Romney-Ryan: Smart Democrats Should Be Worried
Romney-Ryan: “The Courage to Tell You the Truth”
Grievance Filed After Tribune-Herald Names Hunter Bishop as Source of False Hawaii County ‘Yellow Card’ Story
GOP Threatens Lawsuit Over Big Island Election Debacle
VIDEO: Djou Interviewed by Washington Post
NRA Rates Hawaii Candidates
Abercrombie Releases $16.9M CIP, Grants in Aid
VIDEO: Hawaii Democrats come together for traditional Grand Rally in Hilo (At end of video, Abercrombie & Schatz’ closing message? Birthers! Stop the birthers!)
FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE >>> http://elections2.hawaii.gov/ppl/
Mitsunaga Backs Malama Solomon, Rail Money Flows to Sierra Club’s Wooley
ILind: It might be interesting to scan the late contributions reported by candidates in tight primary races….
Gil Kahela v. Donald Ikeda, State Senate District 1.
Kahele reported receiving $1,000 from RAI Services Company of Winston-Salem NC, an affiliate of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., on August 6. Ikeda did not report any late contributions.
Malama Solomon v. Lorraine Inouye, Senate District 4
Big money is pouring in to try to protect Solomon’s senate seat. She reported late contributions of $4,000 each from Chan Mitsunaga and Dennis Mitsunaga, both of Mistunaga & Associates, Hawaii Operating Engineers Industry Stabilization Fund, and Plumbers and Fitters Local 675. Additional late contributions came from Local Union 1168 IBEW Pac Fund ($2,000), RAI Services Co. ($2,000), Outrigger Entrprises ($1,000) and Hawaii Laborers and Employers ($1,000).
Inouye picked up late contributions from UNITE HERE Local 5 ($2,000) and the Painters Union Local 1791 Pac ($1,000).
Carol Fukunaga v. Brian Taniguchi, State Senate District 11
Fukunaga reported late contributions from two attorneys, Lloyd Asato ($1,000) and Renton Nip ($4,000). (Nip is Waihee’s #1 crony.)
Pono Chong v. Jessica Wooley in the 48th Representative District
Chong reports last minute contributions from Dairy Road Partners LLC in Kahului ($2,000) and the Plumbers & Pipefitters Union PAC ($1,000).
Wooley reports receiving $2,000 from Joe Pickard, president of Environet, Inc., and $1,000 from the HDR, Inc. PAC (based in Omaha, Nebraska). Pickard is well known in this windward district, but not necessarily for backing issues on Wooley’s agenda. According to news reports, HDR has a contract to design three of the city’s rail stations. Funny backers for environmentalist Wooley. (Sierra Club is pro-rail)
read … Last Minute Contributions
Sen Josh Green Asks Abercrombie to Extend Polling in Kona
SA … state elections spokesman Rex Quidilla said the delays at three polling places were attributed to missing poll books.
He said the poll book that Kahakai precinct officials could not find initially was located in a sealed box that had been delivered earlier to the cafeteria.
State Sen. Josh Green, who has no primary opponent in the district, said he asked state elections officials to extend the polling hours in three affected sites for two hours.
However, Quidilla said the law does not give the state elections officer that authority.
Polling hours can only be extended by the governor if there is a natural emergency, Quidilla added.
Green said he would make the request to Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
He said he was at the Kahakai polling place since 8 a.m. and his poll watchers reported that 20 to 30 people were turned away. “Even my aunt couldn’t vote because she had to go to work,” Green said.
Besides, Kahakai Elementary School, poll books were missing at Kona Palisades Community Center in North Kona and Kona Vista Recreational Center in Kailua-Kona, Quidilla said. Those two polling places opened about an hour late.
read … No Power to Extend
Complete Pre-Primary Rundown on Legislative Races
PR: We have updated our rundown of potentially competitive state House and Senate campaigns with campaign-finance figures before the primary. We have also included a few late endorsements.
Overview: Majority Democrats have commanding control of the state House and Senate. With Hawaii-born President Barack Obama up for re-election, his popularity in the islands may help Democrats widen their majority even though some strategists believe the state Legislature is out-of-balance politically and overdue for a correction. Voter perceptions about Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s job performance could also influence how Democrats fare. A solid performance by former Gov. Linda Lingle in her Republican campaign for U.S. Senate could offer some down-ballot hope for minority Republicans, but the GOP more realistically would be satisfied with holding what they have and picking up an odd seat or two.
