PHOTO: Mazie Hirono Campaigns for Congress at Aug, 2006 rally at Larry Mehau's Honokaa home.

All nine federal judges in Hawaii have recused themselves from hearing the latest complaint, of a long string, that challenges a major transportation project in Honolulu.  With each judge stepping back from the case, 9th Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima will step in, according to an order filed Friday....

... the 100 most frequent given names for male and female births in 2010 in Hawaii....

Of the states released today Hawaii had the lowest proportion of homeowners, the second-highest household size, and the third-highest median age.

As HMSA and the Abercrombie administration push forward with electronic medical records in Hawaii—a key requirement for any medical rationing system—the Obama Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has today released two audits of electronic medical records security systems….

The Late Harold B. Estes' letter to Obama: "One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man. So here goes....

"You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like: "We're no longer a Christian nation" "America is arrogant" -- (Your wife even announced to the world, "America is mean- spirited." Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)"

The head of the Alaska Family Council -- a Christian pro-family, anti-abortion group -- urged Palin to pick Smith, not Christen. The group objected to Christen's membership on the board of Planned Parenthood in the mid-1990s. The organization, which didn't provide abortions in Alaska until 2003, opposed a Palin-backed bill to require girls under 17 to get parental consent for an abortion.

DBEDT expects total visitor arrivals to increase 3.8 percent....

So here is a look at what Hawaii would be suffering under if Liu makes it onto the 9th Circuit.

The Kauai County Republican Party conducted a Presidential straw poll during the 2011 Hawaii Republican Party State Convention.

Herman Cain was the winner followed by Mitt Romney in second and Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich and Sara Palin tied for third.

In April, the Obama administration lost $1.5 billion of $2 billion budgeted to improve America's antiquated transportation systems, with high-speed rail projects. Though the funds will now likely go toward deficit reduction, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a defendant in the Hawaii rail lawsuit, has asked for $53 billion over the next six years.

...And that number is an understatement. It is gleaned from tax forms, news stories and reporting. But Soros funds foundations that fund other foundations in turn, like the Tides Foundation, which then make their own donations. A complete accounting is almost impossible because a media component is part of so many Soros-funded operations....

"I look at the ACOs coming out as almost fluff and distraction on the side.... We're way past it."

Through this initiative, we are seeing government agencies and organizations strategically collaborate to find important opportunities to bring in new money....

If agreement is not reached in the current round of negotiations, the team will make a decision on whether to proceed to arbitration. The timetable for arbitration is contained in a March 23, 2011 Memorandum of Agreement, which allows for either the Union or the Employer to request the Hawaii Labor Relations Board (HLRB) implement impasse procedures.

Identify and assess people who are chronically homeless for immediate services in Waikiki and the urban core of Honolulu.

During the Republican candidates’ debate on May 5, Johnson stated firmly in response to a question, “I advocate legalizing marijuana – control it, regulate, tax it.”

... the President's strategy isn't about empowering teachers and communities. It's about increasing the federal government's authority over schools....

The just released 2011 Medicare trustees report: Medicare poses enormous challenges for patients and taxpayers alike, and its financial condition continues a downward slide....

Moody's justified the downgrade based on the state's forecast depletion of reserve funds by the end of the 2011 fiscal year, sustained budget shortfalls relieved by one-time solutions and low pension-funded ratios relative to other states. Hawaii's audited financial results have also come in late since fiscal 2007....

A pattern of earthen berms, spread across a northern peninsula of the big island of Hawaii, is providing archeologists with clues to exactly how residents farmed in paradise long before Europeans arrived at the islands.

Recent Congressional Votes

• Senate: Cloture Motion; James M. Cole to be Deputy Attorney General
• House: Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act
• House: Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act
• House: Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011

The United States today hit an all-time high debt, passing $14 trillion, according to Associated Press reports. And with $45,300 of debt for every man, woman and child in the United States, it's clear as day that spending is the problem. Yet Washington has yet to come to an agreement on a way forward, either in the short term or the long term, though the budget plan passed by the House of Representatives would fundamentally alter this debt-ridden path the nation is on....

 The opportunity to directly vote on the Republican nominee is expected to bring out thousands of Hawaii Republican voters who have never before had a chance to directly participate in choosing the Republican Presidential nominee.

