"Having worked with Lynn for many years as part of the Legislative Minority Caucus, I continue to be impressed by her bold and yet compassionate leadership. Her work, characterized by her willingness to collaborate in a bipartisan way, has been an asset to the Legislature and to the people of Hawai'i. As our next Lt. Governor, I am confident Lynn Finnegan will continue the strong, balanced leadership we need on the 5th floor."

WASHINGTON: The university from where Law Minister Babar Awan claims to have done his PhD is banned in the United States from issuing any degree and cannot even claim that it is a legal educational institution.

Long before the dispute over fake degrees became a political issue in Pakistan, the Circuit Court of the First Circuit in the State of Hawaii, declared that the University of Monticello was a non-recognised and non-chartered university....

HONOLULU - At the close of three days of intense international competition, a team of five students from Hanalani School in Mililani were named the tournament champions of the International Botball Tournament held in Edwardsville, Illinois. 

Competing among 64 teams from around the globe, including Kuwait, Poland, and teams from across the United States, Hanalani’s team was undefeated as they entered the final rounds of competition and finished number one in the seeding rounds. 

“We made a pledge to fill every open seat this year and we are very close to it with just about seven days left before the filing deadline,” said Dylan Nonaka, Executive Director of the Hawaii Republican Party.  “We have a lot of people working on recruiting quality candidates and are making every effort to challenge every race.  This is going to be an exciting year for Republicans in Hawaii.”

From question #7:

“HSTA opposes any legislation to provide public funds for tax subsidies (tax credits, tax deductions) or vouchers for private education, religious or home school expenses, or inclusion of vouchers within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).”

Entertainment Newsweekly's lead story is "Memoir and Screenplay about Racism in Hawaii in Pre-Development." The publication is reporting that the memoir and movie are being written by award-winning journalist and media executive C.W. Henderson. Entertainment Newsweekly reports that the projects, now in pre-development, have a working title of "Yale is God," and that the title comes from the themes of the memoir and movie, which focus not only on racism, but also on religion, relationships, and redemption.

  DSA's Democratic Left Nov./Dec. 1990, page 4

Duke Aiona - Incredibly smart, focused on the key issues, and displayed by far the greatest knowledge on those issues. He also would be the most effective on fixing K-12, if he could get the necessary legislation through. Duke is a superb & impressive candidate.

In his almost 50 years in the United States Senate, Daniel Inouye has become perhaps the strongest Senate proponent of government spending. As the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee he controls how our tax dollars are spent—literally, the buck stops with him.  However, through his earmarks and other support for federal spending, he has not hesitated to shower special interests with our hard-earned tax dollars.

Our loss has been Sen. Inouye’s gain.  A recent study by Taxpayers for Common Sense found no other U.S. Senator received more campaign contributions from earmark beneficiaries than Inouye.

As Senator Inouye and his cohorts in Congress continue to pile up debt that our children and grandchildren will be forced to repay in the future, their spendthrift ways are sucking the oxygen out of the economy today. Unless and until they are brought to heel, Americans’ standard of living will continue to decline. Prosperity has never been built on debt.

Testimony will be accepted at the end of the Council calendar.  The meeting is this Wednesday 7/14/2010 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at City Council Chambers in Honolulu Hale (530 South King Street.) As this is the last item on the agenda, Council will probably not hear testimony until after 2:00 p.m.

When California voters approved Prop 8 outlawing gay marriage, gay activists exploded in a display of blind racial hatred directed at blacks.  Is Hawaii’s smug gaggle of “conscious, enlightened, progressives” now taking a page from the same hateful playbook?  

Walid Shoebat, ex-PLO member, will be speaking at the Sunday, July 11, services at Calvary Chapel of Honolulu (8:30am, 10:45am, and 6:00pm).  The public is invited.

Calvary Chapel of Honolulu is located in Aiea, on Komo Mai Drive.  LINK>>> Google map

Holomua Elementary School, Mililani High School, Pearl Ridge Elementary School, Kawananakoa Middle School

The Finnegan campaign signs were hung near several Duke Aiona campaign banners, which were also taken prior to the start of the parade. Each sign was hung only after receiving explicit permission from the respective home owners or occupants. When one home owner was asked what happened to the signage, they responded that persons approached their door claiming to be from the Finnegan campaign and they would be taking down the banner.

“80% of our homeless here in our city are good people who are facing hardship and most likely will get back on their feet in one to six months,” Prevedouros says.  “We need to take care of them and their children. This includes shelter, health care, food, schooling and retraining-  but with strict monitoring and follow up so they are enabled to return to society, instead of becoming accustomed to a parasitic and outcast lifestyle.”

Here are some Video clips from a public town hall on Tuesday, July 9 at Ahuimanu Elementary School hosted by Rep. Jessica Wooley (D-47 Laie to Kaneohe) with special guests Rep. Pono Chong, Rep. Ken Ito and Rep. Marcus Oshiro.  During the town hall meeting, Rep. Wooley put her hands on an attendee in an attempt to make her stop filming the public forum she was holding as a public official on public property. 

