World News

'I used to go to their house. He had two wives, one spoke Arabic, and the other one spoke Urdu. They had three children, a girl and two boys. They gave me two rabbits. They had installed a camera at the outer gate so they could see people before they entered the house,' Zarar Ahmed said....

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed spent most of 1994 plotting to blow up or hijack 12 airplanes carrying about 4,000 passengers bound for Honolulu and 11 other locations as part of Operation Bojinka, based in Manila, Philippines.  He would later use operational experienced gained from his Bojinka failure to mastermind 9-11.

Now Hawaii's two Senators have voted to help spring Mohammed from detention at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba. 

Zawahiri...has a record "of alienating his colleagues, fighting over dogma, even within the Islamist movement," said journalist Steve Coll. "And as a communicator, he is less effective. His books are turgid and dogmatic." During a recent online chat with fellow jihadists, Zawahiri sounded "defensive and argumentative. He sounded unappealing as a leader."

In the hours after the official announcement of Osama bin Laden's death, jihadi forums and extremist websites have been flooded with a mix of responses. Although some jihadists have welcomed the martyrdom of one of their greatest leaders, others have condemned America or appear to be in damage control mode.

... despite a few early skirmishes — including the one that cost the English explorer his life — the people who preceded the Europeans to the so-called "Sandwich Isles" by at least a thousand years generally had good relations with the British empire....

Kaho'ohanohano, just 21, hailed from Hawaii. He left his home in Maui to fight with Company H, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy in the vicinity of Chupa-ri, Korea, on Sept. 1, 1951.

…And another immigration memo, from June 1964, records that Harvard officials were trying "to get rid of him" and "couldn't seem to figure out how many wives he had."….

...at the same time our society is becoming more pluralistic on questions of basic morality, the government continues to intrude more than ever in both public and private areas of social life....

The HTA forecasts moderate growth in total scheduled nonstop air seats to Hawaii in the second quarter .....

...right now, our main concern is for the Japanese people and helping them recover from this tragedy. We encourage others to join us in supporting the 'Aloha for Japan' fundraising efforts....

In February, 2010, GAO was asked by eight members of Congress representing Hawaii, Arkansas, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa to review issues related to the migration of citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands(RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of Palau (ROP) to the U.S....

  Senator Dick Durbin Visits Mosque Foundation

In the current Libya crisis...leadership has come from the president… of France.

Full Tilt Poker, one of the world’s top Internet poker sites—and potentially a key beneficiary of SB755--is now under Federal investigation for money laundering.

 The assumption that political and social progress will increasingly marginalize religion has dominated many academic circles. However, data on religious belief and practice in the U.S. and around the world defy that theory.

 Do our Senators and Representatives support President Obama’s decision to take action against Qaddafi without congressional approval?  Do they support full regime change or some other limited action?  If they oppose military action, why have they been silent?

Kucinich quotes Obama: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation which does not involve stopping an actual or imminent attack on the nation.”

In 2004 Kucinich won 27% of Hawaii Democrats Caucus Vote....

• Senate: Additional Continuing Appropriations, 2011
• House: Additional Continuing Appropriations, 2011
  House: NSP Termination Act
  House: NPR Federal Funding Ban
  House: Afghanistan Withdrawal resolution

The problem is that these operations by themselves will not be decisive in either eliminating the regime or fully protecting civilians.

...we're currently engaged in what we believe is one of the biggest natural and man-made disasters that we'll face in our lifetime....

Two wars, about to start a third, plus a disaster in Japan...and Obama?  He's headed for Rio de Janero, Brazil....

He went on, “If you take a look at what’s on her plate as compared with what’s on the plates of previous Secretary of States — there’s more going on now at this particular moment, and it’s like playing sports with a bunch of amateurs. And she doesn’t have any power. She’s trying to do what she can to keep things from imploding.”

The Worldwide Leader In Sports could tape his picks for the 2011 NCAA basketball tournament. The President picked all frontrunners. Good for him. Meanwhile, 5,000 miles away, a Libyan rebel defending the town of Ajdabiya from Muammar Qadhafi loyalists told The Washington Post: "These politicians are liars. They just talk and talk, but they do nothing."

Hawaii presents the most decisive defeat for assisted suicide and euthanasia to date. According to Schadenberg, opponents from the Christian and disabled communities testified so convincingly before the legislature’s Health Committee that it defeated the measure unanimously.

Those interested in making a contribution to the Japan-Hawaii Relief Fund may do so at any First Hawaiian Bank branch through March 31, 2011.

4 March 2011 - The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International protests the detention of writers Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, who were among around 10 journalists and writers arrested early yesterday morning (3 March 2011) following police raids on their homes and offices.

An email sent in June 2008 with regard to teachers who were late in making the paybacks reads: "Brother Veli wants to have all the “salary returns."  And he says to withhold future salaries from those who have not made them."

