Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has acquired two missile warheads capable of being armed with a nuclear weapon. And a recently leaked U.N. report described suspected ballistic missile technology exchanges between North Korea and Iran....

Hawaii’s per pupil expenditure climbed to $12,399 in 2009, ranking it as the 11^th highest in the nation, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report. This new rate marks a 12% increase compared to the previous year.

Some Democrats have advocated counting rapists, child molesters, pimps, drug dealers and other convicted felons and prison inmates but not counting the military personnel who put it all on the line to defend America.   The final decision was postponed until the next meeting.

Moving forward on his plan to invest in young children, Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced Terry Lock as the Governor’s Early Childhood Coordinator....

Your bargaining committee met with representatives of management for collective bargaining talks on May 24 and May 25. Darren Carroll, of TNG-CWA, was our chief negotiator. Ron Leong, an attorney, was management’s lead negotiator....

Ratings may be helpful during election periods .... 

Turnaround on vacant units was slow, adversely impacting families on the waiting list as well as rent collections. As of February 15, 2011, the authority had a total of 233 vacant units that either had pending maintenance work or were available for rent; overall, these units had been vacant an average of six months.

The meeting is on Saturday, June 18th at 1:00 PM at the Kona Vistas Pavilion.

 In 2010 we garnered 19% of the vote after having a vibrant campaign with less than $100,000 for advertising. But if each of our 38,439 voters had contributed ten bucks we would have had the funds for competitive advertising ....

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) took action to improve operations at its State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) and ensure federal compliance. The Department awarded a contract to Solutions Pacific, LLC to implement recommendations of the National Park Service’s Corrective Action Plan.  

In November of 2011, MMNA will launch the battery-powered electric vehicle Mitsubishi i ....

Leon Panetta, President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Defense, will go before the Senate tomorrow for questioning on how he would shepherd the department into the future. The American taxpayers deserve some answers from Panetta....

The economic news keeps getting worse for America. Last month, the unemployment rate went up to 9.1 percent, the economy added only 54,000 jobs, and the average length of unemployment rose to more than nine months, the longest since the Labor Department started keeping track in 1948.

In anticipation of the CIO’s arrival, OIMT has begun an assessment intended to provide an overview of technology across the state. OIMT selected Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to lead this assessment.

Upcoming celebrations include:

• June 8-9th – Annual ʻAha Na Kai ʻEwalu all-state Association of Hawaiian Evangelical Churches Conference Kaumakapili Church
• June 25th – Sanctuary Centennial Celebration 6pm-9pm – Sheraton Waikiki Resort Ballroom
• July 16th – 40th Annual Benefit Luʻau 8am-2pm – Kaumakapili Church

See the announcement . . .

The American Medical Group Association said a survey of its members found that 93 percent wouldn't enroll as ACOs in the main proposed Medicare program.

You irresponsibly abuse the public’s trust in your organization and their concern for the health of their loved ones by falsely claiming that USEPA has not set a standard for Cr VI in the drinking water and demanding that it do so. This is a blatant lie. ...  Any high school student with access to the internet could have determined this. Given that EWG has been working on this issue for years, I can’t believe that your staff is incompetent enough not to know this.

Ours is the greatest country. Not just our founding principles, but our history and our continued promise. Our freedoms, balance of majority rule and minority rights, inclusion of new peoples. It’s not always easy being an American. We make mistakes, get out of balance, rarely take a straight path to a better future. But our foundations are sound, we self-correct, and we have bettered our world at great sacrifice. By staying true to our principles and heritage in a changing world, we will prevail.

Freedom Rankings for Hawaii

• #47 Overall
• #46 Economic
• #43 Personal

The report was produced by the Hawaii State Data Center, a part of the Research and Economic Analysis Division of DBEDT, from data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2010 Redistricting Data ....

Arraignment and plea is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, 2011, at 8:30 a.m., in Courtroom 7C before the Honorable Randal Shintani.

 Recent Congressional Votes

• House: Debt Limit Increase
• House: Homeland Security Appropriations, FY 2012
• House: Use of Ground Forces in Libya
• House: Libya Troop Withdrawal

...because he had trouble entering the United States due to that country's Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the US immigration authorities decided to issue a document in 1904 that says Sun was born in Honolulu and has US citizenship....

“Where we are required to do sampling and have found that of those in our sample who can be identified, roughly 7% to 10% of them are not eligible. In an additional large number of cases, we are unable to receive information to make a determination. So it could be much greater.”

  Lets invite Al Gore to go skiing....

The Hawaii Department of Taxation is seeking an outside auditing firm to look at "systemic problems" with DoTax tax revenue reports.... 

The so called "Pacific Garbage Patch" was sampled by transit by Oregon State marine scientists, and NO plastic bags were either seen or recovered. The total plastic skimmed barely filled the bottom of a coffee cup, and consisted of fine particulates none of which were shown to be plastic bag origin.

