Shortly after my grandfathers death my 97 soon to be 98 year grandmother started to slip fast. Like couples who have spent literally a lifetime together this was no surprise.

Early last month Grandma joined Grandpa and they now are both in a better place looking down on us seeing the things health had prevented them from seeing for so long.

In my moms latest podcast over on CherieCast.com she talks about feeling a weight being lifted when grandma passed and while the event was sad the experience she had with the weight lifting from her really caused some chicken skin when she told me about it.

I still have my grandparents on my dads side, and at my age that is a pretty amazing feat considering that I am fast approaching 45.

Over the past two weeks a very small group of protesters have brought to a halt the operations the new Honolulu Super Ferry. The protesters were able to ram rod a court decision that is doing nothing but serving the old guard transportation companies like Matson.

The Honolulu Super Ferry met every state guideline and rule required and yet for the first time a shipping company is being required to get an environmental impact study completed when they have the most green and advanced ship in our harbors.

It makes me sick to my stomach to see the ongoing political games that are going on here. This state is beyond anti-business. Being a business owner it shakes my resolve and confidence in a already over taxed and over regulated atmosphere.

If I were the Honolulu Super Ferry I would flip the legislature, the governor and the citizens of Hawaii the bird and leave. The impact would resonate for years and business here would be crippled.

If they resolve to stay then every company small or large that wants to open up shop here needs to be held to the same standard. See how long companies like Matson, Hawaiian Airlines and others would stay in business if they were required to do a environmental impact for every new ship or aircraft they put in service here in Hawaii.

Seeing how the folks in Maui and Kauai don’t want ships in their harbors, well lets see how loud they squeal when all shipping is halted into their island harbors while environmental studies are undertaken on every other vessel coming into their ports.

One week with no gasoline, no fresh milk or vegetables and other supplies and I can guarantee the small minority of liberal fanatics would shut their traps. When the power plants ran out of oil because of no deliveries, then those protesting can live with nature, by contributing to the environment their human waste as the sewage processing plants over flow with non processed sewage. Let them bury their garbage as well, as their will be no fuel for the garbage trucks.

This states legislatures, and annoited court judges all have failed this state in a significant way, and if the Honolulu Super Ferry leaves It will be their collective fault.

Hawaii Schools have long had a reputation of being the worst in the United States year after year the children scores overall paint a very bleak picture. The school my children attend currently is given a grade of a “C” by agencies that grade school performance.

For the most part schools in upper class Neighborhoods are better equipped and teachers fight to teach their, in areas where the Neighborhoods are lower the schools are generally very bad.

Part of the issue here is that their are no local school boards. The state has a single elected school board that is largely political and in no way can keep up with all of the various issues in the hundreds of schools here.

This state desperately needs to switch to a local school board system and the state department of education needs to turn 90% of every dollar that is alloted by the legislature to the schools equally based upon student population.

Parents like me have no choice but to supplement classroom time with outside tutor support. Most people cannot afford the $10,000 per child cost to put kids in private school each year. A large number of military families home school their kids for fear when they return to the mainland that their kids will no longer be competitive and their chances of getting into a high ranked university will be slim.

The sad part is most people here do not care and yet millions of dollars a year are fed into the education system here and nothing has helped. Maybe home school is the way to go for my family but something has to change.

I have been reading the EjectEjectEject.com website for a number of years now and the essays the author Bill Whittle puts together are beyond masterpieces. If you have not read any of the articles on his page you need to prepare for a long evening because once you start you will likely be reading for an extended period.

The articles do not come often but when they do man, he really hits a home run. His latest Seeing the Unseen Part 1 has to be one of his best. [ejectejecteject.com]