May 16, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Sunday, May 16, 2010

May 16, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:53 PM :: 12579 Views

Kalani HS: Poster trashes TEA Party as “evil”

Hawaii governor says bill's civil unions may be same-sex marriage

"It does appear to me on reading it, that it really is same-sex marriage, but by a different name," Lingle told reporters during a break at the state GOP convention at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikīkī. "But I want to wait and hear people out."

Lingle has said in the past that she would consider some form of domestic partnership legislation but she has opposed same-sex marriage.

SB: GOP calls for civil unions veto

GOP conventioneers urged to counterbalance Dems' 'rubber stamp'

"We cannot stop now," Aiona, a Republican candidate for governor, told delegates at the state GOP convention at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikīkī. "We cannot hold our state and our people back any longer by allowing the Democratic political machine to put a rubber stamp in the governor's office."

Aiona said he would expand state investments in alternative energy and in science, technology, engineering and math at public schools if elected. He said he would cut state fees, reduce government regulation, prioritize government spending and order an independent audit of the state Department of Education.

He criticized majority Democrats in the state Legislature for not doing more during the past session to promote job creation and help with the economic recovery. He also accused state House Democrats, who brought a civil-unions bill to the floor on the last day of session, of "circumventing the will of the people through last-minute political maneuvering to establish the equivalent of same-sex marriage."

Aiona said his two potential Democratic challengers — former Congressman Neil Abercrombie and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann — would be an extension of a political machine that has largely controlled the Islands since statehood.

Democrat Sen. David Matsuura endorses Duke Aiona for Governor: Full text of Duke’s speech to GOP Convention

The state Republican Party Convention touts Djou's lead in election

"On May 22, the media pundits who wrote off Republicans in 2008 and the political hacks who continued to play from the politics-as-usual playbook are going to swallow hard when they announce Charles Djou as our next congressman," Aiona said.

Djou is ahead in many polls against Democrats Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa. Results in the special mail-in election are to be tallied Saturday.

The campaign even touted the support of at least one Democrat in rallying support for Aiona—David Matsuura, a former state senator from the Big Island.

Matsuura said he remains a Democrat, but he is supporting Aiona.

Matsuura is perhaps best known for his opposition in 2002 to a proposal to allow doctor-assisted suicide in Hawaii. After first refusing to hear the measure, calling it a "dumb bill," he later relented. The bill ultimately was defeated on the Senate floor after three members changed their vote. Matsuura was voted out of office later that year.

Hawaii congressional win for GOP would be political hay

U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Democrats are about to learn a lesson.

"Charles Djou's tremendous success in this race is due to his solid record of lower taxes and government accountability," he said in a statement. "The biggest lesson Democrats will learn from this race is that their strategy of ignoring constituents and forcing on them higher taxes, more debt and wasteful spending will fail this November."

National Democrats are preparing to explain a Djou victory, if it happens, as circumstantial: an unusual combination of state election law and former Congressman Ed Case and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa splitting the Democratic vote.

But even if Djou does not crack 40 percent, even if Case and Hanabusa keep it close, a loss in Hawai'i would make Democrats cringe.

SB Oi: In Novemebr Dems will get same result vs Djou

Inouye has unquestionably earned his position in the party. Still, there comes a time when even the long-standing statesman needs to acknowledge that Hawaii isn't the place it was 60 years ago.

There are new and younger people who don't have the traditional ties, allegiances and outlooks. If his party is to thrive, Inouye has to embrace the diversity and find a way to fit them into an inclusive framework that will keep core principles intact.

If Djou wins, Democrats will get a do-over in November, but cannot expect different results if the program is the same.

SB: President's sis stays mum on congressional seat pick

Honolulu resident Maya Soetoro-Ng, however, would not reveal who she voted for.

"I think generally we need to remember we are one ohana and as long as we participate and vote we will work it out and find a good solution in whoever is elected," she said. (This is a sign of how deeply depressed the avg. ‘progressive’ voter is. She sounds like she could have even voted for Djou.)

Soetoro-Ng spoke to reporters after giving commencement speeches at the University of Hawaii at Manoa …

SB: 2,400 reasons to celebrate

Appointed Ed Board Proposal Will Complicate Elections (Civil Beat still flacking for HSTA)

Voters will be asked to decide whether the governor should appoint future boards at the same time as they're asked to choose elected board members. The elected members would only serve full terms if a constitutional amendment goes down to defeat. But to make matters more complicated, even if the amendment passes, the elected board members will have to serve for a few months. (So sad.)

