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Entries for 'Selected News Articles'
Thursday, February 3, 2011 |
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A Medicaid Rebellion? How states can work together to force changes in the program
By Selected News Articles @ 8:47 PM :: 5945 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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What would you call a health-insurance program that has worse health outcomes for cancer and heart disease than Medicare or private insurance, that pays doctors and specialists so little that they often refuse to see patients, and that’s driving state budgets into bankruptcy? If you’re the Obama administration, apparently, you call it a success and make it the cornerstone of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act....
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Wednesday, February 2, 2011 |
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Roll Call: Akaka offers no indication he will run in 2012
By Selected News Articles @ 10:09 PM :: 7961 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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…others on retirement watch, including Sens. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.), offered no indication they will run again in 2012.
Akaka, 86, raised less than $2,000 in the fourth quarter and had just $66,000 in the bank as of Dec. 31....
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011 |
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Inouye will not accept Earmark requests for Next Two Years
By Selected News Articles @ 7:13 PM :: 9565 Views :: Ethics, Congressional Delegation
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“The President has stated unequivocally that he will veto any legislation containing earmarks, and the House will not pass any bills that contain them,” Inouye said in a statement. “Given the reality before us, it makes no sense to accept earmark requests that have no chance of being enacted into law.”
The move also comes after House and Senate Republicans have agreed not to seek earmarks for the two years of the 112th Congress.
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011 |
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ProPublica evaluates Honolulu Medical Examiner
By Selected News Articles @ 6:28 PM :: 12216 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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In detective novels and television crime dramas like "CSI," the nation's morgues are staffed by highly trained medical professionals equipped with the most sophisticated tools of 21st-century science. Operating at the nexus of medicine and criminal justice, these death detectives thoroughly investigate each and every suspicious fatality.
The reality, though, is far different. In a joint reporting effort, ProPublica, PBS "Frontline" and NPR spent a year looking at the nation's 2,300 coroner and medical examiner offices and found a deeply dysfunctional system that quite literally buries its mistakes.
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011 |
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Hawaii: Islam Day is OK but Celebrating Christianity is Verboten
By Selected News Articles @ 2:46 PM :: 5885 Views :: Energy, Environment
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And Knight laments that while the Hawaii Senate has bought into the "separation of church and state argument," it does not seem to have any trouble promoting Islam.
"In 2009, the Hawaii Senate chamber approved an Islam Day resolution, and it shows that there's a double standard here," the senior writer decides. "Something that celebrates or acknowledges Christianity, it's verboten. But when you celebrate Islam or anything else, then it's OK. That's multiculturalism; that means anything but Christianity."
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Monday, January 31, 2011 |
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Full Text: Obamacare ruled unconstitutional -- Again
By Selected News Articles @ 5:16 PM :: 7557 Views :: Health Care
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"Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void."
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Thursday, January 27, 2011 |
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Inouye becomes Useless: Democrat leader says “Senate is out of the business of Earmarks”
By Selected News Articles @ 3:53 PM :: 9773 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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...that could imperil a cherished practice of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. Inouye, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has long defended earmarks as a constitutional prerogative. He once called himself the "No. 1 earmarks guy" in Congress.
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Thursday, January 27, 2011 |
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Alaska Native Firms Shift Stimulus Work to Outsiders
By Selected News Articles @ 1:42 PM :: 9709 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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This information also applies to Native Hawaiian firms, many of which are doing exactly the same thing.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011 |
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Palafox subject of Fraud Investigation? Abercrombie’s DoH pick withdraws
By Selected News Articles @ 10:39 PM :: 16890 Views :: Health Care, Higher Education
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Governor Abercrombie’s nominee to head the State Department of Health, Dr Neal Palafox MD, has suddenly withdrawn his name from consideration. HNN and the Star-Advertiser report that Palafox may be “involved in a medical reimbursement investigation.” Palafox was picked over Senator Josh Green MD of Kona.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011 |
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Congress debates State Bankruptcy plans
By Selected News Articles @ 11:43 AM :: 7711 Views :: National News, Ethics
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Republicans expect states and local governments to beg Congress for relief from their underfunded pension programs sometime soon. But unlike Congress' haphazard, expensive responses to the Wall Street and automaker crises, GOP lawmakers intend to be ready this time.
Their plan has three parts: First, a nonbinding resolution that Congress will not bail out the pension programs; second, a bill to codify that into law and require transparent public pension accounting; and finally, a managed bankruptcy bill for the states.