This mission was a great success for the unit as well as for the Soldiers. Within battalion, more than two dozen Soldiers decided on continued service in the Army as they reenlisted and seven non-commissioned from the battalion were inducted into the highly esteemed Sergeant Audie Murphy Club for outstanding leadership achievements.

On rail, the current and previous city administration and city councils have shown anything but real leadership. Given the philosophy of government by polling at Honolulu Hale, we should get rid of the mayor's office and the city council. Instead, we could save a lot of money by just retaining a good polling company and have the polling firm lead our community.

The Democrat-controlled Illinois redistricting commission has apparently re-drawn the Illinois 8th Congressional District especially to include the home of Tammy Duckworth.

...Last month we were worrying that the always ambitious, always reactionary corporate shill, Ed Case, would get a free ride for the Senate seat he once tried to steal from Dan Akaka, a progressive who is now retiring....

...The grant will support initiatives proposed by Marc Alexander, the Governor’s Coordinator on Homelessness, including rapid housing and supportive services for people who are chronically homeless ....

...President Barack Obama is holding a victory party today at a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, trumpeting the only jobs he can manage to create—those bought and paid for directly by the U.S. taxpayer....

Hanabusa supported Speaker John Boehner’s resolution demanding that Obama seek approval of the war under the War Powers Act within 14 days.  Hanabusa also supported a resolution offered by Rep Dennis Kucinich demanding US withdrawal from Libya within 15 days.

Hirono opposed both resolutions, essentially agreeing that the President may go to war without Congressional approval. This position differs sharply with her loud opposition to the Iraq war under President Bush.

The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii Military Affairs Council and The Hawaii Institute For Public Affairs hosted a $35-a-ticket-event for the report co-sponsored by defense contractor BAE Systems yesterday.

• Ranked 1 for cleanest metropolitan areas in the country for Ozone
• Ranked 1 for cleanest metropolitan areas in the country for 24-hour particle pollution
• Ranked 4 for cleanest metropolitan areas in the country for annual particle pollution  

... the rating outlook will depend on the outcome of negotiations on deficit reduction. A credible agreement on substantial deficit reduction would support a continued stable outlook; lack of such an agreement could prompt Moody's to change its outlook to negative on the Aaa rating....

...there’s no opportunity for the Consumer Advocate to be a part of that process to say on behalf of the consumer, ‘We don’t believe that this rate increase is legitimate. We don’t believe you should authorize it.’ .... 

Last night, House Republican leadership postponed a vote on a measure to withdraw troops from Libya within 15 days. While many agree that entering the war was unwise, they are also fearful of making another rash move that could harm our national interest or leave our allies stranded.

The legislators state that..."all ten members of the nationally recognized Physician Group Practice (PGP) CMS demonstration project" have expressed reservations over the regulation ...(and)... a recent report from American Hospital Association estimated that ACO startup costs would be at least 10 times higher than costs cited in the proposed rule.

You’re hearing a lot of Democratic criticism about the Medicare budget proposal passed by the House of Representatives.

What you need to hear more about are the changes to Medicare already enacted as part of the Obama health care law.

Life of the Land has filed a Motion to Intervene in PUC Docket 2011-0112. The docket was opened so that HECO could acquire nearly $4M of ratepayer money for completed Big Wind studies. This is illegal. Rate recovery can only occur after acceptance of the Final EIS.

These projects are aimed at improving and/or constructing learning facilities and campus environments within the Department of Education and the University of Hawai'i....

...On June 15^th from 7pm to 9pm at the brand new Ewa Makai Middle School in Ewa Beach, Berg will host several guest presenters in order to facilitate the public being able to form an up-to-date understanding of what they can truly expect from the rail project....

Well, President Obama asked for it. And last night he got it in grand fashion—a “clean vote” on raising the nation’s debt limit, free of any of the desperately needed spending cuts that Americans are demanding, conservatives support, but liberals abhor.

DoD expenditures in Hawaii during FY 2007–2009 averaged $6.5 billion per year in 2009 dollars — $4.1 billion for personnel and $2.4 billion for procurement. These expenditures were associated with $12.2 billion worth of Hawaii's output — 18 percent of Hawaii's 2009 GDP — and 101,000 jobs.

After being hounded for years by charges of sexual harassment leveled against him by a former aide in a 2006 EEOC complaint, former Big Isle Council Chair and Mayoral candidate Stacy Higa has been named Executive Director of the Hawaii State Commission for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps programs in Hawaii.

Congresswomen Hirono and Hanabusa are clearly part of the problem in Washington and have offered no solutions other than spending more money. This vote alone is a good reason why Congresswoman Hirono does not deserve or belong in the U.S. Senate.

Stephen H. Fraser, President and Chief Executive Officer-- "We believe our current stock price and market capitalization reflect investor concern over our ability to achieve a long-term refinancing that deleverages the company and preserves equity. We are working to complete a successful refinancing which we hope will alleviate that concern and help us achieve higher market capitalization."