(No. 38, a ±03 minute read) The trouble with a single correspondent outlet is a lack of colleagues. The gerontocracy on display, revealing the depths of its failing of the majority of Americans. Living through historical moments can certainly be painful. Watching CNN pretend to be merely a facilitator wasn’t much easier last Thursday.
This is a one correspondent outfit and the correspondent finally caught a case of Covid. Turns out it really isn’t much fun. A lot has happened recently; the settling of Navahine vs. State of Hawai‘i DOT, the handing down of the destruction of the 1984 Chevron vs. NRDC precedent by the Supreme Court upending regulatory administrative law in the U.S., RIMPAC is underway in the Pacific — in all its complexity, and the Supreme Court has decided that a president is protected by executive immunity for almost anything that president might do in office; apparently, it could be argued, even ordering or committing a murder. (And Trump is contending, also while campaigning.)
And that bump-stock ruling based on Thomas’ incorrect (disingenuous?) reading of the history of both firearms and the congressional effort to outlaw them, there’s that too. Did you know that Supreme Court amicus briefs aren’t fact-checked? No, this newsletter gets more done to ensure its accuracy than a document cited, and often quoted, by the justices of the Supreme Court when making decisions that affect millions and the earth we live on.
It has been a rough spell. I’ll dig into this stuff when I return from my dance with our favorite plague virus. What a fucking world.
BRYAN KILLIAN of D.C.-based firm Morgan Lewis presents his firm's rationale obligating Judge JEFFREY CRABTREE (not shown) dismiss the Youth v. DOT suit due to the plaintiff's lack of standing while LEIAALA LEY, plaintiff's lead attorney checks her notes and ANDREA RODGERS, Senior Litigation Attorney at Our Children's Trust looks on in disbelief in response to an assertion KILLIAN has just made. The plaintiffs are alleging a breach of their constitutional right to a sustaining, healthy environment has been violated by a state DOT that favors carbon-based transportation policies in the face of widespread understanding of the dangers of such policy in the era of global warming. HONOLULU 01/26/23 ANDREA RODGERS, Senior Litigation Attorney at Our Children's Trust addresses members of the press and others assembled for a post-hearing press conference after both sides presented their positions regarding the state DOT's motion to dismiss to Hawaii State Environmental Court judge JEFFREY CRABTREE. The plaintiffs are alleging a breach of their constitutional right to a sustaining, healthy environment has been violated by a state DOT that favors carbon-based transportation policies in the face of widespread understanding of the dangers of such policy in the era of global warming. HONOLULU 01/26/23
RIMPAC 2024, the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise is beginning this week centered around Pearl Harbor in Honolulu and continuing through 08/02. The exercise comprises 28 partners, more than a quarter million personnel, 40 warships, three subs, and 150 aircraft. An exercise involving sinking a heavily armored troop ship is intended to send a warning to China regarding Taiwan and a heavy presence of Taiwanese media are present for the event. HON0LULU 08/27/24 RIMPAC 2024, the world's largest international maritime warfare excercise is beginning this week centered around Pearl Harbor in Honolulu and continuing throught 08/02. The exercise comprises 28 partners, more than a quarter million personell, 40 warships, three subs, and 150 aircraft. An excercise involving sinking a heavily armored troop ship is intended to send a warning to China regarding Taiwan and a heavy presence of Taiwanese media are present for the event. Vice Admiral JOHN WADE, USN RIMPAC commander, is flanked by Vice Commanders ALBERTO GUERRERO of Chile and KAZUSHI YOKOTA of Japan at a morning presser. HONOLULU 08/27/24 You get the idea, and a quick view behind the curtain of captioning for the newswire. RIMPAC, it’s happening and the Navy has me along for the ride. This picture and the following were made on the USS Carl Vinson while I was on a press pool junket. The Vinson is a nuclear powered vessel and leads Carrier Strike Group 1 based in San Diego. Big, complex, and deadly, that’s the vibe an aircraft carrier exudes. The majority of the press present was foreign, with the largest number there from Taiwan. The Taiwanese press corps’ questions, by and large, alluded to or were outright existential concerns about how the U.S. would respond to a military attack on the island. Of course there was never an answer returned beyond the query being beyond the scope of RIMPAC, which of course it is not. This question is exactly part of the scope of RIMPAC. To see these manifestations of modern American military power at home, within sight of both the Ko‘olau Mountains and the Arizona Memorial is complicated. The military is perhaps less popular in Hawai‘i today than at any time since Vietnam, and for good reason . The reality of the Pacific Theater, as the military terms it, and Eastern Europe, is not one American activists appear to want to face. Just as the military itself seems incapable of facing the negative environmental, climate, and cultural impacts that dog it at every base or operational theater. There are no easy answers in the Pacific, anyone who says there might be is not looking honestly at conditions there. But certainly better answers must be found than the ones we are working with, they aren’t serving us well. Share