Entries for 'Andrew Walden'

In 2009 the US House Energy and Commerce Committee nailed Sandwich Isles as one of the nation’s “10 worst abusers” of Universal Service Fund (USF) tax dollars—which every telephone customer pays with their monthly phone bill.

SIC’s cables run to Hawaiian Homelands properties-most of which are unoccupied and are not going to be occupied anytime soon.  The cost per actual user of broadband services is estimated at $278,000 per customer.

Bob Jones: Absent evidence otherwise, we have to take his word. It’s just hard for us skeptically-inclined old-timers in journalism to accept that a man with a City job and a history of doing “opposition research” didn’t even ask some high Hannemann campaign official if it was okay to portray Abercrombie as a brain in a glass jar controlled by former Gov. Ben Cayetano, as a “flailing gasbag” and his wife, the scholar Nancie Caraway, as “a witch.”

…And it’s just going to get nastier at least until the primary, perhaps beyond.

Neil Abercrombie’s campaign is responding to reports that Abercrombie has been a secret member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

The company said it expected to settle the civil damages case for $137.5 million. That is in addition to $80 million WellCare agreed to pay in May 2009 to defer criminal prosecution on a felony charge of fraud....

 Brian Schatz at 2006 Akaka campaign rally in Larry Mehau’s barn.

From question #7:

“HSTA opposes any legislation to provide public funds for tax subsidies (tax credits, tax deductions) or vouchers for private education, religious or home school expenses, or inclusion of vouchers within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).”

When California voters approved Prop 8 outlawing gay marriage, gay activists exploded in a display of blind racial hatred directed at blacks.  Is Hawaii’s smug gaggle of “conscious, enlightened, progressives” now taking a page from the same hateful playbook?  

Last December, Neil Abercrombie passed a previous immunity-free version of the Akaka Bill as a Trojan Horse to get through the House Committee on Natural Resources.  He then amended the bill by substitution on the House floor.  Would Akaka pass a no-immunity version through the Senate and then use the House-Senate Conference Committee to change it back?  Of course he would—everything about the underhanded and secretive way the new version of Akaka Bill was created shows that is possible. 

Governor Lingle will announce the bills she is vetoing at a news conference at 3PM in Executive Chambers.  Meanwhile Hawaii Family Forum today sent out an email message stating: “We are hearing that members of the House are getting strong pressure from proponents to hold a special session.” 

Once again Hawaii may be saved from the immune-from-prosecution rump Akaka Tribe by Republican US Senators from other states.  With Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) dead and buried, and sometime Akaka Bill supporter Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) facing strong opposition in the August 24 Alaska GOP Primary, Sen Akaka finds himself short on votes and short on time.   

Events in MAKAWAO, HILO, WAIMEA, WAIKOLOA, KONA .... 

For months the now-defunct AtomicMonkey.blogspot.com site has skewered Neil Abercrombie as a “flailing gasbag” and his wife Nancie Caraway as “a witch.”  One posting portrayed former Governor Ben Cayetano as an evil scientist secretly controlling Abercrombie’s brain.  Now the Hannemann campaign has admitted that this site was operated by “a campaign volunteer” who works at Honolulu Hale.

A June 21 Gubernatorial race poll showing Duke Aiona leading Mufi Hannemann by four points apparently set off a panicked frenzy of activity in the Star-Advertiser newsroom—but readers of the print edition would have no way of knowing....

When leaders of the Hawaii Business Roundtable June 4 sent a letter to Governor Lingle calling on her to veto HB444, mainland homosexual activists swung into action, dispatching two operatives to Hawaii.   They are now pretending to have scored a victory. 

The Case family’s Star-Advertiser headline trumpets: “Group backtracks on civil unions”.  Case family ally Pierre Omidyar’s Civil Beat purports to explain: “Why the Roundtable Quieted Its Civil Unions Storm.”

The mis-named Human Rights Campaign cheers as “Hawaii Business Roundtable Revises Call For Veto of Civil Unions Bill.” 

But if one looks more closely, the revision is the opposite of what all of these gay marriage advocates make it seem. 

  The authors admit to working at Honolulu Hale.

The law signed yesterday by Acting Governor Duke Aiona mandating 180 days school has shifted the methodology being used by the BoE/DoE/HSTA hostage takers.

“I am disappointed, however, that the President has failed to waive the Jones Act for foreign ships, who want to assist in the clean-up efforts. There is no good reason to turn away international help in responding to this environmental catastrophe.

“Nevertheless, I look forward to working with President Obama to temper the House energy bill and craft a sensible long-term energy strategy for America that makes sense for our economy.”

