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Remember when common sense was common? When standing up for what is right is, simply, the right thing to do? Welcome to “The RIGHT Side”: A Common Sense Conversation. Where Hawaii’s conservative legislators and leaders will gather to discuss our local political landscape and how it affects you, your ‘Ohana and your community.
Gina Crabtree is the sharp-tongued, quick-witted host of The Right Side. With more than five years of broadcast experience, Gina has built a reputation for asking direct questions, cutting through political talking points, and bringing a healthy dose of humor to serious conversations. Known for her sardonic style and no-nonsense approach, Gina embraces a "tell it like it is" philosophy that keeps interviews engaging, candid, and often unpredictable. On The Right Side, she sits down with local leaders and policymakers to discuss the issues shaping Hawaii's future, giving listeners an inside look at the people behind the headlines.
Remember when common sense was common? When standing up for what is right was the right thing to do. Right thing to do. Welcome to the right side. Right side.
Speaker 1:Common sense conversations about Hawaii's political landscape and how it affects you, your and your community. Join us for the next hour as we cut through the political noise and look at Hawaii from the right side, where public officials and community leaders discuss the policies that affect our future, strategies that move the needle, and highlight leaders that are stepping up to make a difference. Make a difference. Get ready for the right side. Right side.
Speaker 1:A common sense conversation.
Speaker 2:Aloha, and good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in to another edition of the right side, a common sense conversation right here on the answer, ninety four point three FM, AM six ninety with me, Gina Crabtree. And in case you missed any of our past episodes, I've actually gotten a few emails that have said, hey, Gina. I know you covered the Honolulu charter questions, but I can't seem to find where the podcast went or anything about these because as the ballots have come out and now been kinda dropped in our mailboxes as of last Friday, people are starting to get active. Actually, I checked the progress report of ballots that have already been submitted and people who have gone in person, so both mail in, drop off, and in person submission.
Speaker 2:And I think the Island Of Oahu already has, like, 58,000 ballots that have been returned. I know. It's a staggering number. So I am hoping with, like, a fifth of what we had for the primary already turned in that we can get droves of people out there to change our current leadership. It's all I've been complaining about the whole year.
Speaker 2:So hopefully, by November 4, I have a whole bunch of good news for us. But anyway, in case you missed any of those broadcasts, we do have a podcast. You can find it in three places. The answerhonolulu.com, which is our website. You can also fill out the contact form, which is how I've been hearing from people in case you have questions.
Speaker 2:You can download our mobile app in the iOS app store or Google Play simply by searching a m six ninety. And last but not least, and this is typically where I'm gonna send you if you do email. I send you to our social media. Instagram, Facebook, and x social. Why?
Speaker 2:Because you can take screenshots of the carousels that I'm doing for each of the questions, throw those into an AI generator and get better explanations based on maybe it asks you questions about what your viewpoint is on certain parts of the subject so that you can really formulate a nice educated response to those 20 questions they give us, where it's a fifty fifty shot if we're gonna get them right for ten years. If you can believe that. They're asking for yes or no, and that's it. And that judges us for ten years. So be careful what you wish for, guys.
Speaker 2:Alright. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about this because I forgot about it last Friday, so I apologize. But there was a big supreme court hearing in case anyone was following the Ralph Kushnie and Tamara McKay, Hawaii elections commission case that went to the Hawaii supreme court. So on Friday, October 16, the Hawaii supreme court heard arguments in Cushney and McKay versus Nago. So I don't know if you guys remember, and you can find this on our podcast as well when Ralph Cushney was a guest on the program, just to kinda give us some background before this case as to how long he's been fighting, by the way, which is since, like, 2020 for a chain of custody type of a record for our voting all the way since the twenty twenty elections.
Speaker 2:Didn't get one for that time period. Didn't get one for 2022. Still waiting on 2024, and here we are in 2026, no closer to any kind of accountability or transparency from the office of elections. So they went to the supreme court and said, we're sick of this. We're sick of being blocked.
Speaker 2:We should have the right to this information, and why are we not able to get it? That's the question. So the respondents, chief election officer Scott Nago, the Hawaii office of elections and elections commission. Here's the central issue. Whether the office of elections can decline administrative support needed for the elections commission to convene a meeting.
Speaker 2:The elections commission has been unable to meet since June when their previous president stepped down. A chair in... Its chairperson's term... Oh, I'm sorry. Not president, but chairperson.
