Abercrombie to Submit Gay Marriage Bill Wednesday
Deedy Jury Hung: Mistrial Declared
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OHA Chair Colette Machado Joins Rally Against Gay Marriage Special Session
HNN: While Hawaii lawmakers work on a marriage equality bill today pastors from 100 churches signed a declaration to stand against same sex marriage and urge lawmakers not to go into a special session....
Photo: Colette Machado in blue mu'umu'u towards right.
Link: HNN VIDEO
Link: KITV VIDEO
They are concerned that if same sex marriage becomes law they'll get sued if they deny a homosexual couple access to their facilities.
"We are fighting for the rights of pastors and Christians who have a conscience and we say I'm sorry we can't do that. Will we then be discriminated against because it's not law," said Cordeiro.
House lawmakers plan to meet this Wednesday. A draft of a marriage equality bill is already in the works with an exemption protecting churches that's stronger than the civil union law....
"It basically says that if particular churches don't want to participate in these ceremonies they don't have to and they're not going to be forced to," said State Representative Chris Lee, (D) Kailua Waimanalo, who is a proponent of marriage equality.
"That's never the case. Businesses, individuals and churches have all gotten sued for not complying with same sex marriage," said Scow, who says there have been lawsuits in other states with same sex marriage laws.
"It has so many loopholes in it as of yet," said Cordeiro.
They worry a special session will just push it through in a week or two without their voice being heard.
read ... Churches to be Forced?
Atheist Advertiser: Gay Marriage Law An Excellent Opportunity to Blackmail Churches
SA: For Hawaii to approve such exemptions would be a step backward. Five years ago, the University of Hawaii settled a discrimination lawsuit by a gay couple who said they were denied family housing with a settlement to include same-sex couples. UH revised its policy to include same-sex couples in family housing.
Several churches in Hawaii allow couples that are not members to use some facilities to commemorate their wedding vows. Such commercial activity clearly should fall under the state's public accommodations law, which prohibits discrimination.
(Translation: We at the Advertiser want the Government to impose gay marriage on the churches by forcing them to give up revenues from weddings. We do not believe e that you have freedom of religion. You must bow before the government-imposed religion of homosexuality.)
(Quick IQ Test: Is this Constitutional?)
read ... No First Amendment Here
Gay 'Marriage': House Democrats to Count Votes Wednesday
SA: The MoveOn.org Honolulu Council plans to hold a rally at the state Capitol on Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, in support of marriage equality. Another event, organized by a group called Equality Hawaii, is set for Saturday. (They are hijacking the MLK bell-ringing event because they can't get anybody to come out for a rally on its own.)
House Democrats are to meet Wednesday to discuss the matter and inform the governor whether they have the votes to pass a bill. Such a measure has enough support in the Senate.
Abercrombie has been cautious about calling a special session while awaiting a clear signal from the House, which does not have the two-thirds' majority needed by both chambers to call a special session.
The Hawaii Republican Party issued a statement urging all parties to wait until January so the public can engage in a full and open discussion.
"Forcing this heated issue through an abbreviated session will only stifle public input, which should be the most important part of the legislative process," the party said in a statement. "Gov. Abercrombie should be welcoming, not suppressing, the voice of the public on this issue.
"If Gov. Abercrombie wants his bill to be heard, he should wait until the regular session when all others will have the time and opportunity to put forth their own ideas."
read ... Wednesday
Manning lawyer gives more details on (alleged) gender change
AP: Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, who (who?) was previously (is still) known as Bradley Manning, decided to announce that she (sic) wanted to live as (if he was) a woman the day after sentencing because a military prison said publicly it would not provide hormone treatment, her (sic) attorney said Monday. (The Horror!)
Political Correctness Lesson: 1) Gender is changeable, all you need to do is fill out a form and AP will call you 'she' 2) Sexual orientation is unchangeable, so we must re-work the fundamental building blocks of civilization.
read ... About Gays in the Military
Criminalizing Farmers is Pretty Sad
Richard Ha: Two new GMO bills will be introduced in the Hawaii County Council on September 4, 2013.
