2. You're Vote Is Critical Now! - Superferry Supporters Winning
3. Terrorism charges trumped up for political impact
4. Hawaii Superferry Donates to Hawaii political campaigns...
5. The battle for Cape York
6. Protesters gather against Maori arrests
7. Star-Bulletin Poll going in favor of Superferry - please vote
8. The PM and Aboriginal Australia -- a timeline
9. Disappeared News - Superferry as Trojan horse
10. New Zealand activists protest arrests
11. The Hypocrisy of Bill Clinton's New Book 'Giving,' Chris Hedges,
Truthdig, 20070918
12. Did Inouye help secure $25 million in loan guarantees for Superferry?
13. Papal Bull Burning 07
14. Superferry Commentary by Senator Hemmings
15. Keep Space for Peace Week Local Actions - Final List
16. Twelve Former US Army Captains: Reinstate Draft
17. Partition and After: A Lecture and Discussion by Sukrita Paul Kumar,
10/22 3-4.30pm, Kuy 410
18. Gathering to remember John Kelly Nov. 18
19. The rest of the story on John Lehman?
20. Suppression of Terrorism or Oppression of Tangata Whenua
21. West Coast Indigenous leader wins Premiers Award
22. TOPOFF 4: A Teachable Moment for Portland and America
23. Fallon NV cancer cluster environmental factors
24. Hershman John Poetry Reading, 10/25 3pm Kuykendall 410
25. Free Hawai`i TV - "Stop The Special Session!"
26. Testimony on ARL
27. Harassment Unchecked at Army Hotel
28. Realigning saddle road improvements to accommodate Stryker expansion
in Pohakuloa
29. Indigenous Peoples' Issues Officials Take Steps to Protect Ancient
Bones
30. sovereign hawai'i: what would the basic need of food taste/feel/look
like in a free hawai'i?
31. PETS OK - Pet Friendly Rental Home Finders - Home page
32. America's Neo-Nazi Neo-Cons
33. Star-Bulletin Poll on Superferry Tampered and comments
34. Lingle, the Superferry & her future
35. Legislature keeping ferry bill in tow
1. October 15 Raids across Aotearoa
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:09:38 +0000
From: Ana
[are there an plans for demos in support in Hawaii nei? g]
awesome stuff her from Mel
http://mal3ficent.livejournal.com/192914.html
Yesterday morning the NZ Police used the Suppression of Terrorism Act to
conduct several dawn raids across the country. Places in Auckland,
Whakatane, Wellington, Ruatoki, Hamilton, Christchurch and Palmerston
North were all raided and several arrests were made. You can read more
about it on Indymedia or if you only like your media mainstream, the NZ
Herald.
Most of those arrested have name suppression, except well known Tuhoe
activist Tame Iti and Aucklander Jamie Lockett.
Here is a really brief history of the Tuhoe struggle. In 1866, the Tuhoe
iwi were grieving after the confiscation of ancestral lands at Waimana and
Ruatoki. These lands were taken as part of general confiscations, I'm not
really sure exactly why it was done. Some kind of government retaliation
after the Land Wars, no doubt.
In 1906, an activist and self-styled prophet, Rua Kenana came to the
attention of the government. He dreamed of building a good life for his
people, with his visions guided by God, he set about doing so. This often
brought him into conflict with the local government and authorities. He
built a community at Maungapohatu deep in the Urewera ranges. He tried to
stop drinking amongst his iwi, so he started brewing his own alcohol in a
bid to keep his people at home. The authorities used this to charge him
with sly grogging. He claimed that King Edward would give up his dominion
over Aotearoa, and give his kingship to Rua. When World War One broke out
he opposed conscription of Maori and made pro-Kaiser comments. This was
used as grounds to arrest him for sedition. He must be made an example of,
the authorities had to discourage other Maori activists.
On 2 April 1916 a police force invaded Maungapohatu and arrested Rua
Kenana for sedition. Rua resisted arrest and there are differing versions
on what actually took place. He was eventually put on trial for the
sedition charges, which lasted 47 days. He was not found guilty of
sedition, but of resisting arrest and imprisoned for nine months. This
trial bankrupted his community and they had to sell off stock and land to
meet these costs. They were also made to pay the cost of the police
operation. These monetary fines and the time spent in prison stalled Rua's
practical visions of emancipation for his people although it did not
impinge his mana. He is well-remembered today.
So why the quick history lesson? Well the penny dropped last night after
listening to an interview with Annette Sykes. She likened the raids to the
invasions last century, and if you read the NZ Herald article reporting on
her Radio NZ interview, you'll see where she draws the similarities.
Tame Iti, while not a prophet, is an activist and an artist. His
protesting style is heavily symbolic and he has run into trouble with
authorities before. I cannot say whether I know of any 'para-military'
style camps going on in the Ruatoki Valley or in the Urewera, simply
because I don't know. Do I think Tame and his people are a danger to the
New Zealand public? No. I haven't read anything except police claims and a
couple of Bomber quotes that allude to something "very serious" going on.
I really dislike all the cloak and dagger crap, the 'innuendo till proven
guilty' that means a lot of good people end up being demonised by police
and media. Right now, I'm more afraid of the police than anyone else. John
Minto likened yesterdays events to a scene from Star Wars.
Rua Kenana's story reads like a blueprint for what is going on today.
It is the tried and true method for intimidating anyone who could be seen
to be anti-establishment. Tame Iti and the Tuhoe, like Rua and their
ancestors, want to be able to govern their own lands, something the New
Zealand government has never been able to tolerate. So why do the
authorities act now? Well very recently the United Nations voted in the
Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This declaration lends
more international clout to sovereignty movements such as Tino
Rangatiratanga and Mana Motuhake. This article in Indymedia fleshes out
the details better than my regurgitated facts. The Government has chosen
to crack down on these movements, and anyone mildly sympathetic to them
(i.e left-leaning and/or anarchist activists, all of whom acknowledge and
support Tino Rangatiratanga) before they could really be legally
recognised or get any stronger. The Tuhoe have a claim before the Tribunal
right now, so why not cut out the heart of Tuhoe resistance by painting
him as today's bogeyman - a terrorist?? It wouldn't be the first time
something similar has happened.
Will the terrorism charges stick? Probably not. Will paying the legal fees
and battling in court take it's toll on the various sovereignty, peace and
environmental movements? I'd say so. That's is probably the whole reason
for this tax-payer funded fiasco.
I was quite distressed last night when I watched the actual footage of 128
- a well-known community centre in Te Aro - being raided. Windows being
broken - how much is that going to cost to fix? These organisations run on
a pittance. Quite often activists work full-time or seasonal jobs and
divide their time between work, raising a family and going to meetings.
How they would find the time to attend military-style training camps is
beyond me. Most activists I've met are intelligent, capable people who
are dedicated to a life of non-violence. Some of them do run Non-Violent
Direct Action camps, there's some advertised on the Save Happy Valley
website.
People might be wondering why these specific groups have been targeted.
Someone more enlightened than I pointed it out yesterday - all of these
lefty groups are a threat, in one way or another, to big business. That is
a common thread running through all of these movements, they are
anti-capitalist and anti-colonialist. The cops claim to have been
investigating these groups for the last two years. There was a media story
earlier this year about Thompson & Clark placing corporate spies in the
Save Happy Valley organisation, and the Wellington Animal Rights Network /
Peace Action Wellington, all of which have been targeted in these raids.
We are still living in a colonial society. The raids of October 15 2007
underscore that for me.
So where to now? Well, there are several protests and meetings being
planned in places around New Zealand. Indymedia.org.nz is probably the
best source for finding out where one near you is taking place. If you
feel that strongly about it, get involved! There's always room for new
volunteers, donations, writing letters to your MP and demanding an
explanation for this waste of taxpayer money, complaints about police
behaviour in holding up school buses and that sort of thing.
I'm going to end this post by expressing my aroha and kotahitanga for all
of those affected by yesterdays raids.
In Love & Solidarity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. You're Vote Is Critical Now! - Superferry Supporters Winning
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:21:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Laweleka <laweleka@yahoo.com>
As of 8:12 P.M. this is whats in there ; Don't tell me they are going to
say now that people were making multiple votes? Geez!!! Is the Star
Bulletin now going to loose credibility over the Super Ferry too? This is
getting ridiculously silly...... It has been voiced, it has been written
in more then one way that we do not care to save the Super Ferry because
of the impact it will have on our islands. What part of the English
language doesn't make sense or don't they understand I wonder? Lawe
`Ehu Kekahu Cardwell <ehukekahu@earthlink.net> wrote:
Aloha `aina,
In the last few hours, proponents of the Superferry have
taken the lead.
Should the Superferry be saved?
Yes 2097 55.42%
No 1687 44.58%
Total votes: 3784
Please ask everyone you know to vote ^ÓNo^Ô now.
http://starbulletin.com/poll
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Terrorism charges trumped up for political impact
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:28:53 +0000
From: Ana
Tuesday, 16 October 2007, 9:25 am
Press Release: Global Peace And Justice Auckland
GLOBALPEACE&JUSTICE AUCKLAND
Private Bag 68905, Newton,Auckland. www.gpja.pl.net
16 October 2007
Media Release:
"Terrorism" charges trumped up for political impact
Police allegations of terrorism in the Urewera ranges are trumped up to
create the right political environment to pass the latest so-called
anti-terrorism bill currently before parliament.
There is no need for terrorism charges to be suggested by the police. All
the alleged activity is already covered by New Zealand's existing laws. If
people are alleged to have broken the law with regard to guns for example
then they should be charged with gun offences. Talk of terrorism is
nonsense.
New Zealand has never been a terrorist target but the authorities want to
bring New Zealand laws into line with other countries such as Australia
and Britain which have been terrorist targets.
The Urewera charges are the best they can come up to provide the false
justification they need.
We will not be surprised to see the terrorism charges never materialise.
It's most likely these will be quietly set aside. However the police
beat-up will have had the desired effect. Fear will have been created in
the community and politicians will respond accordingly.
This is a typical method to promote unwanted changes. Create a crisis to
instil fear in the community and use this as a cover to bring in
anti-democratic, authoritarian measures.
We hope the public will see through this ruse.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4. Hawaii Superferry Donates to Hawaii political campaigns...
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 21:12:32 -1000
From: "Cory (Martha) Harden" <mh@interpac.net>
They're planning 5 total ferries. If there was an EIS everyone would know
that; might change the outlook.
----- Original Message -----
From: HIAHAWAII@aol.com
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 3:09 PM
ALOHA Kakou, There is another Superferry for Hawaii being completed.
It's seems to me that both of the Superferries may failed Hawaii's
Environmental Laws. o Pomaikaiokalani
________________________________________________________________________________
5. The battle for Cape York
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:33:16 +1000
From: Kirky aka Mrs Lyn Welsh-Kirk
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article3063827.ece
The battle for Cape York
ABORIGINES ARE FIGHTING TO PRESERVE THE WILD CORNER OF AUSTRALIA THAT'S
BEEN THEIR HOME FOR 60,000 YEARS. GREENS WANT TO SAVE THE AREA TOO. SO
WHY ARE THE TWO GROUPS AT LOGGERHEADS?
By Kathy Marks
Published: 16 October 2007
They call Cape York one of the last great wild places on Earth ^Ö a huge
swathe of land at the north-east tip of Australia, featuring wetlands,
tropical rainforests, savannah grasslands and bone-white sand dunes, all
in a rare state of health and abundance. It is the kind of place that
environmentalists swoon over, and dream of locking up for posterity.
The peninsula is also home to more than 10,000 Aborigines, and for the
past decade or so the interests of the two groups neatly coincided. The
greens were passionate about social justice and land rights, and
Aborigines cared deeply about conserving the land. They formed a
Green-Black alliance and campaigned together, notching up some notable
victories.
But now the alliance has broken down spectacularly. Cape York Aborigines
accuse the Wilderness Society of treating them in a neo-colonialist
manner, and engaging in a new form of dispossession. The Wilderness
Society claims that indigenous leaders are trying to "bully" them out of
the Cape.
It was always a delicate balancing act on Cape York, where cattle farmers
nervous about land tenure rub shoulders with Aborigines leading a
semi-traditional lifestyle, and where rich deposits of minerals,
particularly bauxite, lie beneath the ground. Mining produces 60 per cent
of the wealth in the remote, little- visited peninsula.
In the 1990s, those interests came together. As newly politicised
Aborigines campaigned for land rights, Wilderness Society activists were
at their side. In a landmark win, they persuaded the Queensland state
government to buy Starcke Station, a massive chunk of beachfront land that
was being marketed to American developers, and give it back to indigenous
people.
More recently, local Aboriginal leaders have focused their energies on
fighting the poverty and social dysfunction that blight black communities
around Australia. To Noel Pearson and his brother, Gerhardt, powerful
Aboriginal leaders nationally as well as on the Cape, economic development
is the key to escaping welfare dependency and rebuilding self-respect.
To middle-class greenies in Sydney and Melbourne, however, the idea of
economic development on the peninsula is anathema. Sure, indigenous people
are entitled to lift their standard of living, they say ^Ö provided they
stick to conservation-friendly activities such as eco-tourism. But mining,
logging, raising cattle ^Ö all the industries that have brought white
Australians wealth ^Ö are out of the question.
A few years ago, the Wilderness Society set off on its own. In 2004, just
before the state election, the society reportedly struck a deal with the
Labour government. In exchange for green votes, the government promised to
declare 19 rivers in Queensland "wild rivers", giving them protected
status. It was re-elected, and passed the legislation this year.
Thirteen or 14 of those rivers are on Cape York, and local Aboriginal
leaders were furious. The legislation not only affected newly won rights
to use the waterways for traditional activities such as hunting, it put a
brake on future economic development.
Flushed with success, the Wilderness Society is now campaigning for a
"Wild Country" Bill to protect the land between the rivers. But that is
not all. They want the entire peninsula ^Ö all 34 million acres of it ^Ö
to be World Heritage-listed.
The people who live on Cape York, and have been managing the land for
60,000 years, complain they have been cut out of the debate. But now they
are fighting back. A group of young, articulate Aborigines have set up the
Indigenous Environment Foundation (IEF), the first group of its kind, in
an effort to regain control of the agenda. IEF activists have attended
music and culture festivals, trawling for members among the Wilderness
Society's own constituency. They have also staged well-publicised pickets
of the society's events, including a recent Cape York benefit concert at
Sydney Town Hall.
Shaun Edwards Kalk, one of the group's founders, says that dozens of
concert-goers turned round and went home after hearing the IEF's
grievances. Others donned IEF T-shirts and helped Mr Edwards and his
comrades to hand out leaflets.
According to Mr Edwards, a 32-year-old university graduate, no indigenous
Cape York people were invited to the Cape York benefit concert. It was a
similar story, he says, at the Wilderness Society's annual gala dinner at
a five-star Brisbane hotel in May, where members paid $1,000 (£440) per
table to raise money for Cape York campaigns.
Mr Edwards says: "They invited Brisbane's indigenous elders to open the
dinner. We stopped the old people at the door, and they joined our picket
instead. Then the Wilderness Society got police to escort us off. In the
foyer they had our Cape York animals in cages ^Ö snakes, bandicoots,
marsupials, birds ^Ö for their members to look at. It was obscene. It was
very, very distasteful, and it was humiliating."
Mr Edwards' extended family group, the Kokoberrin people, lives around the
Staaten river on Cape York. This year it was declared a "wild river". "We
didn't know about it until it was too late," he says. "We didn't have a
chance to say anything. The strategy was already developed.
"My great-grandfather, who passed away in May, was really hurt at being
sidelined. The river is so important to my family group. These are waters
that we've been drinking and looking after for thousands of years. Our
whole language and lifestyle revolves around the river. This has made
family members feel disempowered all over again."
It sounds like a David and Goliath battle. But both sides claim to be
David. Wilderness Society figures accuse the Pearsons of waging a campaign
of intimidation. The brothers' aim, they say, is to shut the society out
of the Cape and pursue their alleged agenda of rampant development.
