September 6, 2009 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Sunday, September 6, 2009

September 6, 2009 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:02 PM :: 10242 Views

Controversy over fiery remarks fells Abercrombie's 9-11 truther point man for "green jobs" (one down, many to go)

WASHINGTON — The White House environmental adviser under fire for inflammatory statements made before he joined the administration resigned after what he called a "vicious smear campaign against me." (Translation: they kept playing those youtube videos of me talking. That's a "smear".)

Van Jones "understood that he was going to get in the way" of President Barack Obama's agenda, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Sunday. (In other words he's gone because he got caught. Obama needs to do this on the down low.)

The resignation was disclosed without advance notice by the White House in a dead-of-the-night e-mail on a holiday weekend. (Because they want you not to notice.) It came as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.

Jones, who specialized in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the Sept. 11 attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans....

The only place in Hawaii where you could read about this story: Abercrombie's "Green Jobs" point man exposed as 9-11 Truther

ZERO COVERAGE: NY TIMES, WASH POST, ABC, CBS, NBC... (Liberals ignore what they cannot defeat.)

Abercrombie's nervous communist Czar: Cap and Trade, and the cost to Hawaii

Abercrombie's basis for Hawaii "green jobs" recovery? Nervous communist "Green Jobs" Czar now a national story

Oi: Community activists are also everyday folks

(It is a good sign when Superferry Protesters and other "community organizers" are required to prove that they are human.)

Adv: Obama must point way to affordable care (Obamabot media ready to throw in the towel?)

This week President Obama — who for too long has struck an aloof pose by advocating only for vague reform goals — promised to sharpen his pencil and push for an overhaul, outlining more specifically what he wants. That exposition is due Wednesday in the form of a major address on what aides call a "new phase" in the health care debate.

That's good. But so far the cloudiest part of his position remains murky. Obama has yet to unscramble what have been mixed signals over the controversial "public option" — a government-sponsored insurance plan to compete with privately sold coverage.

(Followed by QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS...and NO ANSWERS.)

Hawaii tax credit program cost state $1.29 billion through 2008

Tax and technology-industry officials said they don't expect the actual cost of the tax credits for investing in local movies, music productions and high-technology companies to reach that level. However, the actual costs won't be known for years because the credits can be claimed over five years and can be carried forward indefinitely.

Through 2008, the credits cost the state an estimated $661 million in tax revenues, according to tax department data.

So far, the names of 141 out of 364 companies believed to be involved in the program have been disclosed. Despite recent reforms meant to improve transparency, it's likely that fewer than half the names of companies that have benefited from the program will be made public.

Efforts to increase transparency over the program include new forms that companies benefiting from the program are asked to file. However, it's estimated that only half filed the forms that include employment, wages and other data, according to the state Department of Taxation.

State tax director Kurt Kawafuchi said officials are taking a variety of steps to get more companies to file the forms. That could include assessing penalties of up to $6,000 per company in certain cases. The lack of more data makes it difficult to asses the benefits of the credits.

ACT 215/221 list: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/assets/gif/M114212096.GIF

Suspect arrested in strangling death (taxpayer subsidized?)

Ahn is an amateur kickboxer who has appeared in local fights, according to a spokesman for MMAHawaii.com, a media source for mixed martial arts.The spokesman said Ahn is not a professional fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit and apparently fought without a sponsor. "We hardly know this guy," he said. (Right)

LINK: Nov 16, 2008: 185 lbs. Gino Venti (808 Fight Factory) defeated Corbit Ahn (Freelance) by TKO.

According to criminal records, Ahn has four convictions, including two felonies for breaking into a car and a second-degree assault. In April 2007, Ahn was sentenced to one year in prison and five years of probation (SEE NEXT STORY) for second-degree assault in a case that included the medical records of his wife.

(This guy was out on the streets because of Hawaii's soft-on-crime judicial system and their trial lawyers in the Legislature who keep it that way. Question: Were the promoters of Ahn's MMA fights funded by ACT 215/221 tax credits? Is it possible that the State has worked to not only keep this criminal on the streets, but also use tax credits to subsidize his favorite activities?)

ACT 215/221 list: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/assets/gif/M114212096.GIF

Adv: Honolulu police arrest man in teen's murder

Where hope thrives (Probation reform)

"Regular probation was more easier," said Tabanera, 47. "HOPE, it's more strict. You get immediate consequences. (What a concept) You go straight to jail. (Wow, they actually put probation violators in jail now?) Even though you go to jail for a short time, it's still going to jail."