Speaker 2:The chairperson's term expired June 30, leaving the commission without a chair. Cushney and McKay argued that the law office of elections has effectively prevented the commission from carrying out its statutory responsibilities. The office of elections disputes that characterization and argues that it cannot act without proper authorization. So basically, once the chairperson stepped down, no one can call a meeting without the approval of the office of elections. So we've got this kinda catch 22 working against them right now.
Speaker 2:They needed a president to call a meeting, or I'm sorry, a chairperson. Now that the chairperson is gone, they haven't been able to meet, and without the meeting, they can't ask for chain of custody requests. And this is how we're stuck with no information. So here's what the elections commission is supposed to do. Hawaii's elections commission provides oversight of election administration.
Speaker 2:So these guys are supposed to be the watchdog of the elections watchdog, chief Scott Nago. Right? Someone's supposed to be watching that guy. Kinda like we have the commission, the public utilities commission that watches over HECO because you got a really good monopoly with our electric company. And unless we have somebody watching over them, they're basically just gonna continue to hike our rates.
Speaker 2:Oh, wait. That happens anyway. But in hope of having checks and balances or some form of governing body or watchdog over these individuals that really don't have any checks and balances, but this is the commission that can't seem to meet in order to have our chief of elections have transparency. See? Told you.
Speaker 2:Catch 22. So its responsibilities include appointing and evaluating the chief election officer. Oh, isn't that ironic? That's convenient. The office of elections led by Scott Nago administers statewide elections.
Speaker 2:So as we get even closer to this year's general election, and we are screaming at the top of our lungs on all platforms, including social media, please vote in person. Make sure we have election integrity. We need to watch these people. Don't just mail in your ballot. It may get lost.
Speaker 2:This is the type of scenario we're trying to avoid in future elections. But if we can't even answer what's happened in previous ones, and Ralph has some big questions, mind you. You know, we're missing 19,000 ballots from one island and about 5,000 from another island from previous elections, and, you know, what we don't want is that continuation. Right? Anyone with common sense doesn't want the continuation of corruption.
Speaker 2:Let's just say it. Elephant in the room. It's looking a little corrupt. So under Hawaii revised statutes 11 dash 1.5 b, because I need my law degree to cover some of these things, the office of elections is required to provide staff support to the commission when properly requested. The dispute centers on who has the dispute, this problem, centers on who has the authority to request that support when the commission has no chairperson, which we covered step down a few months ago.
Speaker 2:The accountability issue. The elections commission oversees the chief election officer, yet it relies on the office led by that same official for administrative assistance. So let's unpack that statement for a minute. If the commission that's supposed to be watching over an office can't get help from that office for transparency reports, does that look fishy to you? I think it looks a little interesting.
Speaker 2:Right? You gotta look at it and say, I'm trying to figure out, are they trying to hide something? Is there a reason why they won't give administrative support so that we can get chain of custody documents? Is there something that we're supposed to be looking into? And they're just saying, well, maybe we can postpone it.
Speaker 2:Maybe we can buy some time. It it looks a little defensive. Let's put it that way. I can't say guilty, but let's be honest. It doesn't look favorable.
Speaker 2:And so here's what happened at the October 16 hearing, was just last Friday. Justice Sabrina McKenna questioned the dysfunction. See, all we need to do with some of these groups is just question them. They get all flustered. I I don't know.
Speaker 2:Right? That's what we wanna see. Kinda like when doctor Fauci was questioned about the whole COVID debacle. He didn't give many answers, did he? He looked terribly guilty with just his repeated profession of the fifth amendment.
Speaker 2:So McKenna challenged why the office of elections had not taken more initiative to help convene the meeting. I mean, if these guys are supposed to be working together to show transparency and integrity in elections, what's the holdup? The office's attorney, Aaron Schulenner? Schulenner? Argued that five of the eight commissioners would need to request a meeting.
Speaker 2:He acknowledged that the office of elections would contact commissioners to determine whether a majority wanted to meet. McKenna responded, if you're conceding that you could do that, why haven't you done that? That's a really solid question, isn't it, justice? I think that's a great question. So she also asked why officials could not resolve the problem without the supreme court intervention.
Speaker 2:Anyone looking at this like we had to go to mom and dad in order to make something happen, and we've got siblings beefing underneath. Mean, this looks a little immature, to be honest. The office of elections is like, I'm gonna ignore you because you're in my bubble, and then the big brother's like poking, poking, poking the little brother. I mean, now we gotta go to the parents and say, can someone make them do something, please? I mean, the simple question of, if you can do this, why haven't you?
