Entries for 'Andrew Walden'

The Democratic Gubernatorial Primary features a confrontation between Neil Abercrombie and Mufi Hannemann.  Whether one sees this as a replay of Democrats’ 1986 Abercrombie vs. Hannemann demolition derby or as an echo of the current Case vs. Hanabusa CD1 cage fight, it is not difficult to see what Matsuura might mean by “politics or special interests.”

But what about the song?  “For the sake of the children” is a cry which has been used to justify many things.  Why might it now mean “Aiona for Governor”?

When it comes to HB 444--Gay Civil Unions—Honolulu Mayor and all-but-declared gubernatorial candidate Mufi Hannemann has consistently refused to stand in opposition.

Last September, Herb Sample of the Associated Press asked Hannemann’s campaign for a comment on HB444 and other hot-button social issues.  This is what he got...

As the Akaka Bill, S 1011, languishes before the US Senate, the Special Election Hawaii First Congressional District race marks the first time a Hawaii election has been fought between major candidates with differing views on the Akaka Bill. It is telling that the candidate who favors the bill's current version--Colleen Hanabusa--appears to be far behind.

For five and a half years, the US has hunted for Ahmed Hashim Abed--code-named "Objective Amber."  Abed is the alleged ring-leader of an Islamist mob which murdered four US military contractors--including Pa`auilo resident Wesley Batalona--in Fallujah, Iraq on March 31, 2004....After being tracked for five and a half years by US personnel, Ahmed Hashim Abed was captured by Navy SEALS at the beginning of September....Then the complaining began. 

Nago told our interviewer he was unable to provide an estimate of how many ballots have been received by his office so far.  But in a separate story today, KHON reported: "According to the office of elections, fewer than one fifth of the ballots have been sent back in by voters.  Just 60,000 so far out of the 317,000 issued."

By targeting the Hawaii assets of foreign citizens as subject to seizure to satisfy the Death Tax, the State’s land grab takes on whole new dimensions.  How many residents of Japan, Canada, or other countries—owning Hawaii property--are aware of the details of American Estate law?  Probably not very many.  But starting this week, if the Governor’s veto is overridden, their assets could be subject to seizure to satisfy a 55% death tax.  Properties or businesses worth more than $3.5 million would be taxed.

The Obama Department of Justice has concluded its inquiry into anti-trust issues related to the purchase of the Honolulu Advertiser by owners of the Star-Bulletin.  The inquiry, which had been demanded April 20 by Senator Dan Inouye in a letter sent to the DoJ anti-trust division, found no reason for justice to block the sale.  Inouye had supported Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in the 2008 Hawaii Democrat caucuses.

Interestingly, Inouye’s demand came immediately after the Advertiser’s April 18 endorsement of Inouye nemesis Ed Case, facing off in the May 1-22 Congressional Special Election against Republican Charles Djou and Inouye's favorite, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa.  Ed Case’s uncle, Grove Farm corporate attorney Dan H. Case, is among the Star-Bulletin minority owners participating in the takeover of the Advertiser. 

The conflict of interest of Hawaii print media is obvious.  Dan H. Case, the uncle of Democratic candidate Ed Case, is a minority owner of the Star-Bulletin and is now part of the group of investors buying the Advertiser. 

So, for the benefit of news-starved Hawaii readers, we at Hawai’i Free Press have assembled dozens of articles—including a few about the Hawaii gubernatorial race--from national media of all political persuasions for your reading pleasure. 

Even SoS/HEM have praised the governor’s plan.  And interestingly, there is not a peep from Sup’t Matyoshi....Notably, this comes immediately after the Leg voted to mandate a 180 day minimum DoE schedule--a move designed to break the ability of the HSTA/BoE/DoE to employ the "Washington Monument gambit" by shortening school schedules to extort money.

BoE Chair Toguchi and the HSTA may be left out in the cold--demanding that teachers and principals quit working.   Teachers, principals, Matayoshi and the DoE upper echelons, and even SoS/HEM have abandoned them.

Ed Case said: "I’ve never ruled out the Senate.  If there is that opportunity, I’m not going to sit here at the end of 2009 and say I’m not going to be a candidate.”

Abercrombie's entire scheme hinges on a single line buried in paragraph 24: "Working collaboratively with public sector unions will result in contracts that serve our students first."