The Pearsons are undoubtedly men of power and influence. Noel Pearson, who
once called John Howard's right-wing government "racist scum", now ^Ö
alone among Aboriginal leaders ^Ö has the Prime Minister's ear. Mr Howard
likes Mr Pearson's robust stance against welfare dependency. Mr Pearson
backed Mr Howard's military led intervention to stamp out child abuse in
the Northern Territory.
Noel Pearson runs the Cape York Institute, which aims to shape Aboriginal
policy and produce a new generation of leaders. His brother, Gerhardt, is
executive director of the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation,
fostering economic development initiatives on the peninsula.
One of their most loyal lieutenants is Michael Winer. Mr Winer worked for
the Wilderness Society for many years; in fact, he set up their office in
Cairns, the gateway to Cape York, and was instrumental in helping to forge
the Green-Black alliance and secure the purchase of Starcke station.
It was while sitting around the campfire and celebrating the Starcke
victory with the land's traditional owners that Mr Winer experienced an
epiphany. "A number of the elders were drunk, and there were children with
scabies sitting on my knee," he says. "I looked around me and thought
'this land is everything to these people, it's their spiritual base, their
economic future'. But you need strong people if you're going to have a
strong conservation regime on Cape York.
"We need to base conservation on traditional knowledge, which has managed
the country very well, and is why the country is in the condition it is.
We need to make sure that conservation doesn't become a new form of
dispossession."
Of his former colleagues, Mr Winer says: "They're gung-ho cowboys who just
want another notch on their belts. They want to get their win and walk on
to the next. It's all about egos and victories."
The biggest victory of all would be a World Heritage listing for Cape
York, which the society says is as significant as the Serengeti or Amazon.
If the peninsula ^Ö home to half of Australia's birds and one-third of its
mammals, many rare and endangered ^Ö was listed, it would be the largest
land-based World Heritage area on the planet.
But that will only happen if local people consent, which seems unlikely.
Among other things, Aborigines are furious at the idea of the Cape being
denoted a wilderness ^Ö an uninhabited place. The Wilderness Society has
tried to defuse that row by calling it "wild country".
Lyndon Schneiders, the society's Northern Australia campaign manager,
denies that the locals are not being consulted. But he claims the Pearsons
are intent on large-scale land clearing and major irrigation schemes. "We
do accept that Aborigines have a right to economic development. But
there's a whole range of economic opportunities up there that won't trash
the place and would seem to meet people's aspirations to manage their own
country. The economic strategy should be based on appreciation of the
natural and cultural environment," he says.
But even eco-tourism will not be possible around the Staaten river, says
Shaun Edwards, a protégé of the Pearsons, since no building is permitted
within 1km of either side of the river. "We can't build any amenities," he
says. "Not even a picnic hut."
Mr Edwards promises the Wilderness Society a fight. "They're not dealing
with the old people anymore," he says. "They're dealing with a new
generation which is fed up. We're educated, we've got money and people
behind us, and we know how to talk the talk."
He adds: "Aborigines were among the first conservationists in the world,
and we still maintain that today. We are not here to rip off the land, but
to protect it. We belong to the land, and the land needs its people."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Protesters gather against Maori arrests
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:40:55 +0000
From: Ana
http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/pc/videos/16oct-nz-small.avi/view
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Star-Bulletin Poll going in favor of Superferry - please vote
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:04:34 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Begin forwarded message:
From: Katy Rose <klrose@earthlink.net>
Date: October 15, 2007 9:46:03 PM HST
Up until today, the poll was tilting heavily in our favor. Today the
Superferry sent out an email urging supporters to vote YES on the question
"Should the Superferry be saved?" (I am on their mailing list so that I
can keep track of what they send out.) Apparently, their email worked,
because the poll shifted radically.
Please vote and forward this on to your networks.
I apologize for duplicate emails!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. The PM and Aboriginal Australia -- a timeline
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:31:22 +1000
From: Kirky aka Mrs Lyn Welsh-Kirk <kirkysin@bigpond.net.au>
the PM and Aboriginal Australia-a Timeline
source:CRIKEY.com.au
The PM and Aboriginal Australia -- a timeline
FRIDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2007
Editor of The National Indigenous Times Chris Graham writes:
John Howard's brush with Aboriginal Australia -- a timeline:
March 1996: In John Howard's first act as prime minister, he calls a press
conference and announces his intention to appoint an administrator to take
over the powers and functions of the ATSIC board. It requires a change in
the Act, but is blocked in the Senate.
April 1996: Howard announces he will appoint a special auditor to
investigate allegations of widespread fraud within organisations funded by
ATSIC. The special auditor finds no such widespread fraud, but the Federal
Court soon thereafter deems the appointment of the special auditor
illegal.
May 1996: In his first budget as Prime Minister, Howard announces a cut of
$470 million from the ATSIC budget, forcing ATSIC to close a raft of
community and youth support programs, including women's centres.
May 1997: John Howard'sreleases hisWik 10-Point Plan.
May 1997: At the Reconciliation Convention in Melbourne, Howard bangs the
lectern and shouts at the audience as heclaims symbolism will deliver
nothing, and unofficially launches the policy of 'practical
reconciliation'. He also defends his 'Wik 10 point plan' which proposes to
amend the Native Title Act (which had come out of the Mabo victory). The
plan was passed by parliament, but decried by the United Nations and the
international community, which labelled it racist. Members of the audience
famously turn their backs on Howard as he speaks.
4th September 1997: John Howard on The 7.30 Reportalongside a map of
Australia with sections coloured brown, "What has happened with Native
title is that the pendulum has swung too far in one direction,
particularly after the Wik decision. What I have done with this
legislation is bring it back to the middle. Let me just show your viewers
that this shows 78 per cent of the landmass of Australia coloured brown on
this map. Now, the Labor Party and the Democrats are effectively saying
that the Aboriginal people of Australia should have the potential right of
veto over further development of 78 per cent of the landmass of
Australia."
August 1999: Howard officially refuses a national apology for members of
the Stolen Generations, with parliament instead issuing a statement of
sincere and deep regret.
October 1999: John Howard on the importance of voting yes to the preamble
for reconciliation, "A preamble is a broad statement of values and
principles which aim to reflect the spirit, traditions and sentiment which
underpin our commitment to the Constitution. It would also provide
Australians with an opportunity to highlight the aspirations we share as
we enter the second century of our nationhood. The great value of the
preamble is that it can unite republicans and anti-republicans behind
commonly held Australian values. It is not conditional on whether the
republic is supported or rejected. It can also make a contribution to the
reconciliation process which is one of the most important issues we face
as a nation as we enter the new century. The preamble honours "Aborigines
and Torres Strait Islanders, the nations first people, for their deep
kinship with their lands and for their ancient and continuing cultures
which enrich the life of our country".
28th May 2000: Howard refuses to attend the Bridge Walks for
reconciliation.
29th May 2000: John Howard as quoted on The 7.30 Report: "I speak for the
entire government on this and it's a matter that's been discussed at great
length. We don't think it's appropriate for the current generation of
Australians to apologise for the injustices committed by past
generations."
November 2002: The Howard government announces a review into ATSIC. The
review, which cost over $2 million, recommends reform of the body, and a
strengthening of the regional council structure and the election of local
officials. Howard proposes abolition instead.
October 2004: Howard formally dumps 'reconciliation' from the government
agenda, axing the 'Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on
Reconciliation' portfolio during a a post-election cabinet reshuffle.
June 2005: Howard abolishes the democratically-elected ATSIC. He replaces
it with a group of hand-picked Aboriginal 'advisers' (the National
Indigenous Council). One of the first acts of the NIC is to recommend the
compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory.
May 2006: During his visit to Canada, Howard successfully lobbies new
conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reverse Canada's support for
the UN's Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
September 2006: John Howard reacts to the Native Title Noongar win in
Perth, saying the federal court decision was one of "considerable
concern", with the government falsely claiming a day later that even
beaches in Sydney could be under threat.
June 2007: Howard launches his 'emergency intervention' into the Northern
Territory in response to the Little Children are Sacred report.
August 2007: Six weeks after the announcement the Northern Territory
Emergency Response Act is passed, giving the Government power to acquire
Aboriginal land forfive years and hold back 50% of all welfare payments
for necessary items. The long standing permit system, enacted as part of
the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) is scrapped. The
legislation includes exemptions from the Racial Discrimination Act.
September 2007: Howard orders his delegates at the UN to vote against the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
11 October 2007: Howard delivers a speech to The Sydney Institute in which
he introduces "new reconciliation" and a promise to amend the preamble to
the Constitution to acknowledge Indigenous Australians should he be
returned to Government at the looming election.
Feel free to distribute
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Disappeared News - Superferry as Trojan horse
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 07:28:47 -0400
From: FeedBlitz <feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com>
"DISAPPEARED NEWS" - 1 NEW ARTICLE - disappearednews.com
1. Superferry as Trojan horse
2.More Recent Articles
3.Search Disappeared News
Superferry as Trojan horse
by Larry Geller Why didn't I think of that? Joan Conrow's post today on
KauaiEclectic, Musings: Ferry Fiascos, describes ferry disasters in
other places such as Vancouver, BC. Please read her entire article, but
here is the closing paragraph: These scenarios could be flukes in the
ferry world, or cautionary red flags that we might want to consider. Of
course, itâ^À^Ùs hard to know, without a full....
More Recent Articles
* Superferry in demand elsewhere, makes good military transport too!
* Honolulu Advertiser reveals extent of Superferry contributions to
Lingle, pols
* Lingle, the military, and the Superferry
* Spotlight on torture
* Don't forget--Superferry wants to take us for a ride
________________________________________________________________________________
10. New Zealand activists protest arrests
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:38:25 +0000
From: Ana
In the Australian city of Melbourne, political activists have held
protests opposing this week's police operation in New Zealand.
Polynesian anti-globalisation activist Sina Brown-Davis has told Radio
Australia's Pacific Beat program the arrests are about criminalising
dissent and repressing the rights of the local Maori tribes.
"Firstly we're here to express our love and solidarity with those who've
been arrested," she said.
"Secondly to show our disgust at the NZ govt and their crackdown.
"Also to be reminded that this phenomenon is not just unique to NZ - this
crackdown of indigenous peoples and activists is common throughout the
Pacific at the moment."
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2061167.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. The Hypocrisy of Bill Clinton's New Book 'Giving,' Chris Hedges,
Truthdig, 20070918
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:48:32 -0700
From: Albert Krauss <alkrauss2331@att.net>
Here's a world class commentator laying it in on behalf of ultimate
revolution. Begin forwarded message:
From: "Dan Hamburg" <Vote@Pacific.net>
Date: October 16, 2007 7:34:56 AM PDT
AlterNet
THE HYPOCRISY OF BILL CLINTON'S NEW BOOK 'GIVING'
By Chris Hedges, Truthdig
Posted on September 18, 2007, Printed on October 16, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/62812/
Bill Clinton has written a new book. It is called Giving: How Each
of Us Can Change the World. He will give a portion of the proceeds
to charity. Giving, the former president informs us, gives us
fulfilment in life and is ^Óthe fabric of our shared humanity.^Ô
His book is the political equivalent of Marley & Me . It is filled
with a lot of vapid, feel-good stories about ordinary and wealthy
Americans setting out to make the world a better place.
It smacks of the philanthropy-as-publicity that characterized the
largesse of the robber barons^×the Mellons and the
Rockefellers^×and has become a pastime for our own oligarchic
elite. Clinton^Òs call for charity is the equivalent of
well-scrubbed prep school students spending a day in a soup
kitchen, doling out food to the people whose jobs were outsourced
by their mommies and daddies. It does little to alleviate
suffering. But it is a balm to the conscience of the oligarchic
class that profits handsomely from the impoverishment of the
working class, globalization and our anti-democratic corporate
state. The rich love to dine out on their own goodness.
The misery sweeping across the American landscape may have begun
with Ronald Reagan, but it was accelerated and codified by Bill
Clinton. He sold out the poor and the working class. And Clinton
did it deliberately to feed the pathological hunger he and his
wife have for political power. It was the Clintons who led the
Democratic Party to the corporate watering trough.
The Clintons argued that the party had to ditch labor unions, no
longer a source of votes or power, as a political ally. Workers
would vote Democratic anyway. They had no choice. It was better,
the Clintons argued, to take corporate money and use government to
service the needs of the corporations. By the 1990s, the
Democratic Party, under Clinton^Òs leadership, had virtual
fund-raising parity with the Republicans. In political terms, it
was a success. In moral terms, it was a betrayal.
The North American Free Trade Agreement was sold to the country by
the Clinton White House as an opportunity to raise the incomes and
prosperity of the citizens of the United States, Canada and
Mexico. Goods would be cheaper. Workers would be wealthier.
Everyone would be happier. I am not sure how these contradictory
things were supposed to happen, but in a sound-bite society,
reality no longer matters. NAFTA would also, we were told,
staunch Mexican immigration into the United States.
"There will be less illegal immigration because more Mexicans will
be able to support their children by staying home,^Ô President
Clinton said in the spring of 1993 as he was lobbying for the
bill.
But NAFTA, which took effect in 1994, had the curious effect of
reversing every one of Clinton^Òs rosy predictions. Once the
Mexican government lifted price supports on corn and beans for
Mexican farmers, they had to compete against the huge
agribusinesses in the United States. The Mexican farmers were
swiftly bankrupted. At least 2 million Mexican farmers were
driven off their land from 1993 through 2002. And guess where
many of them went? This desperate flight of Mexicans into the
United States is being exacerbated by large-scale factory closures
along the border as manufacturers leave Mexico for the cut-rate
embrace of China^Òs totalitarian capitalism.
Clinton^Òs welfare reform bill, which was signed on Aug. 22, 1996,
obliterated the nation^Òs social safety net. It threw 6 million
people, many of them single parents, off of the welfare rolls
within three years. It dumped them onto the streets without child
care, rent subsidies and continued Medicaid coverage. Families
were plunged into crisis, struggling to survive on multiple jobs
that paid $6 or $7 an hour, or less than $15,000 a year.
But these were the lucky ones. In some states, half of those
dropped from the welfare rolls could not find work. Clinton
slashed Medicare by $115 billion over a five-year period and cut
$25 billion in Medicaid funding. The booming and overcrowded
prison system handled the influx of the poor, as well as our
abandoned mentally ill.
The growing desperation provided a pool of broken people willing
to work for low wages and without unions or benefits. And while
Clinton was busy selling out the poor, he lowered the capital
gains tax from 28 percent to 20 percent, a reduction that
permitted the wealthiest 1 percent of the population to derive 80
percent of the tax savings. Clinton, like George W. Bush, also
provided lavish government funding for his corporate backers,
including in 1998 a $200-billion highway and transportation
package for the big construction companies and a $17-billion
increase in the military budget.
This was the largest increase in military spending since the end
of the Cold War. Corporations, flush with government aid, saw
their taxes dwindle. Amway, for example, had its taxes cut during
the Clinton years by an estimated $280 million. The Clinton and
Bush administrations, through tax breaks and corporate bailouts,
have squandered billions of our tax dollars on corporate welfare.
The appreciative oligarchs and corporate class have made Bill
rich. He is fond of boasting in public about how wealthy he has
become. Hillary raised $26 million in the first quarter of the
year, almost three times as much as any politician previously
raised at that point in a presidential election.
We face the prospect of having two families govern the country for
16 years. The system is rigged. Our democracy is a consumer
fraud. The government has given up any pretence of serving the
interests of citizens. The corporations rule. And for all
Clinton^Òs charm and talent for self-promotion, he is largely to
blame.
Half a century ago, corporations paid 45 percent to 50 percent of
the income tax. Today they pay 6 or 7 percent. This is why our
infrastructure is crumbling, there is no universal health care,
our public education is in crisis, regulatory agencies are
impotent and our poor and working class are desperate.
It is no longer possible to argue between the lesser of two
evils. The corporate state, which is carrying out a coup d^Òetat
in slow motion and has already shredded most of our constitutional
rights, is an unmitigated evil. We do not need charity. We need
justice. And all of Bill Clinton^Òs heart-warming stories about
giving are not going to save us from the corporations who sucked
out his soul and seek to imprison the rest of us.
Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, was the Middle
East bureau chief for The New York Times. He spent seven years in
the Middle East and reported frequently from Iran. His latest book
is American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/62812/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Did Inouye help secure $25 million in loan guarantees for Superferry?
and comment
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 07:18:18 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Advertiser 9/6/07 reported: "U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who
has been supportive of the loan-guarantee program in the past, did not
take a position on the loan guarantees for Superferry and urged the
Maritime Administration to follow its criteria, according to his staff."
So why is it on Jan 14, 2007, the Mobile Register reported: "Among those
who believe in the Hawaii Superferry are Democratic Sen. Daniel K. Inouye,
who helped secure about $25 million in federal loan guarantees for the
vessels, and former U.S. Navy secretary John Lehman, who O'Halloran calls
"our major investor."?"
Which is it, $25 million in federal loan guarantees or "did not take a
position" on the loan guarantees?
-------
Posted on: Thursday, September 6, 2007
Hawaii Superferry exemption backfired
^Õ Superferry court hearing on Kauai today
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Government Writer
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration wanted
assurances from the state that no environmental assessment be required for
harbor improvements for Hawai'i Superferry because delays to harbor access
could put its loan guarantees at risk.
The federal government added the condition to $140 million in loan
guarantees in January 2005 because Superferry was a new operation that
depended on $40 million in state harbor improvements. The federal
government, which had suffered heavy financial losses when other
shipbuilding projects failed, wanted confirmation that the harbor work
would be completed and that no environmental issues were outstanding.
But far from smoothing the way for Superferry, the state's exemption of an
environmental assessment led to a state Supreme Court challenge that has
thrown the project's future into doubt.
Several environmentalists said the Maritime Administration, the state and
Superferry executives should have anticipated there might be legal
challenges. Environmentalists claim it was an unnecessary risk not to
conduct an environmental assessment at the outset.
"All the way through, it was clear that this was a concern and that we
believed that an environmental review was the minimum," said Jeff
Mikulina, the director of the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter. "It's really
unfortunate that here we are, years later, right on the verge of
operations, and now they are forced to do it."
Others said it is understandable the federal government might want
assurances from the state but that it was Superferry that agreed to the
conditions of the loan guarantees.
"At the end of the day, there are very few entities in this whole sorry
mess that end up looking good, with the exception of the people who
ultimately challenged it when they raised these issues way back," said
John Harrison, the former coordinator of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa
Environmental Center. "There was not a question that these were issues."
The Maritime Administration, in a written reply to Advertiser questions
yesterday, outlined the reasons for its loan-guarantee condition.
"It was determined that because this was a new ferry operation, and
significant infrastructure work had to be performed in order for the
ferries to operate, the Maritime Administration needed to be assured that
prior to issuing any loan guarantee, that the ports would be available for
ferry operations," the Maritime Administration said.
The Advertiser reported on Sunday that the state Department of
Transportation was aware of this condition when it ruled in February 2005
that the harbor improvements were exempt from an environmental assessment.
STATE'S DECISION
The decision whether to require an environmental assessment was entirely
up to the state, but Superferry executives had told the state that an
environmental assessment would jeopardize the loan guarantees for the
construction of the Alakai and a second ferry.
The state Supreme Court's ruling that an environmental assessment is
necessary has put the Superferry project on hold, prompting warnings from
Superferry chief executive officer John Garibaldi and the Maritime
Administration's Sean Connaughton about the risks of default and the
exposure to federal taxpayers.
The loan guarantees helped the Superferry finance ferry construction and
are backed by the federal government, so the government would be
responsible for paying $140 million of debt in the event of a default.
Connaughton, the administrator of the Maritime Administration, told the
Maui Circuit Court in a declaration last week that the delay in ferry
service "greatly increases the likelihood of a default whereby the United
States government would be called upon to make good on its guarantee of
the vessel financing."
INOUYE ON SIDELINE
U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who has been supportive of the
loan-guarantee program in the past, did not take a position on the loan
guarantees for Superferry and urged the Maritime Administration to follow
its criteria, according to his staff.
Jennifer Goto-Sabas, Inouye's chief of staff in Honolulu, said the senator
was influenced some by his experience with the failed "Project America,"
the largest loan guarantee ever approved by the Maritime Administration.
The guarantee involved American Classic Voyages, which had been operating
interisland cruises in Hawai'i and had a contract to build two new cruise
ships at a Mississippi shipyard as part of "Project America."
But American Classic went bankrupt after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks, defaulting on the loans and costing the federal government $187
million.
The Maritime Administration had paid out $490 million to cover defaults
over the previous several years, including $330 million linked to various
American Classic projects. The Government Accountability Office and the
inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation found that the
Maritime Administration had failed to protect taxpayers from the losses.
CALLED A BOONDOGGLE
The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found that the Maritime
Administration had waived its financial criteria on several of the loan
guarantees and did not insist on safeguards.
At the time, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., described the American
Classic loan guarantees as "one of the most incredible boondoggles in
recent history."
Norwegian Cruise Line bought a hull and other leftover material from
"Project America" and took it to a shipyard in Germany for use in its
plans for interisland cruises in Hawai'i. Inouye and U.S. Rep. Neil
Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, obtained a federal exemption in 2003 that allowed
Norwegian to use up to three foreign-built ships for cruises between the
Islands instead of stopping first at a foreign port, as required for
foreign ships under federal law.
Connaughton, of the Maritime Administration, told Congress in testimony in
March that the administration has notably improved the management of the
loan-guarantee program since the critical audits. He said the government
has an outstanding portfolio of $2.9 billion in loan guarantees for
vessels and shipyard modernization.
The loan guarantees are intended to help private companies obtain
long-term financing.
Connaughton said the Maritime Administration has not asked for federal
money for new loan guarantees since 2001, but Congress has provided money
to help finance projects, including the Superferry.
Connaughton said the Maritime Administration no longer asks for federal
money "because it believes this program is a form of corporate subsidy,
and that shipowners and shipyards should rely on their own
creditworthiness to obtain financing in the private sector.
"Further, the taxpayers should not bear the risk of default by private
companies."
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.
================
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:52:11 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Wilkinson, Kaija" <kwilkinson@press-register.com>
Date: October 17, 2007 6:20:32 AM HST
Kyle: Thanks for your note. I long ago discarded the notes from that
story, but I found some other stories online that mentioned the $25M that
Sen. Inouyehelped get. I am sure if you called his office, a spokesperson
would beable to tell you which appropriations bill included that funding.
You could probably also get the info from Gov. Lingle's office -- her PR
staff seems to be particularly helpful. I've cut and pasted the related
stories below.
Kaija Wilkinson Reporter Press-Register
(Mobile) (251) 219-5637
P.O. Box 2488 Mobile, AL 36652-2488
--------
Hawaii Superferry to launch Thursday
By Kaija Wilkinson
on 14 January 2007
in The Mobile Register
This week will mark a milestone for Austal USA in Mobile when it launches
the first of two Hawaii Superferry craft from its south ship shed on the
Mobile River. The length of more than two football fields, the vessel is
so large that Austal must remove the front of the shed to clear the way, a
process that started last week, the company said.
The launch itself is expected to last most of the day Thursday, and can
be observed from Cooper Riverside Park in downtown Mobile. Austal, one
of the few aluminum ferry specialists in the world, in December 2003 won a
contract to build two ferries for Hawaii Superferry Inc. The first vessel
is lacking only finishing touches to its luxury passenger level before it
undergoes a series of sea trials and is delivered to its owner in early
spring, Austal said last week. The value of the contract is about $190
million for both boats, said Terry O'Halloran, director of business
development for the privately held Hawaii Superferry Inc. Work is under
way in Mobile on the second vessel, scheduled for delivery in early 2009.
Despite the financial problems some other fast ferry operators have
encountered, and fierce opposition from environmentalists in Hawaii,
investors are confident that the Hawaii Superferry vessels will be
welcomed and enjoy profitability. "People are quite excited about it
here," said O'Halloran. "We are bringing back the opportunity to travel
over the ocean between islands." The first ferry will connect the
islands of Kauai, Oahu and Maui. The second ship will link Oahu and
Hawaii. A one-way passenger ticket costs as little as $42. Car fares
begin at $55, with commercial trucks paying as much as $1,050 for a
one-way trip. O'Halloran said he expects the venture to turn a profit in
about a year. All has not been rosy for fast ferries in North American
waters, however. A fast ferry venture in Rochester, N.Y., ended early
last year when that city's mayor halted service of its Spirit of Ontario
to stop what he called a "hemorrhaging of tax dollars" brought on by the
ferry, which it had bought from a private owner that went bankrupt. That
ferry -- built by Austal USA's parent company, Austal Ltd. of Perth,
Australia -- was subsequently bought by a British company that said it
would operate an England-France route. Ferries in Alaska, meanwhile,
have struggled with low volumes. Fast ferries -- that carry 200-plus
vehicles, between 750 and 1,000 passengers and travel at 30 knots or
higher -- depend on high volume so they can pay the higher fuel, power and
maintenance costs associated with such large vessels. The 353-foot
aluminum Hawaii Superferry scheduled to launch Thursday is capable of
carrying 866 passengers, 282 cars and 28 large trucks. Its maximum load is
882 tons and its top speed is 37 knots." O'Halloran said Hawaii
Superferry chose Austal because it "has the technology and the ability to
build the right kind of ship for us. It was a natural fit." Among those
who believe in the Hawaii Superferry are Democratic Sen. Daniel K. Inouye,
who helped secure about $25 million in federal loan guarantees for the
vessels, and former U.S. Navy secretary John Lehman, who O'Halloran calls
"our major investor." Hawaii Superferry isn't Lehman's only tie to
Mobile: his New York-based company, J.F. Lehman & Co., last summer
purchased the Atlantic Marine Inc. shipyards in Mobile and Jacksonville,
Fla., becoming in the process the second-largest property owner along the
Mobile waterfront. O'Halloran said Hawaii's governor Linda Lingle has also
been supportive, and that the state Department of Transportation is
building ramps to accommodate the vessels. The vessel will offer people
and businesses an entirely new way to travel among islands, said
O'Halloran. Now, he said, people travel by air and businesses move their
goods on barges." The Superferry's double-hull catamaran design hearkens
to Hawaii's history, since it is based on the canoes used by the
Polynesians who originally inhabited the islands, O'Halloran said. This
double-hull design, which has a draft of only 12 feet, provides for a
"very smooth, comfortable ride," he said. In the industry, it's known as
SWATH, an acronym for small water-plane area twin hull. Ride stabilizers
are also used, he said. O'Halloran said he rode an Austal-built ferry in
the Canary Islands similar to the Hawaii Superferry and was impressed by
the comfort of the ride. It's not perfect, however. Passengers can still
feel slight movement when seas are choppy, but will be able to easily move
from place to place on the ship, he said. But while investors maintain
their ferries will be welcomed with open arms, some worry that the large
vessels will kill whales, be used to transport drugs or spread invasive
plants and animals. John Tyler Cragg, Web author of
superferryimpact.com, said "the Hawaii Superferry has been bullying its
way to service to our islands with the political help of our Republican
governor and U.S. senators, over the objections of each of the three
neighbor island councils in Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island."
Cragg wrote in an e-mail that the introduction of the ferries to the
Hawaiian islands is "a Pandora's box." A logo on the Web site shows a
ferry with jagged teeth eating its way through the islands. Lee Tepley,
a researcher who holds a doctorate in physics from the University of
California at Los Angeles, said a protest movement is gaining strength and
that a bill will be introduced to require Hawaii Superferry to submit an
environmental impact statement, or EIS, before beginning operation.
O'Halloran said an EIS is not required of cargo shippers or cruise lines
that now operate in Hawaii, and maintains the company has addressed
concerns after holding "hundreds of meetings" with island community groups
over the past several years. O'Halloran said that Hawaii Superferry has
developed a whale avoidance policy that includes detection radar and
routes that avoid places where the mammals congregate. The company also
touts the ferry's organism-repellent hull paint. O'Halloran also said the
company is working with law enforcement to counter concerns about
smuggling. "We have developed policies and procedures that in many cases
go beyond what a law or rule would require," he said. "In many cases we're
setting new standards for transportation companies here in Hawaii."
----
January 14, 2004
Hawaii Superferry inks agreement with Austal
Hawaii Superferry announced this week that it has signed an agreement with
shipbuilder Austal USA that proposes bringing the world's newest
passenger-vehicle catamarans to Hawaiian waters for the development of a
commercial high-speed interisland ferry service in Hawaii.
Hawii Superferry describes itself as "a Honolulu-based company formed by
veteran airline, maritime, and entrepreneurial executives whose mission is
to connect people and commerce in Hawaii economically and comfortably,
while delivering superior shareholder value and treating employees as
family."
Hawaii Superferry plans to invest more than $100,000,000 in the
interisland operation and expects to employ about 300 people
Hawaii Superferry plans to use Austal USA-built, high-speed,
roll-on/roll-off vessels to create "Hawaii's Interisland Highway," with
state-of-the-artcatamarans carrying passengers, vehicles and freight
between Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island, beginning in 2006.
Under the agreement, Hawaii Superferry plans to purchase two 340-foot
catamaran ferry vessels from Austal USA for delivery during 2006-2008
under what it calls "an exclusive, strategic relationship."
The four-story, football-field-sized catamarans, specifically designed for
Hawaiian waters, can comfortably transport 900 passengers and up to 280
vehicles, including large trucks and buses, from Honolulu to Maui and
Kauai in 3 hours and from Honolulu to the Big Island in 4 hours, traveling
at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour.
"For many years, I have envisioned 'a marine highway' for our islands, so
I am pleased with the progress that Hawaii Superferry has made in creating
an interisland ferry system that will serve Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big
Island," said Senator Daniel K. Inouye, who has secured more than $25
million in federal funds for the development of ferry infrastructure."This
initiative will complement ongoing efforts to further enhance ferry
service in the tri-islands of Maui County. The economic and social
benefits of a ferry system will be significant. The ferries will be an
additional way to move cargo from one island to another, and tourists and
local residents will have an alternative means to island hop to see our
many attractions or to visit family and friends."
Tim Dick, founder and chairman of Hawaii Superferry, said, "Dozens of
similar vessels have been operating on similar, open-ocean ferry routes
for 15 years throughout the world, including across the English Channel
and on Canary Islands, New Zealand, Mediterranean and Baltic Sea routes.
Our specialized catamarans combine a proven hull form with an advanced
computerized ride control system, ensuring a high level of passenger
comfort. Bringing this capability to Hawaii will boost interisland travel
by residents and visitors alike, at half the cost of air transportation,
and make fast, economical, door-to-door freight transportation a reality."
Chris Pemberton, Austal USA's vice president of marketing and sales,
expressed excitement about the Hawaii Superferry project. "The Austal
semi-SWATH catamaran design has proved successful throughout the world and
we believe that Hawaii Superferry's proposed service is an excellent
application for our world-leading fast ferry technology," Pemberton said.
Governor Linda Lingle, who has been an enthusiastic supporter of Hawaii
Superferry's "H-4" concept since her briefing by Hawaii Superferry
officials in September 2003, expressed continued support for the project
and hailed today's announcement as a major milestone in Hawaii's efforts
to provide interisland transportation alternatives. "The development of an
interisland ferry service would provide our residents, visitors and
businesses with an important new mode of transportation. Improving our
state's transportation infrastructure through the introduction of a fast
ferry service will ease some of the constraints on our economy. Our
residents and businesses, such as agriculture, will benefit from an
additional and possibly more cost-efficient mode of transportation and
shipping, thereby facilitating the growth of existing businesses and the
creation of new business opportunities," Lingle said.
John Dean, an investor in Hawaii Superferry, veteran venture capitalist
and long-time supporter of the University of Hawaii College of Business
Administration's Kipapa i ke Ala lecture series, said, "Hawaii Superferry
is a great example of the best of what is developing within Hawaii's
growing entrepreneurial community with a veteran team, a proven
technology, and a product that really works for Hawaii."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Papal Bull Burning 07
From: kepalo@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:05 PM
kepalo has shared photos with you.
Honolulu Papal Bull Burning
(1 album)
You're invited to view my online photos at the Gallery. Enjoy!
