consumption starts to fall off and people start to move into fuel efficient vehicles.  I'm not telling you this will work in Hawaii.  Well, we're in a transition for sure, and one of the issues is solar. We are having bankruptcies and failures of the big solar companies. Solar is in a bit of a tizzy, it seems like to me. And I think we have to find innovative solutions to either keep on going with solar or to modify the whole model about solar, including self, what do they call it, self-supply in a way so that it doesn't burden either the utility or the people in the community that don't have solar. Has your think tank been thinking about that? Because Hawaii really needs to hear some wisdom on that one. Hawaii made a mistake. And that is not that they went for solar or didn't go for solar, they moved too quickly in one direction. That happens occasionally when there's a crisis. And in my opinion, $110 to $140 oil is a crisis. And when you're raising the cost of an airplane ticket by $400 and $500 from the West Coast, you're entitled to make a mistake. What many, many states have, Texas is one example. They don't have net metering. They don't have the system where you can sell back all the electricity you make to the electric company. They modify that. And Hawaii decided for perfectly legitimate reasons at the time that they wanted to go net metering. And then all of a sudden, they cut off net metering. The mistake was not to go there and the mistake was not to cut it off. It was to do both too quickly. And we... We're on a Skype call. That's Jeffrey M. Kissel. He's a distinguished fellow at Eprink, which is a think tank, an energy policy think tank in Washington, D.C. Jeff most recently in Hawaii was part of the exchange of the connector, which is no longer connecting and exchanging. And before that, he was the CEO for some years of Hawaii Gas, where he learned a lot about energy policy, of course. He'd been associated with the issue for decades since the 60s when he first arrived in Hawaii. Very akamai about energy in Hawaii. And we have him here and hopefully we'll have him again to give us the views of Eprink and some of the think tank fellows at Eprink. Insofar as national thinking and think tank thinking can help us determine good policy in Hawaii. So we've had him on for this show. I'm delighted that we did. We unfortunately lost him to the wiles of Skype. But we'll have him back. Give us a week or two. We'll have Jeff Kissel back to tell us more, lots more about what they are doing, what they are thinking, and what the country is doing and thinking in areas that are relevant to our development and our policy here in Hawaii. Thanks for watching. This is Jay Fidel. I look forward to seeing you again soon. For example, in half an hour on Hawaii, the State of Clean Energy with the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum, where we'll be having further discussions about energy policy and events and developments in Hawaii.


The race with the Republican nomination was far from a nail-biter. The bill-weld didn't hold back his criticism towards the president during an event at a bookstore in Exeter, New Hampshire. It's kind of crunch time for the United States, I do think, these days. And that was brought into high relief when the Republicans in the United States Senate, with one noble exception, voted without hearing any evidence whatsoever to acquit the President of the United States out of a very serious constitutional charges of which he was clearly guilty. It was a travesty and I want to cry. I'm very disappointed and Mitt Romney is a real hero. Weld was critical of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren's radical agendas on topics like Medicare for all and free college tuition. His belief is that their proposed policies will damage their presidential runs down the road. Both of them have compiled platforms that really do expose them to the risk of being labeled socialist and I fear that Mr. Trump might have a pretty good shot at either of them. Former Governor Weld also shared his thoughts on education, international diplomacy and fiscal policies, adding that he is the best candidate in the Republican primary. From Exeter, New Hampshire, reporting for BUTV News, I am Matteo Venieri.


The Navy's chief of information, where Admiral John Kirby wanted to take the time to address the fleet and explain the Navy's current fiscal challenges as a result of operating under a continuing resolution. That CR is funded at fiscal year $12. It also includes some overseas contingency operation funding, but not enough to get us through the entire next fiscal year. The CR may expire in March, and if Congress opts to extend it through the end of the fiscal year, the Navy Marine Corps will not have enough money to operate as normal. As a result, SECDF has approved Navy leadership to take action, including reducing travel, delaying all decommissioning, and cancelling any planned facilities, demolitions, along with many other actions. From the Defense Media Activity, I'm Petty Officer Ashley Hedrick.


