and much more of course... g]
1. Does it make sense to pay farmers to not grow food when the world is on
the brink of starvation? - comment
2. (PNN) got windmills?... the daily tilt.
3. Was Saddam's Iraq better than that of today's u.s. occupation?
4. Filipinos still being sent to Iraq despite official ban
5. Disappeared News - 3 new articles
6. OHA update Apr 9, 2008 and comment
7. Voices Health/Environment News
8. Harmonizing with the Universe
9. Germs in Soil Find Antibiotics Tasty
10. Ethanol for fuel....not so fast....corn prices skyrocket
11. Study confirms beneficiaries treated like 'second-class' citizens
12. Rain Birds Wild! Launch Party!
13. Where ^Ö and What ^Ö in the World Is Diego Garcia?
14. Network Announcement--Online Discusison about Freedom Schools
15. Fishery council target of probe and comment
16. Google Alert - occupation, hawaii - of sugarcane and queens and
comments
17. Perspective Taking: Friend or Foe
18. State Government Wisdumb
19. $21M to aid Marines growth
20. Raindrop Class
21. Tourism officials mobilize to create strong demand for travel to
Hawaii
22. Voices Health/Environment News
23. Google Alert - occupation, hawaii - hawaii and iraq
24. Austronesia Youtube
25. pls help us spread the word, mahalo! - hiring
26. New Molokai Video - Please Watch
27. Celebrating Paul Robeson
28. The Nation: Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance Then--and Now
29. Isle jobs flying away
30. Disappeared News - 3 more new articles
31. Korean Bases of Concern
32. Ceded Land Settlement
33. alert: DU
34. Save the Dates for Ngugi Wa Thiong'o: Keynote Address 4/28, Reading
with Albert Wendt 4/30
35. WESPAC Coming Under Scrutiny!
36. East Maui Water Commission Meeting
37. Isles 2nd in earmark funds
38. Emergency test on Tuesday, April 15
39. REMARKABLE INTERVIEW DESCRIBED - Austal workers describe work on
ferry
40. DLNR Chair Announces New State Historic Preservation Leadership
Team
41. CULTURE, MODESTY CLASH AT PAGO PAGO ARTS FESTIVAL
42. Voices Health/Environment News
1. Does it make sense to pay farmers to not grow food when the world is on
the brink of starvation? - comment
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:10:43 -1000
From: pennysfh@hawaii.rr.com
hogwash! we don't need more food. the US throws away more food every day
than most nations eat in the same timeframe. what isn't being asked is
how much is stockpiled and not released, why we aren't allowing wheat and
other crops into the country to fill the gap, or who is really behind the
spin on the ethanol program.
----- Original Message -----
From: <KahiwaL@cs.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 2:12 PM
>
>> Published on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 by The New York
>>Times<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/business/09conserve.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all>
>>As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation
> by David Streitfeld
>>
>>Out on the farm, the ducks and pheasants are losing ground. <snip>
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~------------------------
2. (PNN) got windmills?... the daily tilt.
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:15:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: Andy Parx <andyparx@yahoo.com>
Dear PNN Readers,
Many of you email recipients of Parx News Net are relieved lately at the
lack of the tedious reporting we purvey into your in-box, but few of you
have been asking ^Ówhat^Òs that guy wrtin^Ò these days- where^Òs my
Parxnews?^Ô
Well, our news and op-ed, on-line daily tilts at ^Ógot windmills?^Ô
http://parxnewsdaily.blogspot.com/ contains the Kaua`i news analysis,
opinion and more by Editor and Publisher Andy Parx... oh, that^Òs me.
We^Òve attached the texts of this months articles below and will continue
to send some compilations and digests now and again. But you can give it a
click once a day too.
Fifty-eight days straight of Kauai politics, government, media, business,
and basket-weaving- and not a straight story yet- providing daily original
reporting and making sure you know what we think about the news too.
It^Òs a new communications world and with all the local and State news and
political blogs reporting news the corporate press won^Òt print, as a
journalist it^Òs a great opportunity to sort out the bull and either
verify the facts or throw out those reports. And it^Òs a plus that, as
part of the ^Ónew journalism^Ô trends in 2008 it^Òs not only allowable but
essential reporters tell people what they think about the subjects that
they^Òre reporting on.
We^Òre in the process of setting up daily emails for those who would
rather not click us on-line every day. If you would like to get Parx News
Daily^Òs ^Ógot windmills?^Ô via email every day simply reply to this email
with the words ^ÓSend Daily^Ô in the subject line or at the top of the
body and we^Òll do our best to get you the latest reporting and rants from
the Rabid Reporter as they are posted.
Thanks to all for all your continued support.
Andy Parx
Parx News Net- Publisher, Editor, Senior Correspondent
got. windmills? the daily tilt- Rabid Reporter, Blogger, Wise-guy.
--------
got windmills?
the Daily Op-Ed Tilt from Rabid Reporter Andy Parx
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
MEMO FROM PEABODY TO SHERMAN:
MEMO FROM PEABODY TO SHERMAN: There¡¯s a ¡°Coalition for Responsible
Government¡± that is meeting tonight to discuss their proposal to put
a(nother) Charter amendment on the ballot this November to ¡°move the
responsibility for tourist accommodation building permits from an
appointed Planning Commission to the elected County Council where it
belongs¡±.
But we just plain don¡¯t get the proposal or for that matter the
proposers.
The Council already does ¡°approve¡± all projects when a zoning ordinance
is passed. A zoning permit reflects those ordinances. The Council can put
on all the requirements and give backs they want in the zoning ordinance
in as much detail as is their pleasure.
Right now there¡¯s a bill in the Council¡¯s Planning Committee to finally
put a limit on how long a zoning ordinance and even permit is good for.
Five years is the proposal although many developers¡¯ lawyers are
clamoring for a little longer and community people want it shorter.
The problem has been that a lot of zoning ordinances were passed with no
time limits for ¡°substantial construction¡± and many are still valid
after 30 years. Neither the Planning Commission nor the Council can really
change those (without an application by the developer for changes, as
happened for example with Running Waters and Kukui`ula) because they were
entitlements granted already and to take them away would almost certainly
be a ¡°taking¡± even without stretching the law or credulity.
The Planning Commission just approves zoning permits- not zoning
ordinances- and does so based on the entitlement granted by the Council.
They can add restrictions, give backs and infrastrutural improvements and
the like to those in the ordinance but they must include whatever is in
the ordinance that was already passed by the Council.
They work under the rubric of the Planning Department which goes to all
the other departments and passes the permit application around for
comments regarding things like infrastrutural necessities and other
factors that need to be addressed in the permit.
Are we going to have all those presentations and plans and planners¡¯
reports with minutia of what type of plant goes where go back before the
Council now? The Council doesn¡¯t have the staff to do all that
administrative preparatory work- that¡¯s why there are all those
administrative departments with hundreds of employees that must sign off
on a project as well as planners who track those check-off and make
recommendations for ¡°conditions¡± contained in the permit.
As the Charter stands now, the Council can¡¯t even compel administrative
personnel to appear before them but must request their testimony. The
Mayor can¡¯t tell the council what laws to pass and the Council can¡¯t
tell the Mayor¡¯s people how to enforce the laws they pass- as long as
they enforce them. It¡¯s called separation of powers and most agree this
is a good thing conceptually
For the uniformed, governments generally work by having the legislative
branch legislate and the administrative branch administrate. That¡¯s why
they call them that.
The Council already has the ability to put any conditions they want on any
project. And with the ¡°five year use or lose it¡± provisions the Council
can add conditions as times change and the question of those changes being
a ¡°taking¡± disappears.
Nothing in any Charter amendment would change those old entitlements that
exist without time limits. The third branch- the judiciary- ensures that.
As long as they comply with the original zoning ordinance even the Council
can¡¯t change it.
And even if this were something that is needed, desirable or possible,
where is the ¡°tourist accommodation¡± line drawn? What does that mean? Is
a true for-sale condo a tourist accommodation? What about a plain old
house in an official Visitor Destination Area where it can be converted to
a vacation renal (VR) any time through a permitting application and
process that was unveiled today which is based on the recently passed
ordinance on VR¡¯s... an, ahem, administrative permit as defined by
ordinance.
Even if you could define it well enough to be a bright line in concept, in
practice there would almost certainly be more of these kinds of
discoverable loopholes and all of a sudden you wind up with situations as
happened with the vacation rental and ag condos laws and the like- and,
then you¡¯ll have the provisions that aren¡¯t working- or even made things
worse- enshrined in the Charter where change is very slow and cumbersome.
The Council has the power to do everything the proposed Charter amendment
would do- even with the no-time-limit ordinances if the developer has an
entitlement and wants to change it they have to go before the Council.
And all tourist accommodation projects that have received zoning
ordinances passed in the last decade- of which there have been very few -
have ¡°use it or lose it¡± provisions and that time-limit will presumably
soon be law- law decided by the Council. And all zoning permits in recent
times have them too. The law will simply standardize the times limits and
make them law rather than current Planning Department policy.
Joan Conrow says of the proposal today, ¡°It¡¯s an interesting concept,
and just might have some merit ¡ª if you have a Council that is responsive
to the public and doesn¡¯t put development before infrastructure. However,
we¡¯re still waiting for such a panel to be elected¡±
But even if we had these mythical-ethicals, to be frank it appears the
proposers of this Charter amendment don¡¯t know a zoning ordinance from a
zoning permit. It begs the question of those who propose these things as
to whether they even attempted to buy a clue as to the actual laws they
are seeking to change before going off half-cocked with cockamamie ideas
that have no basis in Charter, ordinance and/or permitting.
Not only is it a waste of their time and energy but everyone else¡¯s when
we have to sit them down like children and inform them of the realities
that they could have found out if they¡¯d spent a tenth of the time they
put into planning public meetings on their ¡°great ideas¡± to actually
bone up on how to accomplish their goals.
Instead of turning governance on it¡¯s head by putting previously
legislatively-decided administrative matters back on the legislative
agenda for minutia-checking all because the legislators are elected and
the Planning Commissioners are appointed, how about a Charter amendment to
elect the Planning Commissioners. But that- which we¡¯ve suggested every
time this and other groups propose unresearched half-baked planning ideas
in the form of Charter amendments- would be too straightforward a
no-brainer in terms of drafting and implementation.
It¡¯s nice to see activist get involved in their local government but it
takes a little homework to make sure your activism isn¡¯t just spittin¡¯
into the wind.
--------
Class dismissed.
Posted by Andy Parx at 3:08 PM 0 comments Links to this post
TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2008
LAPPING IT UP:
LAPPING IT UP: As we covered the run-up to the return of the Hawai`i
Superferry (HSf) even we couldn¡¯t predict the abject hilarity if not
depravity of the Honolulu print press in their attempt to rake in
advertising dollars by lying about the news.
While the Maui News headlined ¡°Ride ¡®really, really rough¡¯; Superferry
sails, but voyage not smooth; many suffer sickness¡± with a secondary lede
of ¡°¡¯It was one of the most miserable rides I¡¯ve ever had,¡¯ said Kim
Lane of Seattle.¡±, the Honolulu Advertiser¡¯s article today not only
didn¡¯t mention that 1/3 of the passengers were vomiting due to
seasickness but shilled the Superferry with animated ads for IT,
side-by-side with the article on-line.
The Star Bulletin, similarly ad bedecked, did mention in passing some
seasickness buried deep inside a paragraph in the middle of the article.
And it should be noted that Channel 9 has also covered the retching story,
even interviewing Kahului Harbor¡¯s Coalition spokesperson Karen Chun the
night before the re-launch.
Both Honolulu papers report without verification the inflated numbers of
passengers even at the absurdly low levels the HSf officials are claiming
as compared to previously reliable eyewitness Bard Parsons¡¯ who reports
Monday¡¯s at even lower levels of people and cars traveling.
As we enter Day 6 of the Mystery of the Missing MSM reporting on the race
discrimination suit at Superferry builder Asutal, Larry Geller at
Disappeared News has looked at a similarly ignored story by the big boys
at the NY Times and their excuse for not even covering the recent Winter
Soldier Hearings that exposed the U.S¡¯ Iraq War Crimes and drew
tremendous audiences in the alternative press such as Pacifica Radio¡¯s
Democracy Now which broadcast the hearings and covered them daily.... out
of New York
Their excuse? According to their Public Editor- the Times¡¯ version of an
ombudsman- their news people claim that- and I am not making this up- they
didn¡¯t know about the hearings.
Larry documents the voluminous press releases sent to the Times before the
event but even if they hadn¡¯t read them, what kind of reporters and
editors does the Times hire these days that miss an event that millions
are listening to and talking and reading about.
It raises an interesting philosophical question? If a tree falls in the NY
Times¡¯ newsroom and the reporters and editors ignore it, does it make a
sound in the mainstream media?
The HSf Vomit-Comet is apparently a floating biohazard. No hospital,
medical, police, fire or ambulance employees are allowed by law these days
to treat body fluids as anything but a biohazard. Yet these poor
Superferry employees- not to mention passengers, are required to slurp it
up like Carol Burnett¡¯s mop-lady, cheerfully exposing themselves to OSHA
violations if not conditions that would require the DOH to shut them down.
You would think by now someone is the MSM would have gotten through to the
DOH to ask about at least employee protections and the use of hazmat suits
for the crew if not the passengers who might be wearing someone else¡¯s
disease-filled lunch on their exposed skin.
¡°Hello? City desk? Have you heard about the story that all the reporters
have beans in their ears?¡± ¡°Sorry sir- I can¡¯t hear you... I have beans
in my ears¡±.
Posted by Andy Parx at 5:09 PM 4 comments Links to this post
-------------
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008
CAN¡¯T YOU KEEP THAT MUTT FROM BARKING?:
CAN¡¯T YOU KEEP THAT MUTT FROM BARKING?: Well the ¡°new look¡± Honolulu
Advertiser¡¯s web site has been around long enough for a verdict of ¡°out
of the frying pan, into the fire¡± or, in the vernacular, it sucks.
The site was never convenient to use or clear to read and, as management
acknowledged, was and still seems to be the slowest news site in the west-
or east..
The new look is apparently for all HA-owner and media giant Gannett¡¯s
newspapers- a cookie-cutter from cost-cutting company that is roundly
despised by its staff, especially lately.
Most of the complaints about the site have been centered around the fact
that you have to act like Stanley searching for Dr. Livingston to find the
actual news articles, which are buried at the bottom of each page,
preceded by columns of superfluous promos for ¡°reader submitted news¡±...
which amount to verbatim press releases so the news desk doesn¡¯t have
hire people to re-write them and avoid classical plagiarism charges.
But the one feature that made the old site tolerable is gone-. the
anonymous free-for-all following most articles- the ¡°comment¡± section.
That¡¯s where critique, criticism and curmudgeon-ism regarding the paper,
the articles, the reporters, the editor and the issues raised by the news
were a predominant theme.
The old anonymous ¡°fill-in-any-old-name-and-click¡± comment has now been
replaced by an email-verified account and a required log in, serving to
say ¡°watch what you say- we know who you are¡±.
When you register they say it¡¯s so your ¡°friends¡± can ¡°find you.¡± ...
what is this Facebook?
And worse, now there¡¯s a strict limit to a teensy 1000-character tome...
around 200 words... less for the polysyllabic.
Now some might say that the atmosphere created in a sometimes anonymous
verbal platform was sometimes hostile and attracted internet ¡°trolls¡±.
But these days most people know not to feed the trolls by reading their
messages, or worse responding to them.... that¡¯s why they put scroll
wheels on your mouse.
But truly anonymous comments sections are a source of real news many times
and give readers a treasure trove of the breadth and range of readers¡¯
thoughts and attitudes toward the news. It animates the reporting process
by forcing the news from a passive to active process.
There are few if any reporters around these days whose ideas about their
profession and actual work itself has not been influenced by the ability
to have instant feedback on their work and the news itself..
Rather than writing in a vacuum, the reporter who has the benefit of this
kind of treatment- whether they be rough or mild, complimentary or
viciously aggressive- now has the ability to do what has always been the
technologically unachievable ideal- to be able write in order to actually
communicate with readers, talking with them about the news rather than at
them.
Though it is hard to use these types of forums as a polling device they
certainly raise points that, if not accurate, indicate how and what people
think about the information they¡¯re receiving- and in fact if they are
receiving it- by showing how readers perceive the report.
After glancing at the number of posts before and after the change it¡¯s
indisputable that the number of people commenting has dropped dramatically
because most people don¡¯t like registering to make their comments and
won¡¯t do it. And many of the most thoughtful and even researched
responses are now doomed to the trash-bin because it is nearly impossible
to say anything consequential in 200 words.
But the Honolulu Star-Bulletin recently added it¡¯s own comments section,
not just on select but on all of them and they still allow for instant
anonymous postings. We will certainly be getting more of a pulse of the
community there than the Advertisers¡¯ new management-controlled
reader-submitted articles blogs and comments sections.
It¡¯s amazing that this new tool- which revives the very essence of
free-speech of the ¡°pamphleteer¡± type- is apparently too much first
amendment for an institution that bases it¡¯s business on the same article
of constitutional protection.
But no one ever said editor Mark Platte was anything but Gannett¡¯s
corporate shill and henchman, not only standing the heat but fanning the
flames of corporatization in the HA¡¯s ¡°modern newsroom¡±.
We¡¯ll miss the Advertiser¡¯s short-lived experiment with speech for the
unidentified but can still browse through the Star-Bulletin¡¯s comments
for a pulse of the community¡¯s mana`o where. Their news is still
restricted to what old Bilgewater thinks it is, but maybe the comments on
it can make up for his well known slash and burn editing.
For some reason it all brings to mind an apropos line from Tom Lehrer¡¯s
ode to ¡°Poor Hubert¡± Humphrey concerning his move from the U.S. Senate
to the vice presidency:
Once a fiery liberal spirit But now when he speaks he must clear it.
Ahem, indeed.
Posted by Andy Parx at 6:43 PM 1 comments Links to this post
-------
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2008
OVER THE BOUNDING MANGE
OVER THE BOUNDING MANGE: Well the Hawai`i Superferry (HSf) continues to
dominate this ¡°you can¡¯t make this stuff up¡± week of bizarre claims,
anonymous press releases and of course silly claims by the HSf people
themselves as well as attempts to tie Aloha Air¡¯s demise into wishful and
somewhat magical thinking that it will revive the
dead-but-doesn¡¯t-know-it HSf.
First, the laugh of the day came from Maui Tomorrow¡¯s Dick Meyer who sent
us an on-line copy of what he calls HSf¡¯s ¡°In Flight¡± magazine Hahalua.
Hahalua? or Ha Ha Lua? Is that the description of the toilet laughing at
the customers as they barf in it? Or maybe it¡¯s a different Hawaiian
definition of lua- the hole... the one in your pocket when you pay the
actual fares, rather than the advertised rates.
If we look again at the Alakai at almost 45 degree angles to the ocean in
that Molokai video at You Tube, Dick seems to have pegged it as an
¡°in-flight¡± adventure.
There¡¯s a pretty good analysis by Brad Parsons destroying the arguments
in the Honolulu and Maui newspapers trying to use HSf¡¯s dependably-faked
numbers to show that now they will make money because everyone will be
flocking to save money (not) to spend hours not get to their destination
or get there smelling like a Roman Vomitoruim.... good thing you can have
your own car because Auntie isn¡¯t going to let you into hers covered with
a re-hashing of this morning¡¯s corned beef hash and hash-browns
Then there¡¯s yesterday¡¯s Case of the Anonymous Press Release. which has
now been published at. Andrea Brower¡¯s Save Kaua`i web site.
Since it¡¯s there, we can now show it to you and explain yesterday¡¯s
strange post where we avoided taking credit for someone else¡¯s reporting
in providing the 16,000 plus word National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
filings in the Austal (yes, we thank Dick for pointing our propensity for
misspelling) racism case as well as the article from 2002.
We received it literally fourth-hand and spent all day trying to track
down its veracity and/or a contact and/or its origins, The ¡°press
release¡± contains quotes that might have been pulled from the NLRB
complaint document but then again might have been made up by the
mysterious release promulgator(s).
It only took a major all-day investigative effort to track down but we
have been able confirms to our satisfaction through multiple sources who
would prefer anonymity that the release originally came from a certain
videographer who, apparently has no flair for publicity generation and
who, we hear, doesn¡¯t want to be connected with we rabble in the press or
any HSf-related activism.
Hope you enjoyed the lyrical, though non-musical interlude while we tried
to sort out sourcing, attribution and confirmations in a professional
manner. It generated the provision of a great Phil Ochs blog in our
comments section- well worth checking out for any Folk-Ochsmaniac. The
latest article there is about the very song we quoted and had been posted
the day before, apparently as the words sprung to mind with the
shocking-shocking news that we¡¯ve found race discrimination at an Alabama
ship-building yard.
Somewhat related is another good piece by intrepid activist Jonathan Jay
on the reports this week that the Kaua`i Police Department is getting
ready for the next Superferry moment by beefing up their riot squad gear
so they can use clubs and tasers next time people peaceably assemble to
protest some other cockamamie mainland-hatched state-enabled boondoggling
scheme to force some other monstrosity down our throats.
As Jay says ¡°(w)hen the new Chief calls for greater transparency for the
KPD, surely he does not mean plexi-glass riot shields¡±
So break out some of that organic pop corn, grab your portable
Barf-O-Meter, tune to tune in the Weather Channel and enjoy another week
(organ music swells) of Clowns In Paradise.
Posted by Andy Parx at 4:17 PM 31 comments Links to this post
----------
SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2008
DIG IT:
DIG IT: More info today from racist, military boondoggling, union-busting
Superferry builders Astral of Alabama including a very revealing National
Labor Relations Board filing describing the kind of behavior at Austral
that a lot current beneficiaries of white-privilege people think went out
with Bull Conner and his fire-hose-riding justice system of the 50¡¯s and
60¡¯s
We haven¡¯t fully gone over the 16,000 plus word document detailing a very
apparent systematically racially discriminatory employment scheme upon
which the case we reported on yesterday is based yet just, just as we
haven¡¯t looked through the record of illegal union-busting activities
Astral was cited for in 2002, which allegedly continues today.
We¡¯ll keep you updated and understand there¡¯s more revelations to come.
Whether the Superferry cheerleaders section in the Hawaii corporate press
will look at and report on them remains to be seen.
Meanwhile enjoy these early 60¡¯s lyrics from Phil Ochs that, it seems
have become only more covert but not less prevalent in the sovereign
racist state of Alabama.
Talking Birmingham Blues
Walkin down to Birmingham,
Way down south in dixieland.
I thought that I would stop a while
Take a vacation southern style
Got some southern hospitality...down there in a southern hospital.
Well, all the signs said welcome in,
Welcome if youre white my friend.
Come along and watch the fights
While we feed our dogs on civil rights.
We believe in segregation...negroes in one mob...Policemen, politicians,
dogs in the other
Well I¡¯ve seen travel in many ways
I¡¯ve traveled in cars and old subways
But in Birmingham some people chose
To fly down the street from a fire hose.
Doin some hard travelin...from hydrants of plenty.
Well a pack of dogs was standin by
I walked up to them and I said hi
Well I asked one dog what they all were doin
He walked up to me and started chewin
It was a black dog...seems everybody down there is prejudiced.
Well I said there must be some men around
There cant be only you dogs in town
They said sure we have old Bull Cconner
There he goes, walkin yonder
Throwin some raw meat to the mayor...feedin bones to the city council
Well I said theres still something missing here,
You must have a governor somewhere.
Sure, hes doin his duty, he aint no fool
Hes blocking out kids from our schools
Standin in the doorway...crackin jokes...gettin re-elected.
So, I asked em how they spend their time
With segregation on their mind.
They said if you dont like to live this way
Get outta here, go back to the u.s.a.
Live with all them russians...new york agitatiors...yeah.
Some say theyve passed their darkest hour
Those moderates are back in power.
But listen close with open ears
Theyll help us out in a couple a hundred years.
But don't push em...whatever you do...Or else you get those extremists
back in.
You see Alabama is a soveriegn state
With soveriegn dogs and soveriegn hate
They stand for the bible, for the constitution
They stand against communist revolution.
They say: its pinkos like you that freed the slaves.
Posted by Andy Parx at 6:16 PM 4 comments Links to this post
------
FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2008
HONEY WHERE YOU BEEN SO LONG
HONEY WHERE YOU BEEN SO LONG: For those who long for the good old days
when current events caused the Kaua`i community to rise up and shed the
PukerFerry, events both reported and suppressed are again making people
sit up and go ¡°what the @##$%&¡±?.
Many are willing to bet Aloha Air tickets to Euros that the current
drought is about to end and stormy spring weather will bless us again now
that the big bad boondoggle is again taking its broken Bondo-ed hull to
water and that Pele, et. al. will take charge once again churning up any
seas it dares traverse
And some of the mush-brained O`ahu-ites are now re-disengaged in thinking
(a charitable use of the word) there is somehow a way they will save money
on interisland travel now that Aloha has ripped off their last customer.
And with yesterday¡¯s appeal filing by 1000 Friends¡¯ attorneys Dan
Hempey¡¯s and Greg Myers¡¯, pointing out that on Kaua`i too Act 2 has an
Act 3 that will send it all back to Act 1- the illegal and irreparable
harm to the environmental consequences of the ferry- Kauai joins Maui¡¯s
appeal of the last ruling allowing the HSf to kill whales and turtles.
The Maui Sierra Club et. al case is now before the Hawai`i Intermediate
and Supreme Court. and Kaua`i has now become party to it by pointing out
the rookie mistakes and absurdities in new 5th Circuit Court Judge
Valenciano¡¯s denial of an injunction so that we might actually get a
ruling for the whole state once the courts buy some guts to do their job
and reign in an out-of ¨Ccontrol legislature that believes they can stop
environmental harm by the stroke of a pen.
And most are still in the dark- and no mainstream news outlet has
mentioned- the news that Joan Conrow has reported regarding the latest
from the military boondoggling Astral Corporation, the builder of the
Superferry. It¡¯s been revealed that a lawsuit describing pervasive,
systemic and long term race discrimination against workers at the Alabama
based company (who would have suspected- especially given Alabama¡¯s labor
laws which just about make unions illegal) has been filed. Although
Alabama newspapers had to report upon it, it has curiously (not) been
absent from the Hawai`i HSf cheerleader section- aka, the Honolulu papers
and TV news stations.
Joan¡¯s investigative reporting in Honolulu Weekly and her own blog on the
real function of the HSf- that of a demonstration project for former
Reagan Navy Secretary John Lehman¡¯s who plans to rip-off the taxpayers to
the tune of billions by supplying the armed forces with a new highly
suspect unproven unneeded mode of aqueous attack- has still not been
reported in the corporate media even though the story is a month old.
