local stuffs

aaah... caught up to date... g

and...if you should so desire, i have set up a "donate" button at the blog
to help me keep this dear list going...

1. The Sydney Morning Herald - Liberals Will Soon Be History
2. Army basing more soldiers in Hawaii
3. Holiday Publication from the Holy Land
4. Hawaii senator calls column 'disgusting'
5. Saying sorry won't mean compo, says Rudd
6. gore vidal on dennis kucinich
7. na keiki -- healthy toys (from esr -- educators for social
responsibility)
8. sovereignty question: what happens when you choose to be freely
associated with empire of u.s. of a.? you get megabucks, but your united
nations' vote sides with empire --all u.n. members are 'sovereign'
but...in reality they're just like state of hawai'i
9. shibai on 'green' products
10. NIT launches a new blog for online readers
11. Disappeared News - 2 new articles
12. Tuhoe Hikoi + court on Monday
13. classroom resource
14. "Social Engineers In Paradise" - revised response.
15. an interview with poet KEN RUMBLE on depression
16. direct aid to Iraqi families -- update
16. Social Engineers In Paradise and Tane's response to it - comment
17. La Ku'oko'a ( Pono)
18. north/south marianas sovereignty struggle: immigrant workers soon to
outnumber indigenous/demand their rights which feds say they're entitled
to -- same transmigration trick unleashed on indigenous hawaiians
19. north/south marianas sovereignty struggle: immigrant workers soon to
outnumber - comment
20. Social Engineers In Paradise and Tane's response - comment
21. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu.
22. Kucinich for ^QRealists^R
23. kairos / turning point for hawaiian sovereignty in pacific? in
australia, bush's lap dog is thrown out of office, asia replaces europe in
pacific, new european investment bank opens
24. Maui residents protest Superferry
25. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu - more
26. this week's diagnosis- George Will suffering from Famous Colonial
Displacement Amnesia
27. The Algebra of Occupation - comment
28. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu - more comment
29. Push May Come To Shove On "Voices Of Truth - One-On-One With Hawai`i's
Future"
30. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu - and more comment
31. Pacific secretary set to rebuild relationships
32. Unleash Your Bliss! -Lama Ngakpha Dorje - secret practices of
self-enlightenment Dec.14-16, Studio Maui
33. Justices uphold welfare home searches, No Fourth Amendment for Welfare
Recipients
34. Everyone sign it please!!!
35. Disappeared News - 2 new articles
36. Truth and Confrontation
37. New comment on local stuffs.
38. the lab report--December, 2007
39. Critique "Who Owns The Crown Lands of Hawai'i" - comment
40. KALIHI WAENA STREAMBANK RESTORATION / RECYCLING DAY DECEMBER 8
41. african party Badenyaa Saturday Dec. 8th
42. Maori "Terrorists" - 1100 People View Suppressed Police Affidavit
43. Who has the right to bear arms?
44. Fascism in ten easy steps
45. Canada & RIMPAC: Whale Killing War Games
46. Editorial on Chicago's Juvenile Detention Center
47. check out spin cycle sisters/brothers
48. Perchlorate contamination at Mana / perchlorate harm to nursing
infants
49. Third world warriors fight U.S. wars - for dollars a day

1. The Sydney Morning Herald - Liberals Will Soon Be History
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 07:37:38 +0900
From: Trevor Osborne <Trevor@world-harmony.com>

An astonishing article published by one of Australia's oldest national
newspapers - the Sydney Morning Herald.

Trevor
-----

The Party's Over and Liberals Will Soon Be History
By Steve Biddulph
The Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday 29 November 2007

The Liberal Party is in trauma. The corporate sector is attempting to calm
its nerves, and even the victors in the Labor Party cannot quite believe
the seismic change in the landscape of power. But the ramifications of
last Saturday may be much greater than just one election won or lost. In a
way that seems unthinkable to us now, 2007 may mark the end of the Liberal
Party itself. It won't happen overnight, but just watch it happen.

We are so conditioned to the idea that two main parties define politics,
we even call them left and right as if they were parts of our body. But
parties spring up in response to the primary tensions in a certain time
and place. In the 20th century that polarisation was capital versus
labour. A century earlier, before even the idea of power among the working
poor, politics was aristocrats versus tradesmen, the growing middle class
of shopkeepers and artisans that formed the basis of the Tories.

This is no longer the central tension in modern democracies. Centrist
governments cover all the bases, and conservative politics has begun to
wither away. This is a change that has come late to Australia. But social
evolution is now speeding up and even this alignment is becoming dated.

The issue of the future, coming down on us now like a steam train, is of
course the environment, the double hammer blows of climate change and peak
oil. Energy, weather and human misery are the factors that will define our
lives for decades to come. You can cancel your newspaper, those are the
only four words you need to know.

Linked to this, but compounding it in frightening ways, is the imminent
demise of the United States economy. In fact the whisper, the subplot in
economist circles, was that this election was one to lose. That whoever
inherited Australia in 2007 inherited a coming economic collapse in
globalised trade that would suck Australia and much of the rest of the
world down with it. For two years now the best predictions have been that
the subprime meltdown would act as merely the detonator of a much larger
explosive charge created long ago by US consumer debt, concealed by
Chinese and Arab investment in keeping that great hungry maw that is
America sucking in what it could not begin to pay for. The avalanche-like
fall of US house prices will be closely followed by the same in linked
economies worldwide, and presage a harsh and very different world than the
one we have lived in. In short, the party is over. We are a civilisation
in collapse.

Labor is the right party to manage this. Despite the widespread belief
after years of cynical politics that politicians are all the same, Rudd
and Gillard are not in power for power's sake. I am willing to stake my 30
years as a psychologist on this, but I think many observers have also come
to this conclusion. Kevin and Julia, as Australia already calls them, want
to make this country a better place for the people in it. In the coming
times of deprivation, they have the value systems that will be needed to
care for the sudden rise in poverty, stress, and need. They also have the
unity.

So what will be the new polarity in future elections? It's the ecology,
stupid. The Greens will emerge as the new opposition, though this will
take probably two election cycles. By the 2010 election, 20 per cent will
vote Green, simply because peak oil and climate catastrophe will have
proven them right, and thinking people will see the need for austerity now
for our children's tomorrow. The Liberal Party will be lucky to attract 30
per cent, which is the habitual, rusted-on portion of the community that
thinks greed is good.

By 2014, we will have a struggle between a new left and right - Labor and
Green - and the issue will be simply how green, how to balance the need
for a much simpler and more communal kind of life, with the need to give
people comfort and amenity now. This issue will continue to define life
for the rest of this century.

Climate change will bring horrific costs this century unless a global
effort is rallied in a way that has never been done before to regulate our
gluttonous use of the air and water. Perhaps a billion lives are at risk,
let alone 2 to 3 billion refugees, as agriculture and water supplies
collapse across southern Asia and elsewhere, and producer countries, like
Australia, find they can barely feed themselves.

The big lie of Liberal supremacy was economic management. In fact, they
knew how to generate income, but not how to spend it. We could have been
building what Europe built in this past decade - superb hospitals, bullet
trains, schools and training centres, low cost public transport of
luxurious quality, magnificent public housing. We pissed it all away on
tax giveaways and consumer goods. On bloated homes that we will not be
able to cool or heat, or sell, and cars we won't be able to afford to
drive. A party based on self interest may evaporate along with our rivers
and lakes, and have no role to play in a world where we co-operate or die.
--------
Steve Biddulph is a psychologist and author.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Army basing more soldiers in Hawaii
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:26:12 -1000
From: Tane . <Tane_1@msn.com>

Is Col. Wayne Shanks, spokesman of U.S. Army, Pacific, an amoeba-brain
that he can't figure out the simple mathmatics of the impact the
escalating military personnel and their families will have in Hawaii?
Besides the military's unlawful belligerent occupation in our country,
Hawai'i, this increase of militarism in our islands causes great harm to
us. We don't want them here and we want them to get out. The local
residents have to make a choice; military or tourism. The two can't go
hand in hand, especially with the seditious activity of the military that
is hazardous to our health. The lackadaisical attitude and behaviour of
the military is pugnacious and repugnant. They are disrespectful to the
people, our rights, our freedom, and the land.

Tell them to go to Bikini Island and station them their; they already
destroyed that island and removed the civilians there, so there's lots of
room and they won't make the island any worse than they already have.
The other option is the Nevada desert; that should suit them since that is
what they are trying to achieve in the world and they can get a headstart
in survival in that self-created environment. The other option are the
Catalina Islands where the rich and famous will sometimes vacation. They
can see where their money is going to and reap some of the benefits
produced by the military. All those are ideal locations; have them
consider that and stay away from Hawai'i! We rather have friendly,
peaceful people instead of trouble-making warmongers! Remember, aloha
also means goodbye and we pray they go and take their DU and other 'opala
with them.

Tane
________________________________________________________________________________

3. Holiday Publication from the Holy Land
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:04:59 -0800 (PST)
From: patricia blair <cris6369@yahoo.com>

I HOPE THAT YOU WILL READ THIS PUBLICATION SENT BY FRIEND, SAMIA OF
JERSUSELM....PEACE, PAT

Dear Friends and family: I just received this from the publishers of
This Week in Palestine. Despite the name it is a monthly publication which
I hope you will take time to go through. Samia

You can now view the December 2007 issue of This Week in Palestine
online www.thisweekinpalestine.com.

Being mostly about people, this issue in my opinion, is possibly one
of the richest that we have put out so far. We have attempted to document
normal life of Palestinians from all walks. The issue includes three sad
yet powerful stories from Gaza depicting life there today. We have also
shed light on a typical day of a Palestinian student, an environmentalist,
a judge, someone who works at the President's Office, an expatriate
volunteer and a successful CEO. The December issue essentially describes
how it is like living in Palestine today.

Finally, this being the last message before Eid el Adha and
Christmas, I would like to wish all of you happy and meaningful holidays.

Warm regards from Ramallah, Palestine,

Sani Meo
GM

www.thisweekinpalestine.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Hawaii senator calls column 'disgusting'
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:29:00 -1000
From: Scott Crawford <scott@aloha.net>

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/30/ln/hawaii711300350.html/?print=on
The Honolulu Advertiser
Friday, November 30, 2007
Hawaii senator calls column 'disgusting'
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, yesterday criticized nationally
syndicated Washington Post columnist George F. Will for an essay that
assailed the push for federal recognition of Native Hawaiians, calling it
"absolutely outrageous" that Will would compare the movement to Nazism and
the persecution of the Jews.

"It is disgusting that George Will would write a commentary about the
quest of Native Hawaiians for the opportunity to manage their own
resources based on so many complete misunderstandings and falsehoods about
the situation in Hawai'i," Akaka told The Advertiser.

In the column "Social Engineers In Paradise" that appeared yesterday on
www.washingtonpost.com as well as other newspaper Web sites, Will equates
the Akaka bill to Nazism and calls it "a mockery of the Pledge of
Allegiance."

Will likened a panel that would be formed to determine who is Native
Hawaiian to Hermann Goering, Hitler's second-in-command in Nazi Germany,
who was convicted of war crimes in Nuremberg and sentenced to death.
"Goering's role would be played by a panel empowered to decide who is a
'Native Hawaiian' and entitled to special privileges and immunities," Will
wrote.

Akaka said, "It is absolutely outrageous that he would compare this quest
for justice to the horrors perpetuated by the Nazis on the Jews and other
vulnerable people in Europe before and during World War II."

The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, nicknamed the Akaka
bill in honor of its chief sponsor, creates a political process that could
lead to federal recognition of a government entity that would represent
Native Hawaiians.

The bill passed out of the House in October and is awaiting a vote in the
Senate.

Will wrote that the bill "would foment racial disharmony by creating a
permanent caste entitled to its own government - the Native Hawaiian
Governing Entity - within the United States."

Will pointed to the Rice v. Cayetano case in which the U.S. Supreme Court
forced the state to open up OHA elections to all voters and not just
Hawaiians. "This ruling raised doubts about the constitutionality of the
racial spoils system administered by that agency, the Office of Hawaiian
Affairs," he wrote.

Will also said in the column that "unlike Indians ... Native Hawaiians'
land was not taken by force."

Haunani Apoliona, chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, called the
article "shameful" and took exception to Will's comment about the
overthrow.

"Mr. Will clearly lacks an understanding of our history (and) to suggest
that 'Native Hawaiians' land was not taken by force' ignores the facts,"
Apoliona said. "Further, it ignores the fact that thousands of Hawaiians
signed a petition opposing the annexation of Hawai'i to the United States.
"

Akaka agreed. "Mr. Will alters history to claim the overthrow was peaceful
and 'Native Hawaiian land was not taken by force,' which is plainly untrue
and ignores the involvement of armed U.S. agents."

Apoliona also said it was wrong for Will to compare a Native Hawaiian
government to Nazism.

"The issue is whether Hawaiian is a political or racial class," Apoliona
said. "We are indigenous. No different than American Indians and Alaska
Natives. To draw comparisons to Nazism is irresponsible.

"American Indians and Alaska Natives would be offended by this, and so are
we."

H. William Burgess, an attorney for several parties who have mounted
challenges against OHA and other Hawaiian programs, applauded Will's
column.

"It's quite well done," Burgess said. "I think it's quite significant
because it shows the national media are starting to pay close attention to
the Akaka bill. They're starting to look at it and see the flaws and
dangers of the Akaka bill."

Burgess said it was fair for Will to equate the Akaka bill to Nazism.
"It's somebody using race as a reason to do horrendous things, so it's
certainly an accurate comparison in that respect," he said. "I mean, do
the critics of what (Will) said really believe the Akaka bill doesn't
represent a government that is based on race?"

Burgess also backed Will's comment that Native Hawaiian lands were not
taken away. "Whose land was taken by force? Certainly, the overthrow did
not deprive anybody of any lands," Burgess aid. "The monarchy didn't own
the land, it held the lands for the subjects of the kingdom, and the new
government continued to hold the lands for the people of Hawai'i. Not a
square inch of land was stolen. It didn't affect private titles at all."

Supporters of the Akaka bill see federal recognition as a first step in
rectifying the wrongs inflicted on Native Hawaiians when U.S. citizens
helped with the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. In 1993, Congress
and President Clinton issued an apology for the U.S. government's role.
Supporters also believe federal recognition is needed to stave off legal
challenges that have been mounted against Hawaiians-only programs
established by the federal and state governments, programs they also
believe are needed to rectify the impacts of the overthrow.

Opponents, however, oppose the bill on the grounds that it and
Hawaiians-only programs discriminate against non-Hawaiians. They argue
that resources that should be distributed among all Hawai'i residents are
being unfairly given only to Hawaiians.

Also opposed to the Akaka bill and federal recognition are those who
believe much more is needed to address wrongs against Hawaiians. Some of
those opponents believe Hawai'i should be restored as a nation wholly
independent of the U.S.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.
© COPYRIGHT 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Saying sorry won't mean compo, says Rudd
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:15:35 +0000
From: Ana <uriohau@yahoo.com.au>

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22847372-5007133,00.html

APOLOGISING to Aboriginal people for past injustices would not open the
door to compensation claims, Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd says. Mr Rudd
has promised to apologise on behalf of the Government to indigenous
people, including the stolen generations who were taken from their
families.

Asked if that might lead to compensation claims, Mr Rudd told Southern
Cross Broadcasting: "Not at all".

"I believe that the only appropriate thing that we've got to get right is
the exact language of the apology," he said.

"The purpose of saying sorry is to build a bridge, establish respect so we
can move on with the practical business of closing the gap between
indigenous and non-indigenous life expectancy and other challenges facing
indigenous communities."

Mr Rudd has not yet said whether the apology would include the word
"sorry".

He has promised to consult indigenous groups on the precise wording.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. gore vidal on dennis kucinich
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:25:04 -1000
From: 'imiola young <imiola@hawaii.rr.com>

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18790.htm

Dennis Kucinich
By Gore Vidal

11/28/07 "The Nation" -- --- For the past two years I've been
crisscrossing the United States speaking to crowds of people about our
history and politics. At the same time, would-be Presidents of the
greatest nation in the country, as silver-tongued Spiro Agnew used to say,
have been crowding the trail, while TV journalists sadly shake their heads
at how savage the politicos have become in their language. But then, it is
the task of TV journalists to foment quarrels where often none properly
exist.

As I pass through the stage door of one auditorium after another, I
now hear the ominous name of Darth Vader, as edgy audiences shudder at the
horrible direction our political discourse has taken. Ever eager as I am
to shed light, I sometimes drop the name of the least publicized applicant
to the creaky throne of the West: Dennis Kucinich. It takes a moment for
the name to sink in. Then genuine applause begins. He is very much a
favorite out there in the amber fields of grain, and I work him into the
text. A member of the House of Representatives for five terms since 1997,
although many of his legislative measures have been too useful and
original for our brain-dead media to comprehend. I note his well-wrought
articles proposing the impeachment of Vice President Cheney, testing the
patriotic nerves of his fellow Democrats, but then the fact of his useful
existence often causes distress to those who genuinely hate that democracy
he is so eager to extend. "Don't waste your vote," they whine in unison--
as if our votes are not quadrennially wasted on those marvelous occasions
when they are actually counted and recorded.

Meanwhile, Kucinich is now at least visible in lineups of the
Democratic candidates; he tends to be the most eloquent of the lot. So who
is he? Something of a political prodigy: at 31 he was elected mayor of
Cleveland. Once he had been installed, in 1978, the city's lordly banks
wanted the new mayor to sell off the city's municipally owned electric
system, Muny Light, to a private competitor in which (Oh, America!) the
banks had a financial interest. When Mayor Kucinich refused to sell, the
money lords took their revenge, as they are wont to do: they refused to
roll over the city's debt, pushing the city into default. The ensuing
crisis revealed the banks' criminal involvement with the private utility
of their choice, CEI, which, had it acquired Muny Light, would have become
a monopoly, as five of the six lordly banks had almost 1.8 million shares
of CEI stock: this is Enronesque before the fact.

Mayor Kucinich was not re-elected, but his profile was clearly etched
on the consciousness of his city; and in due course he returned to the
Cleveland City Council before being elected to the Ohio State Senate and
then the US Congress. Kucinich has also written a description of his
Dickensian youth, growing up in Cleveland. He has firsthand knowledge of
urban poverty in the world's richest nation. Born in 1946 into a Croatian
Catholic family, by the time he was 17 he and his family had lived in
twenty-one different places, much of which he describes in Dreiserian
detail in a just-published memoir.

Kucinich is opposed to the death penalty as well as the USA Patriot
Act. In 1998 and 2004 he was a US delegate to the United Nations
convention on climate change. At home he has been active in Rust Belt
affairs, working to preserve the ninety-year-old Cleveland steel industry,
a task of the sort that will confront the next President should he or she
show sufficient interest in these details.

I asked a dedicated liberal his impression of Kucinich; he wondered
if Kucinich was too slight to lead a nation of truly fat folk. I pointed
out that he has the same physical stature as James Madison, as well as a
Madisonian commitment to our 1789 Constitution; he is also farsighted, as
demonstrated by his resolute opposition to Bush's cries for ever more
funding for the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More to the point,
in October 2002 he opposed the notion of a war then being debated. For
those of us at home and in harm's way from disease, he co-wrote HR 676, a
bill that would insure all of us within Medicare, just as if we were
citizens of a truly civilized nation.

Comments (54) Comment (0)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. na keiki -- healthy toys (from esr -- educators for social
responsibility)
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:14:39 -1000
From: 'imiola young <imiola@hawaii.rr.com>

http://www.truceteachers.org/toyguides/T_Guide_web_07.pdf
TRUCE 2007-2008 Toy Action Guide

Hot off the presses and available to download in time for the holiday
toy-buying season, the TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's
Entertainment) 2007-2008 Toy Action Guide contains information on how to
select toys that promote positive play and reduce the influence of harmful
toys on children. This year's recommendation list includes toys that
create cooperative play experiences, toys that promote creative arts and
physical play, shoe box gifts and much more!

Please help TRUCE get the word out about the Toy Action Guide by
distributing it to parents, teachers and community groups alike.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

8. sovereignty question: what happens when you choose to be freely
associated with empire of u.s. of a.? you get megabucks, but your united
nations' vote sides with empire --all u.n. members are 'sovereign'
but...in reality they're just like state of hawai'i
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:55:59 -1000
From: 'imiola young <imiola@hawaii.rr.com>

U.S. HOUSE BILL BENEFITS FREELY ASSOCIATES STATES

KOROR, Palau (Palau Horizon, Nov. 28) - The United States House of
Representatives approved the measure which will extend Palau's eligibility
to participate in the United States' educational programs through the year
2009 and set up a fund for the Compact Road's maintenance. According to a
statement sent to the President's Office through the U.S. embassy in
Palau, the Compact of Free Association Amendment Act of 2007 (H.R. 2705)
makes several changes to the Compact relationship between the U.S. and the
Freely Associated States-Palau, Federated States of Micronesia and
Republic of the Marshall Islands. Del. Donna Christensen who recently
visited Palau introduced the measure. In the statement, Chistensen said,
"This legislation is essential to our continued friendship and alliance
with those Pacific island nations that have a very unique relationship
with the United States."

