November 15, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Monday, November 15, 2010

November 15, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:17 PM :: 5941 Views

VIDEO: Bishop Estate refuses to negotiate lease with Kamilonui Valley farmers

Marumoto challenges latest Gensiro Kawamoto scheme

Redrawing District Boundaries One Consequence of Election

Once every decade, those consequences include the power to redraw the boundaries for both chambers of the Hawaii Legislature as well as the state's two congressional districts in light of new population data from the U.S. Census.

(4 Republicans appointed by House and Senate Minority leaders and 4 Dems appointed by majority leaders. Plus one appointed by a six person vote of the eight. In 2012 all 25 Senate seats will be up for election and House and senate district lines as well as Council lines will be different. Also at stake, CD1 and CD2 boundaries. CD1 is expected to grow geographically to make up for population growth in CD2. This could help Charles Djou in 2012.)

Hawaii State constitution: http://hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart4.html

National Journal: 2012 Hawaii Senate race to be top GOP priority

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle (R) has vowed to take a six-month rest after she leaves office. But once she completes that sojourn, she's promised to take a look at running against Sen. Daniel Akaka (D). Getting Lingle into the 2012 Senate race will be a top priority for National Republican Senatorial Committee strategists, and we're sure NRSC chair John Cornyn (R-Texas) will be on a flight to Hawaii before 2011 is up.

Hawaii Legislative Agenda for elderly: Legal dope and assisted suicide

Obama video: “Maybe your better off not having the surgery but taking the pain pill.”

Continued political apathy by Millennials coupled with the eventual dying off of the Traditionalist generation (those born between 1925 and 1945) could leave boomers as the deciding voice on issues that have festered for decades. For example, some observers believe the boomers' more liberal stance on drugs may lead to eventual legalization of marijuana for more than just medical purposes. (Typical UHM leftist prof. Jim) Dator said boomers also may be willing to consider legalizing assisted suicide as they face their own mortality.

"Assisted suicide will be more of an issue as a larger senior population considers quality of life," Dator said. "If life is not worth living, many will want to die with dignity. The financial burden of taking care of the elderly -- end of life is a major expense -- could make society more willing to say OK." (So aging hippies just aren’t worth the expense? They weren’t worth the expense when they were younger either, but we were more merciful to them then than their leaders are today.)

Whatever issues prove most unifying for the boomers, the impact of their political action will, by virtue of their numbers, be widely felt.

AARP Hawaii director Barbara Kim Stanton (also joins the chorus of progressives claiming ownership of these voters) said the boomers are already a uniquely potent political force in Hawaii. Progressive in their politics (fantasy) yet increasingly protective of the assets they have worked to accrue (reality), they take a pragmatic, community-minded approach to political issues, she said….

Stanton said those with ample financial resources will be able to determine their own destiny, while those who do not (the majority, according to U.S. Census data) will face difficult choices in how and where they will be able to live. (And so we must “voluntarily” euthanize the poor?)

Such a grim scenario is likely (not) to mobilize boomers to act collectively and demand that lawmakers make the accommodations necessary to assure their dignity, liberty and survival. (Not really, but if we claim that it will happen, maybe we can substitute for an actual protest rally.)

"We're talking about 1 in every 4 people who is going to be part of this group," Stanton said (effectively pretending to have just held a protest rally of 100,000 people). "Just by virtue of their numbers, anything they do is going to have an impact. "We can see the aging tsunami," she said, "and it's coming this January." (Uhhh, you mean when the Legislature convenes?)

Also: Graying of Hawaii

Elderly Fraud Cases In Hawaii Exploding: Cases Increase 110% Within Last 2 Years

"If you look at the numbers from two years ago versus this year, we've seen over 110 percent increase in cases," said Scott Spallina, deputy city prosecutor.

Last year there were 559 cases of fraud statewide, according to the Department of Human Services Adult Protective Services. Four-hundred-forty-two of them involved victims 60 years old and older.

Honolulu's new prosecutor, Keith Kaneshiro, plans to expand the elder crime unit, headed up by Spallina.