Wooley apparently believes that she can determine whether a video will be “used for political purposes” and if so she can shut down the videographer.  No transparency or accountability here; just another politically correct wanna-be dictator with an attitude of superiority.

In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.  They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011....

We have until July 20, 2010 to recruit Republicans to run for office. We've put out radio and Facebook ads and a You Tube recruitment video that have generated dozens of qualified and exciting candidates. 

We only have 10 more districts to go before we fill the ballots with Republican candidates....

The debate surrounding the redefinition of marriage in Hawaii centers on the nature of family and its role as “a prime institution in civil society.” According to Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Chuck Donovan, the “family is not the creature of the state” but is “both natural and pre-political” in its origins. As such, the consequences of a redefinition for the whole of the state are weighty. A change of this magnitude should not “be made by one person sitting in her office or by members of the Majority Party,” but, as Governor Lingle suggests, “by all the people of Hawaii.”

USA Today reported that Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations that exist both in government and the private sector. Instead of taking the news as an opportunity to save taxpayers money, the Obama administration pushed back against the news and dispatched Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag to defend government employee pay. Orszag told reporters: "I think the key thing to remember about that is the federal workforce is more highly educated than the private workforce. ... Basically the entire delta between private sector and public sector federal government average pay can be explained by education and experience." The problem is, this is just not true.

 In order to uphold righteousness for our land, we now need to exercise our civic and kuleana responsibility to VOTE. The Lord has provided us this “victory” but we must take responsibility to be salt and light to this community.

“I am very glad the Akaka Bill will be amended to reflect the State’s concerns,” Governor Lingle stated.  “I have assured Senators Akaka and Inouye that I will strongly support a bill with the changes described above, and will write to Senators of both parties expressing my support.  I sincerely hope the bill will become law in 2010.”

Last December, Neil Abercrombie passed a previous immunity-free version of the Akaka Bill as a Trojan Horse to get through the House Committee on Natural Resources.  He then amended the bill by substitution on the House floor.  Would Akaka pass a no-immunity version through the Senate and then use the House-Senate Conference Committee to change it back?  Of course he would—everything about the underhanded and secretive way the new version of Akaka Bill was created shows that is possible. 

"I am committed to seeing this process through as Governor."

Now, Djou enters a new stage in his political career: embattled incumbent. After easily winning a three-way special election in the more conservative -- but still dang Democratic -- House district in a May 22 special election, Djou enters an abbreviated 2010 reelection campaign as one of a handful of deeply endangered GOP incumbents.

That's just fine with him, and nobody will accuse Djou of being ill-prepared. "The only way I know how to campaign is running a race where I'm down by two points and closing in," he said in a recent interview with the Fix.

Lambda Legal and the ACLU had readied a lawsuit after the House tabled HB 444 in January.   The Hawai`i Senate had previously approved the bill by a veto-proof 18 to 7 majority and sent it back to the House for a conforming vote.

“We’re obviously disappointed that Governor Lingle has, once again, used her power to deny the people of Hawai`i their civil rights” said Laurie Temple, Staff Attorney for the ACLU.  “Luckily for the people of Hawai`i, however, our constitution prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation.  If the Governor won’t honor her oath to uphold the constitution, the courts will.”

“I am very encouraged by the Governor’s veto of HB2377, a bill that would have forced future governors to nominate individuals for the Board of Education from a list submitted by an advisory committee. 

“This bill served only to further fragment the leadership and accountability in Hawai‘i’s education system.  As I have stated for years, much of Hawai‘i’s public education challenges arise because there is no clear line of accountability between the Board of Education, the governor and the legislature." 

“Democrat legislators pushed to bring this bill back to life on the last day of the legislative session, but where are those arrogant legislators today?  Speaker Calvin Say is afraid to call a special session because his unstable rule over the House of Representatives is in jeopardy and he wants to avoid an attempt by dissident Democrats to overthrow him."

When Linda O’Boyle was diagnosed with bowel cancer, her doctors told her she could boost her chances of survival by adding the drug cetuximab to her regimen. But the rationing body for Britain's National Health Service, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), had previously ruled that the drug was not cost-effective and therefore would not be paid for by the government. So O'Boyle liquidated her savings and paid for the drug herself. But this is not allowed under NHS rules. When government bureaucrats found out that O'Boyle had purchased the drug with her own money, she was denied NHS treatment and died within months.

We are truly grateful for Gov. Linda Lingle’s veto today of HB 444. Her decision came after a thoughtful and balanced study of the bill and its consequences and we are convinced she has come to the proper and only conclusion that will best serve the people of Hawaii.

Her veto affirms the will of Hawaii citizens. In 1998, seventy percent of Hawaii voters ratified a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man or one woman. A 2009 survey by SMS Research found that 66 percent agreed with that vote more than a decade later.

