 With Spectromosi 16, Hawaii's weekly newscast on Things That Matter to Tech and Hawaii. I'm Elise Anderson. And I'm Nicole Horie. In our show this time, think-tex Ian Davidson showcases more of the stories our volunteer hosts are covering out there on the street. We'll visit the Waikiki Community Preschool. We'll learn what people think about the Me Too movement. We'll take a tour of Smokey's Pipe and Coffee in downtown Mo'ili-Ili and learn how Hawaii's marijuana industry is doing. And finally, we'll find out how people really feel about Hawaii's fireworks ban and its enforcement. Okay, Ian and our on-the-street hosts had a real blast this time, so let's get right down to it. These are little ones from 14 months to four years old, five years old. And they come from all over the island. You're already five. Wow! We have one right here. She's already five. And so they come from all over the island. For those parents that work in Waikiki, they bring them. And it's been 40 years, so let's go inside and see, meet these little children. I'm Pamela Selig, aloha, the preschool director. Great. So how long have you been here, the school, the preschool? Well, the preschool has been running in operation for 40 years. Wonderful. Yeah, for 40 years. Wonderful. How old are the children? We take children as young as 14 months all the way up to five-year-olds. We are a private nonprofit. So a lot of our revenue is generated from the tuition that we take in. And sometimes, like for example, for our playground area, our play structure, we did it through fundraising. We had the parents do a fundraiser. And I think the management at that time, they were also able to possibly do part of it through a grant, that type of thing. So everyone loves our playground. We've had it for, at least all the kids. Good sign is when they got to go home, they're crying because they still want to play. Let's see. This has been here. I've been here at this school 10 years. So this was built right before I came on. So it was probably built 2005, 2006. Now, what about, you said you have as young as 14 months. What about them? Do you have a special place for those children? Yes. Well, they're in their, they have their own classroom. And right now, they're napping. We could take a look at the classroom, sure. So these children in this class are either 14 months up to 23 months. I think the majority, I don't think I have anybody quite at 14 months right now. I think the youngest is 19 months, but they started at 14 months and, you know. So we also were in accredited school, we're accredited through NECPA. And we also, the curriculum that we use for the entire preschool is the creative curriculum. And that believes in developing the whole child. So all the activities are planned around whatever theme they're learning about. And they're the activities branch from social, emotional, cognitive language, and physical. So it believes in developing the whole child so that all aspects are covered. This is an infant toddler class. And we have a three-year-old class. So we've got the infant toddler, two two-year-old classes, a three-year-old class, and two four-year-old classes. So six classrooms all total. So when they leave you, they're ready for public school? They're ready for not just public, but private. They are ready. We start as young as the, in the infant toddler room, getting them ready and acclimated to, to love to learn. Hi, I just wanted to say I watched last week's show about energy. Great job. Keep it up. Aloha. Hey, what's up? My name is Dante Tanner and you're watching Think Tech on Spectrum OC16. And Faralina, thank you for spending the time to engage in this topic. And the topic is, what do you think about the Me Too movement and what's happening with women coming out and, you know, coming out of basically a horrible environment of keeping secrets to themselves about how they've been sexually either molested or harassed? I think it's great. It's not bringing it about more. It's just bringing to light how many women actually deal with this regularly. It's not, it's like, it's so taboo to talk about it. And what we're doing is we're saying it's okay to say it happened. And seeing how many people say Me Too, it's, it's so common. So it's like a community of acceptance and saying, it's okay. It's not okay, but it's, it happens to so many of us. We shouldn't have to be quiet. Do you think this is a remarkable time in our history where so many politicians and so many celebrities and so many journalists, you know, have been alleged to have acted improperly? And how this movement is actually taking quite a bit of steam ahead? Yeah, I think it's, it's great that it's, it's, we're talking about it more. I don't think that anything new is happening. We're just talking about it more. You think there'll be positive change as a result of this Me Too movement? Or do you think this is going to move out of the headlines and we'll be back to business as usual? I actually, I hope it brings about positive change. It's hard to, to go back to business as usual with the power behind our social media presence with Me Too. It's hard to just forget about it. So I think it will bring about positive change. And let me ask you this. This afternoon, Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Roy Moore, basically saying it's more important to have a Republican in the Senate versus a liberal Democrat in, regardless of what Roy Moore has done. That's