Pacific Islands Report briefs for: Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The following news briefs were prepared by Pacific Islands Report, the
daily online news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program
at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. For the full Report, please
visit: www.pireport.org.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

9. shibai on 'green' products
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:29:03 -1000
From: 'imiola young <imiola@hawaii.rr.com>

http://lists.grist.org:80/dm?id=5C5F22D7B40A2BD94D4E276762EE6BE7

NEWS
Go and Greenwash No More
Green products largely guilty of greenwashing, says study

A study of 1,018 "green" products from big-box stores has found that all
but one were marketed with false or misleading eco-claims. Researchers
from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing called out products for
committing the "Six Sins of Greenwashing": a hidden tradeoff (e.g.,
toxin-loaded electronics touting their energy efficiency); no certifiable
verification of green claims; flat-out lying about certification;
vagueness (e.g., products claiming "all natural" status, which could
include hazardous substances that occur naturally); irrelevance (e.g.,
products claiming to be CFC-free even though CFCs have long been banned);
or a lesser-of-two-evils situation (e.g., organic cigarettes). Cascade
paper towels were the big -- and only -- winner, with claims of being
chlorine-free, having recycled content, and having legitimate logos
checking out as accurate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. NIT launches a new blog for online readers
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:57:38 +0000
From: Ana <uriohau@yahoo.com.au>

NATIONAL, November 30, 2007: The National Indigenous Times has added a new
section to our website - the new NIT Blog. There's five bloggers on our
books at the moment, but more will be joining the NIT stable over the
coming months.

NIT's online readers are able to comment directly on the various blog
entries, or take on individual bloggers in online debates.

You can access the NIT blog by clicking on the related link below or by
going to www.nit.com.au/blog

PROFILES ON NIT BLOGGERS

AMY McQUIRE is a cadet journalist with the National Indigenous Times. Amy
hails from Rockhampton in central Queensland and while she often blogs on
Queensland issues, Amy also turns her attention regularly to politics and
her general dislike of mainstream media. Despite brimming with talent, Amy
has accepted that in view of her regular criticisms, she will never be
employed by the ABC, News Limited, Fairfax, Sky, the Macquarie Network,
Channels 9, 7 and 10, APN and Rural Press, plus ACP Magazines^Å did we
forget anyone?

LARISSA BEHRENDT is a Professor of Law and Indigenous Studies from the
University of Technology, Sydney. She's a fortnightly NIT columnist and
widely regarded as one of the nation's most influential young Aboriginal
leaders. Larissa's blog tackles the issues of the day and provides
commentary on everything from good government policy to, not surprisingly,
bad government policy. You'll often find Larissa's blog 'Aboriginalises'
mainstream issues. She also has a strong focus on human rights issues.

GRAHAM RING is a fortnightly NIT columnist and writer. An unashamed
Victorian (how we don't know), Ringy's blog is high on the laugh quotient.
He's NIT's resident humourist, but also writes on serious issues such as
government policy and its affect on Aboriginal people. Ringy is serving a
stint in Alice Springs at the moment, so his blogging is very heavily
weighted towards all things Central Australia (and NT intervention).

CHRIS GRAHAM is the founding editor of the National Indigenous Times. An
occasionally 'angry youngish man', Chris blogs on anything that gets under
his skin^Å which is pretty much everything at some point in time. His blog
focuses primarily on politics and media coverage of Indigenous affairs.

MARGARET ROSS, aka The Font Nazi, is the graphic artist behind many of the
stunning NIT front pages that have outraged politicians (and delighted
lefties) for the past few years. Margie won a Deadly Award in 2007 for
Trainee of the Year. Apart from her obvious flair for design, The Font
Nazi just so happens to have a penchant for writing as well. Her blog give
readers an 'inside look'; at the workings of the graphic arts machinations
of the National Indigenous Times.

http://www.nit.com.au/blog
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11. Disappeared News - 2 new articles
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 04:31:14 -0500
From: FeedBlitz <feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com>

"DISAPPEARED NEWS" - 2 NEW ARTICLES - www.disappearednews.com

1. Getting Democracy Now! as a podcast
2.Hawaii Superferry--Fair Weather friend?
3.More Recent Articles
4.Search Disappeared News

Getting Democracy Now! as a podcast

by Larry Geller If there is trouble with the daily TV program, you have
an alternative. Catch the program on-line or in your portable player.
Democracy Now has redesigned their web site and there is a shiny new
page explaining the podcast. Check it out. Technorati Tags: Democracy
Now....

Hawaii Superferry--Fair Weather friend?

by Larry Geller Airplanes fly in all sorts of bad weather. How will the
ferry fare? Brad Parsons has emailed some surf forecasts. I'm not sure I
know how to interpret them, but it would be interesting to see what
effect potentially high surf has on the Superferry. It didn't take much
to break loose the loading barge at Kahului Harbor. If medium to high
wave action cause the barge and the ferry....

More Recent Articles

* Chance to ask your own questions about the Phileas transportation
alternative
* Opposition to Superferry grows, and a Hawaii blog makes the Federal
Register
* Poinography! » Tasers â^À^Üan optionâ^À^Ý for Hawaii County PD
* How our government supports our troops
* Hawaii police actions, more on Tasers
________________________________________________________________________________

12. Tuhoe Hikoi + court on Monday
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:33:50 +1300 (NZDT)
From: Marakita Mehmet <maraki_tanga@yahoo.co.nz>

Aotearoa IMC : http://indymedia.org.nz

Thousands gather in solidarity with October 15th arrestees and against
the Terrorism Supression Act
01 Dec 2007 (Updated)
permalink by AIMC

Over 2000 people gathered today in Wellington for E Tu, an all day event
with bands and speakers, in solidarity with those arrested and raided on
October 15th, and against the Terrorism Supression Act. Speakers included
someone from Tuhoe, one of those arrested and imprisoned on October 15th,
an MP, and other Tino Rangatiratanga and social justice activists. Bands
like Little Bushman, Olmecha Supreme and the Klezmer Rebs entertained the
diverse crowd for the 7 hours of the event. [ Photos ]DSCN0025.jpg
Protests also took place today in Auckland and Hamilton - if you attended
one of these, please post reports and photos here on Aotearoa Indymedia. A
new website has been launched "in solidarity those affected by the recent
'anti-terror' raids in Aotearoa/New Zealand." October 15th Solidarity
offers news and analysis of the raids and aftermath, support groups across
Aotearoa and more.

(4 comments) Add a new comment...

The struggle continues... 19 Nov 2007 permalink
by AIMC
Tuhoe nation describes the culture, language and identity of a people who
still have a memory, through oral tradition, of pre-european Tuhoetanga
and remember that free people don^Òt volunteer to be slaves. - Te Mana
Motuhake Tuhoe: A united front. Liberation for all!

anarchistandtuhoe.jpg
The 17 people who were arrested in the raids of 15th October are all out
on bail now and charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act will not be
laid. However, 16 people - people from T&#363;hoe, Te Atiawa, Maniapoto,
Pakeha; indigenous activists, anarchists, environmental and anti-war
activists - are still facing charges under the Arms Act. Here is a list
of upcoming solidarity events, information on donating money to the
various funds and links to various groups. The struggle continues^Å

Aotearoa anarchist arrested in Sydney, held in custody
17 Nov 2007 (Updated)
permalink by AIMC
Gabriel Shanks, an anarchist from Christchurch, is currently being held
in custody in Australia after being arrested by Police at Sydney Airport
where he had a stopover en route to Europe. He has been charged with at
least one count each of riot and affray, and will appear in the Waverly
Court on Monday for an extradition hearing to the state of Victoria.

policevan_wideweb__470x265,0.jpg
The charges stem from a protest in Melbourne against the G20 Summit, a
meeting of governmental representatives from 20 nations including the
USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and Russia, in November 2006. Police are
alleging that Shanks is one of the 28 "persons of interest" who had
photographs of them released via corporate media outlets by the Police in
an effort to identify them. Over 240 charges have been laid in total
against over 25 protesters, most of whom were arrested in raids in the
days and weeks following the protest.

Updates

Monday 4pm - Gabriel is being flown to Melbourne as we speak, and will
appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10am.

Tuesday, 4:10pm - Gabriel was granted bail in the Melbourne Magistrates
Court, and will have his next appearance in January 2008. He is not
allowed to leave the state of Victoria.

Tuhoe Hikoi Arrives at Parliament
14 Nov 2007 (Updated)
permalink by AIMC

A diverse crowd of people from various tangata whenua iwi, and tau iwi,
began gathering outside parliament ground at 10am this morning, and
swelled to around 500 by midday, when the Tuhoe hikoi arrived to a
boisterous welcome. Two groups joined into one for a march down Lambton
Quay, stopping to cry 'shame' at various government targets. A number of
Tuhoe and others, including Te Kupu from Upper Hutt Posse, addressed the
crowd at a brief rally at Midland Park.

The march then returned to parliament grounds where MPs from the Maori
and Green Parties spoke against the Terrorism Suppression Act (TSA) and
in support of the marchers demands for justice, and two of Labour's Maori
MPs were shouted down by demands to know which way they voted on the TSA
ammendments recently passed in parliament. The march continued up
Molesworth St to National Police Headquarters, where a line of police
were confronted with a powerful haka expressing the anger of the Tuhoe
nation at police behaviour in the dawn raids of October, and subsequent
actions. Many of the Tuhoe and supporters, both Maori and paheka, carried
on to a powhiri and hakari at Pipitea Marae.

No terrorism charges for the Urewera 16!
08 Nov 2007
permalink by AIMC
The Solicitor-General, David Collins, announced at 4pm Thursday that he
would not be granting permission to the Police to lay charges under the
Terrorism Supression Act for any of the 12 people they had applied for.

He said that while he felt that the Police had acted properly, after
reviewing hundreds of pages of transcripts and video evidence, he felt
there was not the required evidence to proceed with charges under the
TSA. All 16 arrestees still face arms charges.

The three remaining prisoners from Wellington have a bail appeal in the
Auckland High Court at 2:15pm Friday.

The Attorney-General, Michael Cullen, said he will act on the
Solicitor-General's reccomendation to refer the Terrorism Supression Act
to the Law Commission for review.

Updates

6pm: Crown will not oppose bail for Valerie Morse, Emily Bailey, and a
Wellington male with name suppression.

Friday 9 November

11:00 am: Whiri Kemara has just been bailed. Crown did not oppose.

4:00 pm: Valerie Morse, Emily Bailey, Omar Hamed, 23 year old Wellington
male, Tame Iti have just been bailed.

Monday 12th

12:30pm: A hikoi is currently winding it's way down the North Island from
Taneatua in Tuhoe Country to Parliament in Wellington. It left this
morning, and is currently approaching Taupo with about 50 people. The
hikoi will arrive in Wellington sometime on Wednesday. Photos to come^Å

1:30: All 16 prisoners are now out on bail! Tuhoe Lambert, Rawiri Iti,
Jamie Lockett and a man with name supression all recieved bail in the
Auckland District Court this morning.

Tuesday 13th: Around 22 carloads left a marae near Taihape to continue
the hikoi from Ruatoki to Wellington this morning. Last night, over 100
people shared dinner. The hikoi will arrive in Wellington on Wednesday. [

Two more prisoners lose name supression
07 Nov 2007
permalink by AIMC
The Court Of Appeal has rejected an appeal against the lifting of name
supression for two more of the prisoners arrested in the October 15th
raids.

Tuhoe Francis Lambert , 58, and Whiri Andrew Kemara , 38, both of
Auckland, had had name supression lifted by the Auckland District Court
on Thursday November 1st, but their lawyers had immediately sought leave
to appeal that decision and therefore interim supression orders were
granted until the appeal could be heard.

In total, 6 of the 16 arrestees have bail, with the other 10 remanded in
custody at Auckland Central Remand Prison and Auckland Region Women's
Correctional Facility. Of the 16, only 4 still have name supression.
On bail:

* Marama Mayrick, 24
* Ira Bailey, 28
* Male from Ruatoki
* Moana Winitana, 53
* Female from Auckland, 32 (TSA application)
* Rongomai Bailey, 28 (TSA application)
In custody:
* Whiri Kemara, 38 (TSA application)
* Jamie Lockett, 46 (TSA application)
* Tame Iti, 55 (TSA application)
* Male from Ruatoki (TSA application)
* Male from Wellington, 23 (TSA application)
* Tuhoe Lambert, 58 (TSA application)
* Omar Hamed, 19 (TSA application)
* Rawiri Iti, 29 (TSA application)
* Emily Bailey, 30 (TSA application)
* Valerie Morse, 36 (TSA application)

Announcement :: Indymedia
Aotearoa Indymedia needs your help!
05 Nov 2007 (Updated)
permalink by Asher
Aotearoa Indymedia aims to be a space where people feel inspired to read,
write and comment on news and events happening across Aotearoa (and the
rest of the world). In order to fulfill this aim, the Aotearoa Indymedia
Editorial Collective is empowered to enact the Editorial Policy, which
mainly means hiding spam, abusive and duplicate posts and comments and
cleaning up the newswire (ie - via moving local posts from the elsewhere
newswire if they are posted in the wrong place, or fixing up the
formatting of posts when requested by the author).

The Editorial Collective also writes most of the feature articles (the
ones in the centre column, like this), sometimes from scratch and
sometimes via collating articles from the newswire (or a mix of both!)

Prior to the Police raids of October 15th, the editorial collective had
three main editors - all had been editing for some time and so were
experienced with what needs to be done. These three did much of the work
on Aotearoa Indymedia, helped by the rest of the editorial collective
(some of whom have less-regular internet access, others of whom are new,
still others who have many projects they are involved in for whom
Indymedia takes a low priority). During the raids, two out of those three
editors were arrested, and both are currently being held in Auckland
Central Remand Prison. As the only one of those three left, I have
endeavoured (with help!) to keep Aotearoa Indymedia as up to date as
possible with information on the raids and protests, but there are limits
to how much an increasingly small collective can do.

Now, perhaps more than ever since Aotearoa Indymedia began, we need your
help. If you are interested in taking an active role in the Aotearoa
Indymedia Editorial Collective, then please email imc-aotearoa-ed (at)
lists.indymedia.org. The process for joining the Collective can be read
here.

If you spot a duplicate, spam, troll or abusive post, please DO NOT reply
to it, but rather email imc-aotearoa-ed (at) lists.indymedia.org with the
URL and the reason you think it should be hidden, and I or one of the
other editors will attend to it as soon as possible. You can also
frequently find some of us on the global Indymedia IRC server, which is
also being used as a regular updating space on the current raids/hearings
for Indymedia folks from all over the world.

In solidarity,
Asher, (Aotearoa Indymedia Editorial Collective)

150 People Protest Labour Conference in Tamaki Makaurau
03 Nov 2007
permalink by Danyl Strypes
An Indymedia journalist is reporting live from outside the Bruce Mason
Centre in Takapuna, Tamaki Makaurau, where the Labour Party conference is
being held today. 150 people gathered were there to protest against the
Terrorism Suppression Act, especially it's use against peaceful activists
in Aotearoa, such as the Urewera 16.

Our journalist reports that Labour Party member Len Richards, also a
member of the Service and Food Worker's Union, "whacked a Workers Party
member in the face with a megaphone and punched him". This is assault by
Richards was ignored by the 50 police present.

Meanwhile, a 17 year old Maori man was arrested for doing a haka. While
Police have charged him with a technical assault, they are considering
withdrawing the charge and giving him an official warning. The police
alleged that while yelling the haka, some spit left his mouth and landed
on an officer. Two pakeha men joining the protest were arrested for breach
of the peace, but have since been released.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

13. classroom resource
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:51:17 -0500
From: Tara Mack <tara@edliberation.org>

Begin forwarded message:
> From: Margaret Knapke <margaretknapke@...>
> Date: November 29, 2007 9:22:26 PM EST
>
> Hello,
>
> I have edited a book called From Warriors to Resisters: U.S. Veterans
> on Terrorism, which I believe could be a valuable classroom resource,
> either as primary or secondary text. FWtR contains engaging
> first-person narratives from veterans and military personnel, explaining
> how they awoke to the reality of U.S. foreign policy. The book could be
> used, wholly or in part, in a wide variety of classes--from writing, to
> social studies or history, to ethics.
>
> We have made the book available as an online resource to
facilitate its broad (and free) use as a counter-recruitment (as well as
anti-war and anti-School of the Americas) tool.

www.resistersbook.org
> (I shall be updating the online version of the Preface and Introduction
> soon, from the 2005 edition.)
>
> I am familiar with TAG and your important curriculum work, and I'm
> writing you because I want to make as many progressive teachers as
> possible aware of our little book. If you have suggestions as to how I
> might get the word out on the book and website, I'd appreciate them.
> (I've already contacted Rethinking Schools, Teaching for Change, and
> Progressive Teachers.)
>
> Thanks for your time and for all you do,
> Margaret Knapke
-----

Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 06:51:43 -0500
From: Tara Mack <tara@edliberation.org>
Call for Lesson Plans: Educators in a Changing America

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Kinneret Kohn" <kkohn@...>
> Date: November 28, 2007 2:41:32 PM EST
>
> Please find attached a Call for Lesson Plans posted by the Tanenbaum
> Center for Interreligious Understanding. We would appreciate your help
> in passing along the attached information to your readers in order to
> involve as diverse a population of educators possible.
>
> We believe that in the face of an ever more diverse and multicultural
> America, educators have had to develop their own means of addressing
> diversity within their communities. Tanenbaum wants to celebrate the
> resourcefulness of our nationâ?Ts
educators.

> We are publishing a guidebook of lessons that address religious
> diversity by and for Americaâ?Ts educators!
>
> www.tanenbaum.org/2007_education_contest.html
>
> Thank you,
> Kinneret Kohn
> Religion and Diversity Education Intern
> Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
> 254 West 31st Street, 7th Floor
> New York, NY 10001
> ph (212) 967-7707 x 121
> fax (212) 967-9001
> www.tanenbaum.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

14. "Social Engineers In Paradise" - revised response.
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 03:54:51 -1000
From: Tane . <Tane_1@msn.com>

In my haste, I failed to proofread and edit my response. I have revised
my response:

Hawaii Nationals, Say "NO!" to the Akaka Bill for Obvious Reasons

Tane's response to George Will's article - "Social Engineers In Paradise"
in the Washington Post
Thursday, November 29, 2007; A25

George Will:

That was quite a spin you've created. Too bad you are not knowledgeable
about Hawai'is history and issues. It's best to get the true facts and
then expouse on them. Much of your statements are false and twisted
besides being inconsistent. You and others being insistent with the
falsehoods and deceit does not make them the truth. This proves that most
US Americans do not know what the truth is and promotes the myths and lies
as if they are the truth. I can see why there is a lot of controversy
among all of you who try to spin with vacuous arguments.

We get weary of your self-proclaimed truths to white-wash the facts. The
feeble arguments you bring up are irrelevant to the facts. So let's go
over some of the misstatements you and many others have made:

Blood quantum is a US American created policy. There is a reason it was
done. You have jumped from 100% Hawaiian Polynesian blood to the
"one-drop" rule. Amazingly, you seemed to have flunked math by inferring
only 7,000 are full-blooded and the rest have one-drop, which would then
be the mass majority of the Hawaiians.

You make a claim that 94 % Hawaiians, including majority of Native
Hawaiians voted for statehood. This is confusing and misleading since you
are using the word Hawaiians with different meanings. You all need to get
it straight or you will confuse yourselves. Initially, Hawaiians were
referred to the Polynesian group who live in Hawaii and of whom it is
their homeland, their nation-state. Only recently are you people labelling
anyone who lives in Hawaii as Hawaiians. Why not Locals or Hawaiian
Islanders, or just islanders? You on the mainland love to redefine and
redefine the same labels incorrectly and confuse yourselves thereby giving
the wrong impressions.

The more correct statement is only 22 percent of the population voted in
the so-called plebiscite for statehood of which 94% voted for statehood.
Of the 94% military personnel and their families who resided or stationed
in Hawaii for at least a year, were eligible to vote. US Americans were
allowed to vote; some Native Hawaiians were barred from voting and those
who felt they were still Hawaii Nationals refused to vote. The
irregularities of the voting and the contents and wording of the ballot
was enough to deem it null and void. Only two choices were on the ballot:
1) - remain a territory (taxation without representation) and 2 - become a
state (to have a voice in government and vote for the US president). How
clever! There was no choice for total independence nor a commonwealth or
free-association. There were no international observers to witness the
process; only the word of the USA (and we know how good their word is,
don't we?).

When ex-press secretary Snow for Bush stated,"..a resolution is
non-binding", it brought to mind the Newlands Resolution. This means that
resolution for annexation of Hawaii was non-binding, but a wishlist. The
Hawaiian Nationals petitioned the US to restore the Queen, her government,
and our nation-state back to them. Over 96% percent of the nationals
signed the petitions against annexation in 1897 and presented it to the US
Congress. That's partially why the Bill for annexation failed and the lack
of a treaty of annexation by the legitimate government of Hawai'i. Thus
the influential powers in Washington resorted to the Newlands Resolution.

Those in Washington, D.C. that were against statehood was afraid of too
many Asians in Hawaii and feared their sympathies were communistic and
socialistic in nature. Also the Chinese were barred from immigrating to
the USA through an act passed in Washington, D.C. which was still fresh in
their minds. There again it was racist-motivated.

Here again is your little spin in deception using the term Hawaiians as
majority against the Akaka Bill and ill-defined the bare majority of
"Native" Hawaiians that support it. Contrary to the spin is that Hawaiians
and non-Hawaiians are for and against the Akaka bill and not divisive by
their race or ethnicity. Most everyone again fails to recognize the Hawaii
Nationals opposition to the Akaka Bill for legitimate reasons. Hawaii
Nationals of today stem from the bona fide nationals at the time of the US
invasion and occupation.