Speaker 2:I think is what all of us are asking. And as we get closer to the general election, wouldn't we want some information about how we're going to maintain election integrity? Anyone? Well, you know how we can do it? We can vote in person, first and foremost.
Speaker 2:But if you gotta vote at all, just vote at all. Vote period. We gotta get our voices out there some way, somehow. Just I like to make sure that my voice is heard. So I'm gonna go in person just to ruffle some feathers.
Speaker 2:You with me? I'll meet you down there. Don't go anywhere. We gotta take a break. We'll be right back with more the right side on the answer ninety four point three FM, AM six ninety.
Speaker 1:You're listening to the right side, common sense conversations with Hawaii public officials and community leaders. Stick around. We'll be right back to the right side. Welcome back to the right side with Hawaii public officials and community leaders. Let's get back to Common Sense Conversations.
Speaker 2:Aloha, and good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in to the right side, a common sense conversation right here on the answer, ninety four point three FM, AM six ninety with me, Gina Crabtree. And in case you missed any of this or previous conversations, and I think I might spend some time this weekend putting descriptions in the podcast episodes because as you know, I have a daily program, and so we have a lot of episodes. And sifting through all of those sometimes get a gets a little cumbersome. So if you're looking for, say, the Honolulu charter amendment episodes, which we've had a couple of questions about, basically, I just have to say, well, go to our social media, and you can take pictures of our carousels.
Speaker 2:Well, if you really wanna listen to me drone on for about ten to twelve minutes about each of those, which we did, It took us a couple of weeks to get through it since they're giving us 20 questions this year. Then I might see if I can get some of the the past, maybe the past month, put some descriptions in there. Would you like that? You're welcome. I will do that for you this weekend.
Speaker 2:I'm also almost done posting. I know I had my accountability marker that I set on air for Wednesday, but I still have two more questions left to post. So anyway, if you need to find any of this information or even get in touch with me, three ways to do it. You can visit the answerhonolulu.com, and there's a contact us form on the website, which plenty of you guys have used, and I love hearing from you. Thanks for listening, by the way.
Speaker 2:You can also download our free mobile app in the iOS app store or Google Play simply by searching a m six ninety. There in the bottom navigation menu, you will find a text us button. Guess where that goes? To the Cricut comment line. And a big mahalo to cricket wireless with 15 stores statewide for allowing me to chat with you guys during the program.
Speaker 2:So if you have 2¢ you wanna put in, even though they've made pennies illegal, go ahead and text us, and we will chat during the program. And then, of course, last but not least, where I post all past show content as well as future subject matters on Instagram, Facebook, and ex social at the answer Honolulu. Next up for our Hawaii headlines today, mayor Wright Holmes. I had to say that with some enunciation because if anyone hears this on the street, I didn't know it was called mayor Wright. I was just telling my colleague this story.
Speaker 2:I've heard May rights. Anyone else? Like, you hear the nicknames of the housing developments. You hear KPT, Cam four, May rights. No.
Speaker 2:No. After a former mayor, just in case anyone wasn't putting that correlation together because it took me a minute to be like, what's mayor Wright Homes? Get it. It's going under a $1,000,000,000 makeover. Anyone realize that was happening?
Speaker 2:So where is the accountability is my question, which we have this question often. I mean, it's not to say that they don't need a little bit of a facelift. We understand that some of our affordable housing areas do need some additional support, especially as they get older. But where is the accountability for this spend? Because now we're in the bees, $1,000,000,000 in redevelopment.
Speaker 2:Hawaii is facing one of the nation's most difficult housing affordability challenges. Is that shocking to anybody? It was the first line. I had to read it. Now another massive government backed redevelopment project is making headlines.
Speaker 2:Mayor Wright Homes, a public housing community in Kalahi Palama, is undergoing a major transformation originally established in 1953. So you could imagine if you have ever lived in a home that's older, think about plumbing, going, maybe even copper pipes, asbestos, lead. You got a whole mess of problems from 1953. The complex has served generations of Honolulu families. The redevelopment carries a reported total price tag of approximately $1,000,000,000.
Speaker 2:The first phase alone is estimated at 260,000,000. Governor Josh Green and Honolulu mayor Rick Blangiardi participated in a ceremonial groundbreaking. The project is intended to replace aging public housing and provide improved living conditions. Anyone driven by some of these places? They look condemned.
