When ending Ukraine war, Trump must not forsake Taiwan
The Value of Single-Family Neighborhoods
UH Manoa Ranks 42nd for Free Speech
Naming Names: Secret Dojo Where Hawaii Insiders Decide Everything
HB: … Since the temple’s establishment in Kalihi Valley in 1976, a diverse cross-section of the community has come with regularity and dedication, including former Gov. John Waihe‘e and former House Speaker Calvin Say, and business leaders such as Colbert Matsumoto, Lionel Tokioka and Richard Lim.
Above CEO Ann Teranishi’s desk at American Savings Bank sit two pieces of Zen calligraphy from Chozen-ji, where she has trained in meditation. One is an enso, or circle, evocative of a simultaneous sense of totality and emptiness, everything and nothing. The other is the kanji shin, meaning mindheart or spirit….
Chozen-ji teacher, Michael Kangen, says the training inoculates people against certain kinds of chaos and stress…
After training for three years in zazen, calligraphy and kendo at Chozen-ji, Seth Colby, head economist at the state Department of Taxation, says he’s developed the ability to stay more aware and calm in tough situations. He says this proved useful when Gov. Josh Green asked him, unexpectedly, to answer questions about the state’s historic income tax cuts at a bill signing this year….
“It’s not conceptual,” HPM Building Supply Chairman and CEO Jason Fujimoto says. “You can’t just talk about it over and over, as if it’s an academic lecture.”…
In 2018, Fujimoto brought his 19-person executive leadership team to Chozen-ji for a weekend of strategic discussions and Zen training…
Many Chozen-ji students are encouraged to use the temple grounds and their training to help shape the future of Hawai‘i. The O‘ahu Economic Development Board, Holomua Collective, Kupu and Eddie Kamae Songbook Project have all held gatherings and strategic planning at Chozen-ji.
Chozen-ji has frequently hosted other important discussions as well. On the wall of Chozen-ji’s kitchen hangs a framed fax of a Washington Post article sent from then-U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye’s office describing the passage of the Aloha Spirit Law in 1986. Kangen Roshi explains that Chozen-ji members led the campaign for the law. Nearby are several low tables where he also says founder Tanouye mediated negotiations between developers and the community around building the resorts at Ko Olina.
More recently, those same low tables were the setting for another community discussion, this one about the future of Pu‘uhonua O Wai‘anae, an encampment of houseless people next to the Wai‘anae Boat Harbor. Those efforts, in which Kangen Roshi and other dojo members were involved, helped prevent a sweep of the village and later grew into a unique development led and managed by Pu‘uhonua residents….
read … Chozen-ji: Where Hawai‘i Leaders Find Courage and Calm
How Tulsi Gabbard Became a Favorite of Russia’s State Media
NYT: … In Russia, the reaction to her appointment has been gleeful, even if Mr. Putin’s government remains wary of American policies, even under a second Trump administration.
“The C.I.A. and the F.B.I. are trembling,” Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Russian newspaper, wrote on Friday in a glowing profile of Ms. Gabbard, noting, positively, that Ukrainians consider her “an agent of the Russian state.” Rossiya-1, a state television channel, called her a Russian “comrade” in Mr. Trump’s emerging cabinet.
Russian media has emphasized Ms. Gabbard’s desire to improve relations with Moscow, according to FilterLabs, a firm that analyzes social media, state-run news organizations and other internet postings to track public sentiment in Russia….
read … How Tulsi Gabbard Became a Favorite of Russia’s State Media
“Value-based payment” -- Why Hawaii health insurance premiums have more than doubled
SA: … The current health policy fad is “value-based payment” — blaming high health care cost on fee-for-service and overutilization of care and instead, offering upfront payment per member, or capitation, as an incentive to reduce utilization and control costs.
This analysis is contradicted by Hawaii’s experience. Hawaii’s Prepaid Health Care Act has included an employer mandate since 1974, with the broadest coverage of the population, richest commercial insurance benefits, lowest patient cost-sharing, and among the lowest insurance premiums in the country. And we had the lowest per-capita Medicare spending in 2009, when everyone was paid with fee-for-service.
But since widespread imposition of “value-based payment,” encouraged by the Affordable Care Act and aggressively implemented by HMSA and MedQUEST, health insurance premiums have more than doubled. By 2019 our per-capita Medicare spending had climbed from lowest up to 9th-lowest and rising. And many Hawaii doctors are quitting practice or exiting the state, leaving a severe and worsening doctor shortage and worsening access to care ….
read … Column: Health care policy hurts Hawaii patients
39lbs of Meth: 24-time loser finally catches a Federal case
SA: … On Oct. 13, 2023, Honolulu Police Department officers saw a black Jeep Wrangler in the parking lot of 98-130 Pali Momi St., Aiea, that did not have a front license plate.
HPD approached and identified Pasion’s husband, Joseph R.M. Pasion, 44, as the driver and Marie Pasion as the passenger.
“According to law enforcement checks and records,” the Jeep was registered to Marie Pasion, and both “Joseph Pasion and Marie Pasion are convicted felons,” according to a federal criminal complaint filed Friday.
According to state court records, Joseph Pasion has 24 prior convictions, including for felony firearm offenses, drug crimes, car theft, assault and domestic violence. Marie Pasion has one prior conviction for disorderly conduct. It is not immediately clear where she was convicted of the felony referred to by federal prosecutors.
