Greenmail

As Pacific Business News editorialized January 12, the Superferry opposition and obstruction, “continues to perplex us as yet another group of politicians, this time senators from Neighbor Islands, make noise….”

It was such a simple question. Debating earmarks on the Senate floor, John McCain demanded of Dan Inouye: "We're going to spend $2 million for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii….Why do we need $2 million to promote astronomy in Hawaii when unemployment is going up and the stock market is tanking?"

Reporters soon determined the $2 million was for the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo, Hawaii. But the usual liberally deficient commentators have proven completely unable to answer the question “why”?

Is the County of Hawai`i subject to secret agreements which direct the passage of future legislation? Is the Legislature? Did the plaintiffs get money?

Some may have thought this problem was settled when activists were given plum jobs at Hilo’s shiny new Imiloa Astronomy center, but shakedown is the foundation of Hawai`i’s so-called economy and when Dan Inouye plops a $1.2 billion money bag on the top of Mauna Kea, the grasping begins.

Ritte’s phony “Save La`au” campaign has been falsely portrayed as an anti-development battle, but in reality it is a battle between two competing developers each tied to a different government group. 

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

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.

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.

...That was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life....

This contradiction goes to the root of the bizarre political coalition Kona-side. People who were likely conservatives when they lived on the mainland are electing left-wing extremists to the Council. One of their first acts was to install Sierra Club attorney David Frankel as County Legislative Auditor. Frankel had selected Jack Kelly (now PKO Vice-President) as the Sierra Club’s employee to target the Hokulia development. Kelly is one of the four plaintiffs who have demanded $4 million in personal “compensation” from Hokulia according to documents released by Hokulia developer Oceanside 1250.

The Hokulia case is becoming a bald-faced attempt....