The new news is similarly ignored. How long will it take to see the
Alabama news make the cut in Hawai`i? No one¡¯s holding their breath-
except for those who have to clean up after the barf-o-metered and
battered boat of ill-repute plies it way next Monday, hopefully toward a
real military use when RIMPAC requires targets for their next war games.
Posted by Andy Parx at 6:18 PM 2 comments Links to this post
-------------
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2008
KIBBLE AND BITS: Mel Rapozo¡¯s post on his frustrations with County
Attorney (CA) Matthew Pyun and the council¡¯s deputy CA Harrison Kawate
was lauded today by blogger Doug White as ¡°(o)ne of the better posts from
a politician¡¯s personal blog¡±.
And it might appear so to anyone who hasn¡¯t followed Rapozo and the
Council¡¯s efforts to play politics with every decision. Doug cites Mel¡¯s
complaints that Kawate leaves before the end of some late-night meetings
wherein Rapozo revels that Kawate does so at least in part because he
commutes daily from O`ahu.
Rapozo complains that during the non-televised budget hearings this week
¡°(t)he County Attorney (Pyun) was questioned whether we could expect
improved service by his office and he blatantly said ¡®No¡¯. He feels that
it is a waste of time to have his Deputy sit in on council meetings doing
nothing¡±
But perhaps Pyun and Kawate are just exasperated at councilmembers¡¯ (read
mostly JoAnn Yukimura¡¯s) tortured nonsensical reading of various laws and
documents, trying to raise questions no sane person would ever need to
answer. They seem to all be raised so that decision makers don¡¯t have to
make politically inconvenient decisions.
Perhaps Pyun is a little peeved that Mel and the Council then hide the
results when the CAs waste their time taking months going over stupid
questions, predictably providing the Council with stupid answers, only to
have the Council refuse to release the opinions to the public and instead
start whispering campaigns to intimate the answer was whatever the
councilperson wants them to be.
That causes the CA, not the council, to take the beating in the press and
the blogs when he gets blamed because councilmembers apparently either
can¡¯t read plain English or, more likely, won¡¯t take a stand on public
policy without a secret treatise that they can base their actions on but
are afraid of releasing because they lack even a shred of political will
or courage.
Maybe if Mel et. al. didn¡¯t go through all these contortions to force the
CA¡¯s office to take up their time telling them what they at least should
if not do know already, the CA wouldn¡¯t have to farm out all the lawsuits
that are costing us an arm and a leg.
----------------
Ever wonder why congress gives out all that money to the defense industry.
Don¡¯t wonder anymore and read the facts on the personal investments
congress members have in the ¡°military-industrial complex¡± as well as
some facts on their wealth
------------------
And while we¡¯re on some national political news read up on what the
Democrats idea of free speech is when one of their own mouthpieces
exercises some especially free expression toward one of their own. Air
America's Randi Rhodes was apparently suspended from the radio network for
calling Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro 'whores' at a recent public
appearance in San Francisco. Rhodes¡¯ speech is of course, on You Tube
While most expect the Republicans to be, well Republicans some apparently
still buy that the Dems are any different.
To find out how at least one presidential candidate speaks truth to power
read or see former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney¡¯s recent Woman¡¯s
History Month Symposium keynote speech at Rutgers University. Posted by
Andy Parx at 4:54 PM 3 comments Links to this post [icon18_email.gif]
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2008
LIFT A LEG
LIFT A LEG: Foodland founder Maurice ¡°Sully¡± Sullivan¡¯s scion, Foodland
CEO Jenai Wall and her goons have apparently stopped the telephone
harassment of and threats toward (see update at bottom) Foodland
boycott-movement leader Linda Harmon and given her actual written shibai
implying that Foodland isn¡¯t responsible for cutting down the Koloa
monkey pod trees that were cleared to put in their specialty stores in the
monkey-pod-tree logo-ed ¡°Shops at Koloa Town¡±.
Although previous reports that were repeated here that Foodland would be
an anchor tenant appear to be untrue (for which we apologize) Wall somehow
maintains that Foodland couldn¡¯t stop the development even though they
were putting in various Foodland owned specialty stores and apparently did
not use their position to leverage even appreciation for much less
adherence to community concerns over the tree removal..
¡°From the time the concerns were first brought to our attention in
December, we have communicated our concerns with the developer on numerous
occasions and have been told that various alternatives were being
considered¡± wrote Wall in a letter to Harmon.
¡°Despite the fact that neither Foodland nor any of these stores has any
control over what is done with the property in Koloa, we felt it was
important to share our concerns and the feedback we received with the
developer.¡±
Of course telling the developers they would not participate in the
shopping center was apparently never on the table for Wall. Yet she
somehow has the nerve to imply they did all they could in sharing their
concerns.
Gee, thanks for sharing Jenai. But she didn¡¯t end there. She ended her
blow-off letter by saying ¡°we care about our community and have a vested
interest in our environment. While we recognize that development is often
necessary and beneficial, we also feel strongly that environmental impacts
and community concerns should be taken into account when decisions are
made. ¡°
Harmon has a few suggestions for Wall who continues to promote Foodland's
concerns for it¡¯s ¡°carbon footprint¡± by cutting down trees . And though
we suspect a few might be to tell her where to shove her feigning of
corporate responsibility- perhaps into the grave in which her father is
probably tuning over, ¡°Sully¡± famously being one of those old-style
bosses who actually seemed to take at least minimal community
responsibility in his business operations- here are the actual three she
is graciously asking for.
1. Go public with a statement of regret for the destruction of so many
trees in Koloa.
2. Publicly request the Knudsen Trust to spare remaining mature trees on
plaza site.
3. Ask that subsequent trimming, or pruning be done by community approved
arborist with the purpose of the survival and health of the trees
affected.
The boycott demonstrations continue in front of the Waipouli Foodland this
Friday, April 4th, 2008 between 5 and 6:30 p.m.
Oh- and by the way long time Kapa`a merchant- jeweler Jim Saylor is
another tenant as is ABC Stores. No one, as of yet (ahem), is boycotting
them. Posted by Andy Parx at 4:42 PM 6 comments Links to this post
--------------
TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2008
THE LOOF LIRPA SNIFF:
THE LOOF LIRPA SNIFF: In a shocking revelation today Kaua`i County Council
watchdog Glenn Mickens discovered all seven members of the Council in a
satanic love tryst in the basement of the Historic County Building where
they were photographed smearing each others naked bodes with the charred
remain of the Charter and County Code during an unannounced ¡°¡¯very¡¯
executive session¡±..
¡°I went down there to eat my liverwurst, kim chee and limburger sandwich
and heard the faint chant of ¡°All hail paternalism- secrecy forever¡±
over and over.
¡°When I turned my head I smelled the usual corruption so I opened the
door and there were Shaylene and Kaipo tearing pages from the Charter and
County and State laws and handing them to Mel who burned them in a
crucible with the County Seal and placed them into JoAnn¡¯s marsupial
pouch where she mixed the ashes into an eau-de-rich-haole-oil paste and
piled the concoction on Tim¡¯s mustache as he used Kaipo¡¯s gavel to smear
the last batch all over Jay and Ron¡¯s lava-lava clad bodies as they
composed zoning changes for 10,000 room resorts.¡±
New Police Chief Darryl Perry confiscated the photos and declined to
investigate saying ¡°these people trumped up all those charges against KC
and Mike to make my appointment possible, so keep moving- nothin¡¯ to see
here.¡±
Meanwhile Prosecutor Craig DeCosta declined to prosecute saying ¡°why
should I start doing anything about this corruption now when I¡¯ve turned
my head for three and a half years while they figuratively did what they
physically did today. I¡¯m outta here in eight months anyway,¡± he added
Let Shaylene take care or it before falling on the floor maniacally
laughing and had to be taken away to Mahelona by state sheriffs who
apparently had nothing else to do like process serving or evictions.
According to County Clerk Peter Nakamura, County Attorney Matthew ¡°here
come da Judge¡± Pyun rode in on Lani Nakazawa¡¯s old broomstick to issue
an official opinion saying the actions were legal however that opinion
cannot be released without the express written approval of Major League
Baseball and ¡°he whose name may not be spoken¡±- thought to be Parks
Department honcho Bernard Carvalho who was busy learning how to twiddling
his thumbs. The document will be wrapped in Attorney General Mark
Bennett¡¯s bividees and buried in a time capsule until everyone forget or
no one cares anymore.... which should be tomorrow.
Mayor Bryan Baptiste was not available for comment because his head was
stuck in a pile of short ribs and gravy.
County spokeswoman Mary Daubert was available for comment but .her head
was spinning too fast for anyone to understand what she was saying.
Mickens lunch was lost- and not for the first time. Posted by Andy Parx at
4:59 PM 3 comments Links to this post
PNN PRESENTS PARX NEWS DAILY- GOT WINDMILLS?
by Andy Parx
Editor, Publiher
Parx News Net
BLOG ARCHIVE
+ ¨^Ë April (9)
o MEMO FROM PEABODY TO SHERMAN:
o LAPPING IT UP:
o CAN¡¯T YOU KEEP THAT MUTT FROM BARKING?:
o OVER THE BOUNDING MANGE
o DIG IT:
o HONEY WHERE YOU BEEN SO LONG
o KIBBLE AND BITS: Mel Rapozo¡¯s post on his frustrat...
o LIFT A LEG
o THE LOOF LIRPA SNIFF:
+ ► March (32)
o JUST PUT IT IN HIS PORK CHOP- HE¡¯LL SWALLOW IT
o DON¡¯T YOU WORRY YOUR FURRY LITTLE HEAD ABOUT IT:
o COMTEMPLATIVE BONES OF CONTENTION:
o PETTING ZOO
o AH, THE SMELL OF PLANTATION LUNAS THE MORNING::
o A DOG BY ANY OTHER NAME or HERE FIDO- ER, I MEAN, ...
o DIMMER THAN A JUNKYARD DOG:
o GETTIN¡¯ OFF THE GRAVY TRAIN:
o HE STAY MAKE ALREADY
o HEY LOOK, A TALKIN¡¯ DOG
o HOW MUCH IS THAT DOCUMENT IN THW WINDOW: As part o...
o THAT NIPPER¡¯S A NUDGE
o A PERSONAL DAY
o DOG CATCHER TO BE REPLACED WITH ANIMAL CONTROL OFF...
o THROW 'EM A BONE
o HE'LL NEVER MISS THEM
o DOG BREATH
o ON THE GRAVY TRAIN:
o GLAD WE DIDN¡¯T STEP IN IT
o SNIFFIN' OUT THE STORY
o SOME WIMPER, SOME BARK, SOME BITE
o CHASING OUR TAILS
o HOT DOG:
o PINK PALLETTE POLS
o DON¡¯T FEED ME A CARROT AND TELL ME IT¡¯S A BONE:
o DOGGIE DILLEMMA
o FLASH YOUR GET OUT OF DOGHOUSE FREE CARD:
o RUNNIN¡¯ WITH THE PACK
o PNN EDITORIAL- VOTE FOR ONLY SULLIVAN AND STOKES ...
o DO I NEED ONE?
o THE DOG ATE IT
o LIKE A FOX
+ ► February (17)
o KIBBLES AND BITS
o A YARD DIVIDED...:
o THE FARMERS¡¯ BEST FRIEND
o CAT V. DOG UPDATE
o PAVLOV¡¯S PURVEYORS:
o HYDROPHOBIC HYSTERIA
o NEW NEWSHOUND
o NO ROOM AT THE DOGHOUSE:
o CHECK HIS MICROCHIP
_________________________________________________________________
3. Was Saddam's Iraq better than that of today's u.s. occupation?
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:02:23 -0400
From: kahiwal@cs.com
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
09 Apr 2008
http://www.legitgov.org/
'If history can take me back, I will kiss the statue of Saddam Hussein
which I helped pull down.' 'Today we have 50 Saddams.' 09 Apr 2008 Fierce
clashes and mortar attacks in Baghdad's Shiite bastion of Sadr City killed
13 people on Wednesday as Iraq marked the fifth anniversary of the
overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Ibrahim Khalil, one of the Iraqis who pulled
down the statue in Firdoos Square, told AFP he regretted what he did that
day. "If history can take me back, I will kiss the statue of Saddam
Hussein which I helped pull down," he said when he met an AFP reporter in
the square. "Now I realise that the day Baghdad fell was in fact a black
day. Saddam's days were better ... Under Saddam's regime, we were safe. We
got rid of one Saddam, but today we have 50 Saddams," he said. For Iraqis,
the five years since the ouster of Saddam have been a period of turmoil
and bloodletting. "When I saw the American tanks roll into Baghdad, I was
happy and full of dreams... dreams of a prosperous Iraq, a developed Iraq.
But since then it has become a nightmare of suffering and destruction,"
said Sarah Yussef. According to World Health Organisation, between 104,000
and 223,000 people were killed from March 2003 to June 2006 alone. Majeed
Hameed, a gift-shop owner in Baghdad's northern Antar Square, said the
American tanks on the streets of Baghdad are now seen as "enemy" forces.
"We can't describe how savage these barbarians are whose promises were
false and full of lies. They came to occupy and cause destruction. We got
nothing but disaster," said Hameed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4. Filipinos still being sent to Iraq despite official ban
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:15:07 -1000
From: Viviane Lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/
20080407-128877/OFWs-still-being-sent-to-Iraq--migrant-group-recruiters
OFWs still being sent to Iraq--migrant group, recruiters
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: April 07, 2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Despite the ban in the deployment of Filipino
workers to war-torn Iraq, they are still being sent there for contractors
of the United States government, a migrant group said Monday.
Recruiters^Ò consultant Emmanuel Geslani confirmed Migrante^Òs claim,
saying, ^ÓThe hiring is direct through illegal recruitment syndicates
[with] Singapore or Cebu [as] jump-off points.^Ô
Previously, government officials said Filipino workers in Jordan, Kuwait,
and the United Arab Emirates were being recruited to work in Iraq.
John Leonard Monterona, Migrante^Òs Middle East regional coordinator,
expressed alarm that more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) would be
recruited to work in Iraq after the US State Department recently renewed
its contract with Blackwater, the US-based contractor providing security
to American diplomats and personnel in Iraq.
^ÓWe are^Åraising this concern as we have received reports that there are
still some recruitment agencies in the Philippines which are continuously
sending OFWs in Iraq serving [as] construction [workers], drivers, and
security [personnel] in the facilities that the US military builds in Iraq
and [in] US military camps such as Camp Anaconda and Camp Victory, using
Kuwait and UAE the entry points,^Ô he said in a statement.
^ÓContinued sending of OFWs to Iraq, either legal or illegal, obviously
endangers our fellow OFWs^Ò lives,^Ô he said. In a previous Senate
inquiry, Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu estimated that some
4,500 OFWs were working inside US military camps in Iraq.
Migrante^Òs Monterona said the number might be higher now as private
contractors like Blackwater offer ^Ófat^Ô employment contracts, with
insurance benefits of $35,000 and a local insurance of P200,000.
Monterona thus criticized the government, particularly the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), for ^Ósleeping^Ô on its job of
monitoring the deployment of OFWs to Iraq.
He suggested that POEA should require private recruitment agencies to
submit their foreign employers^Ò nature of business and other
circumstances. He said these should then be certified by officials of the
Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Philippine embassy assigned to
the host country.
^ÓThe POEA should [also] prosecute its officials^Åwho are found to be
conniving with recruitment agencies that are still sending OFWs to Iraq
despite the government imposed deployment ban,^Ô he said.
Monterona said some POEA officials release Overseas Employment
Certificates (OECs), a requirement for outbound Filipino workers, in
exchange for money. ^ÓAs we have heard, ^Ñpera pera lang iyan [money is
all that^Òs needed]^Ò to acquire an OEC from POEA,^Ô he said.
Aside from Iraq, the Philippines also bans deployment of Filipino workers
to Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Nigeria.
=====---------------------------------------------------------------
5. Disappeared News - 3 new articles
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:38:17 -0400
From: FeedBlitz <feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com>
"DISAPPEARED NEWS" - 3 NEW ARTICLES - www.disappearednews.com
1. Dirty tricks: Senate arranges a corporate windfall for itself and
endangers clean election bill
2.Barf-o-Meter extended forecast
3.Disappeared News: food riots break out, the US is also affected
4.More Recent Articles
5.Search Disappeared News
Dirty tricks: Senate arranges a corporate windfall for itself and
endangers clean election bill
by Larry Geller For crying out loud. Who would think that our
legislators would stoop to tricks like this? HB661 was a hard-fought
bill that would allow the Hawaii County Council to hold publicly funded
elections if a candidate wished. It was a giant step forward along the
path to removing corporate influence from Hawaii politics. The County
Council voted for it and supported it. The bill made....
Barf-o-Meter extended forecast
Brad Parsons has projected his experimental Barf Index through Sunday.
It's reproduced here as a public service. If you're planning a ferry trip
to or from Maui, perhaps this will help.....
Disappeared News: food riots break out, the US is also affected
by Larry Geller  No doubt President Bush would like to have a different
legacy, but it appears that the last months of his presidency will be
marked by recession (at least), Americans losing their homes and jobs,
and now many Americans facing starvation. Food shortages and rising
prices have led to protests and riots around the world. Â Perhaps for
this reason (mustn't embarrass the....
More Recent Articles
* Safety first, who can argue with that
* Barf, New York Times excuse for not covering "Winter Soldier"
* Maui News breaks press silence on seasickness during ferry ride
* Report from Maui on Superferry
* Will we just wait for the inevitable? Hawaii is so dependent on oil
it's gonna hurt one day
________________________________________________________________________________
6. OHA update Apr 9, 2008 and comment
From: David Rodriguez
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 4:37 PM
Many of you may have read the Advertiser yesterday and OHA remains
positive that a settlement can be reached through HB1201 in conference.
The following is an excerpt from the April 8, 2008 story "Ceded Land
Debate Back on the Table" by Gordon Pang.
"Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said the new legislation makes no
reference to waiving other claims to past revenues or to any future
revenues yet derived. The OHA-Bennett settlement waives any other claims
to past, current or future revenues and says OHA should get a minimum of
$15.1 million annually for future revenues, with the exact amount to be
determined by the Legislature. Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), noted
that a waiver and the settling of future claims were among the major
objections raised by opponents of the OHA-Bennett settlement. Those
opponents included key state senators, who argued that OHA gave up too
much for too little. "What is not in the (new) bill are the two things
that we (in the Senate) had the most trouble with, which was the waiver
language as well as the issue of the capping of future revenues. Those are
not in there," she said. Under the new legislation, House Bill 1201,
Committee Draft 1, OHA and Bennett are required to continue negotiations
on the amount the agency should have received from Nov. 7, 1978, to June
30, 2008:
The new proposal also calls for OHA to:
· Renegotiate part of its settlement with Bennett that covers three
parcels of land: in Kaka'ako Makai and Kalaeloa on O'ahu, and Hilo's
Banyan Drive on the Big Island. Those three parcels, with a combined
assessed value of $187 million, would have been given to OHA along with
$13 million cash under the OHA-Bennett settlement.
· Hold "periodic open public meetings throughout the state" during its new
negotiations with Bennett. Lack of consultation with the Hawaiian
community was one criticism of the OHA-Bennett settlement.
· "Attempt to reach an agreement" with Bennett before the Legislature
reconvenes in January 2009."
Attached is the OHA legislative matrix as approved by the BAE which
indicates current bills OHA is tracking and I am available should you have
concerns to the policies OHA has taken.
Be advised that the Report to the Legislature Concerning Public Outreach
and Communication Efforts on the Settlement Agreement can be viewed on the
OHA website: CLICK
ON>http://www.oha.org/images/stories/files/pdf/report%20to%202008%20legislature%20on%20scr%2049.pdf
As a recap, OHA's Haiku Valley and Child Protection bills are moving
forward. In addition bills brought forth by our beneficiaries continue to
make progress such as Traditional Tattooing, Hanapepe Salt Ponds and the
acquisition of Galbraith Estate and Turtle Bay. Unfortunately the House
amendment for a 5yr moratorium on GMO Taro was recommitted as the public's
support for this compromise was not well received.
Aloha,
David Rodriguez
Policy Coordinator
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
(808) 594-1756
-----------
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:03:53 -1000
From: mike reitz <mreitz@pacbell.net>
"Unfortunately the House amendment for a 5yr moratorium on GMO Taro was
recommitted as the public's support for this compromise was not well
received."
So it's official...Monsanto is now an OHA trust beneficiary...must be a
GMO koko thing...
m
________________________________________________________________________________
7. Voices Health/Environment News
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:46:28 -0500
From: nimchira <tepaatu@gmail.com>
News from the Health and Environmental Communities.
Published since Nov, 2005
April 9, 2008
In This Issue:
Alert:
Agriculture Department Warns Consumers of Tainted Raw Milk Sold By
Clarion, Crawford County Dairies - Consumers who purchased raw milk from
Piney Ridge dairy farm in New Bethlehem, Clarion County, and Clark and
Elaine Duncan's farm in Meadville, Crawford County, anytime after March 10
should discard it immediately due to the risk of Listeria Monocytogenes
contamination. http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/pineyridge04_08.html
===========
Todays Recalls:
North Aire Market of Shakopee, MN is recalling 99 boxes of Chicken
Dumpling Soup Mix because they may contain undeclared traces of almonds.
The 99 boxes were sold in various parts of the country primarily to
specialty gift shops and through the company's web site under the brand,
Maggie and Mary's Chicken Dumpling Soup Mix. The lot codes related to this
recall are: 0730810, 0720810, 0910810, 0920811, 0920810, 0930810, 0980810,
and are found on the bottom of the retail box.
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/northaire04_08.html
Schwarz Pharma informed healthcare professionals and patients of the
recall of Neupro, a transdermal delivery system worn on the skin and used
to treat early stage Parkinson's disease. The product is being recalled
because of the formation of rotigotine crystals in the patches. When the
drug crystallizes, less drug is available to be absorbed through the skin
and the efficacy of the product may vary. Healthcare professionals should
not initiate any new patients on Neupro and should begin to down-titrate
all patients currently using the product per the guidelines in the product
labeling. Patients should NOT abruptly discontinue therapy. Abrupt
withdrawal of dopamine agonists has been associated with a syndrome
resembling neuroleptic malignant syndrome or akinetic crises.
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm
=========
Hunger in America-Bill Moyers Journal investigates the empty shelves at US
food banks, and asks, "As food prices go sky high and millions go hungry
in America, why are tax dollars being spent on farmers who don't farm?"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040908U.shtml
740 miles of Scottish coast is crumbling into sea.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11240/3057/14138/0/?u=aHR0cDovL25ld3Muc2NvdHNtYW4uY29tL3Njb3RsYW5kLzc0MC1taWxlcy1vZi1TY290dGlzaC1jb2FzdC4zOTYwNzAyLmpw&x=af5b6684
In wake of beef recall, more slaughterhouses found to have problems.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11240/3057/14146/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5wZS5jb20vcG9saXRpY3MvZ29hZC9zdG9yaWVzL1BFX05ld3NfTG9jYWxfRF9iZWVmMDkuMzZiM2U0Ni5odG1s&x=b4f3c40f
Food watchdog seeks ban on six artificial colourings.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11240/3057/14147/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5ndWFyZGlhbi5jby51ay9zb2NpZXR5LzIwMDgvYXByLzA5L2hlYWx0aC5jaGlsZHJlbg%3d%3d&x=4ba1165c
Millions ride on chicken feed suit. Two of the nation's largest chicken
producers are suing Tyson Foods, claiming that ads saying Tyson's products
don't contain antibiotics linked to drug resistance in people are
misleading consumers into believing those products are healthier.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11240/3057/14148/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5iYWx0aW1vcmVzdW4uY29tL2J1c2luZXNzL2JhbC10ZS5iei5wb3VsdHJ5MDlhcHIwOSwwLDQ0NjM1MTcuc3Rvcnk%3d&x=ceb703c8
Warming trends rise in large ocean areas: study. Warming trends in a third
of the world's large ocean regions are two to four times greater than
previously reported averages
http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/11245/21497/14137/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3VrLnJldXRlcnMuY29tL2FydGljbGUvZW52aXJvbm1lbnROZXdzL2lkVUtIQU4yOTA3NDIyMDA4MDQwOQ%3d%3d&x=f6e4541a
Climate change in Rocky Mountain National Park. A 3.5-degree Fahrenheit
rise in temperatures during the past 50 years and a 5-degree increase in
the past thirty years is changing the Rocky Mountain National Park's
fragile ecosystem.
ttp://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/11245/21497/14154/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5n
cmVlbGV5dHJpYi5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZS8yMDA4MDQwOC9ORVdTLzc0MjIyMDI3Ng%3d%3d&x=adab2
787
The Facts About Pasteurization and Homogenization of Dairy Products
http://www.naturalnews.com/022967.html
'Six-way' kidney transplant first US doctors have carried out what is
believed to be the world's first simultaneous six-way kidney transplant.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/health/7338437.stm
Veteran Battles Pentagon's Vaccine
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040908A.shtml
Medicine Mix-Ups Harm Hospitalized Kids
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/040808HA.shtml
Warming Trends Rise in Large Ocean Areas
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/040908EB.shtml
Effectiveness of Medical Privacy Law Is Questioned
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/040908HA.shtml
================
Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. informed healthcare professionals that a
potentially significant impurity, 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT), has been
isolated from reconstituted Cubicin stored in with ReadyMED elastomeric
infusion pumps manufactured by Cardinal Health, Inc. MBT is used in the
manufacture of rubber and has been reported to leach from rubber stoppers
and syringe components into medicinal products in the past. Cutaneous
exposure to MBT has been associated with dermal sensitization, and chronic
administration of MBT to laboratory rodents has been associated with an
increased risk of certain tumors. No MBT has been identified in
reconstituted Cubicin in other standard types of infusion systems that
have been tested. Healthcare professionals are advised to discontinue
using ReadyMED elastomeric infusion pumps with Cubicin until the issue has
been addressed. http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm
Pfizer informed healthcare professionals and patients of updated safety
information in the WARNINGS section of prescribing information for
Exubera, a short-acting insulin you breathe in through your mouth using
the Exubera inhaler that helps to control high blood sugar in adults with
diabetes. There have been 6 newly diagnosed cases of primary lung
malignancies in clinical trials among Exubera-treated patients, and 1
newly diagnosed case among comparator treated patients. There has also
been 1 post-marketing report of a primary lung malignancy in an
Exubera-treated patient. There were too few cases to determine whether the
emergence of these events is related to Exubera. All patients who were
diagnosed with lung cancer had a prior history of cigarette smoking.