Speaker 2:Boarded up windows, busted windows, busted doors. The lawns kinda look okay. Like, they're really trying to keep the grounds nice. But I couldn't even imagine from an infrastructure standpoint, and I believe that some of these, like, it... They look like no one could possibly be living in them and yet you've got cars in the parking lot.
Speaker 2:You're like, okay. Alright. What took us so long to get to this point? May I remind everybody, $19,500,000,000 just this year for the state. Just this year.
Speaker 2:And now in coordination with city and county, could we not put some money together to help these individuals out? Anyway, a billion dollars, a tremendous investment. So how do we measure whether taxpayers and the families who need housing are actually getting their money's worth? The nearly 15 acre property, I can't even believe it's that large, contains 364 public housing units in 35 aging buildings. The redevelopment calls for approximately 2,448 new homes, representing a net increase of roughly 2,084 units.
Speaker 2:Where the heck are you gonna put all those things? Are we making high rises now for May rights? And it it just... I I couldn't imagine how... I mean, couple of them, I guess.
Speaker 2:A couple high rises. Are we leveling this thing out? Plan includes, ah, here we go. 10 residential towers. They weren't kidding.
Speaker 2:10 commercial space, community facilities, and public gathering areas. The project is being developed through the Hawaii Public Housing Authority and private developer, High Ridge Costa. Wonder how many bids and quotes they accepted for this really large project. Anyone? Anyone?
Speaker 2:Should we be after especially the Kauhale incident looking after how some of these contracts were awarded? Anyone? It's just a question. We don't have to have an answer. It's it's hypothetical.
Speaker 2:I get it. The first phase, phase one a, is expected to deliver 308 apartments, including 306 income restricted affordable units and two manager units. The first building is scheduled for completion in 2029. Estimates for the full develop... Redevelopment range from roughly ten to fifteen years depending on financing and construction schedules, which we all know are going to be elongated and become very, very expensive and potentially over the budget that we're talking about right this second.
Speaker 2:You know, we start out at 1,000,000,000. You know what else possibly started out at 1,000,000,000? The rail. And now, here we are. So you gotta look at some of these things and be like, this is a really large undertaking.
Speaker 2:And I understand that probably the first couple of years is gonna be fixing that infrastructure and and, you know, going under the hood of this area. No pun intended. Okay. The Hawaii Public Health Agency. There are some numbers worth examining.
Speaker 2:Total redevelopment estimate as of today is $1,000,000,000. Phase one a cost, 259,900,000. That's going to create 308 apartments. Approximate phase one cost per apartment, $844,000. How is this affordable?
Speaker 2:I don't even understand how that makes any sense. Calculated from the official phase one a development estimate, This is total development cost per apartment, not the construction only cost or the taxpayer subsidy per unit. That $844,000 figure includes development costs beyond the physical apartment itself. It should not be confused with what a resident will pay, thank goodness, because that's not affordable at all. Nevertheless, the figure warrants a detailed public explanation of land, construction, financing, infrastructure, and other costs.
Speaker 2:I would really want some answers as to why each affordable housing unit in a low income area is costing almost 0.75... A little over $750,000. I mean, can't we build these people single family homes at this rate? That's a little ridiculous. Or could we turn this?
Speaker 2:I can hear Peter Savio's voice in the back of my head right now. Could we turn this into smaller units that could be owned and some of this money that's being used for the development being given for down payments, for mortgage assistance? I don't know, to start the hula may up again as a financing opportunity for first time homebuyers that are residents of Hawaii. I mean, you look at the amount of money that's being spent and all the different ways you could spend it, And we're gonna make 844,000 apartments in mayor right. Okay.
Speaker 2:We just... We wanna do the math. Okay. Let's follow the money here for a minute. Public funding and private development because this is a combined effort.
Speaker 2:The project uses a complex financing structure involving government programs, tax credits, bonds, and private sector participation. Official housing finance records identify an $80,000,000 rental housing revolving fund loan approval, approximately 126,300,000 in tax exempt multifamily bond financing listed in the twenty twenty five awards, federal and state low income housing tax credit allocations, and state legislative funding supporting the broader housing initiative. We got a lot of groups together for this thing. I mean, when you think about it, 10 high rises, you're gonna need a lot of help. These funding mechanisms cannot simply be added together as if each were a separate taxpayer expenditure.
