Honolulu to Look Like Hong Kong
Mayor Kirk Caldwell: June 27, 2013
With all the current & planned HI RISE towers ... Honolulu will soon look like Hong Kong. Is that what you want?
The second city at Ewa morphed into Kapolei as the second "urban center" of Oahu. In December 2006, the Honolulu City Council approved a fixed-guideway elevated rail system connecting Kapolei to Downtown Honolulu & Ala Moana Center. The capital cost for building the 20-mile rail line is $5.2 billion.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) began operations July 1, 2011.
HART's Transit-Oriented Development Committee is now introducing new high-rise tower types to reach 550 feet and even up 700 feet.
"The TOD Plan seeks to introduce opportunities for a limited number (up to three) of exemplary Iconic buildings with exceptional public benefit."
Buildings heights up to 700' in Auahi, Thomas Square District (Blaisdell Center area), and Pauahi.
In the Plan for Kakaako: a 650-foot Honolulu Skyscraper at 690 Pohukaina. The skyscraper would be taller than any building in the state.
James R. Arcate
Honolulu, HI
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Governor plans to hand OHA 2014 to incumbents!
Dear Editor, June 24, 2013
Today the GOVERNOR SENDS NOTICE OF INTENT TO VETO 9 BILLS one of which SB3 (Relating to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs elections) is one that i solely lobbied for earlier this year and was successful in getting passed and enrolled to governor. As a former candidate for OHA i can contest to the flawed process as which people "like myself" who seek elected office at OHA have to endure, with no primary the populace is left two decide in a massive pool of candidates only to see the winner determine buy name recognition thus the recycling of OHA trustees has been an ongoing affair and the voter turnout number dwindling ever more each election year.
But what is really at issue here is the continued demised at the constitution and the rights afforded to all of Hawaii's people and the expression given to that right buy way of voting and the native hawaiian people have been at the forefront of that demised going back to the overthrow. Why dont the native hawaiian people have the same election right as any other elected office remains a mystery warp around an agenda, one that ensures that control continues over a political class of people buy means of suppression of there fundamental constitutional right, while ensuring political and financial gains for the usurpers "special interest" continues now in the executive office.
Lastly seeing as how native hawaiians have served in the armed forces to see and implement democracy and elections in war ravaged areas across the world only shows that as a people native hawaiians support and give raise to the call of fairness and justice for all but here in hawaii "the native hawaiian homeland" that call is blatantly disregarded.
This governor needs to rethink his actions and support his legislature and other state agencies like the attorney general and office of elections all of whom have testified and supported passage of this long overdue hinderance of fairness and equality.
Mahalo
Kealii Makekau
Related: Abercrombie Sends Notice of ‘Intent to Veto’ 9 Bills, Line-Item 10th
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Roz Baker, Queen of Union Puppets
Dear Editor, June 10, 2013
Today, in our quest for the reasons why we can’t have a hospital that offers all services on Maui, lets talk about the queen of union puppets, Senator Roz Baker. She is an expert only in the art of arrogance. If you look on her website for who endorses her, you will see a list of 24 unions and contractor associations. The only Maui-based group among them is Maui Contractors Association. What does this mean? It means her loyalty and campaign contributions are state based, Oahu-Centric, not Maui-based.
Workers at MMMC want a good hospital to work in where it isn’t such a struggle to provide care. They want needed supplies and equipment.
Here’s the Roz Baker trick: She claims to be for Maui. She will say she wants good healthcare. She dances all around the healthcare issues but behind the scenes stays true to her Oahu union ties and blocks Maui from hospitals such as Banner. Baker doesn’t want to publically say no, so she will approve the privatization for public hospitals. Then she will tie a brick around the bill’s neck and throw it in the ocean.
Watch her closely. Actions speak louder than words.
To Maui voters I ask: Are you honest? Do you have common sense? Do you care about the people of Maui? If so, please, will you run for state senate in 2016 against Senator Roz Baker? The job is not difficult. Previous experience is not necessary.
Sincerely,
Jan Shields
Lahaina, Maui
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The Evil in America Today
Dear Editor, June 14, 2013
Reading the news these last few weeks has revealed a vast number of Obama administration scandals that heretofore have remained safely hidden from the view of your average American citizen. It’s an open secret that Obama and his administration have been protected from outright public scandal due to an un-arguable major media bias through the last election; well, not any more.
It seems that every day brings a new scandal to the fore; high lighting ever more unethical behavior perpetrated by what can now only be described as America’s most evil administration.
First was the attack and murder of our Libyan Ambassador and three others by Al Qaeda thugs, whilst our teleprompter in chief and his staff slept and diddled away American lives; in what can only be described as a juvenile posture, a la Alfred E. Newman, of "what, me worry?"
Apparently expecting Al Qaeda attacks on our foreign diplomatic outposts in lawless Libya on the anniversary of 9/11 is too much to expect of this crowd. It’s amazing how grown men and women could excuse such aberrant behavior from any president, regardless of party. Today, however, it seems that ethics has no home in the Democrat Party.
Next. As if "hubris" is not the watchword for today’s powerful elite: two wacko birds from Chechnya are allowed to set off home made bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line killing and maiming innocents by the dozens. Do you think I’m being unfair in characterizing this administration as partially responsible for this reprehensible act of terror?
Perhaps, but they were warned about the terrorist connections of one brother by the Russians who actually remember Beslan, and did nothing with the information. That’s hardly facing up to their responsibilities.
In May, I read the first reports of the most unconstitutional scandal of all. Our Internal Revenue Service was very busy during the last election season putting the screws to every TEA Party 401(c)4 and Christian evangelical charity they could find. They demanded reams of useless information never asked of similar socialist leaning organizations and outright demanded Christian churches keep silent about and quit protesting that most reprehensible form of infanticide known to man: abortions.