According to the 1890 census, 84.4% were "Native" Hawaiians/Kanaka Maoli
and 15.6% were of foreign/ multi-ethnic origin . The Hawaii Nationals
comprised of 50.1% of the total population living in Hawaii. The other
49.9% of those residing or working under contracts were of foreign
citizenship (mostly from the USA and Asia); and the rest were from Europe
and various parts of the world.

The only ones that could have and will create racial disharmony have been
the overwhelming majority of those from the continental USA who are
ignorant of Hawai'i's past history and the USA's involvement and what they
established to soften and wipe their slate clean. Technically, the
Hawaiian Kingdom still exists albeit under US belligerent occupation; this
is a fact. We Hawaii Nationals know this and that's why we oppose the NHGE
which is a US entity trying to usurp the Hawaiian Kingdom's jurisdiction
and authority. The US needs the NHGE as an assemblance of the real thing
to make believe it is legitimately negotiating "lands, natural resources,
assets, criminal and civil jurisdiction, and historical grievances." We
Hawai'i Nationals find this repugnant and criminal.

So let's get this straight once and for all; it would not be secession but
de-occupation. Please do some serious research before drawing errant
conclusions. The US deep conspiracy; covert and overt actions; the
invasion, fake revolution; belligerent occupation; US-established puppet
government; non-binding resolution to annex Hawaii; ignoring the Ku'e
Petitions from the Hawaii Nationals protesting against annexation and US
actions; violations of the laws of occupation; disregard of Hawaii's
neutrality status; US revisionists distortion of the Hawaiian incidents;
and the unlawful, illegitimate Statehood Act all lead up to a major
cover-up and the hoax being passed off as truth.

Your sarcasm is well-noted and taken in disgust. If you were
knowledgeable, the seeds of the weed you mentioned began overtly in the
1880s. Your revision of facts are seditious to say the least. It was not
Hawaiian residents (as you flip flop the definition) but actually US
American foreigners in Hawaii that were involved in the US conspiracy to
overthrow the Queen. How quaint that you mention a 2000 court case
relating to a separate specific issue. This we won't get into since it
deserves to be discussed separately because of the narrow question in the
complaint of a complex issue established by the US government. It would be
too lengthy to do it here.

It is hypocritical to reference the constitutionality of things
implemented by the US government when it still continues to disregard the
constitution. I might add that treaties between countries, once ratified,
become the supreme law of the land; thus the treaties between the USA and
the Hawaiian Kingdom fall under this US Constitutional law. One of the
conditions for statehood was part of the state's revenues from Hawaiian
lands (not American lands) would go for the betterment of the Native
Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli). The Hawaiian Homestead Act of 1921 was a failure
but still kept in the Statehood Act as a guilt-ridden necessity to pacify
the Native Hawaiians because of the US criminal actions. This was done to
aid in disarming the native population and international outrage while
showing US paternalism.

Your following paragraph shows a paltry lack of understanding and
knowledge of our government and its history. Say, "Constitutional
Monarchy".... Now look it up! Hint: The government system of United
Kingdom/Great Britain. I surmise that it wouldn't interest you to know
that Hawaii Nationals elected two of their monarchs. Your sanctimonious
criticism of our country is outlandishly stupid and plain gibberish. What
can I say, you're correct that the Queen (and her people) were more
enlightened than Akaka, you, and the rest of the US Americans who still
think Hawaii is legitimately part of the USA. For us, it is a
national/international issue; for you and the rest of US America it is a
racist WASP/State (domestic/internal) issue. That's why you are all
confused and in La-La Land.

You get a point for this since this is what we've been saying all along
but your corporate media and US congress have promoted Akaka's legislation
that would create a Native Hawaiian "tribe" as a nation within the nation.
Our Hawaiian nation-state still exists and was a multi-ethnic country. The
US Akaka Bill shuns a portion of our Hawaii Nationals as irrelevant and
invalidates their existence. The US omits this fact to skirt around the
truth that Hawaii is a nation-state and not a part of the USA. To
acknowledge them is to recognize once again that the Hawaiian Kingdom's
status as a fellow nation as a peer to the USA and other world nations
exists.

You are truly an ultracrepidarian critic with no sense of the facts. It's
pathetic that you believe the revised history to further promote it.
Hawai'i was taken by force and against the wishes of the Hawaii Nationals.
It's like saying the US didn't invade and occupy Iraq but went there to
liberate them. How arrogant and asinine of you! By now you should have
learned from me that we never chose to be under the racist WASP society of
the USA nor your alleged statehood. Get real and don't speak for us.

"The tribal concept simply has no place in the context of Hawaiian
history."... because we are a nation-state that was recognized as such
throughout the world. We had treaties with more than 25 countries; over 96
legations and consuls throughout the world. We have been established and
recognized as a nation-state, part of the family of nations which included
the USA.

Just because the Native Americans were comprised of one ethnic group
doesn't mean they were not a nation, in fact, they adopted and accepted
people not of their ethnicity. Israel is comprised of one people who are
Jewish, a tribe in their history. Splitting hairs with semantics is
idiocy. China is a nation; not a tribe. Japan is a nation. UK is a nation
although they have clans or "tribes".

Finally, this has nothing to do with the Native Americans, Hispanics,
Vermont, Texas, and the Man in the Moon. This has to do with the Hawaiian
Kingdom, its people searching for justice and freedom, and the US
belligerent occupation of our country, the USA violations of the laws of
occupation, its own constitution, its treaties, its disrepect of Hawaii's
neutrality status, and other USA crimes. How long will the USA make a
mockery of justice, liberty, honesty, freedom, and honor? We love our
country as much as you US Americans love yours. The USA must de-occupy
Hawaii or it continues to make a mockery of your own US Pledge of
Allegiance, constitution, justice, democracy, and freedom.

We, Hawaii Nationals, say "NO!" to the Akaka Bill for obvious reasons.

He Hawai'i au,
Tane
________________________________________________________________________________

15. an interview with poet KEN RUMBLE on depression
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:02:18 -0500
From: CA Conrad <caconrad13@GMAIL.COM>

read the interview here:
http://phillysound.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html

Many thanks to Ken for opening his life to us,
CAConrad
----------------------------------------------------------------

16. direct aid to Iraqi families -- update
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 07:30:36 -0800
From: David Smith-Ferri <smithferri@pacific.net>

Hello All,

Below is an update about our efforts to assist Iraqi families who've fled
to Jordan or Syria. Please consider passing this on to others who might be
interested.

Thanks,

David
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Direct Aid Initiative
-----

Battlefield without Borders
Update Letter ^Ö November, 2007

Dear Friends,

I^Òve just returned from a very successful two week book tour in New
England and New York, and I^Òm writing with an update of our effort to
assist Iraqi families who^Òve fled violence and now live in increasingly
desperate conditions in Jordan and Syria. Since April, sales of
Battlefield without Borders (www.battlefieldwithoutborders.org) have
supported a new program of assistance to Iraqi families, called the Direct
Aid Initiative (DAI). Below is information about DAI and below that is
information about some of the Iraqi families we are supporting.

A second edition of Battlefield without Borders has been published. It has
twelve new poems and a new foreword by Kathy Kelly. Thanks to the
generosity of the publisher, Haley^Òs, I^Òm still able to give all but $2
of the sale price to Iraqi families. Because the first edition sold out
quickly, I ordered twice as many copies of the second edition, with the
goal of raising $25,000 for Iraqi families through its sale. I hope to
sell many of these copies through the internet, because traveling
frequently on book tours is not feasible given my responsibilities here at
home. I will need your help to do this. Please consider buying a copy as a
holiday gift or a birthday present, and pass this letter on to others who
might be interested. Copies can be purchased through the website or by
contacting me directly. Tax-deductible donations to DAI can also be made,
through our fiscal sponsor, the Middle East Cultural and Charitable
Society (MECCS). I can send a book(s) to anyone who makes a donation
(contact me for more information about MECCS).

Checks payable to:
MECCS/DAI
P.O. Box 382425
Cambridge, MA 02238

I^Òll close with the words of one of our Iraqi friends in Jordan. ^ÓWe
need you to be smart, to be determined, and to stay with us, for the rest
of the world has forgotten us.^Ô Thank you for your support,

David (Smith-Ferri)
November 26, 2007
------

A New Program of Direct Aid for Iraqi Families

$12 from the sale of each copy of Battlefield without Borders goes to the
Direct Aid Initiative which supports the urgent medical needs of Iraqi
people in Amman, Jordan and in Damascus, Syria. DAI
(http://electroniciraq.net/news/directaidinitiative/index.shtml) is
designed to be a collaboration with Iraqi people. It recognizes that
Iraqis are already resisting the traumatic effects of war and occupation,
doing everything they can to care for themselves, their families, and
their neighbors, and to provide a future for their children. DAI seeks to
support these efforts. It is an act of friendship and justice, rather than
of charity. Recognizing that it is Iraqis who will one day rebuild their
country, DAI seeks to model and enact the kind of relationships that could
strengthen and amplify their capacity to do so. DAI makes ongoing
commitments of support to Iraqi individuals and families to assist with
their urgent medical needs, and to help build their capacity to support
themselves. The ^Óongoing^Ô nature of the commitment is a crucial feature.
Among the stories coming out of this war, it is not uncommon to hear about
an Iraqi family who found a way to raise funds for emergency surgery, but
who couldn^Òt afford the ongoing aftercare. As a result, the benefits of
the surgery were lost.

DAI Structure
The Direct Aid Initiative is a program of the Middle East Cultural and
Charitable Society, a U.S.-based, tax-exempt organization. DAI is
designed to be a partnership with Iraqis who have fled their country. Two
Iraqis, one of whom has fifteen years^Ò experience in medical research,
act as co-coordinators. They do outreach to the community, helping to
identify the neediest, assess what DAI can contribute, and coordinate
services, acting as liaisons with hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies.
Crucially, they also provide ongoing follow-up and advocacy.

Because Iraqis in Jordan and Syria live without the protection of
citizenship and without any of the rights provided by legal refugee
status, they are vulnerable to abuse, not only from police authority, but
in all of their formal business relationships, including those with
doctors and clinics. When Iraqis receive poor medical treatment, they have
little or no recourse to advocacy. To address this issue and to assure
good medical services, DAI sought the help of a group of Iraqi doctors,
who have compiled a list of preferred providers, in a wide-range of
medical specialties. Over time, DAI is building solid relationships with
health care providers in Jordan, relationships based on reciprocity and
respect.

Portraits of Iraq People Supported by DAI

As examples of the range of assistance DAI is providing, here are brief
statements, followed by more detailed information about two families DAI
has supported since its inception. For more information about specific
families, please contact me at smithferri@pacific.net or 707-467-0468.

^Ö DAI paid for surgery for a young man who lost his eye, several toes,
and part of his skull in a car bomb attack that occurred when he was
walking to class at a technology institute near Baghdad; the surgery was
to insert a prosthesis in his eye socket, remove a tracheotomy tube, and
perform a cranioplasty ^Ö repairing damage to his skull; he^Òll need
further surgery and ongoing care.

^Ö DAI is covering the expense of check-ups, outpatient treatment, and
medication for a six-year old girl who lost one kidney (due to a birth
defect possibly related to DU munitions) and whose other kidney is prone
to infection;

^Ö DAI is working to bring a 4-year old boy to the U.S. for extensive
medical care, after he was severely burned when US military shot the fuel
tank of the car he was hiding behind during an attack on Sadr City; the
scar tissue from the burns is so extensive it is restricting his bones,
causing them to become deformed as they grow;

^Ö DAI is paying for the medication and ongoing medical care of this
boy^Òs 3-year old sister, who has an enlarged heart;

^Ö DAI helped pay for surgery to remove an abnormal bone growth near the
spinal cord of a 4-year old girl; because of the growth, she cannot walk,
and the growth threatens to cripple her for life; she will need additional
surgeries;

^Ö DAI arranged for the evaluation of a mother and daughter who were
injured in a car bomb, to assess whether the damage to their eyes could be
repaired and their vision could be restored;

^Ö DAI arranged for regular medical examinations and reliable access to
insulin for two teenagers who have Type-1 diabetes; one of the teenagers
had begun to have trouble with her vision because of a lack of insulin;

^Ö DAI approved a $2,000 donation of supplies to a children^Òs oncology
ward in Baghdad, where children with cancer die from a lack of medicine.

MUSTAFA

On April 1, 2003, a week before the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime,
Mustafa climbed to the roof of his home in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood
to adjust his television receiver in order to get news about the progress
of the American invasion. The concussive force of an explosion from a
nearby US bomb strike threw him from his roof. He fell two stories,
landing on the cement below. ^ÓIt felt like the air kicked me^Ô he says.
His back broke in two places, paralyzing him from the waist down. He was
21 years old at the time.

Doctors operated on Mustafa three times in Baghdad, inserting a platinum
brace to support his back. He lay in traction for months before being
released. Soon after these initial hospitalizations, Mustafa began to
suffer severe pain. For some reason, his body was rejecting the brace.

From Iraq, he identified a hospital and a doctor in Amman, Jordan who
would perform the tests and operations he required including an MRI, since
at that time there was no MRI machine in Baghdad. His extended family
raised $1500 for the surgery. Doctors in Amman performed surgery to remove
an iron screw that had been used in Baghdad to hold his platinum spinal
brace in place. The intense pain Mustafa had been suffering had been due
to his body's rejection of the iron screw.

Back in Baghdad, Mustafa tried to obtain compensation from the US
government. Finally, he received a letter from the United States
Department of Defense saying that the US military took no financial
responsibility for the injury that they had caused. He continued to wheel
himself around Baghdad trying to get help. ^ÓI left no door unknocked,^Ô
he told DAI team members.

Because Mustafa spent so much time soliciting the US military, he became a
target for kidnappers and other armed groups. After a failed attempt to
kidnap him, he fled to Amman with his fourteen year old brother, Taha, who
is his primary caretaker. Mustafa^Òs cousin, who had been supporting him
in Iraq, has since been killed, possibly in a continuation of the
targeting that Mustafa experienced based on his supposed connection with
US forces.

DAI has arranged for Mustafa to receive ongoing physical therapy twice a
week until he is resettled. This therapy is necessary to avoid further
deterioration of his medical condition. He is also receiving acupuncture
treatment on a regular basis at a nearby community health center.

He has been able to locate an apartment closer to the facilities where he
is provided care. Because Taha has recently been able to enroll in school
for the first time in years, transportation to and from his physical
therapy clinic is now being facilitated by DAI. Iraqi team members are
working with him to assess and support his ongoing needs until and after
he is resettled.

Mustafa is likely to need further spinal cord surgery, perhaps following
his resettlement to another country. DAI is committed to supporting
Mustafa up to and throughout his transition, and to assisting with
arrangements for care following his resettlement as needed.

When Mustafa^Òs mother came from Baghdad to Amman to visit him in late
2007, she was so struck by the improvement in his spirit and in his
physical condition that she broke down in tears. Later she said: ^ÓI
always knew American people weren^Òt evil. But now I have proof of it.^Ô

MUNA

Muna's house in Kut, a village southeast of Baghdad, was struck by a US
missile in early April of 2003, during the US invasion. The explosion
killed Muna's parents, as well as her four brothers. It also killed her
infant child, whose name was "Iraq.^Ô

Muna was the only survivor. She had ten pieces of shrapnel in her body,
from her big toe to her chest. Three pieces of metal were lodged in her
head; the largest was five centimeters long. After three more months of
operations, treatment, and physical therapy, Muna regained the ability to
sit up and to move around. She still had problems with dizziness, and used
a wheelchair most of the time. The doctors said that her case was the most
tenuous case in the hospital.

Muna now has only partial hearing in her right ear, and suffers from
chronic infections. She lost the use of her dominant hand after the
explosion. Her left leg is mostly useless. And the surgery they performed
to remove the shrapnel in her head could only remove the two smaller
pieces. One piece (the largest) remains deeply lodged in her brain,
because removing it would likely kill her.

Because of her brain injuries, she suffers from intense seizures when not
medicated, often resulting in harm to herself or others. She dreads being
alone, in case a seizure comes and there is no one there to help. With the
help of her extended family, Muna was able to travel to Jordan, where she
was approached by DAI team members in early 2007. When we first met Muna,
she lived in degrading conditions in a rough neighborhood. She was afraid
to leave her apartment. Children in the neighborhood had nicknamed her
^ÓBeast^Ô because of the violent seizures she had. DAI began to solicit
funds for her needs and conduct initial assessments of her medical
condition.

With the assistance of DAI team members, Muna relocated to a better
apartment, where she is regularly visited by friends and DAI volunteers.
Funds donated by DAI supporters in the US have purchased a refrigerator
and a new toilet that have greatly improved her level of comfort and
self-sufficiency.

DAI has made arrangements for Muna to receive her anti-seizure medication
on an ongoing basis, removing a significant factor in her ongoing
suffering.

In September, Muna began intensive physical therapy intended to relieve a
dislocation of her shoulder caused by ongoing deterioration of her
muscles. The physical therapy is combined with electrical stimulation of
her muscles, intended to jump-start the healing from damage caused by
shrapnel. DAI paid for 10 weeeks of therapy, planning afterward to assess
progress and evaluate the potential benefits of contiued therapy. At the
end of these sessions, because Muna was so pleased with the care she
received and because of the marked progress she^Òd made, DAI paid a second
installment to the clinic for another 10 weeks of therapy. Additionally,
DAI is funding neurological tests and treatment intended to address her
concerns about the continuing presence of a remaining piece of shrapnel in
her brain.

Muna will continue to need extensive medical and psychological monitoring
and support. Iraqi members of the DAI team in Amman will continue to work
with Muna to assess her ongoing needs.

Mustafa and Muna, both of whom were very isolated when we met them, now
have the support and friendship of other Iraqis in Jordan, and have
themselves become friends.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

16. Social Engineers In Paradise and Tane's response to it - comment
> From: Gned@pobox.com
> Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:01:56 -0600
>
> . Very good response, makes sense to me. Have the People of Hawaii
settled on which body, if any, represents or constitutes their national
government?

- Most of us feel our Hawaiian Kingdom still exists; but the seats are
vacant. We would need to update the constitution and laws and redefine
the type of government which is best suited for us. It will rely on the
people's popular mandate to the proposals. We have not selected the
primary group or political entity.

Or alternatively, are there any such organizations which arguably have a
legitimate claim to be such and have the voluntary support of at least
their members?

- There are a few groups that fall into this catergory. We are beginning
to recognize them as political parties/ entities.

Or organizations working on re-establishing the legitimate government?

- Yes, there are.

Might there be some interest in exchanging diplomatic recognition?

- That's a good possibility. It would depend on which political party is
open to it or if we get a consensus to elect those to fill the seats to
update the government. Again it will depend on the people's popular
mandate. Things are evolving and developing towards our goal.

> Please excluse my use of a pseudonym, our country is also occupied by
military force.

-President Polk and President Tyler's efforts led up to the United States
in establishing a precedent in admitting Texas as a state through a
resolution. General Ulysses S. Grant was dismayed with the whole process
and the preemption of war that led to the Spanish-American War with
Mexico. Grant felt a foreboding of things to come. Bush has repeated
that history since only Congress can declare war. Tyler created the
incident which forced congress to go along after the fact.

- Hawaii was the second precedent in which similar activities occurred
except their resolution established by them was to have Hawaii a territory
until they felt comfortable to declare Hawaii a state of the USA and that
the guarantee that its "complexion" would be majority white through race
and assimilation to the USA WASP society.

> Gned the Gnome - - - President
> United * Republic * of * Texas
> http://texas.freecountries.org
-----

-I'm sure others will respond with their mana'o and/or activities. I hope
they do! Meanwhile, I would urge you to get in touch with your senators
and have them vote NO to the Akaka Bill.

Mahalo for your inquiry.

Tane
________________________________________________________________________________

17. La Ku'oko'a ( Pono)
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:40:37 -1000
From: lcruz <palolo@hawaii.rr.com>

hina wong, in response to eric poohina's question, gave this definition of
'aloha' at la kuokoa last wednesday.

----- Original Message ----- From: OhanaMoniz@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2007 6:38 PM

Pono,

I transcribed video #4 as it really touched me. What is the inoa of this
very wise young person.

aloha aunty Melissa

TRANSCRIPT

Well, I can say what Aloha is not
Aloha is not a commodity
Aloha can not be bought or sold
Aloha should be given freely
Aloha cannot be compromised
If Aloha means love
If Aloha means respect
If Aloha means that if you aloha somebody
You honor that person because that's the expectation that comes with
Aloha
If I Aloha my makua
I'm not going to bring shame and dishonor to them
If I Aloha all of you
Or if I Aloha the cause that we are here for
Then I will do my best to show up
Aloha
I used to work in the tourism industry
I got out of the tourism industry because when you go and do that and
you get paid to do it
A person who pays you gets to dictate what you do
The person who pays you get to say you go over there and say aloha and
smile
The person who pays you says we are gonna go do this
But that's not how we really do those dances
But that's not how we really present it
Oh, but that's not culturally really what is pono
But that's okay
That's what people want to see
That's what going to sell
That's what going to make us money
Well
At age 35 of my in life I really don't care
What going to make money
I rather go without money
That's our dignity
And if anyone knows about of lost dignity, I know
So, if anybody ask me about my history and my past I can tell you.
So Aloha
The rules of Aloha that I follow and that I play by
Have been governed and dictated by my kupuna by what they taught me
because they raised me
You Aloha people unconditionally
You accept people as they come to you
You accept people even though they may not agree with you
You don't have to agree with them but you don't have to mistreat them or
abuse them intentionally
You Aloha people, you help people without looking for yourself in return
You give aide and assistance
You come and give support when you can, to support the cause when you
can
When you feel it is pono
Aloha
Not to be prostituted
Which is what tourism often does to us and that's
Often tourism that has just
Gone about unconsciously
Conscious tourism is when you are able to say
That is our true culture
This is our people
This is our reality
Keep straight
Have aloha for the people but speak the truth
And not try to paint a picture of roses
That's Aloha
Aloha also means to stand up for what we believe in
Aloha means so many things, that it's hard, it is very difficult
to capsulaize into one thing
But Aloha is not something to be bought or sold
Aloha isnot something that you wait for something in return
Yeah
This is my understanding of Aloha.
________________________________________________________________________________

18. north/south marianas sovereignty struggle: immigrant workers soon to
outnumber indigenous/demand their rights which feds say they're entitled
to -- same transmigration trick unleashed on indigenous hawaiians
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:03:41 -1000
From: 'imiola young <imiola@hawaii.rr.com>

ABC Radio Australia
Radio Australia - Pacific Beat - CNMI: 'Unity march' planned for December
7
[This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s2105444.htm]
CNMI: 'Unity march' planned for December 7 - 29/11/2007

Opponents of the new local labour law in the CNMI will take their protest
to the streets of Saipan on Friday December 7 in what is being described
as a 'unity rally'. Organisers are planning to walk from Kilili Beach,
along the beachfront, to the American Memorial Park to show unified
support for federal recognition of foreign workers and a repeal of the new
law that has quashed hopes for immigration rights for these workers.

