In Forbes magazine’s annual list of best states in which to do business, released July 31, Hawai`i jumped 10 spots to 27th place, compared to 37th in 2007 and 42nd in 2006. Of the six criteria taken into account, Hawai`i ranked fourth in the nation for economic climate and 10th for labor. This is a vast improvement from March 2002, when Forbes’ infamous article said doing business in Honolulu had “become nearly equivalent to suicide.”

In August, I helped launch a new after-school program at Hilo Intermediate School for students who are left alone and unsupervised once the school bell rings.

Usual suspects against telescope, Stop Bill 324, Fascist Takamine?, Tooo Stooopid to reelect Council, Kaua`i water victory, Marine Acquitted --- Injustice Remains, Against law to deny schooling, HSTA vs Con-Con

All the newspapers have missed the connections between convicted Pali shooter Ethan Malu Motta, his codefendants, and the incident at Shooters Bar and Grill....

Entrenched incumbents are relying on donations from corporations which do business with the state, lobbyists, political action committees (PACs) and labor unions. But unlike elections over the last few decades, these incumbents are facing well-funded challenges whose contributors include many fresh faces coming largely from within the electoral district.

Many Hawai`i County Council races will be decided in the September 20 primary election.

After years of thuggery and intimidation by Bob Jacobson’s Ka`u Preservation, Inc supporters, Council District 6 residents are fighting back....

All the peoples of Hawai’i need to awaken and realize that what the American Democratic Party was calling for – the need to have government insurance for all people – is the same thing that is happening today in Hawai’i; and it is failing!

We are at a crossroads of employment training here in our Hawai`i Public Schools. Our direction must follow more career technical training (vocational training) and secure the jobs that are coming online for our children.

Misinformation on Takamine Donors--Who is to judge?--Spaceport pipedream--Son kept out of school--Barack McGovern Obama--3rd in costs, 47th in rank--Finish the road already

Admitted Pali Golf Course shooter Ethan “Malu” Motta apparently had a lot of friends in Hilo—including politicians....

For thirteen years, Jim O’Keefe has delivered fresh-baked specialty breads to retail customers, restaurants and hotels on the Big Island. But the pressures which give Hawai`i a reputation as the nations’ worst business environment have taken their toll.

Sheep eradication has failed at affecting Palila numbers—but it sure has killed a lot of sheep.

Puna is one of the very few places in Hawai`i where young local families can afford to buy their own home and begin life as a family.  But environmentalists are working hard to put a stop to the inflow of locals and replicate the success they have had in making Maui and Kaua`i into exclusive havens for rich mainland transplants.

Our fifth annual conference is taking place Wednesday, September 24, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Waikīkī Hotel and Resort.

Since 80% of smokers start by the time they are age 18, prevention is the key.

The plastic bag ban has a certain lucrative logic to it. It turns out that plastic bags gum up plastic recycling machines and reduce the resale value of bundled used plastics. So what is the solution? Improve the recycling machines so they don’t become gummed up? No. Instead recycling companies are using their clout with City and County governments all over the world to impose plastic bag bans. They will inconvenience the public rather than improve their technology.

Puna doesn’t need CDP--Lay off the bureaucrats--Queen of the Tree People blocks WTE--Commission violates rules for HD24--The People’s Rights-- ‘Banana patch’ to be cleared for rail project?

Hawai`i state graduation rates were about 7 in 10 on O`ahu and 5 in 10 on the outer islands. Hawai`i has about 33 high school students dropping out each school day.

Bananas are more radioactive than depleted uranium. Tobacco, marijuana, chocolate, cocaine, heroin, and the human body all emit higher levels of gamma and beta radiation—the most powerful types-- than depleted uranium. Rather than being a radiation source, depleted uranium is used as a radiation shield used to block emissions from nuclear reactors.

It is unfashionable to believe these actions are the result of ideology, but the arrogant prologue to the Puna CDP should put all doubts to rest.

The same problems which are driving doctors out of Hawai`i are forcing cutbacks on services and staffing at the already under funded sister-island Hawai`i Health Services Corp hospitals and now the only privately-operated hospital in Hawai`i County—North Hawai`i Community Hospital.

Good factual information--Reading pleasure--Stopping School Closures--Political prostitutes--Where are the police when you need them?--Hele On the bus--A choice for Puna   

The June 30 deadline to implement the drug testing procedures required under the current HSTA contract has passed without action by the BoE. Recently, in a flurry of BOE meetings, it became apparent that the focus on safety of the children and adults in our school system takes a back seat.

