Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from the House-Senate Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance. 

(This fee would be added to your federal taxes each year if you do not buy health insurance.  If you refuse or fail to pay this portion of your taxes, that would be misdemeanor tax evasion and here is what happens....)

Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead.

Its late in the game, but Hakim Ouansafi, head of the Muslim Association of Hawaii has yet another excuse for steering the Legislature to celebrate Islam Day on September 24, 2009--a day which just happens to correspond to September 11, 2009 in the old Julian calendar.  Talking to the Honolulu Advertiser, Ouansafi says: "Yesterday was selected because it marked the end of Ramadan...." 

But a quick glance at an Islamic calendar shows that Ramadan ended on September 19, 2009.  The next day, Eid al-Fitr, September 20 is an important annual Islamic feast day.  There is nothing significant about September 24.

Read between the lines of Sen. Hooser’s commentary and you will see the only idea he has is to increase taxes on Hawai'i’s already overtaxed citizens.  We need elected officials who can make difficult decisions and solve complicated problems, not hope someone else will find a solution.

Accused 1992 of sexual misconduct with St. Lawrence Seminary HS students. Reportedly fired in 1988 for similar allegations then rehired. Criminally charged 1/93 with enticing child for immoral purposes and intimidating victim. Judge dismissed case, but noted evidence that Gardipee had disrobed in front of boy. Lawsuit 4/93 cited sexual abuse, harassment, and stalking of teen; expanded 1994, accusing Capuchins of racketeering; dropped 1995 due to WI S.C. ruling Pritzlaff v. Arch. of Milwaukee.
Milwaukee, WI.

HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i 50^th Anniversary of Statehood Commission is proud to announce that its successful conference, “New Horizons for the Next 50 Years,” will be broadcast on ‘Olelo channels 49 and 52 throughout October and November. The one-day conference, which took place on August 21, drew more than 2,200 attendees to look back at Hawai‘i’s history and accomplishments and discuss the direction of the state for the next 50 years. 

Attorney and "main organizer" of “Islam on Capitol Hill”, Hassen Ibn Abdellah is President of the Elizabeth, New Jersey Dar ul-Islam, Inc.  Abdellah was, described October 25, 1993 by the New York Times, as the “most aggressively combative of the lawyers” representing the terrorists who staged the 1993 World Trade Center attacks.  His client, the Egyptian-born Mahmud Abouhalima, was convicted of helping to manufacture and transport the bomb detonated in the 1993 attack and is now incarcerated in the Federal "Supermax" prison at Florence, Colorado.

HONOLULU – Almost 1,000 women and men from across the state were drawn to the sixth annual International Women’s Leadership Conference on Tuesday, September 22 to hear women leaders from eight nations share their stories of success. The majority of the event is now viewable online....

The United States elected 43 presidents before the current occupant graced the office with his presence. We fought, and won, two world wars, liberated millions of people worldwide from tyranny, and worked cooperatively with other sovereign nations to rebuild entire continents. Some might even say the character of our nation is well established considering we have been a democracy for just over 230 years now.

Not President Barack Obama, who told the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, “For those who question the character and cause of my nation, I ask you to look at the concrete actions we have taken in just nine months.” 230 years versus just nine months. No wonder, the New York Times reports, were UN delegates not only applauding Obama, but snapping photos of their hero like tourists.

“The Department of Education, Board of Education and the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association, along with the overwhelming majority of teachers who ratified this contract have demonstrated leadership in dealing with the current financial crisis.  They understand that everyone must make a shared sacrifice to help our state get through this difficult period and for State government to live within its means."

Is Hawaii, "an unlikely flashpoint for debate about Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip?"  The Honolulu Advertiser says so.

Islamists and their supporters have planned a week of propaganda activities in Hawaii leading up to "Islam Day"--declared by the Hawaii State Legislature to be Thursday, September 24, 2009--a day which corresponds to absolutely nothing on the Islamic calendar but is September 11, 2009 on the old Julian calendar.

Saudi money, Libyan assassins, Palestinian Jihad, London bombers, Malaysian sodomy, and laughing Islamists: Click here to connect the dots ....

Co-sponsored by Rep Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and Rep Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and their comrades in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep Jerrold Nadler, September 15, introduced H.R. 3567, a bill that would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

HR 3567 would require Hawaii and all other states, territories, and Indian Tribes to recognize same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions where such marriages are now legally recognized.