"They say domestic violence is a very under reported crime," said Spallina. "Elderly abuse is even more under reported."

Job applications for Abercrombie administration due Monday

Applications are due on his website Monday. To find jobs listings for the Abercrombie administration, click HERE. (And get in line behind Clayton Hee, Gary Hooser, and Dr. Kevorkian.)

Shapiro turns Kamilonui Valley into argument for tax hike

I know there’s no direct connection between the two stories, but it leaves a bad taste when a multi-billion-dollar trust that expects an awful lot of slack on taxes it could easily afford refuses to give any slack at all to honest, hardworking farmers who can’t afford higher levies of the magnitude Kamehameha Schools is demanding.

The inevitable outcome if the hardball succeeds is that the farmers will be driven off the land and another piece of green Hawai‘i will be lost to development.

This is an example of public good worthy of enormous tax breaks?

(Who will be suckered by this argument. Obviously it is aimed directly at one of the core areas of anti-tax increase sentiment-East Oahu.)

KGMB: VIDEO of protest

Vote to hike Hawaii County debt set Wednesday

Hawaii County could add up to $56 million to its $291.4 million debt under a loan-authorization bill the County Council will likely pass during its meeting Wednesday in Keauhou.
Borrowing that amount would have the county owing nearly as much ($347.6 million) as it plans to spend this fiscal year ($375.9 million) running local government.

Young Bros mobilizes flunkeys to protect monopoly

Hawaii residents -- especially on the neighbor islands -- will soon be impacted by a development that has been largely under the radar: an impending drastic change in the rules governing interisland cargo. (blablablabla)

Why are we worried? Interisland barge service will get much more expensive, service frequency will probably be reduced to all neighbor islands, and some unprofitable routes -- think Molokai and Lanai -- might even lose service altogether. This will raise the cost of living and, worse, hurt neighbor island farmers, businesses, workers and consumers -- in other words, everybody. (blablablabla)

Most of our neighbor island cargo depends on Young Brothers. During the LCL (less than container load) hearings a few years ago relating to Kahului Harbor, the range of businesses dependent upon Young Brothers was apparent. Young Brothers is regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. The PUC authorizes schedules and rates. (blablablabla)

(Those who oppose the Jones Act should be stepping up to defend competition in inter-island shipping.)

Ethics Complaints Up at Honolulu Hale

City ethics complaints have nearly tripled in the past three years, and the city ethics chief said it’s not clear what caused the spike. In fiscal year 2008, the Honolulu Ethics Commission investigated 31 complaints. Last year, it investigated 91.

Number of North Korean defectors to South Korea tops 20,000

SEOUL, South Korea — The number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea has surged in recent years because of economic suffering in the North, with more than 10,000 defections over the past three years, South Korea's government said Monday.

About as many North Koreans have defected to the South since the end of 2007 as the number who had fled over the entire previous period since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, the Unification Ministry said in a statement. The overall total stands now at 20,050.

(This means the end is coming for socialism in NK.)

Judges cite 'Kill Haole Day': After a court rejects anonymity for plaintiffs suing Kamehameha Schools, the dissents note racism

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a brief order last week denying a request by the four for a rehearing on the issue of whether they may anonymously pursue a lawsuit contesting the schools' preferential policy for students with Hawaiian blood.

But attached to the ruling were lengthy dissents and a defense of the decision that are rare for orders on rehearing requests.

Chief Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski and Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote strongly worded dissents, referring to "Kill Haole Day" at Hawaii's schools and arguing the four would be endangered in a "racially charged environment."

Three other judges defended the order, pointing out that, historically, the names of juveniles in significant civil rights cases have been disclosed….

In dissent, Kozinski quoted anonymous online remarks saying the students "would have to watch their backs for the rest of their lives." If similar threats were made against him or his family, he would call U.S. marshals, he wrote.

"No litigant should fear for his safety, or that of his family, as a condition of seeking justice," he wrote.

Kozinski agreed with Reinhardt, who wrote a separate dissent that described Hawaii has a "racially charged environment."

