Entries for June 2011

A flotilla is determined to sail to the Gaza Strip this weekend in breach of Israel's naval blockade on the Hamas-controlled territory. This decision comes in spite of growing international pressure to stop the campaign, damaged ships and fewer passengers than expected. 

As the nation celebrates its 235th birthday July 4, U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii invites the public to its 40th Annual Fourth of July Spectacular on Weyand and Sills Fields....

The Hawaii Meth Project today released findings from the 2011 Hawaii Meth Use & Attitudes Survey which revealed that, compared to a benchmark survey conducted prior to the launch of the Hawaii Meth Project, Hawaii’s young people are significantly more aware of the dangers of trying Meth and increasingly disapprove of trying the drug.

Emphasizing this, Gino Antoniello, VP, Transportation Systems and Equipment for SCOA explained: "Our protest--a first for us--was prompted by the conviction that our bid was improperly passed over in favor of another vendor with less experience and a questionable track record that lacked the proper legal qualifications to undertake a project of this scope."  ...Antoniello stressed that in starting down this protest path, the company did so with a readiness to go all the way.

ProPublica analyzed new data from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights along with other federal education data to examine whether states provide students equal access to programs — such as Advanced Placement or higher-level math and sciences classes — that researchers say will help them later in life.

As we saw at yesterday's press conference, President Obama is not going to lead on the debt ceiling issue. Nor is he going to compromise or play a mediating role. He is more interested in blaming others for his troubles, demagoguing other solutions and running for re-election. 

Beginning on July 1, with the start of the new fiscal year, we must implement the state budget as passed by the State Legislature. This included 5 percent in temporary pay reductions from June 30, 2009 salaries and an equal contribution of health care benefits for state employees.

"If governors and legislatures had truly balanced each state's budget, no taxpayer's financial burden would exist," said Sheila Weinberg, Founder and CEO of the Institute. She continued, "A state budget is not balanced if past costs, including those for employees' retirement benefits, are pushed into the future."

“If the community does not want this project it will not go through,” said Pattern Senior Developer Christian Hackett. “And we will pack up and leave.”

From CNBC America’s Top States for Business 2011....

The Obama administration said Tuesday that it had shelved plans for a survey in which “mystery shoppers” posing as patients would call doctors’ offices ….

With fellow Rep. Mazie Hirono already in the race, it's hard to see how Hanabusa wouldn't compete for the same pile of votes and risk giving the nomination to DLCer Ed Case in the Democratic primary.

The Obama Administration generally employs one of two strategies to legislate without—and often in spite of—congressional action: (1) administrative decree establishing a new federal rule, or (2) a refusal to enforce existing federal law. In five separate policy areas, the President and the federal agencies under his command have spurned congressional authority to achieve Obama’s objectives.

Since 2004 biofuels from crops have almost doubled the rate of growth in global demand for grain and sugar and pushed up the yearly growth in demand for vegetable oil by around 40 percent. 

A generic Republican candidate now holds a four-point lead over President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup. It's a fifth week in a row that the GOP candidate has been ahead and the widest gap between the candidates to date.

"They did listen to our testimony about the contributions that military personnel make, and about how they are part of the community," said Tom Smyth, president for the Hawaii chapter for the Military Officers Association of America. "I'm very pleased it came out the way it did." …

Bachmann said she plans to win decisive early victories in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina on her way to the White House. She promised to follow that with a national campaign – even in the heavily Democratic state of Hawaii.

 The state’s plan to bring Hawai'i’s prisoners home include expanding prison space in the state, creating alternatives to incarceration and reducing recidivism through community-based programs.

Today, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii announced the publication of the 2011 Pork Report, an examination of state spending that reveals the depth of government waste and inefficiency that has contributed so much to the State’s economic woes.