December 9, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Thursday, December 9, 2010

December 9, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 1:22 PM :: 13683 Views

North Korean threat to Hawaii mentioned in Wikileaks cables

Progressives denounce Obama: “What happened to the man?”

Abercrombie nominates Tam DLNR Deputy Director

King did all this within the law

King said that for a thousand years, the islands attracted people who chose to stay here in "ever-increasing numbers." But the state wanted to keep people out of Hawaii, which amounted to "an interstate immigration policy."

"Sam did all this within the confines of the law," Roth said about King's opinions. "He applied the law that made sense in the world in which we live." (In other words, he did not legislate from the bench.)

In his 1982 speech, King told the bar that in retrospect, he had a different view of the courts.

"I now tend toward the belief that the federal district court is the last stronghold of our constitutional liberties," he said. "So I am not about to resign, not voluntarily, that is, nor am I about to shirk my responsibilities."

King's longest-running case, which he kept until his death, was to continue monitoring the state's efforts to protect the palila.

SA: Isle judge was historic figure

House Dissidents blame factionalism for lack of majority package

Until the letter, the dissidents had not publicly articulated why they are demanding a change in leadership. Many of the lawmakers have been involved in previous attempts to oust Say over the past several years.

"Recently in the House, there has been little collective discussion or planning to address our most pressing issues, not even a package of priority bills from our Democratic caucus," the dissidents wrote. "Improving public schools, reforming government, protecting our environment and safeguarding civil rights are important to Hawaii's future, yet many of these initiatives have been stalled or derailed.

"Too often votes are traded for pet projects and positions without regard to a larger policy agenda. We believe that the challenges facing Hawaii are too great to continue this practice. Leadership must focus on resolving the larger challenges, and not just the narrow issues that benefit only a few."

…State Rep. Scott Saiki (D, Moiliili-McCully-Kaimuki), one of the dissidents, said the lawmakers wanted to publicly show they support a change. "The other side has attempted to apply a lot of pressure on our group members, but it hasn't worked," he said.

"So we just wanted to make it crystal clear that we remain united."

One dissident, however, did defect to Say's side last week. The public release of the letter with all of the dissidents' names is not only a message to Say, but an attempt to hold the group together.

Pay-to-Play deposits being accepted tonight at Hilton Hawaiian Village

Neil Abercrombie's inaugural gala is at the Hilton Hawaiian Village tonight. Tickets for tables ain't cheap — they start at $2,500 and go up to $10,000 for a table of 10.

Word is tickets are going fast. Proceeds go to pay for the governor's inaugural ceremony and festivities.

Abercrombie Inherits $200M Pile of Lawsuits

The class actions suits - which could cost Hawaii as much as $200 million - may complicate the governor's pursuit of his own agenda at a time when the state's finances are still troubled.

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State EIS process begins for undersea cables, wind farms

The public will have three months to comment on the scope of the general plan through the environmental review process, which will include community meetings anticipated to be held on the neighbor islands in the next month or two.

The state has concluded from prior studies that neighbor island wind farms represent the most ~~viable~~ profitable, near-term solution to help achieve much of its goal to satisfy 70 percent of Hawaii's energy needs through renewable resources by 2030.

REALITY: Wind Energy's Ghosts

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Hirono rejects Obama: Sens. Inouye, Akaka, Rep Djou To Vote For Tax Deal

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono said she hopes to vote on a better package. Republican Rep. Charles Djou supports the accord. He released a statement on Tuesday supporting the president's deal.

Many House and Senate Democrats are in resisting the president's deal with Republicans, arguing it gives away too much to the ~~wealthy~~ productive and doesn’t allocate enough to by crack for welfare recipients.

SHAPIRO: Democrats go mindless on taxes

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Star-Advertiser continues process of trying to make First Lady acceptable

Nancie Caraway, a political scientist and feminist scholar and author, will no doubt be an earnest and outspoken advocate for her husband's administration. (Notice how none of this came up during the campaign?)

What he'll do when she disagrees with his policies is a matter of delicious, irrepressible speculation. (Because she’s nuttier than a fruit cake.)

REALITY: The Segregated Sisterhood of Neil Abercrombie and Nancie Caraway Typical Quotes:

“I speak as a white feminist political theorist…” P1
“I view the book as my own strategy of intervention in the troubled authority of whiteness in feminist scholarship and politics.” P2
“I needed to start with the paralysis I often felt and the rage I imagined would be directed at me—as the repository of “white racism”—by women of color. I felt urges toward self-erasure.” P16
“I had reified and entrapped myself within a rigid ‘white’ identity, which is one of the ways guilt depoliticizes us by instilling a sense of fatalism.” P 16
“I could subvert what (Marxist “third-worldist” theoretician Franz) Fanon called ‘the all-white truth’ of my life.” P 17

Carlisle appointees win initial approval

Three more of Mayor Peter Carlisle's Cabinet appointees -- holdovers from the previous administration -- received initial approval from the City Council yesterday as the chamber completed its business for 2010.

Nominations of Customer Services Director Gail Haraguchi, Emergency Services Director James Ireland and Design and Construction Director Collins Lam now go to committee for confirmation hearings followed by a final vote of the full Council.

That vote will fall to the new Council, which will be sworn in Jan. 3 with four new members and a fifth joining it soon after.