Redrawn political districts after the census could complicate the re-election plans for many incumbents. Issues such as economic recovery, environmental protection, and improving public education will likely shape many state campaigns.
read … The Rundown
Polls Open Late at Four Kona Polling Places, Ewa Beach
HNN: Hawaii County councilman Dennis "Fresh" Onishi told Hawaii News Now that at 7:55 a.m., the polling place at Kahakai Elementary School in Kona was not open -- reportedly because voter log books had not arrived to all three precincts in Kona. According to Onishi, some potential voters were leaving.
Onishi also said there were two other polling places in the Kona area that were also having problems.
Another voter said there were problems a new polling place at Kona Vistas when ballots failed to show up.
All 40 precincts were open as of 8:35 a.m.
On Oahu, some voters were confused at Radford High School, where there were two polling places. According to state Office of Elections spokesman Rex Quidilla, Radford is just one area where there are two precincts at a single voting site.
At Ewa Beach Elementary, voting was delayed after some of the volunteers experienced voting machine problems, Quidilla said.
read … Polls Open Late
Problems at Aiea, Mililani Kona Polling Sites
KHON: According to Office of Elections officials, polling sites at the Kona Palisades Community Center and the Kona Vista Recreation Center were unable to open on time because the poll books, which are the list of names for voters registered for that site, were not on site.
Officials say that delayed opening for at least one hour. Both sites are now open.
On Oahu, three polling places reported problems with their electronic voting machines.
The three sites were Mililani High School, Aiea High School and Calvary Chapel in Aiea.
read … Aiea, Mililani, Kona
Old Boy Sabotage Suppressing the Kona Vote?
BINC: The four confirmed locations are at Kahakai School, Kona Vistas, Holualoa, and Palisades. At Kona Vistas, Agnes Lui they said they were told by County Elections that their poll books had been delivered to Waikoloa and would arrive by 7 a.m. At 8:15, they still had not arrived, and workers said they’d had to turn away at least 45 voters. Some voters said they’d go to breakfast and return, some said they could not return as they had to go to work or had other commitments for the rest of the day.
At Kahakai School, workers got all the rest of their equipment at 5:45 a.m. as expected. But when they realized the poll books were missing, they started calling the County Elections office and got no answer, only voice mail. They left messages, and at 6:45 they got a return call saying the poll books would be delivered by 7. At 8 a.m. the books still had not arrived. Around 40 voters were either lined up or milling around the school property, although several voters had come and gone. Some of the sign wavers on the corner said they talked to many who said they just could not return and would not be able to vote. At 8:40 a.m., the poll books arrived.
Jane Galante was the first voter through, and said she voted at 8:45 a.m. She said the situation was disgraceful. Several of those waiting to vote said the situation was completely unacceptable. They said it seemed there was an intent to make it difficult for people in Kona to vote.
Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi has not returned voice mails, and the County Elections Office is not answering the phone. State Elections Office spokesman Rex Quidilla said at 8:15 a.m. that his office had not been informed of the problem, and also said it would not be possible to keep any polling places open later than 6 p.m.
NOTE: Kawauchi, a Yagong dependent, would logically want to boost, not suppress, the Kona vote – which favors Yagong. Old boy loyalists within her office such as those who suddenly called in sick this week know they can hurt Yagong’s vote (and Case and Gabbard) and have the blame laid at the feet of Kawauichi. Who will be fooled?
read … Suppressing the Kona Vote?
‘Start-Up Problems’ at Polls in Aiea, Mililani
SA: Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi said that the opening of polling place at Kahakai Elementary School in North Kona was delayed for nearly two hours because of a “supply problem.”
She did not specify the exact nature of the problem in an e-mail to reporters, but said trouble shooters were able to deliver the missing supplies by 8:35 a.m. and the matter was resolved.
However, state elections spokesman Rex Quidilla said the delays at three polling places were attributed to missing poll books.
He said the poll book that Kahakai precinct officials could not find initially was located in a sealed box that had been delivered earlier to the cafeteria.