...unalterable opposition to the Akaka Bill and to any iteration of it....

See the Video...

Town Hall Meeting, Hawaii Kai, with Representative Gene Ward, Minority Leader; and Senator Sam Slom, Minority Leader May 2011

Hundreds of Hawaii Republicans will meet Saturday and Sunday at the Kauai Beach Resort for the GOP state convention. But the top of the agenda—selecting new Party leadership--is a foregone conclusion....

...all Hawai'i flags at all State offices and agencies as well as the Hawai'i National Guard are to be flown at half-staff alongside U.S. flags from sunrise to sunset on Sunday, May 15, 2011....

It is not clear why HMSA could not “anticipate” such impacts. Millions of Americans have been protesting against Obamacare for over a year now.  The bureaucratic interference, bungling, and rationing described in the HMSA letter reads like a caricature of what these “TEA Party” protesters have warned of.

...if those senators were truly serious about cutting the deficit, they wouldn't stop at just cutting subsidies for oil companies. They would also call for the elimination of subsidies for the president's pet projects such as renewable fuels, electric vehicles, wind and solar. Throw in clean coal and natural gas, too. That would be the right move for the American taxpayers. But good policy isn't their goal -- vilifying an industry is their end game.... 

The state is contributing $1.5 million for the project, and Kyoya and HTA will provide $500,000 each.

Big news release which can be condensed into one word: RATIONING.

Honolulu City Council has got to have more important things to focus on than regulating and restricting yet another aspect of our lives.

Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief to ensure that Defendants do not implement the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project...before complying fully with federal environmental laws.

In a speech in Boston, Mr. Tutu directly attacked the Jewish supporters of Israel as being in effect traitors to America, controlling U.S. foreign policy for the benefit of Israel and to the detriment of America. In that speech he compared American Jewish supporters of Israel to Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Milosevich, Stalin, and Pinochet.

Transit coverage is highest in Western metro areas such as Honolulu and Los Angeles, and lowest in Southern metro areas such as Chattanooga and Greenville....

School districts very often define spending categories in unexpected ways, making it difficult to distinguish classroom spending from operational costs....

Prominent journalists like ABC's Christiane Amanpour and former Washington Post editor and now Vice President Len Downie serve on boards of operations that take Soros cash. This despite the Society of Professional Journalist's ethical code stating: "avoid all conflicts real or perceived."

Ms. Takaki is active in the Hawaii Chapter of The ESOP Association has served on the Executive Committee's State & Regional Chapter Council. From 2007 – 2009, Ms. Takaki served as Chair of The ESOP Association.

In an effort to raise awareness about pornography Craig Gross founded XXXchurch.com, the website mixes the seedy with the sacred in an effort to raise the often taboo subject of pornography as a problem that needs to be dealt with. The website has had over 70 million visitors....

"I'm Newt Gingrich, and I'm announcing my candidacy for President of the United States because I believe we can return America to hope and opportunity, to full employment, to real security, to an American energy program, to a balanced budget."

The median annual rate in Hawaii for a private nursing home room is $122,640 per year, greater than the national rate of $77,745 per year.

Nationally, the median annual cost of long term care in an assisted living facility is $39,135, an increase of 6.0 percent annually over the past six years. In Hawaii, the annual cost of assisted living care is $45,900 ....

Representative Gene Ward, Minority Leader, Sine Die Announcement May 2011, Hawaii State House of Representatives ....

With the nation’s spending and debt problems on the verge of destroying the American dream for future generations, the Heritage Foundation today released a comprehensive plan to balance the federal budget, reform entitlement programs and recast the tax code to promote long-term economic growth. 

…a decade’s worth of reform and rhetoric that hasn’t made much of a dent. 

Janet Grace, Executive Director of Hawaii Right to Life, states, "We believe the Neighborhood Board election is as important as any other state electoral contest because it gives voters the opportunity to choose lawmakers who are uncompromisingly committed to pursuing life-affirming policies in our local statutes. Each vote for candidates who value life will help bring the urgent change Honolulu needs to thrive and prosper."

Recent Congressional Votes

• Senate: Confirmation John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, to be U.S. District Judge
• House: To repeal mandatory funding provided to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges
• House: To repeal mandatory funding for school-based health center construction
• House: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
• House: Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act