“Tulsi is a pure devotee. She is a little plant, a Holy Basil…. You don’t just leave, you are totally black banned if you leave."

The 2012 Legislative Session saw an unprecedented introduction of development "exemption" bills that would have eroded decades of environmental protections and curtailed public participation.

Act 183, signed into law by Governor Neil Abercrombie on June 28, 2012, now makes violations of the Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act a class C felony with a mandatory $10,000 fine.

In 16 states, his approval rating averaged below 40%, with residents of Utah, Wyoming, and Alaska least approving.

This decision was prompted by a recent petition from the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, and is consistent with recommendations from NOAA’s most recent 5-year review of the species, completed in 2007....

On January 18, 2012, a 50-year-old male career fire apparatus operator was working a 24-hour shift during which he responded to one emergency call ....

A little-known organization with U.S. Pacific Command is bringing together military and law-enforcement capabilities to combat drug-related transnational crime in the Asia-Pacific region ....

...the Hawaii Civic Justice Corps program provides a customized approach to reconnect juvenile offenders to their communities....

But don't worry.  Environmentalists are working day and night to stop fracking and restore CO2 output to Gorewellian levels....

Efforts to protect the environment in America have ignored the most powerful force for improving the environment: free people....

Under the program, DTRIC evaluates how a customer drives based on data accumulated by an 'Akamai Rater' device installed in the vehicle.

Though the eligibility date has a sharp cutoff, the financial flows themselves do follow a phase-out pattern. Wind generation that is put in place by December 31 will receive the tax credit for next 10 years.

The Star-Advertiser asked all 24 candidates running for three federal offices 6 questions including, “Should Hawaii be exempt from the Jones Act, the federal law that protects the domestic shipping industry from foreign competition?” 

The 9^th Annual Navy League Golf Tournament will take place on Friday, August 31, 2012 at the Mamala Bay Golf Course...

The problem was not Stalin’s Iron Curtain, scoffed Frank Marshall Davis in his usual incendiary language, but “G.M.’s iron curtain,” being raised by “General Motors’ Hitlers.”

Hawaii noted the lowest at 589.6 deaths per 100,000 of the population, a staggering 21 per cent lower than the average for the entire country - 765.2 ....

The Sierra Club is the only environmental group that has advocated for the controversial elevated steel on steel rail system....  Several other high profile environmental organizations have opposed the project....

This change better reflects the Company’s identity as an important part of Hawaii’s energy community: proudly local and fully committed to clean technology and innovation....

Across the country, fewer than half of primary care clinicians were accepting new Medicaid patients as of 2008....

"Remember, you don’t have to be a Republican to vote for me on the Republican ballot."

... they urged for a legal declaration that criticism of Islam in the U.S. be considered racial discrimination, potentially under the Title VI anti-discrimination laws ....

As it does each year during the first week in August, the Hawaii State Judiciary mails juror questionnaires to persons who have a Hawaii state driver’s license and are registered to vote in the State of Hawaii.

We are confident in our own internal polling and other polls we have seen that show us with a slight lead or tied.

In a press release announcing the campaign, Owens encouraged black pastors and the black community to “withdraw their support for [Obama].”

Today signals the beginning of a season of impossible decisions for employers who, for reasons of conscience, have not been paying for abortion....

"Mr. Okabe is mistaken to characterize the administration's news of good fiscal management as a 'surplus.'" -- An Abercrombie statement not included in the video 

I was grateful to Dennis Egge, Vietnam veteran and VIP board member for presenting VIP's endorsement personally at my recent West O'ahu Talk Story in Kapolei....

Asians -- Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Filipinos, Vietnamese and Koreans -- are the nation's wealthiest, most highly educated and most aspirational voting demographic.

Obama's Labor Department on Monday issued "guidance" to the states, telling them that a federal law requiring advance notice of mass layoffs does not apply to the layoffs that may occur in January as a result of automatic budget cuts known as "sequestration."
 

The shared-savings agreement between Hawaii Medical Service Assn. and Hawaii Pacific Health puts 50% the hospital’s annual pay increases over the five-year contract term dependent on achieving both quality improvement and cost savings thresholds....

Solar scammers are pushing for even more taxpayer and ratepayer handouts. Here’s their latest blast of ‘research’.

Question: Is Siemens paying the 4.5% GE Tax on its "multi-million dollar" subcontract from Ansaldo?  Will Ansaldo write a change order to account for the additional 4.5% cost incurred because this work is not being done in-house? 

As Rail construction continues, Honolulu construction employments continues to drop, losing 1,300 jobs between June, 2011 and June, 2012....

On the late Milton Friedman's 100th birthday today, his words are truer than ever: "There is no respect in which inhabitants of a low-income neighborhood are so disadvantaged as in the kind of schooling they can get for their children."

Since 2010, she has served as the Accounting System Administrator for the County of Maui. Prior to that, she was the Director and Chief Financial Officer for the California School Employees Association.

Simple solution: If you fail, get rid of the test....

• Senate: Tax Cut Extension – Passage
• Senate: Cybersecurity – Cloture
• House: Tribal Land Leases – Suspension
• House: Levee Construction – Suspension
• House: Oil and Gas Drilling – Passage
• House: Federal Reserve Audit – Suspension
• House: Regulatory Overhaul

The projected enrollment of 10,097 represents a milestone for Hawaii’s charter movement, which served just 1,341 students in 2000....

...forcing nearly all employers to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization services.  Beginning August 1, employers must amend their health insurance offerings to include these drugs and services. And if they don't? How about a fine of $100 per employee per day for non-compliance....

"Unfortunately for the people of Hawaii, this type of resume-padding behavior is business as usual for Hirono, who is well versed in taking credit for the achievements of others."

A Democratic state representative says, “They’re like a couple of high school kids.”

Walk-In Absentee Voting Mon Jul 30 thru Thurs Aug 9 All Locations Open Mon – Sat 8-4 PM (except Molokai)

...former elected officials want to get back into the policymaking arena at a time when all of the chickens that they created in the past are coming home to roost....

“MEET THE CANDIDATES” Forum on Monday, July 30^th, 2012; at the NHIS Multi-Purpose Bldg/Cafeteria from 6:30 - 9:00 pm.

The Conference on the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (U.N. ATT) has broken down and will not report a draft treaty to the member nations....

"In any expansion of gaming, we must make sure that the unique circumstances surrounding tribal sovereignty are maintained in any legislation." 

Will bureaucrats undermine public confidence in elections 'for a good time'? Read on ....

The annual lottery was started several years ago in response to requests from private groups interested in erecting displays which will be on view during Honolulu City Lights.

"John White ended up as Chief of Staff for Mazie Hirono and is smearing Ben Cayetano for receiving illegal campaign contributions. The truth is, Mazie Hirono accepted $98,000 in illegal contributions and he endorsed her – but he hasn’t said a word about that."