Besides, Kahakai Elementary School, poll books were missing at Kona Palisades Community Center in North Kona and Kona Vista Recreational Center in Kailua-Kona. Those two polling places opened about an hour late.
Quidilla said it took a little longer than election officials had hoped to resolve the problems with the Kona polling places.
Other than the problems in Kona, Quidilla said, an early-morning check turned up "no major problems" throughout the state as most polling places opened on time.
He said there were “start-up problems” with three electronic voting machines in Leeward Oahu at Cavalry Chapel of Honolulu, Aiea High School, Mililani Middle School, but all were quickly resolved.
Quidilla said there are 233 polling places statewide — 16 on Kauai and Niihau; 35 in Maui County; 40 in Hawaii County and 142 on Oahu.
read … Start-Up Problems
Problems on Big Island Could Delay Results Statewide
MN: …there's concern among voting officials statewide about reported staffing turmoil in the Hawaii County elections office. Hawaii News Now reported this week that two of four full-time election staffers at the Big Island's elections office went out sick this week, and a temporary employee resigned Wednesday, calling the office "dysfunctional."
However, Hawaii County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi told the Honolulu TV station that: "We're fine. We're doing OK."
Kuwada said the Big Island elections office situation has the "potential to result in delays" statewide because elections officials do not release results until all polls are closed and all voters have cast their ballots.
read … How to Fix an Election
Hirono Arrogantly Acts as if She Already Won Primary
CB: With less than 24 hours before Hawaii’s Primary Election, Mazie Hirono is arrogantly acting like she already beat Ed Case by launching a false attack against Governor Linda Lingle. She is trying to distract voters from the important issues in this once-in-a-generation election because she has no serious plan to help the people of Hawaii and get America back on track. …
Hirono’s D.C. style attacks are becoming the norm for her campaign which is clearly being run from the inside the Washington Beltway. … This is not leadership and this is not what the people of Hawaii deserve in their next U.S. Senator.
read … Hirono At It Again
Record number of voters cast their ballots early for primary election
KHON: More than 687,000 people are registered to vote in this election. There's already been a strong showing of early voters. Absentee, mail-in and walk-in, that together total more than 130,000 - more than have ever voted early in a Hawaii primary thanks to a surge in the mail numbers
read … Record Turnout
Self-Dealing Justice ‘Reinvestment’ on Kauai
KGI: The Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday deferred three requests from County Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho to apply for state and federal funds totaling $300,000, which are supposed to pay for the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney’s victim witness program, the VOCA Expansion Program and the Keiki POHAKU diversion program.
A request to apply, receive and expend Kaua‘i VOCA Expansion Program federal funds in the amount of $203,109 was deferred after Deputy County Prosecutor Jake Delaplane sent Council Chair Jay Furfaro an email Wednesday morning….
The following item on the agenda was a request from OPA to apply, receive and expend $70,290 in state funds for a temporary Victim Witness Counselor I position, fringe benefits, office equipment and supplies and travel expenses for Fiscal Year 2013 to fulfill some aspects of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.
This last item was summarily deferred.
Both requests for state funds are now scheduled for a special council meeting Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
read … Council defers OPA’s request to apply for $300K
Legal Ad Revenue Threatened, Kauai Garden Isle Suddenly Develops Interest in Investigative Journalism
KGI: Foreclosure ads can be a significant revenue source for an area’s largest daily print newspaper and also arguably provides the broadest possible audience to advertise an auction for a property in that county.
A change in the state’s mortgage foreclosure law that took effect in June, however, may have an impact on such publications as well as the community it serves.
Previously, foreclosure ads had to run in the largest daily newspaper of general circulation in the county of the foreclosure.
Act 182, which went into effect on June 28, is less stringent. It allows foreclosure ads to run in any newspaper containing news of a general nature and is distributed within the county where the unit is located at least weekly for a minimum of one year and to at least 3 percent of the county’s population.
In the state, it affects each county’s largest paper and its broad audience. On Kaua‘i, The Garden Island has been the sole publisher of the public notices, including the foreclosure ads. Ads include information about the subject property and the scheduled auction and other legal details….
read … But they are so pathetic that they mostly just cribbed the SA stories
Arizona Judge May bust Hawaii Gay Marriage Dodge: ‘Pregnant Man’ not Legally Married in Hawaii
TMZ: An Arizona judge isn't convinced the Pregnant Man's marriage should be recognized in the Grand Canyon state ... because both man (sic) and wife have vaginas ... which might equate to same sex marriage ... which isn't legal in AZ.