WOODRUFF: You know, it's a human rights issue and it's an economic issue
and it's just an issue of what we need to do for the welfare of this
community and what kind of place we want here. We really don't need
legislation like this so-called labour reform bill that really is
punitive, its anti-business, it will have negative economic impact and the
primary motivation of it is basically to target alien workers that have
lived here for 5, 10, 15, 20 years and made enormous contributions to the
community and the economy and basically to treat those workers unfairly
merely and send them home or whatever, merely because they've been asking
to be treated more fairly and more equally than they have in the past.

The call for equal rights, says Stephen Woodruff, has been getting louder
in recent years. A former legal counsel to the Comonwealth legislature, he
moved into private practice in 2000 to focus on labour and immigration
rights. He accepted an invitation to provide legal counsel to the Dekada
Movement. Dekada has had smaller version of December 7th's march in the
past, the last one in February this year. Mr Woodruff says this movement
has grown slowly but surely.

WOODRUFF: This will be the first time any of this magnitude has been
organised or this degree of protest against something the legislature has
done. But it's not completely unprecedented because from time to time
members of the community do make their wishes known. This began a good
number of years ago with the Dekada Movement trying to get improved status
for long-term alien residents of the Commonwealth because of the
significant problems that exist with the labour and immigration system
here which has a lot of unfairness built into it. And, one of the local
leaders, actually a couple of them, had made public statements
acknowledging that this wasn't equitable and it should be addressed, then
Dekada began their efforts for improved status, seeking with improved
status local laws or US Congress to offer better status and ultimately
citizenship fro these long term alien workers. And through this process
more and more people joined in the campaign and the effort and more and
more voices came out.

Despite the calls for improved status, Public Law 15-108 was passed,
essentially blocking the possibility of immigrant status for foreign
workers on CNMI. Stephen Woodruff says the move wasn't a surprise.

WOODRUFF: I wouldn't say that it is a surprise for the CNMI legislature to
pass ill-considered legislation like this. I was surprised that the House
of Representatives passed it unanimously but that has to do with the
political dynamic and the people that are involved in holding office right
now rather than anything else. Under US law workers that come to the
United States, even under the non-immgrant visa programs that are in the
US for periods of five or seven years can have that potential pathway to
citizenship. And one of the fundamental problems with the CNMI immigration
system is there is no opportunity for that.

The Dekada Movement and organisers of the march on December 7th, plan to
start their march at 4.30 in the morning and are urging participants to
carry flashlights and wear white. Stephen Woodruff hasn't heard if
representatives of the legislature will be participating.

Stephen Woodruff, legal counsel to Dekada
© 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Copyright information: http://abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm
Privacy information: http://abc.net.au/privacy.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

19. north/south marianas sovereignty struggle: immigrant workers soon to
outnumber - comment
Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:42:02 -1000
From: Tane . <Tane_1@msn.com>

The situation with Hawai'i is that The USA violates the laws of occupation
from the onset by bringing in their civilians into Hawai'i before and
after the invasion and occupation. They used the same tactics in Texas to
give the impression that they were citizens of that country. It is
illegal or unlawful for the USA to bring in their civilians or to allow
civilians to move into Hawai'i; nor can they deport Hawaii Nationals out
of Hawai'i or enlist them into their military.

Tane
________________________________________________________________________________

20. Social Engineers In Paradise and Tane's response - comment
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:00:02 -1000
From: Tane . <Tane_1@msn.com>

Within our Hawaiian Community, we have been entertaining the idea of
redeveloping our economic towards self-sufficiency. Bumpy Kanahele has
been toying with the idea of restoring our financial solvency with banking
financial resources and Ku (Kahiwa) and his group have been concentrating
on economics suitable for Hawai'i. The Hawaiian-language Emergence
(Punana Leo) schools and our bi-lingual Charter Schools have the
responsibility for the education system within Hawaii along with the
university level. Our Hawaiian Christian Churches and our Hawaiian
religious institutions help in our spirituality through the Hawaiian
perspectives, values and concepts. Physical fitness has been constant in
watersports, Hawai'i's national sport of surfing, canoe-paddling, lu-a
martial arts, Makahiki games.etc. Hawaiian fashions, arts and crafts,
jewelry had evolved along with the traditional. Our music and dances are
our mainstay in our culture. H awaiian cultivated agriculture has gained
resurgence among the young people who desire to return to the land. Our
modern and Hawaiian medicines and practices are still being used. There
is a resurgence of our ho'oponopono practices that helps our psyche keep a
balance with our spiritual, physical, and mental states. There are those
trying to re-establish our ahupua'a as part of our traditional governing
system to enhance our restructure for a more orderly fashion in developing
our responsibility for pono governance and welfare of all people.
Various political groups have contributed their own political and legal
acumen to implement a better structure of governance and human rights with
responsibility for a strong, prosperous and healthy, peaceful nation
better than we once were before the USA takeover. So we have returned to
what made our nation-state prosper and encouraging others to follow suit
and to be confident again with our kuleana. There are strong leaders such
as Henry Noa, Bumpy Kanahele, Keanu Sai, Mahealani Asing, Mel Kalahiki,
Lynette Cruz, Kekuni Blaisdell, Haunani and Mililani Trask, Francis Ku
Ching, Just to name a very few for there are many out there that have made
big sacrifices and work hard in lifting up our nation. We (Hawaii
Nationals) all believe in our nation-state and want the best for it and
resume our position among the nations of the world that we once had. We
wish for your success as well to reclaim what is yours.

Tane
________________________________________________________________________________

21. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu.
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:02:26 -0800
From: Kauahi <kauahi@hawaii.rr.com>

Aloha ^Ñaina e Lynette ma:

Mahalo for helpful summary of our Ka La Ku^Òoko^Òa memorial with focus on
oft-forgotten Timoteo Ha^Òalilio.

Please kindly accept these my e-revisions re Ha^Òalilio^Òs terminal
illness and autopsy findings:

Jan-Feb 1843, while in Wash, DC, missionary Wm Richards notes, after Dec
29-30, 1842, official recognition of Hawn Kingdom Government by US Secr of
State and Pres John Tyler in message to US Congress, Ha^Òalilio has
^Ósevere cold^Ô for 1 mo.

Feb 25, 1843, British Lord George Paulet occupies Honolulu, demandd of
KIII, lands claimed by British consul Richard Carlton, and special court
rights for British subjects.

Jun 1843, while in London, Ha^Òalilio has ^Ócold, rheumatic pains and
cough^Ô for weeks.

Jul 31, 1843, British Adm Richard Thomas, recognizes KIII as sovereign and
independent, and, with Paulet, withdraws from KIII^Òs Kingdom. KIII
declares Nov 28 Ka La Ho^Òiho^Ò Ea a national holiday.

Nov 28, British and French diplomats in London sign declaration:
^ÓSandwich Islands an independent State^Å.^Ô

Jan 1844, while in London, Ha^Òalilio has ^Ócough, breast soreness great,
symptoms threatening, is confined to bed for 4 wk.^Ô

May, WR and TH depart Liverpool for Boston.

Sep 13, while in Brooklyn, NY, TH has ^Ócough, colds and rheumatic
pains.^Ô

Oct 16, in Boston Mass Gen Hosp, TH has ^Óslow fever.^Ô

Nov 11, 1844, ^ÓTH has cough with copious sputum, large cavity in upper
lobe of left lung^Ådisease rapid strides, flesh wastes.^Ô

Nov 18, WR and TH depart Boston aboard SS Montreal, Capt. Snow, with wood
body box, lined with lead, filled with alcohol.

Dec 3, ^Ó2nd Sabbath at sea, TH ^Óspeaking of pain and prospect of death,
^ÓHappiest day of my life, my work is done. I am ready to die^ÅHeaha ke
koe?^Ô TH dies.

Mar 23, 1845: Montreal enters Honolulu Harbor, 125 days (4+ months) from
Boston.

Mar 24, In KIII^Òs presence, Dr. Thomas B. Rooke performs autopsy on TH^Òs
body removed from wood box containing alcohol, which reveals:

^ÓLeft lung entirely gone from consumption (then name for tuberculosis).
Hypertrophy (thickening of wall) of right ventricle (of heart).

Consumption (tuberculosis) of lungs which caused his death was
long-standing and had commenced previous to his departure from his native
land.^Ô

Mar 26, 1-mile funeral procession to Kawaiaha^Òo Church. Eulogy by Rev.
Armstrong. (Wm Richards departs to Lahaina, his home and family).

The ^Ócorpse to the Royal Tomb (Pohukaina) ^Åto repose beside those of HRM
Rihoriho (KII), Queen Kaahumanu and Kina^Òu.^Ô

c 1904, ^Ómarble plaque in Kawaiaha^Òo Church, left of plaque to KIII,
reads:

^ÓIn memory of Levi Haalelea, 1824-1864.

His wife Ululani A.A. Haalelea, 1842-1904 and

Richard Haalilio, 1808-1844.^Ô

In Kawaiaha^Òo Church Cemetery, mauka of Lunalilo Tomb, 4 gravestones are
marked:

Ululani A A Haalelea 1842-1904.

Levi Haalelea 1828-1884.

Richard Haalilio 1808-1844.

Who is Richard Haalilio with the birth and death dates of Timoteo?

Is he really Timoteo Ha^Òalilio?

If so, when and how did his remains go from Pohukaina Royal Tomb on the
Palace Grounds to Kawaiaha^Òo Cemetery?

Seeti Douglass has inquired of Kawaiaha^Òo Cemetery caretaker who reports
no Church records on this matter.

Lynette, pehea kou mana^Òo?

Kekuni
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

22. Kucinich for ^QRealists^R
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:01:08 -0800
From: Elizabeth Lovejoy <llovejoy@pacific.net>

this is a pretty interesting view!!  liz
Published on Thursday, November 29, 2007 by
CommonDreams.org
Kucinich for ^ÑRealists^Ò
by Tom Gallagher

    The conventional ^Órealist^Ô line on Dennis Kucinich^Òs
presidential campaign goes something like: Great on the issues; terrible
in the polls; can^Òt win; need to find another candidate. This logic may
be okay - unless you^Òre actually seriously concerned with things like
ending the war in Iraq or achieving universal health insurance.

    In November, you vote for the presidential candidate you have to
vote for. And if one of the Democrats currently leading the field in
fundraising does ultimately secure the nomination, no doubt most Iraq war
opponents and universal health insurance advocates will quite readily back
him or her over whatever the Republicans throw up. After all, Hillary
Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama are all against the war - more or
less, and they all want to do something about health care. But the
primaries are when you can vote for what you believe in - that is, if
you^Òre fortunate enough to find a candidate who agrees with you. And by
that measure, you might say that serious antiwar and pro-health care
voters who don^Òt back Dennis Kucinich are, well, throwing their votes
away.

    After all, it^Òs not just that the front runners won^Òt commit to
actually removing all our troops from Iraq by the end of their first term
but they all go out of their way to clarify their fundamental agreement
with the saber rattling policies that got us there in the first place.
Edwards, for instance, insists that ^ÓTo ensure that Iran never gets
nuclear weapons, we need to keep all options on the table,^Ô a statement
widely understood to include possible American use of nuclear weapons. For
her part, Clinton pushes continued use of American troops to pursue Al
Qaeda in Iraq, ignoring the fact that it was the introduction of American
troops that brought Al Qaeda to Iraq in the first place, and votes to
declare part of Iran^Òs armed forces a terrorist organization. (Presumably
allowing for the continued jettisoning of the Geneva Accords currently
rejected in our ongoing wars.) And Obama not only outflanks his rivals,
but Bush himself, in threatening military action in yet another country,
warning that ^ÓIf we have actionable intelligence about high-value
terrorist targets and (Pakistan^Òs) President Musharraf won^Òt act, we
will.^Ô

    Over the past five years, millions of Americans have opposed the
Iraq War in word or deed and yet it would be quite a stretch to argue that
any of the ^Ótop three^Ô Democratic candidates represent them on the war.
Chances are then, that if you have ever been to a demonstration or even
written a letter against the war, Kucinich^Òs positions of complete
American withdrawal in ninety days, maintenance of Iraq^Òs rights to its
own oil, no permanent American military bases, and an international
transition force are a lot closer to your views than those of Clinton,
Edwards or Obama.

    The situation regarding health care really isn^Òt terribly
different. Clinton, Edwards and Obama all have plans that if enacted might
make some significant improvement upon our current situation of forty
million uninsured, but none tackles the elephant at the center of the
problem - the wasteful private health insurance industry that diverts
billions of dollars from actual health care spending. Instead their plans
will themselves require new bureaucracies to determine individual
eligibility for government assistance and to look for potential insurer
discrimination. And two of them would require monitoring individual
compliance with a new legal mandate to purchase health insurance.
Kucinich^Òs Medicare For All plan, on the other hand, is widely recognized
as a legitimate solution that would dramatically decrease the diversion of
health care funds from actual health care spending.

    There are two main ^Órealist^Ô responses to the fact that the top
fundraisers offer such tepid approaches to the country^Òs major problems.
One is to tease meaningful distinctions out of their pretty similar
positions and go with the one who seems ever so slightly better. The other
is simply to pick the one most likely to win and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, this approach produced rather dismal results last time
around when some opted for Howard Dean as the ^Óelectable^Ô antiwar
candidate and others went for John Kerry as the most likely nominee.
Despite all the wishful thinking about Dean (as they used to say, Kucinich
actually was the candidate many people thought, or wanted to think Dean
was), he was gone by the California primary, his candidacy entirely
premised upon ^Óelectability^Ô and the money that brought. Meanwhile
Kerry, feeling little electoral pressure from the antiwar movement, never
veered from his pro-war stance, leaving antiwar voters with little more
than the hope that he didn^Òt really support the war, but had only voted
for it out of the delusion that it was politically expedient. Such were
the accomplishments of ^Órealism^Ô in 2004.

    So does voting for Kucinich in the 2008 primaries require
believing that he can somehow rise to the top of the polls? Not
necessarily, but it does require recognizing that you have to actually
vote for your positions for them to have any electoral impact. Although we
can^Òt yet say who will get the Democratic presidential nomination, there
is one thing already certain: if you don^Òt vote for what you believe in
in the primaries, you certainly won^Òt get to vote for it in November.

    And of course, if everyone who believed that no more American
soldiers should die for a lie decided to actually vote that way, the polls
would start to look a whole lot different.
________________________________________________________________________________

23. kairos / turning point for hawaiian sovereignty in pacific? in
australia, bush's lap dog is thrown out of office, asia replaces europe in
pacific, new european investment bank opens
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:27:41 -1000
From: 'imiola young <imiola@hawaii.rr.com>

ABC Radio Australia
Radio Australia - Pacific Beat - PACIFIC: Pacific leaders welcome New
Australian government
[This is the print version of story
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s2101727.htm]

PACIFIC: Pacific leaders welcome New Australian government - 26/11/2007
Australia elected a new government over the weekend with
former foreign affairs beaurecrat Kevin Rudd set to be the
country's next Prime Minister. Pacific leaders have
congratulated Mr Rudd on his election. So what, if anything,
will change for the Pacific.

Presenter - Campbell Cooney Speaker - Doctor Richard Herr,
University of Tasmania; Mahendra Chaudhry, Fiji Finance
Minister.

CAMPBELL COONEY : Two days after Kevin Rudd's landslide
victory and its still not known what a change of Australian
government will mean for the Pacific - the region where
Australia still exerts most influence and provides most of
the money and manpower in terms of aid. Right through the
election campaign Mr Rudd has refused to confirm if the
Opposition's Foreign Affairs spokesman, Robert McClelland
will be given the ministerial portfolio, nor has it been
disclosed if as previous Australian Labor governments have
done, a junior ministry responsible for Pacific affairs will
be created, although sources within the Labor party have
indicated this proposal is being seriously considered. This
Thursday Labor's caucus members in the federal parliament
will meet and its likely the successful ministers will be
announced soon after. But last week I spoke to Dr Richard
Herr from the University of Tasmania's School of Government
about what the Pacific might expect.

DR RICHARD HERR : The Howard doctrine for example, the
muscular intervention in the region with the troops and with
police and so forth in trouble spots will probably be you
know done less muscularly. It will be done more in
cooperative direction with the regional state ******
something that Mr Rudd has said repeatedly he wants to do
things in a more negotiated, cooperative way with the region.
The politic - the pacific solution looks certain to be
abandoned, the enhanced cooperation program with Papua New
Guinea and that administrative civil engagement again
probably would be less on Canberra's terms and more on
mutually negotiated terms. Certainly he has criticised the
Prime Minister, Mr Howard for his indifferent record of
attendance at South Pacific forum meetings and indicated that
he would be much more interested in it. He's referred to the
fact that in the past Labor had a junior minister
specifically for the South Pacific. He hasn't indicated
himself whether he would reinstitute that arrangement but he
certainly spoke favourably on it.

CAMPBELL COONEY : Whatever differences there may be, Pacific
leaders have begun their efforts to gain favour. Since he
took power last year, the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands
Manasseh Sogavare has had a tense relationship with Canberra.
He's repeatedly attacked the presence and actions of the
Australian-led regional assistance mission RAMSI and
infuriated the Howard Government with his protection and then
appointment as Attorney General of Julian Moti who's wanted
in Australia on child-sex charges. But yesterday he was one
of the first Pacific leaders to send a letter of
congratulations to Kevin Rudd, saying he now hopes for an
improved relationship between the two countries. As well
there's been congratulations from Fiji. Interim Prime
Minister and coup leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama has
welcomed Labor's victory. The Commodore now hopes that he'll
be able to talk with Prime Minister elect Rudd about lifting
the Howard Government's travel bans on visitors to Australia,
members of Fiji's military interim government and their
families. Since they were implemented after last year's coup
Commodore Bainimarama has repeatedly criticised them and
although Mr Rudd has made no comment on the future of what
have been called smart sanctions, its worth noting they are a
shared initiative with New Zealand and both countries now
have Labor governments. As well the Foreign Ministers and
Primer Ministers of both countries have said the fact that
Commodore keeps complaining about them is evidence of just
how effective they've been. Fiji's interim Finance Minister
and former Minister Mahendra Chowdhury says there are other
issues to be dealt with as well.

MAHENDRA CHOWDHURY : We propose to approach them to review
the Australian government's stand on Fiji and to make them
one of prospective engagement rather than isolation as it was
in the Howard Government.

CAMPBELL COONEY : Next February the Foreign Ministers of the
Pacific Island Foreign Member nations are expected to meet in
Nandi to be updated on Fiji's progress on a return to
democratic rule. That's likely to be the first chance for
Island leaders to see how Australia represents itself in
Pacific affairs, either with a Foreign Minister, a junior
minister with pacific responsibilities or the Primer Minister
himself.

© 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Copyright information: http://abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm

Privacy information: http://abc.net.au/privacy.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

24. Maui residents protest Superferry
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:39:09 -1000
From: Scott Crawford <scott@aloha.net>

http://starbulletin.com/print/2005.php?fr=/2007/12/02/news/story04.html
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Maui residents protest Superferry
By Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU » More than 30 east Maui residents protested the impending return
of the Hawaii Superferry, saying the interisle service threatened their
livelihood.

Officials of the Eastside Hui, an organizer of yesterday morning's
demonstration, said they fear their rural Hawaiian subsistence lifestyle
is in jeopardy, including catching fish to help provide food for their
families.

Holding signs saying, "Cuz, No Take Superferry" and "Abuse of Power," the
group walked a block from the parking lot fronting Ah Fook's Supermarket
to a sidewalk fronting Longs Drug Store and the harbor.

The group plans to join other groups in demonstrations at 9 a.m. on
Thursday, the scheduled restart of Superferry travel between Oahu and
Maui, and again on Saturday.

Eastside Hui spokesman Kema Kanakaole said east Maui has limited mountain
and ocean resources and he doesn't want people from Oahu loading their
vehicles with fish and depleting resources in the way they have on their
island.

"Out in the country we're not set up for massive amounts of people," said
Kanakaole. "We want to protect our resources."

