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Are you a resident of Hawaii?: Yes

Tell everyone a little bit about yourself: Retired professor eastern psychology and decision theory. WWII Navy fighter pilot

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At 10:08pm on July 4th, 2008, Gordon Becker said…: The July 3, 2008 issue of the Maui Weekly included a half page by Governor Linda Lingle on page 15 with the headline "A Con Con Would be Beneficial for the Entire State". She noted that "In 1996 Hawai'i voters cast more "yes" than "no" votes in support of a con con. However, that year the Hawai'i Supreme Court ruled that blank ballots be counted as "no" votes. Consequently, a con con hasn't been held in our state since 1978."
She also stated that Lt. Gov. Aiona is heading a committee studying the costs of a con con, that a report will be made by Aug 1 2008, and that "Residents can provide their comments to the task force at concon@hawaii.gov"

At 5:15pm on June 22nd, 2008, Michael Melhorn said…: Hi Gordon, glad to see you are still alive and kicking. I don't think I will be getting to the islands anytime soon. I am lucky to get to the bike trail near my house. I am doing well, even taught taekwondo classes last semester at two elementary schools here in Lincoln, where I live with my wife, Ann. Been doing some judo and juititsu lately. Got a brown belt in judo a couple of years ago. Its a lot of fun, but I have a few problems with my shoulder. I was sad it find out that Suk Ki Shin, from UNO Takekwondo died two years ago. Older I get the more interesting the obituaries are. Andrew is quite the adventurer now it appears. You must be proud of him. Mike

At 10:57am on June 13th, 2008, Puna guy said…: Aloha Gordon, I'm afraid from reading history that our republic tends to get insular when not facing a threat 'in its face'. That is debate raging nationally today. Democracy allows for non-participation as well as those of us more active. So be it.

About my father, although he was a naval aviator, he never flew off a carrier. He was loaned to the war by TWA at the outbreak. He flew VIPS around as the military did not yet have MATS. My brother-in-law Matt flew in the 1st Pacific based squadron of F/A 18's off the Connie.

About my career, much more mundane. I worked in the auto industry as a durability and reliability guy and was witness to its slow self-destruction. I still remember seeing the 1st Honda Civic, how small it was, how excellently it was built, and how scary well it held up. Light years ahead of us, when that was repeatedly pointed out to GM Management by myself and others we were told, and I quote, "We don't care, the car is too small, we can not make money on it." Needless to say we in the vast minority understood the potential future which of course is exactly what happened. At that point both of us engineers quit GM as we decided they were incapable of change and I went to work for someone who was about to embrace Quality, Harley-Davidson.

From there I embarked on a quest for Quality with an independent engineering consultation firm. I stayed there until I retired.

We moved to HI hoping to dabble in consulting part time - in 2000 just in time to witness the final blow to the American designed/tested/sourced/built car. So I am not infallible either - none of us are.

Where I differ from most of my cohorts is a strong belief in that old Japanese saying: "None of us are as smart as all of us." We humans tend to have some dumb belief that we are always right, and never wrong.

There is some strange belief that worth/power is automatically equal to salary/intellectual prowess, when in fact unions, politics, and egos usually get in the way. The ALPA & the mainland longshoreman's union is proof of that fallacy.

The Old Guard Democrats are justifiably afraid of the con-con as it threatens their entrenched power in the State, but to tag it as being 'a GOP ploy' is silly. Of course the GOP is looking for a fulcrum to dislodge the Old Guard, but I tag that to ANYONE dissatisfied with the Status Quo. And I'm am not tied to any party per my George Washington quote previous.

Fear of the unknown is a palpable fact of human nature, the light of a logical, well though-out future is our only hope.

At 9:48am on June 9th, 2008, Gordon Becker said…: I just completed my training in 1945 as an ensign fighter pilot in a souped up F4F and was about to qualify on a carrier in Florida when Japan surrendered ... They were probably afraid of what I would do if I got there. I really have great respect for your father and the men like him who risked their lives before WWII to prove that it was possible to fly on and off a carrier and to sink naval warships.

What kind of consulting did you do?

One of the biggest obstacles that we face right now is the labor union stand against a ConCon and the support they are getting from the Democratic Party (at least here in Maui) They think the ConCon is a Republican ploy to eliminate unions, and, like most people who come from a position of weakness, are dominated by fears of what they will lose. I don't know how to get such failure oriented people to think about what they can gain.

At 11:09pm on June 8th, 2008, Puna guy said…: Pacific or Atlantic Pilot?, My father, as a Naval Aviator Captain, flew Doolittle and his crew back after his raid on "Tokio" as it reads in his flight log. And my bother-in-law Matt was #7, #6 and finally #5 in the 1989-1991 "Blues".

Nothing sounds like a radial at full throttle!

At 11:03pm on June 8th, 2008, Puna guy said…: Aloha Gordon,

We humans all tend to 'get mired in the minutia'. I learned to reverse and 'poke' at the 'Big Picture'. It worked for me very well in the business world my entire career 35 years as a consultant.

Question #1: What do we citizens of Hawai`i (and private business) need vs. want in much more globally - competitive market?

Question #2 "What are we willing to compromise?" No single party should get its way, (or if it does, the Lord help us all.) It should be a win-win balanced with a lose-lose. No one should be happy, but over all we should be accepting - of the compromises.

Why did our 'Founding Fathers' divide the Representation so vastly different compared to how we "do it here in the islands?" When you consider the results - you can understand why they deemed it so. They were afraid of the "weight of size" in decision making.

We have seen the results in the State Senate, can you imagine if Kaua`i was equal vote wise to O`ahu, or Ni`ihau power wise? We would tend to listen in respect to each others power!

Same thing goes on human-nation wide: Centralize (remote) decision making tends to accentuate waste. It can not be any other way 'cause of the inherent waste in the 'chain of command'. Each level has bureaucracy: a time lag, a coordination mountain, and an associated taxpayer money pit. Plus 'Central Command' just does not work well or respond to 'market forces.'

The question to me is how to empower the individual yet protect the weak or powerless? Unless it makes sense for all levels "the dog won't hunt."