Speaker 2:Bonds, loans, and tax credits work differently. And a lot of it is super confusing, and I really still don't even understand it. But, you know, I've I've had it explained to me a few times. But it just it sounds like a ton of money being dropped into rentals. And we've talked about this subject before.
Speaker 2:This doesn't perpetuate homeownership. This doesn't help with something they can afford as a generational wealth opportunity. This holds down local families. It tells people, oh, your minimum income, you can't afford anything else. We'll just keep you here.
Speaker 2:And where is their incentive to get off off of those transitional programs? Out of these areas, off of the welfare system, and continue moving toward that American dream of home ownership and being an independent member of society? Or are we just perpetuating now that we've got beautiful high rises they can live in for almost $1,000,000 each in development? It begs the question. Alright.
Speaker 2:We gotta take a break. Don't go anywhere. When we return, a couple more Hawaii headlines, some of which I think you're gonna wanna stick around for. So don't touch that dial. We'll be right back with more of the right side on the answer, ninety four point three FM, AM six ninety.
Speaker 1:You're listening to the right side, Conversations with Hawaii public officials and community leaders. Stick around. We'll be right back to the right side. Welcome back to the right side with Hawaii public officials and community leaders. Let's get back to Common Sense Conversations.
Speaker 2:Aloha, and good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for keeping it locked right here on the right side, a Common Sense Conversation. On the answer, ninety four point three FM AM six ninety with me, Gina Crabtree. And in case you missed any of this or previous conversations, I'm gonna direct you first and foremost to our social media. It is the most up to date place for all the information we talk about, at least a majority of it.
Speaker 2:And if you wanna get into more detail, then you can find our podcast wherever you listen to your podcast. It's that simple. And, you know, we added a couple of extra keywords. So now you can just search the right side with Gina Crabtree. I know.
Speaker 2:I'm like a local celebrity. It's so exciting to me, and it really helps my ego. Not that I needed any help with that. But definitely download our mobile app in the iOS app store or Google Play simply by searching a m six ninety. There, you can text us to the cricket comment line and weigh in on the conversation, and then Instagram, Facebook, and x social at the answer Honolulu.
Speaker 2:Next up, I thought this was an interesting one. You know how I love my medical topics, and especially when you see three keywords within that topic. Moderna, Merck, and vaccine. Everyone just shuddered. Right?
Speaker 2:Because we're all really, really scarred from what happened about six years ago now, and just the greater monopoly of big pharma. Well, this is some really big news, and I wanted to go through where we are with this treatment development and see if they're trying to redeem themselves. Okay? So here's a potential game changer coming our way. There's some encouraging news in the fight against cancer.
Speaker 2:Moderna and Merck have developed a personalized cancer vaccine called intismarin auto gene. It's an mRNA dash forty one fifty seven slash v as in Victor, nine forty. I'm gonna quiz you on that by the end of this segment, so remember that. Clinical trials suggest the vaccine could significantly reduce the risk of melanoma returning after surgery. Melanoma is one of the most dangerous forms of skin cancer because it can spread to other organs and metastasize, and then basically, you turn into a stage four almost overnight.
Speaker 2:What makes this development different? The vaccine is personalized to each patient's individual tumor. Can't make it up. This is like some crazy DNA stuff. K?
Speaker 2:Unlike traditional vaccines designed to prevent infection, this is a therapeutic vaccine intended to prevent cancer recurrence based on the type of cancer you actually suffered from and needed surgery for. That's impressive. I don't know how they got down that low level of, you know, specificity, I guess, is the word. And yet we have flu shots that are like one strain, and they'll mutate, and they don't work anymore. But yet we can figure out cancer vaccines based on personalization.
Speaker 2:Some of these companies need to increase their r and d in other areas as well. Okay. So how does the vaccine work? Doctors analyze genetic mutations in the patient's tumor. Scientists use that information to develop a customized mRNA vaccine.
Speaker 2:The vaccine is designed to teach the immune system to recognize cancer specific markers and attack remaining cancer cells. It uses mRNA technology similar to that used, wait for it, in Moderna COVID nineteen vaccines, which is I think what made everybody super, super skittish. But yet we're back to the same discussion. The vaccine is administered alongside Keytruda. Keytruda?