The accountability-free DOE bureaucracy is “painfully aware” of nothing but its own perpetuation.

For two years in a row, hammered by demands for medical malpractice reform and demands to introduce more competition into the Hawaii medical insurance market, the Democratic caucus of the State legislature has delivered a flat “no!”

Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Governor Lingle said a May 22 letter from Ted Hong, requesting her to veto HB 2972 was one of the first opposition letters to the bill she received.

An ominous countdown clock is ticking louder and louder. How long until Israel attacks Iran to destroy the Islamic Republic’s budding atomic weapons program?

I believe convening a con con would be beneficial for the entire state by allowing residents an opportunity to be more directly involved in the decisions that govern them. For neighbor island residents, the potential benefits are even greater.

Over 250 Puna residents joined Fred Blas for a Maku`u Farmers Market June 21 kickoff rally launching his campaign for Puna’s House District 4 seat as a Republican.

Kona CDP ‘Picayune’--Council gets garbage right--Throw the bums out!--Waiawi: Bananas safe--Imagine the Vog--No-Drill Network  

Instead of cutting bureaucracy, Senators Lorraine Inouye and Roz Baker have a different solution—close down rural schools and sell them to developers. 

Kohala is one of the few Big Island schools not deemed ‘failing’ under “No Child Left Behind” standards.  Under formulas used by the Board of Education under Act 51, successful schools are often punished by budget cuts. Kohala HS will be losing $500,000 in funding for the 2009-10 school year.

Hawai`i’s lack of progress is not due to a lack of planning, but rather to, more than anything else, an excess.  Block anything that’s not in the plan.  So here comes even more rigid planning to lock in an imaginary future...

The Hawai`i Island Journal is closed.  Its last edition, published June 14, carried only a short notice of regret ...

Hawai`i Free Press assists four Big Island mayoral candidates with some suggestions for new campaign slogans:

Tougher laws against people who use the Internet to commit sexual acts against minors.

Akaka Reservation for Corporations--Special rights for terrorists--Tossed from graduation--Raining on the poor--Suing for Smoking--Bush Lincoln--Hawaiians recognized in US Constitution

Citizen--“But officer, officer, this is for my glaucoma.  I have a prescription!”
Officer—“Just because you put a few stems and seeds in there doesn’t make it legal.  I’d know the smell of tobacco anywhere.  Let’s go!  I’m taking you in.”

Councilmember and Mayoral candidate Angel Pilago has found a cause great enough to risk his candidacy - dope.  With Pilago joined by Brenda Ford, Emily Naeole, and Dominic Yagong, the County Council voted 4-4 not to accept $441,000 in federal funds offered to the Hawaii County police for “Green Harvest” marijuana eradication work.

Knife wielding goons demanded money from campers.  Public workers sleep through their shift.  Pavilions are filthy and littered with broken glass.

Leading Hawai‘i County “clean elections” advocates are caught up in a web of campaign spending violations and campaign-related conflict-of-interest charges.

Governor Linda Lingle seeks your input on veto decisions.

In a Feb­ru­ary 28, 2008 letter, Hon­orary Vice-Consul of Italy in Hawaii, Car­men Di Amore-Siah, purports to grant the Hawaii King­dom Gov­ern­ment group recognition by the Gov­ern­ment of Italy.

Molokai’s largest private employer is closing operations. With unemployment already at 7 percent, 120 more Molokai residents (on an island of just over 7,000 residents) are losing their jobs. In a state where politicians pretend to be obsessed with “saving agriculture,” cattle ranching will end on the 1/3 of the island owned by Molokai Ranch.

Convicted felons are being registered. Some jurisdictions propose allowing non-citizens to cast ballots in state and local elections. But are our soldiers voting?

...“Sovereignty is already happening now. We are educating our children.  What we have in front of us doesn’t work.”....

After nationalizing a Kauai poi factory in December, the state of Hawaii is considering collectivized agriculture. A bill before the Legislature’s House Committee on Health would establish a state farm on Maui -- to grow marijuana.

Red hot lava threatening Puna’s Royal Gardens subdivision opens yet another chapter in a long-running saga. A hui of elected officials and state and county engineers in 1961 bought the 1,807 acre site from the Bishop Estate (Kamehameha Schools) for $200,000 after easily obtaining preliminary approval to subdivide from the Hawaii County Planning Commission.