Bones at the Convention Center: Mark Twain vs Mike McCartney
Hawaii is #1 Welfare State in the Nation
Former Ahrens Elem Principal Charged Falsifying Teacher Training Records
HECO Opens Door to More Rooftop Solar
Liberalism Radicalized: The Sexual Revolution, Multiculturalism, and the Rise of Identity Politics
Bob Jones: How Will BoE Handle Trannies in School Bathrooms?
Bob Jones: Secrets-leaker Bradley Manning says he’s now a she named Chelsea and wants the military prison to treat him as a woman – a “transgender” person. The Army will give him counseling but won’t aid him in an “transsexual” remake....
It’s becoming an in-your-face social issue. In the 1960s, Honolulu required transvestites to wear large badges that read “I Am A Boy” – none that read “I Am A Girl.” I don’t recall any girls-as-boys among the street walkers of Kapahulu Avenue or Hotel Street....
If it were only a question of who wears what clothing it would not be so challenging for us. But there’s the use of restrooms and how schools handle first names and dress codes.
If Jack wants to be Jill and wear a dress and use the girls’ bathroom, what’s a school administrator to do? To date, the Hawaii Board of Education hasn’t addressed this....
I would not want to be a schoolteacher these days. Not only are the pay and rewards small and the criticism unending, the social ground under you is constantly shifting.
What’s good and right today is questionable and maybe legally indefensible the next one.
Background: The transsexual agenda for Hawaii schools
read ... The Social Trans-phenomenon
Abercrombie Still Holding Gay Marriage Hostage in order to Attack Churches
SA: Sources familiar with the talks say the only substantial issue remaining is whether some lawmakers will press for an expanded religious exemption for clergy and churches.
The draft bill explicitly states that clergy have a constitutional right to refuse to perform gay marriages. Churches that reserve religious facilities for weddings by members and do not operate the facilities as for-profit businesses would not have to make the facilities available for gay weddings.
But some lawmakers want to consider a broader religious exemption that would, for example, exempt churches from the state's public accommodations law. Such an exemption would likely gain traction only if it is restricted to religious facilities that are operated on a nonprofit basis and are mostly used for ministry-related purposes. (The atheists are pushing to gut the churches financially because they think that watching their enemies suffer a slow and painful death is more fun.)
Vanessa Chong, executive director of the American Atheist Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, which supports marriage equality turning the family into something it has never been before and using the law to stick it to the churches, said the draft protects the rights of churches. (Translation: She looks forward to using this law to sue them for refusing to change millennia of religious doctrine on orders from the government.) "Religious diversity is part and parcel of Hawaii. The Constitution already protects that," she said. "If we found that a church was being discriminated against, the ACLU would be the first one there to defend them." ("If we found" what we choose not to find ... meanwhile we choose to find plenty of opportunity to sue the churches. LOL! Who could be dumb enough to accept assurances from ACLU?)
HNN: still some concerns about the language in the proposal, specifically the exceptions for officiants and religious property
Precisely as Explained: Abercrombie Risks Losing Vote in order to Force Gay Marriage into Churches
read ... Still Trying to Force Gay Marriage on the Church
Billionare's Operatives Target St Damien School
CB: The Hawaii Legislature is contributing $1.5 million to a private Roman Catholic school to help fund construction of a new athletic complex, library and student services building, among other renovations.
The allocation to Kalihi’s Damien Memorial School is one of roughly three dozen private capitol improvement projects that the 2013 Legislature agreed to subsidize through what are known as grants-in-aid.
Critics say the state is not in a position to earmark public money for privately run organizations, and they question the relatively closed-door process by which lawmakers on the finance committees select recipients.
But long-standing state law allows the Legislature to earmark money for private nonprofits that apply for such grants.
BTW: How many of Omidyar's private orgs get state funds?
SA: Preacher at Gay Church Gets another big Spread
read ... Just a Taste of What the Atheists Want to Do
Victory: Overall GMO ban rejected by Hawaii Co Council
HTH: Showing little appetite for a ban on all genetically modified organisms, the council voted 1-7 on Bill 109. Ford, who introduced it, provided the only yes vote. Hilo Councilman Dennis Onishi was present at the meeting but absent the moment the vote was taken.
The bill, though it has a negative recommendation, will still be sent to the council level for further consideration.
Ford after the meeting commented that the bill is dead. “I’ll be the only one voting for it,” she said.
That leaves Bill 113, the second anti-GMO bill introduced by Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille.
The bill allows for transgenic papaya, a sticking point in discussions over what to ban and what to allow, as well as any transgenic crops grown in an enclosed structure or already in use here.
Several council members noted the need to protect the crop and the 80-plus papaya farms on the isle, though industry representatives have said they don’t think an exemption would do them much good.
Eric Weinert, of Calavo Growers, told the council that the bill would still essentially label GMOs as bad or unwanted, which would cause harm to papaya farmers.
KGI: Seed company employees clean beaches to start work
read ... One Down, One to Go
Rebels Without a Clue: Defeated on GMOs, Ford, Ruderman Attack Geothermal Plant over non-existent "Fracking"
HTH: First, there was GMOs. And now there’s fracking....