Because of the limited availability of Exubera, healthcare professionals
should seek alternative treatment options to maintain patients' glycemic
control. http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm
==========
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Harmonizing with the Universe
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:13:29 +1200
From: CHOOK <tepaatu@gmail.com>
------ Forwarded Message
From: "Artemis Goldberg" <panthertracker@myself.com>
Harmonizing with the Universe The Benefits of Singing
Singing is an act of vibration. It takes music from the realm of the
unformed-- whether that is in your mind or from that magical space of
inspiration--and moves it from within to without. From the first breath
singing moves the energy in a circular way inside your body. As the breath
fills your lungs, it brushes against the second and third chakras-the
centers of creation and honoring self and others. Instead of merely
exhaling, pushing the air past the fourth and fifth chakras where heart
charka and the center of will and intention reside, singing engages both
the heart and mind. Sound vibrations from vocal chords resonate in the
sinus cavities, filling the head with motion and sound while the brain
lights up with the processing of the mathematics of music. This marriage
of activities brings the third eye into play and opens the door for
inspiration from the crown chakra before sending the sound out into the
world.
Once the vibration begins, it is sustained with each note, moving
throughout your body and the space around you. This can help you to
harmonize your frequency with the world and with the divine. The use of
the voice can bring about catharsis, a cleansing from the expression of
emotion, which is why we feel better after singing certain types of songs.
All of this occurs even if we are not conscious of what we are singing,
but when we really connect with an intention, the power of the voice and
music together are powerful tools in creation.
Even if you are not a singer by nature or talent, you are not left out. If
you have a voice, it is your birthright to celebrate life with song. It
doesn't matter if you don't feel you have a nice voice. Chanting or
humming, singing solo or with others, your voice is yours to enjoy.
Whether you sing along to the radio or use vocalization as part of your
meditation time, singing and harmonizing are healing activities that bring
your body's vibrations into alignment with the universe.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Germs in Soil Find Antibiotics Tasty
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:11:33 +1200
From: CHOOK <tepaatu@gmail.com>
------ Forwarded Message
Published: 5 hours ago, 14:32 EST, April 03, 2008
Germs in Soil Find Antibiotics Tasty
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
(AP) -- Antibiotics for breakfast? The drugs are supposed to kill
bacteria, not feed them. Yet Harvard researchers have discovered hundreds
of germs in soil that literally gobble up antibiotics, able to thrive with
the potent drugs as their sole source of nutrition.
These bacteria outwit antibiotics in a disturbingly novel way, and now the
race is on to figure out just how they do it - in case more dangerous
germs that sicken people could develop the same ability.
On the other hand, the work explains why the soil doesn't harbor big
antibiotic buildups despite use of the drugs in livestock plus human
disposal and, well, excretion, too.
"Thank goodness we have those bacteria to eat at least some of the
antibiotics," said bacteriologist Jo Handelsman of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, who wasn't involved in the study. "Nature's pretty
effective."
The discovery, published in Friday's edition of the journal Science, came
about almost by accident.
A team led by Harvard Medical School geneticist George Church has a
Department of Energy grant to develop ways to create biofuels from
agriculture waste. Plants are full of natural toxins, so the goal was to
find microorganisms in soil capable of breaking down certain of those
chemicals. To winnow down the strongest candidates, they tried exposing
these bacteria to what should have been far more toxic substances,
antibiotics.
That bacteria can eat weird things is the basis for the field of
bioremediation. Some bugs help break down oil spills, for example.
Nor is it a surprise that soil bacteria can withstand some antibiotics;
some had already been found. After all, a number of antibiotics are
natural - think penicillin. Some antibiotics have been derived from soil.
Instead, the surprise was how many bacteria didn't just survive but
flourished when fed 18 different antibiotics, natural and manmade ones -
including such staples as gentamicin, vancomycin and Cipro - that
represent the major classes used in treating people and animals.
Church's team gathered soil from 11 spots in Massachusetts, Minnesota and
Pennsylvania, from city parks to pristine forest to a cornfield fertilized
with antibiotic-containing manure.
Bacteria prefer to eat sugars, like rotting fruit. Put in laboratory
dishes to subsist only on antibiotics, the germs grew a little more slowly
but the researchers found every drug tested could support growth of some
bacteria.
More disturbing, a number of bacteria could withstand levels of
antibiotics that were 50 to 100 times higher than would be given to a
patient.
"They were not only resistant, they were super-resistant," Church said.
"I guess we weren't really thinking about it as something that bacteria
would just eat for breakfast," he added. "They are capable of living on
this stuff for a long, long time."
The finding comes amid increasing concern that many infections could soon
become untreatable, as more bacteria become immune to today's antibiotics
even as few new drugs are being discovered.
But the medical impact of the new work isn't yet clear. Germs in soil
aren't big human threats, and no human pathogen has been spotted with the
same ability. Still, many of the soil bacteria tested are relatives of
human pathogens, including a notorious E. coli strain.
So the next step, under way now in Church's lab, is to identify the actual
genes that let these bacteria devour and degrade antibiotics. Then the
question becomes whether that genetic mechanism is something soil bacteria
might be able to transfer to human pathogens, thus making them more
drug-resistant.
Wisconsin's Handelsman says gene pathways involved in metabolism are far
larger and more complex than the type of single-gene resistance often seen
in human pathogens. "It's not really as bleak as that."
And Church agrees his work is "not entirely all bad news. ... It gives us
some time to get ahead of it and figure out if it really poses a threat."
(C) 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Ethanol for fuel....not so fast....corn prices skyrocket
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:15:01 +1200
From: CHOOK <tepaatu@gmail.com>
------ Forwarded Message
Corn Hits $6 a Bushel on Tight Supplies Thursday, April 03, 2008 6:56:03
PM By STEVENSON JACOBS
Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel Thursday, driven up by an
expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans' growing grocery
bill and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers.
Corn prices have shot up nearly 30 percent this year amid dwindling
stockpiles and surging demand for the grain used to feed livestock and
make alternative fuels including ethanol. Prices are poised to go even
higher after the U.S. government this week predicted that American farmers
-- the world's biggest corn producers -- will plant sharply less of the
crop in 2008 compared to last year.
"It's a demand-driven market and we may not be planting enough acres to
supply demand, so that adds to the bullishness of corn," said Elaine Kub,
a grains analyst with DTN in Omaha, Neb.
Corn for the most actively traded May contract rose 4.25 cents to settle
at $6 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier rising to
$6.025 a bushel -- a new all-time high.
Worldwide demand for corn to feed livestock and to make biofuel is putting
enormous pressure on global supply. And with the U.S. expected to plant
less corn, the supply shortage will only worsen. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture projected that farmers will plant 86 million acres of corn in
2008, an 8 percent drop from last year.
Moreover, cold, wet weather in parts of the U.S. corn belt may force
farmers to delay spring planting, potentially sending prices even higher.
While corn growers are reaping record profits, U.S. consumers can expect
even higher grocery bills -- especially for meat and pork -- as livestock
producers are forced to pass on higher animal feed costs and thin their
herd size.
"Higher corn prices is going to affect meat prices. If you're feeding with
$6 corn, you'll definitely have some (cost) pressure," Kub said.
In addition, corn and corn syrup are used in an array of products, meaning
the price of everything from candy to soft drinks will eventually go up,
analysts say. It's the latest dose of bad news for U.S. consumers, who are
already struggling with higher food costs from record increases in the
price of wheat, soybeans and other agriculture products.
Another loser in higher corn costs is ethanol producers, who are
struggling to squeeze out gains as corn's record-setting run outpaces the
price of ethanol, currently at around $2.50 a gallon.
"For years, corn was cheap and fermentation processes for ethanol
production came to completely dominate the biofuel industry in North
America," Michael Jackson, president and chairman of Vancouver-based
ethanol maker Syntec Biofuel, said this week. "Now, with corn prices well
over $5 a bushel, corn ethanol economics have gone out the window."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Study confirms beneficiaries treated like 'second-class' citizens
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:47:56 +1200
From: CHOOK <tepaatu@gmail.com>
on 20/3/08 9:06 AM, Sue Bradford at Sue.Bradford@parliament.govt.nz
wrote:
Ministry of Social Development - Financial Review Debate
Sue Bradford - Green Party
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Work and Income - Benefits - Child Poverty
While there is no question that the administration of our
benefit system has improved in a number of ways over the
three terms of this Labour-led Government, there are still
significant problems, especially for those most impacted by
Work & Income - beneficiaries themselves, and their families.
One of the issues once again highlighted by the 2006-07
Financial Review of MSD is that of beneficiary debt. The
Ministry told us that while the number of people on benefits
is dropping, debt has increased, with over $755 million owed
in both recoverable assistance and overpayments.
And as far as I'm aware, this is still rising. While some
might condemn this level of debt as an example of the
imprudent financial habits of people on income support, the
Green Party views it instead as a symptom of several
fundamental political and systemic failures.
The first of these is that the benefit cuts which were made
by National in 1991 have never been restored. Sadly, Labour
has been content to continue with the damage inflicted in the
90s, requiring people to live on benefits which in many cases
are simply not enough to provide even the essentials of
existence. There continues to exist what appears to be a
large party consensus that anyone on a benefit must expect to
simply endure substantial levels of deprivation and hardship,
even when this affects another generation as well, in the
shape of their children.
Twenty percent, roughly speaking, of our country's children
still live in poverty according to MSD itself. Many of them
are the children of beneficiaries, particularly sole parents.
Tangata whenua continue to be disproportionately
represented among the children of the poor.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, the incomes of
superannuitants have risen by 8.5% in real terms since 1999.
CPAG goes on to say, `between 2000 and 2004 the percentage
of NZ children in severe to significant hardship rose from
18% to 26%...while during the same period, the percentage of
those over 65 in these categories...remained steady at about
4%.'
While, thankfully, the percentage of children in poverty has
decreased since the first half of this decade, at 20% the
figure is still far too high, and the yawning gap between the
way we as a society treat the children of beneficiaries and
the way we treat old age pensioners continues. They are all
dependent on our welfare system, but one group has its
pensions inflation and wage adjusted each year, while the
other is left out and left behind in all sorts of cumulative
ways.
Beneficiary debt of any sort, whether to the Government
itself or to private lenders would be vastly lower if the
benefit system itself paid people enough to live on in the
first place.
The second reason that so many beneficiaries continue to
subsist within an endless cycle of debt is that in April 2006
the Special Benefit was abolished, and replaced with
Temporary Additional Support, colloquially known as TAS.
Up until that point the Special Benefit had provided a third
tier level of last ditch discretionary assistance for people
where the gap between their actual income and the necessities
of life was too big to bridge by any other means.
With benefits remaining low, and even some low wage workers
requiring assistance from Work and Income, the Special
Benefit played a key role in allowing case managers a way of
topping peoples' benefits up to livable levels.
However, for two years now the new system has been in place,
with only people fortunate enough to have been on the Special
Benefit at the time of the changeover being lucky enough to
have their entitlement grandparented. Of course the numbers
of people in this situation are dropping all the time, while
people new on a benefit or whose circumstances change find
themselves totally at the mercy of the new system.
When we asked questions during the Financial Review process
about the impact of the change to TAS on the rise of
recoverable assistance, the Ministry responded that it was
largely because of the higher prices of essential goods like
fridges and school uniforms. I would suggest that if these
items are such an important component, then core benefit
levels themselves should be increased to take account of this
There simply continues to be a large number of beneficiaries
who cannot survive on what they are allotted, even when their
entitlements are maxed out under current law. This is the
fundamental reason why so many beneficiaries spend their
lives going deeper and deeper into debt to everyone around
them, including the Government, and why some people find
themselves in particularly difficult if not impossible
circumstances because of the removal of a third tier
discretionary benefit.
Related to all this is the Government's ongoing pledge to
bring in what they call a `single core benefit.' In every
review for the last five years or so we have been asking
about where the Government is going on this and when it is
going to be brought in. The latest answer this time around
is that the new Minister expects to ask Cabinet to consider
the proposal in 2008, although which part of 2008 they are
referring to remains unspecified.
While I accept that MSD has in fact, as they say, implemented
80% of their original single core benefit concept, revolving
around the whole drive towards Work First, the really hard
part which relates to income support remains totally unknown
and up in the air. A single core benefit could be a really
good thing for beneficiaries if it brought benefits up to
genuinely survivable levels and if it was part of a reform
which made our welfare system simpler, fairer and easier to
administer.
However, without details, both the Green Party and other
interested people like beneficiary and disability advocacy
groups and beneficiaries themselves will continue to be
fearful of what a single core benefit might actually mean,
if, for example, it leads to a reduction in income levels and
an even greater loss of any discretion in the system.
I am not expecting any particularly good news on where this
is going in the near future, although we could all be
pleasantly surprised.
The MSD Financial Review also deals with the question of
young people receiving the unemployment benefit. I
genuinely welcome much of the sterling work that has been
done in this area over the last eight years, particularly by
the Government and the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs.
However, I hope that the reduction in the number of 18 and 19
year olds on the dole is not done at the expense of any young
person's right to receive a benefit.
I noted with interest the outcome of a recent case in
Rotorua, where in 2007 the local Work and Income office
unlawfully denied access to the unemployment benefit to a
number of out of work 18 and 19 year olds. In August, five
of the young people filed proceedings in the High Court
against the MSD, claiming they were being discriminated
against because of their age - they had been told at Work and
Income seminars that they were not entitled to the dole until
they were 20.
In fact, of course they were eligible for the unemployment
benefit, given that they met all relevant criteria, and an
out of court settlement was subsequently made in favour of
the young people.
As part of that settlement, MSD gave an assurance that it
accepts as fundamental that the New Zealand Bill of Rights
Act applies to people applying for unemployment benefit.
This means that Work and Income offices, not just in Rotorua
but all around the country, must give applicants a fair
hearing, and that natural justice and due process apply at
the interface between any applicant and the Ministry.
I hope that the outcome of this case has sent a message to
Work and Income offices everywhere that not only should
applicants for benefits not be lied to in a bid to keep
beneficiary numbers down, but also that people must be
treated fairly and well, and not denied entitlements at the
whim of a particular case manager or office.
In the `Gisborne Herald' of 1 December last year, a trainee
social work student, Jeanette Schullerquist from Sweden,
talked about her experience doing a few days front line
beneficiary case work in Gisborne.
She says that she was shocked by how some case managers
talked to their clients, and that `The benefit rate in New
Zealand is so low, that it is hard for most people to survive
the week. Then when they come in to see their case manager,
it is like they are being kept down and made to feel really
small....these case workers were being very judgmental and
making the beneficiaries feel really small.'
This is not a quote from something that happened in 1991 or
1998 - this was going on in one of the Tairawhiti Work and
Income offices in November 2007. Sometimes it takes an
international guest to see things more clearly than a lot of
local people do. I know that the local Commissioner Lindsay
Scott responded with interest - in the media at least - to Ms
Schullerquist's observations, and I just hope that the
services on the East Coast are improving accordingly.
For those of us who believe in a fair society for all of us,
not just for some, it is really important that as we face the
prospect of a significant recession in the not too distant
future that we get our welfare system into as good a shape as
possible now, while the external economic environment is
comparatively benign.
on 8/4/08 12:24 PM, Ana at uriohau@gmail.com wrote:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0804/S00130.htm
Tuesday, 8 April 2008, 11:56 am Press Release: University of
Auckland Press release 8 April 2008
Study confirms beneficiaries treated like 'second-class'
citizens
It comes as no surprise that the Kiwis Count Survey release today
has found low public satisfaction with social assistance services"<snip>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Rain Birds Wild! Launch Party!
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:00:01 -1000
From: Robert Barclay <announce@HAWAII.EDU>
PUPU ~ AWARDS ~ READINGS ~ ART
Please come to celebrate Rain Bird^Òs 28th Issue!
Friday, May 16th
6:30 p.m.
Windward Community College
Alakai 102
Please RSVP by Monday, May 12th to confirm your attendance
rainbird@hawaii.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------
13. Where ^Ö and What ^Ö in the World Is Diego Garcia?
From: "Viviane Lerner" <vivlerner@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 12:23 AM
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/09/8168/
Published on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
Where ^Ö and What ^Ö in the World Is Diego Garcia?
by Sean Gonsalves
With California weather in my blood, Cape Cod spring feels like an
extension of winter.
What keeps me warm until summer comes is baseball - and fantasies about
vacationing on a tropical island like Guam, where my 6th- and 7th-grade
best friend, David Reed, and his Navy dad were transferred to from the now
defunct Oakland Navy Base.
^ÓWhere^Òs Guam?^Ô I asked.
^ÓIt^Òs some tropical island in the North Pacific Ocean. Kinda like
Hawaii, but no tourists,^Ô Dave said. Then, already honing my gift of
asking conversation-changing questions, I said: ^ÓWhy do we have a base in
Guam?^Ô
It wasn^Òt until years later I learned that Guam is a key FOB. That^Òs
military jargon for ^Óforward operating base,^Ô just one of a million or
so military acronyms.
In a world where America is the self-appointed global cop, an FOB is like
a police precinct - a strategically located substation from which hardware
and personnel can be quickly dispatched to keep the neighborhood rabble in
line.
Diego Garcia is the other key FOB that people who consider themselves
well-informed about the Busheviks ^Ówar on terror^Ô ought to know about.
David Vine, assistant professor of anthropology at American University and
author of the forthcoming book Island of Shame: The Secret History of
Exile and Empire on Diego Garcia, details the post 9/11 significance of
these FOB^Òs, especially Diego Garcia - the coveted military outpost in
the Indian Ocean^Òs Chagos Archipelago, where the beaches look like one of
those Corona beer commercials.
In the 1950s, U.S. war planners were worried about local populations
catching the decolonization bug sweeping the Third World. So the U.S. Navy
came up with the ^ÓStrategic Island Concept,^Ô which, in part, identified
the British colony of Diego Garcia as a good place to build an isolated
base, helping to ensure that former colonial subjects in the Middle East
and Africa understood that freedom means whatever the hell the Washington
consensus says it means.
But, there was one small problem. Actually, 2,000 small problems - the
Chagossians, with ties to the island since the Portuguese first shipped in
slaves and indentured laborers from Africa and India in the late 18th
century to work the coconut plantations run by French Mauritians.
When British officials were secretly negotiating a 50-year lease with the
U.S. in the 1960s, British diplomats were cutting a deal to give Mauritius
its independence - minus Diego Garcia, which just so happens to be in
violation of the U.N. Charter, if you^Òre into that kind of namby-pamby
stuff like me.
The Brit playbook called for the Palestine play - relocate much, if not
all, of the indigenous population into a neighboring country to make way
for new settlers. For the Palestinians, GB had Jordan in mind. For the
Chagossians, it was Mauritius that was to absorb the dispossessed.
Of course, the Chagossian problem would be a lot easier to handle because
there were only a couple thousand refugees and not several hundred
thousand with millennia-old roots in ^Óholy land.^Ô And like Golda Meier
famously described Palestinians, the Chagossians have been said not to
exist, which explains why most mainstream news accounts of the tiny atoll
include some line about it being ^Óan uninhabited island^Ô - a remnant of
British government propaganda intended to ^Óas one official put it,
^Ñmaintaining the fiction^Ò that the Chagossians were transient contract
workers rather than people with roots in Chagos for five generations or
more,^Ô Vine observes.
Vine goes on to point out the growing military importance of DG ever since
the Chagossians took their coconuts to Mauritius. Fast forward to forward
operating base Diego Garcia during Gulf War I. It served as the
prepositioned weapons-and-supply cache for Marines sent to Saudi Arabia in
1991. The island, named after a ship, later became a launch pad for
lobbing long-range bombs on Iraq.
After the ^Ñ91 war, ^Óthe dream for many in the military became the
ability to strike any location on the planet from Barksdale Air Base in
Louisiana, Guam in the Pacific, or Diego Garcia,^Ô Vine reports.
After the 9/11 attacks, DG became even more strategically significant. The
Air Force sent 2,000 of its personnel to a new 30- acre housing facility
there called ^ÓCamp Justice.^Ô
(Seriously, who the hell comes up with these ridiculous names)?
When the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan began, B-1, B-2, and B-52 bomber
sorties were flown out of ^ÓCamp Justice^Ô and the island^Òs blue lagoons
were used to store prepositioned weapons and supplies for the 2003
invasion of Iraq.
In 2006, with the publication of Stephen Grey^Òs Ghost Plane documenting
the presence of a CIA-chartered plane used for rendition flights at DG,
reports of ^ÓCamp Justice^Ô being a CIA ^Óblack site^Ô for detainee
interrogation started to eke out. Official rumors were followed by a
Council of Europe report identifying Diego Garcia as a secret CIA prison
location, along with ^Óblack sites^Ô in Poland and Romania.
This past February, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told
Parliament he learned of two instances when the Bush administration, in
violation of the base lease with Britain, used Diego Garcia like a
Guantanamo University satellite campus.
^ÓThe State Department^Òs chief legal adviser said CIA officials were ^Ñas
confident as they can be^Ò that no other detainees had been held on the
island^ÅWithin days, UN special investigator Manfred Novak announced new
evidence that others had been imprisoned on the island. Many suspect the
United States may hold detainees on secret prison ships in Diego Garcia^Òs
lagoon or elsewhere in the waters of Chagos.^Ô
With the legal die having already been cast for secret ^Órenditions^Ô of
murkily-defined ^Óenemy-combatants,^Ô kept in secret prisons without
recourse to Habeas corpus, consider yourself warned. If some guy in a suit
approaches you on the street and says you^Òve won a free dream trip to the
exclusive tropical paradise of Diego Garcia - RUN!
Photos I^Òve seen of the island are gorgeous, but it would be hard to
appreciate the beauty while getting waterboarded.
In the meantime, you might ask your Congressman: why haven^Òt there been
hearings on where - and what - in the world Diego Garcia and those other
FOB^Òs are?
Sean Gonsalves is a syndicated columnist and assistant news editor with
the Cape Cod Times. He can be reached at sgonsalves@capecodonline.com
=====----------------------------------------------------------------
14. Network Announcement--Online Discusison about Freedom Schools
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:49:37 -0400
From: Tara Mack <tara@edliberation.org>
talkin `bout...freedom schools past and present
tuesday, april 22 to wednesday, april 23
www.edliberation.org/talkin-bout
talkin `bout...freedom schools past and present, will focus on the history
of education for liberation, comparing modern-day freedom schools with
their historical predecessors. This discussion is linked to the
publication of Teach Freedom, a collection of essays about education for
liberation in the African American tradition. David Stovall, teacher and
professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, says about Teach Freedom:
This compilation is a must read for those who work in solidarity with
young people to change our condition.
In the column on the right-hand side of the talkin `bout page you can
download the introduction to Teach Freedom, written by Dr. Charles Payne.
Here is how talkin 'bout works: A group of panelists who have an expertise
in Freedom Schools will answer questions posted by a moderator to our
online discussion board from Tuesday, April 22 to Wednesday, April 23. All
visitors to the website are invited to post their own questions and
comments for the panelists and for each other. Anyone can read the
discussion without registering. To post, first you must register to use
the site.
Coming soon: A list of panelists!
The Education for Liberation Network is a national coalition of
teachers, community activists, youth, researchers and parents who
believe a good education should teach people-particularly low-income
youth and youth of color-to understand and challenge the injustices
their communities face. Click here to join the network listserv. For
more information contact Tara Mack, Director, Education for Liberation
Network on tara@edliberation.org.
Read about the Education for Liberation Network in The Nation magazine:
(http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080225/doster).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Fishery council target of probe and comment
From: "Maui Tomorrow List" <aina@maui-tomorrow.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 7:31 AM
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/NEWS01/804100370/1001/
The Honolulu Advertiser
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Fishery council target of probe
GAO review will look into claims that agency misused federal money
By Audrey McAvoy
Associated Press
The Government Accountability Office plans to investigate whether the
federal advisory body responsible for protecting fisheries off Hawai'i and
other parts of the Pacific is properly using and accounting for government
money.
The investigative arm of Congress said in a March 20 letter to U.S. Rep.
Henry A. Waxman that it would launch a review of the Western Pacific
Regional Fishery Management Council.
Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, had written to the GAO requesting the investigation to
"verify whether the council and its executive director are properly using
and accounting for government funds."
Waxman cited allegations made last year by Hawai'i nonprofit organizations
against the council. Those included charges the council improperly used
federal money to lobby lawmakers.
Both letters are posted on the committee's Web site.
The GAO said it would start the study around August when it expects staff
with the required skills will be available.
Kitty Simonds, the council's executive director, said she did not know
what the agency would investigate.
"We're ready to fully cooperate and answer any questions the GAO may have
regarding the council or its use and management of federal funds," she
said.
A March 28 letter by council chair Sean Martin to Gene Dodaro, the acting
head of the GAO, said the issues Waxman raised had been previously brought
up by activists.
"The council believes the complaints lodged by those groups are unfounded
and do not warrant further investigation," Martin's letter said.
William Aila, a member of the Wai'anae Boat Fishing Club who has
complained about the council's alleged use of federal money for lobbying,
said the investigation would be good for transparency in government.
Aila is harbormaster of the Wai'anae Boat Harbor for the state Department
of Land and Natural Resources.
didn't get documents
Peter Young, a council member, consultant and former director of the state
Department of Land and Natural Resources, didn't comment on the GAO's
investigation.
But Young said he had to file a Freedom of Information Act request to
obtain copies of the council's budget and meeting minutes from recent
years because the council wouldn't give the documents to him.
Young said he wanted to see the materials to make sure government money
was being spent appropriately and efficiently.
He received the documents a few weeks ago but said he hasn't had enough
time to review all of them yet.
"Things like budget and minutes of meetings are the types of things that
every member of the public expects a government agency to provide without
hesitation," Young said. "It has been frustrating and I'm hopeful that we
can get a clear understanding of how federal money is being spent."
Simonds said she was unaware Young was unable to get a hold of documents
he asked for and believed he picked up a copy of the budget at the council
office.
She added that as a council member, Young receives whatever budget reports
the council produces.
Young is one of eight council members appointed by the U.S. Secretary of
Commerce to represent fishing and community interests. From 2003 to 2007,
he represented the state of Hawai'i on the council when he headed DLNR.
target for criticism
Benigno Sablan, a member from Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, said
he fully supported the letter by Martin, the council chair, to the GAO. He
added the council has been audited and he's unaware of problems with the
audit.
Simonds said the council's mission makes it an easy target for criticism.
"We recommend regulations, so we live with controversy. That's the nature
of our mission," Simonds said. "People like us, don't like us. That's the
way life is."
The council is responsible for protecting fishery resources in the U.S.
exclusive economic zones around western Pacific islands, including
Hawai'i, Guam, the Northern Marianas and American Samoa.
It is one of eight fishery management councils for different parts of the
country.
©COPYRIGHT 2008 The Honolulu Advertiser. All rights reserved.
-------
Puu Honua O Honaunau April 18-20
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:34:32 +0000
From: hanalei Fergerstrom <warhawaii@hotmail.com>
Aloha Kakou,
This is a re-post of the event at Puu Honua O Honaunau. Pls open the
attachments for a little background. IMUA Hawaii. Let us return to the
root and follow the footsteps of our ancestors. Aloha Hanalei
[please write to hanalei fergerstrom for the attachments.]