- kepalo
If you can't see the pictures in this email, click here to see it
in a web browser:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bmgnoigp.7snckol5&x=0&y=vcqkht
________________________________________________________________________________
14. Superferry Commentary by Senator Hemmings
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:24:59 -0400
From: Kyle Kajihiro <kkajihiro@afsc.org>
Hi Leslie
Thanks for sending us this FYI. However I think more context should be
given. By just fowarding Sen. Hemmings' op ed without commentary, it could
be mistaken as an endorsement of his position. In the interest of giving
folks the full range of perspectives on the Superferry, it would be good
to also send out or reference the points of view of Superferry opponents
as well as those in the legislature who are trying to broker a compromise
position?
I believe Sen. Hooser and Rep. Morita have written letters and op eds on
this issue critical of the Superferry process.
From the grassroots perspective you can go to superferryimpact.com to see
links to a number of different groups who are opposed to the Superferry.
And finally Rep Caldwell and Sen. Hanabusa have been the spokespersons for
the Democratic party line.
Thank you.
Kyle Kajihiro
-----
From: Hawaii EJ Initiative [mailto:EJHawaii@hawaii.rr.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:28 AM
I am forwarding this as an FYI.
Mahalo!
Leslie Kahihikolo
EJ Project Coordinator
----- Original Message -----
From: Sen. Fred Hemmings
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 12:30 PM
Subject: Superferry Commentary by Senator Hemmings
Attached is my editorial regarding balanced laws to improve economic
opportunity while protecting the environment. It is sad that some see
environmental laws as a means for bashing businesses. Ultimately, the
legislature has a responsibility to compose laws that are equitable while
protecting the long-term interests of Hawaii's people. I hope you will
join me in calling for legislative action as soon as possible.
Aloha,
SFH
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/14/editorial/commentary.html
ANOTHER VIEW
Don't let hysterical opposition keep Hawaii in the dark again
By Fred Hemmings
It is a tragedy that for several generations great opportunities in Hawaii
have been lost due to a vocal minority. Opportunities that would benefit
the overwhelming majority of people in Hawaii, such as the Superferry,
have been scuttled by vociferous and often ill-informed protesters. The
contradictory arguments of those opposed to the Superferry are missing the
essence of the situation. We all should be most concerned that once again
Hawaii stands to lose a valuable asset for its people unless something is
done very soon.
"What if" scenarios are fueling the argument against the Superferry. The
opposition speculates the Superferry is receiving a tax subsidy from the
state. This is inherently untrue. The Superferry is like every other
vessel that uses harbor resources. This money does not come from the
taxpayers' general fund. Rather, it is a bond issuance that will be paid
back by funds collected from harbor users such as Matson, Young Brothers,
Superferry and the cruise lines. The money fronted by the state that was
used for harbor improvements to accommodate the Superferry is an asset
owned by the state that will be paid back by the Superferry's fees.
Another claim is that the Superferry will lead to increased traffic and
cars on the outer islands. The Superferry is not going to be a one-way
outbound business from Oahu. In order for the Superferry to economically
succeed, cars will be transported to Kauai or Maui but likewise bring back
a similar number to Oahu. Under the U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section
2, the privilege clause guarantees an American citizen's right to travel
where they choose in this country.
If the Superferry never comes to fruition, Hawaii might miss out on yet
another valuable asset. The list of lost opportunities is long. For
instance, the economically challenged southeast flank of the Big Island
could have been a major launch site for space industries, with Hilo as the
gateway to the stars. The telescopes of Mauna Kea paired with the launch
sites would have been a smart match and would have spawned vast economic
opportunities. That did not happen because of a minority group of
protesters.
Just recently, public improvement of state land in Kakaako and building
smart-growth living space in the area by a prominent local firm was
stifled by loud, red-shirted protesters at the Capitol. Now much of the
state land remains a liability and industrial wasteland. The state does
not have the resources to improve much of the land.
Conversely, years ago protesters staged vigorous opposition on the island
of Kauai to the Barking Sands missile range. In that case, common sense
and political leadership did prevail. The Pacific Missile Range Facility
at Barking Sands is now an economic asset for Kauai and protects the
pristine coastline from future commercial development.
I deeply sympathize with the concept of stabilizing growth in Hawaii, but
the Superferry is not contributing to this problem. It would actually ease
transportation woes and make it easier for kamaaina and local small
businesses to travel interisland. There are clever ways to stabilize
growth in Hawaii. For example, legislation has been introduced to license
a finite number of visitor accommodations in an effort to curb the
unchecked growth of visitor arrivals. The laws of supply and demand would
make a stabilized number of visitor accommodations more economically
productive.
Hawaii is in desperate need of economic opportunity, stabilizing growth,
diversifying our private-sector single- industry economy, conserving the
environment and our way of life. These goals might seem paradoxical, but
we can achieve them if we make informed decisions. Hopefully, common sense
and fairness can replace the hysteria of protesters against the
Superferry. That is why the Legislature should convene as soon as possible
to have the will of the people reflected in reasonable and fair laws
concerning the environment and transportation resources in our harbor.
Though we might rectify the law by a special session, Hawaii has already
suffered negative worldwide coverage of this and the damage already might
have been done.
Fred Hemmings (R, Kailua to Hawaii Kai) is the Senate Minority Leader.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Keep Space for Peace Week Local Actions - Final List
Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:14:42 -0400
From: Kyle Kajihiro <kkajihiro@afsc.org>
Aloha kakou
Greetings and solidarity from U.S.-occupied Hawaii. Thank you for the
great work of this network to resist the militarization of space. Hawaii,
and in particular the Pacific Missile Range Facility and its associated
facilities, have made our islands into a hub for the full spectrum
militarization and domination of earth, sea and sky. Our movements for
peace, demilitarization, and Hawaiian independence have consistently
opposed the use of our islands as the testing grounds for missile defense
and other high tech weapons systems.
While we are unable to organize an action to coincide with the exact dates
of your campaign, please know that our prayers and solidarity are with
you.
Even though the following actions have already taken place, I'd like to
share them as our ho'okupu (offerings) to Keep Space for Peace Week.
On September 25, University of Hawaii students, faculty and community
allies rallied and held a press conference to denounce the resurrection of
a proposed Navy University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) contract to
conduct secret weapons related research, primarily based at PMRF. In 2005
there was a series of actions culminating in a week long occupation of the
President's office to protest the UARC, all of which successfully derailed
the fast-track plans for a UARC at that time. On Thursday, September 27,
more than 250 students and faculty, lead by a strong Native Hawaiian
presence, jammed the UH Board of Regents meeting on the Hilo campus to
protest the UARC and the violations of the core values and principles of
an institution of higher learning that should serve all humanity not war
profiteers. Shamefully, the Board of Regents voted to proceed with the
UARC, but the struggle to Save UH and Stop the UARC continues. (See
stopuarc.info)
On Sept 25 and 26 and October 1, 2 and 3 hundreds of people turned out at
public hearings to oppose and protest a Stryker Brigade in Hawaii.
Strykers are 20-ton armored "modern chariots of empire" that the Army
wants to station and train in Hawaii, which would result in a 25,000 acre
land grab (a 10% increase in military land holdings) and destruction of
native forests, contamination, and desecration of many Hawaiian sacred
sites. In 2003, at the first EIS hearings the community overwhelmingly
opposed the Strykers. But the Army proceeded anyway. The Army was sued and
they lost. So the Army had to prepare a second environmental impact
statement (EIS). This is a continuing 5 year struggle to stop the war
machine from expanding in Hawaii. (See dmzhawaii.org)
On September 17, the Navy closed its comment period for an EIS on a major
expansion of its range complex in Hawaii that encompasses the sky, sea,
land and undersea reaches. The military proposes to use more than 2.1
million square miles of sea completely surrounding the entire Hawaiian
archipelago. Many of these activities relate to war games and missile
defense and other technological testing off of Kaua'i. The Nay wants to
use laser weapons and hypersonic vehicles, unmanned undersea and aerial
craft, killer sonar, high energy radar and hundreds of other activities.
Many people testified against the proposal. (See Kahea.org)
And on September 10, the Waimanalo community demanded that the Marine
Corps to cancel plans for expanding a training facility on top of Native
Hawaiian ancestral burial sites and stolen Hawaiian lands. They called
for the clean up and return of these lands to Native Hawaiians.
Good luck and heartfelt thanks to all who are organizing actions to stop
the militarization of the heavens.
In solidarity,
Kyle Kajihiro
-----
From: Global Network [mailto:globalnet@mindspring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 3:49 AM
Keep Space for Peace Week
International Days of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space
October 4-13, 2007
No Arms Race in Space
Stop Star Wars Research & Development
Stop Endless War
Convert the Military Industrial Complex
Fund Human Needs
October 4-13 Local Actions
1) Albuquerque, New Mexico (Oct 6 Protest at Northrop Grumman for their
war profiteering and militarization of space) Bob Anderson
citizen@comcast.net
2) Albuquerque, New Mexico (Oct 7 Space video showing at Guild Cinema)
Bob Anderson citizen@comcast.net
3) Ashland, Oregon (Oct 8 Showing of Arsenal of Hypocrisy, discussion and
legislative action at Peace House, 6:00 pm with pot luck) Jill Mackie
jmackie@mind.net
4) Asheville, North Carolina (Oct 12 Unitarian Church presents Movie
Night A SPACE 4 PEACE at 7:00 PM. This video depicts how our "Defense
Department" plans to not just militarize space, but to weaponize space for
offensive and commercial purposes.) For more: Lew Patrie - (828) 273-2229
or 299-1242
5) Australia During Keep Space for Peace Week Australian WILPF is
communicating with the Foreign Minister to urge him in strongest terms to
support negotiations for Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space, and
not to cooperate with the U.S. missile defense program or with its plans
for space domination. The WILPF national co-coordinator is running for the
Senate in the hope of positively influencing national policy on this and
similar issues. Cathy Picone cpicone@westnet.com.au
6) Bath, Maine (Oct 6 Vigil at Bath Iron Works 11:30-12:30) Jack Bussell
jafabussell@gwi.net
7) Bellevue, Nebraska (Oct 11 Protest at Northrup Grumman aerospace
facility) nfpstate@nebraskansforpeace.org
8) Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts (Oct 4 Space video and presentation by
Mary Beth Sullivan from the Global Network 6:45 PM, Central Square Public
Library, 45 Pearl Street, Cambridge, MA) WILPF Call 617-244-8054
9) Brdy, Czech Republic (Oct 20 Int'l Meeting Against Missile Defense
radar in Czech Republic) Ivona Novomestska ivona.n@email.cz
10) Canberra, Australia (Oct 13 Picnic at the Raytheon Tidbinbilla
Tracking Station, Tidbinbilla Road, 11-1pm) Benjo Keaney
kean666@hotmail.com
11) Colorado Springs, Colorado (Oct 8 Bannering at "Camp Casey", corner
of Dale St & Nevada Ave at noon) Bill Sulzman bsulzman@juno.com
12) Colorado Springs, Colorado (Oct 12 vigil outside the west gate of
Schriever Air Force Base from 3-4 pm) Bill Sulzman bsulzman@juno.com
13) Croughton, England (Oct 6 March & Rally at U.S. Space
Communications Base, 12:00 - 3:00 pm) Oxfordshire Peace Campaign
oxonpeace@yahoo.co.uk
14) Damascus, Syria (Oct 13 Public Meeting at Damascus Center) Ghassan
Shahrour, MD ghassan.dr@gmail.com
15) Darmstadt, Germany (Oct 13 Spy Base Dismantlement: bannering and
speeches celebrating the announced dismantlement of the U.S. spy base in
Darmstadt) Darmstädter Friedensforum
regina.hagen@jugendstil.da.shuttle.de
16) Faslane, Scotland (Oct 1 "Big Blockade" of Faslane Naval Submarine
Base. This will be the culmination of the Faslane 365 year of actions
against Trident, Britain's weapon of mass destruction) Brian Larkin
brian@faslane365.org
17) Florence, Oregon (Oct 6 Demonstration on Hwy 101 to a Keep Space for
Peace theme. We'll have signs and leaflets. Starting time is 1pm) Stuart
Henderson shenderson88@hotmail.com
18) Fylingdales, England (Oct 6 Fylingdales Action Network will deliver a
letter to the Commander of Fylingdales U.S. radar facility pointing out
the dangers to world peace of the developing of a missile shield for
America.) Jackie Fearnley Jackie.Fearnley@beevitalpropolis.com
19) Geneva, Switzerland (Oct 10 WILPF plans to issue a statement, on the
40th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty, urging demilitarization of
space, negotiation of new treaty terms on banning weapons in space and
Prevention of a Arms Race in Outer Space. It will go to delegations and
governments involved in treaty negotiations in Geneva and New York: namely
the General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament in New York, the
Fourth Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna, and the
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.) Contact:
Ray@reachingcriticalwill.org
20) Hillsboro, Oregon (U.U. Community Church Program Promoting global
security and keeping weapons out of space, 10:00 am) Celeste Howard
celeste@pacifier.com
21) Jalgaon, India (Oct 4-5 Space weaponization talks at North
Maharashtra University; Indian Women for Peace & Development; Young
Lawyers of Jalgaon Bar Association; and Rally of College Students) J.
Narayana Rao jnrao36@sify.com
22) London, England (Oct 13 Space weapons issue workshop at annual CND
National membership conference) http://www.cnduk.org/
23) Menwith Hill, England (Oct 13 Demonstration at NSA Spy Base,
Yorkshire 12:00-4:00 pm) Lindis Percy percy@starbeck.eclipse.co.uk
24) Menwith Hill, England (On-going Women's Peace Camp at nearby Lay-by)
Helen John helenmenwith@yahoo.co.uk
25) Monterey, California (Sept 19 WILPF slide show on the US
militarization of outer space - 6:30 to 8:30 at the Monterey library.
Special discussion of the role of Onizuka Space Station in Sunnyvale,
(known as the Blue Cube), Vandenberg Space Command and the role of the
world wide network of satellite tracking stations.) MacGregor Eddy (831)
206-5043 macgregoreddy@gmail.com
26) Nagpur, India (Oct 2 Dharampeth Science College, All India Peace &
Solidarity Organisation, Talk on Importance of Declaration of 2nd October
as day of Non- Violence, 11.00am) Yugal Rayalu
yugalrayalu@yahoo.com
27) Nagpur, India (Oct 6-8 Space weaponization talks at Rally at Gandhi
Statue; Meeting with students at S.F.S. College; Rally of Indian Women for
Peace & Development; Students of Mahila Mahavidyalaya) J. Narayana
Rao jnrao36@sify.com
28) Nairobi, Kenya (Oct 12 People's Parliament will hold public
discussions on the issue of peace and the militarization of Space.
Discussions will tie in with the proposed establishment of the AFRICOM
command center by the USA in Africa.
The main event will be held at the Jeevanjee Gardens Park.)
