“If you’re answering to Omidyar you’re really not independent.”
Hawaii Supreme Court to hear same sex marriage case
A Completely Typical and Average Anti-GMO Activist Explains Why They Won on Maui
NRA President Speaks in Hawaii
Un-Taxis?
Saddled With Useless Congressional Delegation, Petition Campaign only hope to Save Oahu Troops
KITV: With the U.S. Army looking at restructuring its forces, community leaders, lawmakers and military supporters gathered at Honolulu Hale this morning to launch a campaign that aims to keep Hawaii's heroes in the islands.... (They waited 'til after election because they didn't want to give an issue to Charles Djou.)
"If some of these recommendations go through, they would cut our military at Schofield Barracks by 16,200 people, while Fort Shafter would see 4,000 people cut. That is really scary because in addition to those cuts, we could lose an additional 30,000 people -- the families and others who come out with the military," said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. (And these were the recommendations made before the GOP took over.)
A reduction of that size could cost the government and local businesses more than a billion dollars. (But its worth $1B to send a 100% Democrat delegation to a 100% Republican-Controlled Congress. Be sure to thank Obama, too!)
SA: To sign the petition, visit keephawaiisheroes.org.
As Explained: 5% of Oahu Population Leaving--Thanks to Congressional Delegation
read ... No Dan, No Plan
Maui News: Hard to See Where Republicans Go From Here
MN: It is hard to see where the Republicans go from here. Their big names were beaten. They only have eight seats in the state House, one in the Senate. So, they have no one waiting on the bench to lead them to a victory - or even to respectability.
read ... Another tough one for GOP
NRA president pledges return of values at event
SA: On Saturday night, though, conservatives had a chance to celebrate.
Jim Porter, president of the National Rifle Association, told a dinner hosted by the Hawaii Republican Assembly at the Pearl Country Club that the Republican wave was a "watershed event" for the nation.
"I call it the day that we in our country start taking back our freedoms and start taking back our country," said Porter, an attorney from Alabama. The Hawaii Republican Assembly is the conservative wing of the local Republican party, an interest group of unknown membership strength.
The NRA spent $30 million on the elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and the candidates the gun-rights group favored had a 68 percent success rate....
Porter said he understands that conservatives in states such as California and Hawaii, where Democrats dominate, might feel like their votes do not count. Hawaii had record low voter turnout of 52.3 percent Tuesday.
"You've got to vote," he said. "You can't give up hope. We will win this battle." ...
The dinner Saturday, which celebrated the Second Amendment and Veterans Day, showed the divide within the Hawaii Republican Party between the party's elected officials and leaders and conservative activists in the Hawaii Republican Assembly. State Rep. Bob McDermott (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) was the only elected official to attend, and no party leaders participated.
read ... Celebration
HCDA Votes Nov 25 on New Kakaako Affordability Rules
SA: Oahu residents struggling with the cost of housing — and that would be most people, at one stage or another — have to feel encouraged by the conversations underway recently among members of the Hawaii Community Development Authority board.
HCDA is set to decide Nov. 25 whether to fill in the details on the broad strokes unveiled last week by a committee, ideas that would broaden the appeal to renters as well as below-market buyers.
It should vote to proceed without delay to developing a full proposal, with the public taking full advantage of the required hearings that will be scheduled.
read ... Making Kakaako more affordable a worthwhile goal
Hawaii Needs to Elect Judges
CB: The citizenry is disenfranchised from Hawaii’s judicial selection and evaluation system every step of the way.
In some states, judges are elected just like other public officials and serve for terms as short as four years. Here, they are appointed by the governor or the chief justice of the Supreme Court and serve 10-year terms.
And in some states where, like Hawaii, judges are appointed instead of elected, voters still get a crack at them in retention elections when their terms expire. Here, sitting judges can notify the Judicial Selection Commission that they want to stay on the job and win appointment to another 10-year term with nary a public vote cast.
With these rules, it’s no wonder voters stomped on the proposal to allow their judges to serve even longer.
The fact remains that Hawaii judges are far less accountable to the public than those in many other states.
It’s time to start looking at other options, such as a system that allows voters to decide whether to keep a judge on the bench — after a four- or six-year term. A decade seems like an awfully long time to wait before a judge comes up for reconsideration.
read ... Middle Ground
93% of Money Given to Homeless goes for Drugs, Alcohol
HPR: If you give cash out on the street, generally of about 93 percent of it goes to alcohol, drugs and prostitution. And if you give food on the street, you end up in a very convoluted way, but still an important way, you end up preventing people from going into 24/7 programming.
We've done a lot of research. And just really getting to the big picture, there's sort of this move on the right to criminalize. And there's a move on the left to do nothing - just feed people in parks. And you don't get recovery from homelessness by being on a jail cell floor. Equally you don't get recovery from being on a park bench or out on a beach or under a bridge. Where you get recovery is when you go into 24/7 programs that holistically address the condition of homelessness.
AP: Program meets Maui's homeless at point of need
read ... Enablers
Abercrombie & Levinson Gay Marriage
HNN: Outgoing Gov. Neil Abercrombie will be given an award for his work to legalize same-sex marriage in Hawaii.
The Equality Hawaii Foundation will present Abercrombie with the Steven H. 'Broken Trust' Levinson Trailblazer Award at its annual gala on Nov. 22.
Abercrombie called a special legislation in 2013 to pass a bill that allowed same-sex couples to legally wed in Hawaii for the first time.
The group says since the law was enacted, about 2,400 same-sex marriages have been conducted in Hawaii.
Reality for those who can handle it: Did Cayetano Book Chase Levinson from Bench???, Broken Trust Gang finally Imposes Gay Unions on Hawaii
CB: Gays Taking Control of Little Boys, Claim Hawaii Election Vindication
read ... 'Marriage'
Hawaii to Auction $1B of Bonds this Week
NYT: Hawaii, $224.8 million of taxable general obligation bonds. J. P. Morgan Securities.
Hawaii, $775.2 million of general obligation bonds. J. P. Morgan Securities.
read ... A Billion
Failed Rep Kaniela Ing Delivers No Funding for Kihei HS but Fakes it Until After Election
MN: "The DOE is committed to this project, and we're trying to move this particular one along," DOE facilities planner Nick Nichols told residents during the meeting. "We did request $130 million, but we didn't get it in a form we can use right now."
Beerer said he has attempted to investigate exactly what happened to the $100 million, who made the decision to split up the funding and why, but it is still "very unclear to us whether that money is still set aside in this account or if the DOE is going to present a new budget request."
The department claims legislators decided to split up the $130 million - opting to put $30 million in bond funds, which became available at the start of the 2015 fiscal year in July; and $100 million in a State Educational Facilities Improvement Fund. But, legislators did not include any deposit into the improvement fund, which "means there was no money to back up the commitment," department spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said in an email.
read ... Fake Funding All a Lie
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