____________________________________________________________________________
16. Google Alert - occupation, hawaii - of sugarcane and queens and
comments
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:17:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Laweleka <laweleka@yahoo.com>
All I can say is there is now a growing interest in the truth behind
Hawai'i, its people and the Queen. This is good although not everything is
correct in here I can see where this person has the idea and sounds more
then willing to hear us out. Lawe
------
> Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:07:56 -0700
> From: Google Alerts <googlealerts-noreply@google.com>
Google Blogs Alert for: occupation, hawaii
OF SUGAR CANE AND QUEENS: Sovereignty in the Sandwich Islands By Tipton
Jones Attorneys & Counselors(Tipton Jones Attorneys & Counselors)
The other is the "real" Hawaii -- the native peoples living in near
poverty because the tourism industry has created prices for food, shelter,
and land that they can’t afford. They work in the taro fields, fish
in the ocean, ... Texas Law Blog - http://texas-law-blog.blogspot.com/
-------
Texas Law Blog
Thursday, April 10, 2008
OF SUGAR CANE AND QUEENS: Sovereignty in the Sandwich Islands
^ÓThe time has come,^Ô the Walrus said,
^ÓTo talk of many things:
Of shoes ^Ö and ships ^Ö and sealing wax ^Ö
Of cabbages and kings ^Ö
And why the sea is boiling hot ^Ö
and whether pigs have wings.^Ô
The Walrus and the Carpenter
by Lewis Carroll
------
Hawaii!
The very word evokes visions of Paradise ^Ö white, sandy beaches; swaying
palm trees; silver waterfalls, hula girls; mai tais; and luaus. Each year,
millions flock to the islands to soak up rays, splash in the surf, play
golf, and lounge around luxury resorts. But beneath the surface of this
tourist Mecca, a simmering resentment threatens to boil over at any moment
as a proud people, the native Hawaiians, find themselves servants in their
own home, waiting hand and foot on these white interlopers ^Ö the dreaded
haoles (pronounced ^Óhow-li^Ô). Believe it or not, there are really two
Hawaii^Òs. One is the ^Ótourist^Ô ideal, consisting of the aforementioned
(nice legal term, don^Òtcha think?) white beaches, resort hotels and golf
courses, luaus, and hula dancers. The other is the ^Óreal^Ô Hawaii ^Ö the
native peoples living in near poverty because the tourism industry has
created prices for food, shelter, and land that they can^Òt afford. They
work in the taro fields, fish in the ocean, and clean up the messes
tourists leave behind in hotels and restaurants. They have become second
class citizens in their own land.
So what happened? Well, that takes us into a little history lesson. On
January 17, 1993, the Hawaiian people observed the one hundredth
anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. On that date, one
hundred years earlier, the self-proclaimed Committee of Safety, a group of
haole businessmen heavily interested in Hawaii^Òs major crop, sugar,
declared that the ^ÓHawaiian Monarchial [sic] system of Government is
hereby abrogated^Ô and replaced by a provisional government ^Ófor the
protection of the public peace . . .^Ô Yeah, right! That same day, the
Hawaiian monarch, Queen Lili^Òuokalani, temporarily surrendered her
sovereignty, not to the provisional government, but ^Óto the superior
force of the United States of America, whose Minister Plenipotentiary, His
Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed
at Honolulu and declared that he would support said Provisional
Government.^Ô Although she expressly intended her surrender to be
temporary, ^Óuntil such time as the Government of the United States shall
. . . undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the
authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian
Islands,^Ô the monarchy has never been restored.
While we, in the United States, celebrate the anniversary of the overthrow
of English rule, for many native Hawaiians, the anniversary of the
Hawaiian monarchy^Òs overthrow provides no basis to celebrate. Rather,
they lament not only the loss of their form of government, but also the
loss of a sacred way of life. Instead of reveling in their U.S.
citizenship, they vilify the haoles who stripped them of their queen and
their land. They demand reparations from the United States for their loss,
and demand a return of their sovereignty for the Hawaiian people ^Ö
restoration of citizenship in a reconstituted Hawaiian nation, with rights
of self-determination, to exercise independent control over their lands
and lives. That includes a return to their native language, customs and
religions. Harsh words are written and spoken, decrying the illegality of
the overthrow and the unlawful intervention by the United States. These
Hawaiians believe themselves to be living in a ^Óstolen kingdom^Ô and
believe that now is the time to reclaim what was wrongfully taken.
Is this nothing more than chauvinistic saber-rattling from disgruntled
natives, or is there something more to what they claim? The words of our
own President, Grover Cleveland, about the question may be instructive. On
December 18, 1893, he told a joint session of Congress: Hawaii is ours. As
I look back upon the first steps in this miserable business, and as I
contemplate the means used to complete the outrage, I am ashamed of the
whole affair.
. . .
It appears that Hawaii was taken possession of by the United States forces
without the consent or wish of the government of the islands, or of
anybody else so far as shown, except the United States Minister.
Therefore the military occupation of Honolulu by the United States . . .
was wholly without justification, either as an occupation by consent or as
an occupation necessitated by dangers threatening American life and
property.
. . .
By an act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic
representative of the United States and without authority of Congress, the
Government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has been
overthrown. A substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regard for
our national character as well as the rights of the injured people
requires we should endeavor to repair.
One hundred years later, President Bill Clinton signed Public Law 103 -
150 into effect. Known to native Hawaiians as The Apology Bill, it said:
The Congress ^Ö
(1) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of
the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893, acknowledges the historical
significance of this event which resulted in the suppression of the
inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people;
(2) recognizes and commends efforts of reconciliation initiated by the
State of Hawaii and the United Church of Christ with Native Hawaiians;
(3) apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United
States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893 with
the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the
deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination;
(4) expresses its commitment to acknowledge the ramifications of the
overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, in order to provide a proper
foundation for reconciliation between the United States and the Native
Hawaiian people; and
(5) urges the President of the United States to also acknowledge the
ramifications of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and to support
reconciliation efforts between the United States and the Native Hawaiian
people.
So maybe the native Hawaiians have a point. Maybe it would do us well to
hear them out. To put a spin on Carroll^Òs Walrus, ^Óthe time has come to
talk of many things . . . of sugar cane and queens.^Ô
Mike Farris
(214) 979-0100
mfarris@tiptonjoneslaw.com
Posted by Tipton Jones Attorneys & Counselors at 8:37 AM
Labels: Hawaii, Law Firm, Lawyers, Sovereignty
OF SUGAR CANE AND QUEENS: Sovereignty in the Sandw...
Tipton Jones, Attorneys & Counselors, make this blog site available to you
for the educational purposes of imparting both general information and a
general understanding of the law. This blog site should not be used as a
substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney in your
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expressed on or through the blog are the opinions of the individual author
and may not reflect the opinions of the Firm or any individual attorney
and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club,
organization, company or individual. Do not use this blog site as a
substitute for specific legal advice.
---------
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:39:52 -0400
From: kahiwal@cs.com
Laweleka <laweleka@yahoo.com> wrote:
>All I can say is there is now a growing interest in the truth behind
>Hawai'i, its people and the Queen. This is good although not everything
>is correct in here I can see where this person has the idea and sounds
>more then willing to hear us out.
The guy was able to put an interesting story together with his quotes.
at least he's a sympathizer and not like some of our critics.
We need to populate the world with "friends" like this, but we also need
to keep them correct and pono when they get off the subject.
ku
--------
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:35:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Laweleka <laweleka@yahoo.com>
I agree with you Ku which is why whenever I do get these I pass it on so
those who are more inept can write if they choose to. But this is
awesome........ awareness was perhaps one of the biggest problems that
kept popping up each and every time. Now at least we are seeing a concious
if you will awareness and that for the most part right now is all good.
Lawe
----------
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:29:37 -0400
From: kahiwal@cs.com
Laweleka <laweleka@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Even Raising more awareness........
The world is changing - and fast. We are getting support from all
directions. Very interesting.
ku
------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Perspective Taking: Friend or Foe
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:23:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Raquel Rios <realworldeducators@yahoo.com>
For dialogues and critical literacy, the following article asks:
Do victims of injustice have to consider the possibility that injustice
did not really occur in order to engage in dialogue?
Including commentary on Alexander's Cockburn's Maybe One Cheer for Barack
Obama (The Nation, 4/14/08)
I invite you to read Perspective Taking: Friend or Foe? at
http://realworldprofessionaldevelopment.blogspot.com/
Raquel Rios, Ph.D.
Real World Professional Development
_________________________________________________________________________
18. State Government Wisdumb
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:59:49 -1000
From: mike reitz <mreitz@pacbell.net>
...it's broke so let's not fix it...
-------
HonoluluAdvertiser.com
April 10, 2008
Bureau of Conveyances allegations unsubstantiated
Ethics Commission says misconduct complaints lack specific evidence
Associated Press
The state Ethics Commission yesterday concluded that allegations of
ethical misconduct at Hawai'i's property records agency have not been
substantiated.
"The allegations appear to be based more on suspicion and speculation
rather than on specific, credible evidence," the commission said.
It had been alleged Bureau of Conveyances employees received very
expensive gifts from title companies and others who file documents with
the agency.
There were also allegations that certain title companies and individuals
received preferential treatment from employees of the bureau.
"There appeared to be significant differences of opinion among employees
of the bureau as to how the bureau's work should be performed and what the
correct protocol should be when dealing with title companies and others
who record documents at the bureau," the commission said.
"These differences of opinion constituted management issues for the bureau
or for the Department of Land and Natural Resources to address," it said.
"These issues were not matters that fell within the jurisdiction of the
state Ethics Commission."
In January, an investigation by a committee of state lawmakers concluded
the bureau suffered from "severe mismanagement" and constant office
squabbles that cost taxpayers at least $226,000.
The committee's report exposed a perennially dysfunctional office
environment in the bureau, but it didn't accuse government employees of
breaking the law. It recommended someone be appointed to oversee the
troubled agency.
But lawmakers backed off the idea of appointing a "special master" to
institute changes in the bureau.
Instead, the bureau was given another chance to correct allegations of
mismanagement, incompetence and fiscal unaccountability before lawmakers
reconsider intervening with heavy-handed changes next year.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~-----------------------
19. $21M to aid Marines growth
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:14:51 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Abercrombie is pushing the expansion of US Marines on Mokapu. His
posturing against the war is dishonest when he is actually expanding the
US war machine in Hawai'i.
======
HonoluluAdvertiser.com
April 10, 2008
$21M to aid Marines growth
Host of Kane'ohe Bay construction projects to support Okinawa influx
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
Hawai'i's Marine Corps presence could grow significantly in coming years,
with thousands more troops coming to O'ahu as a result of the relocation
of Marines from Okinawa and a "grow the force" initiative to increase the
size of the Corps.
About 7,000 Marines are based at Kane'ohe Bay.
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie yesterday said $21.2 million has been budgeted
for the design of a host of new construction projects planned at the
Marine Corps base.
Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said among the design work that will be funded is:
# $6.8 million to support relocation of the 3rd Marine Division
headquarters from Okinawa to Hawai'i with company and division
headquarters, an armory, training facilities, motor transport maintenance,
electronics and communications maintenance, and supply.
# $4.8 million for a bachelor enlisted quarters for 456 Marines to support
the 3rd Marine Division relocation.
# $1.5 million for the relocation of the 12th Marine Regiment headquarters
from Okinawa to Hawai'i.
# $4.8 million for bachelor enlisted quarters for 400 Marines that would
come to Hawai'i as part of an overall Marine Corps expansion.
# $1.5 million for a two-story command headquarters and single-story
communications and electrical maintenance shop for the 3rd Radio
Battalion.
# $1.8 million for an artillery battery complex including a heavy gun
shop, automotive shop, armory storage, company command post and general
storage.
Plans previously discussed by the Marine Corps called for the transfer of
about 8,300 Marines from Okinawa to Guam as part of a $14 billion
relocation by 2014.
Citizen resentment of the approximately 18,000 Marines on Okinawa has
increased since the 1995 kidnap and rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan
schoolgirl by three U.S. service members, and was a factor in negotiations
for the relocation.
At a Feb. 13 House subcommittee hearing on Marine Corps readiness, Lt.
Gen. James Amos, deputy commandant for combat development and integration,
said while plans for the relocation of Marines off Okinawa are not
finalized, they do include Hawai'i.
"It appears that we've got a force layout in the Pacific now moving a big
chunk of Marines and our sailors that are part of the Marine team off of
Okinawa and some of them to Hawai'i, (with) a large percentage of them,
roughly 10,000, to Guam," Amos said.
Abercrombie said Hawai'i's economy would receive a boost from the proposed
Marine Corps projects.
"Funding for actual construction is expected in the future to build the
necessary facilities related to the U.S. Department of Defense's plan to
increase active-duty strength in the Army and the Marine Corps by 92,000
people over five years," Abercrombie said in a release.
Schofield Barracks and Fort Shafter each may receive 1,000 or more
soldiers in coming years as part of a reorganization of forces and
increase in the size of the Army.
To meet war needs in Iraq and Afghanistan and other global requirements,
the Army worldwide is expected to grow from 512,000 to 547,000 soldiers by
2010, and the Marine Corps is being expanded from 180,000 to 202,000.
The Navy and Air Force plan to reduce their forces.
Marine Forces Pacific headquartered at Camp Smith released a statement
yesterday saying, "We are pleased Rep. Abercrombie has obtained funding
for design and studies to support the U.S. Marine Corps' 'Grow the Force'
initiatives in Hawai'i."
The headquarters also said the Marine Corps is studying the potential
movement of ground and aviation elements to Hawai'i, but added it is too
early to say exactly how many more Marines will be coming to Hawai'i.
"The Marine Corps continues to study options that support U.S. efforts to
best posture forces to meet the strategic challenges of the 21st century
in the Pacific. No final decisions have been made by the Department of
Defense," the command said.
Officials also declined to elaborate on possible planning for Marines from
Okinawa to be relocated to Hawai'i.
Lt. Gen. John Goodman, the Hawai'i-based commander of Marine Forces
Pacific, earlier this year said Kane'ohe Bay possibly could receive one or
two additional helicopter squadrons or an unmanned aerial vehicle
squadron.
U.S. Pacific Command's force posture is undergoing what is perhaps the
greatest transition since the early post-World War II era.
The U.S. military is reducing and relocating its presence in South Korea,
and the Navy is shifting assets from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Raindrop Class
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:01:33 -1000
From: Jud!th & Moksha <stardance@earthlink.net>
No fallout/vog/chemtrails found in these RainDrops! Only Pure Therapeutic
Grade Essential Oils...treat yourSelf & learn for your future!
This class will be held in Kaneohe, Oahu, & taught by the Healing
Goddesses of Rainbow Healing Arts, Kathy & Liza...
Finca Botanica (YLEO Farm)
Oil distillers
RAINDROP TECHNIQUE 1:30- 5:30 PM, APRIL19
Whether you are brand new to Young Living or need a Raindrop refresher
course, join us to learn the specific protocol for the Raindrop Technique
we learned directly from Gary Young in Ecuador. This certification course
will empower you to give the gift of Raindrop to your loved ones, and will
include discussion, demonstration and time for each participant to give
and receive a full Raindrop session. In our opinion, no household should
be without Raindrop, because it empowers us to care for our health in
amazing ways. Raindrop is unique in that it boosts immunity, detoxes the
body, balances emotions, heals the back and neck, and all this in under an
hour! To learn more, visit www.rainbowhealingarts.com
<http://www.rainbowhealingarts.com/> . Please order and bring your own
Raindrop Oils Kit to class. Sheets, tables, handouts and snacks provided.
$65.
TO ENROLL, PLEASE CALL LIZA AND KATHY OF RAINBOW HEALING ARTS AT 262-3700.
GRACIAS!
Liza and Kathy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Tourism officials mobilize to create strong demand for travel to
Hawaii
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:33:59 -1000
From: mike reitz <mreitz@pacbell.net>
"Let's be aggressive and promote the hell out of this place," said John
Toner, HTA board member and executive vice president of Ko Olina Resort on
Oahu. "I can see our competitors, like Mexico and the Caribbean, licking
their chops."
-------
Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 12:47 PM HAST
Tourism officials mobilize to create strong demand for travel to Hawaii
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - by Chad Blair
Responding to a crisis in their industry that Hawaii has not experienced
since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, tourism officials want to mobilize
as quickly as possible to bring more visitors to the Islands.
Hawaii Tourism Authority officials said Thursday they will convene special
budget meetings as early as this month to increase spending on marketing.
The goal is to create demand so that airlines will continue to book seats
for travel to Hawaii.
The urgency was sparked by the shutdown of Aloha Airlines March 31 and ATA
Airlines April 2.
The two airlines carried about 1.1 million passengers to Hawaii annually,
15 percent of the total number of visitors.
"The legacy carriers are going to sit back and see where the demand is,"
said John Monahan, president and CEO of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention
Bureau. "We need to make sure there is strong demand for our destination."
As the state's lead agency on tourism, the HTA has an annual marketing
budget of about $50 million.
Rex Johnson, HTA's president and CEO, said he does not know of any single
carrier that plans to pick up the remaining routes flown by Aloha and ATA.
Hawaiian Airlines, owned by Hawaiian Holdings (Amex: HA), is picking up
Aloha's Hawaii-Oakland, Calif., route and Alaska Airlines is increasing
service from Anchorage and Seattle to the Islands.
Marsha Wienert, the state's tourism liaison, said the departure of the
second of three NCL America cruise ships from Hawaii waters next month
could free up as many as 200,000 seats on United Airlines.
Discussions are already under way between tourism officials and airline
executives to keep airlift to Hawaii consistent.
Several HTA board members said Thursday that Hawaii is facing a crisis
that could last longer than post-Sept. 11, when visitor arrivals plummeted
but recovered within six months.
The crisis is compounded by uncertain economic times nationally and the
likelihood that other U.S. carriers facing record-high jet fuel prices may
also soon declare bankruptcy.
Concern was expressed as well about the financial solvency of go!, an
interisland carrier operated by Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group (Nasdaq:
MESA). With Aloha's departure, go! and Hawaiian are the top two
interisland carriers.
Kelvin Bloom, HTA's vice chairman and president of ResortQuest Hawaii,
said his properties have seen room night cancellations as a result of the
ATA and Aloha shutdowns.
Cheryl Williams, regional vice president of sales and marketing for
Starwood Hotels & Resorts, said short-term cancellations have not been as
bad as anticipated, but there has been a slowing in the pace of future
bookings.
"Let's be aggressive and promote the hell out of this place," said John
Toner, HTA board member and executive vice president of Ko Olina Resort on
Oahu. "I can see our competitors, like Mexico and the Caribbean, licking
their chops."
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~--------------------
22. Voices Health/Environment News
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:43:12 -0500
From: nimchira <tepaatu@gmail.com>
News from the Health and Environmental Communities.
Published since Nov, 2005
April 10, 2008
In This Issue:
FDA informed healthcare professionals that the Agency is investigating a
potential association between the use of CellCept and Myfortic, medicines
used to prevent organ rejection, and the development of progressive
multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a life-threatening disease. PML is a
rare disorder that affects the central nervous system usually occurring in
patients with immune systems suppressed by disease or medicines. FDA is
reviewing data submitted by Roche, including postmarketing reports it has
received of PML in patients who took CellCept or Myfortic, and the
proposed revisions to the CellCept prescribing information. FDA has asked
Novartis, the maker of Myfortic, for data on PML cases and to revise the
Myfortic prescribing information to include the same information about PML
included in the CellCept prescribing information. FDA anticipates it may
take about 2 months to complete its review of the postmarketing reports
and the proposed revisions to the prescribing information. As soon as the
review is completed, FDA will communicate the conclusions and
recommendations to the public.
Until further information is available, patients and healthcare
professionals should be aware of the possibility of PML, such as localized
neurologic signs and symptoms in the setting of a suppressed immune
system, including during therapy with CellCept and Myfortic.
Read the complete 2008 MedWatch Safety Summary, including a link to the
FDA Communication About an Ongoing Safety Review regarding this issue and
prior MedWatch alerts regarding these products at:
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm
===================
[UPDATE] The FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that it
has found hazardous levels of selenium in samples of certain flavors of
the dietary supplement products "Total Body Formula" and "Total Body Mega
Formula." Analyses of samples by FDA have found most of the samples
contain extremely high levels of selenium -- up to 200 times the amount of
selenium indicated on the labels of the products. The FDA has received 43
reports of persons from nine states who experienced serious adverse
reactions using these products. The adverse reactions generally occurred
after five to 10 days of daily ingestion of the product, and included
significant hair loss, muscle cramps, diarrhea, joint pain, deformed
fingernails, and fatigue. Consumers should stop taking the products and
consult their healthcare professional if they experience any adverse
events associated with the use of the products.
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm
===================
Columbia Newsblaster: Hubble snaps 'spectacular' photos of Mars
http://newsblaster.cs.columbia.edu/archives/2003-08-31-08-09-30/web/summaries/2003-08-31-08-11-44-194.html
Ancient serpent shows its leg Scientists use X-rays to find the lost rear
limb of a fossil snake locked in 92-million-year-old Lebanese limestone.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/sci/tech/7339508.stm
The U.S Is Heading Towards Water Crisis Decreasing water supplies is
garnering the interest of the private sector and the potential for profit.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=dz6GYmYIGDeFDqTdus2IrlyQ431VBqLL
Those Who Control Oil and Water Will Control the World New superpowers are
competing for diminishing resources. The outcome could be deadly.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=999eTwLZE%2BuQNQn%2B%2FPeTE1yQ431VBqLL
Diminshing Latin American Glaciers Threaten Water Supply
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2B8XRcE3aFQkIdf7swy5G8VyQ431VBqLL
Cholesterol drugs are very deadly and are known not to prevent heart
problems, but increase the risk Lowering cholesterol levels to 70 promotes
immune problems, increased risk of infection, cancer, and can lead to
Alzheimer's. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408163259.htm
FDA Finds High Levels of Selenium in 'Total Body Formula'
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/04/fda_total_body.html
The Cure All Manual http://www.curemanual.com/diseases-and-tweaks/cancer
A new focus on plastic ingredient in bottles and cans. You may never have
heard of a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA), but odds are it's
circulating in your body.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11262/3057/14188/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb25zdW1lcnJlcG9ydHMub3JnL2Nyby9jb25zdW1lci1wcm90ZWN0aW9uL3JlY2FsbHMtYW5kLXNhZmV0eS1hbGVydHMtNS0wOC9wbGFzdGljLWluZ3JlZGllbnRzLWluLWJvdHRsZXMtYW5kLWNhbnMvcmVjYWxscy1wbGFzdGljLmh0bT9yZXN1bHRQYWdlSW5kZXg9MSZyZXN1bHRJbmRleD0xJnNlYXJjaFRlcm09YmlzcGhlbm9sJTIwYQ%3d%3d&x=91c16cfb
Food Price Rises Threaten Global Security
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041008F.shtml
Frog without lungs found in Indonesia
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080410/ap_on_sc/indonesia_lungless_frog
Above-average hurricane season predicted
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/caribbean_hurricane_forecast
$540M in new projects in salmon deal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080410/ap_on_go_ot/salmon_tribes
================
Monsanto's Harvest of Fear - Monsanto goes after farmers, farmers' co-ops,
seed dealers-anyone it suspects may have infringed its patents of
genetically modified seeds. As interviews and reams of court documents
reveal, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and
agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They
fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and
photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops; infiltrate community
meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805
=========================================================------------
23. Google Alert - occupation, hawaii - hawaii and iraq
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:59:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: Laweleka <laweleka@yahoo.com>
Even Raising more awareness........ Lawe
-----
> Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:22:14 -0700
> From: Google Alerts <googlealerts-noreply@google.com>
Google Blogs Alert for: occupation, hawaii
Hawaii and Iraq: Both One Free Kingdoms Deserve To Be Liberated ... By
Rev. C. Solomon(Rev. C. Solomon)
BTW, great documentary on TV early this morning juxtaposing America's
current occupation in Iraq, and its century old occupation of what was
formerly known as the free Kingdom of Hawaii. When I was last in Hawaii, 9
years ago, ... Seal of Abraham - http://sealofabraham.blogspot.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Austronesia Youtube
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:15:19 +1200
From: CHOOK <tepaatu@gmail.com>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIcvCpdy1g8
http://bebo.com/watch/6337486007
http://www.bebo.com/FlashBox.jsp?FlashBoxId=6337486007&FlashViewType=Personal&MemberId=5053135971
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
25. pls help us spread the word, mahalo!
From: Keola
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:52 PM
Aloha kakou,
We are seeking someone experienced in grants management to contract on an
interim basis (est 3-8 weeks) to help our
New grants manager. She is smart, talented, and a fast learner, but
inexperienced, and we¢ve found that she is inheriting
From her predecessor, a lot of catchup work! Basically, they would be
getting up to speed on grant award parameters (budgets, reporting
requirements) and help compile status reports, with heavy assistance from
our Program Coordinator (program data and deliverables), Accounting
(financial documents for reporting) and the Grants Manager in Training.
For more info on Halau Ku Mana, visit www.halaukumana.org.
If interested, please contact Keola asap, at 295-6262. Mahalo!
Ps we are also hiring now for an admin asst, and teachers for next fall,
but interviewing very soon. We are especially looking for a HS Science
teacher, a strong math teacher, and possibly language arts.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~----------------------
26. New Molokai Video - Please Watch
From: Adam T. Kahualaulani Mick
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 1:25 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KclJtYFawyw
Aloha... please check out my newest video (youtube link posted above) that
I created to help educate the outside world about Molokai. It is built
around the concept of "Ho`i i ka Pono," not the MCSC campaign, but the
much broader and deeper cultural concept that was coined by Aunty Vanda
Wahinekuipua Hanakahi and Kauwila Hanchett.
It is intended to relay an honest yet positive image of Molokai's past,
present and future. Hopefully, it will be seen as a breath of fresh air
amid the turbulent times we currently find ourselves in.
Mahalo...
Matt Yamashita (808) 553-5011 PO Box 265 Kaunakakai, HI 96748
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~----------------
27. Celebrating Paul Robeson
From: Free DC!
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 6:57 AM
Paul Robeson, Born April 9th, 1898
Happy Birthday Paul
4 quotes by Paul
Ode to Paul Robeson, by Pablo Neruda
In the South
I wouldn^Òt sing to segregated audiences, so I sang in Negro schools and
white people came. I was much impressed by a youth hungry for
education^Å.The spirit of the Negro youth in the South augurs much for the
future. He is proving that he understands his role in the world-wide
struggle against fascism^Å.The Negro must view the domestic scene in
relation to the global struggle against fascism because, since we no
longer live in isolation, what happens in other parts of the world also
happens here.
quoted in the People^Òs Voice, May 22, 1943
Art as a Weapon for Peace
We still have a job to do to get rid of our atomic bombs, to abolish arms,
and to give untold joy to the mothers of the earth so that their sons and
daughters will take no further death dealing journeys over the oceans.