Wangui Mbatia leader@peoples-parliament.org
29) New York City (Oct 11 Joel Landy presents Keep Space for Peace
musical review at TheYippie Museum and Cafe http://www.yippiemuseum.org/
9 Bleecker Street at Bowery, 8 - 10 pm) joellandy@yahoo.com
30) Omaha, Nebraska (Sept 24 Speech at Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha by Norman
Solomon on Transformation of StratCom, 7:00 pm)
nfpstate@nebraskansforpeace.org
31) Omaha, Nebraska (Oct 5 Speech by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton & Bruce
Gagnon at Creighton University on StratCom's Role in Militarization of
Space: An Update and Christian Response, 3:30 pm)
nfpstate@nebraskansforpeace.org
32) Omaha, Nebraska (Oct 6 Annual Nebraskans for Peace Conference at
First United Methodist Church featuring Gumbleton and Gagnon, 10:00 am)
nfpstate@nebraskansforpeace.org
33) Omaha, Nebraska (Oct 6 WILPF participatory workshop on the aerospace
corporations and StratCom, including gathering specific data on aerospace
corporations in Nebraska, and on working for conversion to a peace
economy. WILPF and Peace Economy Project at Nebraskans for Peace
conference) Carol Urner carol.disarm@gmail.com
34) Omaha, Nebraska (Oct 9 Protest at Strategic Space & Defense
Conference at Qwest Center, 5:00 pm) nfpstate@nebraskansforpeace.org
35) Omaha, Nebraska (Oct 10 Protest & Die-In at Strategic Space & Defense
Conference at Qwest Center, 7:30 am) nfpstate@nebraskansforpeace.org
36) Palo Alto, California (Oct. 21 Keep Space for Peace Event at
Unitarian Church, 605 E. Charleston Rd., Speaker: Jackie Cabasso) WILPF
Peninsula Branch BernSFish@aol.com
37) Parvatipuram, India (Oct 10 Space weaponization talks at Lions Club
and SVD College) J. Narayana Rao jnrao36@sify.com
38) Portland, Maine (Oct 2 Bruce Gagnon speaks on space issues at Peace
Action Maine office - 644 Congress St, 7:00 pm) Daniel Muller
danny@peaceactionme.org
39) Portland, Oregon (Oct 10 WILPF Keep Space for Peace vigil and
leafleting in downtown Portland on the 50th anniversary of the Outer Space
Treaty.) Barbara Drageaux bjdrgx@aracnet.com
40) Primghar, Iowa (Oct 13 Speech by Bruce Gagnon to PeaceLinks, 7:00 pm)
olivew@tcaexpress.net
41) Raipur, India (Oct 9 Space weaponication talks at Lions Club;
Meeting of All India Peace & Solidarity Organization along with various
Trade Union organizations) J. Narayana Rao jnrao36@sify.com
42) Raipur, India (Oct 4 Lecture against weapons & nuclear power in
space) Ramesh Kothari rameshnkothari@yahoo.co.in
43) Sacramento, California (Oct 4 Downtown leafleting by WILPF, Peace
Action, and Grandmothers for Peace exposing local area aerospace
corporations profiteering on space militarization) Ellen Schwartz
ellen@nicetechnology.com
44) Srikakulam, India (Oct 12 Space weaponization talk to All India
Peace & Solidarity Organization and Trade Unions) J. Narayana Rao
jnrao36@sify.com
45) St. Louis, Missouri (Oct 12 - 14 Peace Economy Project's "Defining
Security National Conference to Promote Peace, Cut Military Spending and
Fund Real Needs" will include a Global Network discussion of weaponization
of space) Andy Heaslet pep@peaceeconomyproject.org
46) Superior, Wisconsin (Oct 9 Lecture by Dr. Helen Caldicott at College
of St. Scholastica) Jan Provost G4Peace1@charter.net
47) Toledo, Ohio (Oct 4-13 Daily space flyer distribution at County
Building, Corner of Adams & Erie from 4:00-5:00 pm) Roz Marovitz
rkmarovitz@hotmail.com
48) Traverse City, Michigan (Oct 5 Joining anti-Iraq demonstration with
No War in Space banner; 5 public TV showings of Arsenal of Hypocrisy; GN
space week posters all over town) Carol Still ipjn.1@juno.com
49) Tuscon, Arizona (Oct 13 WILPF showing Arsenal of Hypocrisy and
discussion on Keeping Space for Peace at the Martha Cooper Library, 1377
N. Catalina Ave) Pat Birnie patbirnie@gmail.com
50) Vandenberg AFB, California (Oct 13 Vigil at main gate, 1:00 pm)
Dennis Apel jdapel@yahoo.com
51) Veeraghattam, India (Oct 11 Space weaponization talk at Government
Degree College) J. Narayana Rao jnrao36@sify.com
52) Visakhapatnam, India (Oct 13 Space weaponization talks at Meeting in
the University Campus and to the Inaugural meeting of the Indian Women for
Peace & Development Chapter) J. Narayana Rao jnrao36@sify.com
53) Washington D.C. (Oct 4 WILPF lobbying in Congress against space
militarization, and in support of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, a ban on
space weapons, and Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space) Carol
Urner carol.disarm@gmail.com
54) Washington D.C. (Oct 5 Vigil at White House noon-1:00 pm) Dorothy
Day Catholic Worker artlaffin@hotmail.com
55) Washington D.C. (Oct 9 Vigil at Pentagon 7:00-8:00am) Dorothy Day
Catholic Worker artlaffin@hotmail.com
56) West Palm Beach, Florida (Oct 6 Protest to Stop the Militarization of
Space, 2-3 pm Corner of Okeechobee Blvd. and Military Trail) Susan
Mosley Palm Beach County WILPF susanm4peace@yahoo.com
Women's International League for Peace & Freedom is a co-sponsor of this
week of protest.
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com
http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Blog)
http://www.myspace.com/brucekgagnon (MySpace profile)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Twelve Former US Army Captains: Reinstate Draft
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:00:03 -1000
From: viviane lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
http://infowars.net/articles/october2007/161007Draft.htmTwelve Former US
Army Captains: Reinstate Draft
Call to abandon volunteer military for compulsory service or leave Iraq
altogether, which do you think is going to happen first?
Steve Watson< FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Times New Roman"
size="4">
Infowars.net
Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007
Twelve former captains in the US army have today published an article
advising the White House that the only way US forces can stay in Iraq long
term is to reinstate the military draft.
"There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq," wrote the
ex-captains, all of whom saw service in Iraq between 2003 and 2006.
"To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to
abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our
best option is to leave Iraq immediately.
"A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more
blood and treasure on a losing proposition," they wrote.
The Iraq war "is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the
start," the captains stressed, calling the operation in Iraq a "shambles."
The captains also criticized current officials for maintaining that
operations can still continue in Iraq with the forces available to them.
Given that the US has and still is building permanent bases in Iraq and
that the weapons, security and reconstruction contracts are continuing to
reap billions in profits for the western military industrial complex,
immediate withdrawal is clearly off the cards. According to these former
captains that leaves just one option.
But such popular opposition to a military draft has led many commentators
to wonder just how, operati onally and theoretically, compulsory service
could be brought back.
The truth is the draft has never been eliminated, it has merely been
shelved.
As we reported late last year, there is an underlying framework that
provides for a rapid and extensive implementation of conscription.
"The Selective Service System, an agency independent of the Defense
Department, says it's ready to respond quickly to any crisis that would
threaten to overwhelm the current all-volunteer military," reported CNN
last November, noting that the agency would be able to fully implement the
draft in under a time period of seven months.
As we also revealed in the above mentioned report, leading representatives
across the political spectrum have ensured a constant re-introduction of
draft legislation, meaning it has always been on the table and still is to
this d ay.
Though influential Democrats like Nancy Pelosi have publicly shot down any
chance of the draft returning to America, everything is in place to
activate it, absent a nuclear or biological attack on a U.S. city or
geopolitical turmoil.
Such constant rhetoric and legislation concerning conscription, in
addition to warmongering with Iran and the continuation of the "war on
terror" mantra has led some, including Former Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury in the Reagan administration Paul Craig Roberts, to warn that
absent any real threat or attack, the Bush administration could stage
false flag events and terror attacks in order to reinstate the draft,
enhance military presence in the middle east and ultimately attack Iran.
In addition to calling for a new draft, the twelve retired army captains
also described widespread corruption in the Iraqi government, and stressed
that the infrastructure of the country is in "deplorable condition."
Iraq's oil industry "still fails to produce the revenue that Pentagon war
planners hoped would pay for Iraq's reconstruction," they wrote.
As many have pointed out however, Iraq's reconstruction was not in the
game plan. The stemming of Iraq's oil flow in order to further control the
market and increase global prices ($35 in 2003, $88 in 2007, $200 in
2010?) and the division of Iraq's sectarian people in order to dilute
unity in the region, the real goals of this war, are being carried
through.
=====--------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Partition and After: A Lecture and Discussion by Sukrita Paul Kumar,
10/22 3-4.30pm, Kuy 410
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:05:06 -1000
From: Robert Sullivan <rsulliv1@hawaii.edu>
MANOA: A Pacific Journal
Center for South Asian Studies, UHM
Department of English, UHM
Present
Partition and After: A Lecture and Discussion by Sukrita Paul Kumar
October 22, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
University of Hawai'i at Manoa Campus, Kuykendall 410 (Colloquium Room)
A presentation by author, editor, scholar, and translator Sukrita Paul
Kumar, a professor at Delhi University in India and the guest editor of
CROSSING OVER: PARTITION LITERATURE FROM INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BANGLADESH.
Drawing on the work in CROSSING OVER^×the summer 2007 issue of MANOA
journal^×Dr. Kumar will explore the ways that literature can encourage
reconciliation and healing by focusing on the experiences and memories of
individuals. CROSSING OVER marks the sixtieth anniversary of one of the
most traumatic events of the last century: when India achieved its
independence from Britain and was partitioned overnight into Pakistan and
India. The volume also includes writing about the 1971 war that
transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh. Originally written in Hindi,
Urdu, Bengali and English, the stories and memoirs in CROSSING OVER depict
the actions and emotions of ordinary people caught between countries,
cultures, and histories in conflict.
Appearing with Dr. Kumar will be Monica Ghosh, librarian in charge of the
South Asia collection of Hamilton Library and an affiliate faculty member
of the Center for South Asian Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
More Information
Contact Patricia Matsueda
956-8805 email mjournal-l@hawaii.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Gathering to remember John Kelly Nov. 18
From: Stephen Dinion [mailto:sdinion@mac.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:33 PM
A gathering to remember, honor and celebrate the life and works of John
Kelly.
"Hang tight on principles. Hang loose on tactics."
- John Kelly
Aloha kakou,
Colleen Kelly has shared the following plans for the open community
gathering for John Kelly. Details may change as plans move forward.
She has given the okay to forward this to others.
Mahalo,
Steve
Community Gathering to Remember John Kelly
Sunday, November 18, 10:00 am
KCC Ohia Building (Cafeteria Hall)
Parking lot open to everyone
9:30 Doors open at KCC
10:00 Program begins
Talk Story / Share memories / Today's shoreline needs
1:00 Catamaran riders board vessel (Ala Wai?)
2:30 Surfers paddle from Ka'alawai to catamaran
3:00 Return John to the ocean
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. The rest of the story on John Lehman?
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:33:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Richard Rodrigues <rmrodriguesjr@yahoo.com>
FYI, some fairly interesting information was posted this afternoon at
http://disappearednews.com/, Tues, Oct 16, 2007:
"The rest of the story on John Lehman
by Larry Geller
In my article Superferry in demand elsewhere, makes good military
transport too!
<disappearednews.com/2007/10/superferry-in-demand-elsewhere-makes.html>
I included some quick background on the ferry's backer J.F. Lehman &
Company and its founder, John F. Lehman. I then received a flock of emails
that made me wish I had done just a little more research.
Google reveals information that I would like to point you to. Google found
this article, for example: John Lehman, Team B, and the PNAC
<http://www.wingtv.net/thornarticles/lehman2.html> by Victor Thorn. It
begins:
John Lehman became an integral part of the neo-con community in the early
1970s when he joined a little-known organization called the Committee on
the Present Danger.
Google is also useful to verify some of the claims in the article (which
has its own bias). For example, Googling John Lehman Committee on the
Present Danger does reveal a connection with that committee. One may
proceed thusly through the article.
I invite you to do the Google search and check out some of the hits....."
a hui hou,
Richard M Rodrigues Jr
____________________________________________________________________________________
20. Suppression of Terrorism or Oppression of Tangata Whenua
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:43:28 +0000
From: Ana
http://indigenist.blogspot.com/2007/10/suppression-of-terrorism-or-oppression.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. West Coast Indigenous leader wins Premiers Award
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:45:19 +1000
From: Kirky aka Mrs Lyn Welsh-Kirk <kirkysin@bigpond.net.au>
http://www.abc.net.au/eyre/stories/s2061748.htm?backyard
West Coast Indigenous leader wins Premiers Award
Last Update: Wednesday, October 17, 2007. 10:20am ACST
By Lisa Leong
A local indigenous woman has won the inaugural 2007 Premiers Award for
Excellence in Indigenous Leadership in the Natural Resource Management
Sphere.
Sue Coleman-Haseldine is a Kokatha Mula woman who lives outside the West
Coast community of Ceduna. She was nominated for her work as a cultural
teacher and environmental advocate for her homelands.
She says her work is a labour of love, given her feelings for the land.
"People think there's nothing out there but there is it's life, it's our
church, our spirituality is out there," she says.
"(It's) our school where we teach the children how to survive and how to
care for each other - it's our pharmacy, our bush medicines are out there
- it's all those things."
Known in her community as Auntie Sue, she believes that it is particularly
important to pass on the stories of her peoples^Ò land and culture to the
young ones.
As part of raising awareness, she has been part of the regular water rock
hole cleaning trips, where animals are rescued from the deep holes, the
rock holes are returned to good health
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
22. TOPOFF 4: A Teachable Moment for Portland and America
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:13:21 -1000
From: viviane lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
http://www.oregontruthalliance.org/?q=node/320
TOPOFF 4: A Teachable Moment for Portland and America
The Dismissals of October
By Ginny Ross
Oregon Truth Alliance
October 15, 2007
A few weeks ago, the Oregonian printed an editorial to marginalize and
shrug off those of us with concerns about the largest ever terrorism
drills, TOPOFF 4 and VIGILANT SHIELD 08, to be staged in our city of
Portland, Oregon starting today. You can read it here, but for those on a
time budget I'll get right to the O's debate-avoiding, but predictable,
slight of our concerns:
It's hard to know what's scarier: the idea of responding to a terrorist
attack in Portland or the idea that the government is using a drill as a
pretext to seize power, declare martial law and, possibly, attack Iran.
The average Portlander doesn't give much thought to either notion, but a
feverish fringe sees a disaster drill as evidence of a future police
state.
This is the standard, obligatory dismissal we've come to expect from the
Oregonian toward the large activist community in Portland. We are a
diverse array of ordinary citizens that tends to take issue when, say, an
unelected, criminal regime runs roughshod over our Constitution for almost
seven years without any discernible opposition from Congress, the
Judiciary or the Press. In fact we don't see the drills as "evidence" of a
future police state, but just another episode in the ongoing series
"American Idle: Watch Your Own Country Go Fascist." Wouldn't it be fair,
though, to expect a line or two -- even just one sentence -- stating the
historical foundation for citizens' concerns, before they are dismissed
wholesale as "lathered" "feverish" and "fringe", as has become the
Oregonian's standard routine?
[see 22-mn. video on site, although I had problem with the sound level]
We've tried in earnest to share with the Oregonian and all Oregon citizens
the historical, factual basis for our concerns here at the Oregon Truth
Alliance first with our press release on NOBLE RESOLVE in August and then
our piece "Here's the Drill" concerning TOPOFF 4. Some of us spoke with
and met Joseph Rose, an Oregonian staff writer, and shared historical
background articles and DVD's with him, including the informative analysis
to the right.
But none of this information ever made it through. It's as if there is
shield surrounding the O to block out uncomfortable facts that might
disturb the official storyline. Our role, according to the O, is to be
"lathered," to stay on the "fringe" -- in other words we must be depicted
as irrational, not as ordinary, average citizens who examine history,
motives and facts and have reasons for the concerns we raise. But, because
the facts we raise don't jibe with the official 9/11 conspiracy theory
(that nineteen Arabs with boxcutters and a guy on dialysis in a cave --
all on their own -- broke through the world's most powerful and
sophisticated air defenses) therefore they can't be discussed. To question
the 9/11 story might upset reader sensibilities. After all, there is
nothing that pisses off Americans more than finding out they've been
"had."
But we hoped to at least spark a debate on the merits -- a look at the
sordid history of military drills and their connection with false flag
terrorism in the Bush era. I even prepared a commentary piece, printed
below, and sent it in to the Oregonian a week ago on October 8th. It
hasn't been printed yet, but it is possible I've already had my quota of
newsprint for the year. The O printed a piece of mine about secret
election software in May. If that is why they didn't print it, that is
understandable. But it just seems that this issue, the fact of another
round of huge linked terrorism drills and wargame exercises, just like
those held on 9/11, is really an important teachable moment for Americans,
isn't it? Shouldn't we examine these exercises in depth to find out what
they are really all about and also look at their history?