Even if stimulus had increased the DoE budget, it is dishonest to pick out a solitary provision of a $800B spending bill and declare that to be what Djou “opposed.”

By the same logic, if Charles Djou stopped Pueo Trucking from dumping a stinking heap of garbage--with a two dollar bill hidden in the pile--on the front yard of an elementary school, the DCCC headline would be “Djou blocks Hanabusa from donating money to school.”

The Advertiser is being bought out by Black Press, owner of the Star-Bulletin.  Among Black’s local partners is Ed Case’s uncle, Dan H Case.  

Six hundred Advertiser employees are on tenterhooks waiting to see if they will be rehired by the new entity.  Their new bosses are still running the Star-Bulletin as the purchase passes through various procedural hoops.  Who will stay and who will go depends on the good will of Dan H Case, Black Press, and the other members of the Star-Bulletin Editorial Board.

Two sources with first-hand knowledge describe a series of September, 2006 post-Primary talks between Hanabusa’s defeated campaign and that of Republican Primary winner, State Senator Bob Hogue.  Although Hanabusa did not personally participate, the sources say her campaign’s leaders, including her now-husband John Souza, offered the Republican candidate extensive unofficial support.  One pro-Hanabusa union came on board with Hogue after receiving a commitment that, if elected, Hogue would work to increase immigration quotas from the Philippines.

SB: The Hawaii rally was aimed squarely at state lawmakers—majority Democrats who approved this week an increase in the tax on a barrel of oil. The increase from a nickel to $1.05 per barrel is expected to increase the cost of gas and energy bills….

One candidate, Republican Charles Djou, attended the rally and took the occasion of tax deadline day to launch an appeal for votes....

Hawaii Legislators want to raise the GE Tax by as much as 25%. They propose to raise the barrel tax on fuel 3000%.  But they refuse to even consider abolishing the BoE and placing the DoE under the direct control of the next Governor.  On April 15, Hawaii voters will have their say at rallies planned for Honolulu, Kahului, Kailua-Kona, Hilo and Lihue.  Here are the details and contact information for each rally. 

A campaign banner touting Hannemann’s Democratic Primary opponent, former Congressman Neil Abercrombie, now hangs prominently from the front gate at the Honokaa ranch of Larry Mehau.  Mehau was a key figure in the 1990s “Broken Trust” scandal at Kamehameha Schools, collecting $40,000 a month for “security” at the Kamehameha campus and more for the “protection” of Big Island Kamehameha lands . . . .

According to a high level source within the DoE, the Charter School Review Panel (CSRP), at its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday morning, voted to bring a nearly immediate end to the school year for Puna’s Na Wai Ola/Waters of Life Public Charter School.  According to the source, the decision will take effect Friday, April 16 leaving parents to scramble to find alternate placements for their children in the middle of the semester and in the midst of HSA testing. The semester for Waters of Life's 80 students was originally to have run until May 26.

To hear the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tell it, Republican Congressional candidate Charles Djou “signed a pledge that protects tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas” and “Djou still supports tax breaks for big corporations who would export our future.”

Starting tonight, the National Democrat commercials will run through the end of this week.  According to one Honolulu TV advertising sales exec interviewed by Hawai’i Free Press, the commercials will target Republican Congressional candidate Charles Djou.  Djou is the only Republican facing off against Democrats Colleen Hanabusa and Ed Case in the May 1 –22 mail in special election.  The same source tells Hawai’i Free Press the DCCC message will be anti-Djou—and will not make reference to either Ed Case or Colleen Hanabusa.

The National Journal writes: "National Democrats are tempted to pick a favorite, sources say, and perhaps get the White House involved to avoid the embarrassment of losing in President Obama's hometown urban Honolulu congressional district."

But the Dan’s won’t let them pick Ed Case, so they are stuck with Larry Mehau associate Colleen Hanabusa.  The National Journal article points the finger at Inouye, while pretending to point the finger at Obama, who, perhaps retaliating for Inouye’s support of Clinton in the Primary, washes his hands of the mess caused by Inouye’s retaliation against Ed Case and Neil Abercrombie....

Meanwhile..."Democratic strategists sense a momentum shift for Djou."

