The ePilot
Vol. II, No. 18, September 2016
San Salvador Comes to Channel Islands
The replica of Cabrillo’s famous ship of discovery paid a visit to Channel Islands Harbor
Kathy Long Bids Adieu
Supervisor Long Speaks at the Bard Mansion
Third District Supervisor Kathy Long bid farewell to the city she has represented for the past twenty years.
In a presentation to the Friends of the Bard Mansion, she recalled Astronaut Jim Lovell’s Christmas broadcast from Apollo 8, viewing the Earth as a “grand oasis in the vastness of space.”
Taking the long view, she decribed her efforts by refernecing Nelson Henderson, “planting trees under whose shade I do not expect to sit.” “My two decades in office are just sand on the beach,” she mused.
The Supervisor cited three areas of particular pride: Keeping Santa Paula Hospital open, serving as co-chair of the Regional Defense Partnership for the 21st Century to advance the interests of Naval Base Ventura County, and working to protect Ormond Beach the “last remaining coastal wetlands” in California with its “great economic value”.
Ms. Long acknowledged that any achievement “takes the community” to accomplish, “working hard to never lose track of who you serve.”
Although public service can be at times fractious and difficult, the Supervisor concluded by reminding the audience of “the joy of sharing this wonderful oasis.”
When asked what she planned to do in retirement, her answer was simple, “Play,” she said.
Anticipating the Unexpected
Dr. Melissa Mizdor addresses the Regional Defense Partnership
In a recent presentation to the Regional Defense Partnership for the 21st Century, Dr. Melissa Midzor, Director, Electronic Warfare Integrated Laboratories Division Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, discussed the powerful but invisible world of electronic warfare and testing.
Dr. Midzor set the stage by describing how the Warfare Lab can integrate real or simulated hardware with real or simulated environments. Just as in a video game, a formation of defenders can be deployed against a formation of threats. “In the lab, you can control the environment,” Dr. Mizdor explained.
“How can they talk together? How can they work together?” Testing in the lab is designed to eliminate some of the interoperability problems that surfaced during the Afghan War.
Venturing into “gee whiz” territory, Dr. Mizdor described the High Power Chamber which contains radio waves so powerful “they would melt a normal chamber”.
The Warfare Lab is also connected to different labs across the country, allowing for real time mission level testing among multiple entities. A simulated UAV can be “flying” in one lab while connected to other labs saving “gobs of testing”, and millions of dollars in the real world.
With all the success of the Warfare Lab, Dr, Mizdor also noted some challenges: the increasingly crowded RF spectrum; funding that has dropped off after the Iraq War; and an acquisition process where “compatibility is buried way down there somewhere.”
Looking forward, Dr. Mizdor sees the challenge of the Warfare Lab as anticipating the unexpected. [We need to be] “working on waveforms we’ve never seen before,” she said. Simulations are only as good as the imagination of their designers. [We should] “use our technology to emulate the art of the possible” instead of trying to “replicate what’s already out there.”
—Ed.
Electric Cars on Display
Alternative fuels advocate Kent Bullard shows off his new Nissan Leaf
Recently a number of electric car owners in conjunction with the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District met at Channel Islands Harbor to display a wide variety of electric vehicles both old and new. APCD is sponsoring a Discount Voucher program to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles.
From the Quirky
To the Exotic
For more information, contact Stan Cowen at (805) 645-1408 or stan@vcapcd.org. Vouchers may only be used at participating Ventura County dealerships. Make your best deal, and then show them the voucher for additional savings. Local dealerships have agreed to match the voucher amount with at least an equal discount off the sales price, which is in addition to manufacturer discounts, state and federal incentives. Per APCD Board: Vouchers may not be used with PEV trade-ins, but normal lease expiration is allowed. Vouchers may be used toward vehicle purchases or leases.
Beach Showers Turned Off
The Beach Showers were turned off due to tampering/vandalism and excessive water run-off. Apparently, users started packing the button with sand so that the shower would stay on, unfortunately for long periods of time. It got a lot of notice and complaints due to the drought, so the showers were turned off. The City will be working on a modification that will time the duration of the shower being on.
History by the Minute
Beverly Merrill Kelley
Let’s face it, we’re all busy people. We’d love to learn more about our hometown but who has the time? This column will feature highlights that can be read in a minute or two. And rest assured, the information comes from the considerable resources of the Port Hueneme Historical Society. If your interest is piqued to learn more, visit the museum on Market Street or send your questions via email to Kelley@callutheran.edu.
The idea for the 21st Century version of a Hueneme Sand Sculpture contest was the brainchild of Donna Breeze who has always been passionate about keeping Hueneme Beach Park from remaining “the best kept secret in Ventura County.” Since her entire family enjoyed digging in the warm sand, she figured that a castle competition might provide the perfect introduction to “The Friendly City by the Sea.”
Brick Wahl
Four score and seven tweets ago…
And unless you spend hours daily on Twitter, you will be completely mystified as to how this is happening.
But it’s happening because Trump turned Twitter into the dominant medium this campaign, even more so than television itself, and on Twitter the news cycle runs in seconds, with everyone trying to be the first person to tweet the latest story.