The dispute is the latest speed bump in Thomas Beatie's divorce proceedings from wife Nancy ... who Thomas married in Hawaii back in 2003. The two represented themselves as a heterosexual couple because Thomas, a transgender man (sic) who was born a woman, had a state authorized change of sex before the wedding. Thomas says he has state-sanctioned legal docs to prove it.
But an AZ judge is calling the whole system into question ... refusing to preside over the divorce until he is convinced that the two were legitimately married in the first place.
In the docs, the judge points to Beatie's womb ... and notes that Thomas gave birth to the couple's three children during the marriage.
The judge then argues that he can find NO legal authority that defines a man as someone who has the ability to give birth to a child. (Yup. No judge in Hawaii can figure this out.)
Therefore, the judge claims, it's possible Beatie's marriage was NOT LEGAL from the start ... and he has no authority to grant the couple a divorce.
The judge gave Beatie an opportunity to defend the marriage ... and Beatie has filed docs doing just that ... pointing to his U.S. passport which designates him as a man (sic) as well as his Hawaii birth certificate, which was changed to describe him as a man (sic).
read … Probably destined to become test case
West Oahu ‘Second Safest Weather in the West’
NBC: According to a list compiled by The Weather Channel, San Diego made the cut as one of the two “safest weather cities” in the West, followed by West Honolulu, Hawaii.
In the Northeast Caribou, Maine, and Rochester, N.Y., earned the safe weather titles, while Lexington, K.Y., and Asheville, N.C., were dubbed the safest weather cities in the South.
As for the Midwest, the safest weather cities in that region are International Falls, Minn., and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., according to The Weather Channel list.
The list was compiled by examining weather factors deemed dangerous by the National Weather Service, including flooding, lightning, tornadoes, tropical cyclones, snow and ice storms, extreme heat, extreme cold, high winds and rip currents.
read … Safe Weather
The Japan Holocaust Deniers
MN: Memorializing the bombing of Hiroshima is immoral and disgusting. It wouldn't have to be, but the way it is done is always immoral and disgusting, and we are treated to a replay in the second week of August each year. The 2012 display of historical ignorance, failure of ethical understanding and dishonesty is well above the usual average, however.
The Pearl Harbor Memorial is now adding a shrine to Hiroshima as part of its display. Brad Wallis, head of a private group supporting -- mangling would be a better term -- the memorial, told the Honolulu Star Advertiser, "The meaning of the memorial now goes beyond (Pearl Harbor) remembrance. It has become an opportunity for reflection on life and death, war and peace."
Wrong, it's become an exercise in false moral equivalence and a conspiracy to absolve Japan of some of the worst crimes in history.
The Japanese, taken generally, do not believe their country did anything wrong except to lose during the war. A good example is Honolulu religious leader Takamasa Yamamura of the Myohoji Temple, who told the newspaper, "Our younger generation is beginning to forget about this tragedy (of) the 20th century. We must not forget about Hiroshima, and we must build a peaceful century."
This is disgusting. Except for a few far leftwingers, though, to listen to the Japanese the only tragedy was the one caused by the Americans in bombing Hiroshima. You will not hear from them that Hiroshima was the main military port for the conquest of China. Hiroshima was not a city full of innocent civilians. It was a guilty city full of people who were thriving on the plunder taken from China.
Yamamura's "young people" have not forgotten anything. The Yamamuras ahave labored mightily to prevent them from learning what Japan did. To pick one example among thousands: When the Japanese conquered Hong Kong, they herded 50 English nurses into the sea, then shot them dead.
The world would never have known about this crime, except that one -- just one -- nurse survived.
That was not even among the 10,000 worst Japanese crimes. Even if you accept the Japanese argument that it was purging Asia of European colonialists, what about the 100,000 Indonesian women and children who died in deliberately horrendous conditions in the slave labor camps along the Thailand railway. They were not colonialists.
It must be perfectly clear: Yamamura is the Japanese equivalent of a European Holocaust denier. He should be scorned and driven into the dark corners of society along with the other supporters of genocide and totalitarianism.
read … History de-revised
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