Kanakaole said his advice to Oahu people who want to come to Maui to do
coastal fishing is to "go home and take care of their ice box, so they get
fish."

Kanakaole said he's not about to violate federal laws by entering security
zone waters because he has family responsibilities, including raising six
children.

But he said he's sure there are other people willing to go that far and he
supports them.

Steven Ho'okano, another organizer, said the state, including Gov. Linda
Lingle's administration, hasn't been doing their job of protecting
resources in east Maui by having enough conservation officers.

Eastside Hui officials have noted the absence of conservation enforcement,
especially since a conservation officer who lived in Hana retired.

Ho'okano said that while the Superferry has received $40 million to
improve Kahului Harbor, there has been inadequate funding to protect the
traditional and customary rights of Hawaiians, as guaranteed by the state
Constitution.

"The state of Hawaii is to blame," he said.

Randy Awo, the Maui chief for state conservation enforcement, said his
branch could use more staffing to be more effective.

Awo said even when it had a conservation officer living in the Hana
district, the officer was sometimes assigned to duties outside of the
region.

Awo said the branch is adding several conservation officers.

Lingle administration officials were unavailable for comment.
© 1996-2007 The Honolulu Star-Bulletin | www.starbulletin.com
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~---------------

25. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu - more
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:05:03 -1000
From: lcruz <palolo@hawaii.rr.com>

mahalo for revisions, kekuni. hope the others who spoke check in in the
same way.

jim bartels told us around ten years ago that timoteo haalilio is buried
in pohukaina. i believe richard haalilio (buried at kawaiahao) is his
brother. there's a bit more to this story. in/around 1998 or 1999 (i
think--but seeti can verify, as she was here and spoke at our event), afsc
sovereignty ed subcommittee honored haalilio at a birthday party on la
kuokoa at the kanaina building. i think keala kelly was moderator for the
event. keanu spoke about haalilo's life, as well as seeti, and perhaps
another speaker (i don't remember, and we were notorious at not keeping
good records and not taking photos!--june might know). i believe we also
did a flag raising outside, in front of kanaina facing the burial mound
(baron, do you remember?). but prior to that, a couple days before, some
folks went around looking for timoteo haalilio. they thought he was at
kawaiahao. when they went to look, they found richard, not timoteo. i
mentioned to them that jim bartels had shared timoteo's whereabouts at
pohukaina. so they went to pohukaina and, basically, asked for permission
to honor him. he said yes. but there were conditions, which he spelled
out to them. this is someone else's story, not mine. hopefully one day
someone else will share that one. anyhow, that's how we know timoteo is
at pohukaina--he verified it, himself. lc
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

26. this week's diagnosis- George Will suffering from Famous Colonial
Displacement Amnesia
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:38:12 -0800 (PST)
From: ak kelly <keala_kelly@yahoo.com>

This week's diagnosis is both literary and scientific, the perfect
combination for objectively relating to the personal and political crises
that define America.

DIAGNOSIS AMERICA column, November 30, 2007
In Praise of The White Man's Burden
By Anne Keala Kelly
This Week's Diagnosis:

Famous Colonial Displacement Amnesia (FCDA), which is a subset disorder of
CDA, Colonial Displacement Amnesia.

In the past, before the advent of new technologies, such as the Internet,
those afflicted were not seen as suffering from CDA because of their fame.
They, like the victims of epilepsy during the middle ages who were
believed to be possessed by demons, were misdiagnosed. As famous people
suffering from CDA, they were just thought of as arrogant and racist.
Fortunately, when the Internet made it possible to know the thoughts of
famous people almost instantaneously, a new diagnosis came about and now
not only can we identify the "famous" victims of Colonial Displacement
Amnesia in general, if caught early, the chances of spontaneous remission
are much improved, as appears to be the case with George Will.

go to blog for diagnostic commentary.

www.diagnosisamerica.blogspot.com
________________________________________________________________________________

27. The Algebra of Occupation - comment
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 10:44:51 -1000
From: Pilipo Souza <pilipohale@hawaii.rr.com>

Aloha mai,

I found the article revealing.

The analysis is fact but the solution is fiction. Like most mathematical
problems the known factors equate to a proven solution, unless one accepts
that if 1 plus 1 is 1, then 1 times 1 must be at least 2. Its even
identical to Hawaii's recent tale of the SuperFairy.

In the of case of the polictical realm facts are worthless because might
makes it right. Hawaii has been under military rule since the landing of
160 marines in 1893. The ka po'e haven't noticed it because they wear
cilivian garments. Placing circles into squares is the mindset of todays
politic. And If the occupied participate in the orchestrated celebrations
of an wrongful or unlawful act, within a generation or two the act will be
recognized as lawful. A society that adorns being legal as it foundation
will crumble into dust.

Aloha ke Akua,
pilipo
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

28. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu - more comment
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:15:34 -0800
From: fay <egraef@comcast.net>

Just a few notes to add about our beloved Haalilio - follow the ancient
path and look deep within the words - his spirit calls and he watches and
guides us toward each pearl - we know what is in the heart of ali'i t
haalilio when he leaves for a strange world to support hawaiian
independence, but we don't know for sure what is in the heart of others
....

in her book liliu writes "hawaii, through the influence of rev william
richards, who had become 'chaplain, teacher, and translator for the king'
in l838, had begun to send foreign envoys abroad in hopes of receiving
some assurance of protection for their independence" (just remember that
the british always believed that the island should belong to the british
and independence was in the interest of british business interest as well)
....

even david malo writes "first they came sightless, then blinded by
self-righteousness, and lastly eyes open to self interest" ....

in the book "Amos Starr Cooke and Juliette Montague Cooke" in one letter
dated November 13, 1847 "we attended Mr. Richards' funeral yesterday. I
should think that between two and three thousand people were out. Mr.
Armstrong preached from the words 'He loveth our nation." It was an
excellent sermon. The body was placed in the royal tomb beside that of
Haalilio. It is a mysterious dispensation." .... I think, but am not
sure, that about a year later the body of Richards was reportedly moved to
Lahaino for reburial ....

July 8, 1842 (from Seete) "in case i go to a foreign land at any future
time, i hereby appoint g.p. judd to be my agent for the transaction of all
my business. and i charge him to take all my leases of lands, to collect
the same for me .... and to pay all my debts, and the remainder he is to
keep for me, if i return, or my heir if i do not return"

when in england he writes home and uses the words "no makamaka" - there is
no one that he can see eye to eye with or trust (one possible
translation)....

there remains a central question, did he die in Paris or did he die on the
ship on his way home .... it appears that he was not present at the actual
signing of the treaty (seems strange since that was the focus of his
mission) .... I don't know how this connects with reports of his health
after he left England ....

I don't draw any conclusions, only random thoughts and my na'au .... the
story remains untold .... he hawai'i au, fay
________________________________________________________________________________

29. Push May Come To Shove On "Voices Of Truth - One-On-One With Hawai`i's
Future"
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 10:29:01 -0800
From: Free Hawai`i <freehawaii@earthlink.net>

Aloha `aina,

It all comes down this Thursday morning.

The Superferry returns to Kahului harbor on Maui.

And as if that's not bad enough, US federal police plan to shut down the
entire harbor one hour ahead of time.

Anyone who needs to fish to feed their family, anyone who plans on
canoeing or those who just want to catch a few waves are out of luck or
face US federal indictment.

Heavy-handed? You bet.

Especially so since from the very beginning the people of Maui decided to
play by the rules and hoped there could be some kind of reasonable
accommodation.

No such luck.

Just as the US sold out Queen Lili`uokalani, Hawai`i's legitimate ruler
over 114 years ago, the US is doing it all over again, thumbing their
noses at the residents of Maui whose only real infraction up to this point
was to show their good will.

But things have a way of changing - and fast.

Maui citizens are fed-up. They plan to take action.

Anti-Superferry rallies and demonstrations are taking place all over the
island.

Be sure and watch FreeHawaiiTV this Tuesday evening for details of daily
events.

If you live on Maui, plan to show up and express your outrage.

Let the US and Linda Lingle know they don't own Hawai`i, the people do.

A big mahalo for all the positive feedback we've been getting on our new
Voices Of Truth shows this past week. It's actually been quite
overwhelming.

And yes, we have yet another brand new one for you this week.

Andre Perez has got to be one of the bravest people we know.

Andre decided to fly to both Arizona and Mississippi with some friends and
visit native Hawaiian prisoners incarcerated far from home so that they
can reconnect with their culture.

But let Andre himself tell you about it - visit http://FreeHawaiiTV.com

While Andre knew it was going to be an unusual adventure, he had no idea
just how unusual things would get.

Be sure and catch our visit with Andre as he's forced to confront both the
future - and his very own past on Voices Of Truth - One-On-One With
Hawai`i's Future.

MONDAY, December 3rd At 7:00 PM & FRIDAY, December 7th At 5:30 PM -
Hawai`i Island - Na Leo, Channel 53 "Ocean Resource - A Visit With Anakala
Keli`i Mauwae"

Another Molokai treasure, Keli`i is someone who has taken the natural
resources of our ocean seriously.

A champion slack key guitar player as well as diver and fisherman, Keli`i
has lived his conviction that our resources are sustainable - but only if
we malama (care for) them.

While he shared with us details of his trips to Samoa and Washington, DC,
his conviction that Hawai`i no ka 'oi (is the best) comes through loud and
clear.

Taped on his Molokai ranch, don't miss this one as Keli'i serenades us
with his music and speaks from the heart about issues important to us all
that are indeed timeless.

TUESDAY, December 4th At 6:30 PM & WEDNESDAY, December 5th At 6:30 AM -
Maui - Akaku, Channel 53 "Out Of The Box - A Visit With Hinaleimoana Wong"

Since she was last on Voices Of Truth Hina Wong has been, well, busy.

An educator at two charter schools in Hawai`i, Hina delivers the kind of
education students crave - and can get virtually nowhere else.

"You don't have to go far from home to be successful," is the message she
gives her students at Halau Lokahi charter school on O`ahu and another one
on the island of Kaua`i.

Teaching Hawaiian cultural values, she helps her students answer the
question, who are we as Hawaiians?

Yet don't for a minute think it's only native Hawaiians, as students of
all ethnicities attend because, as Hina reminds us, her schools mirror the
multicultural population of the independent Hawaiian nation before it was
illegally overthrown.

The impact her curriculum has had on her students is both profound and
lasting. For the first time they see they don't have to assimilate to be
successful.

Bring your entire `ohana together and watch our visit with Hina as she
reminds us the children of Hawai`i really don't have to go and live
somewhere else to make it economically. As she herself says, "we want our
people to live and thrive right here."

THURSDAY, December 6th At 8:30 PM & FRIDAY, December 7th At 8:30 AM -
Kaua`i - Ho`ike, Channel 52
"Every Feather A Prayer - A Visit With Uncle Helemano"

One day at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center where he worked, Uncle
Helemano noticed an old kahili, the feathered standards of old Hawai`i, in
need of repair.

He decided he would take it upon himself to learn the skills in order to
repair it.

And that's how Uncle became one of Hawai`i's best-known contemporary
kahili makers.

Naturally when we sat down with him to talk story, he told us some amazing
things including who the very first kahili really were.

He also told us kahili marked parameters in the old days when ali`i were
present, since ancient Hawai`i had no flags.

We saw right away there's a lot more to it, since for Uncle creating
kahili is not just about passing the culture down through the generations,
"it's also about a positive message to our people."

Don't miss our fascinating visit with Uncle Helemano as he actually shares
with us his process of making kahili and also shows us some of his
astonishing and unique one-of-a-kind pieces. You'll see for yourself he
puts positive thoughts and prayer into each and every feather.

SATURDAY, December 8th At 8:00 PM - O`ahu - `Olelo, Channel 53 "Fish Out
Of Water - A Visit With Andre Perez"

Very few of us will ever find ourselves entering prison - especially if
we've committed no crime.

Yet that's exactly what Andre Perez did upon discovering the state of
Hawai`i was shipping significant numbers of native Hawaiian inmates out of
Hawai`i to prisons on the US continent in remote places like Arizona and
Mississippi.

Andre correctly surmised they were not only longing to be back home, but
connected to their culture - some for the first time.

What to do? Hop on a plane and bring their culture to them, starting with
observing the Makahiki.

So there they ended up, standing in a prison yard outside in twenty
degrees weather, dressed only in malo and kikepa greeting the sun as it
rose in the early morning sky to herald the beginning of Makahiki.

You'll be as riveted as us as Andre describes his experiences inside
prison, and what it was like working with the inmates, including a
surprise he could have never imagined - coming face to face with a convict
who committed a crime against his own family - and who turned out to be
his cousin.

Voices Of Truth interviews those creating a better future for Hawai`i to
discover what made them go from armchair observers to active participants
in the hopes of inspiring viewers to do the same.

If you missed a show, want you see your favorites again or you don't live
in Hawai`i, here's how to view our shows anytime - visit
VoicesOfTruthTV.com and simply click on the episodes you wish to view.

And for news on issues that affect you, watch FreeHawaiiTV.com.

Ho`oku`oko`a,

`Ehu Kekahu Cardwell
The Koani Foundation
Visit www.FreeHawaii.Info
Watch www.FreeHawaiiTV.com
"Voices Of Truth" now online - www.VoicesOfTruthTV.com
The Free Hawai`i Broadcasting Network
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

30. Kekuni's revisions to Lynette's Dec 1 Draft Summary of Ka La Ku'oko'a,
Nov. 28, 2007, at the Ahu - and more comment
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:21:57 -1000
From: Leota Souza <tuwahine@hawaii.rr.com>

Aloha Kakou, I think there is a program "Will the real Timoteo Ha'alilio
please stand up!" I also hear that Queen Kaahumanu was reintermed to
Lahaina, Maui with Keoki Kaumualii, son of the Kauai's last kng by
herside?

Again, honoring their makana to the people is all that matters.for all
that matters is they are in our pu'uwai. The so called "AHJ" authority
having jurisdiction certainly don't what the kanaka maoli and nationals
having the right to use such an exclusive site like I'olani Palace to
commemorate the true statespeople of Hawaii nei.

We must remember they (AHJ) must controls the the agendas at all public
areas under (DLNR) no matter where it is. It is heartbreaking to see
Kamehameha Estate (Pauahi) not funding the care and perpetuation of
I'olani Palace, Mana Ala and Lunalilio Home on every island. One day the
so called "independent kanaka" will realize they are "co-dependent" of
each other. They must become "addicted" to each other, with one torch
burning in darkness for now there are many burning torches that causes
they ka po'e to go in many different directions while the aledged ali'i to
include OHA standfast and boost "foillow me" .

You don't need a monarch to have a nation. Queen Liliuokalani proved that.

Again, mahalo for all the efforts and dedication of those that make the
memory of them who have given of self for the goodness of others. We have
only to August 21, 2009.

Aloha ke Akua,
pilipo
________________________________________________________________________________

31. Pacific secretary set to rebuild relationships
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:24:21 -0500
From: KahiwaL@cs.com

AUSTRALIA: Pacific secretary set to rebuild relationships

Prime Minister Elect Kevin Rudd has named Duncan Kerr as Parliament
Secretary responsible for the Pacific and handed him the job of rebuilding
the fractured relationships Australia has with some Pacific nations.

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s2106531.htm
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~---------------------------

32. Unleash Your Bliss! -Lama Ngakpha Dorje - secret practices of
self-enlightenment Dec.14-16, Studio Maui
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 13:55:15 -1000
From: Global Media Productions <info@globalmediaproductions.com>

DECEMBER 14th - 16th at THE STUDIO MAUI
Unleash Your Bliss! The secret practices of self-enlightenment.

Max Christensen (Lama Ngakpha Dorje) is making a special visit to Maui to
teach a very rare, ancient Taoist practice called, the Spontaneous Kunlun
Nei Gung or "Bliss Practice". It is a simple, yet powerful practice that:

*releases energy/emotional blocks
* unlocks dormant abilities,
* awakens an almost unbearable internal bliss feeling that stays with you
all day.

This practice is said to be the fastest known path to enlightenment
because it quickly removes that which is not needed, allowing one to
experience their own divine true nature

FREE LECTURE to learn more about the practice and Lama Dorje
When: December 14th, 2007
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Where: The Studio Maui

KUNLUN LEVEL 1 SEMINAR
When: December 15th & 16th
3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Where: The Studio Maui
Haiku Marketplace
810 Haiku Rd. Ste. 265
Haiku, HI 96708
808.575.9390
Cost: $300

Pre-register at http://www. regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=171126 or
call 818-660-2846

Lama Dorje is also the subject of the upcoming documentary film: Lama
Thunderbolt. You can check out the trailer at
http://www.lamathunderbolt. com or his website www.kunlunbliss.com
------------------------------------------------------------------

33. Justices uphold welfare home searches, No Fourth Amendment for Welfare
Recipients
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:52:11 -1000
From: viviane lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>

http://snipurl.com/1ujgw [bluebloggin.com
4th Amendment Dismissed In California - US Constitution Unravels
Posted on November 27th, 2007 by bosskitty
Justices uphold welfare home searches

The ACLU had challenged a San Diego County policy, saying its warrantless
inspections violated privacy rights. The Supreme Court refuses to hear it.

WASHINGTON ^× County welfare officers may conduct routine searches of the
homes of welfare recipients to combat fraud under a ruling in a California
case that the Supreme Court let stand Monday.

The justices refused to hear a challenge from the American Civil Liberties
Union, which contended that San Diego County^Òs policy of requiring home
searches without a warrant violated privacy rights.

The 4th Amendment to the Constitution forbids the police to search a
residence without a warrant. But the home inspections in San Diego County
are different, judges said, because they do not seek evidence of a crime.
Instead, they are intended to determine whether welfare recipients qualify
for benefits.

The San Diego district attorney adopted a policy in 1997 under which
applicants for welfare benefits must agree to a ^Ówalk through^Ô of their
residence while they are present. The inspectors check on whether the
applicant has an eligible dependent child and has the amount of assets
claimed. They also check on whether a supposedly ^Óabsent^Ô parent lives
at the residence. If residents refuse to permit a home visit, they can
lose their benefits.

In its suit, the ACLU contended that the mandatory home searches, based on
no evidence of wrongdoing, violated the 4th Amendment and its ban on
unreasonable searches and seizures.

^ÓThis case is nothing less than an attack on the poor,^Ô said Judge Harry
Pregerson, writing for the dissenters. ^ÓThis is especially atrocious in
light of the fact that we do not require similar intrusions into the homes
and lives of others who receive government entitlements. The government
does not search through the closets and medicine cabinets of farmers
receiving subsidies.^Ô

The ACLU asked the Supreme Court to take up the case of Sanchez vs. County
of San Diego, but it was dismissed in a one-line order Monday.

The Bill of Rights only restricts the power of the federal government, but
the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the Fourth Amendment
is applicable to state governments by operation of the Fourteenth
Amendment. Are we waiting for headline news to hammer into our heads that
the US Constitution is being dismantled, one Amendment at a time?
=====-----------------------------------------------------------------------

34. Everyone sign it please!!!
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:07:47 +1100
From: Mrs Lyn Welsh-Kirk <tepaatu@gmail.com>

This is something that is especially close to my heart and i would
appreciate if you could pass this to everyone you know to hopefully put an
end to whaling.

If you want to stop this:
Please take a moment to sign this petition :

www.whalesrevenge.com

is trying to get a million people to sign a petition to stop
whaling.

Thanks for your support and please remember to sign the petition.
________________________________________________________________________________

35. Disappeared News - 2 new articles
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 03:59:56 -0500
From: FeedBlitz <feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com>

"DISAPPEARED NEWS" - 2 NEW ARTICLES - www.disappearednews.com

1. Bought and paid for
2.Where is the outrage?
3.More Recent Articles
4.Search Disappeared News

Bought and paid for

by Larry Geller A useful tool has been posted on the Voter Owned Hawaii
website. If you look over at the bottom of the left-hand column, you'll
see two links, Donor Lists and Lobbyist Data. These get you a quick look
at some data from followthemoney.org. This data can give you some
insight as to the possible motivation for voting in our state
legislature. It shows who paid what to whom. How to....

Where is the outrage?

by Larry Geller KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) _ Big Island police are training
to use Tasers. By the end of the month, 90 percent of Kona officers
should be carrying the Tasers. Hawaii County aims for all sworn personnel
to eventually be trained and equipped with the devices. [KPUA.net - KPUA
Hawaii News - Big Island police training to use Tasers] It can't be that
a couple of bloggers are the only....

More Recent Articles

* Kona police use Taser--an instrument of torture--to gain compliance
in an arrest
* Protests begin on Maui against the Superferry
* Getting Democracy Now! as a podcast
* Hawaii Superferry--Fair Weather friend?
* Chance to ask your own questions about the Phileas transportation
alternative
________________________________________________________________________________

36. Truth and Confrontation
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:34:10 +0000
From: Ana <uriohau@yahoo.com.au>

http://indigenist.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html#5847038324844182384

Since the fall of the Soviet Union there has been a rush to confront and
offer apologies for brutalities carried out on behalf of the state and its
clients.

This era is often called the The Age of Apologies.

My standing issue with state sponsored apologies is that it is aimed to
secure the interests of the state and its elite. This often means that the
state may enter a formal apology but that does not mean that the state
accepts responsibility.

Formal apologies, are more often than not, just a means of framing the
past for purposes of present political interests. In other words, it
allows the political elite to frame the past in terms that do not question
the present sensibilities and interests of the state.