"As I have always said, this issue will persist as long as lawmakers continue to keep the public from deciding whether marriage should be between a man and a woman.  

"If elected Governor, I will propose a constitutional amendment on this issue so the people can define marriage once and for all."

Now that the governor has decided the fate of House Bill 444, I firmly support steps to let the people of Hawaii have the final say on an issue that has generated passionate perspectives. 

But in the end, it wasn’t the persuasiveness of public debates, the soundness of legal arguments, or the volume of letters and emails that convinced me to reach this decision. It was the depth of emotion felt by those on both sides of the issue that revealed to me how fundamental the institution of marriage is to our community. It is as fundamental to those who support marriage between two people of the same gender as it is to those who support marriage only between one man and one woman.

This is a decision that should not be made by one person sitting in her office or by members of the Majority Party behind closed doors in a legislative caucus, but by all the people of Hawaii behind the curtain of the voting booth.       

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today vetoed 32 bills that would adversely impact Hawai‘i residents and businesses, would be detrimental to public policy and would hinder efforts to expand the economy and create jobs.

Governor Lingle will announce the bills she is vetoing at a news conference at 3PM in Executive Chambers.  Meanwhile Hawaii Family Forum today sent out an email message stating: “We are hearing that members of the House are getting strong pressure from proponents to hold a special session.” 

Speaker Calvin Say announced today that the House will not convene a Special Session to override any of the Governor’s VETOs. Unless both houses agree to meet there can be no special session and there will be none on July 6. Praise the Lord! Now the decision rests squarely with the Governor.

Therefore, we will not be gathering at 9:00 a.m. to fill the House gallery but instead, will gather for prayer on the fifth floor, at noon in front of the Governor’s office, regardless of her decision.

Remember 9/11. Remember Katrina. Remember Haiti. Often, after a disaster of epic proportions, we are urged to remember the victims and the lessons of how to avoid a similar catastrophe. These reminders are necessary because after the moment of impact passes, people’s attention is drawn to other major events. Rarely ever, however, is the phrase used while the crisis continues unabated; while the administration that the media needs to hold accountable flounders in a sea of ineptitude, red tape and finger pointing.

Yes, we’re talking about the Gulf oil spill. It may be the first time in U.S. history that a president and the national media’s attention need to be refocused on a crisis while it is still, in fact, underway. Remember the Gulf.

Koko Head Elementary School--Kaimuki High School--Noelani Elementary School--McKinley High School

The American experiment with democracy began 234 years ago with the enduring words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Those words remain a profound statement of our natural rights. And to this day, the United States of America is the freest and most prosperous nation in the world. The success of our nation is a testament to the timeless vision of our Founding Fathers.

The people of Hawai`i want our state to be more self-sufficient; they want to be more independent.

I believe that to be a true leader, innovation, entrepreneurship and stewardship need to be fostered, nurtured and rewarded.

It is not enough to encourage today’s citizens and businesses to innovate and think big. Public officials have to do the same.

The American Dream is based upon our liberty and opportunity to flourish. It is the hope of all to build a prosperous future, and we can achieve it right here in these islands.

As a practical matter, the Declaration of Independence publicly announced to the world the unanimous decision of the American colonies to declare themselves free and independent states, absolved from any allegiance to Great Britain. But its greater meaning-then as well as now-is as a statement of the conditions of legitimate political authority and the proper ends of government, and its proclamation of a new ground of political rule in the sovereignty of the people.

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle has released $10,000,000 to the University of Hawai‘i for renovations to Hawai‘i Community College’s Manono Campus in East Hawai‘i and development of the University of Hawai‘i Center at West Hawai‘i’s new campus at Palamanui.

Once again Hawaii may be saved from the immune-from-prosecution rump Akaka Tribe by Republican US Senators from other states.  With Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) dead and buried, and sometime Akaka Bill supporter Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) facing strong opposition in the August 24 Alaska GOP Primary, Sen Akaka finds himself short on votes and short on time.   

Fiscal Year 2011 started yesterday in most states, and some saw the imposition of tax increases passed in previous legislative sessions. Hawaii, of course, is among them. The Aloha State, already sporting the nation's sixth-highest per capita tax burden, decided to ignore its overspending problem and steal more money from the private sector.

The tax increases implemented yesterday include...

You and I have a great opportunity to help usher in the next generation of leaders to represent Hawai`i in Washington, D.C. We have worked together to help Charles Djou reach victory and now we have a second chance to win the other district (District 2-Rural Oahu and Neighbor Islands) with my friend, Ramsay Puanani Wharton.

Events in MAKAWAO, HILO, WAIMEA, WAIKOLOA, KONA .... 

When families around our state woke up this morning, they were met with reports in the newspaper, on television and on radio about the new legislation which takes effect today, the vast majority of which are new taxes and fees on Hawai‘i residents. 

Washington, DC — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) issued the following statement after signing on as an original co-sponsor to H.R. 5658, the “Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership (SKIL) Act,” a bill that would make it easier to attract and keep the best minds from around the world....