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China announced this week that its new defense budget would total approximately $106 billion -- an 11.2 percent increase over its previous budget....

Less than 1,000 miles from Jerusalem, the Iranian government is operating in open violation of international law in a singular pursuit of developing nuclear weapons.

"And as I have made clear time and again during the course of my presidency, I will not hesitate to use force when it is necessary to defend the United States and its interests...."

Only two European countries, Greece and Ireland, have larger budget deficits as a percentage of GDP.  Just four European countries have larger national debts than we do -- Greece and Ireland again, plus Portugal and Italy .... 

... the White House engaged with enemies and undercut allies, apologized for American exceptionalism, and favored the "soft power" of treaties and international organizations. Today we are seeing the disastrous results ....

Hawaii can learn a great deal from European countries' experiences....

...opposition to Assad continues in the face of escalating attacks, with some indications that the military is losing ground as the army loses thousands of defectors....

Hawaiian Airlines has earned the first-ever aviation based carbon credits, having reduced its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by nearly 22,000 metric tons over the past six years using an innovative, eco-friendly engine washing technology developed by Pratt & Whitney.

The legislation was introduced in the Maryland Senate last week, and Governor O’Malley has made it a key legislative priority for 2012.

All indications are that the Middle East is crumbling, and President Barack Obama's foreign policy is collapsing right along with it. 

“People always opt for more information,” says Giddings, “whether or not they have any idea what it means, or how they might use it.”

...we would otherwise be obligated to pay $50 million to Tianwei this quarter....

Some people actually believe the Sun has nothing to do with the temperature.... 

Read all the way down to the last paragraph where you will discover that this book review is really about ... Hawaii.

Typical estuarine environments have an inflow from rivers (with a lower pH) that fluctuates wildly, so do areas with upwelling, and even the pH in kelp forests varies dynamically.

Obama this morning signed an executive order establishing Visa and Foreign Visitor Processing Goals and the Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness....

"The President's plan to boost processing capacity for non-immigrant visas in major U.S. bound travel markets like China and Brazil and expand the Visa Waiver Program is a good policy for America and will benefit Hawaii's tourism industry."

As of midnight, Wikipedia is shut down for 24 hours, and hundreds of other popular websites have gone dark right along with it. They are standing together in protest ....

...

...the United States -- and indeed the world -- is less economically free today than it was a year ago, according to the 18th annual Index of Economic Freedom, released yesterday by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal....

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that on Dec. 1, the government of Japan approved Rainbow papaya for commercial shipment to Japan.

Fiat's subsidiary Iveco continues to sell and distribute trucks in Iran that have been used by the Iranian regime to transport ballistic missiles and stage gruesome public executions. Fiat also continues to operate in Iran's automobile market, and is reportedly planning to expand its presence there by opening a luxury Maserati dealership in Tehran.

This week brings the nationwide release of The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Despite this emerging threat, President Barack Obama traveled to the Pentagon last Thursday to announce that the "tide of war is receding" for the United States, thereby justifying massive cuts to the U.S. military.

...

President Obama told Bill O'Reilly, "I think the Muslim Brotherhood is one faction in Egypt. They don't have majority support in Egypt."

Your ACT221 Tax Dollars at Work building the clean energy future, Hawaii ....

The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, providing passage for some 15.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, amounting to one third of the world's seaborne oil shipments.

...

Never before have a team of climate ‘realists’ testified before any committee, in the Senate or the Commons. 

Pity the much-maligned plastic bag....

"Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That’s critical. There is not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the Taliban is our enemy because it threatens U.S. interests."

...

...the surprise development raises concerns about its impact on Pyongyang's ongoing leadership transition, regime stability, and North Korean security and foreign policies....

 Egyptian Scientific Institute: December 17, 2011

In a short dispatch, KCA stated, "Chariman Kim passed away in the train on December 17th, 2011 at 8:30am due to physical overwork."

Federal prosecutors Tuesday charged Ayman Joumaa, an accused Lebanese drug kingpin and Hezbollah financier, of smuggling tons of U.S.-bound cocaine and laundering hundreds of millions of dollars with the Zetas cartel of Mexico....

“The Canadian Government’s decision to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol is an important victory for common sense .... "

These cuts have been put forth with little consideration for their long-term impact....

...

... the Battleship Missouri Memorial will proudly host a mass band performance featuring more than 650 performers from a dozen high school, college and community bands ....

Ready to trade in your car for a bike, or maybe a subway instead? Interested in fewer choices for your home, paying more for housing, and being crammed into a denser neighborhood? You can have all this and more ....

Canada’s emissions represent only 2% of the world’s total and 80% of the world’s population live in nations that have no protocol emission limits whatsoever. China’s economy is expanding so rapidly that between 2009 and 2010 its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased by more that twice the entire Canadian 2010 output....

Honolulu (29) and San Francisco (30) are the highest-ranking US cities....  

ROME: Finmeccanica: signed a contract worth USD 1,334 million for Honolulu driverless metro.

Treasury and municipal bonds rallied Thursday as fears of European contagion spread ... Yields on the Hawaii bond deal were lowered as much as nine basis points, compared with levels offered earlier in the morning....

...perhaps this will mark the rise of the paleolibs?

"The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1 percent of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future."

There has been an ongoing debate about the depth of anti-Semitism within the OWS movement....

The problem is not the size or scope of U.S. support, the problems lay within the ways that money is structured, allocated and managed....