Much of this is still up to us, and millions like us, but the peoples of
the world want peace, know that they must have peace to survive, so in
their united action there is no question in my mind that they will impose
the peace.
...I am very proud of my art, it^Òs no bric-a-brac, no petty ditties, no
pure art song in my approach. My art, or call it what you will, is a
weapon in the struggle for my people^Òs freedom and for the freedom of all
people. (Applause) I mean to continue as long as the breath stirs within
me and no one from any quarter will force me to tread back on tiny bit of
an inch.
Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers of Canada Convention, 1955
Fighting for Peace^Å
It is important, it is absolutely essential, that if we are to achieve our
ends we must put aside everything which tends to divide the ranks of the
peace crusaders, and accentuate the common thirst for peace - -no more war
^Ö which is the universal urge in our hearts and minds.
^ÅJust as in Europe, on the eve of World War II, we see today in America
the persecution of political dissenters coupled with mounting terror
against minority groups. In Europe it was the Jewish people. Here it is
the Negro ^Ö with foreign language groups, the Jewish people,
Mexican-Americans and other minorities numbered also among the victims.
This too, it the price we pay for the war drive, for Operation Killer
[Korea ^Öed] against the long suffering peoples of Asia who are determined
to be free at whatever cost.
And as with the billion people of Asia, so with the hundreds of millions
more in Africa, the West Indies, and our own America - -including the
subject of our own colonial Southland.
The fight for peace ^Ö resistance against the exploiters and oppressors of
mankind who want to further their greedy ends ^Ö the fight for peace is
today the center of all these struggles, of all the aspirations of working
people, artists, intellectuals the world over who form the world movement
for peace^Å.
American Peoples Congress for Peace, Chicago, June 29, 1951
On Art
I found that on the stage, whether singing or acting, race and color
prejudices are forgotten. Art is the one form against which such barriers
do not stand. And I think it is through art we are going to come into our
own. Young colored people have always in the past been urged to be as good
as the white people - -the young lawyer is told to be as good as the white
lawyer. That^Òs ridiculous. To be as good as anyone else is no high ideal,
especially when the models are held up to the colored youth are just the
white people in general. The art form is one in which I am myself.
Boston Evening Globe, March 13, 1926
-------
Ode to Paul Robeson
By Pablo Neruda, Translated by Jill Booty
Once he did not exist
But his voice was there, waiting.
Light parted from darkness,
day from night,
earth from the primal waters.
And the voice of Paul Robeson
was divided from the silence.
The darkness struggled to hold on.
Underneath roots were growing.
Blind plants fought to know the light.
The sun trembled.
The water was a dumb mouth.
Slowly the animals changed their shapes,
slowly adapting themselves to the wind
and to the rain.
Ever
since then
you have been the voice of man,
the song of the germinating earth,
the river and the movement of nature.
The cataract unleashed its endless thunder
upon your heart,
as if a river fell
upon a rock,
and the rock sang
with the voice of all the silent
until all things, all people
lifted their blood to the light
in your voice,
and earth and sky, fire and darkness and water
rose up with your song.
But later
the earth was darkened again.
Fear, war,
pain
put out the green flame,
the fire of the rose.
And over the cities
a terrible dust fell,
the ashes of the slaughtered.
They went to the ovens
with numbers on their brows,
hairless,
men, women,
old, young,
gathered
in Poland, the Ukraine, Amsterdam, Prague.
Again
the cities grieved
and silence was great,
hard
as a tombstone
upon a living heart,
as a dead hand
on a child^Òs voice.
Then
Paul Robeson,
you sang.
Again
over the earth was heard
the potent voice
of the water
over the fire;
the solemn, unhurried, raw, pure
voice of the earth
reminding us that we were still men,
that we shared the sorrow and the hope.
Your voice
set us apart from the crime.
Once more the light
parted
from the darkness.
Then
silence fell on Hiroshima.
Total silence.
Nothing
was left;
not one mistaken bird
to sing on an empty window,
not one mother with a wailing child,
not a single echo of a factory,
not a cry from a dying violin.
Nothing.
The silence of death fell from the sky.
And again,
father,
brother,
voice of man
in his resurrection,
in hope
resounding
from the depths,
Paul,
you sang.
Again,
your river of a heart
was deeper
was wider
than the silence.
It would be small place
if I crowned you king
only of the Negro voice,
great only among your race,
among your beautiful flock
of music and ivory,
as though you only sang for the dark children
shackled by cruel masters.
No,
Paul Robeson,
you sang with Lincoln,
covering the sky with your holy voice,
not only for Negroes,
for the poor Negroes,
but for the poor,
whites,
Indians,
for all peoples.
You,
Paul Robeson,
were not silent
when Pedro or Juan
was put out into the street,
with his furniture,
in the rain.
Or when the fanatics of the millenium
sacrificed with fire
the double heart
of their fiery victims,
as when
in Chile
wheat grows on volcanic land.
You never stopped singing.
Man fell and you raised him up,
Sometimes
You were a subterranean river,
something
that bore
the merest glimmer of light
in the darkness,
the last sword
of dying honor,
the last wounded fork of lightning
the inextinguishable thunder.
You,
Paul Robeson,
defend man^Òs bread,
honor,
fight,
hope.
Light of man,
child of the sun,
our sun,
sun of the American suburb
and of the red snows
of the Andes:
you guard our light.
Sing,
comrade,
sing,
brother of the earth,
sing,
good father of fire,
sing for us all,
for those who live by fishing,
by hammering nails with battered hammers,
spinning cruel threads of silk,
pounding paper pulp,
printing,
Sing for all those sleepless in prisons,
awake at midnight,
barely
human
beings,
trapped between two tortures,
and for those who wrestle with the copper
twelve thousand feet up
in the barren solitude of the Andes.
Sing,
my friend,
never stop singing.
You broke the silence of the rivers
when they were dumb
because of the blood they carried.
Your voice speaks through them.
Sing:
your voice unites
many men who never knew each other.
Now,
far away,
in the Urals,
and the lost Pantagonian snow,
you,
singing,
pass over darkness,
distance,
sea,
waste land:
and the young stoker,
and the wandering hunter,
and the cowboy alone with his guitar
all listen.
And in his forgotten prison in Venezuela,
Jesus Faria,
the noble, the luminous,
heard the calm thunder
of your song.
Because you sing,
they know that the sea exists
and that the sea sings.
They know that the sea is free, wide and full of flowers
as your voice, my brother.
The sun is ours. The earth will be ours.
Tower of the sea, you will go on singing.
________________________________________________________________________________
28. The Nation: Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance Then--and Now
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:01:11 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
View all the articles at:Â http://www.thenation.com/directory/hawaii
===
This article can be found on the web at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080428/open_letter
Hawaii Needs You
by _NONE
[from the April 28, 2008 issue]
An open letter to the US left from the Hawaiian sovereignty movement.
The confluence of two forces--a massive military expansion in Hawai'i and
Congressional legislation that will stymie the Kanaka Maoli [Native
Hawaiian] sovereignty movement--will expand and consolidate the use of
Hawai'i for US empire. We are calling on the US left to join our movement
opposing these threats and to add our quest for independence as a plank of
the broad US left strategy for a nonimperialist America. If you support
peace and justice for the United States and the world, please support
demilitarization and independence for Hawai'i.
Since 1893, the United States has malformed Hawai'i into the command and
control center for US imperialism in Oceania and Asia. From the hills of
the Ewa district of O'ahu, the US Pacific Command--the largest of the
unified military commands--directs troops and hardware throughout
literally half the planet. Since the late nineteenth century, the US
military has multiplied in our islands, taking 150,000 acres for its use,
including one-quarter of the metropolitan island of O'ahu. Moreover, the
National Security Administration is building a new surveillance facility
nearby, not far from where urban assault brigades, called Strykers, will
train for deployment throughout the world. The US Navy is also increasing
training over the entire archipelago, including populated areas and the
fragile northwestern whale sanctuary. This militarized occupation has a
long history. Ke Awalau o Pu'uloa--known now as Pearl Harbor--became one
of the very first overseas bases, along with Guantánamo, around the time
of the Spanish-American War. We still hold much in common with
prerevolution Cuba--a sugar plantation economy and status as the
playground for the rich of North America.
We have suffered from the effects of being the pawn for US wars on the
world. Our family members languish from strange diseases brought by
military toxins in our water and soil. Our economy is a foreign-run modern
plantation serving multinational shareholders and decorated generals. We
salute a foreign flag, and the education system instructs us to yearn for
a distant continent called the Mainland. Tourists imbibe in sunny
Waīkikī, while the beaches in the native-inhabited regions are littered
with chemical munitions.
But amid our suffering, we have survived. Our tenacity and resilience have
historical roots: in 1897, 95 percent of the Kanaka Maoli population
signed petitions that helped to defeat a treaty to forcibly annex Hawai'i
to the United States.
The last forty years have seen remarkable change for our people, through
the advancement of a grassroots struggle against the political occupation
and mental colonization of our homeland. We have been successful in
several campaigns: in stopping the bombing of Kaho'olawe Island and Makua
Valley, in revitalizing the Hawaiian language and culture in our schools
and families, in returning to our indigenous spiritual practices and in
making Hawaiian sovereignty a dinner-table topic and an actual
possibility. These hard-fought wins are successes in the movement for
self-determination and also a threat to America's use of Hawai'i as the
purveyor of its empire.
It is against this backdrop that the Akaka bill (the Native Hawaiian
Government Reorganization Act) is being discussed in the halls of
Congress. Named for US Senator Daniel Akaka, the bill is being promoted by
Hawai'i's corporate and political elite as a vehicle for racial justice.
Yet the bill would turn back one of the most important victories of the
last four decades--the rise of Hawaiian self-determination, including
independence, as a political possibility--replacing it with the
extinguishment of our historic claims to land and sovereignty.
Our conundrum puts us squarely in opposition to the middle ground of
American politics, which has arrived at a consensus that Hawai'i will
remain a military colony of the United States. Democratic Senator Daniel
Inouye is a major purveyor of pork barrel spending for military
appropriations and defense contractors. All three presidential contenders
have signaled their support for the Akaka bill. And while the far right
wing of the Republican Party opposes the Akaka bill, both major parties
have no quarrel over the continuance of the empire's use of our homeland.
In light of this American consensus on Hawai'i, we turn to our nearest
political allies, US progressive movements, and seek your solidarity for
our independence because it is congruent and essential to your hope for a
better world. Please join us in opposing the Akaka bill and the
militarization of Hawai'i, and please support Hawai'i's independence as
part of your vision for a more humane United States and a more just world.
Ikaika Hussey, convenor, Movement for Aloha No ka Aina
 (MANA)
Terrilee Keko'olani, Ohana Koa/Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific
Noelani Goodyear-Kaopua, assistant professor of political
 science, University of Hawaii, Manoa
Jon Osorio, director, Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawaii,
Manoa
Kekuni Blaisdell, convenor, Ka Pakaukau
Andre Perez, Hui Pu
Kelii "Skippy" Ioane, Hui Pu
Kai'opua Fyfe, director, The Koani Foundation
========================
This article can be found on the web at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080428/editors4
The Nation and Hawaii
[from the April 28, 2008 issue]
In this special issue of The Nation we present editorial board member
Elinor Langer's essay "Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance
Then--And Now," a probing exploration of the annexation of Hawai'i by the
United States and of the issues of sovereignty and indigenous rights that
persist in the wake of that seizure--accomplished not by treaty but by
threat of force and unilateral act of Congress. At the time, this magazine
published editorials opposing the 1893 overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani
and the 1898 annexation of the islands (see the boxes on pages 18 and
19)--part of a larger anti-imperialist agenda, formed in response to the
doctrine of Manifest Destiny, that would continue to guide our thinking on
matters of foreign policy over the years.
Any consideration of Hawaiian sovereignty, however, goes beyond the
confines of the archive and political positions past. For one thing, as
Langer chronicles, the more Hawaiian independence recedes in time, the
more vibrant it has become in present-day Hawaiian culture and society;
its spirit is kept alive by song, ritual, language reclamation,
storytelling and protest. An active sovereignty movement, spurred by the
thorny questions raised by the 1993 Apology Resolution (see the box on
page 17) and the pending Akaka bill, flourishes in Hawai'i today. The
range of opinions expressed within it is matched by the number of issues
it takes on, from militarism and the environment to education and
healthcare. Although we cannot capture the fullness of this movement, on
page 29 we offer an open letter to the US left from a group of Hawaiian
activists.
The questions raised by this special issue, although centered on Hawai'i,
have implications beyond its shores. In the year of Hawaiian annexation,
US Marines landed in Guantánamo Bay, seizing control of Cuba under the
pretense of rescuing its people from Spanish colonialism. The years that
followed saw the conquest of the Philippines and the transformation of
Guam and Puerto Rico into US territorial possessions. Across these and
other Pacific and Caribbean islands, the United States has built an
imperial archipelago--extracting raw materials, basing troops and ships,
staging missile tests and lately, in Guantánamo, jailing and torturing
prisoners in the global "war on terror"--a prerogative it claims in part
by citing the Insular cases of the early twentieth century, which held
that where the flag goes, the Constitution does not necessarily follow. In
short, the imperial past has formed the legal scaffolding and geographic
backdrop of the imperial present. But as in Hawai'i, resistance to
imperialism is hardy. In 2003, shamed by local and visiting protesters,
the Navy withdrew from Vieques, Puerto Rico. Hawaiian activists continue
to fight the expansion of the Army's Stryker Brigades. The isolatoes of
the world are, in fact, not alone, for famous indeed are the flowers.
======
This article can be found on the web at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080428/langer
Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance Then--and Now
by ELINOR LANGER
[from the April 28, 2008 issue]
Initial research for this Special Issue was funded by The Nation
Institute.
What seems like many years ago, on a family trip to MÄ^Áui, I suddenly
realized that Hawai'i was not what it seemed to be. We were driving
through LÄ^ÁhainÄ^Á toward a near-in coastal reef when it came to me that
what I saw was not fitting together. Makai--as the Hawaiians say, toward
the sea--was a crowded tourist town filled with restaurants, trinket shops
and alluring kiosks where tour guides offering commercial adventures of
every description plied their wares. Mauka--toward the mountains--was a
crumbling sugar mill about which the question that sprang to mind was not
so much what had happened there in earlier times but how on earth it was
standing now. Up the hill, I knew, was the building known as Hale Pa'i,
which had housed the first missionary press, and at the very top,
LÄ^ÁhainÄ^Áluna, the original missionary school from which the first
generation of seminary-trained Hawaiians had gone out to spread the
language and the Word. On my lap as we drove was a guidebook to MÄ^Áui I
had been reading the night before and was leafing through again that said,
in spirit if not in so many words, In 1893, a group of sugar planters and
other businessmen, some of whom were descendants of the missionaries,
overthrew the Queen and they all lived happily ever after. At which point
a voice in my head involuntarily said, "No way!"
At the time this was no more than the passing thought of a leftish tourist
who had no wish to subtract yet another beautiful spot from the list of
places it was possible to go in the world without discomfort, but the
thought stuck. At home, I bought Queen Lili'uokalani's autobiography,
Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, which--surprise--did not agree with the
author of the guidebook, and a few other volumes, but I soon put them
aside. I was writing about another subject, and I did not have the time.
Over a decade later, when I returned to those books, I found them
astonishing, for the history they told of the destruction of the
independent Kingdom of Hawai'i largely by American businessmen in Honolulu
with the support of American troops, and its annexation five years later
not by treaty but by mere Congressional resolution, was a history I had
never been taught. Nor had I been taught the history of the years before,
when between the coming of Captain Cook in 1778 and the coming of the
missionaries in 1820 the native population declined from perhaps 800,000
to about 135,000 from foreign diseases, nor the decline that continued
inexorably year after year so that by the time of annexation in 1898 it
was under 40,000, with many observers predicting, and indeed treating it
as a convenience, that there would soon be none.
Yet what might be the point of this belated historical excursion was an
open question. For one thing, it was over. That was then. However things
might have been in the days when, as a 1941 picture book put it,
"Hawaiians owned and operated Hawaii," Hawai'i now was a state, officially
owned and operated by the USA, in particular by the US military, which
controlled 22.4 percent of the island of O'ahu and 5.7 percent of the land
of the islands as a whole. About 7 million tourists a year visited the
place, the majority Americans, enjoying not just the sun and sea but that
ideal ratio of the exotic and the familiar not possible elsewhere around
the globe, where America owned only a partial share. As for that bane of
American history--race--with its mixture of people in some cases dating
back to before the islands were on any map, the Hawai'i fondue was the
richest blend in the world. Walking the streets of Honolulu or elsewhere
you would need a racial Geiger counter to figure out who was what. The
political implications, too, seemed almost stale. With so many more recent
examples to choose from, who needs to cluck over nineteenth-century
Hawai'i, merely the first of many places beyond our shorelines where an
independent people in the way of American imperialism met their fate?
The more I immersed myself in the story of Hawai'i, however, the more I
saw that what was so compelling about it was not that these issues were
settled but that they were not. In January 1993, on the centennial of the
overthrow, the state sponsored an immense day-by-day re-enactment of its
events so authentic that when the actress playing the Queen returned to
the 'Iolani Palace from a meeting with her cabinet ministers across the
street to tell the people that her efforts to restore certain rights to
the native population via a new Constitution would have to be postponed,
many in the audience instinctively held their hats to their chests. Two
days later, when a well-known nationalist of the present delivered the cry
of a well-known royalist of the past--"We must stand together.... We love
our Kingdom! We love our Queen! We love the land that gave us birth!"--the
audience cheered and wept. That summer an international tribunal convened
by sovereignty activists with judges from several countries took testimony
throughout the islands, documenting many aspects of the US-Hawai'i
relationship as violations of international law. Five years later, on the
anniversary of formal annexation, when newly found petitions against it
signed by about 38,000 of the 40,000 Native Hawaiians alive in 1898 were
displayed in a tent outside the Bishop Museum and people found the
signatures of their grandparents, whose stands against the American
colossus had been in the category of dangerous family secrets, they wept
again. This awareness of history has only deepened with time. Start a
conversation with almost anyone on a park bench or bus, and you are likely
to find not only a genealogist but a historian, eager to tell you of his
or her personal experiences and also the tales passed on by the uncle of
an uncle of an uncle of an uncle from the time of Kamehameha the Great who
knew just where the king had injured his ankle when he was a boy. What is
true of random Hawaiians is also true of random haoles, many of whom have
shared in the reconsideration of history and have taken the causes of
their Native Hawaiian neighbors to heart.
So much feeling in the streets was bound to have reverberations in
Washington. With Hawai'i an inextricable part of the US economy and the
islands the headquarters of the military's vital Pacific Command, whose
jurisdiction covers more than half the surface of the earth, it would not
do to have restless natives. On November 23, 1993--a few months after
telling an eager throng on Waīkikī Beach, "You will not be
forgotten"--President Clinton signed Public Law 103-150, known as the
Apology Resolution, to "acknowledge" the 100th anniversary of the January
17, 1893, overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and to offer an apology to
Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United States. A poignant
thirty-seven-clause review of the history of the islands, the Apology
Resolution may be one of the most empathetic documents ever to emanate
from Washington [see box, page 17]. Its implications were barely noticed
until later. Intended by the senators from Hawai'i who sponsored it simply
to register the injustices of the past without pointing to any remedies in
the future, the resolution implicitly raised a follow-up question: what do
you do after you say you're sorry? In the words of one of the handful of
other senators who took it seriously enough to say anything at all, "the
logical consequences of this resolution would be independence."
II
On March 29, 1893, two months after the overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani
and only a few weeks after the second inauguration of Democratic President
Grover Cleveland, whose first term had been followed by the presidency of
Benjamin Harrison, a Republican, there arrived in Honolulu a courtly,
silver-haired gentleman named James Blount, sent by the new President to
find out what had really happened in the islands. The political
circumstances of Blount's mission were these. Two days after the
overthrow, representatives of the self-appointed Provisional
Government--essentially the leaders of a longstanding movement for
annexation in a new guise--had set off for Washington carrying with them a
well-developed petition for annexation to the United States, which they
had every reason to believe would be warmly welcomed, but not carrying the
representatives of the Kingdom, who were forced to wait for the next
crossing, several weeks later, to present their case. Annexation was a
cherished ambition of many prominent Republicans, in particular Benjamin
Harrison's expansionist Secretary of State, James Blaine, a long-term
associate of the American minister to Hawai'i, John Stevens. The American
minister, it would turn out, had not only, on his own initiative,
recognized the Provisional Government even before it was in full
possession of the buildings traditionally considered to warrant such
recognition, but had conspired with its leading members beforehand to
encourage their revolutionary plans. Barely a month after the first
outlines of the American-led revolt had stirred Honolulu and with only
seventeen days of the Republican Administration left to go, on February 15
a treaty of annexation was whisked before the US Senate for ratification.
Democrat Cleveland was appalled. If the United States was to depart "from
unbroken American tradition in providing for the addition to our territory
of islands of the sea more than two thousand miles removed from our
nearest coast [the] transaction should be clear and free from suspicion,"
the President told Congress later. Five days after taking the oath of
office, on March 9, 1893, Cleveland withdrew the treaty from the Senate
for "re-examination." Two days later, he summoned Blount.
The Blount Report would be a remarkable government document in any era. A
1,400-page model of open diplomacy, it contains what appears to be the
entire diplomatic correspondence between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the
United States from the 1820s on, including communications between the
State Department and its ministers in Honolulu of a sort that would never
be published today, transcripts of Blount's interviews with the
principals, analyses of the Kingdom's successive Constitutions, learned
articles of the period on important aspects of Hawaiian life from health
to population, newspaper reports, public speeches, budgets, sugar export
statistics, stockholder data for the leading corporations--in short,
everything an independent observer would need to arrive at an opinion
about what had taken place and why. It is a primary source for
understanding the events of the Hawaiian revolution even today. Its moral
heft is no less impressive than its physical heft. "Colonel" Blount was
nobody's pawn. A former Confederate officer, he had endured the Yankee
occupation of his hometown of Macon, Georgia, after the Civil War and the
lesser indignities that came from representing it in Congress for twenty
years after Georgia was readmitted to the Union, rising to become the
chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee before he retired. Thinking
that Blount was a friend, but not taking chances, the leaders of the
Provisional Government and Minister Stevens were unpleasantly surprised
when they rowed out to greet his vessel with the news that they had
already rented him, as he would report, a "house, well furnished [with
servants and a carriage and horses]...[for which] I could pay...just what
I chose, from nothing up," and he declined. He also declined the Queen's
offer of a mere carriage ride into the city. Sensing at once that "with
the minds of Hawaiian citizens...full of uncertainty as to what the
presence of American troops, the American flag, and the American
protectorate implied" no one would speak with him freely, he had the flag
hauled down and the troops returned to their ships, not dissuaded even by
an urgent visit from Stevens and one of the annexationists who informed
him with "intense gravity...that he knew beyond doubt...that if the flag
and troops were removed" troops from a Japanese ship in the harbor would
rush in to restore the Queen. "I was not impressed much with these
statements," Blount noted wryly in his opening paragraphs. Details
dispensed with, he set to work.
The heart of the Blount Report is a lucid and often droll
thirty-nine-page, first-person narrative addressed to Cleveland's
Secretary of State, W.Q. Gresham, describing some of his encounters and
his conclusions. Whether it was his character, his experience or simply
his chosen position outside the literally interrelated circles of power in
Honolulu, this well-seasoned Southerner seems to have been as immune to
rhetoric as he was to manipulation, particularly rhetoric draping racial
and economic issues in the plumage of democracy. What Blount told
Washington, in brief, was (1) the pretense of the new leaders that it was
the Queen's moving to change the Constitution (the alleged "cause" of the
coup) rather than their dethroning her that was illegal overlooked the
racial truth that the Constitution she was trying to change was the one
forced on her predecessor six years before for the very purpose of
shifting power from the native monarchy to the white elite; (2) "the
controlling element in the white population is connected with the sugar
industry.... Annexation has for its charm the complete abolition of all
duties on...exports to the United States"; (3) American diplomatic and
military resources were strongly implicated in the coup; and (4) the
natives didn't want it. "The testimony [even] of leading annexationists is
that if the question of annexation was submitted to a popular vote...[it]
would be defeated," he wrote.
The Blount Report's unsparing assessment of the US role in the overthrow
was far from universally welcomed. Submitted to Congress by Cleveland in a
lengthy message of December 18, 1893, in which he described the coup as
"an act of war... [against] the Government of a feeble but friendly and
confiding people...which a due regard for our national character as well
as the rights of the injured people requires we should endeavor to
repair"--words the visitor can find emblazoned on a rock in President
Grover Cleveland Court in downtown Honolulu today--it became a cornerstone
of the anti-annexationist position in the national struggle over Manifest
Destiny taking place at the time. It was countered two months later by
another voluminous document known as the Morgan Report, after the
annexationist chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democrat
John Tyler Morgan of Alabama, who established to his own satisfaction,
though not to that of all the members of his committee, just what he set
out to establish, among other points: that Blount's appointment to Hawai'i
without the consent of the Senate was illegal in the first place, and that
no illegalities had been committed by US representatives or armed forces
in Hawai'i in the second place.
"Manifest Destiny" was the catchphrase for a whole confluence of late
nineteenth-century racial, economic and national defense issues that
divided the public as intensely as any such issues since slavery. With its
dark-skinned natives, burgeoning sugar plantations and strategic location,
Hawai'i was at the center of the debates. While The Nation, along with
Harper's Weekly and a number of influential papers across the country, was
passionately in the anti-annexationist column [see boxes, pages 18 and
19], other papers, from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New York Sun,
were just as eager for it to happen. The Anti-Imperialist League, with
prominent members, sent speakers all over the country. Congress
prevaricated. Despite his original hope of restoring Lili'uokalani to her
throne, Cleveland appears to have been stymied by her alleged initial
refusal to grant amnesty to those who conspired against her and by the
stalemate in Congress. With their hopes for annexation stalled, on July 4,
1894, the leaders of the coup, who had been calling themselves the
Provisional Government, renamed themselves the Republic of Hawai'i,
further complicating efforts at US intervention, which they now claimed
would be interference with the internal affairs of a sovereign state. In
January 1895, after an unsuccessful native uprising against the government
of which she was accused of having prior knowledge, Lili'uokalani was
tried, convicted and imprisoned in 'Iolani Palace, which further
strengthened the new government's position. In spring 1897, when
expansionist Republican William McKinley succeeded Cleveland, the linked
annexationists in Honolulu and Washington resumed their campaign. Still
unable to achieve the two-thirds Senate majority required for ratification
of annexation by treaty, Congressional annexationists attempted to acquire
the islands by joint resolution of both houses--which also stalled until
July 1898, two months after Commodore Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet at
Manila Bay, when it went through.
