Tag: Hawaii

Those tricky map questions

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn geography

I disliked my University’s mandatory ROTC requirement which, in reality helped very little since I ended up in the Navy.  But they had a map reading course which was very helpful when I hiked and climbed mountains in the West. What I realized over the years is that most Americans know very little about geography because everything’s so far away in the USA that they never see it.

So, it’s not surprising that most of us miss map-orientned questions, fairing quite poorly compared to the Europeans. Hell, if you live in Texas and start a road trip you’ll be a senior citizen before you get outside the state.

At any rate, how to do you expect people to answer the question “what is the northern-most, southern-most, eastern-most, and western-most that in the Union?

For southern-most, people will say Florida. Nope, it’s Hawai’i, specifically Ka Lae on the Big Island. People find that hard to see since Hawai’i is usually placed in a subsection of US maps, so its geographical relationship to the rest of the country isn’t clear.

If people remember Alaska, they’ll say it’s the northern-most state. If they forget Alaska, they’ll say “Maine.”

Asking about the western-most state gets you a lot of answers.  A lot of peole will blurt out “California” and then sheepishly say, “oh yeah, it’s Hawai’i.” Both answers are wrong. Alaska’s islands stretch out farther west than Hawai’i. If you compare the location of the Aleutian Islands on a map–better yet, a globe–you’ll see they’re farther west than Hawai’i. Once you see the map, it’s obvious that Alaska is farther west than Hawai’i.

When asked about the eastern-most state, most people will say “Maine.”  It’s not a bad answer other than the fact that it’s wrong. According to the sporcle blog: “Remember how we said Alaska was the westernmost state in the entire US? It is true. Cape Wrangell, Alaska, is 172 degrees 27 minutes east.

“Notice anything odd about those degrees? Remember, we said there are certain technicalities to account for when it comes to farthest directional points. Cape Wrangell is so far west, it actually crosses the 180th meridian into the Eastern Hemisphere. So technically, Alaska is also the easternmost point in the US.”

Alaska takes the prize. Who knew? If you win any money with these questions in bar bets, please send my share to me via Paypal.

—Malcolm

Na ‘Aikane o Maui Center Destroyed in Maui Fire

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn cultures

As I write this post, the death toll stands at 114 in Maui with a thousand people missing. The vultures (developers) watch closely because they want the land cheap. The loss of the Na ‘Aikane o Maui Center  on Front Street adds insult to injury.

ARTNews  writes,  “The center not only taught Native youth traditional art such as weaving and carving but also helped families fight for their rights to their ancestral lands. Hundreds of Native artifacts including 19th-century land deeds stamped in wax, traditional feathered capes, and old maps were lost in the blaze, along with legal documents that could have helped families in disputes against developers and others who laid claim to Native properties.”

The center kept Hawaiian culture alive and vital and it’s records supported their initiatives. They plan to rebuild, and with their philosophy  of “‘A’ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia” which means “No task is too big when done together.”

I hope they succeed. You can donate here: https://naaikane.org/lahaina-wildfire-relief/

Meanwhile, we must kill the vultures who want to steal the land.

–Malcolm

Review: ‘kiDNApped’ by Rick Chesler

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn books, reviews3 Comments

KiDNAppedKiDNApped by Rick Chesler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three months after wealthy biotechnology company CEO William Archer is lost at sea or kidnapped off his research yacht in the warm waters of the Hawaiian Islands in Rick Chesler’s inventive thriller “kiDNApped,” Special Agent Tara Shores faces a very cold case.

She also faces the uncertainties of three civilians intruding into an investigation. Was Dave Turner really looking for a wedding ring on the ocean floor when his dive boat was stolen and his employer was murdered? What can Archer’s son and daughter from the mainland possibly contribute just two days before the court declares their father legally dead?

Shores, a veteran agent who first appeared in “Wired Kingdom” (2010), is about to stamp the case file “INDETERMINATE” because there are no leads and no ransom demands. While Archer’s son Lance wants to drink beer and chase girls until he can collect his inheritance, his sister Kristen wants Dave to return to the ocean floor on the off chance his interrupted search is related to her father’s disappearance.

When their dive attracts unwanted attention, Shores and her disparate crew are suddenly in the line of fire. Kristen wonders if her genius father encrypted a call for help in the DNA of ocean bacteria. Shores wonders how she can possibly babysit civilians who are more likely to get in the way and/or get killed than anything else.

Rick Chesler has written a breathtaking tropical adventure that combines a cutting-edge technology search for clues with a madcap, island-to-island race against bad guys that would put a smile on the face of any James Bond aficionado.

Agent Shores definitely needs a new rubber stamp for her case file: HAZARDOUS TO MY HEALTH.

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