The couple faces federal charges of possession with intent to distribute. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren M. Nakamura is prosecuting the case. The pair are in federal custody ahead of a Nov. 26 hearing on the U.S. Department of Justice’s motion to detain them without bail until their trial.….
Officers allegedly found one black Kel-Tek brand handgun, which had a loaded magazine with six rounds of .38 caliber ammunition and a black Smith &Wesson handgun, which had a loaded magazine with six .22 caliber ammunition rounds. Officers also allegedly found other ammunition.
More than 43 grams of methamphetamine in a makeup bag, another nearly 13 grams found in the driver’s-side door pocket, scales, a grinder and pipes were also reportedly found.
Officers seized $17,040 from a black satchel bag, and an additional $4,021 was found throughout the Jeep….
DEA agents executed a search warrant Thursday at 98-563 Kaimu Loop in Aiea. Marie Pasion allegedly took 20 minutes to leave the home after DEA agents announced their presence.
During a search of one of the two bedrooms allegedly shared by the couple, agents found wigs, a black leather jacket that contained a pistol firearm with a loaded magazine, a brown Adidas bag with two pounds of methamphetamine and a green and red Gucci bag with a quarter-pound of methamphetamine.
Agents also allegedly found a suitcase containing 39 pounds of methamphetamine….
SA: Aiea woman--17 time loser--facing federal fraud charges is suspect in hit-and-run | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Married couple from Aiea face federal drug charges
911 Outage Complicated By Failure Of Backup System, Honolulu Police Say
CB: … The public wasn’t notified about a 911 outage until about three hours after problems began because the Honolulu Police Department was struggling to come up with an alternate means of communication, officials said Monday.
Police are investigating what caused the 911 outage and failure of the regular backup system.
The department’s dispatch center started experiencing problems at 10:38 a.m. Sunday that gradually worsened over the course of a few hours, police Capt. Matt Kurihara said during a press conference at police headquarters.
He said it took communications officials hours to figure out the extent of the issue and come up with a backup solution that could be communicated to the public. …
HNN: Cause of hours-long 911 outage on Oahu remains a mystery to police
read … 911 Outage Complicated By Failure Of Backup System, Honolulu Police Say
Plastic bag bans can sometimes backfire: Study
KHON: … Policies aimed at curbing the use of single-use plastic bags have sometimes accomplished the opposite of their intentions, a new study has found.
When two Texas cities prohibited stores from giving away plastic grocery bags for free, the sale of such bags surged in response, according to the study, published in the Journal of Marketing Research.
The longer a policy was in place, the longer the behaviors spurred by those regulatory prohibitions persisted, the researchers found….
read … Plastic bag bans can sometimes backfire: Study | KHON2
Honolulu Condos: City Might Water Down Fire Safety Law Again
CB: … Seven years after the fatal Marco Polo fire, Honolulu might extend a key deadline for condo associations after failing to pass a sprinkler law….
read … Honolulu Condos: City Might Water Down Fire Safety Law Again
Maui County Bypasses Komar, Inks $4M Nan agreement for additional Maui landfill space
MN: … The County of Maui has entered into conditional agreements with a subsidiary of Nan, Inc., Hawai‘i’s largest, locally owned construction company, to purchase approximately 49 acres of previously quarried land and 30 acres of land currently being quarried adjacent to the Central Maui Landfill. The 30 acres of land would be available upon completion of quarrying activities. The $4 million agreements, pending approval by the Maui County Council, aim to secure a suitable, long-term disposal site for debris from the August 2023 Lahaina wildfires and address the island’s future landfill needs….
Nan, Inc., founded in Honolulu in 1990, specializes in preconstruction, general contracting, and design-build construction in Hawaiʻi. “We recognized the importance of this property for Maui’s recovery efforts,” said Nan Chul Shin, Nan, Inc. owner. “We are grateful to contribute to Lahaina’s recovery and to support Maui’s future needs with this agreement, creating a positive outcome for both the community and the environment. We also appreciate our tenant’s support and cooperation in support of the County’s efforts to achieve this outcome.”
The County’s previous intent to eminent domain a 20-acre parcel privately owned by Komar Maui Properties has ceased pending the opportunity to move forward with the Nan, Inc. acquisition. This newly available property offers a more expedient, and efficient path forward to addressing the expansion of the Central Maui Landfill and providing PDS for Lahaina debris….
SA: Maui County finds new site to bury wildfire debris | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
CB: Maui Landfill: $4M Deal Is A Step Toward A Permanent Home For Fire Debris
read … $4M agreement for additional Maui landfill space to support wildfire debris disposal and future needs
Craig Angelos out as University of Hawaii athletic director
SA: … Angelos has been working without a contract under an “at-will” agreement while reporting to University of Hawaii president David Lassner.
The move comes six weeks before Lassner’s retirement at the end of the year.
An all-department staff meeting has been scheduled for 3 p.m. today.
Angelos was hired as athletics director in May 2023 replacing David Matlin.
Angelos was approved by an 8-2 vote by the UH Board of Regents after Lassner recommended Angelos to the board following a nationwide search.
In his short tenure as athletics director, Angelos oversaw UH’s move to the Mountain West Conference as a member in all sports, not just football.
He was also able to provide charter flights for the football team, eliminate travel subsidies for visiting MWC team under the deal slated to go into effect in 2026, and included revenue by making more premium seating available courtside at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
No reason for his dismissal has been given by UH….
read … Craig Angelos out as University of Hawaii athletic director
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