When Gary Johnson made his “What is Aleppo” goof on Morning Joe (on MSNBC), he was barely a minute away from the set when panelist Mark Halperin–one of the country’s leading political reporters–got him on his iPhone. Within two minutes that conversation was broadcast on the air, with Johnson still inside the building, but even more remarkably, Halperin tweeted about that phone conversation while still talking to Johnson. That news cycle was literally less than sixty seconds, and “What is Aleppo” was trending within two minutes (I watched it happen.)
I think the reason that news coverage of the campaign is so distorted is that political reporters and pundits are addicted to Twitter. 140 characters or less. Even telegraphy was not so terse. Ironically, though, vastly more of us voters get our news on social media from Facebook instead of Twitter, and the disconnect between media and voters has never been so stark.
We each live in our own social media universes. You and me here, on Facebook, and reporters and pundits on Twitter, and neither platform can access the other. That happens second hand, via television news. Twitterized reporting is stretched out into news stories and pundits shouting at each other, which filters into Facebook and down to us. “I was just asking a few farmers about grain prices & all they wanted to talk about was how the Clinton campaign handled the media Sunday” Mark Halperin tweeted today. It’s like policy issues don’t even exist.
Trump will lose the election–he gets slaughtered on Facebook–but his campaign stays even in the media because he tweets incessantly, and the media follow every tweeted utterance like it is a message from on high.
No one, not even Hillary now, can compete for the media’s attention when the media have become conceptually twitterized. It certainly beats doing any real issues reporting. You can’t discuss, say, the ramifications of the new Filipino president pivoting his nation away from the U.S. and towards China in 140 characters or less. Anything politically newsworthy today can be no more than a catch phrase. Even sound bites are too long for Twitter.
And certainly sound thinking is.
The Gettysburg Address, a mere 272 words long, has 1,369 too many characters and spaces for Twitter. 87 yrs ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty & dedicated to the prop that ppl are created equal. That’s about all that fits.
Then on to the real news that Lincoln picked up a case of smallpox in Gettysburg.
Briefs
British Cadets Stuck on Ship
Hanjin bankruptcy leaves cadets with no place to go.
New Littoral Combat Ship Launched
Future USS Wichita hits the water. (video)
Navy Links Missle with Joint Strike Fighter
A new advance in defensive capability. (video)
FIRST HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH IN HUENEME
The Port Hueneme Historical Society Museum made history on September 17, 2016.
While Ventura County celebrations of Hispanic Heritage Month included the Consul de Mexico “El Grito” at Olivas Adobe and the Oxnard Mexican Independence Day Fiestas Patrias, Port Hueneme City Councilmember Sylva Muñoz-Schnopp‘s event at the Museum was the very first celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in the city’s history.
It’s probably about time. Hispanics make up more than 54 percent of the population in the “Friendly City by the Sea.”
National recognition of Hispanics and their contributions to this country started in 1968 as “Hispanic Heritage Week” under President Lyndon Johnson. The celebration was subsequently expanded on August 17, 1988 by President Ronald Reagan to a thirty-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15.
In between being delighted by the colorful Oxnard College Ballet Foklorico and the world-class Mariachi Aguilas de Mexico, Ms. Schnopp introduced the standing room audience to the history of the Hispanic culture here in Ventura County.
Did you know that:
· Presently (in 2016), 56.6 million Hispanics make up 17 per cent of the population in the United States?
· By 2060, the number of Hispanics is projected to double to 119 million. To put that figure into perspective, the number of Hispanics in this country will be second only to Mexico, where the population is expected reach 123 million?
· By 2020, the spending power of Hispanics will exceed that of millennials?
Thanks to a generous contribution by Dr. Purna Pai, the Distinguished Speaker Series at the Museum, which averages two presentations a month, is now being videotaped. You can find a video of the Hueneme Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration by clicking on:
(Part I) https://youtu.be/PgA5s5XwpBU (Part II) https://youtu.be/AnoIBXD9EvI
At the Museum
Director of Harbor Department, Channel Islands Harbor,
Lyn Krieger
As Director, Ms. Krieger oversees Harbor operations, including ground leasing, development projects, Harbor Patrol, maintenance, and finance.
She has supervised projects to enhance or upgrade both private and public developments including Channel Islands Harbor Marina, Marine Emporium Landing, Hampton Inn, Toppers, Anacapa Isle Marina, Waterfront Homes, Channel Islands Landing, Channel Islands Boating Center, Channel islands Maritime Museum, the Harbor revetment, the public launch ramp and Paz Mar Apartments.
Lyn Krieger received her BA from Wheaton College, and her MA from the University of Chicago in the areas of business, public policy and law.
CLU Announces Center for Non-Profit Leadership
The Center for Non-Profit Leadership has moved to California Lutheran University. Information is available at the website: http://www.callutheran.edu/centers/nonprofit/subscribe.html?utm_source=CNL-MailChimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CNL%20Launch%20Invite
Hidden Track: Aaron Neville — “Gotta Serve Somebody“
Our mailing address is:
516 Island View Circle
Port Hueneme, California 93041
J. Sharkey, Editor and Publisher