To those who had resisted the logic of Capt. Alfred Mahan, whose The
Influence of Sea Power Upon History in 1890 had been followed by a pointed
discussion in Forum titled "Hawaii and Our Future Sea Power" in 1893, the
importance of our troops stopping over in Honolulu on their way to the
Philippines now spoke for itself. There never was any treaty. On August
12, 1898, in a formal ceremony, Hawai'i was officially annexed, the land
seized from the Kingdom in the 1893 coup included. In 1900 it became a
territory. In 1959 in a referendum in which the only choice was whether
the voter was for or against statehood--the restoration of the Kingdom or
any other form of independence was not an option--it became the fiftieth
state. The Blount Report has been challenged, ignored and, doubtless some
would argue, transcended, but it has never been convincingly refuted. The
issues of the illegality of the overthrow of the government of the
Hawaiian Kingdom and the legality of the governments that followed have
never really been settled.
III
In mid-1845 King Kamehameha III and his legislature received petitions
from the common people of several islands warning that the sale of land to
foreigners, their appointments to government offices and their induction
as citizens should all be stopped. "The selling of lands to outsiders is
not a wise course," said a petition from Kona. "If you wish to sell or
lease the lands you should sell or lease them to your own people. By so
doing the lands will remain as your own and you will continue to reign
over the Hawaiian people and the country and everything in Hawai'i will
not be taken away." "It is not proper that any foreigner should come in
and be promoted in your kingdom, among your Chiefs and your people,"
argued a petition from LÄ^ÁhainÄ^Á. The whole idea of foreign citizenship
was called into question. "What is to be the result of so many foreigners
taking the oath of allegiance?" the LÄ^ÁhainÄ^Á petitioners asked. That
"this kingdom will pass into their hands, and that too very soon," they
answered themselves. "We, to whom the land has belonged from the
beginning, shall all dwindle away."
What is remarkable about these petitions is not only their indication of
the strength of the connection between the people and their sovereign, nor
even their prescience in anticipating the effects that the incorporation
of so many foreign elements would bring; it is that only twenty-five years
after the New England missionaries began the work of creating a Hawaiian
alphabet from the sounds of their unwritten language, the petitions were
all in writing and that a mere six years after a declaration of principles
of government informally known as the Hawaiian Magna Carta had begun to
spell out the rights of ordinary citizens and limit those of the monarch,
the rudimentary constitutional government to which they were addressed was
well in place. While much of what came in with the foreigners has often
been rejected or repudiated, the tools of literacy and democracy were
quickly put to use.
The society the Native Hawaiians were seeking to preserve with their
petitions was a stable, well-ordered hierarchical world in which the sense
of belonging was so natural that no one could ever have noticed its
existence until the way of life everyone had so naturally led had
disappeared. It has been described in a recent comparative anthropological
study as having the "most complex [social organization] of any Polynesian
chiefdoms and probably of any chiefdoms known elsewhere in the world" at
contact. From the first settlements, now generally thought to have been by
voyagers from the Marquesas or Tahiti who arrived around the time of
Christ, the small populations of all the islands gradually expanded in
terrain, from the windward coasts into the leeward areas, and in numbers,
until somewhere around 1100, when they were joined by a second migration,
from Tahiti, which continued for a few hundred years. It is from this mix,
during the period roughly between 1100 and perhaps 1600 or 1700, that the
society now referred to as ancient Hawaiian civilization--with its
distinctive technological accomplishments in aquaculture and agriculture,
its distinctive cultural achievements in oral poetry and dance, and its
distinctive combination of religious and political power--gradually
solidified.
Described variously as feudal or communal, depending on the preconceptions
of the observer, Hawaiian society as it existed at the time of European
contact appears to have had one particularly notable feature: that however
specialized and stratified social functions and social relationships might
be, they were intrinsically reciprocal. This was particularly true of the
relationship between the ali'i, the chiefs, and the maka'ainana, the
common people, whose rights to the land were guaranteed regardless of
changes in the fortunes of the high-ranking konohiki, or overseers, or
even of the chiefs themselves, as a result of wars or other familial or
political challenges. "A stone that is high up can roll down, but a stone
that is down cannot roll" was the saying that articulated this principle.
One of the many sources of the bond between the chiefs and the people was,
as it always is, war. Although the dates are not firmly established, it
appears that at least by the beginning of the eighteenth century a process
of consolidation of separately ruled chiefdoms on each of the major
islands, by war, was largely completed and by the end of the century the
four separate island kingdoms of Ma¯ui, Hawai'i, O'ahu and Kaua'ī, but
particularly MÄ^Áui and Hawai'i, were each trying to consolidate the
whole. It was a long, ambitious effort, involving major movements of men
and supplies, taking place on both sides of European contact and before
and after the incorporation of European weapons and ships. It was also
exceedingly bloody. As most visitors today know from the signs atop the
pali where it took place, about 10,000 warriors died in the 1795 Battle of
Nu'anu alone, in which Hawai'i conquered O'ahu .
The unification of the islands at the same time that they were discovered
by the West is the central fact of modern Hawaiian history, for it meant
that just as the nation was coming together, the culture that made it one
was coming apart. From the weapons demonstrations provided by the first
white sailors who ended up staying on the islands, which helped King
Kamehameha win the wars, to the diplomatic guidance provided him by
British navigator George Vancouver, which helped him get his bearings in
the world, the establishment of the united Kingdom and the influence of
Westerners were intertwined. Everything that happened occurred against the
backdrop of the European and American presence, including the famous
events of 1819 celebrated throughout Christendom when, shortly after the
death of Kamehameha, his chiefly successors renounced their native gods
without ever having seen the first missionaries, who arrived the following
year. By that time Western commercial traders had been flooding the
country for more than a quarter-century, and their impunity from the tabus
of the Hawaiian gods as well as their immunity from the diseases
decimating the people were hard to miss.
As gaping as the religious void was a political void. With the previously
unknown islands suddenly at the center of a burgeoning tricontinental
trade in fur, sandalwood and whale oil, there were tasks to be performed
for which the Hawaiians in their self-contained development could not
possibly have been prepared. When the legislative council responded to the
LÄ^ÁhainÄ^Á petitioners' request that the foreigners in the government be
dismissed with the question, "If these shall be dismissed, where is there
a man who is qualified to transact business with [other] foreigners?" they
were not simply being self-serving, they were also being practical.
The most important business involving foreigners around the middle of the
century--probably more far-reaching even than the treaties initiating the
new Kingdom into the web of nations--was the introduction of private
property, the conversion of the ancient system in which the land was used
rather than owned into a system in which it could be bought and sold, a
transformation known as the MÄ^Áhele. Both the rationale and the process
of the MÄ^Áhele, whose aftermath is still in dispute, are too complicated
to be briefly summarized, but it is the cornerstone of the subsequent
development of the islands. When the initial land awards were completed,
70 percent of the maka'ainana had lost the rights to the land they and
their ancestors had long enjoyed, and the acquisition of land by
foreigners on which the great fortunes of the islands rest even today was
well under way. It is difficult to imagine anything harder to bear for a
people already bearing so much than the loss of their land. In the roughly
fifty years between the MÄ^Áhele and annexation, the native population
approximately halved again, from 88,000 to about 40,000. In addition, with
the expansion of the sugar industry beginning around the same time and the
deliberate importation of foreign labor to keep the new plantations going,
particularly the Chinese in the 1850s and the Japanese in the 1860s,
Hawaiians were soon a much smaller percentage of the population as a
whole--about half in the 1880s, about a quarter at annexation. Without a
place in their own society, many natives who did not die of disease died
of despair, a phenomenon noticed by European and Hawaiian observers alike.
"The people dismissed freely their souls and died" was the Hawaiian way of
putting it. It would be wrong to oversimplify the relationships between
Europeans and Hawaiians. Among the Westerners from many different
countries who left their mark on the new Kingdom were those who respected
Hawaiian civilization as well as those who mocked it, those whose learning
helped preserve some of its cultural treasures for later generations as
well as those whose actions hastened their decay, those with genuine
feeling for their Hawaiian wives, mistresses, friends and colleagues and
those whose only feeling was for themselves. Whatever the character of
individuals, however, the consequences of their collective
presence--Hawaiian losses and haole gains--remained the same.
When David KalÄ^Ákaua--the first monarch not of the direct Kamehameha
lineage to rule the islands-- became King in 1874, he took as his motto
Ho'oulu LÄ^Áhui: Increase the Nation. "I shall endeavor to preserve and
increase the people that they shall multiply and fill the land with chiefs
and commoners," he said in one of his first public speeches. KalÄ^Ákaua is
the most controversial figure in Hawaiian history, more so even than the
Queen, his sister and successor. He is applauded and condemned in
different quarters today almost as passionately as he was when he lived,
in part because his legacy is so complex. Not only did he strengthen the
Kingdom abroad through an unprecedented round-the-world voyage during
which he impressed dignitaries from Tokyo to London with his intellect and
sophistication--he also weakened it at home, where he undermined the
balance between native and foreign power maintained by his predecessors by
capitulating, under threat of force, to the aptly named 1887 Bayonet
Constitution, which expanded the power of the latter at the expense of the
former. Not only did he strengthen the nation's identity through such
unifying symbols as the 'Iolani Palace and the statue of Kamehameha the
Great, which still grace Honolulu today, he also weakened its security,
particularly by the 1887 renewal of the 1876 sugar-inspired reciprocity
treaty with the United States, which involved the first official
abandonment of Hawaiian territorial sovereignty: the cession of Pearl
Harbor. Controversial financial charges against KalÄ^Ákaua, ranging from
reckless extravagance to personal corruption, have also never gone out of
circulation. Undoubtedly the principal reason for the continued debate
about KalÄ^Ákaua's place and stature is his continued relevance. He is one
of the major links between the old Hawaiian civilization and the
contemporary sovereignty movement. When he brought the missionary-outlawed
hula back into public performance, when he set up a genealogical board to
verify and record the true family histories of the endangered ali'i, when
he created the semi-secret society Ka Hale NauÄ^Á--Temple of Wisdom--to
preserve traditional forms of knowledge of the earth, sea and sky, he was
giving his people back their interupted history. When he held his formal
coronation and other public celebrations on the palace grounds, he was
reinforcing a connection between the monarchy and the people that would
help give them something to hold on to. While it is Lili'uokalani who is
generally credited with leaving behind the legal framework that has made
it possible for later generations to challenge the legitimacy of her
successors, it may well have been KalÄ^Ákaua who kept alive the love of
the Kingdom that accounts for the outpourings of the 1993 centennial in
the first place. The identification of the Hawaiian people with the
monarchy is very strong. A few weeks after the coup, a musical friend of
Lili'uokalani's was asked by members of the Royal Hawaiian Band who had
refused to sign the new government's petition for annexation to the United
States to write them a song that would express their loyalty to the Queen.
You will not be paid... You will have to eat stones... is what they were
told. The result was "Kaulana NÄ^Á Pua," Famous Are the Flowers, the "pua"
frequently also translated as "children" or "descendants" but always
meaning something growing out of and belonging to the land:
Kaulana nÄ^Á pua a'o Hawai'i
K Å« pa'a mahope o ka 'Ä^Áina
Hiki mai ka 'elele o ka loko'ino
Palapala 'Ä^Ánunu me ka pÄ^Ákaha.
Pane mai Hawai'i moku o Keawe.
KÅ^Íkua nÄ^Á Hono a'o Pi'ilani.
KÄ^Áko'o mai Kaua'i o Mano
Pa'apū me ke one Kakuhihewa.
'A'ole 'a' 'kau i ka pūlima
Maluna o ka pepa o ka 'enemi
Ho'ohui 'Ä^Áina kÅ« 'ai hewa
I ka pono sivila a'o ke kanaka.
'A'ole mÄ^Ákou a'e minamina
I ka pu'ukÄ^ÁlÄ^Á a ke aupuni.
Ua lawa makou i ka pÅ^Íhaku,
I ka 'ai kamaha o o ka 'Ä^Áina.
Mahope mÄ^Ákou o Lili'u-lani
A loa'a 'Ä^Ó ka pono a ka 'Ä^Áina.
(A kau hou 'ia e ke kalaunu)
Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana
Ka po'e i aloha i ka 'aina.
Famous are the children of Hawai'i
Ever loyal to the land
When the evil-hearted messenger comes
With his greedy document of extortion.
Hawai'i, land of Keawe, answers.
Pi'ilani's bays help.
Mano's Kaua'i lends support
And so do the sands of Kakuhihewa.
No one will fix a signature
To the paper of the enemy
With its sin of annexation
And sale of native civil rights.
We do not value
The government's sums of money.
We are satisfied with the stones.
Astonishing food of the land.
We back Lili'u-lani
Who has won the rights of the land.
(She will be crowned again.)
Tell the story
Of the people who love their land.
Soon the new government's demand that the band members sign "the paper of
the enemy" had become a rallying call. In 1893 the people of Hawai'i had
not yet lost their language--that would happen under the Territory--but
even as they did, they kept this song. When it was revived by a leading
popular musician near the beginning of the cultural revival in the 1970s,
it fit right in. When it was sung--in Hawaiian--to the great throngs on
the 'Iolani Palace grounds in the 1993 commemoration, the crowd knew the
words.
IV
On January 3, 1976, a small group of citizens of the islands of MÄ^Áui and
Moloka'i crossed an eight-mile channel from MÄ^Áui to begin the illegal
occupation of an island few Americans even knew existed, the eighth and
smallest of the major Hawaiian islands, Kaho'olawe. However little-known
it was at the time, Kaho'olawe was known very well to the earliest
Hawaiians, for whom it was the base for the celestial and navigational
instruction that made possible the round-trip voyages from Hawai'i to
Tahiti, which are thought to have gone on until around 1400. Its place
names, such as Lae o Kealaikahiki, the "Point of Pathway to Tahiti," are
full of information about its role. It was also well-known to the
residents of the nearest parts of MÄ^Áui and LÄ^Ána'i because ever since
December 8, 1941, the day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, it had
been given over to the Navy for target practice, a function that continued
well into the Vietnam era. When the bombs hit Kaho'olawe, you could see,
hear and feel them throughout the neighboring islands. "As a child [I
experienced] the shaking of all our windows as an everyday occurrence," a
man from LÄ^Ána'i testified at a public hearing.
The struggle for Kaho'olawe is seen by many observers as the formative
episode in the larger struggle to reclaim Hawaiian identity, which has
been a force in the islands ever since because there was something so
deeply Hawaiian about it. For one thing, it was about the land, to which
Hawaiians understand themselves to be so genealogically related that its
desecration becomes practically a family murder. From the first night
spent on dry ground so littered with unexploded ordnance that any footstep
might have led to death, the two members of the group who had avoided
arrest by the Coast Guard felt themselves to be in the presence of their
ancestors, and the more they learned as their movement widened and
deepened, the more they learned that was true. Later archaeological
surveys discovered more than 2,000 shrines, living areas and other
evidence of a functioning society.
The character of the movement and the people in it was also distinctively
Hawaiian. Organized as an 'ohana--family--rather than as a formal
association, it blended the knowledge of the elders, who still knew from
oral traditions something of the former status of Kaho'olawe, with the
energies of the young people, who still had the will to reclaim it. Led
by, among others, a charismatic singer-philosopher named George Helm,
whose roots were deep in the rural soil of Moloka'i, the Protect
Kaho'olawe 'Ohana, or PKO, attracted others with the same combination of
intelligence and soul, and when Helm and an experienced boatman named Kimo
Mitchell were lost at sea during another attempted landing in March 1977
the determination of the 'ohana further intensified. Just as there is no
inauthenticity like that of the Hawaiian tourist industry, there is no
authenticity like that of the true Hawaiian, and in light of its influence
the juxtaposition of the sacredness of Kaho'olawe and its devastation
began to appear more and more unacceptable. In 1980, as a result of PKO
litigation, the Navy agreed to limit bombing, begin clearance of live
munitions, institute conservation and reforestation measures, and allow
access to PKO for four no-bombing days ten months a year to carry out its
own preservation and restoration activities. In 1990 the bombing was ended
completely, and in 1994 the island was returned to the State of Hawai'i
along with $400 million from Washington to further its recovery. The
island is still a dangerous place, and disagreements remain over who
should control the right of access, the state or PKO, but when the
children of LÄ^Ána'i and MÄ^Áui look out today over the narrow channels
that separate them from Kaho'olawe they see not the source of their
nightmares but a source of pride.
The literal uncovering of the Hawaiian past on Kaho'olawe both
strengthened and was strengthened by other political struggles and
cultural retrievals occurring about the same time. In 1959, as the
simultaneous arrival of statehood and jets brought with it a building boom
that resulted in the displacement of many Native Hawaiian communities
throughout the islands, there were organized protests and demonstrations
from O'ahu to Kaua'i. There was the HÅ^ÍkÅ«le'a, a bold reconstruction of
a Polynesian voyaging canoe, which made a successful journey from MÄ^Áui
to Tahiti by noninstrument navigation in thirty-two days in 1976,
precisely duplicating the voyages recounted in ancestral chants--the first
of many such navigational feats. There were young musicians exploring a
newly realized Hawaiian-ness with such contributions as "Kaulana NÄ^Á
Pua." There were hula teachers, traditional healers and practitioners of
the Hawaiian martial art of lua, all survivors of a frail Polynesian
underground that had somehow managed to sustain itself over the years. The
more Hawaiians came together in protest or song, the more they understood
that they were in fact Hawaiians and that they no longer knew what that
meant.
Apart from the revered scholar, translator, songwriter and chanter Mary
Kawena Pukui, whose works included the Hawaiian-English dictionary, a
study of Hawaiian place names and an anthropological study of traditional
Hawaiian society on the Big Island, where she was born, and those who
collaborated with her, Hawaiian history under the Territory did not exist,
either as academic enterprise or on the shelves. The writings of the great
Hawaiian historian Samuel Kamakau had been published only in newspapers,
mainly between 1866 and 1871, and were unavailable until translated and
collected by Pukui in 1961. The invaluable works of preservation that had
been undertaken toward the end of the nineteenth century--Abraham
Fornander's three-volume An Account of the Polynesian Race, King
KalÄ^Ákaua's Legends and Myths of Hawaii, Nathaniel Emerson's Unwritten
Literature of Hawaii--and even a unique series of lectures on ancient
Hawaiian civilization sponsored by the Kamehameha School in the 1930s, had
all gone out of print. As for the history of the Territory itself, it is
perhaps best symbolized by the statue of President McKinley outside
McKinley High School in Honolulu clutching a Treaty of Annexation that
never was. The Queen was not fat, stupid, lazy and lascivious either, as
children educated under the Territory were generally taught. Her
autobiography, Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, which has proven to be
the single most influential account of the overthrow and annexation, was
also out of print.
The loss of history was inseparable from another fundamental loss, the
Hawaiian language. What the missionaries had given in establishing the
Hawaiian alphabet in the 1820s their descendants had taken away with the
banning of Hawaiian as the medium of instruction in public and private
schools in 1896. Nineteenth-century Hawaiians had amazed the world with
the speed and pleasure with which they took to seeing their language in
writing, achieving near-universal literacy in a few decades and mastering
a wide range of subjects from math to geography in their native tongue.
Shakespeare, along with the classic writers of other Western languages,
was also translated into Hawaiian. In addition, over the course of the
century about a hundred Hawaiian-language newspapers had come into being,
with articles on subjects ranging from prayer to politics, making the
written language an everyday, taken-for-granted thing. It did not take
long for this legacy to be shattered. In stories too familiar from the
experiences of indigenous people everywhere, great-grandparents alive
today recall being slapped if they used a Hawaiian word on the school
grounds and slapped harder if they used it a second time. Today's
grandparents remember the shame of speaking the language as part of the
larger shame of simply being Hawaiian. Many of today's parents and
children grew up without ever hearing the language at all. With dwindling
readership, the last of the Hawaiian-language newspapers went out of
business around World War II. The number of native speakers of Hawaiian
left in the 1980s was estimated to be under 2,000.
In 1983 a group of educators formed 'Aha PÅ«nana Leo, which means
"language nest," expressing their wish to feed their ancestral language
into the mouths of Hawaiian children as birds feed their young. Starting
with one immersion preschool on Kaua'i, the immersion program now includes
two independent K-12s as well as similar programs within the Hawaiian
public school system. The numbers are small and the teachers involved are
quick to stress the difficulties, including the paucity of curriculum
materials and of other teachers, but the program is still turning out
graduates who are fluent and literate in Hawaiian. Hawaiian is considered
to be one of the most successful language-reclamation programs in the
world, after Hebrew, which is one of its models, and it is itself a model
for the revitalization of other indigenous languages in the United States
and elsewhere. In the same period a new generation of scholars trained in
the language, which had been available at the university level since 1921,
began translating and interpreting nineteenth-century archives largely
unused by previous historians, in time publishing a number of remarkable
books that show the Hawaiians of the nineteenth century in a new and
active light, both drawing on and enhancing the knowledge of the past [see
"Resources," page 28]. There are also Hawaiian studies programs at the
university campuses at Manoa and Hilo. Today, Hawaiian history is no
longer so hard to find. Kamakau, KalÄ^Ákaua, Emerson, Fornander and the
Queen, among others, are all available at the supermarket.
So many recoveries led naturally to the question: why not the ultimate
recovery--sovereignty? How the idea first arose is a subject on which
there are many different opinions. What "sovereignty" might be exactly and
how to get it are also the subject of many opinions. In the 1980s and '90s
the strongest initiative came from a grassroots organization call KÄ^Á
Lahui Hawai'i, which defined itself as a "ation within a nation" and
enrolled as many as 20,000 Hawaiians in a constitutionally governed entity
internal to the state with representation from all the islands. Recently,
positions resting on international law--some stressing the illegality of
the 1893 overthrow, others the illegitimacy of statehood on the grounds of
the US unilateral withdrawal of Hawai'i from the UN's list of
Non-Self-Governing Territories, still others combining both
arguments--have been getting more attention. The underlying claim is the
same laid out in the 1993 international tribunal: Hawaiian sovereignty was
never legally relinquished. There are also numerous other variants, and
numerous representatives of them, including a Hawaiian Kingdom and a
Reinstated Hawaiian Kingdom, separate organizations, each with its own
thinkers, strategies and shadow cabinet. For all its divisions, the
sovereignty movement is a tightly knit political community, and for the
most part people get along. All can agree with the recent formulation of
one of their several spokespeople apropos the anticipated 2009
half-century anniversary of statehood: "To me statehood is not a reason
for celebration. We've been led to believe that we were adopted, and then
we found out we were kidnapped."
Despite the fact that inside the sovereignty camp it sometimes appears
that its influence peaked with the flush of 1993, in other circles it is
still seen as a rising force, enough to provoke a continuing reaction. In
2000, thanks to a Hawaiian incarnation of the conservative-libertarian
ideological grouping that includes such US representatives as the Heritage
and Heartland foundations, a challenge to the right of a state agency, the
Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), to confine voting for its trustees to
citizens of Hawaiian descent was upheld by the Supreme Court, in Rice v.
Cayetano, clearing a pathway for similar challenges to a variety of Native
Hawaiian benefit programs, many of them administered by the OHA. (Another
challenge, to the hallowed Hawaiians-only admission policy of the
Kamehameha schools, settled out of court in 2007 after years of
litigation, emerged from the same political constellation.) With health,
income, education and other vital statistics consistently showing Native
Hawaiians at the bottom of the ethnic social ladder, the threat to such
aid as had emerged over the years was unacceptable to the state's
Democratic leadership, which began pressing for a federally recognized
tribal government for Native Hawaiians to protect the endangered programs.
The legislation--known formally as the Native Hawaiian Government
Reorganization Act and informally as the Akaka bill after Senator Daniel
Akaka, who has introduced it regularly since 2000--has become the locus of
an increasingly serious national debate centering on whether the bill
recognizes Native Hawaiians on a political basis, which according to the
bill's supporters has precedents in federal Indian policy and poses no
constitutional problems, or on a racial basis, which, according to
conservative opponents including the Bush White House, would be illegal.
More recently, this argument has been taken up in the public arena, with
conservative editorialists denouncing the bill's proposed creation of a
special status for Native Hawaiians as at best discriminatory and at worst
racist.
On the islands, too, the Akaka bill has generated increasing heat, and
even fear, opposed by peculiar bedfellows: the constellation behind the
legal challenges, led since 2001 by the Honolulu-based Grassroot
Institute, who see it as dividing the citizens of Hawai'i into two classes
according to race and opening the way to secession, and many sovereignty
activists, who see it as distorting and undermining their fundamental
identity. Their position is, We are not Native Americans, we are not even
Native Hawaiians, we are Polynesians. Another commonality between the
conservatives and the sovereignty movement is distrust of the OHA, the
thirty-year-old agency that, as the chief lobbyist for the Akaka bill and
the natural starting point for a future Native Hawaiian government, is
widely seen as unable to separate advocacy for Native Hawaiians, which was
its original mandate, from protecting its own bureaucracy, which was not.
With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama having recently stated that, unlike
Bush, they would sign the Akaka bill should it pass Congress (and with
John McCain also thought to support it), the long stalemate over the bill
may be coming to an end. What happens if it becomes law is unpredictable.
The bill is conspicuously vague. Deferring all important decisions to
future "government-to-government" negotiations after a Native Hawaiian
governing entity is created, the bill is so open-ended that no one knows
where it will lead, including Senator Akaka, who told an NPR interviewer
that it would be up to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren whether
to seek independence--a bit of candor greeted in many quarters with a
shiver.
The heart of the matter, long concealed by other things and staggering to
contemplate now that it is being faced, is land: the 1.8 million acres
"ceded" by the Republic to the United States at the time of annexation and
referred to by everyone touched by the sovereignty movement as "stolen."
This land involves roughly half the state of Hawai'i and includes some of
its most valuable property, starting with the Honolulu airport. Whenever
one of the islands' vigilant protest groups litigates or rallies against
the environmental consequences of the Army's twenty-ton Strykers or the
inter-island superferry or genetically modified seeds, the question is
raised, Whose land is it, anyway?: the question of sovereignty. The crowds
at sovereignty demonstrations are far smaller than in 1993, but the ideas
of the sovereignty movement have taken hold.
