Politically Modified Organism Makes Money Grow on Trees for Hawaii Anti-GMO Activist
Video: The Truth About Abortion and Duke Aiona
Ige Was For Pension Taxes Before He Was Against Them
Lanai Mom Sues for Hawaiian Language Classes
VIDEO: Secret Hawaii Tribe Deal Puts Roll Commissioners in Charge
Waikiki Execs Don't Want Ige
KITV: Attendees took part in a mobile poll and when asked to rank the candidates--
Mufi Hannemann came in first.
"Let's make sure we make this state where we are not burdening you with taxes. First thing I've called for is for an audit of the Department of Taxation and let’s see if those hundred different taxes continue to make sense," said Hannemann.
Duke Aiona was second in the informal poll.
“My proposal is to take something from Gov. Linda Lingle that she had for 8 years, and that is a Tourism Liason.
I saw how it worked. That person was part of the cabinet and the reason was for that is the importance of tourism. Instead of waiting and being reactionary like you can in government, you can be proactive," Aiona said.
Hannemann lead with 42%, Aiona 35 % and Ige with 23%....
HNN: Candidates for Governor face off in forum one week before election
read ... Ige Will Strangle Tourism to Feed Unions
PBN Debunks False campaign claims made Against Aiona
PBN: A group called Hawaii Forward has sent out mailers denouncing the Lingle-Aiona administration's record on public education and urging recipients to vote for David Ige.
The mailer reads, over the image of a school desk underwater: "In the Lingle-Aiona Administration, Hawaii's schools were ranked near the very bottom." Inside copy: "As Linda Lingle's lieutenant governor, Republican Duke Aiona recklessly cut $100 million from our public schools, making Hawaii's school ranked 47th in the country. The Lingle-Aiona administration also implemented 'Furlough Fridays,' causing additional hardship on Hawaii families. Republican Duke Aiona: He'll put our schools underwater."
This text is stunningly dishonest....
Hawaii Forward is really the local face of the Democratic Governors Association and the nation's largest union of government workers, AFSCME. According to Civil Beat, they're spending nearly $1.5 million to help Ige win. Here's what's wrong with their mailer:
It's true that Hawaii's schools ranked 47th during the Lingle administration. Left unsiad, but equally true—and more significant—is that the schools ranked that poorly for many years before the Lingle administration and have continued to do so since [with some improvement in recent years due to increased federal pressure]. As longtime residents will recall, the only reason Hawaii elected a Republican governor was the public's frustration with the ongoing low quality of public schools, a frustration that peaked after a 17-day strike in 2001 paralyzed education from kindergarten all the way to the University of Hawaii system. Lingle campaigned hard as an education reformer and the public bought in.
The mailer's assertion, then, that budget cuts in 2009 "made" Hawaii's schools rank 47th in the nation is blatantly false. The implication that the Lingle-Aiona administration made cuts gratuitously is also false. Business readers of PBN may still be dealing with the long term effects of what we now call the Great Recession, which goes unmentioned in the mailer as the reason cuts were sought. The Lingle administration in 2009 was faced with massive budget shortfalls and instituted cuts across the board. Schools were not exempt. This happened nationwide. A Honolulu Advertiser article from that time shows 26 states making similar cuts to K-12 education.
The mailer implies that the Lingle-Aiona administration was somehow inherently bad for school funding. It was not. In fact, even with the emergency cuts of 2009, DOE annual spending grew nearly $263 million, or 17 percent, over the years Lingle was in office....
Finally, the assertion that the Lingle-Aiona administration "implemented" Furlough Fridays is flat out untrue. As the same Honolulu Advertiser article I linked to above reminds us, the DOE and the Hawaii State Teachers Association came up with "Furlough Fridays" in closed-door negotiations as their own answer to the cuts being asked of the department....
read ... Lies Debunked
After Six Years of Manoa Liberal in White House, Democrats Losing Nationwide
AP: The once friendly terrain of New York, California, Obama's native state of Hawaii and adopted state of Illinois all now pose stiff challenges to Democrats who are determined to limit their losses next Tuesday. Both parties agree that the GOP will hold its House majority; the question is whether Republicans can gain enough seats to rival their post-World War II high water mark of 246.