Speaker 2:I don't know how to say the actual chemical name, and I would butcher it if I tried. So we're gonna keep moving. An existing cancer immunotherapy marketed by Merck. So now we've got a collaboration. We've got the vaccine from Moderna and the cancer immunotherapy by Merck.
Speaker 2:So this kind of collaboration, this this double whammy is supposed to keep people safe and in remission after their surgery. There is an important distinction. This vaccine does not prevent people from developing melanoma in the first place. So I was concerned about naming it a vaccine at all because that's what I think. You know, I think vaccines are are kind of the the pre type of of preventative maintenance when it comes to not getting diseases.
Speaker 2:I mean, obviously, this is a vaccine because you don't get it again once you've had it. That's the hope of this medication or injectable, I guess you call it. But it's not something that from a general standpoint, if you saw this headline, you'd think, oh my gosh. No one's gonna get melanoma? No.
Speaker 2:That is not... No. No. Let's back up. That's not the case.
Speaker 2:Still, I don't wanna take any, you know, pizzazz away from this this, clinical amazingness. I just I think they should name it something else. Not that they care what I think at all. They are in phase three clinical trial right now, and we're gonna go over the the timeline of what this looks like as well, which involved approximately eleven hundred high risk melanoma patients. Reported two year results.
Speaker 2:Approximately eighty two percent receiving the vaccine plus Keytruda remained alive without recurrence. Approximately seventy percent receiving KEYTRUDA alone remained alive without recurrence. So we've got a twelve percent difference in those that were using the vaccine alongside the immunotherapy. Oh, see, that's approximately twelve additional patients out of every 100. There you go.
Speaker 2:And they had 1,100 people in the sample size. The combination reportedly reduced the relative risk of recurrence or death by approximately forty two percent. Now that's a risk reduction, not forty two percent of patients were cured. So, again, I don't want to misspeak about this, but it's still pretty amazing. Researchers are continuing to monitor long term effectiveness, survival, and potential side effects, which, of course, is gonna be listed at the bottom of this vaccine when they put it on the television, which includes everything from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, all the way to death.
Speaker 2:We all know how those... But yet you're running happy through the lawn. That was recently, you know, mowed for you as you go running through with butterflies. I love pharma commercials. They make everyone super happy looking.
Speaker 2:Right? Doesn't matter if you just had melanoma and surgery. You're gonna be happy running through a field with butterflies. Okay. So how long has this vaccine been studied?
Speaker 2:Because as soon as I hear Merck, Moderna, and vaccine, the only thing missing is Johnson and Johnson, I start to get a little nervous, and I'm sure you guys did too. So this has certainly been in the works for a lot longer than what they tried to pull with COVID. The technology behind m n... MRNA vaccines has been studied for decades long before COVID nineteen. Moderna and Merck began collaborating on personalized cancer vaccines ten years ago in 2016.
Speaker 2:Early clinical testing of mRNA dash forty one fifty seven began in 2017. Phase two melanoma trial began enrolling patients in 2019. Larger phase three testing followed to evaluate effectiveness and safety in a broader population. The companies have been collaborating for approximately ten years. And you know what's interesting is I remember when a medication for Alzheimer's came out, and I wanna say this was, like, five or six years ago when I reported on that.
Speaker 2:When I was only weekly, by the way. Now they let me complain on a daily basis. Things have gotten out of hand. But when I did a weekly show, I remember speaking about that and maybe even having the Alzheimer's Association of Hawaii on, and that medication had been in the works with all of the trials and the processes and the approvals for twenty some odd years before it came out. We hadn't had anything movement.
Speaker 2:No movement from a standpoint of Alzheimer's research and medication except for this one piece of the puzzle. It came out after twenty years of working on it, and then everyone who approved it from a commission and a board standpoint wound up stepping down because they thought it was too soon to be released. And you're like, hold on. How did I miss this? Like, how long are these things really supposed to take?
Speaker 2:That's, I think, what made me really terrified about the COVID nineteen sped up version of nine months of research. You're just like, here, inject this stuff and see what happens. I mean, from a standpoint of what we've seen from the medical community, that's rushed. I mean, if you can step down after twenty years of research and trials and clinical information and and even ten years, even ten years, if people were questioning that piece of the puzzle, Still a little nervous about this mRNA stuff. Alright.
Speaker 2:So where is the vaccine in the FDA approval process? Again, not a precursor vaccine, not something that will keep us from getting melanoma, But once you have been diagnosed, once you have the type of melanoma, once you've gone through surgery to remove said melanoma, this is supposed to keep you in remission. K? Just wanted to get that all back out. In February 2023, the FDA granted the treatment breakthrough therapy designation.