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011 |
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Intimidated by ACLU, Hawaii Senate prohibits itself free exercise of Religion
By Selected News Articles @ 10:43 AM :: 8900 Views :: First Amendment, Religion
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If our legislators no longer pray inside the state capitol, then we citizens need to pray in their stead every day that they are in session, preferably on the steps of that building. When election time comes around again, let us all remember who among them thinks we no longer need God in our government.
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Thursday, January 13, 2011 |
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Instant Runoff? Low-income voters struggle with ranked-choice voting
By Selected News Articles @ 10:33 PM :: 13523 Views :: Office of Elections
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Last week Hawai`i Free Press took a look at the experience of Burlington, VT voters who eventually voted to repeal Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). Today we are sharing a voting analysis by investigative reporter Lance Williams of CaliforniaWatch who evaluates a 21-candidate San Francisco Supervisorial election very similar to the one won by Tom Berg.
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011 |
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'Great Garbage Patch' Not So Great After All
By Selected News Articles @ 1:05 PM :: 13336 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics, World News, Family
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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.
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Tuesday, January 11, 2011 |
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Gates: North Korea will soon have missiles capable of hitting Hawaii with A-bomb
By Selected News Articles @ 10:48 AM :: 13273 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics, World News, Family
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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….
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Friday, January 7, 2011 |
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Hiram Bingham IV, the secret rescuer
By Selected News Articles @ 1:23 PM :: 13923 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics, World News, Family
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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?
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Wednesday, January 5, 2011 |
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WaPo: Futile, Discouraging, Depressing -- Hanabusa joins the lowest of the low
By Selected News Articles @ 3:39 PM :: 10780 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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"The Congress is the most futile place in the world, and the most discouraging, and the most depressing" for people in this position....
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011 |
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Instant Runoff Voting debunked
By Selected News Articles @ 7:44 PM :: 14376 Views :: Office of Elections
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Because voters in the Dec 29 special election for Honolulu County Council Dist 1 elected a Republican, Tom Berg; the billion dollar Progressives at Civil Beat have concluded that the system of elections must be changed, “to prevent such an election in the future.”
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011 |
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Birthers “Born Again” thanks to Abercrombie
By Selected News Articles @ 4:20 PM :: 8321 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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That’s some favor Abercrombie did his old pal; he took a non-issue that was as settled as it’s ever going to be and fired it up all over again.
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Monday, January 3, 2011 |
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Calif. EIS shows plastic bag ban harms environment
By Selected News Articles @ 5:59 PM :: 14509 Views :: Kauai County, DHHL, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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Maui’s County-wide plastic bag ban goes into effect January 11, 2011. No EIS has been required. Here’s what they are hiding:
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Monday, January 3, 2011 |
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WaPo: Abercrombie “taking the pole position of political surrealism ”
By Selected News Articles @ 2:27 PM :: 9480 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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Hawaii is taking the pole position of political surrealism in the far-flung states. The new governor, Neil Abercrombie, an iconic longhair and college pal of Barack Obama's father, has decided to make knocking down Obama birther conspiracies his top political priority.
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Sunday, January 2, 2011 |
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Birther War Year Two: Hey Neil, Don't feed the trolls
By Selected News Articles @ 11:48 AM :: 9205 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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This truism is lost on the ignoramuses at the Seattle Times, who published an editorial this morning applauding newly-elected Governor Neil Abercrombie's declared intention to do something to squelch the conspiracy theory....
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Saturday, January 1, 2011 |
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Abercrombie’s Birther War named in top ten Flubs of the Year
By Selected News Articles @ 2:26 PM :: 9982 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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It is easy for Seattle Times editors to cheer on the war effort from comfort of their offices, but many on the front lines are starting to think this is not a winnable war—a quagmire. Some are even calling for negotiations with the birthers.
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Friday, December 31, 2010 |
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Hartford Courant: Who’s Abercrombie kidding?
By Selected News Articles @ 11:47 AM :: 10388 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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In case you’ve been hiding under a rock since just before Christmas, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie has committed our lives and our treasure to a Sacred Cause. Our New Governor is heroically leading the State in a Holy War to defeat the Diabolical Birthers. On Day Seven of this Fight to the Death, the national and international media continue to react while the local media focuses intently on the price of ahi, hoping against hope that Aoki and Asselbaye will quiet The Abercrombie down and get him to pretend to refocus on the budget or something….
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Thursday, December 30, 2010 |
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HuffPo: Abercrombie on a fool’s errand
By Selected News Articles @ 3:22 PM :: 11521 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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The new governor of Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie, has big issues to handle, including a substantial budget deficit that threatens to grow exponentially in coming years.