The most remarkable thing about the present moment, in fact, is the extent
to which the illegality of the American takeover is recognized. Despite
the fact that the racial mixture of individuals and families is such that
the question of who is "Hawaiian" can never be satisfactorily answered;
despite the fact that a large proportion of families are thoroughly
integrated into the economic status quo through the employment of one or
more members in the military or tourist industry; despite the fact that,
overall, the citizens of Hawai'i appear used to and indeed proud of being
Americans, there is a widespread consensus, strengthened by the Apology
Resolution, that the historical sequence that began with the takeover of
the Hawaiian Kingdom and ended with Hawai'i's star on the American flag
was wrong, and that the fact that it started a long time ago does not make
it right. "If it is disgraceful for a single individual to steal, it is no
less disgraceful for a nation, an aggregate of individuals, to
steal...[and] I believe that when the American people fully understand the
Hawaiian matter, they will condemn the great wrong done to the natives by
the missionaries and their descendants," wrote Grover Cleveland's
Secretary of State Walter Gresham in 1895, a prediction that seems finally
to be coming true. No one thinks that that historical sequence can be
reversed, but neither can it any longer be ignored. The next phases will
be the stuff of politics on both sides of the water. As for the Native
Hawaiians, whose very existence as a people was so long presumed doomed,
they are moved simply to find themselves still here. "Hawaiians go back
1,200 generations," proclaimed one of the speakers at the most recent
commemoration of the overthrow last January, "and we will be here for
1,200 more." So they are not in a terrible hurry. They know change takes
time. Just offshore from the Big Island, Hawai'i, a new volcanic island is
thrusting up from the ocean floor--Kama'ehu--already represented on a
sovereignty T-shirt, though it is not expected to reach the surface for at
least 10,000 years. In the words of a new chant accompanying a Hawaiian
dance troupe's homage to the new arrival: "The child is born, the family
grows."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
29. Isle jobs flying away
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:11:33 -1000
From: Viviane Lerner <vivlerner@gmail.com>
http://starbulletin.com/2008/04/10/news/story01.html
Isle jobs flying away
The state says recent airline shutdowns could trigger thousands of more
job losses and stall the economy
By Allison Schaefers
aschaefers@starbulletin.com
Statewide unemployment could jump and economic growth effectively flatten
this year in the wake of bankrupt Aloha Airlines' decision to stop flying,
according to new state estimates.
Following the company's abrupt shutdown, 2,050 Aloha employees lost their
jobs. But an additional 3,500 employees of other companies that had
contracts with Aloha or were dependent on their operations could
potentially lose their jobs, according to an economic impact statement
released yesterday by the state Department of Business Economic
Development and Tourism.
The department has not finished calculating the impacts of ATA's closure,
but economists have said that it is likely to compound any economic
effects.
As a result of Aloha-related job losses, the statewide unemployment rate
-- not including seasonal adjustments -- could rise to 3.8 percent from
3.0 percent, DBEDT said. Hawaii's seasonally adjusted jobless rate -- more
widely reported, and also used for national comparisons -- was 3.2 percent
in February.
But it is not just Aloha's former employees who are likely to see a change
in their economic welfare. If unemployment rises, any growth in the
state's real gross domestic product, or total market value of all final
goods and services produced in Hawaii, is likely to flatten, said Bank of
Hawaii Chief Economist Paul Brewbaker.
"We thought Hawaii's growth rate would stay at 1 percent before Aloha, but
now it's more likely to be zero," he said.
DBEDT's economic impact calculations are based on the assumptions that
none of the newly unemployed are hired in the state's tight labor market
and that no other carriers enter the Hawaii market to fill the void left
by Aloha.
"These estimates would be high in an elastic economy. However, these
airline decisions were made at a time when the economy is kind of hung up,
so they are more likely to be accurate," Brewbaker said. "And, it might
take longer for the impact of these effects to fade away than if capital
and credit were available, oil prices were lower and consumer demand for
long-haul travel was higher."
While economists had expected the state's unemployment rate to hit 4
percent by the third quarter of 2008 and 5 percent by 2009, Aloha's
retreat from the Hawaii market could accelerate the process, Brewbaker
said.
"Unemployment was already rising. Now, after one week of airline
announcements, we'll see it move up about a year faster," Brewbaker said.
While a 3.8 percent unemployment rate would be a big jump for Hawaii, it
would still be low compared with a 4.8 percent national average, said
James Hardway, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor and
Industrial Relations.
And chances are that many Aloha employees will be able to find jobs in
Hawaii's tight labor market, Hardway said.
"They'll probably be able to get jobs faster than usual because they have
a higher skill set, and we are experiencing a labor shortage for skilled
laborers," he said. "It's just going to be difficult for some of them to
find jobs at their current income level."
The state held another briefing yesterday for former ATA Airlines and
Aloha Air employees and soon-to-be-displaced Weyerhaeuser employees to
apprise them of the job placement opportunities, medical services and
other support services available to them, Hardway said. Employees have had
access to two job fairs this week, with another scheduled for today and
three more scheduled through Saturday, he said.
"There are jobs open, or the employers would not be holding job fairs,"
Hardway said.
=====-----------------------------------------------------------------
30. Disappeared News - 3 more new articles
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:32:36 -0400
From: FeedBlitz <feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com>
"DISAPPEARED NEWS" - 3 NEW ARTICLES - www.disappearednews.com
1. Superferry: if the cracks widened sufficiently, they could allow in
enough water â^À^Üto sink the shipâ^À^Ý
2.Today in Hawaiian History: Nona Beamer, Leleiohoku II
3.KKCR program Thursday on Superferry shipbuilder labor disputes... and
more
4.More Recent Articles
5.Search Disappeared News
Superferry: if the cracks widened sufficiently, they could allow in
enough water â^À^Üto sink the shipâ^À^Ý
by Larry Geller Joan Conrow reports in Superferry Damage: Da Inside
Scoop on interviews broadcast on KKCR this afternoon by Katy Rose and
Jimmy Trujillo. They spoke with three guests who brought
not-previously-available inside information to Hawaii on Superferry
repairs and related subjects. If the audio is available, I'll link to it
in a future post. Meanwhile, thanks to Joan for the story,
and....
Today in Hawaiian History: Nona Beamer, Leleiohoku II
by Larry Geller Her Music and WIsdom now in Heaven When I started to
write early this morning, I thought I was writing about events in the
past, things we might want to take note of, especially since the
commercial media show no interest in covering the history of these
islands. I didn't know that as I wrote, the news was breaking of the
death of Nona Beamer on Maui at age 84. There is a....
KKCR program Thursday on Superferry shipbuilder labor disputes... and
more
by Larry Geller From a program note emailed today by Katy Rose. I'm
curious to hear more on why the Superferry spent so much time last month
in drydock: As you may be aware, Hawaiâ^À^Ùi Superferry shipbuilder
Austal is embroiled in two ugly labor disputes at their Mobile, Alabama
shipyard. The workers at Austal are engaged in a bitter fight to gain
union recognition and collective bargaining....
More Recent Articles
* Dirty tricks: Senate arranges a corporate windfall for itself and
endangers clean election bill
* Barf-o-Meter extended forecast
* Disappeared News: food riots break out, the US is also affected
* Safety first, who can argue with that
* Barf, New York Times excuse for not covering "Winter Soldier"
________________________________________________________________________________
31. Korean Bases of Concern
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:57:50 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
http://fpif.org/fpiftxt/5111
Korean Bases of Concern
Jae-Jung Suh | April 2, 2008
Editor: John Feffer
Foreign Policy In Focus
www.fpif.org
Last month the New York Philharmonic grabbed the world^Òs attention by
performing Dvorak^Òs New World Symphony in Pyongyang, the capital of North
Korea. The Philharmonic may well have chosen Dvorak^Òs piece as an
overture for a new world of peace. With negotiations over security issues
in Northeast Asia making some progress, the United States and North Korea
have been inching closer.
Before and after this music diplomacy, however, a different kind of new
world was being rehearsed around the Korean peninsula: the Pentagon^Òs
brave new world of lily pads and rapid deployment forces. This latest
military transformation involves turning Cold War-vintage heavy armored
forces into high-tech, agile, rapidly deployable fighting forces for the
21st century. The military is being restructured into modular units that
can be put together in innumerable combinations, like Lego blocks. U.S.
bases overseas are being realigned to maximize the efficiency of the
transformed, restructured forces. In early March, U.S. forces held
military exercises in Korea to test the existing plan and to facilitate
the process of realigning the military bases and restructuring the
military deployment.
Nowhere is the trinity of transformation, realignment, and restructuring
more vividly demonstrated than in South Korea. There U.S. bases are being
consolidated to facilitate the ^Óstrategic flexibility^Ô of the U.S.
forces. With this flexibility, various U.S. forces can be flown in from
outside the region and assembled into a lethal force, and U.S. forces in
Korea can be projected out of Korea and Asia to be parts of a larger
force. According to the Pentagon plan, the new bases will function as lily
pads on which new high-tech forces will land to jump off to far away
places. Welcome to the Pentagon^Òs new world. Realigning Bases in South
Korea
This new world entails a major reshuffling of overseas bases, including a
significant realignment of U.S. bases in South Korea. The most ambitious
part of the realignment is to consolidate most of the U.S. military
facilities, now scattered south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that
separates South Korea from the North, in Pyongtaek City, about 55 miles
south of Seoul. Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek City, currently home to U.S.
Army Garrison Command and the Area III Support Activity of the U.S. Army
Installation Management Command Korea, is expected to absorb most of them.
As one of only two planned ^Óenduring hubs,^Ô the camp is slated to grow
by as much as 500% by 2012, rocketing from its current 3,500-troop
population to more than 17,000, and making it the largest installation on
the peninsula. Combined with family members, civilian staff, and
contractors, the population is expected to grow to more than 44,000,
according to official estimates.
The location of the newly expanded camp is important for a number of
reasons. First, it is not the capital of South Korea. Since U.S. military
was sent to accept the surrender of the Japanese forces in 1945, it has
been stationed in downtown Seoul. Currently home to the headquarters of
the United States Forces Korea, the Eighth United States Army, the
U.S.-ROK Combined Forces Command, and the United Nations Command, the
Yongsan compound occupies some 630 acres of prime real estate in
overpopulated Seoul. Koreans see its size and location as a major
impediment to Seoul^Òs development. Adding insult to Koreans^Ò sense of
injury is the fact that U.S. forces inherited the same area where the
Japanese Imperial Army had been headquartered during the occupation of
Korea from 1910 to 1945. Concerned about the explosive mix of economic
impediments, social frictions, and nationalist sentiments, Seoul and
Washington agreed in 2004 to move most American forces out of the capital.
These forces will be relocated to the Pyeongtaek area once the new
facilities are completed.
The relocation, by removing one of the enduring sources of frictions in
Seoul, may help ease the continuation of the U.S.-Korea alliance into the
21st century. But it also may have only transferred the source of
frictions from Seoul to Pyeongtaek. Even before the new facilities could
be constructed, the Korean government had to mobilize thousands of police
and military forces in order to forcefully remove hundreds of residents
who were opposed to the planned construction of the new base over their
homes and farming land in Pyeongtaek area. The residents waged spirited
resistance for five years, including 935 consecutive days of candlelight
vigils. They were dispersed in March 2007, paving the way to the
ground-breaking for the new military base in November. But a seed of
discontent has been sown that may some day grow uncontrollable.
To the Americans, the relocation may help justify the continued presence
of U.S. forces in Korea at a time when South Korea is outspending the
North in military expenditures by over ten times. Camp Humphreys is
conveniently out of reach of the long-range artilleries the North^Òs
military deployed just north of the DMZ. Of the North^Òs 13,000
artilleries, 250 can fire shells at Seoul on short notice. Even with the
most advanced counter-battery systems that can track and destroy these
artillery positions, the U.S. forces, as well as 11 million Seoulites, are
vulnerable at least to the first few rounds, which can wreak enough damage
to turn this modern city into a pile of rubble and corpses. The relocation
of U.S. forces to Pyeongtaek would get the U.S. forces ^Óout of harm^Òs
way into sanctuary locations,^Ô as General Bell, Commander of U.S. Forces
Korea, stated in March testimony. For further protection, the base will be
surrounded by a 3.5 meters high levee and built on top of a 2.5 meters
high land-fill so that ^Óthe base may last over 100 years,^Ô according to
Michael J. Taliento Jr., commander of Camp Humphreys. Shifting Base for
the Bases
What is the purpose of an ^Óenduring hub^Ô that is expected to sit on
3,500 acres for the next 100 years? The question becomes more puzzling
given that U.S. forces have been reducing their size and missions while at
the same time giving more responsibilities and power to South Korea^Òs
military. The number of U.S. soldiers has declined from a high of 37,000
two years ago down to 28,500, and is planned to go down to 25,000. After
American forces are redeployed to the ^Ósanctuary locations,^Ô South
Korean military is expected to assume the frontline defense. By 2012 when
the Combined Forces Command is to be disbanded, South Korea will regain
the operational command control of its military that has been in the hands
of the U.S. commander since the Korean War.
Although the United States is reducing its responsibilities, it is
nevertheless proceeding with base construction at an estimated cost of $10
billion. The purpose of this investment, according to U.S. officials, is
to deter and defeat the North, as ever before, but with different, and
more efficient, means. ^ÓOn the Korean peninsula, our planned enhancements
and realignments are intended to strengthen our overall military
effectiveness for the combined defense of the Republic of Korea,^Ô argues
former Pentagon official Douglas Feith.
With South Korea leading the fight, Pyeongtaek^Òs tactical importance
increases for American forces. The ^Ósanctuary locations^Ô will provide
convenient stops for forces flown from out of area, such as Alaska or
California. As the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise this March
demonstrated, Stryker units of armored combat vehicles were deployed from
Alaska to Korea in less than 9 hours. Marine troops, flown in from
California, were outfitted only with light personal arms and were not
weighted down by heavy armored vehicles such as M1A2 tanks. They were then
^Ómarried^Ô with the heavy equipments that had been ^Ópre-positioned^Ô in
country or off-shore, thereby dramatically reducing their reaction time
without compromising their lethality.
The March exercise made an extensive use of ports and air bases in South
Korea^Òs southeast hub ^Ö such as Busan, Jinhae, Pohang, and Taegu ^Ö to
land, and move forward, rapid deployment forces and pre-positioned heavy
equipments under the protection of missile defense systems. Pyeongtaek,
once the base relocation is completed, will assume a similar role. It will
serve as a ^Ósanctuary location^Ô to receive forces from around the world
and from which rapid deployment forces can be projected deep into North
Korea as current war-fighting plans require.
This ^Óenduring structure^Ô in South Korea, however, no longer depends
entirely on a North Korean threat. In 1992, Korea^Òs minister of defense
and the U.S. secretary of defense tasked their think tanks to ^Óassess
whether and how the United States and the ROK can maintain and invigorate
their security relationship should North Korea no longer pose a major
threat to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.^Ô Their answer
emerged by 2000. ^ÓThe alliance will serve to maintain peace and stability
in Northeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole,^Ô the joint
communique read, ^Óeven after the immediate threat to stability has
receded on the Korean peninsula.^Ô
In 2003 when the Department of Defense announced its plans to realign the
U.S. force structure in Asia, it offered a straightforward rationale: to
make U.S. forces in Asia more flexible in a security environment that
called for more forces to be available on shorter notice instead of being
permanently earmarked, as in South Korea, for a single operational plan
(the defense of South Korea). The Department of Defense also intended to
consolidate a number of U.S. bases in South Korea, creating hubs from
which forces could be deployed outside the region if necessary.
The military requirements for dealing with North Korea and the region more
generally are similar. A 2007 report by Center for Strategic and Budgetary
Assessments puts it frankly: ^Ó[c]onceptually, the posture/force structure
necessary to confront regional nuclear powers and a rising China are
generally the same^Ô. It also justifies the ^Ómove toward dispersed
Pacific basing structure,^Ô including the hubs in South Korea, in terms of
the tactical requirements of forward basing ^Ówithin easy range of Chinese
strike forces^Ô and the need for hardened mobile offshore bases and
rapidly constructed ^Ócooperative security locations.^Ô The dispersed
Pacific basing structure likely includes not just the hubs in Korea. Camp
Zama outside Tokyo is slated to house the U.S. 1st Corps Army
Headquarters. Kenney Headquarters in Hawaii is to direct U.S. air forces
in the Pacific. And Guam is expected to play a key role as it plans to
host B-2 bombers, KC-135 aerial refueling tankers, and nuclear
submarines,- some redeployed from the continental United States and others
newly commissioned ^Ö as well as the Marines redeployed from Okinawa.
Neoliberal Globalization Applied to Military
Rumsfeld^Òs Pentagon envisioned a global military posture that highlights
flexibility, speed, and efficiency on a global scale. While Rumsfeld and
his cohort are long gone, their vision lives on, still guiding the trinity
of military transformation, base realignment, and force restructuring that
seeks to deploy modular forces throughout the world, globally source them,
deliver them in time. It is neoliberal globalization applied to security.
By 2006, the Roh Moo-Hyun government ^Ö the supposedly anti-American
regime in South Korea ^Ö saw no problem with this globalist view. It
agreed to globalize the scope of the alliance: ^Óthe future Alliance would
contribute to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, in the region,
and globally.^Ô The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review suggests ^Óreorienting
U.S. Military Global Posture^Ô so that the ^ÓUnited States will maintain
its critical bases in Western Europe and Northeast Asia, which may also
serve the additional role of hubs for power projection in future
contingencies in other areas of the world.^Ô
In his inauguration last month, just one day before the Philharmonic
played Dvorak in Pyongyang, South Korea^Òs new president Lee Myong Bak
said that ^Ówe^Òll work to develop and further strengthen traditional
friendly relations with the United States into a future-oriented
partnership.^Ô Time will tell whether his future is oriented more toward
the Pentagon^Òs vision of neoliberal militarism or the New York
Philharmonic^Òs music diplomacy. Either way, a new world is upon us.
Jae-Jung Suh, a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org), is
an associate professor and director of Korean Studies at the School for
Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He is the
author of Power, Interest and Identity in Military Alliances (2007).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
32. Ceded Land Settlement
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:31:36 -1000
From: Kealii Makekau <kealii8@lava.net>
Urgent - Ceded Land Settlement Update - Urgent
Alert: There are three versions of HB1201 (HB1201, HB1201 HD1
SD1, and HB1201 HD1 SD1 CD1 PROPOSED). The Office of Hawaiian
Affairs drafted and proposed HB1201 HD1 SD1 CD1 PROPOSED that
is attached. HB1201 is a lingering bill from last year that
is being used as a shell for OHA's proposed draft. The title
of all versions of HB1201 is:
Allows the office of Hawaiian affairs' board oftrustees to
determine how beneficiaries in every county may participate
in thepreparation of each biennial and supplemental office of
Hawaiian affairs budget.
According to the Hawaii State Legislature website HB1201 HD1
SD1 status is outlined below. HB1201 HD1 SD1 is also
attached. The language also differs fromHB1201 HD1 SD1 CD1
PROPOSED (OHA's proposed version).
4/3/2008HHouse conferee(s) replaced: Representative(s)
Karamatsu replaced Representative(s) Chong as Co-Chairs.
4/4/2008SReceived notice of change in conferees (Hse. Com.
No. 458).
4/3/2008HHouse conferee(s) replaced: Representative(s) Ward
replaced Representative(s) Awana as conferee(s).
4/10/2008SReceived notice of change in conferees (Hse. Com.
No. 647).
4/10/2008SSenator(s) Kokubun discharged as Chair; Added as
conferee.
4/10/2008SSenator Tokuda added as Chair.
4/10/2008HReceived notice of change in Senate conferees (Sen.
Com. No. 619).
Representative Kirk Caldwell is calling for a conference to
discuss HB1201 HD1 SD1 CD1 PROPOSED (OHA's Proposed Version)
with the intention of removing OHA's proposed language and
inserting HB266 HD2 language (Ceded Land Settlement
legislation that was held in Senate Committees). There is a
lot of back door maneuvering.
Representative Kirk Caldwell and OHA are manufacturing
support through the AHCC (Leimomi Khan and Charlie Rose) and
the Waimanalo Hawaiian Homestead Association (Paul Richards
and Tony Sang) who have been walking the halls of the
Legislature and calling several Senators and Representatives
placing "pressure and heat" on them to support a conference
and pass the "Signed Ceded Land Settlement Agreement" that is
attached through a legislative act. OHA also submitted
several hundred "canned testimony" in support of the Ceded
Land Settlement.
The conferees appointed are:
Senator Kokubun - senkokubun@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:senkokubun@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808) 586-6760
Senator Baker - senbaker@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:senbaker@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808) 586-6070
Senator English - senenglish@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:senenglish@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808) 587-7225
Senator Hee - senhee@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:senhee@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808) 586-7330
Senator Slom - senslom@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:senslom@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808) 586-8420
Senator Hanabusa - senhanabusa@Capitol.hawaii.gov and at
(808) 586-7793
Senator Tokuda - sentokuda@Capitol.hawaii.gov and at (808)
587-7215
Representative Ito - repito@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:repito@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808) 586-8470
Representative Karamatsu - repkaramatsu@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:repkaramatsu@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808)
586-8490
Representative Ward - repward@Capitol.hawaii.gov
<mailto:repward@Capitol.hawaii.gov> and at (808) 586-6420
Representative Say - repsay@Capitol.hawaii.gov and at (808)
586-6100
The main point is to let the conferees, Chairs, and leaders
listed above know and understand that any measure pertaining
to the Ceded Land Settlement is unacceptable and should not
be passed, because the Senate made the right decision. A
message applauding the Senate's decision to "HOLD" HB266 HD2
in Senate Committees AHW, WTL, and JDL needs to be sent to
the conferees, Chairs, and leaders. The message to the
conferees, Chairs, and leaders should be that the Senate made
the "RIGHT" decision on the Ceded Land Settlement. The Senate
represented and continues to represent the voice of the
beneficiaries and community-at-large.
The message needs to emphasis that the "process and product
are equally important." Hence, in order to reach a "fair and
just" Ceded Land Settlement is for the following to occur at
a minimum: 1) a full and complete inventory of the Ceded
Lands, 2) an audit of all gross revenues generated by the
Ceded Lands, 3) beneficiary consultation with all
stakeholders, and 4) an OHA audit. Other points are attached
for your use and are also important for a "fair and just"
process to take place.
You, your family, and friends can make a critical difference.
To ensure that any measure sanctioning the proposed Ceded
Land Settlement does not pass or any other bill that allows
OHA to continue negotiations, contact the above conferees,
Chairs, and leaders via email and by phone. Their contact
information is listed above. You can share the message
stated above in your own words or use the example below.
Neighbor islands can call the following numbers toll free:
Hawai'i at 974-4000
Kaua'i at 274-3141
Maui at 984-2400
Moloka'i / Lana'i at 1-800-468-4644
Example Message
Aloha mai,
The Senate must be applauded for their decision to hold HB266
HD2 (Ceded Land Settlement) in Senate Committees AHW, WTL,
and JDL. I believe that the disputed matters pertaining to
the Ceded Lands can be resolved in a fair, just, and honest
manner. To initiate such a process of resolution, the Hawaii
State Legislature must nullify the OHA / State Administration
Settlement Agreement, by voting "no" to HB266 HD2 and any
other such "Proposed Legislation." Once the Settlement
Agreement is nullified, a process of truth can be initiated,
which must include: 1) a full and complete inventory of the
Ceded Lands, 2) an audit of all gross revenues generated by
the Ceded Lands, 3) beneficiary consultation with all
stakeholders, and 4) an OHA audit.
By allowing a process of truth to be initiated, I believe
that the pain and suffering caused by historical attempts to
subjugate the Hawaiian people, we all can - the Hawaiian
people and the community at-large - can begin to heal. I have
great hope for the future, because I have a strong faith that
we - the Hawaii State Legislature, the Hawaiian people, and
the community-at-large - can work together to complete each
step towards resolution pertaining to the Ceded Lands that
will safeguard individual rights and the rights of future
generations to due process in a transparent and honest
manner.
Mahalo,
Name
City, State
________________________________________________________________________________
33. alert: DU
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:46:13 -1000
From: "Cory (Martha) Harden" <mh@interpac.net>
Dear folks, please urge that Army meetings on depleted uranium include
independent resource people. The message below goes to Congresspeople,
Governor Lingle, Hawai^Òi Island state legislators, Mayor Kim, and
Hawai^Òi County Council. mahalo, Cory Harden
SUBJECT depleted uranium
TO
neil.abercrombie@mail.house.gov
senator@akaka.senate.gov
mazie.hirono@mail.house.gov
Governor.Lingle@hawaii.gov
repchang@capitol.hawaii.gov
repevans@Capitol.hawaii.gov
repgreen@capitol.hawaii.gov
rephanohano@capitol.hawaii.gov
repherkes@Capitol.hawaii.gov
reptakamine@Capitol.hawaii.gov
reptsuji@Capitol.hawaii.gov
seninouye@capitol.hawaii.gov
senkokubun@capitol.hawaii.gov
senwhalen@capitol.hawaii.gov
cohsecy@co.hawaii.hi.us
bford@co.hawaii.hi.us
shiga@co.hawaii.hi.us
phoffmann@co.hawaii.hi.us
dikeda@co.hawaii.hi.us
jjaco@co.hawaii.hi.us
enaeole@co.hawaii.hi.us
kapilago@co.hawaii.hi.us
dyagong@co.hawaii.hi.us
jyoshimoto@co.hawaii.hi.us
MESSAGE Dear local government officials--I support this letter--
Dear Colonel Killian,
Please include independent resource people, with full opportunity to ask
questions and participate in discussion, in any meetings with public
officials on depleted uranium (DU) at Pohakuloa. (Your Project Current
Status 14 Mar 08 document says Tad Davis will see ^Ókey leaders^Ô April
13-17.)
Given the specialized knowledge needed to accurately assess and remediate
DU hazards, and the level of public concern, we feel an independent
perspective is called for.
The resource people we recommend are Lorrin Pang and J.D. Thompson.
Dr. Lorrin Pang of Maui is a physician who served 24 years in the Army
Medical Corps. He was also a World Health Organization consultant. He is
now district health officer for Maui County, but speaks on DU as a private
citizen.
J.D. Thompson of Pahoa has a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of
Wisconsin, Madison. He retired from the Department of Physics, Augustana
College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where in addition to teaching physics,
he was the Radiation Safety Officer for about 25 years. He had
radioisotope training at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
We also hope your briefing, and your report to be released to the public,
will respond to our unanswered letters of November 18, 2007 and January
15, 2008.