With the media picking up on this big story, maybe they will start asking Hanabusa about the firing of Margery Bronster, or her meeting with Larry Mehau, or the land deal with a member of the Pali Shooter’s gang, or the Honolulu Raceway deal. 

When the Advertiser in 2004 exposed business dealings between then-State Sheriff John Sousa and two convicted felons, Souza said he was considering resigning and acknowledged "The appearance is bad." Souza had extended $25,000 credit to organized crime figure Jonnaven Monalim as part of a deal to sell seven Makaha acres of former Hanabusa family property. Another convicted felon was managing Souza's Pueo Trucking company while Souza was Sheriff.

But just two years later, Hanabusa's husband Souza would form a close working relationship with one George Grace III.  Unlike Monalim, a search of the Hawaii criminal database indicates that George Grace III has never been convicted of a crime. But the controversial owner of porta-potty rental firm Paradise Lua has had a court-documented interest in stolen trucks going back to the 1990s.

Here is video from the March 23 rally at the Capitol. 

More anti-tax rallies are planned for Honolulu, Kona, and Hilo April 15.

• Honolulu Rally 4-7PM at Capitol
• Kona Rally 1-5PM along Queen K Hwy near Mormon Temple
• Hilo Rally 4-6PM along Bayfront at Kamehameha Statue

Together Hee, Danner, and Ito propose to seize 20% of DHHL commercial lease revenues--meant to fund the development of new DHHL home sites--and hand them over to self-styled "cultural and community practitioners."

This is a sharp warning to any and all DHHL beneficiaries. The Akaka Tribe intends to gut the DHHL of its basic function. Instead of building homes, they intend to use DHHL as a cash cow to line the pockets of Akaka Tribe "practitioners".

The obvious question is whether Senate President Colleen Hanabusa has made a satisfactorily "Grace-ful" arrangement with DHHL to keep this kind of nonsense in check in her Chamber. Or does she think a deal with Kane doesn't carry over to Park?

Obama advisor Al Sharpton on Fox News tonight: “Americans voted for socialism when they elected Obama.”

GOP Chair Michael Steele: “We intend to do everything in out power to reverse this.”

Hawaii voters will be among the first to pass judgment--Honolulu Special Mail–in Congressional Election: May 1-22. 

Both Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa are pledged to support Obamacare.   Charles Djou has pledged to oppose it.

For months, Mazie Hirono pledged to vote against the Senate version of Obamacare.  For her, Senate Obamacare just wasn’t socialist enough.  Along with 56 other “progressive” members of Congress, she demanded a program with a public option and denounced the Senate bill as a multi-billion dollar giveaway to the insurance companies.

Hirono’s July 30, 2009 letter explained:

“Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates--not negotiated rates—is unacceptable…. (T)his agreement will result in the public, both as insurance purchasers and as taxpayers, paying ever higher rates to insurance companies.  We simply cannot vote for such a proposal.”

Hirono has maintained this position as recently as February 2, but at the last minute, barely noticed by her “progressive” base, Rep Mazie Hirono has changed her mind....

Hawai`i Free Press and others have, over the past few months, identified millions of dollars of waste, fraud, and corruption in the DoE budget.  Add it all up....

DESPITE ALL HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTING NO TO THE DEATH TAX, THE BILL PASSED THE HOUSE ON MARCH 2, 2010 AND IS TO BE HEARD ON MARCH 16 IN THE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE.

The Burlington, Vermont School District does not give students a day off to commemorate the September 11 attacks, but on Friday, September 10, 2010 Burlington schools will close early for the weekend to celebrate an Islamic Feast.

Chaired by once-disbarred lawyer and admitted embezzler Fredrick Lane, the Burlington School Board on March 9 voted 8-1 to add Eid al-Fitr and Yom Kippur to the school calendar starting this Fall.  School officials claim it is all about maximizing attendance....

The non-partisan research group, www.Congress.org, measures 15 criteria to rank "demonstrated power and the ability to be effective in Congress.”  By the end of his time in Congress, Case’s ranking for legislative activity was zero.  Case’s “influence” was –2, two notches below zero. 

Hawaii can’t figure out how to kick drug addicted homeless people out of the parks and sidewalks in order to force them into shelters where they can get help, but apparently induced sterilization is now an option.  Today’s SB Editorial, “Voluntary (sic) sterilization can serve good purpose”, reveals that an eugenics group has been quietly working in Honolulu.... 