I don't know about any of you, but the disaster I fear most is already
here, and that is the willful, institutional, mass media fostered
ignorance of the documented facts and history surrounding the events of
9/11. The most dangerous aspect of that ignorance is the failure to
recognize that the large-scale military training drills underway during
9/11, overseen by Richard Cheney, are what made the catastrophic events of
9/11 possible. By handy coincidence or by design, they served as the "New
Pearl Harbor" the neocons openly hoped for in writing and that paved the
way for the Bush regime's endless "War on Terror."
Now, despite our dismissal by the O, here is the opinion piece that I
hoped would be printed to kick start a public debate on the uncomfortable
truths about the 9//11 military drills and wargames and their parallels
with TOPOFF 4.
I hope the Oregonian will see its way clear to printing this piece. The
truth about 9/11 is a matter all Americans must face sooner or later.
Terror Drills Past and Present: Various Shades of Improbable
In finding us ^Ófeverish^Ô about the upcoming terrorism drills in Oregon,
the Oregonian got our symptoms wrong (^ÓDifferent shades of unthinkable^Ô
10/2/07). It^Òs not fevers we suffer over TOPOFF and VIGILANT SHIELD, but
a bad case of flashbacks. Our worries that drills can turn ^Ólive^Ô stem
from historical facts. During the September 11, 2001 attacks and the July
7, 2005 London bombings, parts of exercise scripts did, in fact, become
real events. Now that drills involving nuclear explosions and martial law
are coming to Oregon, we think a frank look at this history is in order.
In May of 2001, Bush placed Cheney in charge of nuclear terrorism response
training. On the morning of 9/11, multiple military wargames and terrorism
drills were underway. Vigilant Warrior, Vigilant Guardian, Northern
Guardian and Northern Vigilance, to name a few, all served to either
divert attention from, or paralyze, US responses to the attacks. Northern
Vigilance diverted many jets to the North Pole on an outdated Cold War
scenario. When northeast sector air traffic controllers saw commercial
jets off course, they immediately notified the FAA, which alerted NORAD.
Due to the drill, NORAD had very few jets to scramble, and none turned a
wheel for over 80 minutes. That is 70 minutes slower than normal. Vigilant
Warrior simulated a ^Ólive-fly^Ô hijacking, meaning that one or more jets
were in the sky that morning, simulating the real thing. Vigilant Warrior
also placed false radar blips on ATC screens. This masked the four
^Óreal^Ô hijacked planes by simulating as many as 21 separate hijackings.
Controllers couldn't tell which were actual threats. Later that day, an
FAA official illegally destroyed a recording of controllers^Ò
recollections. Both a civilian and a CIA exercise on 9/11 simulated
airplanes crashing into buildings. The civilian drill evacuated employees
of the National Reconnaissance Office just when they would have been
observing their satellite screens showing the 9/11 attacks. Oddly, the
9/11 Commission barely mentioned these exercises, citing only one in a
footnote and ignoring the rest. Now to London. On 7/7/05, the private firm
Visor Associates ran a mock bombing drill involving three train stations
and a double-decker bus. As the exercise began, bombs exploded at those
same three stations and, about an hour later, on that same bus route.
Despite continuing official refusal to investigate it, this history is
well documented in mainstream sources. Our goal is simply to expose these
improbable coincidences and the serious questions they raise. We leave
feverish predictions to the experts, such as Vice President Cheney. He
warned us in April that "the greatest threat now is 'a 9/11' occurring
with a group of terrorists armed not with airline tickets and box cutters,
but with a nuclear weapon in the middle of one of our own cities^Å it^Òs a
very real threat." We note that Cheney was in charge to ^Óprepare^Ô us for
terror attacks on 9/11. You can check your own temperature on that. ^Ë
TOPOFF 4 and Vigilant Shield 08: a view from the "feverish fringe" up
What's Worrying Portland? ^Û
* By OTA at Oct 14 2007 - 20:43
=====-----------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Fallon NV cancer cluster environmental factors
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:14:54 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Aloha. Kakou Fallon Nevada has serious environmental health issues in
part due to the military contamination there. This is an interesting
article because it describes studies that are looking at multiple factors
and the complex ways that these factors interact to possibly trigger
leukemia and other rare cancers. The scientists are looking at how
viruses and toxins can affect genes and lead to cancers. It made me think
of the unsolved childhood leukemia clusters in Lualualei in the 1980s-90s.
kyle
http://news.rgj.com//apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/
NEWS04/710160361/1002
Stone Center of Nevada
Scientists: Environment may factor into cancer mystery
Frank X. Mullen (FMULLEN@RGJ.COM)
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
October 16, 2007
Scientists in Reno announced Monday preliminary findings that might help
solve the mystery of the Fallon leukemia cluster.
Those at a University of Nevada, Reno symposia Monday theorized the
epidemic might have been fueled by a one-two punch of environmental
factors that harmed the genes of the children who developed leukemia.
The first genetic change might have occurred while the children were in
their mothers' wombs or during infancy. The next genetic change would have
been later, just before the onset of leukemia, a cancer of the blood.
"What primes the pump?" asked Mark Witten, a toxicologist at the
University of Arizona who has been researching the Fallon cluster and a
similar outbreak in Sierra Vista, Ariz., since 2002. "That's what we're
trying to determine.
"I think we're making some very good progress. The answer may be too late
to help Fallon, but it may help prevent future occurrences of leukemia
clusters."
The researchers from UNR, the University of Arizona and University of
California, San Francisco presented some of the results of genetic,
environmental and water studies into the cancer cluster that sickened 17
children and killed three in Fallon since 1997.
Witten said the clusters in Fallon and Sierra Vista might have been
preceded by an outbreak of childhood shingles, a disease usually found in
adults exposed to chicken pox as children. That virus might have played a
part in the development of the cancer cluster.
Witten and his partner, Arizona tree-ring scientist Paul Sheppard, have
shown in previous studies that both areas have unusually high amounts of
tungsten in the environments. The scientists are doing mouse studies to
determine how tungsten may cause gene mutations, especially those which
have been linked to leukemia.
Witten and Sheppard have concluded tungsten is not biologically inert, as
previously thought, and communitywide exposure to the element might have
something to do with the cluster. They also found that tungsten exposure
might have something to do with reproductive diseases.
Scientists said answers might be found in the genes.
"Different cancers vary widely in their genetic signatures," said Dr.
William Murphy of the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Unlike what
has been shown in popular movies such as "A Civil Action," "the (Fallon)
cause is not a one-hit wonder. Fallon may provide a window where maybe we
can understand cancer or just leukemia in general."
Joseph Wiemels, a UCSF genetics researcher, said Fallon, with 17 cases in
six years, is the most striking cluster ever studied. He said the theory
that the disease is caused by two "hits, at different times, from
different causes and with different mechanisms" is the most promising path
for research.
Those "hits" that mutate genes, he said, could be caused by infection,
exposure to electromagnetic radiation or chemical exposure.
"Since this is a rare cluster, it may have a rare cause," Wiemels said.
Recent data from the Nevada Cancer Registry also indicates that there
might have been peaks in other forms of cancer in Churchill County.
"The cancer rate was elevated in 2000," he said. "There may be something
going on here besides leukemia."
That's consistent with a door-to-door survey conducted by volunteers and
organized by former Fallon resident Floyd Sands, whose daughter,
Stephanie, died of leukemia in 2001. That survey found more rare cancers
than common cancers. The survey hasn't been verified scientifically, but
experts have said the results are a compelling reason to do further
research into cancer incidents in the area.
Chris Pritsos of UNR is examining tungsten, arsenic and the radioactive
isotope polonium-210 in Fallon's groundwater to determine if those
elements might have some link to the cluster. He is exposing rats to water
with various concentrations of those elements to see if the exposure
causes genetic damage.
Ralph Seiler of the U.S. Geologic Survey is overseeing the tests of
Churchill County well water.
The research was funded by $750,000 in federal grants obtained by U.S.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and administered by the Environmental Protection
Agency and UNR. Witten and Sheppard also have received grants from the
Gerber Foundation.
Scientists stressed that their results are preliminary and more research
needs to be done.
Jeff Braccini, whose son Jeremy, 9, has recovered from leukemia, is part
of a parents group that lobbied Reid for the money. He said the current
research is a start to solve the mystery of why so many of Fallon's
children became ill between 1997 and 2002.
"We got the money and we've got the science," he said. "This is a great
start. It will lead to more science, more studies.
"I guarantee that no matter what the results (of the current studies),
we'll have more and more questions to answer."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Hershman John Poetry Reading, 10/25 3pm Kuykendall 410
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:22:16 -1000
From: Robert Sullivan <rsulliv1@hawaii.edu>
UHM Department of English Colloquium Series Presents
A Reading by Hershman John from his recently published poetry collection,
_I Swallow Turquoise for Courage_ (Sun Tracks).
OCTOBER 25, THURSDAY @ 3 PM, KUYKENDALL 410
Hershman John is a Navaho poet and teacher. He grew up on the Navajo
Reservation in Sand Springs, Arizona. He earned his BA in English and his
MFA in poetry at Arizona State University. He teaches composition,
creative writing, and American Indian literature at Phoenix College.
"His poetry draws freely from tribal myths and legends, and like its
creator, it lives outside the reservation too. Perhaps that is why [his
poems] seem so unspoiled, so sparkling. They are like gemstones that we
have never seen. And we are dazzled.With their recurring images of sheep,
coyotes, and crows^×and an ever-present Navajo grandmother^×these poems
carry echoes of an ancient time that seems to exist in parallel with our
own. The people who live in them bear, as if woven strand by strand into
their souls, the culture and traditions of the Glittering World. Although
these poems are lush with imagery of sunbaked lands, they are never
sentimental. Throughout this collection, the poet^Òs voice is confident,
assured, and engaged with life in a messy world. It is a world in which
animated spirits dwell comfortably with modern machinery, where the
spiritual resides with the all-too-human. This is a welcoming universe. It
invites us to enter, to linger, to savor, and to learn. "
Description and editorial review sourced from Amazon.com.
The author will be available for book signings after the reading. For
more information, contact the Department of English at 956-7619.
Sponsored by the Department of English and the College of Languages,
Linguistics and Literature (LLL).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
25. Free Hawai`i TV - "Stop The Special Session!"
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:53:17 -0700
From: Free Hawai`i <freehawaii@earthlink.net>
FREEHAWAII.INFO PRESENTS
FREE HAWAI`I TV
THE FREE HAWAI`I BROADCASTING NETWORK
TODAY'S VIDEO COMMENTARY -
"Stop The Special Session!"
Enormous Pressure Is On Hawai`i's Legislature To Bail Out The Superferry.
You Can Help Prevent It - Watch & Learn How!
To View Visit http://FreeHawaiiTV.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
26. Testimony on ARL
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:20:36 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Aloha Mr. Pang
Thank you for clarifying that my comments were received by the Board and
for correcting the public record of written comments received. I hope you
can appreciate how the combination of the inhospitable treatment we
received at Bachman, the omission of my testimony and our petitions from
the list of written comments, the Administration's and the Board's refusal
to release crucial documents requested through state freedom of
information laws and to address questions and concerns raised over that
last two years, and the Board's and Administration's decision to approve
the UARC despite overwhelming opposition by the University's constituency
groups, could give the impression that opposing voices were being
marginalized and ignored.
Thank you for catching my error in the date that I delivered the reports
to Bachman. I meant to write September, not August.
In the chance that I may have also missed the Board's responses to my
questions and concerns, can you tell me what steps, if any the BoR has
taken to conduct its due diligence to review, investigate and make public
the documents and findings related to the following contracts implicated
in the Naval Criminal Investigation: N00421-01-1-0001/0176,
N00014-01-1-0562, and N00421-03-C-0013? Despite evidence we have
presented that these three contracts, Project Kai e'e and UARC were parts
of the same plan, President McClain has not produced any documents to
dispute our evidence or to support his claim that there is no connection
between Project Kai e'e and the UARC. What has the Board done to
investigate this?
I am very disappointed that the testimony of hundreds who signed our
position in opposition to the UARC were not counted. I guess I should
have requested a confirmation of receipt when I sent them. I can send
them again, for the record.
Thank you for your attention to these concerns.
Sincerely
Kyle Kajihiro
On Oct 16, 2007, at 5:21 PM, Presley Pang wrote:
>
> Aloha Mr. Kajihiro:
>
> I am responding to your e-mail sent to me late Friday night, October 12,
> 2007, under your subject matter: "Why was my testimony against the UARC
> excluded?" Because you simultaneously sent your e-mail to various news
> media before I had a chance to reply, I am sending this response to
> those whom you have copied.
>
> As I indicated in my immediate reply to you the following Saturday
> morning, I needed to check my logs before responding to your claim that
> the Board suppressed the views of those opposed to the establishment of
> an Applied Research Laboratory. Here is what my records show.
>
> The Board Office did receive several hard copies of your nine page
> memorandum dated September 23, 2007, entitled ^ÓThe Secret and
> Scandalous Origins of the UARC.^Ô We also received several hard copies
> of a 90+ page spiral bound report you authored entitled ^ÓThe Dirty
> Secret About UARC: ^ÓMilitary Pork^Ô, Government Secrecy, and the
> Corrupt Origins of the University of Hawai`i UARC^Ô dated September 24,
> 2007. These hard copy documents appear to be the same as those attached
> to your October e-mail in electronic form.
>
> As corroborated by the dates of the hard copy documents, and as you
> stated in your oral testimony to the Board at its meeting in Hilo on
> September 27, 2007, you delivered these documents several days before
> the Board^Òs meeting. (According to your e-mail, you tried to deliver
> testimony a month earlier ^Óon August 25.^Ô We do not have a record of
> that delivery.)
>
> Copies of your written September-dated documents were in fact furnished
> to each Regent, and each Regent had a set of your documents before them
> at the time you testified orally at the September 27, 2007, meeting.
> Your oral testimony at the public meeting also repeated your report^Òs
> conclusions.
>
> No attempt was made to suppress or exclude your views on UARC/ARL.
> Your oral testimony and written reports opposing UARC were presented to
> the Regents and to the public at the Board^Òs Hilo meeting in September
> 2007. The Regents listened to several dozen other speakers on this
> topic for most of the first day of the Hilo meeting. All who expressed
> an interest in addressing the Regents were given the opportunity to
> speak. You and others also spoke against UARC during a 6 hour, public
> meeting that the Board conducted on the Manoa campus in January 2006.
> Because that January 2006 meeting was also public, you and others
> opposed to UARC had a public forum to promote your views on UARC. The
> Board did not exclude you from testifying, nor did the Board engage in
> ^Óthe suppression of opposition viewpoints.^Ô
>
> We do not recall receiving a ^ÓSave UH / Stop UARC^Ô coalition petition
> which you claim was faxed to the Board Office ^Óseveral months ago in
> anticipation that a vote was near.^Ô We did, however, receive several
> other petitions at the September 27, 2007, Hilo meeting which were
> circulated among the Regents. These petitions include copies of a
> quarter sheet document with identical text entitled ^ÓSAVE UH STOP
> UARC^Ô each with a single signature dated variously between September 21
> -26, 2007. We also accepted and circulated among the Regents at the
> public meeting several other signed petitions, including one entitled
> ^ÓSpeak Your Piece, or Forever Hold Your Peace,^Ô and ^Ó^ÒABOVE ALL
> NATIONS IS HUMANITY^Ò SAVE UH ^Ö STOP A.R.L.^Ô
>
> You correctly note that copies of your written documents were not posted
> on the Board^Òs public website in the week following the September 2007
> meeting. After the September meeting had concluded, I anticipated that I
> would later receive many requests for copies of the written statements
> submitted on UARC. As a convenience for requesters, I decided to make
> written testimonies, both in favor and in opposition, accessible on the
> web. So far, three persons have requested copies of the written
> testimony. I will send them your documents as a supplemental response
> to their requests. Your documents have been posted on the Board^Òs
> website as a convenience to those who wish to view them.