More incriminating still is an email dated June 13, 2007...which recommends "increasing the number of teachers from Turkey ... to acquire more money."

We'd have to check the archives to see if the Honolulu City Council ever did issue a condemnation of Mao Tse-tung for the genocide of Chinese people back when the cultural revolution, the great leap forward and all that stuff took place. 

During 2010 most Kona coffee went to Afghanistan , where it was very highly welcomed and appreciated.  Some also went to the P.I. and now here at the end of the year I am once again sending Kona coffee to the 25th Infantry Division folks who have recently deployed to Camp Liberty, Iraq.

The future role of the Muslim Brotherhood remains uncertain. The Brotherhood, a fundamentalist Sunni movement, seeks to spread Islamic law throughout the world. Its members have indicated a desire to revoke Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and increase support for Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu responded to a question about the situation in Egypt, saying: "Certainly any disruption in the Middle East means a partial disruption in the oil we import. It’s a world market and [a disruption] could actually have real harm of the price. The best way America can protect itself against these incidents is to decrease our dependency on foreign oil, in fact to diversify our supply." This is a nice sentiment. Unfortunately, everything the Obama Administration is doing is only increasing our dependence on foreign sources of oil.

It isn’t the first time around for Roger Dale Stockman, arrested in the parking lot of a Dearborn, Michigan mosque last week.  Stockman, allegedly caught with illegal fireworks after making threats against Arabs at a Dearborn bar, has a long criminal and psychiatric record.  At least two of his previous federal arrests involved threats.  In 1985 he was sent to a Federal Prison psychiatric ward after placing a pipe bomb in the Reno, NV airport.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Honolulu has returned a 10-count superseding indictment charging defendants Joseph Knoller and Bruce Schwartz, both of Los Angeles, as co-conspirators in a scheme to hold 400 Thai nationals in compelled service as agricultural workers in the District of Hawaii and elsewhere.

It's been called the Great Garbage Patch and "the most shocking thing" Oprah has ever seen: a massive island of plastic in the Pacific Ocean that, according to many reports, is twice the size of Texas, outnumbers plankton, and has killed millions of sea birds.

But many of those claims, according to a new analysis, are huge exaggerations. Others are downright false.

Implicit in Mr. Gates’s five-year assessment was the possibility that the North could soon solve one of its biggest technological hurdles: manufacturing a warhead small enough to fit atop a missile….

Threats of libel actions in UK courts were used to silence coverage of the financial connection between Barack Obama, Tony Rezko, and Iraqi ex-Baathist billionaire and lifelong Saddam Hussein associate Nadhmi Auchi during the 2008 campaign.  Hawai’i Free Press was one of the few news sources anywhere on Earth willing to defy the threats. 

Did you know that an idealistic U.S. diplomat disobeyed his Washington superiors early in World War II and saved 2,500 Jews in southern France, before Nazis could ship them to death camps?

Several ... American businesses were permitted to deal with foreign companies believed to be involved in terrorism or weapons proliferation. In one such case, involving equipment bought by a medical waste disposal plant in Hawaii, the government was preparing to deny the license until an influential politician intervened....

So now that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) has filed for cloture, is Tuesday’s vote a foregone conclusion? No.

“I welcome the GAO’s decision to audit the federal funds that go to the COFA. I have been vocally calling for reforming this treaty throughout my campaign and time in Congress – this is a good first step."

The GAO is in the “design phase” of preparing the audit plan. US Interior Department official Tom Bussanich, who was in Majuro last week for the Development Partners Meeting, said GAO officials had an “entrance conference” with him last month to start the audit process.

When I was a mere eight-year-old boy I was sexually abused for an entire year of my childhood life. In addition to the horrific abuse my abuser took child porn photographs of me and had me develop them at his apartment.

He put his hand on my shoulder and said “wouldn’t your mother like a copy.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is set to award the Nobel Peace Prize this Friday to author and 1989 Tiananmen protest participant Liu Xiaobo. But Liu will not attend. He is currently serving an 11-year sentence for co-authoring the Charter 08 manifesto calling for protection of human rights, comprehensive political reforms, and a democratic government in China.

HONOLULU – One hundred and twelve teams of middle and high school robotics students from Hawai‘i, California, Nevada and China put their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to the test for the past three days in a friendly, spirited competition that pitted robots against robots, and showcased students’ ingenuity, teamwork and ability to think analytically under pressure.

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle announced today that the leading tour operator in China, China Youth Travel Services Holding (CYTS), intends to offer special flights that will bring visitors from China to Hawai‘i for the celebration of the 2011 Chinese New Year. 

A press release from the University of Hawaii at Manoa on November 24, 2010 announced the results of a computer study by UH climatologists which portends greater global warming in the future.  Even though this was a computer study of other computer studies, the authors were correct in pointing out that there has been great disagreement between the many existing global climate models.  In most of these cases the computer models have consistently overstated future global temperatures.  We also know that estimates of future atmospheric CO2 have also been overestimated.