Lieutenant Commander Peter Fallgetter, Naval Reserve Comm 7th Fleet, Mayak. I'm the Sea Breeze 21 white cell lead and so my whole focus is developing the scenario and all the Injects including imagery products, typed Injects with text and information operation pieces for the exercise that I inject on a daily basis from start to finish. Is this your first time at Sea Breeze? No, this is my third time. Two times here we supported the exercise from the Navy base and then one time we did it on the Mount Whitney. Oh, working with the Ukrainians is fantastic. These are really good, smart, hard-working folks. They have a conflict in the eastern part of the country and a lot of these sailors and soldiers bring to the exercise the experiences that they've gained in combat, in conflict and so they're just needing to have a little bit of extra guidance in terms of doctrine to be possibly admitted to NATO at some point in the near future. So that's why we're here to train to the NATO standard and these guys have the combat experience behind them but they just need some of the doctrine in order to move forward. One, to ensure our relations continue in a positive way. Continue the opportunity to work with other Black Sea partners. We have a wide variety of people here, it's not just the Ukrainians and then we have a wide variety of NATO mentors that are vital to the training of, again, not only the Ukrainians but the other Black Sea partners that are here participating. You got anything else you'd like to add? Come to Odessa. This is really a fantastic city. The country is wonderful. They're working on some issues that they're struggling with economically and then some other issues but this is a fantastic place to come and visit, spend a little bit of money. These are good people here in Ukraine. My expectations for Sea Breeze 21 are to continue the development of NATO standards amongst the Ukrainian and other Black Sea partner militaries and that's what we're working for on a grand scheme but then also showing support for Ukraine during this kind of tough time of crisis over here in this part of the world.


Where are we in festive? These are my valentine's day colored books. Fourth time reading it. This is the read-along that doesn't end. Even though I'm not always the biggest fan, I've actually acted like I've seen it. February is upon us. Hence the one pink sweatshirt that I own. Am I reading a major romance this month? Absolutely not. But I think I have a pink book in here. Do I? Well pink-ish. Where are we in festive? Yeah, February TBR. Do I need to intro that? No, I don't. Let's do it. First up I have Black Sun by Rock of Rown Horse. This is the book that my patrons have chosen for me to vlog and review for them. So I will be doing so. I am relieved that the book they've chosen is pretty short this month. And also I've heard pretty good things about this. And not just good things, but things that like I think sound good. Does that make sense? Like they've picked books for you before that people like, but not necessarily books that I think I am people. But here I think I think there's a good shot, but this is going to be something I like. And on the very least it's not very long. So yay for that. Also I think the sequel is just come out or it's about to come out or whatever. I think I'm pretty sure it's coming out in 2022 if it has not come out already. So if I like this, this is good timing for this. And if I don't like this, it doesn't matter about the timing. Next up I have Before They Were Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. This will be my fourth time reading it. As you should already know, I am once again reading all of the first law books this year. But this time it's because Bethany and I are discussing them in our year long readalong on the chapter three podcast. The sci-fi fantasy episode of the podcast every month, almost every month this year is a first law episode. So if you'd like to join us, there's still time to get in on this. We're barely on the second book. If you don't already know this, I don't know why you're watching my channel. But first law is pretty much what I live and breathe. So reading it again, loving reading it again, loving watching Bethany read it again. So yeah, we're having a great time rereading and I can't wait to read some more Abercrombie. Next up I have Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. This is going to be my very first Murakami. And I am reading this with Hilary from Book Born. She and I read Game and American Gods in January and did a live chat discussing it on my channel. And we're going to be discussing Murakami on her channel. So this is kind of like us trying on each other's favorite authors. That's the loose conceit of this little project of ours. I had read American Gods before, she hadn't. But neither of us has ever read Norwegian Wood. She's read Murakami before obviously, since this is like her side of favorite author. But she has not read Norwegian Wood. This will be a first for both of us. So I'm really looking forward to chatting about this with Hilary and I'm looking forward to finally reading Murakami. Next up I have 16 Ways to Defend a Wild City by K.J. Parker. I have read the very beginning of this book and like softy and accident. Not at all because I didn't like it. I really really enjoyed it. But like I wasn't in the mood specifically in that moment. And then like other TBRs and obligations like came in and this just like got abandoned. So I very much have wanted to come back to it and my patrons and I will be buddy reading it in February. And also this is a nice short book. So my patrons are keeping it light for February. I appreciate that. The only K.J. Parker book I've read besides like the beginning of this book. I did read his novella The Prosper's Demon. And I really really enjoyed Prosper's Demon. And everything that I hear about his other books, he just and