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
> Presley Pang
> Secretary of the Board of Regents
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27. Harassment Unchecked at Army Hotel
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:08:19 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3370/
harassment_unchecked_at_army_hotel/
News > October 15, 2007
Harassment Unchecked at Army Hotel
By Kari Lydersen
The military has ignored sexual harrasment charges at the Hale Koa Hotel
in Honolulu.
For active and retired military members and their families, the U.S.
Army-owned Hale Koa Hotel in Honolulu is a place to relax in a tropical
paradise at affordable rates.
For hotel parking manager and veteran John ^ÓJack^Ô Lloyd, it appears to
be a place to touch and proposition female workers, mostly Filipina
^×according to complaints filed with the military^Òs Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) office and testimony from several workers.
When Ernestine Gonda worked for Lloyd in the garage in 2004 and 2005, she
says he constantly harassed her^×rubbing her back, offering to take care
of her financially and even giving her an Easter card depicting a man with
an erection.
Gonda, 39, complained to a human resources manager, but to no avail.
^ÓThey said, ^ÑAre you sure you didn^Òt go out with him?^Ò I said, ^ÑDo
you really think I would go out with an old man like that?^Ò They said I
didn^Òt have enough proof. But I had a perverted card with his signature
on it. That^Òs not proof?^Ô
She later complained to EEO officials at the Army^Òs Fort Shafter in
Honolulu. They told her it was too late to take action^×even though she
told them the harassment was ongoing. The Army Morale, Welfare and
Recreation Command, which owns at least four military hotels worldwide,
did not respond to questions.
Remarkably, if Gonda had followed the hotel^Òs stated policy, she would
have had to report her grievances to Lloyd himself, formerly the EEO
counselor at the hotel. (A Hale Koa spokesman confirmed that Lloyd was
formerly the EEO counselor but declined to comment further.)
When nothing was done, Gonda took a pay cut to become a cashier so she
wouldn^Òt have to work directly with Lloyd. But she says he still managed
to harass her, and she later left the hotel altogether.
^ÓIt was so stressful, it took a toll on my physical health,^Ô she says.
Joyce Alcover, a Filipina immigrant who has worked at the hotel since
2002, says she endured similar harassment.
^ÓJack would make lewd jokes and lewd comments, he would kiss my hand and
grab me, things that weren^Òt conducive to a work environment,^Ô says
Alcover, 30.
According to documents filed with the EEO, Lloyd told Alcover he loved her
and badgered her to take a vacation with him. He also mocked her for
^Ówiggl[ing] too much^Ô with her husband, and said she was tired at work
from ^Ótoo much action with your husband last night.^Ô
Despite repeated complaints to the hotel^Òs general assistant manager and
human resources department, Lloyd remained at his job in the garage,
and^×according to Alcover and Gonda^×retaliated against them for reporting
him. They say that after they came forward, he would reprimand them for
being minutes late, while letting other employees slide.
Alcover was pregnant at the time and suffering severe morning sickness,
but she says Lloyd wouldn^Òt let her switch shifts or reduce her workload.
^ÓEvery time I worked the graveyard [shift] I was throwing up, so because
I couldn^Òt function well, he was telling me I was a bad supervisor,^Ô she
says.
Lloyd was eventually reassigned, but Alcover says he continued to visit
the garage and taunt her and other workers.
At an event organized by the interfaith group Faith Action for Community
Equity (FACE), which works on a variety of justice and labor issues in the
state, Alcover met the Rev. Stanley Bain and told him about the problems
with Lloyd.
^ÓShe was afraid at first to do anything. She didn^Òt want to lose her job
and she was worried what her husband would think,^Ô Bain says of Alcover.
^ÓBut then when she did come forward, it helped others come forward too.^Ô
Meanwhile, organizers with the union UNITE-HERE!, which has represented
more than 800 hotel workers at Hale Koa since 2006, were also hearing
multiple complaints against Lloyd.
In the last six months, seven female workers have filed complaints with
Fort Shafter^Òs EEO office about Lloyd^Òs alleged harassment and the hotel
administration^Òs failure to adequately respond.
Four workers have filed a class-action complaint, the precursor to a
class-action lawsuit, alleging sex and race discrimination. (One of the
women is Vietnamese and the others are either Filipina immigrants or of
Filipina ancestry.)
^ÓIt^Òs very hard for these women to speak out,^Ô says Amy Agbayani,
former chair of the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, who has become a vocal
advocate for the workers. ^ÓThe majority of them are not native English
speakers, and because of the special military status, dealing with a very
powerful institution and not being familiar with how it works, they are
especially intimidated and vulnerable.^Ô
Sexual abuse and rape in military culture^×and a lack of action by
military authorities^×are long-standing problems, brought to light with
the Tailhook scandal in 1991, when 83 women and seven men reported being
sexually assaulted during a bacchanalian conference of naval officers at
the Las Vegas Hilton.
The organization Stop Military Rape reports that 66 percent of women in
the military report sexual assault and 27 percent report being raped, with
only 2 percent to 3 percent of alleged perpetrators ever court-martialed.
^ÓCases of sexual harassment that are difficult to bring anywhere are even
more difficult within a military structure,^Ô says Linda Fischer, author
of Ultimate Power: Enemy Within the Ranks, a book about her rape at Fort
Shafter while she was in the military.
In early September, Army officials held a sexual harassment awareness
workshop for hotel employees. Community interfaith leaders asked to have a
role in shaping the agenda, but the military refused, organizers say. So
instead, FACE held a vigil outside the hotel.
^ÓThe specialists giggled through most of the training,^Ô says Kim Harman,
an organizer with UNITE-HERE! ^ÓThey did their best to make it sound like
the people who make complaints are just strange people having a bad day.^Ô
Kari Lydersen writes for the Washington Post out of the Midwest bureau and
just published a book, Out of the Sea and Into the Fire: Latin
American-US Immigration in the Global Age.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
28. Realigning saddle road improvements to accommodate Stryker expansion
in Pohakuloa
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:13:52 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Posted on: Monday, October 15, 2007
Hawaii Saddle Road faces realignment
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Staff Writer
The state must realign a part of its Saddle Road highway improvement
project after the Army acquired 24,000 acres of land near Pohakuloa
Training Area that sits on part of the newly aligned highway.
The $220 million Big Island highway improvement project, under way since
2004, is an ambitious effort to straighten, repave and separate military
training from motorists.
But with the Army's acquisition from Parker Ranch last year of a section
called Ke'amuku, the state Department of Transportation must find a new
route for the road that will bypass military operations.
The planned alignment crosses the 24,000 acres, said DOT Highways Deputy
Director Brennon Morioka in an Oct. 4 letter. The state wants to minimize
contact between military training vehicles and civilian traffic in the
Army's Pohakuloa Training Area.
"Consequently, the state DOT will be attempting to establish an
alternative alignment which will be infrequently disrupted by military
activities and provide an efficient travel route for the general public,"
Morioka wrote.
Planning studies have been initiated and a supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement will be prepared, he said, adding that agency and public
informational meetings will be held.
The Ke'amuku land is north of and now a part of the Army's Pohakuloa
Training Area that is used by several military branches, said Stefanie
Gardin, Army spokeswoman.
"We purchased it as a nonlive-fire maneuver training area," Gardin said.
Built by the Army in 1942, the two-lane Saddle Road extends 48 miles from
the rainy Upper Kaumana area east of Hilo to a junction with Mamalahoa
Highway six miles south of Waimea.
It connects the Mauna Kea Science Reserve International Astronomical
Observatory Complex and the Army's Pohakuloa Training Area to the rest of
the island.
Before the beginning of repair work, much of the highway was a patchwork
of repaired potholes, winding over and around blind hills and curves as it
runs along miles of old lava flows, pasture land and thick rainforest.
Rental car companies had prohibited their customers from driving on the
Saddle Road, but local commuters routinely barreled down the center line
to avoid the bumps.
The state has completed a section of the road, mileposts 28 to 35, that is
now open to the public, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman.
"There's another section, (mileposts) 19 to 28, that's being worked on,"
Ishikawa said. "Goodfellow Brothers is looking to complete the work,
probably in late summer 2008. There are other phases that they are trying
to gradually connect as funding becomes available."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29. Indigenous Peoples' Issues Officials Take Steps to Protect Ancient
Bones
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:55:19 EDT
From: Kapoonis1959@aol.com
Officials Take Steps to Protect Ancient Bones By Beth Hillyer
Oct. 16, 2007
MAKAHA (KHNL) - Up to 28 sets of remains buried in a Makaha sand dune were
scattered last week by city crews using heavy equipment.
The orange fence is new. It's to help protect and secure the sacred site.
The first step to right the wrong occurred Monday.
Native Hawaiian Linela descendents met with city and state officials.
Representatives from the office of Hawaiian affairs surveyed the site
using global satellite positioning or GPS. They pinpointed and documented
the location of the ancient remains.
Family members are outraged by the disturbance to this well documented
site.
Mauna Lahilahi is a historic fishing shrine and culturally important due
to it's location with regard to the rising and setting sun.
Linela descendents say they hope for more than an apology. They want an
explanation to the breakdown in communications meant to protect the site.
And they want written assurances documented burial sites will be
protected.
www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=7224013
________________________________________________________________________________
30. sovereign hawai'i: what would the basic need of food taste/feel/look
like in a free hawai'i?
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:03:26 -1000
From: 'imiola young <imiola@hawaii.rr.com>
http://lists.grist.org:80/dm?id=5C5F22D7B40A2BD97373D2B17F4E06F0
[Michael-Pollan_h150.jpg] Table Talk
A conversation with Michael Pollan -- part of a Grist special series on
food and farming
When it comes to eating, what are the seven words to live by? How is
cooking like football? And what do nutrition experts get wrong? Find out
all this and more as Tom Philpott talks with food author Michael Pollan,
who's just wrapping up his latest book. (Like, literally. He had to hang
up with Tom to go FedEx his galley proofs.) Then check out the rest of our
food and farming series, including our Edible IQ quiz.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31. PETS OK - Pet Friendly Rental Home Finders - Home page
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:06:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dhira DiBiase <dhiradi@yahoo.com>
http://petsok.com/
_______________________________________________________________________________________
32. America's Neo-Nazi Neo-Cons
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:23:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: patricia blair <cris6369@yahoo.com>
[The program Boyle appeared on also hosts a lot of wing-nuts of
various sorts. But Boyle isn't a wing-nut and doesn't wear a tin-foil hat,
and what he has so say is very important, so we're distributing this
interview despite the program. If you go to Alex Jones' Infowars.com site
at http://www.infowars.com and its links to other sites, you'll see what
we mean. -NYTr]
sent by Francis Boyle - Oct 15, 2007
Interview with Francis Boyle by Alex Jones
Alex Jones Program - October 10, 2007
BOYLE: Thank you very much for having me on Alex. My best to your
listening audience.
JONES: So much is happening in the world sir. With your expertise in
international law, in torture and in tyranny, in studying that and in
fighting it your whole life, can you give us the big view of where the
world stands right now and then where the U.S. stands in that world and
then your response on this amazing revelation in the New York Times last
week that what we already knew from the White House memos, but here it is
confirmed, that Bush ordered all this?
BOYLE: Well, in answer to your first question, I think the major
problem now is what seems to be some type of military attack on Iran. ABC
news reported that Bush has signed one of these covert action findings
against Iran and the reports seem to indicate that they're going to attack
Iran. I still think we have some time to head that off. I think we have to
do everything humanly possible to stop it.
One, it could get completely out of control and that whole area over
there in the Persian Gulf could simply blow up and, two, undoubtedly Bush
will then use that as an excuse to further his police state tactics here
in the United States, if not at some point culminating in martial law. For
example, if there (are) hostilities between the United States and Iran
initiated by the Bush administration - let's suppose Iran responds with
one of those Silkworm missiles against a US aircraft carrier in the Gulf
and takes it out, or a destroyer. Bush would ask for a formal declaration
of war from Congress, which he would probably get, and at that point he
would be a "constitutional dictator." There's an entire Title of the
United States Code that gives the president dictatorial powers in time of
a formally declared war...
JONES: That he has methodically been exercising and preparing and
funding the implementation of that, has he not doctor?
BOYLE: That's correct. As a matter of a fact it's already been
reported after September 11, 2001 he tried to get a formal declaration of
war and Congress refused to give it to him and so they gave him a limited
authorization to use military force under the War Powers Resolution. It's
also clear that the first draft of the USA Patriot Act was sitting on
Ashcroft's desk before September 11th. They had already had a provision in
there to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus, which is all that separates us
from a police state: namely if you're detained, your lawyer can appear in
court and demand that you be produced live in court to justify the
detention and the conditions of detention. For example, such that you're
being tortured or something like that. So it's very clear that even before
September 11th, with that draft of the Patriot Act ready to go, they were
contemplating setting up a police state. And if there is a formal
declaration of war against Iran, that'll be all they need...
JONES: After the next attack we're going to set aside the
constitution for a military form of government. Did you see that letter a
week and a half ago by former Senator Gary Hart, the big C.F.R. muckedy
muck, where he told Iran in no uncertain terms, "Look, we've staged events
before? Don't think the American people won't support an attack on you",
because the historical question is, does the US government engage in
provocations? Did you see that letter?
BOYLE: I'm sorry I didn't, but it's true they have all along of course
staged the Gulf of Tonkin. You know, Brzezinski said the same thing. Where
you have these insiders like Brzezinski and Hart saying it's coming and I
think it clearly is, and the Neo-Cons could not care less about democracy.
As I've said before, I was trained to be a Neo-Con with all these people
up there at the University of Chicago. (Paul) Wolfowitz was there,
Khalilzad, Ahmed Chalabi, Shulsky, all of them. We have to understand that
the father of the Neo-Cons, Leo Strauss - his mentor in Germany and his
teacher and his sponsor was Professor Karl Schmitt, who went on to become
the most notorious Nazi law professor of that benighted era and justified
in legal terms, every hideous atrocity Hitler and the Nazis inflicted on
everyone, including the Jews, preventive warfare, etc.
So all these Neo-Cons have been schooled there at the University of
Chicago, as I was, in Schmitt and Strauss and Machiavelli, and Nietzsche
and Hobbes. This is thoroughly anti-democratic training. That's exactly
the way all the Neo-Cons have been trained. I went through the exact same
program. They were there with me. Strauss had just retired when I started
there in 1968, but I was trained to be a Neo-Con by his foremost student,
(protC)gC), co-author and later literary executor, Joseph Cropsey. And
it's still a source for producing all these Neo-Cons. They are very smart,
very well trained and they are completely ruthless and unprincipled and
they are motivated by an ideology that is anti-American and it's basically
Neo-Nazi.
That's what we're dealing with.
JONES: Well that Nazi theme keeps coming up. The main bagman for the
person that bankrolled Hitler, Fritz Thyssen, was Prescott Bush and then
he got left as the executor of those banks and monies after World War II,
so this Nazi theme keeps popping up.
BOYLE: Well of course that's a historical matter and I have that cited in
one of my books, but I'm just telling you, being a product of the Neo-Con
system that they are Neo-Nazis, they've been trained to think like
Neo-Nazis, and you don't have to take my word for it.
There is a Canadian Professor of Political Philosophy Shadia Drury,
and she's written two books on these people - The Political Ideas of Leo
Strauss and Leo Strauss and the American Right. And to the best of my
knowledge, Professor Drury had no contact with the University of Chicago.
While I was trained to be one of these people - I was at the top of my
class there - and I agree fully with everything Professor Drury says...
JONES: Now let me stop you there. What does it mean to you doctor,
working with these people at the highest levels, what does it mean
studying this, to have Zbignew Brzezinski telling the senate committee,
the government may stage a provocation, a terror attack, to blame it on
Iran?" What does it mean when Gary Hart writes a letter saying, "we stage
events. Don't think they won't stage one to attack you?" He just said it!