"In recent years, Hawaii has endured a spate of anti-Caucasian violence," he wrote. "The last day in Hawaiian schools, for example, has long been known as 'Kill Haole Day,' with white students - 'haoles' - targeted for harassment and physical abuse."….

(If the progressives succeed in transforming white people into another oppressed nationality, then everybody will be a socialist.)

Another part of this effort: SPLC: Prejudice in Paradise, Hawaii Has a Racism Problem

SA: Ailing Akaka Bill inexcusable

Gov. Linda Lingle supported Hawaiian sovereignty but opposed controversial changes that were included in a bill approved by the House in February. U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka had not informed Lingle about the changes, patterned after Native American laws and granting sovereignty before instead of after negotiations with the state and federal governments on land use and cultural issues. (Note: This entire editorial was written without using the words “Neil Abercrombie” even once.)

Not until July did Akaka, for whom the bill is named, and U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye agree to remove the House-approved changes from the Senate's version of the bill. Lingle then promptly sent letters to all senators renewing her support of the Senate bill. If the Senate were to approve the form of the bill supported by Lingle, that version would need to be sent back to the House for enactment….

Delays causing Hawaiian sovereignty to move to the back of the line at this late date are excuses, not reasons, after a full decade of debate. Akaka should realize that they will haunt him in two years, when he says he will run for reelection to a six-year term at age 88, possibly against Lingle, who says she is considering such a candidacy.

(The goal here is to cast Lingle’s candidacy as a chance to save the Akaka Bill. In reality, the Akaka Bill is dead, and the swarms of corrupt operators around OHA and CNHA are going to have to find honest work.)

REALITY: Inouye: “Odds of passing the Akaka Bill are bad” (This is the article the SA editors are playing catch-up with)

Hobbled Dems, eager GOP back for lame-duck session

Republicans are looking ahead to January, when they will take back control of the House; many Democratic lawmakers and staff are more focused on cleaning out their desks and looking for new jobs.

Democrats also have the sad occasion of seeing one of their most venerable members go on trial on ethics charges. The House ethics committee opened the trial Monday of 80-year-old Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the former Ways and Means Committee chairman charged with 13 counts of financial and fundraising misconduct violating House rules.

In an indication of how far the 20-term lawmaker has fallen, Rangel told the four Republicans and four Democrats on the jury that he had run out of money to pay his previous attorney and asked that the trial be postponed until he could get a new lawyer. His request was denied.

High on the agenda for the lame-duck Congress: Lawmakers must act before year's end on expiring Bush-era tax cuts to protect millions of people from significant tax increases. Congress failed to pass even a single annual spending bill this year, and funds are needed to keep federal agencies financed and avoid a government shutdown. Doctors, meanwhile, face a crippling cut in Medicare reimbursements.

Democrats still command sizable majorities in the House and Senate and have other ambitions for the lame-duck session. Most will go unfulfilled.

There are efforts to give Social Security recipients a $250 check to make up for no cost-of-living increase next year; to extend unemployment benefits; to allow gays to serve openly in the military; to ratify a nuclear weapons reduction treaty with Russia; and to extend government oversight of food safety.

Congress will be in session for a week, break for Thanksgiving week and return on Nov. 29. Lawmakers will continue until they complete their work or give up.

(The words “Akaka Bill” appear nowhere in this article.)

Brainwashing: UH Hilo Diversity Committee sponsors a Diversity Symposium

Diversity Symposium on February 16, 2011 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in Campus Center 301 and UCB 127. The committee is seeking presentations from faculty, students and community members that facilitate discussion about research, papers, projects or performances that address the symposium theme: “Diversity: Sustainability, Social Justice, and Health.”

To apply as a symposium presenter, send a one-page submission describing the presentation, desired learning outcomes, and the amount of time requested to Becker at beckerc@hawaii.edu by December 15.

(This could be very amusing. Who has the stuff to get themselves on the stage and transform this into an exercise in self-satire with the unwitting Gramscians?)