OK. Did you know that Donald Trump has thrown his support behind him? I did not know that. What's your, what's your thoughts about that? I would think it's more important that we look at what people have done rather than they're Democratic or Republican status. So you just described a term called tribal politics. Do you think that's the order of the day? What's happening now in our society? Be it the Senate race or the presidential races that we've gone to our separate corners in tribal politics? And regardless of what the candidate has or hasn't done, it doesn't matter because it's more important to elect your party. Yeah, I think it's, it's, we shouldn't be looking at what they represent, you know, what their party is. We should definitely be looking at what they have and haven't done and what they can offer to us, what they're going to bring to the table versus their status. In the case of Roy Moore, what do you think he should do? I don't know enough about. Well, in the case of, be it the, the journalists or the entertainers or the politicians, do you think they should remove themselves from the position they hold as a result of these allegations? I think they should, yes. So you're thinking that the women should be believed without, because we're not in a court of law, we're in a court of opinion. Do you think the women should be believed? I think they're, we should at least take it seriously. Maybe there should, there could be a suspension or something and we should, we should always listen and there should be, it should be looked into. It should not be ignored. How do we move forward with this issue? What do you think the best way to, to try to keep this issue alive and make sure it doesn't go away from the headlines and really benefit where we're at at this point of time? And how do we, how do we, how do we keep it going forward? Well, for one, continue with the Me Too movement. I think we should continue to look into these allegations and just continue accepting it and saying it's okay to come out. Some more people can continue to come out and we can address it. And if it's not stopped under the rug, maybe it won't be happening so often. Do you think the president of the United States has a role as far as our moral leader when it comes to this topic? Absolutely. People are looking to the president and if he's saying, you know, the things that he's saying that may be dismissive towards women or, or saying that it's okay to have this person, then that's what people are looking at. People are looking at him as a leader and he has a heavy influence on. So regardless if you're a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent and you have a moral position about this topic of sexual harassment and, or in some cases, pedophilia, charges of pedophilia. And the president doesn't take a stand. What should we all, what message should we send to the president of the United States? It doesn't matter what he believes. This is an important thing and he needs to be addressing it and dealing with it. It's not something that can be ignored. Do you think it affects his ability to govern because he's not addressing it? I think it, it will definitely affect the way people react to what he says. I'm not sure it affects the way he can deal with political matters, but it does affect the way people will react to it. Should it cost him and senators of the Republican Party votes when it comes to 2018 and 2020? Yes, I, I would, it would affect my vote for sure. Hawaii's budding marijuana industry is showing signs of real growth with the opening of Smokey's Pipe and Coffee in Mo'Ili'Ili. Marcia and Ian took a quick tour. Check this out. When you walk in the door, it feels more like Starbucks. We have people that are working on their computers and hanging out and drinking coffee. And let's see what else we have here. Hi. And, and your name is? I'm not going to be on TV. Okay. And what, well just tell us what you made. You don't have to, we don't have to see you, but that's beautiful. What is this called? The double shot espresso and then going up to a macchiato. Then you usually have a piccolo and then you have this drink which is called a Gibraltar or Cortado. I'm Riley. Riley. That's a nice name. So tell us how long have you been here? I've only been here for about a month so far, but I've been baristaing for about eight and a half years. What is a barista? It's a person who pursues coffee and espresso beverages as a profession. So what, with the coffee and the other things you brew, do you add CBD or any of those things to the drinks? We don't do CBD, but we do include cava and cratum into some of our drinks, which you can choose to add or you can choose to not. We just implemented a new menu this morning that actually has a couple new cratum or cava drinks, excuse me. So we've got the cava cereal milk, which is super amazing. It's like the milk in the bottom of your cereal bowl. And we also have the Asai Smoothie, which is super awesome. And then we have the cava banana, what's it called? I'm so sorry. It's the banana cava shake and it comes in three different flavors. Aloha again. Nice to see you. This is Sarah. Hi. And Sarah is our operational manager. Is that correct? Yes ma'am. Welcome. We're happy that you're back. Yes. We are just looking around and enjoying the space. Can we offer you a coffee? Would you like a coffee? No. Thank you. If you'd like one, please, whatever you'd like. No. Or your