Friday Night Rant : Our Brave New World

Enjoy the pictures and let me whine to you about the events in the news of today.  The irony, the logic, and the emotion, that governs our lives.  Maybe it’s how the news is presented today!  The amount of information, really accurate information, is really hard to get at.  So here’s what I do know!

In this country we have several ongoing scandals going on, both political and social, but to the degree of sorting the information as relevant to either your daily life, or as trends to be wary of.  In other words, does this information mean anything to you the reader?  Do you even care?

Government Banned Plastic Bags in Hawai’i

“Si vis pacem, para bellum”, is Latin for “If you want peace, prepare for war”.  It seems perfectly apt regarding this regime’s effort to eliminate the second amendment rights granted to all Americans by the United States Constitution.  You know, that document the English twit on CNN calls “your little book”! But lies are the only truths that socialist democrats know; even when Vice President Joe Biden made bizarre claims about hearing guns committing crimes, and just like Notre Dame star Football player Manti Te’o make believe girlfriend, its all lies.

During the National Rifle Association’s meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and the White House gun violence task force, the vice president said the Obama administration does not have the time to fully enforce existing gun laws.

I suppose you get the government you voted for.  They never read the bills, and they don’t enforce existing laws; No, it’s easier to make more laws because that’s what we’re paying them to do!  What a waste!

I write to you on this Aloha Friday, under blue sunny skies with cotton-like clouds slowly drifting overhead.  A slight cool breeze moves the bamboo wind chimes creating a sweet subtle melodic rhythm.  I’m listening to KHNR 690 AM, a News Talk radio station from Honolulu.  I have to listen to the station on the internet because the “over the air” signal strength is low for good reception in my geographic area.

It’s just after 11AM on this glorious Kakahiaka (Morning) and now slipping into “Awakea”  (Late morning, nearing Noon).  Currently, it is 76° degrees, partly cloudy winds out of the north with gusts of 12MPH.  Humidity is 63% and steady.  The cloud cover is 35% which makes the UV index a 6, that’s just below midpoint on the scale of low to high.

Another attack on the Tea Party, this it is by time by outgoing failed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.  Apparently, the regime’s policies are not the blame for the high unemployment and why more people aren’t working.  The policies of this regime have slowed the economy to a standstill.  Yet, she uses Obama’s strategy of blaming others for their lousy policies.

Quoting Labor Secretary Hilda Solis: Solis also said that in many ways the Obama administration “did not get the kind of support we needed originally when he took office for the American Recovery Act funds” and blamed “a small group known as the Tea Party movement” for not engaging with the president and “hurting the American public, our economy, and the future of our country.”
Read more here:

So here is the quandary, what exactly did the Tea Party do to prevent job growth?  All we did was ask for limited government, which has been responsible for slowing the economy and the high unemployment rate.  All we asked for is for low taxes, so we could invest in creating jobs; the only jobs being created are government jobs.  How sustainable is that?  Growing government and raising taxes only reduces private industry job growth.  All we asked for was less regulations so we can expand our businesses and create jobs.  So what does Obama do?

Obama’s gave an Executive Order for pay raises: Under an executive order issued by President Obama on Thursday, members of Congress will join federal workers in seeing their pay rise by 0.5 percent after March 27.

That’s your tax dollars paying your government’s salary.  How much do they get paid?

Congressmen and senators make $174,000 a year and will see an extra $900 in their annual pay packages before taxes next year.

Actually, many of our Congress people make much more than that.  Some have used the power of their office to enrich themselves greatly.  Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters are just two of the most corrupt socialist democrats that have used legislation to enrich members of their families and spouses.  So with a wave of Obama’s pen, he commands an increase to these corrupt politicians salaries.

Maybe the good news is that the GOP, and probably with the help of those pesky Tea Party people, are demanding a proper budget with spending cuts or deny Congress their pay.  Seems fair to me!

“We are going to pursue strategies that will obligate the Senate to finally join the House in confronting the government’s spending problem. The principle is simple: no budget, no pay.”  House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement Friday.  Has the GOP grown a pair of bolus?