South Africa is a prime example of how a state, if even a transitioning
one, worked to keep elite political interests secure while motioning a
process of reviewing the past and its abuses.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not seek to apologize for the
apartheid past. But it did create a forum in which the state could create
the impression that the review entailed a formal apology by way of
recognizing some of the abuses that occured. Wilson has called this
legitimizing the state.

What evolved was a highly contentious interaction of state, private, and
individual players. The process of review was positioned to be open. But
openess did not seek to call the role of the state into question. At least
not in terms that equate with litigative justice.

The offer of a blank et amnesty to all players in effect kept the state
secure from prosecution. How could the state prosecute, or at the very
least condemn, itself anyway?

I am raising these thoughts because it is important for us to recognize
and appreciate the manner in which the state is an agent of elite
political interests and its inevitable abuses. This is particularly
important when we think about deconstructing whiteness. Or rather, how to
sabotage whiteness at the sytems level.

We must, for this purpose, focus on the state.

The state system, with its origins in the nationalism and
industrialization of the Enlightenment, is a tool of whiteness and its
associated political interests. In this context, the proper place for
review, in a systems sense, is not the individual acts of brutality in the
first place, but the role of the state in creating and fostering the
abuses.

In the case of the US and Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, it is the
entire state system that is responsible for the abuses that are occuring
there. You cannot divorce the American state, all of it including its
active and inactive supporters, from the horrific acts that are being
carried out in the name of freedom.

In South Africa the same applies. The postapartheid state is not a
discontinuation of the previous apartheid state. It is in fact a mere
revisement in which the interests of whiteness have been somewhat
relocated but still distributed along the same lines of elitist
preoccupation with whiteness and its cementing values.

So, the responsibility for the failure to properly address the past is a
shared one. The line that was drawn in 1994 is a structural mirage at
best.

Mostly, the brutality that was apartheid, the impoverishment that was
apartheid, and the racism that it enshrines, is very much a structural
part of this era of so called freedom and equality .

Whose state is it anyway? Not the impoverished masses for sure.

What is most apparent is that the same conditions that existed then exist
now except for the new buffer class of Black comprodores, the much
heralded Black middle class.

Despite the advertized prominence of the buffer Black middle class, the
postapartheid state has not been able to obstruct the values and
trajectory of whiteness. And this includes the usual racist abuses that
follow whiteness.

This is somewhat of a bold assertion to make, though it is not that
unheard in South Africa.

What is less heard is the argument that Blacks can run a state that has as
its underlying purpose the propogation and continuation of whiteness.

Some will be quick to point out that this assertion is unfair and even
hyperbole. Not so.

What needs to be appreciated is not the individual context of South Africa
but rather the collective context of South Africa in a world system d
ominated by whiteness. See for example how South Africa was quick to
create legislation that restricted the rights of its citizens in the name
of the US Patriot Act.

Well not the name as such, but the influence of a marauding American state
that brought South Africa to induce anti=terrorist legislation on its
supposedly sovereign citizenry.

These pieces of legislation in effect reinforced the stereotypes that
Muslims were a target population in the era of Bush and his murderous
violence. And South Africa has been actively monitoring groups it
considers Islamist threats, and there are instances where Muslims have
been detained.

One particular case even included the arrest and deportation of a
Pakistani man. After a long drawn out litigation it emerged that South
Africa turned the man, Khalid Rashid, over to British authorities and the
CIA.

This t hey did in absolute contravention of his rights to be charged with
a crime. No charge, no trial, nada. He ended up in Guantanamo according to
media reports.

But where are the noble notions of justice, freedom, equality, due
process, and the postapartheid state?

This case reminds me of how Black folk were treated by the apartheid
police and security forces. Blacks in those days were the terrorists in
the apartheid mindset. And so much for change and all those liberal rights
enshrined in the constitution. See the Khaled Masri case for similar
racist abuse outside of South Africa.

The manner in which South Africa was made a complicit American pawn has
everything to do with the political, and economic, values of the global
state sy stem. These values are endorsed and paid for by the value
enterprise that found its initial expression in the construction of race.

So even where South Africa likes to posture itself as a non=racial state,
the very idea of race is implicit to the entire nation=state and the
state=system within which it interacts.

Inside of this inhumanity, the state is the first piece of institutional
machinery that must be dismantled. Confronting the state, therefore,
cannot be a mere gesture through commissions, or public events, monuments,
popular culture, etc.

Confrontation must be revolutionary at its core. The abusive state cannot
just be reformed because its institutional appendages will, and do,
recreate the very abuses that we face.

Voting, therefore, is not an option. Because Obama, in the case of the US,
and Mbeki in South Africa, amount to no more than stooges of a world
system bent on keeping whiteness central.

I think when Obama talked of inva ding Pakistan it was a telling moment.
It was like the day when President Mbeki labelled himself a Thatcherite.

So much for the sovereignty of the state. It is a fiction. And Obama is no
more than an agent, not unlike Mbeki, of the controlling interests of
whiteness to dominate all spheres.

In this sense, truth and confrontation is a waste of time if it leaves the
predatory state and whiteness intact.

Ridwan Laher, Ph.D.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

37. New comment on local stuffs.
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:48:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Gardner <noreply-comment@blogger.com>

Dave Gardner has left a new comment on your post "local stuffs":

Nice to see Hank Stone get it right: "We know that economic growth and
population growth can't continue indefinitely. Non-renewable energy use
can't continue....Business as usual is a real threat to human survival."It
will take individual effort - we can each change our lifestyles to consume
less and pollute less. But it will also take group effort - we must change
public policies that encourage or depend on population and economic
growth.Dave GardnerProducer/DirectorHooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest
for Prosperitywww.growthbusters.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

38. the lab report--December, 2007
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:03:57 -0500
From: Tara Mack <tara@edliberation.org>

the lab report

Welcome to the lab report, a monthly update of curriculum materials added
to the EdLib Lab, the network's online database of social justice teaching
materials. This first update will include materials from November and
October. Many thanks to all those who contributed the items listed in this
report. We hope network members will continue to enrich this important
social justice education tool by posting their own teaching materials.
-----

Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League Curriculum Connections program has linked the
EdLib Lab to over a dozen lesson plans they have created related to
anti-bias education. The lesson plans cover a wide variety of topics
including Anti-Semitism and Jewish History, Disability Rights, Native
American History, Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, Brown v. Board of
Education, the First Amendment and many others. To browse all of these
materials, go to the Advanced Search page and type "Anti-Defamation
League" in the "Organization" box.
Grade Levels: All
Cost: No

Against All Odds by United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for
Refugees
Against All Odds is a free online video game that lets students follow a
young person's flight from oppression in his or her home country to exile
in an asylum country. The game is intended to increase students'
awareness and knowledge about refugees ^Ö where they come from, what
situations they have faced and how they adapt to their new lives.
Grade Levels: All
Cost: No

Youth Camera Action: School to Prison Pipeline by New York Civil
Liberties Union
This resource includes 1) the Youth Camera Action DVD, featuring three 5
min youth produced films on the School to Prison Pipeline and the
over-policing of New York City schools; 2) The School to Prison Pipeline
Toolkit with fact sheets, graphs, sample activities and discussion
questions, suggested lessons, and a detailed resource list; 3) Youth
Camera Action Website where you can watch the films online, download the
toolkit, fact sheets and graphs and find updated screening listings.
Grade Levels: Middle, High Cost: No

RACE: A Teacher's Guide by RACE Project
This teacher^Òs guide serves as a teaching tool to assist educators in
addressing race and human variation in the classroom. The guide meets
national and select state standards for science and social studies and
teachers may use the various lesson plans to develop a module on race and
human variation for biology, social studies or social science classes.
Grade Levels: Middle, High Cost: No

Traveling Ed by Traveling Ed
Using web-based curriculum designed around the real life adventures of
world travelers, TravelingEd is bringing the world into classrooms to
strengthen the geographical awareness and cross-cultural competency of
school children. TravelingEd offers a variety of ways to develop a
broader understanding of other countries and cultures: Lesson Plans and
activities, Traveler^Òs Diaries, Online Photo Albums and Adventure
Videos, Student World Forum to generate cross-cultural discussion and the
Vocal Locals program to post information about your own customs and
culture.
Grade Levels: Unknown
Cost: No

Movement Building by The Brotherhood/Sister Sol
The 1960s and ^Ñ70s was a time of mass grassroots activism on issues
ranging from civil rights, to women^Òs equality, to the rights of
laborers. The visible leaders and those who managed the day-to-day
activities of movement building were equally responsible in bringing
about social change. Together they acted with courage, extreme dedication
and with faith, often risking their lives for their beliefs and deep
sense of justice. Ella Baker, Cesar Chavez, and Fannie Lou Hamer are
three such people.
Grade Levels: Middle, High Cost: No

Kid-Size Cocoa by Global Exchange
Companies like World's Finest Chocolate make a lot of money selling
chocolate to kids, but chocolate is no treat for hundreds of thousands of
children who must work on cocoa farms instead of going to school. Using
kids' favorite treat, Global Exchange's Fair Trade cocoa curriculum
stimulates learners' interest in geography, math and social studies
through the lens of social justice.
Grade Levels: All Cost: No

Teaching the Levees by Teachers College, Columbia University
This curriculum, created by educators from Teachers College, Columbia
University, takes Spike Lee^Òs When the Levees Broke, as both impetus,
touchstone and text for democratic dialogues in schools, colleges, and
community organizations. The historical essay and curriculum units that
comprise this book are designed to stimulate serious deliberation about
the meaning of Hurricane Katrina and the breach of the levees.
Discussions of race and class are often avoided in American schools,
colleges, and communities. This curriculum aims to stimulate dialogue
about these tough issues by posing the questions: Who are we as a
country? What kind of country do we want to be?
Grade Levels: High
Cost: No
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

39. Critique "Who Owns The Crown Lands of Hawai'i" - comment
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:54:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Kekahuna Keaweiwi <kekahunakeaweiwi@yahoo.com>

Aloha Kawehi,

Pololoe!

What Van Dyke is really saying is....WE (i.e. US & State Gov., WHite Anglo
Saxon Prostestants, = Haoles`) stole all your lands, and now WE should
give yo back only some....and now we are not bad people....ok.

Palanaio!

People have to keep in mind.....Van Dyke is very much a part, however one
wants to put it, of the "PERPETRATORS" in this crime. He can talk and say
what he may, he will always be in conflict-of-interest.

Foster

Rita Kanui <kawehi11@msn.com> wrote:
Aloha,

This writing comes as an attendee of Van Dyke's slideshow:
"Who Owns The Crown Lands of Hawai'i" that was held at the
U.H. Hamilton Library in June 2007.

Just the title erks me...because you know there is so much
pilau behind it and how it may be used to trick Hawaiians in
going for less than what they were promised by their
ancestors and monarchs who wrote laws to protect their rights
found in the; Principles of Land Division in Hawai'i, 1839
Declaration of Rights, 1854 Constitution, 1850 Treaty, Civil
and Penal Codes of the Hawaiian Kingdom 1864 as well the
Hague and Vienna Conventions.

After his presentation he opened up to questions and
answers. I raised my hand and said the usual things; Hawai'i
is still an independent country and doesn't need to be
recognized as Akaka and OHA claims AND...that Hawai'i was
never overthrown legally and how interesting that he never
mentions "occupation" and how that too was illegal from a
legal mind...since occupation is always resolved by
deoccupying which is according to experts inevitable...and it
would be in his best interest to state the truth. Van Dyke
is a mouth piece for the judiciary, State, OHA and military.
He also failed to tell people that he lives on Crown land.
What would it mean for him? Oh well...we will wait and see.
I'm not predicting anything here. Van Dyke lives on the
waters edge of the last white sand beach on Oahu, in
WAimanalo, in a mansion overlooking the ocean, manana island
and makapu'u pier. I wonder when and how he got his
land? AND, did he use his attorney know how to fanagle that
land from Hawaiian Homelands Commission, by offering to help
with legal papers to divide the land? AND, now are afraid he
might lose it when the kingdom comes to fruition???

As an independent advocate I am not happy with his book nor
am I happy that he lives in my community...those things are
in the hands of 'Io not me...He will handle that in His time
and way...as well all situations. I am not going to be happy
when the court uses his book to prove their sad state of
affairs...but worse when they try to prove that over time
Hawaiian accepted to be a State of Hawai'i (which is not
true) or assimilate. That is pilau!

Clearly Van Dyke's book is not something with new
information. All the information he mentions came from other
books already written. Why did he write the book? Why do
people write books anyway? It would be and could be used to
justify his point that Hawai'i is now a part of the U.S. and
in the passage of time, shows this to be so....WRONG, Van
Dyke.

Matthew Craven, expert and attorney on international law said
in his opinion and brief to the Acting Council of The
Hawaiian Kingdom that the State of Hawai'i has no authority
or jurisdiction over the lands or the Hawaiian people,
because the Hawaiian Kingdom continues today...merely,
occupied...and this occupation has to end soon.

I know, I'm not buying his book and encourage others to
boycott it as well. Why give money to the foxes watching the
hen house??? One less book to burn when the Kingdom is fully
operating and restored.

Me Kealoha Pumehana R. Kawehi Kanui
________________________________________________________________________________

40. KALIHI WAENA STREAMBANK RESTORATION / RECYCLING DAY DECEMBER 8
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:19:39 -1000
From: lcruz <palolo@hawaii.rr.com>

in case any of you live in kalihi and have interest...

----- Original Message ----- From: KAUPA
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 11:42 PM

Aloha,
We hope this email finds you all safe and sound during this holiday
season!

KAUPA is holding their "Second Saturdays for Sustainability" again on
Saturday, December 8th, and hope that you will be able to break away from
the festivities and join us in restoring a portion of Kalihi Stream.
This area will be the site of a Native Hawaiian garden where community
members can cultivate and harvest edible and medicinal plants.

The rains are upon us, and the Guinea grass is growing like crazy. We
need your help in cutting this back, building stairs for easier access to
the stream, and removing litter that makes its way to the stream from the
storm drain outlet.

KAUPA will also be recycling your HI-5 containers, tires, and
batteries.

Please join us!

Volunteer information:
Who: To benefit Kalihi Ahupua'a community members
What: "Second Saturdays"
Where: Behind Kalihi Waena Elementary School, 1240 Gulick Ave.
When: *Saturday, December 8, 2007** **8:30-11:00am*
Why: Kalihi Stream Cleanup and Restoration
Wear: Clothes to get dirty in, sunscreen, hat, closed-toe shoes
Bring: Your HI-5 Recyclables, Tires and Batteries
Light refreshments and water will be provided!

Mahalo,
Barbara Natale
Outreach/Media Coordinator

KAUPA
Kalihi Ahupua'a Ulu Pono Ahahui
"The Progressive Kalihi Watershed Association"
P.O. Box 17673
Honolulu, HI 96817-9998
PH: (808) 853-2218
FX: (877) 373-1621
kaupa4kalihi@hawaii.rr.com
kaupa@googlegroups.com
"Strengthening the relationship between the people and the land"

*We would appreciate your passing the word along! Please excuse any
cross-postings. If you would prefer to be taken off our e-list, please
reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line. Thank you!
________________________________________________________________________________

41. african party Badenyaa Saturday Dec. 8th
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:01:01 -1000 (GMT-10:00)
From: Milica Barjaktarovic <milica_b@earthlink.net>

Please distribute -

The drum and dance party the traditional way - very nice, community feel,
"family living room dancing" feel, very comfortable and safe.

>Subject: Badenyaa Saturday Dec. 8th
>from: Benjamin <manonzule@yahoo.com> or Reggae Fung <badenyaa@gmail.com>
>
>COME GET DOWN AFTER ZIGGY AN NEM!!
>
>Badenyaa African Diaspora Dance Theater presents
>The African Roots After Party.
>
>The evening will include: individual and collaborative presentations of
>African Dancing, Drumming, and Singing by Badenyaa, Hawaii's #1 Kut and
>Skratch turntablist -Kutmaster Spaz, DJ Cookiehead Jenkins, Capoeira
>Senzala Hawaii, and iNTREPiD. The meanest, funkiest, African fusion dance
>party around!
>
>SATURDAY DEC. 8th
>@ South Seas Village aka Hawaiian Hut
>DOORS OPEN AT 9pm with Afrobeat spinning by DJ
>Cookiehead Jenkins. $10 at the door. The event is 18+.
>
>BRING A TOWEL. IT'S GOING TO GET HOT!!
>Badenyaa@gmail.com
>------------------------
>Badenyaa is an O`ahu-based arts company dedicated to community building
>and education through the music and cultures of Africa and the African
>Diaspora. All proceeds will be used to help Badenyaa provide educational
>programs for young people and promote intercultural understanding through
>the music, dance, and stories of Africa and Black cultures everywhere.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

42. Maori "Terrorists" - 1100 People View Suppressed Police Affidavit
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:09:39 +1300
From: karaka <tepaatu@gmail.com>

------ Forwarded Message

"What was leaked was the affidavit. The affidavit was assembled by police
with the explicit purpose of obtaining search warrants from a magistrate.
It consists of untested evidence, intended to establish not a court case
but a reasonable basis upon which a magistrate might rule in favour of
issuing search warrants a·" which is what happened a·" which might then be
used to obtain further evidence of the commission of (serious) crimes.
Specifically, a·&#731;Participating in a Terrorist Group, Unlawful
Possession of Firearms and Unlawful Possession of Restricted
Weaponsa·&#711;. As it stands, police were unable to obtain sufficient
evidence to warrant the Solicitor-General to approve the laying of charges
under the Terrorism Suppression Act (a·&#729;Participating in a Terrorist
Groupa·&#729;), and firearms charges have to this point only been brought
against 16 of the 36 individuals specifically named in the affidavit.
These charges have yet to be brought to court, and those charged are
innocent until proven guilty under law.

Whata·&#729;s wrong with that?

Well, for a start, those charged have been subjected to a trial by media,
such that large numbers of the NZ and international public have been led
to the conclusion that the a·&#731;trutha·&#711; is that those subjected
to the police raids are guilty of terrorism. Secondly, the manner in which
the raids were conducted, which according to witnesses involved the
excessive use of force and the violation of civil liberties a·" these
allegations will presumably also be eventually tested in court. Thirdly,
this was a major operation conducted over a period of several years
involving the intensive use of surveillance and the routine violation of
civil liberties a·" actions otherwise considered criminal a·" the end
result of which, it could and has been argued, is a waste of time and
police resources, and which serves a political purpose in terms of
justifying a massively increased police state infrastructure, one built
upon the basis of a fraudulent a·&#731;war on terrora·&#711;. Finally, the
use to which Fairfax Media put the affidavit was questionable in the sense
that it appears to have been a·&#728;leakeda·&#729; to the corporation by
police sources, and media reports using the affidavit, which painted those
charged as being terrorists, occurred while a number of those charged were
seeking bail, and during the conduct of a public campaign in opposition to
their treatment at the hands of the state.

Thata·&#729;s for a start."

http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=963
-------

pipstop wrote:

1100 People View Suppressed Police Affidavit
Article by Jeremy Rose

Note: In a call-over hearing in the Auckland District Court today several
of the accused have been remanded again on bail to appear next in March
2008.

The person responsible for posting the police affidavit from the so-called
Urewera 17 "terrorism" case on the internet says it was accessed by 1100
people before it was withdrawn. (Many of those people are likely to have
forwarded the document to friends and colleagues suggesting the total
number of people who have now read the rambling document numbers in the
thousands.)

The affidavit has also been sent to most of the country's mainstream media
outlets, including: Radio New Zealand, Sunday Star Times and Maori
Television.

Scoop contacted the person via a contact email address on the site hosting
the affidavit and requested an interview. The request was declined but the
person, whose email identifies him as Michael Ross, did agree to answer
some of our questions.

He or she (Scoop assumes Michael Ross is a pseudonym) declined to confirm
or deny whether he was responsible for leaking the affidavit to the
DominionPost and/or TV3.

QUESTION: Why did you decide to publish?

ANSWER: "To expose the corrupt practice of 'secret justice' in New
Zealand. While certainly secret, it is anything but justice. This goes on
every day. Kiwis need to know how the police and judges do it. "

QUESTION: The DominionPost was widely condemned by supporters of those
arrested. Part of the criticism was due to the partial and sensational
nature of the quotes - and by publishing the affidavit in its entirety
you've avoided that - but many were also critical because it made a fair
trial impossible. How do you respond to those who would say you've
jeopardised their chances of a fair trial?

ANSWER: "A fair trial is NEVER possible in a secret court. This is the
problem in New Zealand. The 'supporters' of the accused have been misled
by their lawyers who are beholden to the secret system of doing everything
corrupt judges order.

A CASE IN POINT. The most damaging parts of the Police affidavit were read
out by Auckland High Court Justice Helen Winkelman in open Court when she
read out quotes "White men are going to die in this country" and "I'm
going to go commando". This, along with Tame Iti shooting the New Zealand
flag on the ground, were broadcast repeatedly in the New Zealand media.

This was EXTREMELY prejudicial.

Along with the fact that 17 people were ordered arrested on 'TERRORIST'
charges and HELD WITHOUT BAIL for a month led everyone in New Zealand to
believe these people were guilty. "

QUESTION: How do you respond to those that say, 'Yes the police have
over-reacted, but there does appear to be evidence that people were
training with guns and planning for some sort of armed conflict?'

ANSWER: "As you can now see, reading the entire affidavit, the Police
watched and listened to every word these people said for a full year. How
many of us haven't made a remark like 'I'm going to go commando' or 'I
could kill Helen Clark' in anger (but not actually meant it)? By reading
these select quotes in open Court, the judge (who obviously read the
entire affidavit and should have known it was bullshit) deliberately
perverted the course of justice in the case at the onset and wrongly
incited the public to believe things were worse than they were.