Hannemann’s “Notice of Intent to hold a Fundraiser” for his ill-fated campaign fundraiser sponsored by a Pittsburgh, PA rail-contractor wannabe is now finally posted on the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission website.  According to the time stamp from the Campaign Spending Commission, it was not filed until Wednesday June 9, 2010 at 3:08PM HST.  This is the same as 9:08PM EST—more than two hours after the scheduled ending time of Hannemann’s 5PM to 7PM EST fundraiser in Pittsburgh.

With the DCCC’s help Ed Case came in dead last.  And now, they are going to do the same for “longtime insider” Hanabusa.  A DCCC news release sent out this morning announces Hanabusa is being included in the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” program....

Waianae Coast residents, upset that all of Oahu is literally "dumping" on them, have been fighting for years to close down Leeward Shore landfills. But, the Honolulu City Council Planning Committee, with the support of many residents on the Waianae Coast, has cast a vote which may very well keep Waimanalo Gulch Landfill open.

In its final edition, the Advertiser’s editors reprinted the 154 year old first editorial of the first edition of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser.  Apparently they thought about censoring it but relented.

As the official story goes, David Black, majority owner of the Star-Bulletin initiated negotiations for the purchase of the Advertiser on February 25, 2010. 

But a whois search for StarAdvertiser.com shows that Black’s Oahu Publications reserved the domain name www.StarAdvertiser.com over one year earlier--on February 14, 2009.

VIDEO: On the boat, the “peace activists” chant the popular Islamic battle cry, "khaiber khaiber ya yahood jaish muhammed saya'ud".

Khaibar was the last Jewish village defeated by Muhammad's army in 628. The battle marked the end of Jewish presence in Arabia.

Remember, they’re just piece activists.  Some are two-pieces activists, and others are many-tiny-little-pieces activists.

Meeting in convention at the Hilton Hawaiian Village May 15, Hawaii Republicans voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution expressing opposition to House Bill 444—gay civil unions.  The smattering of opposition came from a surprising quarter: Paul Smith and his Hawaii Republican Assembly (HiRA).

HiRA, founded in 2009,  bills itself as “The Republican wing of the Republican Party” and the casual observer may view HiRA as a conservative group.  But HiRA’s website refers to the group specifically as “A home for Hawaii fiscal conservatives.” (emphasis added)

"Ann is so inspirational," said Carolyn Hadfield (Leader of Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party and “Not In Our Name” NION). "She has that military background, so she must have soberly assessed the risks and decided it was worth it."

Michael Rivero, webmaster of the activist (Holocaust denier and 9-11 trooother) website whatreallyhappened.com, said Wright is "a very well-liked, very well-respected peace activist." He likened the Israeli raid to piracy and called it "an act of war."

Just as in the 2006 Senate Primary race, Ed Case has once again been forced to abandon any hope of achieving change within the Hawaii Democratic Party.

Some in the UH Hilo community are shocked and surprised by UH Board of Regents' unanimous May 20 decision selecting Donald O Straney, Dean of Biological Sciences at Cal Poly Pomona, to take the place of UH Hilo's retiring Chancellor Rose Tseng. Others, such as UHPA President AJ Musto, are surprised by the transfer of Rockne Freitas to head up UH's legislative lobbying as UH Vice President of student affairs and university and community relations.

They shouldn't be....

An article in the October, 2009 edition of Hawaii Business--“Good News: A Small Elite No Longer Runs Hawaii—Bad News Nobody Does” --takes on the lack of leadership in Hawaii. Pointing to the failure of the Superferry and other recent projects, former Theo Davies CEO David Heenan says “people are somewhat burned out by all this consensus seeking. It ends up being just meeting after meeting, and all of a sudden, the window of opportunity closes.” His views are front and center in an article which could have been titled: “The case for Mufi Hannemann’s candidacy.”

Consider the possibility that Hanabusa supporters—especially union members--are people who see themselves trapped in a web of retaliation.  Pollster ccAdvertising’s extreme undercount of Hanabusa votes indicates that up to 40% of Hanabusa voters clammed up.  The CivilBeat poll showed only 17% of Hanabusa voters feared to speak up.

Hanabusa apparently believes she owns 60% of the voters:  "Let's not forget, 60 percent of the vote is still Democrat and it's going to be a Democrat facing off against a Republican in November."

Djou responded to this kind of reasoning in a May 17 statement:  “Contrary to the opinion of the old guard, this congressional seat is not owned by the Democrat Party. It isn't owned by any union or special interest group. This seat is owned by the people. At its core, this belief separates me from my opponents.”

RESULTS (second read): 

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....