hand milk. Yes. So we looked at the new menu, which is incredible. Yes. And so Riley was showing us all around. Perfect. We're really excited about our new menu items and some of the new stuff that we're getting into the case. So let us know if you have questions. So how long have you been in this location? We have been in here five years. Great. So during school, I imagine you are really crowded. Yes. We definitely fill up with university students. We have the table set up over there so that they can study with free Wi-Fi. So definitely a majority of the students are from UH. But we also facilitate patients and clients that come from the dispensaries. Real quick. Now would you tell us what you do as opposed to the dispensary and what you don't do? Yes. You cannot sell the medicine or the product that's prescribed by the doctors that you can get with the 329 card. So we only sell the accessories that support and facilitate and allow you to take the medicine. So like the vaporizers and the glass pipes. And the dispensaries cannot sell the vaporizers or the glass pipes. So it's very important that we're in partnership with them. Because the patients need both. All right. Now we just bought some of the honey bees. Perfect. So tell us exactly what the honey bee. Are you talking about the CBD honey? Yes. It's honey infused with CBD and that's derived and made on island. So it's tested by Steep Hill to make sure that there's no toxins or heavy metals in it. So it's really high grade CBD hemp derived CBD. So there's no THC in it because we're not allowed to sell that here. That's something that you'd get at a dispensary. And that's a local product. My staff names them. So this one's sticky. I guess. What's up with that? I guess this is why. And there's no danger of what you're doing. No. No. Well there's that. Did you notice a lot of fireworks going off where you live? Yes. What kind? Were they firecrackers or were there any aerials up in the air? Yes. Yes to all the above? The sewer, that's the kind of thing. You heard cherry bombs? Well they were awful big explosions. I don't know what they... That's either an M80 or a cherry bomb. So let me ask you this. Do you think the new laws that were passed, I don't know, what five or six years ago, do you think they're having any difference or effect on the... Aerial bomb? No. Why do you think that is? Everybody likes the aerial bomb so they're going to find a way to get them, I guess. How do you think they get them on the island? Smuggle. How else would you do it? So I'll have a score of one to ten. How was the fireworks that you witnessed? In what way? Well, was it nice to watch? Was it too loud? Would you wish you had more to watch and hear? No, I usually try and walk down to the Loha Tower and watch the fireworks, but I thought they weren't going to have them this year so I didn't go. Okay. Fireworks. I think a lot of people do. I think it's kind of mixed for an exciting new year. Well, hasn't it always been a long tradition here on the island to have just a lot of display? First year I moved here. We lived over near Holiday Mart and there's a low-cost housing development right behind there and the next morning the firework paper was at least six inches thick. Okay, so things have calmed down since those days. I haven't seen that kind of evidence lately, but... Do you make New Year's resolutions? She said no, and that was very definitive. Okay. Well, have you had anything to say to anyone in the world? What would it be for 2018? Oh, peace and please calm down. How did the fireworks work for you guys? It was great. I was out on Eva Beach and it was a beautiful, amazing fireworks show like I've never seen before. Have you ever just stayed in your own neighborhood to watch the shows or going around you? Are there aerials or just firecrackers? Oh, both. I mean, aerials, firecrackers, sparklers, anything, puppets, anything that you can think of. Including aerials? Including aerials, yes. Do you think it's too much or do you think the laws have any effect on trying to tamp that down a little bit? Well, I think if you didn't know what you had, a fireworks ban, you wouldn't know that people are just sort of doing it. But I have allergies. And when I was a little kid, I used to get really allergic to fireworks because there was so much more. And now I enjoy it much better because there's not as much smoke even though there is. And now it's sort of just this like fun time and you sort of see other people doing it. And I'm okay with it personally. So things have changed for you? Things have changed for the better. Do you wish the Honolulu Police Department would clamp down a little bit more and try to enforce the law or are you perfectly okay as it is? I mean, I have no idea. I was thinking about that. I mean, at midnight when everything goes off, it's just like Disneyland fireworks. And I always wonder like, are these people getting ticketed? I have no idea like how much emphasis is put on, you know, people being held accountable to the ban. So I have no idea. I mean, I mean, I don't know if it's being enforced or not. And if it is that people just not caring. So. All right. Well, you think next year is going to be better or is going to be about the same? I think it'll be about the same. One thing is clear. The Me Too movement shows no sign of slowing down. I'm sure we'll be reporting on it again in the future. And there's lots more on the street too on Think Tech. Check it out on ThinkTechHawaii.com. Thanks so much to our on the street team. Great stuff, Ian. It's so interesting to get out on the street and find out what people are thinking. You learn so much just walking around and saying hello. And now let's check out our Think Tech schedule of events going forward. Think Tech broadcasts its talk shows live on the internet from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. 