No, DOE, You’re Not God
Navy Will Discharge Sailors Refusing COVID-19 Vaccination
COVID Shutdowns Boost Hawaii Youth Obesity Rates
Timber Industry, Big Green all for Wood Pellets
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted October 16, 2021
Enrollment across UH system increases for first time in 10 years
Digital ID For A Digital World? Nobody is Fooled
CB: (A commentary in favor of ‘A Digital ID for a Digital World?’ -- Let’s just skip to the comments….)
… The digital wallet has its flaws as well. One must weigh in as too why China likes it "social credit system" so much. It is because if you get out of line, they can just shut it down. Poof, your life, your money, your status, is gone. You can not rent or buy a home, get food, pay for things.
Our problem, is we live in a Kleptocracy. You ever wonder why if your phone is stolen, phone companies don't flip a switch and make your phone a useless brick? Its contents erased and unable to even turn on? In Australia they do. Or why it took Credit Card companies 10 years after Europe to put a chip in credit cards? Its called a black-market.
Every computer has a back-door, it is only code. code that can be compromised. Tim Cook said at the time "Its like giving someone cancer." I would think twice about having your life put in one digital wallet, for convenience. …
Don't be surprised with the digital ID "app" needs access to your contacts, camera, microphone, and the ability to make calls and send texts. The feds already have full access to every phone, but they won't share, so the states are left to reinvent the panopticon ... poorly….
“social credit” system represents a major challenge to democracy in a technological age
And yet Mr. Wiencek eagerly embraces a digital mandate that monitors and creates data on all human actions controlled by Government and Corporations.
Will this be sleepwalking into a world that George Orwell warned us about?
How can anyone seriously believe that China's "social credit" system is bad, really bad, while a US "social credit" system run a by a government that most of us harbor suspicions about their use of power, which is influenced/controlled by profit-seeking corporate monopolies will benefit us in the future?
Could Mr. Wiencek be suffering from tech intoxication, or am I too old to have the necessary faith in this hi-tech Brave New World?…
read … Why A Digital ID For A Digital World Just Makes Sense
Students push back against surveillance and other measures they see as going too far
WSJ: … Student complaints include objections to restrictions on their travel on and off campus, increased surveillance and what they consider erosion of civil liberties. Student-led petitions have prompted some schools to drop the use of location-tracking apps and requirements to wear sensors that monitor vital signs.
At the core of their concerns is a fear that universities are constructing a bureaucracy designed to control a generation just coming of age….
Related: COVID Spy News: Lumisight App Required to Attend UH Athletic Events
read … Covid-19 Precautions Prompt Backlash on College Campuses
Honolulu taxpayers face big hit on Kakaako rail easements
Shapiro: … The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is set to pay millions more in legal costs to obtain 2 acres of Kakaako rail easements from the Howard Hughes Corp. than it originally expected to pay for the property itself.
It’s another sign this project is hopelessly out of control and more reason for HART to abort the Hughes eminent domain lawsuit, pause spending on rail’s troubled final leg through Kakaako to Ala Moana Center, and focus on identifying a workable and affordable interim rail terminus around Middle Street or downtown Honolulu.
The city originally deposited $13.5 million reflecting its expected cost of the Hughes property when it began condemnation and budgeted $4.5 million for legal costs.
Last week, after several previous legal fee increases, HART’s board approved $7 million more, bringing the total to $23.3 million paid to two law firms, Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher and Nossaman LLP.
HART’s report to the board said it expected Hughes “will seek over $200 million from the taxpayers” in a trial scheduled to begin in May. This is well more than the $190 million the city initially expected to pay for all property acquisitions along the entire 20-mile rail line from Kapolei to Ala Moana.
It would be an outrageous windfall for Hughes, whose property values have benefited from the rail route going through its development, and a cruel burden on Oahu taxpayers, who have already seen projected rail costs soar from $5 billion to $12.5 billion, with a current estimated deficit of $3.5 billion….
Column: Beware of censorship via algorithms
read … Honolulu taxpayers face big hit on Kakaako rail easements
Can Lieutenant governor candidates Trust Josh Green?
Borreca: … t used to be that Hawaii’s lieutenant governor had an assigned job: to be in charge of state elections. The state Constitution removed that duty, leaving the LG as the person ready to jump in if the governor is absent or unable.
It is not written into law, but the Hawaii LG position is also a glorious stepping stone for political advancement. The most obvious trophy being governor, but both of our U.S. senators, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, both had Lt. Gov. in front of their names.
Without required skills….
Gov. David Ige has not played nicely with either of his lieutenant governors during his terms. The former LG, Shan Tsutsui, regularly groused that Ige gave him no responsibilities. When Josh Green won the position for Ige’s second term, the Big Island Democrat physician complained so much about being excluded by Ige that the governor was forced to include him at news conferences, at least for political appearances.