BOYLE: Well, I went through the same Ph.D. program at Harvard that
produced both Brzezinski and Kissinger. They gave me Kissinger's old
office there at the Center for International Affairs. I do not believe
that Brzezinski would qualify as a Neo-Con. He is a traditional Real
Politicker, but I think Brzezinski is certainly sending a warning to
anyone who will listen to him that, based upon his knowledge of these
people and the way they operate, that some type of provocation is on the
pike - it' s coming. So I interpreted the statement he made as a warning
by an insider that this is coming. I don't know Hart personally, but
again, as you know he ran for the president, he was a senator tied into
the C.F.R. and that's the way he sees it too. So I think we have to pay
attention and as you point out, Tommy Frank said, "one more terrorist
attack and we're going to shut the Constitution down." It's already been
reported that if there is another terrorist attack Cheney's going to blame
it on Iran.
I'm sure that they will institute martial law, if not the whole
country, certainly selectively. As you again have correctly pointed out,
they have amended the Posse Comitatus Act out of existence; they have
amended the Insurrection Act, permitting the president to call out the
National Guard for any reason at all; the Protect America Surveillance Act
out of existence; the Levi guidelines in the Department of Justice to
prevent the Watergate abuses - those were all ended by Ashcroft, so even
in the Department of Justice we're back in the days of Cointelpro and this
new Attorney General nominee, Michael Mukasey, he's a Neo-Con and...
JONES: He also covered up government involvement in the first World
Trade Center bombing.
BOYLE: I'm not familiar with that role, but I do know he was the
judge who accepted President Bush's unilateral and unconstitutional
determination that a United States citizen named Jose Padilla was an enemy
combatant and transferred a U.S. citizen to a U.S. military brig where he
was held for 3 years and tortured. Now (that's the) nominee that we have
for Attorney General and we also have one at Homeland Security - Chertoff
is a Neo-Con as well.
JONES: Now Doctor, that brings me up to my next point. Obviously you
know about the secret order for the torture by Bush. That completes the
circuit. And they're putting people in prison for following the orders,
but then Bush claimed he wasn't involved in torture after they had first
advertised it and said it was good, so what does that mean in this and
then is there any way to stop them from starting World War III and going
around and arresting everybody and setting up the Fourth Reich?
BOYLE: Well clearly President Bush is at the top of the chain of
command. He gave the orders and he's fully accountable for all these
criminal practices including torture, which violates the Convention
Against Torture and a federal statute making torture a crime.
JONES: But now he can't say that he didn't know.
BOYLE: Well of course he knew all along. He gave the orders.
(laughs).
JONES: We knew that from the memos, obviously, but now we have him.
BOYLE: Right. But the point is, what can we do now? Well, we still
have our First Amendment rights. These Neo-Cons have basically shredded
the rest of the Bill of Rights.
We can protest, demonstrate, sit in, peaceful, non-violent sit-ins.
Cindy Sheehan and others sat in there with Congressman Conyers demanding
impeachment - we have to do that.
Also we have to run candidates against incumbents that will not
support impeachment of Bush and Cheney immediately, to stop this...
JONES: Well that was my next point that the Democrats are more
Neo-Conish, in many cases, than the Republicans, so how do we deal with
that in your opinion and what do we do if they go ahead and stage a new
attack or launch a new war and try to have martial law?
BOYLE: Well, I'm thinking of that myself. As I think I told you, I'm
on the U.S. government's terrorist watch lists. Back in the summer of
2004, an agent from the FBI and an agent from the CIA-FBI Joint Terrorist
Task Force showed up at my office, proceeded to interrogate me for one
hour and repeatedly asked me to become an informant on my Arab and Muslim
clients, which would have violated their constitutional rights and my
ethical obligations as an attorney. I refused to do it, so they put me on
all of the government's terrorist watch lists and as far as my lawyer can
figure out, there are five or six of them and I'm on all of them. So I
take it I will be one of the first taken out when this war is started and
...
JONES: Have you heard about the ambassador who went to an anti-war
(event), so now she can't fly into Canada?
BOYLE: Right. Now I'm on those lists.
JONES: I mean, this is Nazi Germany. That's what they do now.
BOYLE: Well I'm just telling your listening audience, look, whether
you like us lawyers or not, but the bottom line is there are a lot of
lawyers trying to fight to stop this and we lawyers are sort of the canary
birds in the mineshafts of democracy. When the air goes foul, the canary
birds die, warning the miners that it's time to get out of the mine. Well,
they're going after lawyers. They went after Mr. Mayfield in Oregon. They
went after Lynn Stewart in New York. They tried to go after Ramsey Clark,
the former Attorney General. They've come after me. So, you know, under
these circumstances I think people have to decide in accordance with their
own consciences, what they're going to do...
JONES: But even with Hitler his own people started fighting him.
It's got to stall. 80% of people disagree with (Bush) now. Do you think
they're going too far? I mean, do you think they're going to fail?
BOYLE: I don't know. Isn't that really up to you and me and your
listening audience Alex?
JONES: Yeah. I'm trying as hard as I can doctor Boyle. Stay there.
Final segment with you on the other side....
JONES: You were telling me during the break that you flew back into
the country, to Chicago, and there were armed guys waiting for you and
they took you into custody and you were interrogated and I said "did you
speak up and tell them this is America" and you just said "No, I've been
all over the world and this is just like a communist or fascist country.
You just keep your mouth shut." I mean, to see us turn into this - these
people are bullies and if we don't speak up they're going to win. There's
no doubt things are going to be worst in the final equation if we don't
speak up. And I hope everybody out there isn't intimidated by this. I hope
you get outraged by it.
Doctor Boyle, you've had to deal with this with courage, speaking
out against them and having this happen. What do you say to folks about
fighting tyranny?
BOYLE: Well we're Americans aren't we? We came from a background of
launching a revolution against tyrants. I mean it's in our blood. It's in
our history. I don't think I have to give people a lecture here about what
they have to do. I think the purpose of my appearing on the program today
is agreeing with you in saying "the hour is close at hand." If they attack
Iran, they could set off World War III and then institute martial law. And
understand the Neo-Con fiat - they've been at war with the Arab and Muslim
world, 58 states and 1.5 billion people, for quite some time. They would
be happy to have a war with Iran that could degenerate all over the Middle
East. The Neo-Cons, the Clean Break for Netanyahu by Perle and the rest of
them. They want to redraw the Middle East and break up all the states over
there in a manner that would be better able to be controlled by the United
States and Israel...
JONES: And they want to set up a loyal commissariat secret police
state here in the U.S. So I mean, bottom line then. That's what you're
pointing out, if this is part of a chain. They're not failing in Iraq,
they wanted to break it in three parts and sow sectarian violence. They
want to spread it, don't they sir?
BOYLE: That's correct. From the Neo-Con perspective, Iraq is a great
success. They've destroyed Iraq as a state. They've set off a civil war
and now there's ethnic cleansing. So it doesn't bother them that they have
murdered 3,816 Americans--our mothers and our fathers, our brothers and
our sisters, and our sons and our daughters. And I use the word "murder"
as a law professor. I've taught criminal law. "Murder" means the
intentional killing of a human being with malice aforethought...
JONES: Sir, we're out of time. I want to get you up in the next few
weeks for a full hour. Thank you for spending time with us. You're the
author of several books - one of them Destroying World Order. Thank you
for coming on.
NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
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--------=================================================================
33. Star-Bulletin Poll on Superferry Tampered and comment
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:22:41 -0700
From: bill lewis <wrl4@mac.com>
On Oct 15th, there were 2124 NO votes. Now they are saying the there are
only 1745 NO votes. Liar, Liar, pants on fire.....bill
On Oct 17, 2007, at 2:14 AM, Tane . wrote:
If you noticed, the count changed and the No votes have been lowered. I
have a feeling Star-Bulletin is altering the counts. So much for the
scienticfic counting. Tane
As of 11:11PM (HST) - Should the Superferry be saved?
Yes[blue.gif] 9890 85.00%
No[blue.gif] 1745 15.00%
Total votes: 11635
You have already voted.
As of 10:00PM (HST) -
Should the Superferry be saved?
Yes 9783 84.97%
No 1731 15.03%
Total votes: 11514
As of 7:30 AM (HST) -
Should the Superferry be saved?
Yes 8181 76.49%
No 2515 23.51%
Total votes: 10696
http://starbulletin.com/poll
----
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:30:13 +0000 (GMT)
From: "joeleann@juno.com" <joeleann@juno.com>
Any idea WHY the SB would permit such tampering? Any comment by SB about
the differing totals?
peace,
jbk
________________________________________________________________________________
34. Lingle, the Superferry & her future
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:33:38 -1000
From: viviane lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
Meanwhile, in yesterday's Tribune-Herald [which I just saw now and can't
find posted anywhere on the Web] article "Lingle vs. courts - Governor
takes on judiciary in Superferry fight," those of us who followed the
bizarre way in which the various polls on this same question unfolded will
particularly appreciate "Lingle also cites recent public opinion polls
that show broad support for the state first interisland car and ferry
service."
===========
http://homepage.mac.com/juanwilson/islandbreath/
SUBJECT: SUPERFERRY & LINGLE
SOURCE: JOHN TAYLOR dickmayer@earthlink.net
POSTED: 15 OCTOBER 2007 - 7:00am HST
image above: Governor Linda Lingle and General Robert Lee, left, greet
Irwandi Yusuf of Indonesia
Lingle, the Superferry & her future
by Joan Conrow on 13 October 2007 in Kauai Electric Blog
http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/
| Heard from a very reliable, well-placed source that Gov. Lingle issued
the order in a private meeting Friday morning: the Superferry moves
forward, with no EIS, at any cost.
The any cost, of course, is Hawaii's environmental law ^× and the state's
dissenting citizens. And what role might that stance portend for her
"unified command" forces?
It doesn't sound promising.
I'm intrigued why Lingle is putting herself so far out politically for
Hawaii Superferry.
She even called a press conference yesterday to remind lawmakers that a
bailout bill is "not just between the Legislature and myself, but the
Superferry has to agree that this is something that will enable them to
operate in a way that they can stay in business."
Superferry officials, of course, have resisted an EIS every step of the
way. Why would they agree to one now?
And why is Lingle pushing so hard to make sure Superferry is not only
accommodated, but on its terms? Or as Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura asked,
to huge applause, at the infamous Sept. 20 meeting with the governor: "Why
is the state aligning itself with the Superferry and not representing the
People for the Preservation of Kauai?"
Some folks have pointed to $25,000 in campaign contributions from
Superferry officials and supporters, but as Lingle noted, that amount is
peanuts, representing only one half of one percent of the campaign total.
It can't be for reasons of pride, either, because she still claims she
bears no responsibility for the current mess, and wasn't in on the DOT
decision to exempt Superferry.
And I'm sorry, but I don't believe she's driven by the belief that it's
what's best for Hawaii. Politicians don't expend this kind of political
capital on the public good.
No, Lingle's gunning for the Senate, and she wants to prove herself a good
Republican by following the example set by our President: sacrifice the
environment to business, and put naysayers off in a designated
"demonstration zone" where they can't be easily seen or heard. And if they
continue to speak out, or make a scene, toss their butts in jail.
I first met Lingle nearly 20 years ago, when she was a newcomer to the
Maui County Council and I was reporting for the Advertiser. I liked her.
She was smart, thoughtful and accessible, to the public and the press.
As councilwoman, she sat through numerous contentious public hearings over
development on Maui. She's too akamai not to have known something like the
Superferry would trigger opposition and near-certain litigation.
I hadn't seen Lingle in the flesh for several years until she walked onto
the stage at Kauai's Convention Hall and faced a large and boisterous
crowd. Despite her claims of encountering a rude, unruly mob, Lingle was
in charge from the very start. I was impressed by her composure, and her
strength, as she stood at the podium for more than three hours.
I was dismayed, though, at her cold rigidity. She was greeted on stage
with an oli and hugs, but I'm not sure if she knew that those who welcomed
her had demonstrated against the ferry at Nawiliwili Harbor. If she
understood the significance of their greeting, she didn't let on, because
she in turn expressed no warmth or aloha to the crowd.
Lingle's political mastery was evident that night, but I couldn't help
wondering, what had happened to Linda, the person? Why had a woman who
once prided herself on accessibility refused, months earlier, to even
accept a petition signed by more than 5,000 Kauai residents? Had she been
so long away from Molokai that she forgot how rural islanders think and
feel? Or did she no longer care, because we're politically insignificant
in terms of her greater aspirations?
Yes, Lingle likely does have the political clout to push Superferry
forward, at any cost ^× and survive an impeachment drive launched by Big
Island attorney Lanny Sinkin.
But she may ultimately find that the price of her militant stance on
Superferry is greater than she expected to pay.
I'll close with the words of Aung San Suu Kyi, the imprisoned leader of
Burma's nonviolent movement for human rights and democracy: "The way
forward is not through repression, but through reconciliation."
=====----------------------------------------------------------------------------
35. Legislature keeping ferry bill in tow
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:43:01 -1000
From: viviane lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
>>House Speaker Calvin Say said majority Democrats planned to hold a
caucus this afternoon to discuss proposed legislation.<<
>>Say also said he would not be in favor of holding public meetings
on various neighbor islands to solicit input.<<
>>Leaders also have to deal with concerns of a conflict of interest,
because Say's son had been employed by the Superferry. He was one of
the 250 employees furloughed last week.<<
>>Hanabusa said, "This is a small island and I don't know how you
are going to avoid these potential conflicts."
"I am not certain that simply because his son is or was working for
the Superferry somehow disqualifies him," she said.<<
============
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/17/news/story02.html
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Legislature keeping ferry bill in tow
STORY SUMMARY »
Lawmakers are inching closer to coming up with legislation to save the
Hawaii Superferry, which is barred by court injunction from sailing.
Senate Democrats yesterday said they have enough votes to go into a
special session to pass a law allowing the boat to run. House members have
said they already have the votes.
But legislators are mulling over conditions under which the ship operates
in environmentally sensitive areas and also are considering an
investigation into how the ferry was first granted permission to sail
without doing an environmental impact statement.
FULL STORY »
By Richard Borreca and B.J. Reyes
rborreca@starbulletin.com
bjreyes@starbulletin.com
House and Senate leaders now say a special session to permit the Hawaii
Superferry to resume service could start by next Wednesday.
Democratic senators met privately yesterday and agreed to go into special
session. Previously they had hoped to act by Monday.
Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said the Senate would approve some sort
of legislation to permit the $85 million vessel Alakai to resume service
to Kauai and Maui.
But Hanabusa said the specifics of the legislation are still being worked
on in closed-door sessions between House and Senate leaders.
The bill is not likely to be ready for comment until Friday at the
earliest, Hanabusa said.
The latest version of the measure permits the boat to sail despite a court
injunction, but also authorizes an investigation by the legislative
auditor into how the Superferry was first permitted to operate without
doing an environmental study. The measure would also authorize a citizens'
task force to monitor the ferry's compliance with whatever new regulations
are prescribed.
Hanabusa said the current draft legislation calls for the state to enact
rules to answer environmental critics' concerns.
"We believe we must balance all issues and the Superferry can then decide
whether they want it or don't want it and they can make the final choice,"
Hanabusa told reporters after the 90-minute caucus.
House Speaker Calvin Say said majority Democrats planned to hold a caucus
this afternoon to discuss proposed legislation.
"We're hoping to get something done by Friday at the latest," said Say (D,
St. Louis Height-Wilhelmina Rise-Palolo Valley).
He said there had been no talks between House leaders and Superferry
officials.
Say also said he would not be in favor of holding public meetings on
various neighbor islands to solicit input.
"At this point, because of the time constraints, I'm not looking at going
to the neighbor islands," he said.
Hanabusa said the Senate is considering holding its own informational
briefings on the neighbor islands, perhaps as soon as Friday.
Leaders also have to deal with concerns of a conflict of interest, because
Say's son had been employed by the Superferry. He was one of the 250
employees furloughed last week.
Say said he would ask for a ruling.
"At that point, I'll probably step down from the rostrum and ask the
acting speaker" for a ruling on any potential conflict, he said. "At that
point he'll rule for or against me."
Hanabusa said, "This is a small island and I don't know how you are going
to avoid these potential conflicts."
"I am not certain that simply because his son is or was working for the
Superferry somehow disqualifies him," she said.
=====----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gabrielle Welford, Ph.D.
freelance writer, editor, teacher
welford@hawaii.edu
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