North Korea Prepares to Detonate Nuke
Hirono Playing Not to Lose
Dem Convention: "A Circus of Squabbling"
Memorial Day
Abercrombie: 'There Is A War On Our Basic Values' (And I’m leading it)
CB: Best Comments: LOL. You are the one who declared war on our basic values. Governor Abercrombie, you sold Hawaii out to big $$$$$$.
This guy is a joke, especially when he says there is a war on our basic values. He is a general in this war.
I came here to read this article thinking someone had told HIM - HE is creating a war over our basic values" - I voted for him thinking he was "Mr. Aloha Pono" hahahaha....
Read … Abercrombie: 'There Is A War On Our Basic Values'
Party of (D)ivision
CB: Democrats … clashed over platform issues and, for some, often found it hard to share the same breathing space.
Take a look at the photo that accompanies this story, for example. Can you spy Ed Case or Mufi Hannemann? Nope, though Case did make the rounds Friday and Saturday and Hannemann made a couple of brief appearances.
For some reason, Colleen Hanabusa isn't pictured in the photo, either, though she addressed delegates not long before it was taken.
Tulsi Gabbard, meanwhile, snuck into the frame (that's her second from right), though she dodged a candidate forum Saturday night because Hannemann wouldn't show.
Mazie Hirono was the only candidate to bring her minions en masse to the stage during a rally, which had the effect of making it look like the party had anointed her the U.S. Senate favorite. Supporters of Gabbard and Kiaaina tried to get in front of the cameras, but with less success….
I point this out to illustrate what Abercrombie himself said Sunday to delegates: that Democrats are a party of factions and divisions.
Read … Party of (D)ivision
Dem Convention: Hirono joins with DoE/BoE/HSTA to Celebrate Furloughs
"This is about beating the Republicans because they are out there with millions and millions of dollars, intent on taking over the U.S. Senate so that they can carry on with their agenda which is anti-family, anti-workers, anti-unions, anti-keiki, anti-Native Hawaiians. Linda Lingle gave us furlough Fridays on November 6, let's furlough Linda Lingle", said Hirono. (Actually the DoE/BoE/HSTA criminal—all Democrats—gave us Furlough Fridays. So it is more appropriate to ‘furlough their champion Mazie Hirono)
Lingle's campaign issued a statement ahead of the convention saying "Democrats would talk about anything but the important issues facing the people of Hawaii. They will instead take the stage and take inappropriate shots at Lingle".
Best Comment: To Mazie Hirono, remember his quote- “The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states; red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them…. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America”- Barack Obama (keynote address to the Democratic National Convention in 2004).
VIDEO: Hirono Tries to Ignore Reporters' Questions About Debates, Fails
VIDEO: Dem Convention Speech by Lazie Mazie
Photos: Mazie Hirono at Campaign rally at the Home of Larry Mehau
Read … Furlough Who?
Inouye Partisan at Shambolic Democrat Convention
PR: Inouye, D-Hawaii, who supports U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono for Senate, said on Sunday that if Republicans capture the Senate he would lose his chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee and title of Senate President Pro Tempore.
He said Lingle left the governor’s office “in shambles.” He also doubted her claims that she would be bipartisan in the Senate and would function as a partner, like his friend, the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, did for decades.
“I can’t believe it. She comes on and she says `I am bipartisan,’” Inouye told delegates. “And she says I want to be a partner to Dan, just like Ted Stevens. Let me assure you: she is not any Ted Stevens.” …
Response from Lingle Campaign: “…it’s especially disappointing to see someone of Sen. Inouye’s stature caving to the pressures of his political party to fall into the typical, divisive, counter-productive partisan, DC-style attacks that so often dominate the election season. He should know better than anyone that Hawaii’s voters are tired of the same old political gamesmanship that too often dominates useful dialogue in the public arena.
We all knew that when Democrat leaders from across the state gathered at their party’s convention, they would be talking about anything but the important issues facing the people of Hawaii. But I believe Hawaii voters expect more from a statesman of Sen. Inouye’s stature, who witnesses on a daily, first-hand basis how the U.S. Congress is in a perpetual state of gridlock precisely because of this type of corrosive partisan behavior.
Now should be a time when we are examining the candidates’ records, their stances on the issues, and their visions for Hawaii’s future, not wasting time listening to distortions, insults, and patently false statements that he and others made at their Democrat Party Convention over the weekend.
While singing the praises of President Obama, Sen. Inouye neglects to remind people of what a staunch supporter he was of now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she was opposing then-Sen. Obama in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries….”
SA: Hirono calls party to her side, like dog
AP: Obama reaches out to Asian-American voters
Read … Inouye Bipartisan
ILind: Criticism of tax incentives for sale of leasehold property to condo owners unfair
ILind: I was quite surprised to see Lowell Kalapa’s column this week alleging that a bill establishing new estate tax law, now awaiting the governor’s signature, was flawed because “one legislator decided to add a special provision to take care of some unspecified constituent.”