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We want to stay in touch with you and we'd like you to stay in touch with us. Let's think together. And now, here's this week's ThinkTech commentary. When The Washington Post published critical excerpts from 4,000 of the 7,000 pages of the Pentagon Papers, the Nixon administration took it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Nixon had already beat down the New York Times over a smaller leak, and because The Washington Post had used the same mole as The New York Times, the Second Battle brought the two competing papers together on one team. Arguably more than ever in American history, the First Amendment was at stake. Can a private entity inform the public about its government's scrapes at the core of free speech? Washington Post publisher Catherine Graham, a Demur Merrill Streep in the film, and editor Ben Bradley, played by a suave Tom Hanks, stood to plummet from the heights of esteem to the depths of abject ruin, including jail time if nine Supreme Court judges ruled against them. Graham's family business, her pride and joy, and all that remained of her late fathers and husbands' legacies would be lost. Free Press had everything on the line. Acting is all we've come to expect from the likes of Streep and Hanks, and the revelational history behind the plot told clearly and concisely generates all the momentum we need. Pacing is swift, and we even get an interesting glimpse at the inner workings of 1970s lino-type technology of the day. Some might cringe at the melodramatic soundtrack, but John Williams' instrumental chords were quiet enough. Set design and lighting, especially the gilded parlors and libraries marking Washington D.C. elite society, conjures a powerful sense of place. The post is well done. Once upon a time, American aristocracy was all one and the same, a big, familiar country club dotted with gowns and martinis. Bradley and Graham had both been close friends of Kennedy and Johnson, whose generosity had been instrumental to their own professional rises. One of Graham's dearest confidants was none other than Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, a principal culprit behind the cover-up. And then Bradley had practically been family to the Kennedys. He was there for Jackie on the night of JFK's assassination. He recalls how his wife, Tony, hugged the grieving widow when she got home, still wearing that infamous pink jacket covered in her late husband's blood. A photograph of the two Bradleys and the two Kennedys sits on the Bradley mantelpiece, harkening back to a bygone golden age. The post does draw a line between Nixon and his predecessors, but just to say he was rooted to the press. Overall, it clusters the presidents together as fellow colluders in keeping the Pentagon papers under wraps. Still, to understand why shifts occurred, why hostility broke out in both directions with spies and threats, we must understand that Nixon was fundamentally something new. Now flash forward to the present. Snatching his election with rallies to, quote, drain the swamp, President Donald Trump is once again an outsider. And, as in 1968, snarling mouths are frothing like mad. Trump has repeatedly declared the mainstream media an enemy of the American people, echoing Nixon's earlier cries. Whoever may be the aggressor, today's, quote, fake news and war on the press has never been more shrill. Never before have the battle cries been more incessant between president and press. The post arrives timely as could be and prompts us to weigh questions of free speech, morale, and public safety that will surely prove indispensable for many years to come. I'm Lisa Anderson, reviewing the post. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back to wrap up this week's edition of Think Tech. But first, we want to thank our underwriters. Hawaiian Electric Companies. The High Tech Development Corporation. Galen Ho of BAE Systems. Integrated Security Technologies. Kamehameha Schools. Dwayne Kurisu. Calamon Lee and the Friends of Think Tech. MW Group Limited. The Schuyler Family Foundation. The Sydney Stern Memorial Trust. The Volo Foundation. Yuriko J. Tsukimura. Okay, Nicole, that wraps up this week's edition of Think Tech. Remember, you can watch Think Tech on Spectrum OC16 several times every week. Can't get enough of it, just like Nicole does. For additional times, check out oc16.tv. For lots more Think Tech videos, and for underwriting and sponsorship opportunities on Think Tech, visit ThinkTechHawaii.com. Be a guest or a host, a producer or an intern, and help us reach and have an impact on Hawaii. Thanks so much for being part of our Think Tech family and for supporting our open discussion of tech, energy, diversification and global awareness in Hawaii, and of course the ongoing search for innovation wherever we can find it. You can watch this show throughout the week and tune in next Sunday evening for our next important weekly episode. I'm Elise Anderson. And I'm Nicole Horry. Aloha everyone.