- Bill 109, sponsored by Brenda Ford, would require that all GMO crops presently being grown must be terminated within 30 months. No more GMOs will be allowed after the sunset date. Failure to comply would result in a $1,000 fine or 30 days in jail. This bill would make criminals of farmers, which is just unfathomable.
- Bill 113, sponsored by Margaret Wille, would grandfather in all papaya and other current GMO crops in places where they are customarily grown. Otherwise, no new, open-air cultivation of GMO crops would be allowed. Violators would be fined $1000/day and responsible for legal, court and other costs.
Farmers are very worried that denying Big Island farmers the ability to grow crops that can be grown on other islands, and on the mainland, would drive them out of business.
Link: Bill Comparison
read ... Criminalizing Farmers
Anti-GMO Activists Fight Amongst Themselves: Brenda Ford Doesn't Trust Margaret Willie
WHT: Ford said she chose to introduce her own bill after Wille said during the Aug. 6 meeting that she was withdrawing Bill 79.
Even though Wille said she planned to bring back another bill, Ford said she didn’t want to risk letting the issue flounder.
“Once she withdrew the bill against my advice, I said, ‘That’s it. I don’t know if she will do it again,’” Ford said. “I can’t trust that. I’m getting a tremendous amount of pressure from the anti-GMO contingency.”...
Ross Sibucao, Hawaii Papaya Industry Association president, said there are more than 80 papaya farms on the island. If Ford’s bill is adopted in its current form, it would put each of them out of business, he said....
read ... Ford offers her own bill in GMO fray
HCDA proposal so awful it seems like maybe a ruse
SA: Last week's announcement that the Hawaii Community Development Authority is mulling over leasing almost one-third of Kakaako Waterfront Park to a private corporation confirms the worst fears of public-private development.
The plan, as explained by Anthony Ching, HCDA executive director, is to lease out the Ewa portion of the park to a Japanese light show.
What do we want: trees or LEDs?
In the daytime, the public would not be allowed in the leased part of the park. It means at night, you would have to give the firm, Illuminage Group Inc., between $6 and $18 to use portions of the park.
When it opened in 1992, Kakaako Waterfront Park was called "Honolulu's Central Park." It was described by politicians as Honolulu's gift to its people — and the area, a reclaimed landfill, won most of the environment awards that year....
If people first have to organize to save Kakaako Waterfront Park from the short- sighted rapaciousness of the HCDA, how much effort will be left over to demand better, more human-scaled planning for the forest of sky- scrapers it is intent on encouraging on the other side of Ala Moana Boulevard?
The development authority is a creation of the Legislature, but it is a creature formed by the governor. The board members pick the executive director and the governor selects a majority of the other members, including five who are members of the governor's Cabinet.
Today there are two vacancies on the board: a cultural designee and someone from a list coming from the Honolulu City Council.
The hope is that new nominees will have the common sense needed to speak up for good parks and good planning.
read ... HCDA
How Much Is Too Much When It Comes To the UH PR Machine?
CB: think reasonable-minded citizens can draw the conclusion that the University of Hawaii has gone overboard in hiring public relations people.
Fifty-two of them who spend 100 percent of their work time on “relations” for the school’s 10 campuses. Two who spent 80 percent of their work time. Sixteen more who spend 50 percent of their work time.
read ... UH PR
Solar Scammers Target Retirees
CB: Sylvia Nam, a Waipahu retiree, saw the light after a solar salesman took her out for a meal at Zippy’s.
After all, there has probably never been a better time to switch to solar electricity in Hawaii. Electricity prices have soared to three times the national average, meanwhile the cost of solar has plummeted amid fierce competition in the industry and due to ever-cheaper panels from China.
So why shouldn’t someone like Nam get in on a good deal?