Perhaps Mr. Kalapa hasn’t been paying attention to the problems of Hawaii condominium and coop owners still living under the cloud of our formerly widespread leasehold system. These owners still face the unhappy prospect of being thrown out of their homes at the expiration of their residential leases, something no one really imagined back when residential leases were seen as a solution to high land prices.
The provision relating to extending the tax exemption on gains from the sale of fee interest in leasehold lands under Hawaii condos and coops is of broad interest and is not limited to a single constituent, as Kalapa so confidently asserts.
This provision originally was found in SB2112. Testimony on that bill indicated there are 16,714 remaining leasehold units, all of which have an interest in this legislation.
Related: Another Attempt to Reestablish Estate Tax Awaits Approval
Read … Leasehold
HPD: Legal for Homosexual Teacher to Have Sex With 16-yr old Student
HBA officials called police earlier this week after a male high school student told administrators he had a consensual sexual relationship with a male teacher, sources said.
The student is a member of HBA's senior class, and he's at least 17 years old, a source said.
Since the age of consent in Hawaii is 16, police would not be able to charge the teacher with a crime, as long as any sexual relationship was consensual, according to a police source.
The male teacher -- who had been at the school two years -- resigned from HBA after the student made the allegations, according to a source.
Read … An opportunity to ‘turn’ one
PREL’s Latest Scam: Climate Change Brainwashing Samoan Teachers
ST: To coordinate the event, PREL worked with the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, American Samoa Department of Education, and Le Tausagi, a group of environmental educators working for government agencies that provide environmental outreach in American Samoa.
Over 40 members of the community attended the workshop-teachers, researchers, and leaders-from over 14 organizations including: the American Samoa Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources; the American Samoa Department of Education; the American Samoa Community College; the American Samoa Power Authority; the NOAA Fisheries; the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; the American Samoa Department of Agriculture; the U.S. National Parks Service; and the Coral Reef Advisory Group. (This is the Gramscian model. Go after the elite.)
To learn more about the PCEP, and connect with its network of climate educators from around the Pacific, join the Pacific island Educators Advocating for Climate Education (PEACE)….
Read … Brainwash for Fun and Profit
Hawaiian Pushes Forward With International Diversification Strategy
Company CEO Mark Dunkerley recently told analysts that the load factors on its international flights are generally lower than on Hawaiian’s North American routes, but the airline has been able to charge favourable prices in its international markets, particularly on flights from Japan and Sydney. Australia's Jetstar operates between Sydney and Honolulu and the route is often its best performing.
Hawaiian estimated that its international services, which also include flights to Manila, accounted for 27% of its total passenger revenue of USD391 million recorded in 1Q2012, compared to 9% in 3Q2010. In Apr-2012 Hawaiian continued its expansion into Japan through the launch of new service from Honolulu to Fukuoka.
Mr Dunkerley describes Hawaiian’s growth in international markets as the cornerstone of the carrier’s strategy even though the airline is launching new US mainland flights to New York JFK from Honolulu in Jun-2012. (Food for the corporatist State.)
Read … Hawaiian
Panos: The Ho'opili Traffic Impact Analysis Report is Unacceptable
HR: A critical element in approving any land use changes is the Traffic Impact Analysis Report or TIAR. The Friends of Makakilo and Save Oahu's Farmlands Alliance asked me to review B. R. Horton's TIAR submitted to the state's Land Use Commission (LUC) as part of the process for obtaining the approval to convert prime agricultural land to a residential development.
Read … Ho`opili
China Daily Hints at Retaliation for Solar Tariffs
CD: Since the beginning of the year, all the modules Suntech has exported to the US have been fitted with solar cells made outside the Chinese mainland, mainly in Taiwan which will not be subject to the proposed tariffs….
Smaller producers are suffering the most. "We have lost all overseas orders and are relying simply on domestic orders now. So, we have stopped half of the production lines and lost almost 20 million yuan ($3.2 million)," said a man called Sun from Taizhou city, Zhejiang province, who was reluctant to reveal the name of his solar-module company for fear of alerting rivals to his problems.
Sun said he and some friends invested 200 million yuan in the company, which began production in 2009, but they now may have cause to regret their decision because of the current industry malaise….
Zhang admitted that the use of solar cells manufactured in Taiwan will push the price of his company's modules higher, and while he declined to provide figures, he insisted that the company's products will remain competitive in the US market.
At present, Taiwan has the capacity to manufacture solar cells capable of generating 7,300 mW, more than double the expected size of the US market, which is on course to be about 3,000 mW this year. The price of the cells is about 10 percent higher than those made on the mainland, according to PVMate, a photovoltaic industry magazine.
According to statistics from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, the country imports more than $2 billion worth of polysilicons, ethylene vinyl acetate, sizing agents and other raw materials from the US every year.
If China were to impose duties on these products, US producers would be left shouldering the burden, and China's Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that it has uncovered six US policies that support or subsidize the country's renewable-energy industry, in contravention of World Trade Organization rules.
Ren Yifeng, executive secretary-general of the China Society for WTO Studies, said that China's move in uncovering the alleged US subsidies is aimed at hitting back at the anti-dumping duties imposed on Chinese solar products….
read … China Daily