I am trying to set the record straight by exposing the secret justice
system.

Twenty one people with [weapons] in the woods - some of whom are wearing
camouflage, does not constitute terrorism. People can now see by looking
at the entire police case that the police and judge conspired to create
bias among the public against the accused. Of course they are now WARNING
the accuseds' lawyers that revealing the police affidavit will hurt the
accused changes for a fair trial. This might be so if nothing had been
released, but the worst bits already have. "

3 December 2007 http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00040.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

43. Who has the right to bear arms?
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:18:36 +1300
From: karaka <tepaatu@gmail.com>

Ka tangi te ngakau, ka tangi ahau... Aue! Aue! Aue!

------ Forwarded Message From: Geoff Fischer <geoff.fischer@xtra.co.nz>

Everyone has the right to take measures to defend themselves, their
families and their community against external threats, aggression, or
oppression. That right of self-defence extends to the right to bear arms.
On that basis, the people of Aotearoa, whether Maori or Pakeha, have a
natural right to possess and bear arms.

The New Zealand state and its agents, however, have no right to arms
because:

The state does not exist for the defence of the people. From its
inception, the Realm of New Zealand has had a single over-riding purpose:
to seize and hold the land and people of Aotearoa in the name of the
British crown.

The state and its agents are all bound in allegiance to a foreign monarch
and have no loyalty to God or nation.

The Royal New Zealand Army, Navy and Air Force have only ever been
deployed in doomed but bloody attempts to impose British power upon the
people of Aotearoa and to impose the brutal Anglo-American imperial order
in other parts of the world such as Palestine, Mesopotamia, Samoa, Korea,
Vietnam and Afghanistan. They have never been used to defend the true and
legitimate interests of the people of Aotearoa.

The now fully-armed New Zealand police have consistently shown themselves
to be ready to use lethal force as a first choice rather than a last
resort. Many of their members are racist, have sadistic tendencies, and
have been proven guilty of crimes of moral turpitude which have been
concealed at the highest levels of state.

For all these reasons, by their own actions and conduct the New Zealand
state and its agents have forfeited the right to arms, and must be
disarmed for the safety and wellbeing of the people of Aotearoa.

The people of Aotearoa, including all iwi and Tuhoe in particular, retain
their natural and inalienable right to bear arms in self-defence.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

44. Fascism in ten easy steps
From: hine2atchu
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 11:46 AM

If it was a strange coincidence, in light of Winston Peters' recent visit
to the USA, and golden hand-shake kodak moment with Condaleeza Rice,

this is stranger still...

The end of Free Speech in America has arrived at our doorstep. It's a new
law called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention
Act, and it is worded in a clever way that could allow the U.S. government
to arrest and incarcerate any individual who speaks out against the Bush
Administration, the war on Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security or
any government agency (including the FDA). The law has already passed the
House on a traitorous vote of 405 to 6, and it is now being considered in
the Senate where a vote is imminent. All over the internet, intelligent
people who care about freedom are speaking out against this extremely
dangerous law: Philip Giraldi at the Huffington Post, Declan McCullagh at
CNET's News.com, Kathryn Smith at OpEdNews.com, and of course Alex Jones
at PrisonPlanet.com

This bill is the beginning of the end of Free Speech in America. If it
passes, all the information sources you know and trust could be shut down
and their authors imprisoned. NewsTarget could be taken offline and I
could be arrested as a "terrorist." Jeff Rense at www.Rense.com could be
labeled a "terrorist" and arrested. Byron Richards, Len Horowitz, Paul
Craig Roberts, Greg Palast, Ron Paul and even Al Gore could all be
arrested, silenced and incarcerated. This is not an exaggeration. It is a
literal reading of the law, which you can check yourself here:
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h1955_rfs.xml

The bill states:

`...ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or
threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote
the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs...

Note that this means the "planned use of force to promote a political or
social belief" would be considered an act of terrorism. This all hinges on
the definition of "force," of course. Based on the loose use of logic in
Washington these days, and the slippery interpretation of the meaning of
words, "force" could mean:

. A grassroots campaign to barrage Congress with faxes
. A non-violent street protest
. A letter-writing campaign that deluges the Senate with too much mail
. A sit-in protest that blocks access to a business or organization
. A grassroots e-mail campaign that overloads the e-mail servers of
any government department or agency

You get the idea. "Force" could be defined as practically anything. And
since the "planned use of force" would be considered a criminal act of
terrorism, anyone who simply thinks about a grassroots action campaign
would be engaged in terrorist acts.

If you stopped someone on the street and handed them a Bible, for example,
this could be considered an act of terrorism ("...use of force to promote
the individual's religious beliefs...")

For the rest of the article, which refers to Naomi Wolf:
http://www.newstarget.com/022308.html

---
pipstop wrote:

Was the TSA passed in to legislation on the back of a Tuhoe/Maori "terror
threat," or just a strange coincidence?

Check this out from Naomi Klein (not Wolf, but just as staunch) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kieyjfZDUIc

----- Original Message -----
From: karaka
Blueprint for the terrorism situation outlined:

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag - (a prison system outside the law)
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens' groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law

Full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html

or view it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc&feature=PlayList&p=89B54A74600831
5D&i
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc&amp;feature=PlayList&amp;p=89B54
A746008315D&amp;index=29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

45. Canada & RIMPAC: Whale Killing War Games
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:31:56 -0500 (EST)
From: keboi@aol.com

Today: Monday, December 3, 2007
Whale Killing War Games
Humpback whales in Hawaiian waters.
Enviro groups slam Canada's sonar in naval mock-up.
By Ivan Bulic
Published: April 11, 2007
TheTyee.ca

Every two years, Canadian warships spend a month cruising Hawai'i, where
they fire missiles and track "hostile" submarines on their ships'
mid-frequency sonar. The enemy subs in these high sea battles aren't
actually enemies at all: they are vessels from other friendly nations come
to take part of the U.S. navy's biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercises
(RIMPAC) war games.

As in other years, last July Canada sent a delegation; this time, the
Esquimalt-based frigates HMCS Algonquin, Vancouver and Regina, escorted by
six CF-18 fighter jets from Bagotville, Quebec and two Aurora patrol
aircraft from Comox took their turn in the waters off the 50th state.

Already by the late 1990s, the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), a
U.S. non-profit organization composed of scientists and lawyers, began
sounding the alarm about what naval sonar was doing to whales and other
marine mammals.

Joined by other groups, and mounting evidence, the NRDC says naval sonar
kills whales and dolphins, and they're trying to get the U.S. courts to
stop American and Canadian warships from holding the next RIMPAC in 2008.

'Jackhammers' underwater

Whales and dolphins use sound to hunt for food, avoid predators, find
mates and navigate the sea. But over the past century the ocean's acoustic
landscape has been transformed by human noise, especially intense sonar
and the ever-increasing traffic of commercial ships.

Exactly how sonar affects whales and dolphins is not fully understood, but
biologists think sonar signals cause bubbles in the animals' tissue, in
much the same way as divers suffer decompression sickness known as 'the
bends.' On hearing sonar, whales dive and rise deeply and rapidly. This
causes decompression, resulting in fatal damage to their lungs, brain and
ears. Sonar also disrupts feeding and reproductive behaviours.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, Vancouver Aquarium's senior marine
mammal scientist, to a whale, sonar is like "a jackhammer thundering
outside your window, night and day." And because sound travels faster in
water than in air, the noise can be 50 kilometres away but will still
sound nearby.

Troubling legacy

In 2004 the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee warned
that naval sonar damages whales, citing the stranding death of 17 whales
in the Bahamas in 2000. Five of the animals were Cuvier's Beaked Whales --
which are extremely rare -- and all had experienced acoustic trauma. The
strandings coincided with U.S. naval sonar activity in the area that
exposed the whales to sounds in the range of 145 decibels, the loudness of
a rifle blast. One government report said that "the unusual extended use
of Navy midrange tactical sonars operating in the area is the most
plausible acoustic source."

Although absolute conclusions are impossible to draw since no beaked
whales have been sighted near the Bahamas since.

Mass strandings and deaths associated with sonar exercises by U.S.,
Canadian and other NATO warships have also occurred near North Carolina,
the Canary Islands, Madeira, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Greece.

In 2003, the American destroyer USS Shoup deployed sonar near a pod of
Orca whales in Haro Strait, off Washington State's San Juan Islands. Whale
watchers reported seeing distressed behaviour from the whales. Two dead
porpoises were later found on local beaches, but local scientists said at
the time that many more might have been affected, but escaped detection.

During the 2004 RIMPAC war games off Hawai'i, 200 melon-headed whales
stranded in shallow waters. One of the animals died. U.S. wildlife
officials said sonar was a "plausible, if not likely, contributing
factor."

Tip of the iceberg

Dr. Lindy Weilgart, a leading Canadian whale scientist, says these
strandings may be just the tip of the iceberg.

Weilgart studies whale behaviour and biology at Dalhousie University in
Halifax and spends part of each summer on the open Atlantic observing
whales from the deck of a tiny 40-foot research vessel.

"How many strandings are we missing?" she asks. "Since we don't know where
all military exercises are taking place -- the navy is not always
forthcoming in telling us what they are doing -- many strandings may go
unobserved."

"We do know that since the 1960s, and the introduction of mid-frequency
naval sonar, there has been increased incidence of whale strandings,
particularly among beaked whales."

A RIMPAC riposte

"The Navy's position," according to a Pentagon statement, "is that
continued training with active sonar is absolutely essential in protecting
the lives of our sailors and defending the nation."

The navy insists sonar is key in detecting increasingly quiet
diesel-electric submarines such as those used by Iran, Russia, North Korea
and China. The RIMPAC war games is where the Navy conducts some of its
most important sonar drills.

RIMPAC is in fact the world's largest naval exercise, held every second
year in July and August in Hawai'i under the direction of the U.S. Pacific
Command. Unique to RIMPAC is the inclusion of ships, submarines and
aircraft from across the Pacific Rim.

In 2006, for example, RIMPAC involved 35 ships, six submarines, 160
aircraft and more than 19,000 sailors and aircrew from Canada, Australia,
Chile, Japan, Peru, South Korea, Great Britain and the U.S. Even Ecuador,
India, Malaysia and Singapore sent observers. Canada has been part of
every RIMPAC since it began in 1971.

The U.S. contingent last year was the largest, with two aircraft carrier
strike groups, a dozen submarines, 100 aircraft and 12,000 personnel.
Canada had the second largest fleet with three ships and 1,000 sailors and
aircrew. And for the first time, a Canadian, Commodore Bruce Donaldson,
was deputy RIMPAC commander.

According to the U.S. Pacific Command, the purpose of RIMPAC is to deal
with "threats of terrorism by Muslim groups in Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines, threats by communist China to invade democratic Taiwan in the
event of the island's declaration of independence, and threats by
communist North Korea against the United States, democratic South Korea
and Japan."

Canadian games

Although Canadian policy on China, Taiwan and Korea differs from that of
the U.S., RIMPAC uses Canadian forces to further an American strategy. But
Canada's naval brass see no contradiction between an independent Canadian
policy and RIMPAC.

"Our ability to integrate seamlessly in the overall RIMPAC structure is
critical as we grasp this extraordinary opportunity, and national
responsibility, to provide a Canadian perspective in resolving issues
concerning peace and security in the Pacific region," said Commodore
Donaldson in a statement last year. "This exercise enhances our ability to
work with the forces of other nations and it promotes stability in the
Pacific Rim region to the benefit of all."

But RIMPAC is not without its critics. In 1970s RIMPAC exercises, Canadian
destroyers stirred up controversy when they steamed off Kahoolawe, the
smallest of the eight Hawai'ian islands, and blasted it with thousands of
shells, bombs and torpedoes. Kahoolawe had a target range since the U.S.
Navy seized the island and evicted native Hawai'ian fishers and farmers
after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour.

Hawai'ians, however, wanted their land back. Finally, in the late 1980s,
political and legal pressure forced RIMPAC to find another target. But for
the Hawai'ians it was an empty victory. So many unexploded shells remain
that locals are restricted to a few cleared narrow trails. Kahoolowe may
never recover.

New breed of sonar

Since then, RIMPAC has evolved from simple gunnery shoots to complex
electronic and sonar warfare exercises. Technology is evolving along with
it.

Sonar works by emitting powerful sound signals that bounce back when they
hit a submerged object, thereby locating an underwater submarine. The
lower the frequency, the further the signal travels. All major warships
use sonar.

Canada's patrol frigates and destroyers use medium-frequency
active/passive sonar, built by the Virginia-based company General
Dynamics, one of the world's largest arms producers, with earnings of more
than $21 billion in 2005.

This same company is now working on a more powerful low-frequency active
sonar. So far it has only been installed on one American and one British
ship, but when operational, it will generate one of the loudest undersea
sounds possible for humans to make.

For now, it's the ubiquitous mid-frequency sonar that worries
environmentalists, since low-frequency technology is not yet operational.
It is, however, scheduled to come online in coming years, and some worry
it could be even more harmful to marine life than its predecessor.

In defence of defence

Those same Hawai'ian seas where RIMPAC sonar tests are held are also home
to endangered marine mammals such as humpback whales. Last year the U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recognized the ecological
significance of the region when it designated the area as the Northwestern
Hawai'ian Islands Marine National Monument.

At 210,000 square miles, it is now the largest marine conservation area in
the world, bigger than all U.S. national parks combined. The U.S. Marine
Mammal Protection Act applies in this vast stretch of the tropical North
Pacific, making it illegal to use sonar to disturb whales and dolphins.

Which is why in October 2005, the NRDC was joined by other prominent
organizations in filing suit in the U.S. district court in California
alleging the use of mid-frequency sonar during RIMPAC violates the U.S.
Marine Mammal Protection Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

"Whales and other marine mammals shouldn't have to die for practise. The
navy has more than enough room in the oceans to train effectively without
injuring or killing endangered whales and other marine species," said
senior NRDC lawyer Joel Reynolds in an interview by phone with The Tyee.
"Because the navy trains with this dangerous technology in some of the
richest underwater habitat on earth, it is legally obligated to take
simple, common sense steps to protect marine life."

Apprehensive of a negative legal decision, U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary
Gordon England tried to bypass NRDC's suit. In June 2006, he invoked the
National Defence Authorization Act, which allows him to exempt the navy
and RIMPAC from laws including the Marine Mammal Protection Act for the
duration of RIMPAC's 2006 exercises. The Defence Authorization law is one
of the new security measures introduced by President George Bush after the
9-11 attacks.

U.S. navy's 'end run'

But the exemption backfired.

In July 2006, Los Angeles District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper
challenged the exemption by issuing an order temporarily blocking the use
of mid-frequency sonar during RIMPAC and citing the "considerable
convincing scientific evidence" brought forward by the NRDC.

Cooper also ordered the navy and NRDC to negotiate mitigation such as
adding an extra marine mammal spotter on board ships, reducing sonar power
at night, and avoiding areas near whale breeding and feeding areas, and
migratory routes. The NRDC welcomed Cooper's decision as an important
victory in an ongoing war.

The navy did implement some protective measures during RIMPAC 2006. But
the complex legal case continues, and if successful, threatens to scuttle
the next RIMPAC in 2008. So on Jan. 27, 2007, Secretary England took
pre-emptive action and again exempted the U.S. navy, this time for a full
two years.

"The Navy's position is that continued training with active sonar is
absolutely essential in protecting the lives of our sailors and defending
the nation," explained a Pentagon press release. "Increasingly quiet
diesel-electric submarines continue to proliferate throughout the world."

The NRDC's Reynolds says the latest exemption "constitutes clear admission
by the U.S. navy that its current operations violate the protective
standards for whales, dolphins, and other marine life under the Marine
Mammal Protection Act."

Despite this latest legal setback, Reynolds is determined to pursue court
action. "The navy has more than enough room in the ocean to train
effectively without injuring or killing endangered whales and other marine
species. It's not that the navy can't comply with the law; it's that the
navy chooses not to."

Follow the leader

Canada's admirals are closely following the RIMPAC case. Even though
Canada is not a party in court, the outcome will determine where and how
Canadian warships operate. And unlike the U.S., Canada has no marine
mammal protection law, and so far no independent agency has investigated
the Canadian navy's use of mid-frequency sonar.

"Canadian environmental laws are spineless and weak," said Weilgart, an
expert on the impact of sonar on whales and dolphins. "The process in
Canada is so much less transparent than in the U.S., and there is less
power to hold the Canadian navy's feet to the fire."

According to Weilgart, Canadian warships should not be using sonar in
Hawai'i waters.

"The Hawai'ian islands are not a good place to do these sonar exercises.
As well as humpback whales, they are home to Monk seals and at least three
species of beaked whales. There are other areas where the navy could
operate without endangering cetaceans," she said.

"But there is not a hope in hell that the Canadian navy will stay away
from the next RIMPAC in 2008. They work very closely with the U.S. navy."

In Canada, responsibility for marine mammals is covered by the Marine
Mammal Regulations of the Federal Fisheries Act.

Section 7 of those regulations state: "No person shall disturb a marine
mammal."
---------------------------------------------------------------------

46. Editorial on Chicago's Juvenile Detention Center
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:09:23 -0600
From: David Marques <dmarques@swyc.org>

Everyone should learn from what's going on at Chicago's Juvenile Detention
Center, the country's biggest and worst youth prison. Due to obvious
children's rights violations inside, youth and teachers around the city
have been pressuring them with an accountability campaign. Some info here:
www.swyc.org.

Excellent media produced by currently incarcerated youth can be found at
the Juvy Center School's writing program website:
www.freewritejailarts.org

What fresh eyes can see
December 3, 2007

A career spent fixing troubled juvenile facilities around the country
didn't prepare Earl Dunlap for what he saw when he arrived in Cook County
three months ago. That's when Dunlap, a national expert on juvenile
detention, began cleaning house at the chaotic Cook County Juvenile
Temporary Detention Center on Chicago's Southwest Side.

Dunlap thought the cleaning ordered by a federal judge would be
figurative. No, the place literally needed a wash.

"It was filthy," Dunlap said during a tour of the center Wednesday. It had
a staff of janitors and a private cleaning firm, yet graffiti marred the
walls. Toilets were unscrubbed. Dust bunnies gathered in unmopped
hallways. Toilet paper shrouded light fixtures. When some officials
complained after Dunlap hired a new cleaning firm, he says he shot back:
"Talk to the federal judge; I'm doing it."

Dunlap occasionally drops by the center unannounced in the middle of the
night -- and finds counselors asleep. But try to write those staffers up
for discipline, he said, and the slumberers simply retort, "Prove it."
Security staff who would write up violations sometimes found their cars
vandalized the next day, Dunlap said.

"There's no security technology that monitors staff here," Dunlap said.
"The screens that security guards here watch have little to do with
anything."

Staff members who were notorious for mistreating kids nonetheless had
empty personnel files, Dunlap's staff said. That makes it harder to fire
those who physically or sexually abuse kids. Two weeks ago, three staffers
who had been found by outside agencies, such as the state Department of
Children and Family Services, to have abused kids were allowed back on the
job by a labor arbitrator.

Dunlap found that staffers routinely arrived at work dressed in tattered,
unclean clothes and sweat pants. Others blatantly ignored security rules
banning certain personal items -- such as knives and other weapons,
pirated DVDs and cell phones -- beyond the facility's security
checkpoints.

After wrangling unsuccessfully with Cook County's procurement bureaucracy,
Dunlap dispatched a staffer to Target with a check to buy underwear for
the roughly 400 kids inside the facility.

"This is without a doubt the most dysfunctional detention environment I've
ever been in, and I've been in about 300 of them around the country,"
Dunlap said. "Anybody who thinks it will take less than two years [to fix
it] is whistling up their elbow. You're talking about a facility that's
terribly dysfunctional, unsafe and dangerous for kids."

Dunlap said he has focused first on making managers more accountable,
developing a budget, cleaning the facility and getting rid of the most
abusive staff. Longer-term, he said, the detention center should reduce
its youth population by nearly half.

"Twenty percent of the kids today shouldn't be here," Dunlap said. More
could be kept at home on electronic monitoring devices at a fraction of
the cost. In many cases, they're in the juvenile center because
authorities can't find a parent or guardian.

By state law, control of the detention center shifts from the Cook County
Board to the head of Cook County courts in January. Some court
administrators would like Dunlap to pack his bags on Jan. 1. They want to
run the facility immediately. But the court doesn't yet have the capacity
to run and reform such a troubled institution. Tim Evans, chief judge of
the Circuit Court, should tell his eager beavers to step back.

Evans should be grateful to have an independent expert appointed by the
federal court, someone with no interest in Cook County politics, to do the
dirty work. He, and the federal court, should give Dunlap some time and
space.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

47. check out spin cycle sisters/brothers
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:39:55 +1300
From: karaka <tepaatu@gmail.com>

------ Forwarded Message
http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/12/spin-cycle.html
Spin Cycle

This appeared in the embedded 'jurno' wipe ya Herald Sun, Victorian police
officers in limbo after G20 protests

What complete pig spin, are the press aware that they are the Police
Associations PR? Because their reputation is being trashed at the moment,
rotting from the inside with corruption, racist policing of the African
communities in Flemington, looks like the only positive pr they can get in
this climate is to have another go at us mob and hide the fact that they
brutally bashed people outside the museum.

Tactical and orchestrated on their part for sure. Check this out :

CASE STUDY: Victoria Police at G20

Situation: Victoria Police are involved in crowd control at major events
and protests. The aim of these events is to keep the crowd peaceful and
act quickly if things escalate.

