Global Hawaii Blog

posted by Dave on Aug 20

The giant golfball is back.  Many people who haven’t seen it before ask what is that giant golf ball at Pearl Harbor.  It is actually a white dome encasing a powerful military radar.   Run by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency it is the Sea-Based X-Band Radar.   The billion dollar gizmo is more than 280 feet high and scans the horizon for enemy missile threats and can track and discriminate nuclear warheads from decoys.  The radar is so powerful it can detect a baseball sized object over a thousand miles away.

posted by Dave on Jun 30

Here is a postcard like view of Diamond Head taken from Magic Island on Bob’s Full Moonwalk.   I like the effects of the clouds in this picture which almost look like they were water-colored in though I promise this is an untouched photo.  On the far left you can see the famous rainbow of the Hilton Hawaiian Hotel.  In the water there are a few swimmers and paddle-boarders.  Diamond Head is perhaps one of Hawaii’s greatest iconic image and the volcanic cinder cone is a United States State Monument.

posted by Dave on Jun 11

Happy King Kamehameha Day.  In Hawaii June 11 is set as a state holiday to honor Kamehameha the Great, the monarch who established the unified Kingdom of Hawaii.  Among the activities are a floral parade honoring the King and the decorating of  his statue in front of Ali’iolani Hale with lei as shown in the picture.  This year President Barack Obama proclaimed June 11, 2010 “King Kamehameha Day” calling upon all Americans to celebrate the rich heritage of Hawaii.  This year is the 200th anniversary of the formal establishment of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810.  The king statue will also be decorated in Emancipation Hall in Washington DC.