Rod Blagojevich has a message to his former political cronies: "If I'm going down, I'm taking all of you with me."  And given his close, 14-year relationship with Barack Obama and Tony Rezko, this can only be bad news for the White House. 

The brigade was instrumental in helping the Iraqi government during a pivotal period of security and governmental transition and infrastructure reconstruction. The Soldiers return home with 230 projects completed and 140 more in progress that are vital to the economic revitalization of this burgeoning nation. The Soldiers' efforts are affording the people of Iraq with a better quality of life by providing them with better power distribution and infrastructure; 67 new and renovated educational facilities; transportation projects to improve road and rail systems; and the revitalization of market areas to stimulate economic growth.

Wash Times: Unfortunately, the most important strategic factor is the same: a liberal Congress working to undermine the U.S. war effort. The U.S. military had won the Vietnam conflict by 1970, but when Democrats in Congress cut aid to South Vietnam in 1974, our trusting allies in Saigon were left helpless before the communist onslaught. Mr. Obama might want to consult with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on the spirit of those times. Mr. Biden was a freshman senator and one of the cosponsors of the Case-Church Amendment, which stopped aid to Cambodia and opened the way for the Khmer Rouge takeover and the killing fields that followed. 

(And Neil Abercrombie at UH Manoa was one of the hippie protesters who helped Biden make the Pol Pot killing fields possible.)

UPDATE: If you needed help with your ... uh ... "business", the Hawaii ACORN office is was located at 949 Kapiolani in Honolulu right next to the offices of the leftist Hawaii People's Fund.  But you can't pull on your beaverskin fedora and hop in your '73 Coupe Deville and cruise on over--because they've abandoned their office.  But be sure to thank Mazie Hirono for her support anyway.

The ACLU is threatening a lawsuit against the City of Honolulu after the City Council voted to ban sleeping on sidewalks.  Today's Star-Bulletin editorializes:

Councilman Charles Djou introduced the bill because of concerns about how the homeless sleeping on Waikiki sidewalks is affecting tourism. Djou maintains that refusing to allow the chronically homeless to sleep on sidewalks would "put the hammer on people getting the help they need."

Djou needs to cite a precedent where such tough compassion has actually worked.

The answer is embarrassingly simple: Los Angeles. 

This leads to an obvious question the Star-Bulletin editorialists must answer:

Where has your laissez-faire attitude towards homelessness ever produced anything but more homelessness?

If this is how Obama handles missile defense for Europe, what will he do to protect Hawaii?

One of the speakers, Michelle Rhee, is the chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools System, the seventh person to hold the post in the past 10 years.  Intent on reforming the D.C. school system, Rhee has fired non-productive teachers, principals and central office administrators, and proposes to make D.C. teachers the best paid in the country by partnering with private philanthropists to create financial incentives for improved teacher performance.  The daughter of immigrants from South Korea, in 1997, Rhee founded the New Teacher Project, which in 10 years has recruited 10,000 teachers for hard-to-staff inner-city schools in 20 states.

HONOLULU — Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who earlier this year raised almost $660,000 for an expected gubernatorial campaign in 2010, refused Monday to disclose his positions on same-gender civil unions, gay marriage and abortion rights.

Hannemann campaign spokeswoman Elisa Yadao was asked to provide the mayor's positions on the three hot-button issues. She responded in an e-mail: "As Mufi is not an official candidate, we are not participating in stories featuring candidates who have announced their intention to run for governor."

"That's a pretty lame defense," said University of Hawaii political scientist Dan Boylan....

Many have wondered how ANYONE AS EXTREME AS Obama’s “Green Jobs Czar” Van Jones – a self-described “Communist” obsessed with racial conspiracy theories – could have been named to head a federal agency. David Horowitz described the radicalization of the Democratic Party as the appointment’s subtext. Closer to the fore, Jones owed his elevation to another new factor: the unparalleled influence of Valerie Jarrett.

To call Jarrett a presidential adviser, even a close adviser, is misleading. She is an alter ego, an inner conscience, a touchstone of clarity for both President Obama and first lady Michelle. In the frenzy of the presidency, she reminds both Obamas of their identity and deepest-held beliefs. In exchange, the president makes no decision without her and has said she can “speak for me.” Unfortunately, she is also a racially polarizing elitist.