The current breakdown is 233-199 in favor of the Republicans with three vacancies.
read ... Obama is the best thing that ever happened to Republicans
Lava expected to block access to Pahoa polling place; Thousands asked to vote elsewhere on Nov. 4
HNN: Chief Election Officer Scott Nago announced today that voters assigned to Pahoa Community Center (04-03) who live north of the lava flow are instructed to vote at Hawaiian Paradise Community Center (04-01) on general election day.
“The flow is expected to cross Highway 130, cutting off access to voters living in Ainaloa and Orchidlands Estates,” Nago said. “We'll be providing poll workers at Hawaiian Paradise Community Center with the poll books and ballots to allow voters in these communities the opportunity to vote on November 4.”
Nago estimates about 2,000 voters are affected by this move. Voters that still have access to the Pahoa Community Center may still vote there....
read ... Nago's Next Fiasco Begins
PRP Warrants Criminal Investigation
SA: State attorneys should review whether a campaign-spending complaint against the Pacific Resource Partnership Political Action Committee warrants criminal prosecution. There are too many questions swirling about the tactics of the notorious Super PAC to let a small fine and a weak excuse spell the end of it. The state Campaign Spending Commission should refer the case to prosecutors.
read .... Criminals
Omidyar, KSBE Pour Money into Private Preschool Amendment
SA: Early learning advocate The Good Beginnings Alliance has spent more than a half-million dollars on television ads to lobby support for a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow spending public funds on private preschool programs, according to the latest round of campaign-finance reports.
The nonprofit formed a so-called ballot issue committee -- which is not subject to contribution limits -- that has largely been funded by donations from Kamehameha Schools and philanthropists Pierre and Pam Omidyar.
Kamehameha Schools, which operates 30 preschools statewide, donated $500,000 to the cause, while the Omidyar Family Trust chipped in $350,000.
Other business donors to Good Beginnings Alliance's Children's Action Network include First Insurance Co. ($15,000), Hawaiian Electric Industries ($10,000), Bank of Hawaii ($5,000) and the Hawaii Carpenters Market Recovery Program, also known as the Pacific Resource Partnership ($5,000).
The proposed amendment has pitted some early learning advocates against the Hawaii State Teachers Association, which represents about 12,500 public school teachers.
Hawaii is one of 10 states without state-funded universal preschool.
read ... Billionaire Bucks
Anti-GMO Activists "Ugly, Racial"
MN: Yet, statements are being made and spread by leaders of the anti-GMO movement that are just false, and anti-GMO groups are defacing the environment and property, posting racial comments in social media, encouraging illegal acts, targeting individuals and their families because they don't share the same view, and promoting ugly behaviors that are not reflective of this community.
To get this ban on the ballot to begin with, they paid people for signatures....
MN: Helping Turnout?
read ... Maui CoC
Star-Adv: GMO initiative Would Ban Marijuana Varieties
SA: The Maui County "GMO moratorium initiative" reported on TV and in the press has been difficult to witness for someone trained in science. Much of what is said in the media in favor of this initiative is designed to misinform by presenting half-truths and very selective use of scientific data. Most troubling in this initiative is the very broad and ambiguous definition of genetic engineering.
The moratorium initiative essentially requires science to prove that GMO (genetically modified organism) crops are safe for the environment and as food. Science cannot prove unequivocally that a food is absolutely safe for every consumer; science can provide evidence that a food is unsafe. It is for this reason that no food or food crop, or production system, has been shown to be absolutely safe....
The moratorium on genetic engineered plants would stop the use of plants where one well-understood gene is added to a genetic background. The language also leaves open the potential to ban much greater genetic changes, such as the random and large-scale duplication and rearrangement of tens of thousands of genes through chromosome "doubling."
Doubling has been a major driving force for plant evolution, though rarely for animals. Many of the plants we eat are the result of doubling and include wheat, potatoes, peanuts, coffee, strawberries and bananas.
Plant breeders have used doubling, often induced by chemicals or irradiation, for nearly 100 years on trees, ornamental plants, fruits and vegetable crops. The classic example is seedless watermelons. Does the broad definition in this initiative mean that seedless watermelon will be swept up in this Draconian initiative?
Some hops varieties used in beer making are the result of doubling. A few cannabis varieties are probably also created by doubling. Bananas are even more of a mess as they are not fully doubled, just half-doubled — one set too many chromosomes. You could be growing one of the citrus varieties developed through intentional doubling.
