The Disabled American Veterans today commended the Obama administration for backing down from a controversial proposal that would force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who suffered service-related disabilities and injuries.

"VA's sacred duty is to care for veterans injured in honorable service to our nation, and the department should not turn to wounded warriors' private insurance to pay for combat injures.  Under my Chairmanship, the Veterans' Affairs Committee will not advance any such legislation," said Akaka. 

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle along with Castle & Cooke, First Wind Hawai‘i and Hawaiian Electric Company today announced an agreement that could lead to large wind farms on both Lāna‘i and Moloka‘i providing clean energy to O‘ahu. These wind farms would feed into an inter-island cable system currently being discussed that could ultimately interconnect the major Hawaiian islands for increased grid reliability, security and consumer and business cost savings through access to renewables.

“After reading the alarming tract, I wanted to know whether Albertini -- who went to prison for a year (many years ago) for trying to block a Navy vessel in Hilo Harbor -- will be putting his life and/or freedom on the line along with the novice activists he is counseling.

“The answer? No. Not only is Albertini not going to protest the Superferry, he claims he didn’t even know his “non-violent” call to arms was even published."

As Pacific Business News editorialized January 12, the Superferry opposition and obstruction, “continues to perplex us as yet another group of politicians, this time senators from Neighbor Islands, make noise….”

"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."

The Certificate of Need for the proposed West Maui hospital was officially approved by Ron Terry, Executive Director of SHPDA....

Malia Gray, legislative office manager for Rep Lynn Finnegan, faced former Ron Paul Hawaii campaign leader Dan Douglass in the contest for County Chair.  Both candidates recruited new Republican Party members and mobilized supporters for the event.  Gray reported her team recruiting 300 new Republican Party members and identifying 20 Legislative candidates to run in 2010 during the last few weeks of campaigning.

In observance of the 50^th anniversary of the signing of the Hawai‘i Admission Act, both houses of the Hawai‘i State Legislature will convene a joint session in the State Capitol House Chambers on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, from noon to 1:30 p.m. 

Because I have also met with and will continue meeting with union leaders, the counties and my cabinet, as well as social service agencies and other organizations in the community, the process of developing a new financial plan takes time, but I believe it is time well spent.  I remain committed to balancing the budget without raising taxes or laying off employees.  Either of these actions would further weaken our economy.

Looking for happiness—it's family-friendly communities for some, tropical paradise or the rugged West for others. A survey of Americans' well-being, conducted by Gallup in partnership with Healthways and America's Health Insurance Plans, gives high marks to Utah, which boasts lots of outdoor recreation for its youthful population.  Speaking of outdoor recreation, the islands of Hawaii took second place and Wyoming was third in the poll that rated such variables as mental, physical and economic health.

Sen. Sam Slom, (R-Hawaii Kai): this is the premier bill presented by the “criminal lobby.”

"They are low-lives," Charles Freeman writes of his dad's critics. "And if you're among them and by chance read this: I still want to punch you in the face. You'd deserve it, you schmucks."

"Karen's Law", HB819HD2, passed out of the House today un-amended.  The measure passed with the exception of no votes placed by Representatives Lyla Berg, Roy Takumi, Faye Hanohano, Sylvia Luke, Hermina Morita, Mark Nakashima and Scott Saiki.

EarmarkWatch is an experimental distributed research project that contains data for Fiscal Year 2008 earmarks from the House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education bills and the 2008 House Defense Bill. It does not contain 2009 earmarks.

Thanks to you, Karen’s Law will finally be heard on the House Floor tomorrow...a select few members will be trying to kill the bill.

It was such a simple question. Debating earmarks on the Senate floor, John McCain demanded of Dan Inouye: "We're going to spend $2 million for the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii….Why do we need $2 million to promote astronomy in Hawaii when unemployment is going up and the stock market is tanking?"

Reporters soon determined the $2 million was for the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo, Hawaii. But the usual liberally deficient commentators have proven completely unable to answer the question “why”?

Earthquake location: Along Hamakua coast, about 10 miles NNE of Laupahoehoe.

On Thursday afternoon March 5, Oscar Kamau Kingara, director of the Kenyan based Oscar legal aid Foundation, and its programme coordinator, John Paul Oulo, were shot at close range in their car less than a mile from President Kibaki's residence. The two were on their way to a meeting at the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights. Both had been investigating extrajudicial assassinations by the Kenyan Police.

President Obama's rise caps forty years of building new 'nations' from one America, as America's left adapted to the rise of civil rights, and built a power base from fanning discontent.

Newsweek cheers, "We are all socialists now!"  MSNBC's Jim Cramer calls Barack Obama's budget a "radical agenda" and points out "This is the greatest wealth destruction I've seen by a President."  None of this should be a surprise to anybody who was paying attention to Obama's Hawaii links to the Communist Party, USA or his years of Chicago work with the Democratic Socialists of America.  But many voters -- and most of the media -- aggressively avoided paying attention.  Now they are literally paying the price. 

One Obama mentor who did get some media attention was ex-Communist Saul Alinsky.  Alinsky, a harsh critic of Johnson's "War on Poverty," is not usually tied to gigantic federal spending proposals such as Obama's mis-named ‘stimulus' package.  Alinsky's claim to fame stems from gritty street-level community organizing.  His books on the subject guided a generation of leftist activists. 

But there is a connection.  Alinsky died in 1972.  Towards the end of his life, American society changed in ways which tore apart the stable communities necessary to Alinsky's community organizing model.  For Democrats these changes necessitated the use of federal power to create the entirely new forms of consciousness-based ‘nationalism' which now envelop American culture.