Mahalo,
Cory Harden
Sierra Club, Moku Loa group
PO Box 1137
Hilo, Hawaii 96721
808-968-8965 mh@interpac.net
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
34. Save the Dates for Ngugi Wa Thiong'o: Keynote Address 4/28, Reading
with Albert Wendt 4/30
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:03:33 -1000
From: Robert Sullivan <rsulliv1@hawaii.edu>
The Department of American Studies & the William S. Richardson School of
Law present
The 2008 Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals
NGUGI WA THIONG'O: WRITING HUMAN RIGHTS
Monday, April 28
KEYNOTE ADDRESS 7:00PM
"The Myth of Tribes in African Politics"
UH Mânoa Campus Center Ballroom
Wednesday, April 30
RECEPTION 5:00PM
READING & BOOK SIGNING WITH ALBERT WENDT 6:00PM
UH Mânoa Hawaiian Studies Auditorium, Hâlau o Haumea
Both events are free & open to the public
Political prisoner . human rights activist . cultural critic . Author of
Decolonizing the Mind, Petals of Blood, and Wizard of the Crow
--
Click here for Ngugi's March 30, 2005 lecture, "The Role of a Scholar in a
Postcolonial World,"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oz87K9l3y2s
# # #
For information contact theo@hawaii.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
35. WESPAC Coming Under Scrutiny!
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:08:50 -0400
From: KahiwaL@cs.com
>Wespac Rebuked For Meddling In U.S. Pacific Territories
> Posted by: "Scott Foster" fosters005@hawaii.rr.com drangblow
> Date: Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:47 pm ((PDT))
>
>WESTERN & CENTRAL PACIFIC NETWORK
>Honolulu, Hawai`i
>wcpnetwork@hawaii.rr.com
>
>MEDIA RELEASE
>
>CONTACT: SCOTT FOSTER
>Director of Communications
>808-988-1708 & wcpnetwork@hawaii.rr.com
>
>JUST IN: GUAM MEDIA BEGINS TO REACT TO THE FOLLOWING NEWS READ,
>"Fisheries council finds itself in hot water" on KUAM News at:
>http://www.kuam.com/news/26953.aspx
>
>WESTERN PACIFIC FISHERIES MANAGEMENT COUNCIL (WESPAC) REBUKED FOR
>MEDDLING IN AFFAIRS OF HAWAI`I & U.S. TERRITORIES
>Complaints From Governor of Guam & Officials In American Samoa and
>the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Spawn Action By U.S.
>Federal Agency
>
>HONOLULU: MARCH 17, 2008 -- The embattled Western Pacific Regional
>Fishery Management Council (Wespac), the federal agency charged by the
>U.S. Congress with setting fishery management rules outside U.S.
>Territorial waters (from 3 miles to 200 miles) has received yet another
>rebuke -- this time from the National Oceanic And Atmospheric
>Administration (NOAA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce.
>
>REGIONAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SPEAK OUT - Evangeline Lujan, of Guam
>Bureau of Statistics and Plans, claimed that Wespac representatives
>"...chose to personally attack resource agency staff, obstruct public
>meetings, and consistently spread misinformation about local
>programs...". - Paul Bassler, Director of the Guam Department of
>Agriculture described the "interference" as having had "...negative
>implications on collaborative efforts with the conservation and
>management of the fisheries and coral reef resources on Guam." - Willy
>Kostka of the Micronesia Conservation Trust wrote, "...actions have
>become extremely disruptive to our conservation efforts...and could have
>lasting and irreversible negative implications to our concerted
>effort...". - In the cover letter, David M. Kennedy, Program Manager of
>the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program had written, "Similar concerns
>have been expressed to me by Athline Clark and Fran Castro, the points of
>contact for coral reef matters in Hawaii and the Commonwealth of the
>Northern Mariana Islands, respectively. In addition, Governor Camacho of
>Guam personally spoke with me about this issue at the 19th U.S. Coral
>Reef Task Force Meeting on February 27, 2008." Read the complete official
>NOAA complaint with referenced letters at: http://
>belammc.com/WESPAC/NOAA_Complaints.pdf
>
>This latest action by yet another U.S. Government agency comes on the
>heels of a February 5, 2008, bombshell when U.S. Representative Henry
>Waxman, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government
>Reform released a letter requesting the U.S. Government Accountability
>Office (GAO) to "... investigate the expenditures of the Western Pacific
>Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac)". Waxman's February 5th
>letter notes, "In June 2007, a number of Hawaiian nonprofit organizations
>raised serious allegations regarding the inappropriate use of government
>funds and unethical conduct by Wespac and its Executive Director [Kitty
>Simonds]. More recently, credible sources have also contacted the
>Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to raise similar concerns
>about the conduct of Wespac and its Executive Director." This letter and
>related information is available on Representative Waxman's House
>Committee Web site under the heading; "Waste, Fraud, and Abuse" at:
>http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1727
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~-------------------------
36. East Maui Water Commission Meeting
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:21:08 -1000
From: Lc <palolo@hawaii.rr.com>
hope they taped it...
----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Wendt
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 9:34 AM
The meeting before the Commission on Water Resources Management last
night, held to address the East Maui taro farmers^Ò petition to restore
their streams, was phenomenal! The Haiku Community Center was jam packed
with grassroots Hawaiians, and their testimonies were filled with great
pride, intensity, passion, anger and tears. For too long, the enormity and
grand scale of EMI^Òs crimes, wholesale theft of water out of over 100
streams in the East Maui watershed, have gone largely unnoticed and
under-publicized in the Hawai`i community. Last night was truly
uplifting, because Hawaiians turned out in force, and many other members
of the community came out to support them.
The members of Na Moku Aupuni o Ko`olau Hui (Keanae-Wailuanui families)
and Ed Wendt, Na Moku^Òs water liason, played a great role, but there were
many others: Gwen Kim of QLCC-Punalu`u and her Onipa`a Na Hui Kalo
network of taro farmers; Lynn and the Honopou `ohana came out in force;
Amanda Martin helped with informal radio announcements. There were also
supporters from Na Wai `Eha, the West Maui water case, rallied by Kapua
Sproat, and Isaac Hall and his Maui Tomorrow network. Here in the
Keanae-Wailuanui community, Solomon Ka`auamo^Òs family all gave testimony
^Ö ^ÓSolo^Ô, his wife Ku`ulei, his daughter Cindy, and two of his
college-age grandchildren. Their testimony was riveting. Junior Kekiwi
and the young bruddahs came out in force. Bush Martin spread the word far
and wide. This meeting was competing with an Aha Moku Council meeting in
Hana, but there was an awesome turnout.
The big disappointment of the evening was that none of the Commissioners
attended ^Ö only three staffers. I believe the current staffers are
well-intentioned and want to do the right thing (although they got blasted
too). Our challenge is to get to the Commissioners. There were many
complaints throughout the evening that these Commissioners did not, for
whatever reason, attend in person. They^Òre going to hear it from the
community, long and loud, about their decision not to attend, very
disrespectful.
Finally, there were a few representatives of Alexander & Baldwin / East
Maui Irrigation, including the much-reviled Garrett Heu, who, at a water
seminar held at Maui Community College last year, unapologetically and
matter-of-factly discussed his management of the water diversion system.
He^Òs the man on the ground, in the mountains making sure that the system
runs uninterrupted and efficient. What I found particularly disturbing
about Garrett was what he did to the Honopou kupuna, Auntie Beatrice and
Marjorie Wallet during one of our site visits. While his system was
diverting all of the Honopou Stream, he was down at the kupuna^Òs taro
patches installing a ¾^Ô pipe, looking more like drip irrigation for dry
land taro, suggesting that she could make do with this in lieu of the lo`i
that he deprived them of. Last night, the people took Garrett Heu and his
cronies on, right to their faces. They were rebuked, challenged and the
people even uttered expletives to describe their contempt for EMI. You
could hear a pin drop when one of the testifiers turned to the EMI group
and said, ^ÓMy ancestors farmed taro in Keanae-Wailuanui since time
immemorial. You don^Òt even want to know my genealogy. If these were the
old days, maybe I would kill you.^Ô Others spoke openly about the
possibility of blowing up the diversions. I think this gives everyone a
flavor of what happened last night. Again, thank you for your support!
Ed & Mahealani Wendt
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
37. Isles 2nd in earmark funds
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:53:33 -1000
From: Kyle Kajihiro <keboi@aol.com>
Posted on: Thursday, April 3, 2008
Isles 2nd in earmark funds
Report assails spending as 'pork'; lawmakers say study wrong and biased
By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON ^× Hawai'i lawmakers funneled more than $283 million in federal
spending to the state for special projects in the current fiscal year,
according to a report released yesterday.
Citizens Against Government Waste found that the state received $220.63
per resident in "earmark spending," ranking second nationally to Alaska,
which received $555.54 per capita. The national average was $30.55.
The report from the conservative non-profit group singled out a few
Hawai'i projects for special attention, including a $259,173 earmark for
floriculture research obtained by Sens. Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel Akaka
and Rep. Mazie Hirono, all Hawai'i Democrats.
The report said that Hawai'i's floriculture and nursery products industry
brings in about $100 million a year in revenue.
"Surely, the industry can afford (a quarter of a) percent of its blooming
revenue to do its own research," the report said.
Akaka's spokesman, Jesse Broder Van Dyke, said the senator is proud to
secure funding supporting diversification of the state economy, "even if
it leads a Mainland group to criticize one of our state's top industries."
Citizens Against Government Waste said that in 2007, Congress approved
spending $17.2 billion on 11,610 projects this fiscal year.
"When Congress adopted earmark reforms last year, there was hope that the
number and cost of earmarks would be cut in half," said Tom Schatz,
president of the group. "That has not occurred."
The report said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, was fourth highest among
House members in the value of earmarks obtained, $153.6 million.
But Abercrombie said the report is "so completely dishonest, it's
difficult to take seriously." The group overstates earmarks by listing the
full amount of a project under every lawmaker who supports it, he said.
"If 50 members support a $1 million appropriation for homeless veterans'
services, it shows up ... 50 times and looks like $50 million,"
Abercrombie said.
He said he earmarked almost $500,000 to expand the Honolulu Police
Department crime lab, more than $15 million for Honolulu rail transit,
$5.5 million to begin cleaning up World War II chemical munitions dumped
off O'ahu and other islands.
"This Citizens Against Government Waste classify these as 'pork,' "
Abercrombie said.
The report said Inouye was responsible for obtaining 25 projects in the
defense budget, ranging from $25 million for a health program to $2
million for brown tree snake control.
The group again gave Inouye, chairman of the Senate defense appropriations
subcommittee, "The Pacific Fleeced Award" for obtaining $173.2 million in
defense earmarks last year. He also received the award in 2006 for
directing $482 million in federal spending that year to Hawai'i.
Inouye is proud of his defense-related earmarks, said Mike Yuen, spokesman
for Inouye.
"They help to protect Hawai'i and the nation, care for wounded warriors
and their families and shield Hawai'i's fragile and unique ecosystem from
brown tree snakes traveling on military transport from Guam, where they
have caused much damage," Yuen said.
Yuen also challenged the credibility of Citizens Against Government Waste,
saying the group was reported in 2006 to have been involved with convicted
lobbyist Jack Abramoff and lobbied for the tobacco industry.
A 2006 Senate Finance Committee report found that Citizens Against
Government Waste was among five conservative nonprofit organizations that
accepted money from Abramoff's clients and produced so-called independent
newspaper op-ed columns or news releases that favored his clients'
positions, according to The Washington Post and St. Petersburg Times.
At the time, the group said that it never abused its nonprofit tax status
and adhered to long-held positions.
Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
38. Emergency test on Tuesday, April 15
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:53:01 -1000
From: UHM Communications <announce@HAWAII.EDU>
UH Manoa will be testing its crisis communications system next Tuesday,
April 15, at 11:55 a.m. You will receive a test alert message at that
time via email and ^Ö if you signed up for it - via cell phone
text-messaging.
Also at that time, Campus Security vehicles will test their emergency
loudspeaker systems in the area of Hawaii Hall and Varney Circle.
We encourage you to sign up to receive alerts via text-messaging because
it gives us another way of alerting you to a campus emergency. It will
only be used in case of an immediate threat to your safety, plus once a
semester as a test. You can sign up online at www.hawaii.edu/alert
-- --------------------------------------------------------------------
39. REMARKABLE INTERVIEW DESCRIBED - Austal workers describe work on
ferry
From: Dick Mayer [mailto:dickmayer@earthlink.net]
Sent: Fri 4/11/2008 5:33 PM
There was an incredible radio show on Kauai yesterday.
Katy and Jimmy interviewed the leaders of the Sheet-Metal union in Mobile
Alabama that built the superferry and is now building the 2nd superferry.
They described:
a) the discrimination against the workers by management, and
b) the quality (or lack thereof) in the construction of the superferry.
The following blog gives some of the flavor of the live interview.
Superferry Damage: Da Inside Scoop Thursday, April 10, 2008
Source: http://kauaieclectic.blogspot.com/2008/04/superferry-da-inside-scoop.html
During their show this afternoon on KKCR, Katy Rose and Jimmy Trujillo
interviewed three guests who offered some interesting insights into the
Superferry, most notably the damage that sent it into drydock early.
Wayne Jenkins, a welder employed by Austal USA, which built the Alakai for
Hawaii Superferry, said he "had problems with the way some of the welds
were being done on the boat."
He pointed these out to his supervisors, but was told the welds didn't
need to look good, because they'd be covered with insulation. However, he
said, "those little cracks continue to expand."
When those hairline cracks are subjected to stress, Jenkins said, "they
will crack all the way through," causing leaks, and that's apparently what
happened to the Alakai.
Jenkins said Hawaii workers poured concrete into the cracks to stop the
leaks and then continued to operate the ferry for another week before
Austal crews were sent over from Mobile, Ala. to work on the Alakai.
He said if the cracks widened sufficiently, they could allow in enough
water "to sink the ship."
Jenkins said he does not think the Austal work crews were in Hawaii long
enough "to repair it the way they should. I personally do not think it
would be safe enough to ride."
He also confirmed that the ferry suffered "major damage" to its hull when
it fell off the blocks while being placed into drydock. "I don't think
they (Austal work crews) had the right or proper equipment to repair it.
They just patched it up the best they could to put it back in the water."
Jenkins and Swan Cleveland, union organizer for the Sheetmetal workers'
union engaged in the union drive at Austal, said the company allowed
"people who are not properly trained" to do welding on the Alakai and its
sister ship, now under construction and due for completion Sept. 30.
Jenkins attributed the use of poorly trained workers on the two high speed
ferries to Austal's desire to finish up the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship,
which is already over budget at $500 million.
"It seems they're casting everything aside to complete the navy ship," he
said. "They want those other 55 ships (under the Navy LCS contract) so
they're trying to cut every corner they can."
Cleveland also confirmed that Austal executives had discussed military
uses for both of the high-speed ferries, saying "if the military needed
the superferries, they could carry so many tanks and personnel."
Cleveland further maintained that Austal was engaged in racial
discrimination and union-busting tactics, and that a company using such
practices should not be involved in building a U.S. warship.
Mahalo, Katy and Jimmy, for tracking those guys down and putting them on
the air. Kinda puts the big dailies, with all their resources, to shame.
Posted by Joan at 4:47 PM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
40. DLNR Chair Announces New State Historic Preservation Leadership
Team
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:04:13 -1000
From: Kealii Makekau <kealii8@lava.net>
For Immediate Release: April 11, 2008
DLNR Chair Announces New State Historic Preservation Leadership Team
HONOLULU -- The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) today
announced the appointment of a new leadership team for the State Historic
Preservation Division (SHPD). Dr. Puaalaokalani Aiu will serve as
administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division. She will be
assisted by Nancy McMahon, a 20-year veteran of the department, who will
serve as archaeology and historic preservation manager.
?The mission of the State Historic Preservation Division is both broad and
important. Therefore, we believe a team approach would best provide the
leadership and expertise needed to efficiently and effectively carry out
the vital goal of protecting and enhancing our historic and cultural
resources,? said Laura H. Thielen, chairman of the Department of Land and
Natural Resources. ?We are proud to have selected two remarkable women
who have the combined abilities to help the State Historic Preservation
Division to realize its full potential.?
Dr. Puaalaokalani Aiu previously worked as a senior analyst in the Office
of Hawaiian Affairs where she developed community networks, worked with
the Native Hawaiian Preservation council, the Island Burial Councils, and
supervised reviews on multiple high level projects. Aiu is a graduate of
Kamehameha Schools and Pomona College, and obtained her PhD in
communications from the University of Massachusetts. Most recently she was
a vice president of Communications Pacific in the company?s
community-building practice where she managed large and complex
communications accounts often involving burial treatment, historic
preservation and cultural sensitivities.
?Pua has a strong background and experience with the National Historic
Preservation Act (NHPA). She conducted cultural reviews of NHPA projects
and has worked many years with Hawaiian communities statewide. In
addition, she brings excellent communication and administrative skills
which are essential for the Division?s success,? Thielen said. ?I am
impressed with her long-term desire to lead this program, and her
recognition that it was time to step up and offer to be part of the
solution.?
Nancy McMahon has been an archeologist with the Historic Preservation
Division for 20 years. She worked on O?ahu for almost 10 years, and then
moved to Kaua?i to open a branch office where she was responsible for
building and operating an island historic preservation program from the
ground up. She has served on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Historic
Preservation Task Force, was the humanities scholar for the Hawai?i
Committee on the Humanities and the Historic Preservation Quality Control
Manager for the Kaho?olawe Cleanup Project. McMahon obtained her
bachelor?s, masters and completed coursework for a doctorate at the
University of Hawai?i. She has served as acting administrator for the
division since December 2007.
?Nancy?s commitment to the Historic Preservation Division is outstanding,?
said Thielen. ?She has dedicated her entire career to this mission, and
she?s clearly done an excellent job. I?ve received positive reports and
accolades regarding her work on Kaua?i from environmentalists, landowners,
small businesses, native Hawaiians and developers. Her technical
experience with the State Historic Preservation Program will continue to
provide essential guidance for our staff.?
?We are in a very exciting time for the division, and I?m looking forward
to working with Nancy and the rest of the division staff in meeting the
challenges we face,? said Aiu.
?This opportunity to bring meaningful change and stability to the
division, whose mission is so important to the people of Hawai?i, is
significant,? said McMahon. ?Twenty years ago I joined the State Historic
Preservation Division with the dream to address some of the challenges the
division faced. Now I will have the opportunity to work with Pua so we
can turn this vision into a reality. I?m proud of the support I have
received from the community and ask that everyone continue to endorse and
support Pua and myself.?
Dr. Aiu was recommended for the position of administrator and Nancy
McMahon for chief archeologist by the Search Committee established by
Thielen in December 2007 when the prior Administrator stepped down. The
Committee consisted of Dr. K? Kahakalau, a founder of the cultural based
public charter schools and member of the Big Island Burial Council; Judge
(ret) Patrick Yim, trustee of the Queen Liliuokalani Trust; and Tim Johns,
former DLNR chairman and current chief executive officer and president of
Bishop Museum.
?The Search Committee?s ideal of the SHPD Division administrator is an
individual who exhibits exceptional courage, character, competency,
commitment and cultural grounding, which are all qualities essential for
an effective leader and administrator for this Division,? said Judge Yim
in the Committee report to Chairwoman Thielen.
Aiu will start on May 12. McMahon will continue to run the division until
then.
# # # #
For more information, contact:
Deborah Ward
DLNR Public Information Specialist
Phone: (808) 587-0320
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
41. CULTURE, MODESTY CLASH AT PAGO PAGO ARTS FESTIVAL
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:32:37 -1000
From: mike reitz <mreitz@pacbell.net>
CULTURE, MODESTY CLASH AT PAGO PAGO ARTS FESTIVAL
Host country asks for sensitivity in traditional dress
By Fili Sagapolutele
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (Samoa News, April 10, 2008) - American Samoa
last week reached a compromise with countries attending the 10th Pacific
Arts Festival over traditional costumes to be used during the regional
event set for July 20-Aug. 2.
American Samoa, the host of the festival, will not restrict any countries
from wearing their cultural wares or costumes, but local officials have
asked for these countries to be sensitive towards our culture and beliefs.
Festival co-chair Fagafaga Daniel Langkilde said "culture sensitivity"
issues dealing with the costumes to be worn by some countries, in which
women are bare-chested and men are dressed in scanty garments, became a
very important issue of discussion - a discussion that became heated and
intense.
He calls on territorial residents for their understanding in the
compromise reached with countries participating in the festival.
"We ask our community for your understanding as some of the countries
participating will have customs or cultural ware that may be offensive,
but we need to respect their culture as well," he said.
Cultural sensitivity is an issue that goes back to 1996, when the festival
was hosted by Samoa. A Papua New Guinea group was performing and a Samoan
man, unhappy and disappointed with the costumes worn, caused a scene.
Since then, Fagafaga said PNG has been demanding the Council of Pacific
Arts to formulate a policy on "cultural sensitivity" but the council still
has not addressed the issue.
So during last week's meeting, the final day of the 21st Meeting of the
Council of Pacific Arts, PNG raised the issue again and asked that the
council or the Secretariat of the Pacific Community set out a policy. They
also asked America Samoa to state what its policy would be.
Fagafaga said that it was American Samoa's policy not to allow
participating countries to wear scanty costumes, where nothing is left to
the imagination, or women are bare-chested.
"This created a lengthy and heated debate," said Fagafaga. "There were
countries that agreed with American Samoa and there were also countries
that took PNG's side and argued that each country should be allowed to
exhibit their own true culture and not be restricted."
Siding with American Samoa was Tonga, who points out that Tongan culture
is similar to that of the Samoan customs and when it comes to
relationships between a brother and sister, "its very sacred" and that
proper wear is very important. Fagafaga noted that Tonga will not host a
festival because of such cultural issues.
Among supporters for PNG was Vanuatu, who stated that this is a festival
of Pacific Arts and Culture and the native dress or costume of each
country "is their true culture dress of that country and should be allowed
to be displayed," said Fagafaga.
"Vanuatu said if American Samoa is not going to allow them in their true
culture wear, then American Samoa is trying to hide each country's true
culture," Fagafaga recalled. "American Samoa should look at their own
customs, which is not its culture but its Christian culture."
Fagafaga said others opposing American Samoa was New Caledonia and Tahiti.
Both countries say they should be allowed to share and showcase their true
culture and if there is any attempt to change it, they will not come to
the festival.
"It came down to this very sensitive issue...countries began talking about
pulling out of the festival...and we had to come to a compromise," said
Fagafaga. "So, American Samoa will not restrict any countries from wearing
their cultural wares or costumes and they can come as they feel. But we
also asked for their sensitivity and consideration toward our culture and
beliefs."
The Samoa News: http://www.samoanews.com/ Copyright (C) 2006. Samoa News.
All Rights Reserved
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
42. Voices Health/Environment News
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:29:18 -0500
From: nimchira <tepaatu@gmail.com>
News from the Health and Environmental Communities.
Published since Nov, 2005
April 11, 2008
In This Issue:
Todays Recalls:
Herbal Science International, Inc. Recalls Twelve Dietary Herbal
Supplements Nationwide Because of Possible Health Risk Associated with
Ephedra, Aristolochic Acid and Human Placenta - Herbal Science
International, Inc. (AKA Jen-On Herbal Science International, Inc.) is
recalling twelve dietary supplements that contain ephedra, aristolochic
acid or human placenta because they may present a serious health hazard to
consumers. http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/herbalscience04_08.html
======================
A Guide to Drug Safety Terms at FDA
http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/drugterms041108.html
Rice prices will continue to rise as production cannot keep up with
demand, a research body says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/business/7341978.stm
MMR doctor admits ethics failing The doctor who sparked the MMR contoversy
admits a poor grasp of medical ethics in relation to children.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/health/7342618.stm
Hope over US Alzheimer's therapy More research is needed into a US
treatment for Alzheimer's that appears to help some patients, experts say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/health/7341368.stm
CAN unusual clouds signal the possibility of an impending earthquake?
That's the question being asked following the discovery of distinctive
cloud formations above an active fault in Iran before each of two large
earthquakes
http://email.newscientist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/nBUVJ0MjKwg0mj40ExQI0Eq
San Andreas fault pushed around by big cousin
http://email.newscientist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/nBUVJ0MjKwg0mj40ExQZ0E8
Prion disease spreads through sheep milk
http://email.newscientist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/nBUVJ0MjKwg0mj40ExQb0EH
Northwest Dam Deal Raises Questions
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041008EB.shtml
Canada Logging May Ignite "Carbon Bomb"
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041008EC.shtml
Government Sued After Approving Four Pesticides
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/041008HA.shtml
Dangerous animal virus on US mainland? The Bush administration is likely
to move its research on one of the most contagious animal diseases from an
isolated island laboratory to the U.S. mainland near herds of livestock,
raising concerns about a catastrophic outbreak.
http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/11307/3057/14241/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5wb3N0c3Rhci5jb20vYXJ0aWNsZXMvMjAwOC8wNC8xMS9hcC9oZWFkbGluZXMvZDh2dmhrN2cwLnR4dA%3d%3d&x=701f73ad
Senate approves tax break for wind farms.
http://newsletters.dailyclimate.org/t/11310/21497/14245/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hcmd1c2xlYWRlci5jb20vYXBwcy9wYmNzLmRsbC9hcnRpY2xlP0FJRD0vMjAwODA0MTAvVVBEQVRFUy84MDQxMDA0Mi8xMDAxL25ld3M%3d&x=b35d37d6
Xylitol - Is It Safe or Effective? http://www.naturalnews.com/022986.html
Does Cholesterol Matter? Only if You're on a Cholesterol-Lowering Drug
http://www.naturalnews.com/022985.html
Depleted Uranium Contaminates the Body for Twenty Years
http://www.naturalnews.com/022983.html
'Secretive' Chemicals Being Hidden in Food Under 'Artificial Flavors'
Label http://www.naturalnews.com/022982.html
Carrots Cut Cancer Risk by a Third http://www.naturalnews.com/022980.html
Minorities Are Not Satisfied With Their Health Care
http://www.naturalnews.com/022978.html
Alzheimer's disease prevention
http://salonesoterica.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/10-million-baby-boomers-face-alzheimers-epidemic/
Death by Lack of Health Insurance
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/81895/
Death Looms for a Flood-Control Project
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/us/09yazoo.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Melting Causes Lake in Chile to Empty
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/10/international/i140949D84.DTL&feed=rss.news
Fishery Council Closes Salmon Fishing
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041108C.shtml
Health Care Horror Stories http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041108F.shtml
CDC Finds Little Progress Containing Foodborne Illness
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/04/foodborne_illness.html
Feds Seize Unapproved Erectile Dysfunction Drugs 'Natural supplements' are
illegal drugs and pose serious health risks.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/04/fda_ed.html
Irradiation Almost Erases Risk of Food Poisoning
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041002704.html?hpid=sec-health
One of world's worst weeds is now herbicide-resistant
http://ucsaction.org/ct/IpSRrXd1fYdm/
MRSA found in 9 percent of Canadian pork
http://ucsaction.org/ct/71SRrXd1fYdE/
New report on CAFO costs! Many people are aware that most of our food
animals are raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that
cause fish kills, generate antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and emit air
pollution so severe that rural neighbors sometimes can't leave their
windows open. They also know that modern alternatives-such as spreading
animals out on pasture-minimize pollution and produce healthier animals
and abundant meat, milk, and eggs. So why do destructive CAFOs dominate
the rural landscape? Stay tuned for our forthcoming major report that
explains how federal subsidies helped establish the CAFO system and help
keep them in business today. http://ucsaction.org/ct/7pSRrXd1fYdh/
=========================================================----------------
Gabrielle Welford, Ph.D.
freelance writer, editor, teacher
welford@hawaii.edu
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