Still not convinced that Obama, his administration and their supporters should be run out of Washington D.C. on a rail? Wait, there is a plethora of additional scandals left to explore.
We now know that the US Department of Justice and it’s infamous Obama “lap dog” Attorney General Eric Holder has been tapping the phones, computers and e-mail of Fox News and other reporters under the fig leaf that they know who is “leaking” sensitive information about Obama and his administration. Never mind that such actions are clearly unconstitutional. Obama has now put Eric Holder in charge of investigating Eric Holder!
Even the term “hubris” does this attitude injustice. The only explanation that fits is that Obama and his administration and supporters could care less about the constitutionality of any issue. They lie, stall and obfuscate and if that doesn’t suffice they do it all again in a direct slap in the face to all American’s who hold our leaders to traditional high moral standards.
Recently, a Mr. Snowden, a Hawaii resident and former employee of Booz Allen Corporation fled to Hong Kong and released basic information detailing widespread NSA spying on all Americans through Verizon and many internet sources. Spying upon our fellow American citizens on a level undreamed of since Orwell wrote “1984”. (Here’s a hint for you. If the words of George Orwell in his book “1984” do not raise alarms about your personal freedoms, you are an idiot who should sue your schools and university for fraud).
Mr. James Clapper the head of the NSA even lied under oath to Congress and the American people last year when asked about such a possibility, he denied it was happening. Stall, lie and obfuscate. Once again, the hallmarks of the Obama administration.
Some phony leaders like Democrat Senator Feinstein and Republican Senator McCain contend that to stop terrorism here at home we need government to spy on us like the NSA has. BULL. Any government guilty of offenses like the IRS scandal can not be reasonably trusted with the power they suggest, period.
Furthermore, even when presented with facts about terrorist connections from a foreign government, our NSA, CIA, FBI and Homeland Security could not muster the courage to investigate the Tsarnaevs’ and save American lives in Boston. This is just another case of overblown and wasteful spending masquerading as an intelligence tool all the while destroying our rights on the altar of the almighty dollar. Influence peddling at the expense of our traditional constitutional freedoms.
I now read of numerous recent instances where members of our military have been prosecuted, berated, discriminated against and lectured to by their military political leadership for openly practicing evangelical Christianity, having conservative leanings,even conservative or Christian bumper stickers and books at desks are reasons to investigate our servicemen and women. Clear shades of the “Zampolit”, the KGB political police that used to prowl the Red Army until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Today, only pro homosexual positions are allowed to be publicly proclaimed in the mainstream media. It is now the de-facto standard in all branches of the US military, where traditional Christian views are being deemed outright unconstitutional and worthy of derision and prosecution.
In case you don’t get it Mr. President, we as a nation are at war with radical Muslim fundamentalists, Wahhabis’, Al Qaeda and other assorted mental midgets out of the 12th century; NOT with my fellow humble Christians who care enough to spread the "good news" of Jesus Christ and the importance of The Bible in our lives. We are not your enemies despite how shabbily you and your ilk treat us today. We merely try and implore our fellow sinners to turn from lives of sin and look forward to our souls glorious afterlife with God through Jesus Christ. We force no one, only convicting others minds though the words of God. It is not Christians who are blowing up your fellow citizens, murdering countless others around the world, unlike the virulent strains of Muslims we see in the news daily.
President Obama and his two administrations have stood by while vast territories in the middle east, north Africa and elsewhere have been overrun by radical fundamentalist Muslims. We are now witnessing an unprecedented wave of refugees leaving countries where they have lived since biblical times; a situation unseen in this world since the 12th century. Traditional Christian populations throughout those lands have been subjected to countless terrors and murderous mistreatment, all the while this president, his administration and supporters stand silent, unable to muster even the courage to proclaim their opposition to such inhumanity.
These scandals portend a second American revolution if we, as Americans, can not agree to the seriousness of these events and how to prosecute all of those responsible regardless of their position. America as a republic can not survive in freedom while the jack boots of tyranny are pressing down on the throats of our friends and neighbors. Today, Obama and his administration is acting as overreaching, progressive criminals. They are doing to our rights what, in the past, no invading army would ever have been allowed to do without a monumental fight.
The loss of our freedoms as espoused by the corrupt Obama administration and their supporters and apologists foretells of a future of slavery for our children. Bring on the re-education camps and bills to our relatives for the bullets you will shoot into the heads of those who disagree with you. Is this the future you wish to leave to your children?
Oh Lord, I pray that this stiff necked, and lost generation in power today, turns from it’s evil ways and returns to a semblance of civility towards their ideological adversaries.
Yes, I am a conservative Christian and a Republican. However, I would fight against any Republican administration that exceeded its constitutional powers as has this administration. The question is now will America’s Democrat Party stand against the tyranny of it’s own leadership? Are there Democrats and Independents amongst you willing to stand for right and freedom as I? We shall see....
God Bless and Mahalo,
Alfred P Sarmento
Kekaha, Kauai
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Major Tragedy And Disgrace - Iwi Kupuna at Ewa Plantation Cemetery
Dear Editor, June 7, 2013
Millions of bucks thrown around and away, but the City owned Ewa Plantation Cemetery is nearly completely neglected and tombstones knocked down and broken.
This is a broken trust with the Ewa Plantation Community and their rich cultural heritage that the iwi kupuna there are treated with such disrespect and only a handful of occasional volunteers can keep some of the grass trimmed away.
There are very historic and important plantation immigrant cultural stories here and the City has done nothing for this place.
With the tons of money thrown around for other favored city and political projects, you might think they could care a little bit about these very old Iwi Kupuna graves.
Sincerely,
John Bond,
Ewa History Project