Lt. Gov. Green obviously shows that the position is all about getting another job, as he has been furiously campaigning to be elected governor….
the most important question for LG candidates to honestly answer is, which candidates for governor will trust you enough to give you any responsibility?…
read … Lieutenant governor office can be stepping stone
Kauai’s Special Election For Prosecutor -- Iseri Back for More Fun n Games?
CB: … Shaylene Iseri filed nomination papers this week to campaign in a special election for county prosecutor, a seat vacated last month by Justin Kollar who had held the job for nearly a decade.
Shaylene Iseri announced this week that she will campaign in a special election for Kauai prosecutor.
Iseri joins Rebecca Like, Kauai’s acting prosector, in a special primary election to replace Kollar scheduled for Dec. 18, followed by a special general election on Feb. 26.
The winner will serve the remaining three years of Kollar’s term.….
Iseri Flashbacks:
read … Kauai’s Special Election For Prosecutor Gets A Second Candidate
Which County Pays Its Council Members The Most? (Hint: It’s Not Honolulu)
CB: … Top officials at the City & County of Honolulu generally earn more than their counterparts on the neighbor islands, usually followed by Hawaii County, Maui County and Kauai County in that order.
But there’s a significant exception: Maui County Council members take home considerably more than council members on the Big Island. And both those jurisdictions pay more than what Honolulu City Council members get. The paychecks for Oahu’s leaders are barely higher than those on Kauai, according to Civil Beat’s Public Employee Salary Database….
Maui’s council members ‘earn’ $76,475, except for the chair who receives $82,225. Hawaii County comes next at $70,008 ($77,016 for the chair), followed by Honolulu at $68,904 ($76,928 for the chair) and Kauai at $67,956 ($76,452 for the chair)….
read … Which County Pays Its Council Members The Most? (Hint: It’s Not Honolulu)
Hawaii is at the ‘beginning of the end of the pandemic’ with herd immunity on the horizon; Officials warn not to let guard down
KHON: … “At the peak of this surge, we were experiencing more than 800 new cases of COVID a day,” Baehr said. “Now we’re down to 123 cases over the seven-day average. So we’re absolutely headed in the right direction.”
Hawaii hit the benchmark of 70% of its population being fully vaccinated on Friday, Oct. 15, bringing the state closer to herd immunity.
“As a physician, herd immunity appears to have begun to set in,” Green explained.
“When you see the population reach over 90% initiation of vaccination, and the case counts dropping 50% every two weeks,” Green said, “that is the kind of definition of decreased risk and herd immunity.”
But Hawaii is not there yet, according to Green, and the virus determines what comes next as witnessed this summer — there is no magic number….
read … Hawaii is at the ‘beginning of the end of the pandemic’ with herd immunity on the horizon; Officials warn not to let guard down
Hilo Antibody Clinic Treats 49 Patients
HTH: … Hilo Medical Center has treated dozens of people in its monoclonal antibody treatment clinic since it opened last month.
HMC has given at least 48 doses of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ REGN-COV to COVID-19 positive patients, and one dose to someone who was only exposed to the virus.
“As our numbers are optimistically decreasing, we’ve been able to offer the treatment to individuals who have had close contact to someone who has tested positive,” said Medical Director Dr. Charles Okamura. “I think this is especially crucial to stopping potential outbreaks, whether it be in the classroom, at a large gathering, or the workplace. Most treatments are defensive, but this is one of the few things we can do that will stomp the virus out, if possible.” ….
read … HMC anti-body clinic mostly treats non-virus patients
Hawaii’s crime rate dropped in three of four counties in 2020
SA: … Overall Hawaii crime rates were down last year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2020 Uniform Crime Report. The decrease was apparently driven by a drop in reported offenses in Honolulu, Maui and Kauai counties, partially offset by an increase in Hawaii County.
Statewide, the rate for property crimes — burglaries, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft and arson — decreased, to 2,411 offenses per 100,000 people in 2020, from a rate of 2,869 per 100,000 in 2019. The 2020 rate for violent crime was 254 offenses per 100,000 people, down from 264 per 100,000. Among the crimes categorized as violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
In Honolulu, crime counts dropped to their lowest tallies in recent years. Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm said while it’s difficult to pinpoint the cause without further research, “it stands to reason that the pandemic, with its stay-at-home orders and other restrictions on businesses and activities, played a role” in deterring crimes such as shoplifting and burglaries….
read … Hawaii’s crime rate dropped in three of four counties in 2020
Mafia News: Hollywood Strike Averted As IATSE & AMPTP Reach Deal On New Film & TV Contract
DL: … With Hollywood on edge and picket signs at the ready, IATSE and the AMPTP have reached an agreement on a new film and TV contract, averting a threatened nationwide strike.
The new three-year contract, which must now be ratified by the union’s members, comes just hours before the deadline – midnight Sunday – imposed by IATSE president Matthew Loeb. The union and the Carol Lombardini-led AMPTP are expected to make the agreement public very shortly….
HTH: Hawaii could strike it big in TV, film production after labor strife avoided
read … Hollywood Strike Averted As IATSE & AMPTP Reach Deal On New Film & TV Contract
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