The timetable for rail to continues to move into the future and there is much uncertainty that now appears unlikely to be resolved before Mayor Hannemann has to resign if he wants to run for Governor. If Mayor Hannemann resigns as Mayor to run for Governor while the future of rail hangs in the balance, the rail project will be put at risk. 

 Lorraine C. Miller

According to the Associated Press: “Shimizu testified in writing that Hawaii will be represented in the U.S. House by Rep. Mazie Hirono in the 2nd District while Abercrombie's seat is vacant.”

This is not accurate.  Hawaii’s First Congressional District is being represented by Fort Worth, Texas native Lorraine C Miller.

Headed by Maryland investor James Hawkins, Ko`olau Loa seeks $500 million in investment and projects $623 million in profits.  The development is planned for the Kahuku area of Oahu's North Shore.

There is a simple reason for Hawaii’s one-party system: Hawaii labor unions have a highly organized get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort directed at ensuring their 141,000 members vote. This presents an obstacle to any candidate challenging the existing cozy labor-management elite which runs Hawaii.

In the absence of a ban on union dues being used for political activity, the only way to counterbalance the bloc of union voters is to create a second bloc of voters. Only Hawaii church-goers are large enough to become this second block.

Two years ago, 37,000 people showed up to vote in the Democratic caucuses....  This year, if the House District 2 and 3 attendance is reflective of the whole, fewer than 2,000 people will have shown up Statewide.

It takes skill to drive away that many people, and the old-boy faction of Hawaii Democrats definitely has that kind of skill.  They don’t want idealistic liberal types interfering with their power games.

Concerned about continued liberal anguish over Neil Abercrombie’s abandonment of Obamacare, today’s Honolulu Advertiser instructs its readers not to discuss Neil Abercrombie’s “arrogance”, his “bad planning” or his “putting his own ambitions ahead of his constituents.”

After protests by veterans and exposure of the false vote counting, Cabanilla was forced to change her position.  On February 24 the bill passed the House Housing Committee and today was approved by the full House.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Rep Cabanilla’s office manager Leon Rouse is a convicted child molester and leading gay marriage advocate.

According to his campaign website, Ed Case "understands what excessive taxes and unnecessary regulation can do to our economic engine especially in tough times.”  But his voting record from 49 months in Congress shows that Ed Case voted 72 times for higher taxes or fees—on average one vote every 21 days. Case claims to be an independent "Blue Dog" Democrat, but most of the 72 votes were cast in lockstep with Rep. Nancy Pelosi's “progressive”-controlled House Democratic Caucus.

Big Island elected officials arriving to meet with Army representatives at Pohakuloa Training Area got a eye-opening surprise Wednesday morning  In addition to the usual gaggle of anti-Semites and 9-11 trooothers protesting against the military, they were greeted at the front gate by a dozen Big Island residents rallying to support the troops.

Time lapse photos from five minutes of tsunami surge in Hilo Bay

By a voice vote, the House Rules Committee today authorized Rep Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) to introduce a “substitute amendment” which replaces the old version of the Akaka Bill (HR2314) passed in December by the House Committee on Natural Resources.  As a result of today’s vote, Abercrombie’s new version of the Akaka Bill will go directly to the floor of the House.

Contrary to popular opinion, Indian reservations have a history in Hawaii. An Oct. 12, 1999, article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin describes the efforts of Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate (KSBE) trustees in 1995 to evade oversight of their corrupt doings. The Trustees’ self-serving investments caused losses of $264,090,257 in 1994 alone. To avoid scrutiny, they considered moving KSBE corporate headquarters out of Hawaii to the windswept plains of the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota.

Rep Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) is preparing to introduce a third version of the Akaka Bill in the US House to replace the existing text of HR 2314.  And, according to one source, staffers in the office of Senator Dan Akaka (D-HI) are writing an amended version of S1011 to introduce in the Senate in place of the bill passed by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

On Monday February 22 at 5PM EST (12 Noon HST) the House Rules Committee will consider allowing Abercrombie to amend the old version of the Akaka Bill with the latest new version.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Law officials have identified the pilot who crashed into an Austin, Texas IRS building as Joseph Stack and say he left an angry letter on his company website.