On top of all his headaches, though, Abercrombie has piled on another, bigger conundrum that he says he is committed to resolving.
Yes. He's taking on the birthers.
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010 |
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Abercrombie’s Birther Crusade: Day Five
By Selected News Articles @ 12:22 PM :: 10102 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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More news from around the country as Governor Neil Abercrombie, implementing a "top priority” of his administration, heroically crusades against the “demonic, eviscerating” Birther hordes.
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Tuesday, December 28, 2010 |
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111th Congress Added More Debt Than First 100 Congresses Combined: $10,429 Per Person in U.S.
By Selected News Articles @ 1:58 PM :: 5277 Views :: Energy, Environment
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The federal government has accumulated more new debt--$3.22 trillion ($3,220,103,625,307.29)—during the tenure of the 111th Congress than it did during the first 100 Congresses combined, according to official debt figures published by the U.S. Treasury.
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Tuesday, December 28, 2010 |
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USA Today: Neil Abercrombie, the friend you don’t need
By Selected News Articles @ 12:24 PM :: 11424 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie’s “top priority” – leading Hawaii in Holy Crusade to slay the Birther dragon – continues to make national and international news. Google News reports over 2000 articles have been published and more are coming out by the hour. Here are some of the latest….
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Monday, December 27, 2010 |
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Abercrombie’s Weird Priority: Raising profile of birtherism
By Selected News Articles @ 12:52 PM :: 9519 Views :: Obama
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More national media reaction to the Abercrombie Administration’s “Top Priority”….
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Sunday, December 26, 2010 |
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NYT: Inouye pushes Exemption from Terror Embargo after $2000 contribution
By Selected News Articles @ 8:16 PM :: 11955 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics, World News, Family
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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....
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Friday, December 24, 2010 |
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NYT: Abercrombie doubles down on Birther battle
By Selected News Articles @ 7:27 PM :: 11459 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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Abercrombie is facing a $71 million deficit this year and 10 times that amount in the years to come.... Even so, the new governor said he was having the time of his life. “If I was having a better time,” he said, laughing, “I’d have to be arrested.”
But on the matter of the birthers, Mr. Abercrombie grew serious....
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Friday, December 24, 2010 |
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A New Day In Hawaii: For Abercrombie, discrediting 'birthers' is a top priority
By Selected News Articles @ 12:07 PM :: 11476 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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LA Times: Democrat Neil Abercrombie, who knew Obama's parents, is determined to torpedo the conspiracy theory.
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Thursday, December 23, 2010 |
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Thursday, December 23, 2010 |
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The Dangers of Mail-In Ballots
By Selected News Articles @ 3:31 PM :: 10135 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment
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As Equal Justice Foundation puts it, “Mail ballots are the method of choice for election fraud. For years now the [we have] pointed out that you can have an honest election, or you can have a mail/absentee ballot election, but you can't have both at the same time.”
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010 |
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Monday, December 20, 2010 |
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Lame Duck Won’t Create Race-Based Government After All
By Selected News Articles @ 7:47 PM :: 9186 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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Good news out of Congress this week: The infamous Akaka Bill, which would create a “Native Hawaiian” government for purposes of racial preferences and other unconstitutional goodies, will not be a part of the slimmed-down legislation that funds the government until Congress gets around to passing an actual budget.
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Monday, December 13, 2010 |
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Full Text: Federal judge rules Obamacare unconstitutional
By Selected News Articles @ 12:26 PM :: 7677 Views :: National News, Ethics
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The Obama administration’s requirement that most citizens maintain minimum health coverage as part of a broad overhaul of the industry is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled, striking down the linchpin of the plan.
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Monday, December 13, 2010 |
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S.501 will bury small farmers in red tape
By Selected News Articles @ 11:55 AM :: 7187 Views :: National News, Ethics
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S.510 has been called the “most dangerous bill in the history of the United States.” With over 225 pages of regulations, the FDA is not only granted the authority to issue mandatory recalls, but has the power to tell farmers how to grow food, including regulations on soil, water, temperature, even what type of animals are permitted on the premises. From 2011 to 2015, the estimated cost by the Congressional Budget Office is $1.4 billion.
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Sunday, December 12, 2010 |
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Cleaning up Abercrombie's Mess: GAO to investigate lack of funding for Compact of Free Association Migrants
By Selected News Articles @ 7:51 PM :: 13137 Views :: National News, World News, Congressional Delegation, Hawaii State Government
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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.
