...President Obama is not vacationing in Hawaii with his wife and children while the extension of the payroll tax holiday remains in limbo....

Hawaiian Air doubled the price of inter-island tickets since Aloha Airlines and the ferry was forced out of business. There are no longer discounted kama'aina, senior, or youth rates, and no more coupon books for frequent travelers....

To many people, the term “Progressive Era” evokes fond caricatures of Teddy Roosevelt and such reforms as safe food, the elimination of child labor and the eight-hour work day. Yet real progressivism was far more sinister....

If there was any doubt where President Barack Obama's ideological heart lies, yesterday he let it be known loud and clear in a wide-ranging speech in Osawatomie, Kansas....

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

...it is the role of academics to "correct" ... history. As one organizer commented, this will be more easily accomplished once the WWII generation has passed away. Another wrote, "America's nostalgic war memories are beginning to fray around the edges"....

The goal is to review and determine applicant eligibility within the federally-mandated period of 30 days.... “Families arriving at our offices need help now, not months down the road.” (And we don’t want to lose federal funding just because of the HGEA.)

Mr. Yost expressed the plaintiffs’ concern that an "irrevocable commitment" of resources may occur if construction takes place, with significant impacts and no prudent alternatives, before the case is heard on the merits ....

...

WHEN: The event runs from 9 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, December 10, 2011.

WHERE: Part of it will be outside and part of the event will be in a large WW-II hangar – all at Barbers Point - Kalaeloa Airport.

... 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 ....

After RESOLUTION 11-203 CD1 FD1 passed the City Council unanimously on November 2, our Mayor has sought to deny the formation of the task force to address flooding for our district....

According to the 22nd Edition of America’s Health Rankings, Hawaii is No. 4 this year compared to fifth in 2010 when compared with the health of other states.

The board lacks any significant degree of discipline or decorum and there is little attempt to follow Roberts Rules of Order except when it is convenient to control the speech of any who may hold dissenting views....

Americans opposed to the growth of the administrative state should embark on a multi-pronged offensive against it, taking discrete steps to reduce its power and restore accountability to elected officials, whether many of those elected officials want it or not.

...state colleges and universities are prohibited from providing in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens "on the basis of residence within the State" unless the same in-state rates are offered to all citizens of the United States....

...root cause analysis undertaken by Clipper regarding the blade skin crack, an update of the resolution relating to gearbox timing, structural blade remediation, as well as other data regarding Clipper's Liberty turbine....

• Senate: National Defense Authorization Act, FY2012
• House: Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act
• House: To reduce Federal spending and the deficit by terminating taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions and by terminating the Election Assistance Commission
• House: Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011
• House: Regulatory Accountability Act

This is what happens when you let the government tell you how to live every tiny detail of your life.

For state governments, the coming Supreme Court ruling on health reform isn't an abstract argument about the U.S. Constitution. It's a highly practical question about whether, when and how to proceed with one of the health law's most important and complicated pieces: setting up health insurance exchanges....

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....

On November 28, 2011, CAlifornians for Renewable Energy (CARE) and Michael Boyd filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to challenge more than two dozen federal loan guarantees illegally issued by the U.S. Department of Energy....

Coming under fire in the City & County of Honolulu is the plethora of real property tax exemptions from those granted to charitable organizations to those offered to homeowners who promise to preserve their historical residences to credit unions and to churches....

... Hawaii Republican Party is organizing March 13 Presidential voting sites for all 51 State House Districts as well as Molokai, Lanai, Niihau, and Hana ....

“Lee is genuinely interested in the well being of our community,” says Carol Massey, “he keeps informed of the issues facing us, and will work hard for District 6....

Cain said he would endorse a Republican candidate soon, and announced his own “plan B” for public service, a policy web site called “The Cain Solutions.”

“Most worrisome has been the steady decline in visitors from the US mainland.”

Representative George Fontaine (R-Kihei) speaks with Kim Gennaula of Aloha United Way and Major Edward Hill of the Salvation Army about opportunities for Volunteering and Giving during the Holiday Season....

 The Star-Advertiser calls this 'progress'....

NOAA's extensive and overly aggressive rulemaking effort will effectively kill ocean-based clean energy initiatives in Hawaii....

...no public events are scheduled during the trip.... (But will AG Holder survive to the New Year?)

...Democratic establishment is coalescing around Rep. Mazie Hirono in her primary against ex-Rep. Ed Case....

...today's jobs report from the Department of Labor. The report suggests the month of November saw 120,000 net new jobs created and the unemployment rate drop to 8.6 percent--driven in part by the 315,000 people who have given up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed....

MISSION MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM
6:00-8:30 P.M.
DECEMBER 6, 2011

The $1.28 billion in bonds included $800 million in new debt.... The Bond transaction now allows the State to recapitalize the Hurricane Relief and Rainy Day Funds ....

“Governor Neil Abercrombie’s willingness to implement aggressive solutions, totaling $1.32 billion, to balance the fiscal 2011-2013 biennial budget .... "

It is unfortunate that Governor Abercrombie finds it more expedient to cast blame for his failures, missteps and inability to effectively manage the state's fiscal situation in his first year in office than accept responsibility or accountability for his own failings....

Full analysis from Shared Hope International....

Marugame claims a TSA investigator (TSI) "sexually assaulted her" on Aug. 26, 2009....

We calculated suicide rates and unemployment rates. Then we tapped SimplyMap for the percentage of households that use antidepressants....

...

...the mandate requires religious employers to provide coverage for birth control methods that could result in abortion....

OHA will be holding a series of public meetings to hear from the public about Abercrombie’s proposed Kakaako land deal ....

The project, called SolarStrong, aims to install these projects over five years. SolarCity has already begun installations at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii....

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

Hawaii ranks 3rd in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, spending $10.7 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 70 percent of the $15.2 million recommended by CDC ....

Instead of 15% of peak, the limit is now 50% of noontime usage....

Total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawaii in the first 10 months of 2011 grew 14.8 percent, compared to the same period in 2010, to $10.3 billion....

Republicans have landed prominent women candidates too, with former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle and former New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson best positioned for victory next year....