Related: How to Use Anti-GMO Ordinances to Seize Marijuana Plants: A Guide for Police Departments
read ... About Reality
CSC Complaint: Say Used $60K in Campaign Funds to Defend Residency Case
DN: Nancy E. McGee, who identifies herself as a voter in House District 20, reports that she filed a complaint today with the Campaign Spending Commission challenging former House Speaker Calvin Say’s use of “over $60,000” of campaign funds to pay his legal costs in defending against challenges to his residency in the district he represents.
read ... Voter challenges Calvin Say’s use of campaign funds to pay legal expenses in residency challenge
USVI Refinery Reopening Under Jones Act Exemption
WSJ: A big oil refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands that has been closed for two years soon could be operating under new owners....Hart Energy analyst Greg Haas estimated that the St. Croix refinery could save between $2 and $6 per barrel of oil in shipping costs by using less-expensive foreign tankers.
read ... Its Good to be Free
Rail: No Humans Involved
HNN: Each four car train can carry 800 people, but there won't be employees. Instead the train is fully run by a computer....
As many as 17-18 trains will run during peak times. Three people will watch them including a supervisor, one person at the controls and another watching the 1,500 cameras along the system....
There are a few dozen driverless systems in the world, but none in the United States. The City says they are safer because you don't need to worry about a conductor texting or sleeping on the job.
"It will improve safety because as you've seen in some of the accidents around the country and world it's human error that causes accidents," said Kirk Caldwell, Honolulu Mayor.
Even the tickets will be purchased by vending machine. No humans, which all cuts down on the train's biggest expense, labor.
read ... The Unions Pushed for This, LOL
Another HPD officer charged in domestic abuse
SA: The Honolulu Police Department arrested and charged a 31-year-old officer Tuesday morning with misdemeanor abuse of a family member.
HPD Officer Scott Christopher Kobayashi, a Waipio resident, was arrested at 8:25 a.m. at the Kalihi police station on Kamehameha IV Road....
Kobayashi is an eight-year veteran of the department and is assigned to its information technology division, HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said.
"His police authority has been restricted," Yu said in an email statement.
She declined to provide further details on the alleged abuse.
Kobayashi is scheduled to appear Nov. 5 at Honolulu District Court.
He was released from police custody at 9 a.m. Tuesday after posting $1,000 bail.
SA: Kaneshiro Used Grand Jury to make Himself Look Good
read ... Another One
Police beating could prompt major changes for HPD unit
HNN: "We want the commanders to re-evaluate and justify their criminal reduction units, the amount of personnel," says Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha "We might even go to the direction of reducing it and even to the point where we may eliminate the CRU units but we're still evaluating that."
But law enforcement expert and former federal agent Tommy Aiu says the squads are a benefit.
"A crime reduction unit uses specialized techniques, they use cooperating individuals, they're very proactive in thwarting all types of crime," says Aiu.
CRU officers wear street clothes and use unmarked cars which help them track suspects.
They have made several high-profile arrests over the years and recently they've helped take down suspected serial bank robbers and an OCCC escapee.
Aiu hopes the action of Morre and the two other officers with him that day, don't force HPD to disband the group.
He hopes Chief Kealoha will consider rotating out officers after several years, or just force them to undergo more training.
A decision isn't expected for several weeks.
read ... Police beating could prompt major changes
SHPD to Solve 50 Year Old Historic Home Problem?
PBN: The Hawaii State Historic Preservation Division is developing new guidelines, expected to be released this week, that would exempt thousands of homeowners from a controversial law that subjects homes built more than 50 years ago to a historic preservation review whenever a homeowner applies for a building permit....
SHPD does about 6,000 reviews each year with nearly 3,800 concerning the residential sector.
The new guidelines are expected to address what types of projects to take out of the database that will never even have a chance to be historic, he said.
read ... History
As NCAA Closes in, UH Cashes out Mens B-Ball Coaches
UH: Pursuant to his contract, Arnold will be employed through January 26, 2015, and will be paid a lump sum payment for the remainder of his contract term, set to expire June 30, 2015.
Akana will also be employed through January 26, in accordance with his contract. He will not be entitled to any additional compensation.
read ... Cashed out
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