"I just hate going to jail," Tabanera added, shaking his head and looking at the floor.

He got to the point where he was so worried about whether he was going to fail a drug test and get locked up that "it just used to ruin my high." (Now that's serious)

"I started thinking, 'Why use and stress myself out?' Better just stay clean. But it took me a long time for think that way," he said. "I always thought I could beat the system."

(Why would he think that?)

LINK: www.hopeprobation.org

$B: Akaka Bill $upporter ignore$ inherent Kanaka Maoli right$ $$$$$

Two sovereignty activists attack Van Dyke's defense of Akaka Bill. Here is the money quote (literally):

He promotes an Akaka Bill that will shut down all U.S. court doors to Kanaka Maoli claims: "It is the general effect of section 8 (c)(2)(B) [of the Bill] that any claims that may already have accrued and might be brought against the United States ... be rendered nonjusticiable in suits brought by plaintiffs other than the Federal Government."

In other words the dispute over the Akaka Bill is between those who expect to prosper from creation of a tribe against those who are now prospering from greenmail. The sovereignty activists are the latter. And the Obama DoJ is apparently requiring a choice between the two paths.

NOT PART OF THIS DISCUSSION AT ALL: Lifelong Hawaii resident has no other place to call home

Downturn offers opportunity, Lingle says

WAILEA, Maui - Gov. Linda Lingle told the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce on Friday that the economic downturn provided Hawaii with a chance to focus on alternative energy sources rather than continuing to rely on fossil fuels.

Her administration has and will continue to pursue new business opportunities in order to diversify the state's tourism-based economy, she said in a wide-ranging discussion.

RELATED: Maui feels recession's pain

SB: Funding to fix rough roads must wait

When the bill at issue carried tax increases to take effect in October, Morioka balked, saying the vehicle registration, weight and tax increases should not be initiated "until the economy has demonstrated a level of recovery." The bill deservedly died in a joint House-Senate conference.

In Honolulu and across the country, congestion eased slightly when gasoline prices soared last year but it reached its least cumbersome in this year's second quarter, according to INRIX. With unemployment rising in recent months, the number of people driving to and from work declined. (That's the environmentalists' solution.)

Congestion increases when joblessness and gas prices drop at the same time. The clogging of highways in the months ahead "will largely be shaped by the rate and pace of economic recovery and any severe fuel price shocks," INRIX says.

That is the point at which vehicle fees and gas taxes should be increased to provide funds for badly-needed highway repairs.

(Which is exactly what Brennon Morioka said EXCEPT--by pledging the increases in advance, Morioka would have created a revenue stream against which the State could borrow to make repairs now. This is a typical example of the poor thinking processes which were the subject of Lingle's Maui speech above.)

Project aims to have all state 3rd-graders reading by 2015

More than 20 schools and educational programs on the Waianae Coast and in the Farrington Complex have been chosen as demonstration project sites for an initiative that aims to have every Hawaii third-grader reading by 2015.

The list was announced last month by the Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education, a statewide effort led by the Good Beginnings Alliance, the state Department of Education and the University of Hawaii.

(Since the DoE won't do its job, outside groups are coming in to do it for them while they stand off to the side and watch. Abolish the DoE.)

$14.6 million Hilo fire department complex OK'd over fears about radio tower

The project's $14.6 million first phase is to include an administration building to consolidate employees now housed at several locations, along with an emergency-dispatch center for use by both fire and police.

Currently, 911 operations are located next to the Central Fire Station in downtown Hilo. That site is within the tsunami-inundation area, which forces staff to move when there's a tsunami threat, Fire Chief Darryl Oliveira told the commission.

Tiffanie Wang Okuda, a Kukuau Street homeowner, said such towers emit electromagnetic radiation that's been linked to childhood leukemia, breast cancer and autism. Okuda offered research documents in speaking against the project.

Fellow Kukuau Street homeowner Gerdine Markus claimed the "cancer-causing tower" will create emotional, mental and physical problems for neighbors.

Commissioner Takashi Domingo agreed with them, but was the only commissioner who did.

Domingo said he wasn't just afraid that the tower will harm neighboring homeowners. "I know it will," he stated.

Woodward then read part of a 1996 federal law barring government bodies from disapproving telecommunications towers solely "on the basis of environmental effects of radio frequency emissions." He cautioned members to follow that law.

(Apparently it is illegal for a commission to follow the advice of the tin-foil-hat crowd)

HTH: Hilo fire complex wins OK