Challenge: During an event, on-site officers move amongst the crowd
reporting activities and crowd behaviour to the Police Operations Centre
(POC) and/or Forward Command. Traditional approaches to crowd management
involve officers patrolling in-the-field and then relaying information via
radio. Incidents can often only be dealt with in a reactive manner once
they are occurring.

The G20 meetings, held all over the world, often result in protests and
demonstrations. In anticipation of Melbourne hosting the G20 Victoria
Police wanted to investigate the how live video streaming could assist
with more accurate information gathering and quicker decision-making.

Solution: Officers moving around in the field used the fully mobile m-View
GoPack, allowing experts at Command and Control to watch the action as it
happened. Police captured and streamed video from the protest live to POC
and Forward Command. Many high-quality snapshots were taken, recording
crowd behavior and evidence.

Police attack G20 protesters at Melbourne Museum

Sunday afternoon a group of 50 demonstrators were beaten and trampled by
police during a peaceful anti-G20 protest inside the foyer of the
Melbourne museum. A woman was severely injured after police used batons
and fists to disperse the small group of singing, dancing demonstrators.
Several hundred police, including two divisions of riot police, were
deployed in the incident.

http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/12/nothing-new-under-this-sun.html
<http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/12/nothing-new-under-this-sun.html>

-- " Revolutionary movement and opposition to state power, in the defence
of truth is at the heart of anti-imperial struggle. Frantz Fanon
wrote,"You do not show proof of your nation from its culture....you
substantiate its existence in the fight which the people wage against the
forces of occupation. No colonial system draws its justification from the
fact that the territories it dominates are culturally non-extant.
"Struggle then is the signal of an oppressed peoples still beating heart
in a colonial situation. Action is the life sign of peoples who existence
is officially denied......we must fight for what is precious to us, or it
will be stolen away and used for someone else's enjoyment, Fight, not
Talk."

http://uriohau.blogspot.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

47. Perchlorate contamination at Mana / perchlorate harm to nursing
infants
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:52:24 -0500 (EST)
From: keboi@aol.com

Two wells at PMRF tested for perchlorate in 2006.

At the "Mana Well" BS335, on sample date 1, perchlorate detected at
0.860ppb, and on sample date 2: <4ppb were detected.

At the County of Kauai water tank BS820, on sample date 1: perchlorate was
detected at 3.5ppb; and on sample date 2: <4ppb was detected.

"Perchlorate concentrations at both sites were less than the initial
screening level of 4.0 parts per billion. Based on guidance PMRF received
from Navy Region Hawaii, since the two consecutive samples were less than
4 parts per billion, no further analysis was required." [Hawaii Range
Complex Draft EIS/OEIS, July 2007, 3-151]

The Navy uses 24 parts per billion as the level of concern for
perchlorate. But the Cal EPA has established a level of 4 ppb. The
military has fought the US EPA attempt to impose stricter standards for
perchlorate. The danger with perchlorate is that it can travel through
water into plants, milk, into people, and even transmitted to nursing
babies.

Contact: Karen Gardner
kgardner@aecom.yu.edu
718-430-3101
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Einstein researchers find that a commonly found contaminant may harm
nursing infants

(BRONX, NY) -- Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of
Yeshiva University have shown that perchlorateâ^À^Ôan industrial pollutant
linked to thyroid ailmentsâ^À^Ôis actively concentrated in breast milk.
Their findings suggest that perchlorate contamination of drinking water
may pose a greater health risk than previously realized. The study appears
in the December 3-7 advance online issue of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.

For decades, millions of Americans have been exposed to perchlorate
through contamination of their local water supplies. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has so far identified 75 perchlorate
releases in 22 states, primarily California and states in the Southwest.
Perchlorate is known to interfere with the ability of the thyroid, mammary
glands and certain other tissues to absorb iodide from the bloodstream.

â^À^ÜOur study suggests that high levels of perchlorate may pose a
particular risk to infants,â^À^Ý says Dr. Nancy Carrasco, senior author of
the study and professor of molecular pharmacology at Einstein.
â^À^ÜNursing mothers exposed to high levels of perchlorate in drinking
water may not only provide less iodide to their babies, but their milk may
actually pass on perchlorate, which could further deprive the infantsâ^À^Ù
thyroid glands of iodide. The thyroid requires iodide to synthesize the
hormones T3 and T4 that are essential for normal development of the
central nervous system. Babies who donâ^À^Ùt make enough of these thyroid
hormones may become mentally impaired.â^À^Ý

Iodide is relatively scarce in the diet, and tissues that need to
accumulate itâ^À^Ôthe breast and thyroid in particularâ^À^Ôare equipped
with a cell-surface protein called NIS (sodium/iodide symporter) that
actively pulls iodide from the bloodstream and into the cells. NIS was
first identified and cloned by Dr. Carrascoâ^À^Ùs team in 1996. In the
current study, Dr. Carrasco and her colleagues injected female rats with
perchlorate and then extracted the animalsâ^À^Ù breast milk and tested it
on cells that express NIS. The milk inhibited iodide transport in
NIS-expressing cells, indicating that perchlorate had become concentrated
in the milk.

â^À^ÜWe found that the same proteinâ^À^ÔNISâ^À^Ôthat actively recruits
iodide into cells does the same thing for perchlorate,â^À^Ý says Dr.
Carrasco. â^À^ÜIn fact, NIS has a higher affinity for perchlorate than it
does for iodide, which certainly heightens the risk posed by this
contaminant.â^À^Ý
###

Other Einstein scientists involved in the research were Orsolya Dohán,
Carla Portulano, Cécile Basquin and Andrea Reyna-Neyra. L. Mario Amzel of
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine also collaborated on the
study.
**************************************-------------------------------------

49. Third world warriors fight U.S. wars - for dollars a day
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:19:42 -1000
From: viviane lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>

http://origin.sltrib.com/news/ci_7614726
Third world warriors fight U.S. wars - for dollars a day
Honduran soldier was among thousands who stood guard over Baghdad
embassy, but couldn't legally enter United States.
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 12/02/2007 04:34:54 PM MST

With U.S. forces stretched thin in Iraq, private security companies have
swept in to fill the void. But abuses of third-world security workers
abound. And in many cases, those helping to fight our wars can't even
cross our borders.

For one year, Mario Urquia guarded the U.S. embassy in Baghdad,
protecting American service members and diplomats in one of the most
dangerous places in the world.

Now Urquia is living on the edge of homelessness in Ogden - illegal
in the nation he once stood to protect.

While the circumstances that led to Urquia's illegal entry into the
United States are unusual, the factors that resulted in his deployment to
Iraq are not. He is just one of thousands of individuals from impoverished
nations recruited to help fight a war for the richest country in the
world.

Human rights advocates say it's exploitation. United Nations
officials say it's a violation of international law.

But the U.S. government says that, at a time when its military is
stretched so thin, third-world security contractors will be standing guard
over U.S. facilities for a long time to come.

A special forces soldier in the Honduran Army with nearly 30 years
experience, Urquia said he was contacted in the summer of 2005 by a senior
officer, who asked him if he would go to Iraq on behalf of the U.S. State
Department. Honduras had stopped sending soldiers to Iraq two years
earlier, but records show that Urquia's mission for a private security
company was blessed by several of his commanders. He and others have
claimed that Honduran and Chilean recruits were trained by men who
identified themselves as U.S. Army Green Berets at two Honduran military
bases, in violation of that nation's laws.

A U.S. Defense Department spokesman said all training conducted by U.S.
military personnel in Honduras has been "carried out with military
counterparts. . . with close coordination and the approval of Honduran
authorities."

Against salaries of $150,000 a year and more being paid to American
contractors, the $15,600 annual salary promised to Urquia in his contract
might seem strikingly inequitable. But in the second poorest nation in the
Western Hemisphere the wage seemed a king's ransom. "In Honduras, when you
have an opportunity like that, it is not something you refuse," Urquia
said.

But for the lanky, stone-faced mechanic, army reservist and father of
five children, there was something even more alluring than money. Urquia
claims that officials from the company that hired him promised citizenship
in the United States after finishing of his tour of duty in Iraq. It was
one of many promises that would go unfulfilled.

Fighting our war

The Congressional Research Service has estimated there are 182,000
individuals working under U.S. contracts and subcontracts in Iraq. And a
federal Government Accountability Office report last year estimated that
more than 48,000 of those individuals are armed. That makes America's
private-for-profit security force - U.S. leaders resist the term
"mercenary" - the second largest armed group in the dwindling coalition
that currently occupies Iraq, well ahead of U.S. ally Great Britain.

It's unclear how many armed contractors come from third-world
countries, but federal reports indicate less than a fifth are Americans.

The rest are recruited from dozens of other nations, including many
places like Honduras, that are not a part of the Bush Administration's
so-called "coalition of the willing." And like Honduras, many of the
nations from which private security contractors are drawn are steeped in
abject poverty. In these places, critics say, billion-dollar American
companies can find plenty of people willing to risk their lives for wages
as low as $31 a day - and who don't have a voice when things go wrong.

No compensation

After arriving in Iraq - via Baghdad International Airport, according
to a stamp in his passport - Urquia said he was vetted by U.S. military
doctors and issued an identification badge at the U.S. embassy, where he
was given a uniform with a Honduran flag on the sleeve.

Between August 2005 and August 2006, Urquia led a dozen other
soldiers from Honduras' 2nd Aerotransport Infantry Battalion as they stood
guard on one side of the U.S. embassy compound.

"We worked from 6 in the evening to 6 in the morning," he said.
"Then we would go to breakfast and afterwards, we would be picked up for
training. We trained all day and slept for two or three hours before we
went back to work. That was how it was."

Urquia said he was given a debit card to access an account where his
pay would be deposited. But when he tried to use it to buy food and
supplies in Baghdad's Green Zone, it didn't work. "We all complained, but
they said: 'Don't worry, your money will be waiting for you when you
return home,' " Urquia said. U.S. soldiers who knew of Urquia's situation
would sometimes slip him some cash. Urquia said that money was all he and
his soldiers had to spend while in Iraq.

About six months into the tour, one of Urquia's soldiers was wounded
in a rocket propelled grenade attack. Urquia said initial care by U.S.
military doctors was sufficient to save the soldier's life. But after the
wounded soldier was evacuated back to Honduras, Urquia said, "he never got
the help he needed. His brain was damaged but there was no compensation."

Urquia said it was obvious, at that point, that he and his men were
being exploited. But still expecting that a large savings account was
waiting for him on the other side of the deployment, he stuck to it. "What
else could I do?" he asked.

More than a year after he returned, Urquia claims he still hasn't
been paid. "Not a single penny," he said.

The privatization of Iraq

The world of warfare began to change in the summer of 2003. Saddam
Hussein's regime quickly had fallen to the superior military strength of
the United States. But an upsurge in insurgent activity meant U.S. forces
wouldn't be returning home as quickly as some Bush administration
officials had predicted.

Preparing for the long haul, the military began building up large
forward operating bases, where many jobs once dedicated to U.S. service
members were being privatized as the armed forces worked to free up
soldiers to fight. The extent of the privatization is clear to anyone who
has visited U.S. military bases in Iraq, where mess halls in Mosul are
staffed by Pakistani cooks, laundry services in Najaf are run by Filipino
cleaners and a barber shop in Fallujah is manned by Turkish haircutters.

The contracts didn't stop at service jobs. By early 2004, the
ubiquitous white sports utility vehicles used by security contractors like
Blackwater, DynCorp and Aegis were a common sight on the streets of
Baghdad, and private guards were taking posts outside buildings throughout
the Green Zone.

Perhaps most telling, Coalition Provisional Authority director Paul
Bremer's own security detail was made up not of U.S. troops but beefy,
sunglass-wearing private guards. Bremer later signed an order giving such
individuals - and the companies for which they work - immunity from
prosecution in Iraq, a rule which was later incorporated into Iraqi law
and which critics say has led to egregious injustices and human rights
abuses.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The New York Post
editorial board in October that she believes private security contractors
are vital to the nation's war in Iraq, where U.S. troops are stretched
thin.

"There are a lot of contract security in Iraq," she said, "because
these are missions that can be done by contract security, that you don't
essentially want to tie down American military forces doing all this."

"If it's well-managed and the authorities are right - and we look at
it very, very closely - then I'm quite sure we're going to continue to
make use of contract security," she said.

Recruiting the poor

Among the late entries into the security game was Triple Canopy,
founded by several former U.S. Special Forces members six months after the
Iraq invasion. Despite limited experience in the private security arena
the company claims to have secured more than $100 million in revenue in
its first year of operation.

By 2005, Triple Canopy had won a contract worth tens of millions of
dollars to provide security services at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. And
within months of that award, a tall, middle-aged American business man
named Luis Angel Mendez was operating in Latin America, where he had
enlisted several high-ranking military officers to help fill hundreds of
security positions created under Triple Canopy's contracts.

Mendez doesn't appear to have worked directly for Triple Canopy,
which at the time was headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire,
Ill. Rather, he's listed on Illinois state business records as the
director of an innocuously-named startup based out of a small room in a
drab apartment complex in the adjoining suburb of Prospect Heights.

That company, Your Solutions, Inc., was fined and later expelled from
Honduras after it was learned that scores of foreign fighters were being
trained on Honduran soil. But Mendez's Latin American operation lasted
long enough to sign more than 200 Hondurans and at least 100 Chileans to
contracts to provide security services in Iraq - for wages starting at
$900 a month. By the time Your Solutions had been kicked out of Honduras,
Urquia and his squad were en route to Iraq.

Your Solutions was dissolved in 2006 for failing to register with the
state of Illinois. The Salt Lake Tribune has been unable to locate Mendez.

Triple Canopy, which still provides embassy security in Baghdad, said
in a statement that it severed its relationship with Your Solutions in
early 2006 and that it no longer recruits in Honduras or Chile, but
"continues to hire security personnel from Latin America to work in Iraq
because they are diligent workers, reliable, professional and in some
instances specifically requested by our U.S. government customers," the
statement said.

The company did not respond to specific inquiries about contractors
who allege to have been lied to, mistreated and stolen from while working
under Triple Canopy subcontracts. It also declined to identify the
government agencies it claimed had requested the Latin American security
workers.

Plea for help

Urquia returned from Iraq to a media and political firestorm.
Government investigators were looking into the business dealings of Your
Solutions, focusing on how the company had been able to secure training
space on Honduran army bases. The United Nations had initiated an inquiry
into the human rights implications of the case. Several military officers
were implicated, but denied they had anything to do with the scandal.

Urquia felt he knew better. Angry at the officers for disavowing the
mission and bitter with Your Solutions for allegedly swindling him and his
soldiers, Urquia shared his contract, military orders and photos of him
and his fellow soldiers in Iraq with the Honduran news media.

In a country largely opposed to the U.S.-led occupation, some called
him a champion for justice - "El Héroe de Hoy" read the caption over
Urquia's photograph in the Honduran newspaper El Heraldo. But the officers
he exposed apparently felt differently. Soon, Urquia said, he was
receiving death threats.

"They would call me and say, 'Get ready to die,'" Urquia said. "I
know they were serious."

Fearing for the safety of himself and his family, Urquia went to
Honduras' National Commission for Human Rights. An officer for the
commission confirmed that Urquia had opened a case at her office, which
had initiated an investigation. But before the case could be completed,
the official said, Urquia disappeared.

Urquia said he was coming out of the Human Rights office when several
rifle-carrying men emerged from a white vehicle with tinted windows.

"I ran back into the building," he said. "A man gave me a ride in a
car out the back. That's when I knew I had to leave Honduras."

At least 16 others have filed complaints against Your Solutions with
Honduran authorities. Urquia's case is one of two that Honduran human
rights officials have had to table for lack of a present complainant.
Former soldier Daniel Alvarado, who served with Urquia in Iraq, also fled
the country after reporting threats to his life. Alvarado is thought to
be hiding out in Costa Rica, but a relative contacted by The Tribune said
no one has heard from him in more than two months.

Although he felt betrayed by Your Solutions, Urquia hoped the U.S.
government still would honor the promise of citizenship - or at least
offer him and his family political asylum.

"I'd been working for the United States," he reasoned. "This was
their war and we were the men they used."

A global system of exploitation

Vicki Gass spent two years in Iraq working to educate women on
matters of constitutional rights and advocacy. But the education she
received included a firsthand look at how some U.S. contractors exploit
third-world workers.

Now a senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America,
Urquia's story was familiar to Gass on several levels.

"There were a whole lot of issues, a whole lot of exploitation going
on," Gass said. "It was pretty outrageous. I met some people from Romania,
who felt they had been lied to. They got to Baghdad and they couldn't get
out. They were making $800 a month."

Gass said the lure of mercenary work for men like Urquia is really
only a small step from what many individuals from that part of the world
already do to support their families. "People are forced to go abroad -
whether it is traveling over treacherous terrain to get to the United
States or going to Baghdad, they're leaving their countries because they
don't have jobs."

And for soldiers especially, Gass said, any offer of employment can
be difficult to turn down. When the civil wars that marked much of the
past 30 years in Latin America subsided, she said, "many army officers and
soldiers who were disbanded didn't have any other opportunities."

Pratap Chatterjee sees similar themes in Urquia's tale.

"What we're seeing here is the exploitation of poor labor," said
Chatterjee, the author of Iraq, Inc.: A Profitable Occupation. "These
companies are simply taking advantage of the market we all live in. This
is the way globalization works. You tap into the global poor. The rule is
that the lowest wage rules."

Growing desperate

The ragged manila folder Urquia keeps to document his struggle
includes a transient worker's visa he obtained to work in the United
States in the late 1990s. Arriving at the U.S.-Mexican border last spring,
Urquia presented the visa, which was valid through September, expecting to
be granted quick passage into Texas.

But the world had changed since Urquia last visited the United
States. Perhaps wary of the Middle Eastern stamps in Urquia's passport,
the immigration officer took out a permanent black marker and voided the
visa. Urquia said the officer gave no explanation.

"I said, 'How can you do this? Let me tell you, I went to Iraq for
your country,' " Urquia recalled. "And he told me to shut up.'"

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials have not responded to
requests to identify what the markings on Urquia's visa mean.
Undeterred, Urquia paid a man to help him cross the Rio Grande near the
Mexican border town of Reynosa. He moved from there to Houston, then to
Colorado Springs and finally to Utah, where he found work at a salvage
yard in Lehi. His hopes to raise enough money to bring his family north
and hire an attorney to handle his claim for political asylum were dashed,
however, when he broke his elbow while pulling an engine from a car.
"Since I couldn't fix cars anymore, they fired me," Urquia said.

Urquia now is living in a run-down home which is being renovated by a
friend near downtown Ogden. Once the home is completed and rented out -
sometime next month, he figures - Urquia fears he'll be on the streets.
Without any source of income, he said, he is growing desperate. He fears
for the safety of his wife and children in Honduras. His wife and youngest
daughter are both sick.
"But if I return," he said, "they will kill me."

A political refugee

Unable to return home for fear of his life, Urquia has found himself
in the unlikely company of thousands of Iraqi refugees who, having aided
U.S. efforts in Iraq, now find their lives at risk in their homeland. Two
million Iraqis have fled the country - including thousands who acted as
interpreters, informants contractors or security workers for U.S. troops.
So far fewer than 3,000 have been admitted into the United States.

"Those who have risked their lives to help out the Americans
desperately need a safe haven," said Jen Daskal, an attorney at the
nonprofit Human Rights Watch. "Those individuals should be first in line."

Urquia currently is mulling a move to Seattle, where he has a cousin
who may be able to help him find work - or to face the risks of returning
to Honduras, where his family remains. He dreams of a day when he can
bring his family to be with him in the country for which he once went to
war. But in the current climate of such hostility to illegal immigrants,
he said, he's not confident that day will ever come.

"I thought, because I fought for this country, that there would
be a place for me here," he said. "I still hope there is, but I don't
know."
---
mlaplante@sltrib.com
=====-----------------------------------------------------------------

50. Harbor swells snap Superferry, cruise ship barge lines
From: Brad Parsons [mailto:mauibrad@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 5:23 PM

I got pictures of this today. I'll post them on flickr later tonight.
Today, the Hawaiian Gods entered the debate. Aloha, Brad

Updated at 3:07 p.m., Monday, December 3, 2007
Harbor swells snap Superferry, cruise ship barge lines
Advertiser Staff

KAHULUI, Maui - An NCL cruise ship and the Hawaii Superferry barge broke
several lines today as large swells rolled across Kahului Harbor. Two
lines connecting the barge to a pier snapped, according to Michael Formby,
head of the state Department of Transportation's Harbors Division.

The stern line has been replaced and other lines connecting the barge to
the pier are being tightened, he said.

A tug boat is assisting the DOT with the state-owned ferry barge, which
has broken its lines on two prior occasions. The barge is used to load
and unload vehicles from the Hawaii Superferry's 350-foot high-speed
catamaran.

The NCL's Pride of America broke one of its forward lines and used its
bow thruster to maintain its position alongside the pier, Formby said.
He said "conditions are a challenge right now and we will report more
later."

The ferry is due to return to Maui tomorrow to help with realignment of
the barge, which has been tied up alongside Pier 2 since it broke several
lines Nov. 14 while it was berthed at the end of the pier.
Hawaii Superferry is scheduled to restart its Honolulu-to-Maui service on
Thursday.
________________________________________________________________________________

Gabrielle Welford, Ph.D.
freelance writer, editor, teacher
welford@hawaii.edu

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