“Next week, we will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget. Furthermore, if the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, Members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay.”

It’s about time don’tcha think?  But will the Republicans cave like they usually do?

Well, it’s coming up on 10PM HST and ‘Aina awakea (lunch) was ono (good)!  Plus Red Eye is coming on Fox TV!  As I scourer the internet for news, I am bombarded by stories of legislators rushing to provide that emotional cork on the tragic Sandy Hook event.  New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo made an emotionally disturbing demand and got legislation that makes the State of New York the toughest gun controls in the nation.  Like most socialist democrats, they fail to read and comprehend the law they are writing.  As a result:

But because no loophole for law enforcement was included in the law, every police officer in the state is technically in violation of the statute

Read more here:

Is this a good example of bad governance or what!  Desperate to do anything, but think about what they are doing, New York State enacted a law that puts their own law enforcement in violation of the law.  They didn’t read their own law, they didn’t think of what they were crafting.  Waste of tax dollars, but that’s New York State, a bastion of liberal rule.  Heavily in debt and taxes, New York is the East Coast example of California, whereas the population and businesses are dwindling and leaving for greener pastures.

Then there are the 23 unconstitutional Executive Orders that Obama issued this week to curb gun violence.

These are our kids.  This is what they’re thinking about.  And so what we should be thinking about is our responsibility to care for them, and shield them from harm, and give them the tools they need to grow up and do everything that they’re capable of doing — not just to pursue their own dreams, but to help build this country.  This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe.  This is how we will be judged.  And their voices should compel us to change.

 

If that were true, abortion would be illegal.  Are we as a society going to draw the distinction between the two tragedies? Both are taking a life, it’s just the means on how it is done.  There are 1.2 Million abortions done in the United State’s every year.  Are these children any less worthy than the ones taken at Sandy Hook, or anywhere else for that matter?  As a society, our first task to keep children safe, said Obama.  I guess that doesn’t apply to “all” children, just some children.  Is it because the killing is done behind the antiseptic walls of make believe healthcare facility and not by the hand of a crazed killer where everyone can see?  If we are going to apply that liberal logic in its literal sense, then we would all be hypocrites.

It’s funny though; there are people that would fight to prevent the death of a dog or cat at the humane center, rather than the abattoir that is Planned Parenthood.  It is funny though; our government gave the same guns they don’t want Americans to have to Mexican drug lords.  The same guns that have killed thousands of Mexicans and several Americans, including an American border guard.  Then there is the Benghazi tragedy which has never been answered.  Why did this regime and the media ignore such a event?  I guess Obama and his regime believes the lives of those people are not as worthy as the children of Sandy Hook.  Now that Obama has issued 23 Executive Orders to restrict Americans from owning firearms, I wonder if the Mexican drug lords won’t use the weapons they got from our government against Americans.  Who will cry for them?

Holder’s and Obama’s desire to continually hide these Fast and Furious documents is “ironic” now that they’re so gung-ho on gun control. “It is beyond ironic that the Obama administration has initiated an anti-gun violence push as it seeking to keep secret key documents about its very own Fast and Furious gun walking scandal,”

I see our society going down the wrong path.  There seems to be an emphasis on the destruction of family and religion by the government.  By introducing restrictions on people’s conscience and religious beliefs and forcing people to accept immorality as commonplace.  Even calling Pedophilia acceptable!

Is it absolute madness to even consider such behavior, but like any immoral behavior, a corrupt lifestyle is being pushed onto society. You must accept this behavior as mainstream, or else, you are called a bigot. Even so far as to call such activity, a Civil Right.  Accept immorality or be labeled a bigot.  Those are your only choices!  Conform or be called an extremist! Another example is in the Affordable Patient Care Act where a child can get free sterilizations, even without parental consent.

Thanks to an Obamacare regulation that took effect on Aug. 1, health care plans in Oregon will now be required to provide free sterilizations to 15- year-old girls even if the parents of those girls do not consent to the procedure.

