December 2, 2009 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

December 2, 2009 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:08 PM :: 12232 Views

Hirono, Abercrombie oppose Afghan troops

Hirono, who recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said she has concerns "about what we can realistically achieve with 30,000 additional troops."

Hirono did not say she supported Obama's position, but noted that "Congress will now have an opportunity to fully examine this strategy and its costs."

Also stopping short of an endorsement was Abercrombie, who has been a vocal critic of the conduct of the war in Iraq and the funding for the troop surge supported by former President George W. Bush.

"We need to differentiate between supporting our troops and the policy and strategic implications," Abercrombie said. "They will be dealt with in due time. What needs to be emphasized now is our complete support for the troops."

(Key word is "emphasized". This is what leftists do when they want to bide their time. They, along with all of their Congressional Progressive Caucus comrades, are opposed to the Afghan surge and are waiting for the right moment to strike.)

ADV: Inouye says he supports Obama's Afghanistan surge

LINK: Djou: "The President has finally made up his mind to confront the Taliban and defeat Islamic radicals"

Hawaii troops accomplished 'great things' in Afghanistan

"With the forces we had, we did great things," said Lt. Col. Patrick Cashman. "With more forces, I can only imagine us doing much more — expanding into areas where we don't have a presence right now." ...

Another 1,000 Hawai'i Marines and sailors with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines are now in and around Nawa farther south in Helmand province, while another unit — the 3rd Battalion — is training to eventually replace them.

REACTION TO OBAMA'S ANNOUNCEMENT: Djou: "The President has finally made up his mind to confront the Taliban and defeat Islamic radicals"

ADV: Obama faces long road to sell U.S. on war (ADV should write "us" not "U.S.")

180 in isle Army Guard to go to Afghanistan

The citizen soldiers are assigned to the 230th Engineer Company, led by Capt. Anthony Tolentino, and will spend two months in pre-deployment training beginning Jan. 7 at Schofield Barracks.

Lee said 33 percent of the unit has deployed at least at once. Tolentino was deployed to Afghanistan in 2005.

"Half of the soldiers are from Maui," Lee said. "The rest are from Oahu and Molokai."

Lee said the soldiers will be involved in construction projects near the Pakistani border.

Kauai: OHA Lawsuit seeks environmental review before highway widening (test run for rail suit?)

The suit seeks a preliminary injunction and declaratory judgment to stop any state work to either widen the highway between Wailua Beach and the Coco Palms resort property, or place underground utility wires there, until an EIS is completed and state officials get a burial treatment plan approved for known and suspected Native Hawaiian remains in the project area.
The suit was filed in mid-October in 1st Circuit Court in Honolulu by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation representing Wailua resident Waldeen K. Palmeira, and names as defendants the state Department of Transportation, DOT Director Brennon Morioka, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, DLNR Chair Laura Thielen, and Pua Aiu of the DLNR’s State Historic Preservation Division.

Obamacare: Overall health care bill trumps anti-abortion amendment, Hirono says

LIHU‘E — U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono was not among 40 progressives who sent a letter last month to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatening to vote against health care reform if a controversial anti-abortion amendment is not stripped from it if and when it comes back from conference with the U.S. Senate....“I would like for the Senate to not go along with the Stupak amendment,” Hirono said. “The discussions continue. I have not made up my mind where I’m going to go.”

State's election chief to resign

In an e-mail to county election officials yesterday afternoon, Cronin did not give his reasons for resigning. But he said his resignation on Dec. 31 will "enable the Elections Commission to name my successor with minimal impact on the election preparations."

ADV: Hawaii elections chief resigning

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Honolulu homeless moved for cleaning of Kapiolani Park

The latest encampment of as many 40 homeless people will be moved out today so crews can cut grass and perform other maintenance in the area. But the homeless may be able to move back in after the work because of an apparent loophole in the law....

City Councilman Charles Djou, whose district includes the park, said he has gotten a number of complaints about the encampment at the doorstep to the state's No. 1 tourism destination. And he said that even if the strip of land is not part of the park, then it should be seen as a city right-of-way, where structures are not allowed. Another question, though, then becomes whether a tent is a "structure," he said.

Djou added that he would introduce legislation to address the issue if the city determines the campers have indeed found a loophole.

"For me, this is just ridiculous," Djou said yesterday. "It's this legal netherworld that vagrants are exploiting."

Darlene Hein, director of community services at the Waikiki Health Center, which offers outreach for homeless islandwide ... added the situation "demonstrates that there really is a serious (homeless) problem and one that we do need to work on in" a coordinated way, not with spot efforts.

(The objective here is to shake down the legislature for money to so-called non-profits which pretend to serve the homeless. By arranging to place the homeless in the center of Hawaii tourism, the "service" providers are carrying out their version of the "Washington Monument Gambit.")

Connie Mitchell, executive director of the Institute for Human Services...said both her shelters currently have space for single men and women. There are about 50 spaces open for single men, and 40 spaces for single women. (Oooops!)

Moanalua parents say sixth-graders exposed to a talk on rape, abortion, Obama

"She was supposed to be teaching a lesson on bullying," Shimoda said. "She — for whatever reason — diverged and started teaching the children about rape, prostitution, pornography, described anal and oral sex, and then she talked about late-term abortion, sucking out the babies and crushing them, and said President (Barack) Obama believes that it is OK," Shimoda said.

Added Kajiwara, "The children were traumatized by the whole thing. It brought up a terrible situation with us. I had to discuss things with my child I knew he was not prepared for."

It goes to the top: Obama's Safe Schools Czar Advocated 'Queering Elementary Education''

Kevin Jennings -- Unsafe for America's Schools: "Few Obama administration appointments have been as startling as Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s appointment of Kevin Jennings, the homosexual founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), to head the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools."

(Is this story a frameup? Sounds just like the "progressives'" idea of sex-education-in-elementary-school -- until the part about Obama.)

FactCheck.org: Obama and 'Infanticide'

Unsafe practices prompt FDIC alert to isle bank

Bank regulators have ordered Ohana Pacific Bank, which opened in 2006 and caters primarily to Hawaii's Korean community, to shore up capital, improve asset quality and maintain adequate liquidity levels.

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Bill could allow 1,275 new B&B homes

As many as 1,275 new bed-and-breakfast homes could be established on Oahu under certain conditions intended to allow true homeowners to take in additional income to keep their properties.

Isles' late auto payments soar (Hawaii 5th in US)

The state's auto delinquency rate — the rate at which payments fell behind 60 days or more — soared 40.5 percent to 1.18 percent in the third quarter from 0.84 percent in the second quarter, and jumped an even greater 59.5 percent from 0.74 percent in the third quarter of 2008, according to data released yesterday by credit reporting agency TransUnion.

Library staffs furloughed, too

Workers at the state's public libraries will take 15 furlough days a year for the next two fiscal years, closing libraries on those days starting Dec. 16. The state's library system reach- ed the furlough agreement in negotiations with the Hawaii Government Employees Association, which represents clerical and professional staff at libraries.