Only one geothermal fracking project, also known as enhanced geothermal, has been connected to the grid in the United States.
That well belongs to Ormat Technologies, the parent company of Puna Geothermal Venture, which finished the fracking project in April at a plant in Nevada.
According to the company, fluids used for fracking were limited to water and some minerals, referred to as brine.
The water is used to widen cracks deep underground to increase their permeability, allowing more heat sources to be accessed.
“No chemicals or additives are used in (enhanced geothermal), rather we inject existing geothermal brine,” Ormat spokeswoman Heidi Bethel said in an email.
Don Thomas, a University of Hawaii at Manoa geochemistry professor, told the Tribune-Herald in March that he wasn’t aware of any fluids but water and sand being used with enhanced geothermal.
Thomas was speaking in response to an anti-fracking resolution introduced by state Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Puna.
read ... Rebels Without a Clue
Oregon Suicide Squad Pushed for Medicare Funding of Death Directives nationwide
SA: U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a nine-term Democrat from Oregon, together with bipartisan sponsorship, recently introduced the Personalize Your Care Act of 2013, which would provide for Medicare and Medicaid coverage of voluntary discussions of advance care planning every five years. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.
It was also Blumenauer who, three years ago, first introduced this legislation. At that time, the nation was gripped by the great social and political upheaval caused by the introduction of health care reform now known as Obamacare. That's when we heard warnings that the government would set up death panels and pull the plug on grandma.
"The bill sounds good here but still frightens me," said Steven Brown, a professor at the Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. "These regulations can and have been abused to the point that people have been killed."
Background: Meet the Insurance Executive Behind Assisted Suicide in Hawaii
read ... People Have Been Killed
Kakaako: Small Property Owners Targeted
PBN: ...there are nearly 200 small landowners, mostly industrial-type businesses, that own about 20 percent of Kakaako. By comparison, Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) owns 19 percent and Kamehameha Schools owns 17 percent of land in Kakaako.
PBN: Holding their ground
Meanwhile: 'Second city' coming along
read ... Kelo in Honolulu
Hawaii solicits bids for $40M temporary car rental facility at Honolulu airport
PBN: The work for the temporary facility includes the demolition of existing car rental buildings, re-striping of an existing parking structure and parking stalls, new interim car wash and fueling stations as well as a new permanent customer service building, the state said in its bid notice.
More than $600 million has been budgeted for the new rental car facilities at Honolulu International Airport and Maui’s Kahului Airport, which are being funded by a rental vehicle surcharge tax of $7.50 per day. About $4.50 of each car rental surcharge will go to the state’s general fund to help finance the new facilities.
read ... $40M temporary, $600M permanent
DoT Harasses Small Businesses at Airport
KHON: The state checked hangars and handed out citations on Friday. The Department of Transportation put up notices about the inspections two weeks ago. Roughly 80 of the small hangars are rented out.
"There are numerous businesses that have been operated down here for a period of 20 or more years. Lots and lots of people have their livelihood down here, either in maintenance or in flight instruction, tours," explained Brant Swigart, owner of Rainbow Pacific Helicopters.
Violations include unauthorized storage of non-aeronautical items like golf clubs and carts. Other offenses relate to electrical issues. Each tenant signs off on the state's rules to obtain a revocable permit.
"But they never really adhere to it, well now they want to adhere to it, but compliance with those rules and the permit might make it difficult or impossible for us to continue to operate," said Swigart.
read ... State cracks down on Honolulu hangar tenants
McCartney: I Alone Rule Art World, Will Destroy Mural
KITV: “I am appalled by it, really. I purposely did not show any skulls or anything human, I am an abstract artist, so I work in the abstract, so it was a very powerful way to say what I wanted to say, which is pay attention to your land and the ancestry," said Ladislaus from his Palm Desert studios....
The head of the Hawaii Tourism Authority said it was his decision alone to have the art piece covered up.
"I just can't allow that in the convention center," said Mike McCartney.
He believes HTA has a legal right as the building's owner to decide what artwork stays and what goes.
As for whether the artist is open to modifying his work?
"You have got to be kidding? What I am supposed to put coke cans in place of the bones? The whole point is the ancestry, the deep, deep emotional feeling when you look at that," Ladislaus said....
Paulette Kaleikini clarified today that the protocol followed to cover the art piece was not a blessing ceremony, but rather a "kapu ceremony" that allows only those who draped it to remove it....
As for whether the art piece could be destroyed in the process, McCartney says he will deal with that when the time comes.
Reality: Bones at the Convention Center: Mark Twain vs Mike McCartney
read ... Artist outraged over hidden mural
High court rejects Wille’s request
HTH: The state’s top court has rejected a Hawaii Island councilwoman’s request to protest the extension of a lease of state land to Parker Ranch.
Margaret Wille first appealed the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ adding an extra 20 years to three Parker Ranch leases on land that abuts Wille’s own property in 2011, after the land board approved the ranch’s request. Wille, who was elected to the council in 2012 to represent the Kohala District, said she did so on the grounds that state law requires the land board to consider public access before taking action regarding any public lands. The land board did not consider public access prior to approving the extensions, she claimed in court filings.
read ... Willie Loses Again
QUICK HITS:
|