SB: Even with fee increase, A+ program still great deal

The program, which serves more than 22,000 public school students a year, is an example of a great idea well executed, entrenched as one of the state Department of Education's most popular initiatives within months of its 1990 launch.

(What? Is the DoE doing something right?)

Even at $80 a month—the per-child amount paid to the A+ contractor by the Department of Education—the parents' bill is discounted. As Ray Sanborn, president of A+ provider Kama'aina Kids explained, the exact same service supplied at private schools costs nearly twice as much, partly because the public schools don't charge the A+ providers rent, utilities and the like. At public schools, the higher proposed charge for A+ works out to about $4 a day, or $1.33 an hour.

(Ahhhh. It is run by private contractors. Of course. Now it all makes sense.)

ADV: Our homeless, and now their homeless, too

This isn't about building more shelters. This is about putting pressure on the freeloaders, street campers and just plain vagrants who have set up in a growing number of neighborhoods. Connie Mitchell, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, said she's seen Mainland transplants turn up at her door straight from the airport. They're startled when they hear they'll have to pay $90 for the month, Mitchell said, and many beat a hasty retreat, bound for a shelter that is free.

This is part of the problem, she added: All the service providers need to present a united front and make new arrivals pitch in — either with a fee or by doing chores to earn their keep.

Hawaii preparations for fall elections behind schedule

Voter participation in the 2010 elections is expected to be higher than in previous years because that contest is shaping up to be among the most important in decades. Voters will choose a governor, lieutenant governor, several state House and Senate members, and probably Honolulu mayor.

"This is big. This is huge," Aoki said. "We'll have a gubernatorial election and most probably a mayoral election."

SB: Isle high court will arbitrate any dispute over mail-in vote

On windward side, higher taxes proposed -- public hearings, not so much

So, it the issue tax hikes? -- Or is the issue regional disparity? Clue: “both” is not a valid answer.

Straney selected as new UH-Hilo chancellor

The dean of science at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona has been tapped to succeed Rose Tseng as University of Hawaii at Hilo chancellor.
UH President M.R.C. Greenwood is recommending the Board of Regents approve the appointment of Donald O. Straney, who is also a professor of biology at the California school….

Straney, an evolutionary biologist, has been at Cal Poly Pomona since August 2002. Before that, he spent 23 years at Michigan State University, serving as chairman of the Department of Zoology from 1986-95, and as assistant to the provost for faculty development from 1995-2002.

Another suit challenges Hokulia Bypass bonds are invalid

I uncovered yet another lawsuit that has been filed against the Hokulia project today. American Motorist Insurance Company, an affiliate of Kemper Insurance Company, filed a lawsuit against The Club at Hokulia Inc. and the Hokulia Community Association Inc. on April 5th, 2010. American Motorist claims the bonding for the project infrastructure is no longer valid. The key points of their argument is detailed below….

Convert County Band to nonprofit: Band director unhappy with mayor's latest proposal

An April 29 letter from Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida to Paul Arceo, the band's director, invites Arceo to "participate in the development of the next chapter in the history of our band by serving as an inaugural board member in the private nonprofit band."
"If preparations are not made now for the incorporation of the band into a private entity capable of fundraising, there is a distinct possibility next fiscal year will find the band completely unfunded," Ashida wrote.

Has Kaua‘i seen the recession’s end?

LIHU‘E — Slipping back into a recession is unlikely, according to a recent report from First Hawaiian Bank.

Apparently the recession is over, some economists say.

“The prospects of a double-dip recession for us have diminished a lot,” said University of Hawai‘i Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Carl Bonham. But “obviously there are still risks.”

Police raid Nanakuli cockfighting ring

Officers arrested four men out of the nearly 550 people in attendance and could make further arrests, police said.

(Yes, they did say 550.)

Communist Frida Kahlo retrospective a self-portrait in (self-imposed) suffering of a ‘progressive’ activist

Called "Without Hope," the 1945 self-portrait is an allegory of the Mexican artist's life. The sun represents her philandering husband, mural painter Diego Rivera, and the poison is the lies he tried to make her swallow. The moon represents Kahlo, always trying to be near the confident, powerful sun, and destined never to approach it. The desert is her childlessness….

This exhibition shows Kahlo as obsessed with her own pain, loneliness and jealousy. Even her still-lifes are codified self-portraits, according to the curator, Helga Prignitz-Poda. Kahlo used her extensive knowledge of mythology, religion and folklore to create symbols for her own predicament, so the portraits became like icons, laden with metaphors.

(Remember: They are “enlightened, conscious, and progressive”. They are smarter than we are—in thier own minds, godlike. That’s why their lives are so glorious.)