Speaker 2:This designation recognizes promising early evidence that a treatment may substantially improve outcomes for patients with serious illnesses. In 2026, Moderna and Merck reported positive phase three clinical trial results. The vaccine remains investigational and is not yet FDA approved, but I bet this is great news for people who have had to go through cancer treatment. And actually, there was a blip somewhere that said that, actually, there are other possible research being done on mRNA technology and other items for other types of cancers as well. Not anything we could consider a vaccine, or we're certainly not closer to curing cancer as, a broad statement like, oh, they cured cancer.
Speaker 2:No. No. No. No. Let's back up.
Speaker 2:We're just getting to a point where I think personalized therapy is available for those to remain in remission. Living with cancer is devastating. You know, having cancer kick your butt, that sucks first. Cancer sucks. Broad statement.
Speaker 2:But trying to live in remission with that fear that it could come back sucks too. So hopefully, developments like this are in the works and hopefully, they spend enough time on it that it makes sense. Anyway, I just wanted to bring that to the forefront. I love medical development and news, and I thought this was a good one. So if you have friends or family that are in, need of this type of medical breakthrough, then certainly do some googling and see if we can get anybody into a a trial of some sort.
Speaker 2:I don't know if we have it here. It might have to go to the Mainland, but it'd be kinda cool to hear about it. Alright. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more of the right side on the answer, ninety four point three FM, AM six ninety.
Speaker 1:You're listening to the right side, Conversations with Hawaii public officials and community leaders. Stick around. We'll be right back to the right side. Welcome back to the right side with Hawaii public officials and community leaders. Let's get back to Common Sense Conversations.
Speaker 2:Aloha, and good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for keeping it locked right here on the right side, a common sense conversation. On the answer, ninety four point three FM, AM six ninety with me, Gina Crabtree. And are you one of those crazy people that got up at two this morning? I believe it was two this morning or maybe no.
Speaker 2:This was for presale. Two in the morning for presale, which was a couple weeks ago for the brand new Apple iPhone duo. Yes. This thing is the coolest. And no, I'm not being paid to, you know, recommend it.
Speaker 2:And no, I don't have a sample phone to try out. Boy, I wish someone would come to me with that kind of product demo. But no. No. But I will be in line very shortly trying to see if I can snag one of the last ones.
Speaker 2:Because if you can believe it, this is a phone that could potentially cost you $3,000 depending on all the bells and whistles. Right? Like, technology just gets cooler as the memory gets bigger. And anyway, I mean, when you think, like, I think I have maybe an iPhone 17, if they made one like that. And I constantly give the phones that I have down to my son.
Speaker 2:Right? So he started with like the basic iPhone five. Maybe it was a four. It was like the very first one that came out when he actually got his first phone. And he was like, the cool kid.
Speaker 2:Oh, you have an iPhone? Wow. I mean, that thing was so made out of steel. You dropped it. It bounced right back into your hand.
Speaker 2:They don't make stuff like that anymore. No. No. Now you gotta have, like, a case with, like, armor on it. You drop that thing.
Speaker 2:You pray it didn't fall on the front screen. Like, they don't make things like they used to. But so now I have, I think, like, the 15 or 17 or whatever. Like, I have a recent model, and mostly, it was because I liked the banging camera that's in this thing because I do a lot of content creation. And so I'm like, why pay for a big camera?
Speaker 2:Why do all the lenses and all? I mean, no one develops film anymore. I can just use an iPhone for content creation. So then I look at all the fun things the duo can do, and I'm like, wait a minute. Wait.
Speaker 2:I don't need an iPad anymore either? Like, now it's like this two in one device. So let's learn about it in case you're like, what are you talking about? Yes. Brand new device.
Speaker 2:Imagine spending the night outside an Apple store just to get your hands on the newest iPhone. That's what reports out of Philadelphia are describing with customers reportedly waiting more than thirteen hours. And I'm sure it was not just Philadelphia. People are nuts about technology everywhere. The excitement centers on a device being called the iPhone Duo, described as, as Apple's first foldable iPhone.
Speaker 2:Okay. So anyone realize Galaxy beat them to the punch? Not sure, and I kinda wanted to switch at that point. I was like, wow. This thing is cool.