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Friday, December 10, 2010 |
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Child porn survivor denounces UH Prof’s call for legalization
By Selected News Articles @ 1:16 PM :: 16189 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics, World News, Family
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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.”
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Thursday, December 9, 2010 |
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Rail Financial Report co-authored by former Controller of So Cal Rapid Transit
By Selected News Articles @ 5:39 PM :: 8233 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment
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First it's important to mention the impeccable reputation and expert subject knowledge of the primary authors of the report prepared by Infrastructure Management Group, Inc.
Steve Steckler is a Harvard University planner and chairman of IMG with past service in the U.S. DOT. Thomas Rubin is a mass transit consultant who's served as Controller-Treasurer of the Southern California Rapid Transit District, now known as Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority.
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Thursday, December 9, 2010 |
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US House Democratic Caucus: “F*** the President …. We can’t trust him…. Just say no!”
By Selected News Articles @ 3:08 PM :: 7118 Views :: National News, Ethics
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The frustration with President Barack Obama over his tax cut compromise was palpable and even profane at Thursday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting.
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Thursday, December 9, 2010 |
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Hawaii: 147K on Food Stamps, up 15.7%
By Selected News Articles @ 2:28 PM :: 8126 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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More people tapped food stamps to pay for groceries in September as the recession and lackluster recovery have prompted more Americans to turn to government safety net programs to make ends meet.
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010 |
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Progressives denounce Obama: “What happened to the man?”
By Selected News Articles @ 5:58 PM :: 9245 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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Thanks to the deal to extend the Bush tax cuts, the Manoa-Liberal-in-Chief is now being rejected even by his own Party. Will Obama be the Democrats’ Presidential candidate in 2012? Will he even run? And how would the crushing and absolute rejection of Obama by his own Party affect voter turnout by Democrats in Hawaii?
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010 |
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Judge Samuel P King remembered
By Selected News Articles @ 1:53 PM :: 8128 Views :: Energy, Environment
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"There were lots of things that people thought were wrong with Bishop Estate -- how they (the trustees) were selected, how they behaved, what they were doing with their investments, how they were handling education," he said in 1998.
"But as (former Hawaii Gov. Benjamin) Cayetano put it (after he ordered a state investigation), everybody figured, 'Well, if the Hawaiians themselves who are involved aren't upset, who are we to upset them?'
"The difference this time is that the Hawaiians got upset first. And actually that's why I'm in it, as a part-Hawaiian and as having been aware of all these things before."
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Friday, December 3, 2010 |
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“Computer study of computer studies” -- UH Manoa Climate research questioned
By Selected News Articles @ 5:04 PM :: 13111 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics, World News, Family
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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.
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010 |
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Nader Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Hear His Hawaii Ballot Access Case
By Selected News Articles @ 4:28 PM :: 8918 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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On November 30, Ralph Nader asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his ballot access case from Hawaii. The case number has not been assigned yet. The case originated in 2004, and challenges the Hawaii policy that requires six times as many signatures for an independent presidential candidate, as for an entire new party.
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Friday, November 26, 2010 |
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Fragile Urban Families: New findings show just how bad things are for the kids
By Selected News Articles @ 7:24 PM :: 9721 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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...within five years, a tiny 15 percent of the unmarried couples had actually taken wedding vows, while a whopping 60 percent had split up. At the five-year mark, only 36 percent of the children lived with their fathers, and half of the other 64 percent hadn’t seen their dads in the last month. One-half to two-thirds of the absent fathers provided little or no financial support....
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Friday, November 26, 2010 |
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Hawaii Anti-Trust Adventures: Rubber hose enforcement
By Selected News Articles @ 5:52 PM :: 9612 Views :: Energy, Environment
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Two companies and several individuals were being tried (in early 1960s Honolulu) for price fixing, a felony under the Sherman Antitrust Act. My star witness was an executive in one of the companies on trial — he turned state’s evidence in order to receive immunity from prosecution.
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010 |
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Aiona: “Maybe run again for Governor in 2014”
By Selected News Articles @ 12:12 PM :: 5917 Views
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Aiona said his decision to run for governor again will be based on the 2012 elections. He said he'll be looking at his party support, the presidential elections and the success or failure of governor Abercrombie's administration.
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Monday, November 22, 2010 |
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'You did what?' How anti-trust lawyer broke up Big 5
By Selected News Articles @ 1:31 PM :: 11492 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics
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When Hawaii became a state, the Department of Justice sent two attorneys to enforce the antitrust laws. I was one of them....
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