Meanwhile, the four departing members of the Council bade goodbye to their colleagues.

Those members included Rod Tam, who will find out Jan. 27 whether he faces prison time after pleading guilty last month to 26 misdemeanor counts of theft and falsifying documents stemming from his misuse of city funds for meals unrelated to his Council work.

HPD officer arrested following Mililani store theft

Sources tell Hawaii News Now, 48-year-old James Yee is accused of stealing various grocery items.

He's a 20-year veteran with the department.

"I am very disappointed" to learn of the allegations...we have opened criminal and administrative investigations. The officer's police authority has been removed," Kealoha said.

Gun control propaganda installed at KCC

But first the gun control advocates had to see off a faction of ultra-leftists who claimed that any representation of a gun was too violent.

Visa Rules hold back US Tourism industry

According to a recent speech, the head of the growing Hawaiian Airlines has called for easier US Visa processes to encourage more tourists from China. Mark Dunkerley, the airline’s president and CEO, also indicated the strong growth in tourism numbers after US Visa rules for South Korean visitors were loosened as a specific sample.

Hawaii: A Gay Travel Oasis

Hawaiians boast a proud history, a line of mighty monarchs (some of whom openly had aikane or same-sex favorites), and an unshakable belief in the heartwarming concept of aloha, which signifies hello or goodbye but which also connotes love, peace, and compassion (among many other meanings).

No sex tourism here, eh?

Artificial woman wins reassignment to real women's prison

In 2009, Kaeo-Tomaselli was sentenced to 10 years in prison, for a crime which is not specified in her (sic) complaint. After conviction, she (sic) says, she (sic) was immediately transferred to and processed as a prisoner at the Halawa Correctional Facility (HCF) on Oahu.
"During the intake process, Ms. (sic) Tomaselli informed (sic) HCF staff ... that she (sic) was a female and did not belong at HCF, but rather at the Women's Community Correctional Center (WCC)," according to the complaint. "However, despite Ms. (sic) Tomaselli's repeated complaints, the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety failed and/or refused appropriate corrective action."
She (sic) was sexually assaulted by an inmate during her (sic) first week in prison, and was being transferred to the Women's Community Correctional Center 2 months later, where she (sic) remains.

Dopers in frenzy as FLIR increases busts 575%

The Hawaii Supreme Court is very clear FLIR searches of homes in Hawaii is illegal without a search warrant: http://www.state.hi.us/jud/22570.pdf

Here are the governments own statistics for indoor marijuana bust in Hawaii.

2001…………7……………………..372………
2002…………3……………………..314…………
2003…………9……………………3,519………..
2004………..13…………………..2,312…….
2005………..13…………………..3,950…….
2006………..49………………….12,358………..(illegal FLIR used)
2007………..55…………………..7,734…………(illegal FLIR used)
2008…………3……………………..373……..

The dopers don’t actually present evidence that FIR was used, they jut assert it based on the increased busts in 2006-2007.

County settles suit for $55K

Hawaii County has settled a lawsuit, filed by a paving company that alleged the county violated its own procurement code when it bought materials from a rival company….

It's unclear from the public statement whether attorneys' fees are included in the settlement, and if so, the amount. The Tribune-Herald's sister paper, West Hawaii Today, requested the entire agreement Tuesday under the state's Uniform Information Practices Act. (They are suddenly interested in the terms of this settlement because it might be embarrassing to Billy Kenoi as WHT prepares for Dominic Yagong’s 2012 campaign.)

Here’s a settlement agreement WHT never has been interested to expose: Hokuli`a Settlement Exposed

Kauai Enviros launch attack against Fish Aggregating Devices

The program, which has been running for almost 20 years, is funded by the DAR, which contracts out the UH IMB to do all the work.

“There are people that believe that this is really helping fishermen, and there are others that believe this program should be discontinued,” Heacock said.

The main reason why some are opposed to the program, besides the catch of juvenile fish, is that the buoys are not secured very well, according to Heacock.

“The weak link, pun intended, in this buoy system appears to be that they break loose,” Heacock said.

Kona Coffee producers confused in wake of quarantine

This interim rule, passed by the state Board of Agriculture and put into effect Dec. 2, stops the shipment of unprocessed coffee berries, coffee plants and related bags from the Big Island to other islands, unless properly treated to kill the invasive beetle or by permit. It doesn't apply to direct export out of state.

Treatment options are fumigating all green coffee beans leaving infested areas or subjecting them to a lengthy six-step process, which includes double bagging the beans, making sure the moisture content is below 12 percent and making sure the processor who opens the bags of green coffee beans does so in a contained room and not near where coffee is grown.

Kona Coffee Council President Donna Woolley said the Department of Agriculture has not contacted the council since the rule took effect. Nor has the state agency or its inspectors met with the council to further explain the protocol required of its members.

Woolley claimed the rule, published in "mostly legalese" in local newspapers, is "confusing and has no direction." She said the council wants to help eliminate and contain the spread of the beetle, but its members are unsure about what the department is asking them to do.

Nest of endangered albatross found in Hawaii

The American Bird Conservancy said Wednesday that nests for the white and black feathered seabird were found at Kure and Midway atolls.

Until now, the short-tailed albatross has only reproduced at two sites: Torishima island in Japan and islands controlled by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Feather hunting devastated the species at the turn of the 20th century.

(This will become another weapon against fishing.)