Speaker 2:Not sure, you know, what they learned from that phone being out first. I'm sure they did this as a competitive advantage. Right? Anyone who owns a business, like, if you know your competition is close to doing something, you're like, I'm gonna learn off them and their mistakes, and I'm gonna make my item better. And all those people who are sick of the mistakes they're making will come to me.
Speaker 2:I mean, this is pretty telltale of a a billion dollar industry. Right? Multi billion dollar. This is crazy. So supposedly, people camped overnight in some places.
Speaker 2:But before treating this as an actual product launch, there's actually a little bit more going on. So you would have had to preorder this phone in order to get these devices. So Apple officially launched the iPhone duo today, but that's not to say you can go out to an Apple store or even your cell phone provider and say, hey. Do you have one in stock? No.
Speaker 2:No. No. No. They may not even have any, if you can believe it, ready for Christmas. So it's got a 7.6 inch interior display, the largest display ever offered on an iPhone.
Speaker 2:5.4 inch exterior display functions like a compact smartphone when folded. Can't believe it. Love it. Split view allows two apps to run side by side. So any of those people that have, like, multiple screens, you know, the ones that do the spreadsheets, like, drag and drop and you've got, like, three or four screens in front of you and you've got this whole huge spreadsheet.
Speaker 2:Like, now, to be honest, I'm printing out spreadsheets on 11 by 17 paper for my old eyes. Kinda the same thing when you need multiple monitors. But now, you got multiple monitors on a freaking phone. This is this is cool. This is cool.
Speaker 2:48 megapixel dual camera system, blah blah blah blah. Oh, wide angle photography and two x optical quality zoom. An a 20 pro processor. This little thing is like a computer in your hand. And we all thought that Apple had kind of outdone itself with where it is.
Speaker 2:Oh, no. No. This duo, if you haven't seen it yet, is super cool. And the price point is, of course, based on storage. Right?
Speaker 2:So if you get, the baby phone, the 256 gig, which is usually where I try to stay because I'll just keep my phone really clean. I do not wanna spend an extra $200 because I get more memory. I'm not a gamer. K? This phone is gonna be for the gamers.
Speaker 2:My son, I can just hear it now. Mom, can I get the duo? No. You are 15. I don't even have the duo.
Speaker 2:Alright. So it starts at $19.99. That's $1,999 for the 256 and goes up from there all the way up to a two terabyte, which is $3,199. Now I could see if you're a device person and you like to have all the the fun new stuff, you get a new iPad, about a thousand dollars. You get a new iPhone, about a thousand dollars.
Speaker 2:So 2,000 makes valuable sense for a item that's both. Right? And just one compact version of itself. I I couldn't even imagine how light my bag is gonna be when I take my iPad out of it. Can you imagine?
Speaker 2:I was doing that instead of the laptop. Like, over the years, my shoulder has kind of been able to move again because I've been able to, okay, I take the laptop out. I leave that at home. Now I can bring the iPad. Oh, but wait, there's more.
Speaker 2:Now I can even bring that down even further. So if you can believe it, and I don't know why this pulled Philadelphia stuff, but some arrived as early as 11PM the night before. That's how crazy people are. You know how else I found people lining up? Some Pokemon dropped the other week.
Speaker 2:Like, these people are nuts. I guarantee they were the same people too. They're like, we're just gonna pitch tent. We stay out here. Don't worry about us.
Speaker 2:We got our, you know, our ramen, our cup of noodles, and our cooler. Must have been fun. I used to do that for concerts. You know, when you wait in line for tickets and it's a really big show. That's kinda where the fun is.
Speaker 2:So I gotta ask you, are you interested in getting a phone that is as expensive, if not more, than a PC just so you can do all the fun stuff in the palm of your hand? Would you ever spend that kind of money on a brand new phone? Would you ever camp overnight for a brand new phone? Then go ahead and reassess your life on this Friday as you're driving home because these people, I I wanted them to be my friends so I could see their new phone, and now I'm like, oh, you guys are crazy. Thank you so much for listening to another edition of the right side, a common sense conversation right here on the answer.
Speaker 2:Ninety four point three FM, AM six ninety. A big mahalo to Savio Associates for allowing this program to happen seven days a week. Weekdays at 4PM, Saturdays at 1PM, and Sundays at 9AM. If you're driving home, drive safe, everybody. Have a wonderful weekend.
Speaker 2:Until Monday, same time, same place. Aloha.