The salesman got her to agree to a contract with Islandwide Solar for 40 panels. It was a great deal, she was convinced. Yes, she would have to take out a loan for a lot of money, but the investment would get smarter and smarter over time.
It was only when Nam began to take a closer look at the other homes with solar panels in her neighborhood that she realized something was different. Others had solar panels, but nowhere near as many. In fact, the average number of solar panels on a residence is around 20. In comparison, Nam’s roof looked like a solar storage facility.
The system on Nam's home isn't just double the average size of a traditional residential solar system, it is also about twice as expensive....a review of her contract suggests she still stands to save thousands of dollars from her switch to solar, if she uses it for the entirety of her 20-year energy purchase agreement. Nam, 72, hopes she lives that long.
Islandwide Solar confirmed that Sharp, the company that made her solar panels, intended to shut down its solar photovoltaic division. So if her system breaks again — it stopped working twice soon after it was installed — Nam frets over who will fix it....
read ... Scammers Attack
Legislator proposes UH tuition freeze
HNN: Democratic Rep. John Mizuno says he plans during the next legislative session to propose locking in tuition throughout the university system for the 2014-15 academic year.
Resident undergraduates at UH-Manoa pay $4,572 for a fulltime academic year. Non-residents undergraduates pay $13,356. Tuition will increase 7.5% in each of the next three years under a 5-year schedule.
SA: More students would then be able to enroll, a state legislator says
read ... Freeze
Salary board member quits in protest over Ethics Disclosure
WHT: A member of the Salary Commission has resigned in protest of Hawaii County’s requirement that members of boards and commissions file financial disclosures, sparking a debate about whether the disclosures serve the best interests of the county.
Gloria Wong, who previously served on the Cost of Government Commission, the Appeals Board and several boards on Oahu, said she’d never before been required to disclose information about her income and stock ownership or other financials. She tendered her resignation letter to the mayor after her protest to the county Board of Ethics resulted in a letter warning her of the penalty for filing an incomplete form.
Wong, in an interview Monday, said she’d offered to participate in a task force to review the disclosure requirements and the form, which she said was created in 1978. She said changing the requirement could lead to more members of the public volunteering to serve.
“You see a lot of vacancies on these boards,” Wong said. “Why do people not sit on these boards and commissions? Maybe that’s one of the questions that should be asked.”
read ... No Ethics
Philippine Version of HCDA target of massive anti-corruption protest
SA: Tens of thousands of Filipinos protested in Manila on Monday (Sunday in Hawaii), outraged over accusations that an estimated $141 million in public money had been diverted into the coffers of politicians and their associates.
The peaceful four-hour rally was fueled in part by photographs posted on social media sites by the daughter of one of the suspects in the case, showing an extravagance that earned the young woman the title “the new Imelda,”...
Tens of thousands of protesters flashed thumbs-down signs during a rally at Rizal Park on Monday in Manila to call for the scrapping of a corruption-tainted development fund (HCDA Anybody?) that allows lawmakers to allocate government money for projects in their districts.
Related: Mitsunaga Daughter Oversees Kakaako Redevelopment
read ... A Model for Hawaii to Follow
Alcohol Sales to be Banned from PX Stores?
AT: Commanders at four major Army garrisons are restricting sales of liquor at post exchange stores or are considering it — Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood, Texas; and Army Garrison-Hawaii — according to Army officials.
For nearly one-third of soldiers and their dependents, this means booze would not be as widely available at post exchanges operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
Current and former soldiers, and their dependents, have criticized the idea of liquor sale restrictions, saying the move will not discourage drinking but encourage drinking off-post, as well as drunken driving.
“I did [five] years active duty as [a military policeman, and] I don’t ever remember even hearing of, much less encountering a case where someone got wasted on post and got a DUI on post,” Michael Swiger, of Hammond, Ind., said in a Facebook post. “[Drunken drivers] are always coming back from off post.”
read ... Off base Sales
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