what from what I have myself read of that novella at the beginning of this book, I feel like this is an author that I will very much get along with. So I'm really excited to read this book finally. And I think the third book in this series has just come out or is about to come out or whatever. So like again timing pretty good for finally reading this if I end up blanking it. Next up is another reread and that is Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind because Bethany and I are doing a year long read along over the sort of truth books this year as well on our channel, it's not the podcast. We talked about Wizards First Rule on Bethany's channel in January. So if you missed the live show, the replay is available to you. And then we're going to be chatting about Stone of Tears in February on my channel. Now very much looking forward to it because I did reread this last year. And now having reread Wizards First Rule, I think Stone of Tears is quite a bit better than Wizards First Rule. I really really like Stone of Tears. So I'm excited to reread this. It'll be a good time and come join us. Next up I have Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden. This is the third and final book in the Winter Night trilogy because I am participating in Evie's read along of the Winter Night trilogy. So third and final book is up in WR. So I will be reading it because because why not? Because this is so so so so good. Yeah. I don't know what else is there to say. If you haven't read the Winter Night trilogy, what are you doing with your life is my question. Next up I have another reread and that is A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin. This is the fifth and for now final book in the Song of Ice and Fire as I, along with Jimmy from the Fantasy Network and Alex from Alex and Yves, are hosting a read along of the Song of Ice and Fire. And so we will be chatting about Dance with Dragons on Rebecca Alex's channel, I believe. Yes, we're on Alex's channel. And we're not stopping here. We will be going on, I don't know exactly what order, but we will be continuing on from here with Dunkin' Egg, Fire and Blood, and World of Ice and Fire, and whatever else we can dredge off to make this Song of Ice and Fire read along never end. This is the read along that doesn't end. Anyway, I'm excited. I have been loving revisiting a Song of Ice and Fire and it's so fun talking to Jimmy and Alex about it. So yeah, excited for this. And then as I mentioned at the beginning of the year, my intention is to keep up with my book with the Month Club books by always reading in the subsequent month, whatever books I get from Book of the Month, not just my book of the month. So my book of the month that I picked in January was, this is the Pink Book, The Magnolia Palace by Vianna Davis. This is, I believe, like historical fiction slash mystery is why I picked it up. It's Gilded Age, New York, and I think there's a museum and like a puzzle and things. Tangled web of romantic trists, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death. So that's a Valentine's Day kind of read, right? It's had the word romantic in it. There's pink flowers on it. So yeah, here's my my February romance Valentine's book. And then the other Book of the Month book that I got as an add-on was The Maid by Nita Pros. I actually heard Mara praise this and she's the mystery queen. So that has me sold and it says that it's a clue like locked room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit. And just the aesthetic of this cover really reminds me of like Agatha Christie adaptations. Like this just like has the vibe of like the poros and marbles. And I love those kinds of mysteries, even though I'm always the biggest fan of actually Agatha Christie. And it's not terribly long. And I mean, I keep saying this, I love watching murder mysteries, particularly period piece murder mysteries, but really any, I mean, I love crime TV mystery of the week type stuff. I did, I very rarely read it. So since Book of the Month, like makes me kind of choose things beyond my normal grimdark fantasy, it's like a little mystery. I should, I should read that. So nice short and it's red. So again, these are my Valentine's Day colored books pink and red, right? I'm so festive editing Lee and I hear I have said so many times that I'm going to be reading Ship of Destiny in February with Mara and I somehow forgot it. The whole time I was filming, I was like, I'm forgetting something, I'm forgetting something and I was correct. So yeah, Ship of Destiny also reading that in February with Mara from Books Like Well, We Are Finally Finishing the Life of Trader Sirius, and then moving on to the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings. So this too. And those are all the books that I will be reading in February. Well, those are books that I will definitely be reading in February. I will probably read some other books as well, since that's what I'm doing this year. My TBRs are just books that I'm for sure getting to, and then that should leave room open to either not read anything else or to read whatever else or just, you know, whatever, whatever happens, whatever happens, we'll find out in the wrap up. So let me know in the comments down below what you'll be reading in February, if you're going to be reading any of these books, if you're going to join us in any of the various read-along buddy read type things, First Law, Sword of Trues, Murakami, Winter Night, there's a song of ice and fire, pretty much everything about TBR is some kind of buddy read-along type thing. So I hope your TBR is very similar to mine, which means you're participating in all of these things. But if not, it's fine too. Whatever you want to let me know. I post videos on Saturdays, other random TBRs, but definitely Saturdays, so like and subscribe, join my Patreon if you feel so inclined, and I'll see you when I see you.