 Yet, you are led to believe that the Republicans have a war on women.  How do you define what war is then?

Yet, we are told by those dictating what morality is and how it should be, and how we as a society will be judged.  There’s no confusion when it comes to prolife issues, but in this society, abortion is called prochoice.  Except it’s not really a choice for the unborn is it?  Still, the outrage over Sandy Hook like tragedies tends to take the attention away from real society ills.  How often do such tragedies happen?  How could it have been prevented?  Questions that may never be answered; however, the weight of such tragedies against what could be prevented is ignored and considered commonplace.

One in a Million!

I do pray for this society that preys on the helpless, and then call it, “a choice“.  It is a choice, as with all choices, is it a wise choice?  We are destroying our future, our society and our morals; sounds depre4ssing doesn’t it?!  History is repeating itself, there is no doubt about that.  What brave new world have we have again brought ourselves into?

 

 What’s For Dinner?

 

 

 

 Bread, it’s like Freedom! Once Tasted, Never Forgotten!

 

 

 

 

Aloha Kakahiaka a Auinala

Good morning in Hilo! Went driving through town today for no particular reason.

The Sun had been up for about an hour. It was already becoming a beautiful day.

Took in a quick dip in the ocean before returning back into town.

Went to the Prince Kuhio Mall to do some shopping where I took this picture of Mauna Kea obscured by the clouds.

Later on in the day as the Sun pasted overhead, I took this picture of the Sun behind a small patch of clouds.

Overall, a pleasant day in paradise!

I Voted Today

 

Vote with confidence!  That’s what I did today!

 

My polling (pooling) place was located at Kea’au High School.

I really needed to challenge my confidence with this sign.

 

 

Hand(y)cap or kneecapped?  I can speak Hawaiian pigeon and ‘Ōlelo (Hawaiian Language), but this is a high school.  A official polling place where your ballot is read by an electronic reader.  I’m sorta thinking, or rather doubting, if I am in the wrong place and this is a joke.  I’m thinking Code Pink group-think.  But Noooo!

 

 

We followed the arrows till we found the polling location, signed the registrar with our signatures, PRODUCED A PHOTO ID, and proceed to cast our ballots.  Our Primary system allows us to vote one party only : Republican or Socialist Democrat.  Want to learn more, click here.

 

 

What’s For Dinner?

 

 

 

$42.00 for 10 Gallons of Corn Laced Gas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earth Day Fail

 

If I wanted the United States to Fail, I wouldn’t change a thing!

 

 

FREE MARKET AMERICA

 

I’m enjoying a lovely Lāpule (Sunday) that the weatherman told me would be a rainy day.  They were wrong!  As usual, the environmentalist activist have made life intolerable for average Americans and now they want to celebrate the destruction of the American economy by declaring today “Earth Day“.  What a huge load of Bull Crap!

Criminal shakedown organizations like the Sierra Club make life more difficult, expensive, and the American Dream unattainable, by their constant bemoaning of make believe environmental alarmist causes.   These people belong in jail!  They are criminals against humanity.  They put Planet before people.  Who cares if you lose your job?  The Planet comes first!  Who cares if you cannot feed your family?  The Planet comes first!  Who cares if you cannot build a roof over your head? The Planet comes first!  Who cares if you want affordable energy?  The planet comes first!

Let’s just call these organizations for what they really are; Communist.  They want to control your life, your income, your food production, your home, your children and your economy.  Just like Hawai’i councilman Pete Hoffmann, a known Socialist Marxist has imposed building regulations with European standards that don’t apply to Hawaiian standards, and a Plastic Bag Ban that doesn’t stop a pollution problem.

 

 

We have land littered with broken down windmills that sit like silent sentinels, gazing over the landscape and polluting the environment.  They take up land space and offer no return on investment.  They give no energy; they just hurt the ‘Aina.  Yet, these extremist like Pete Hoffman and Brenda Ford would force you to change your lifestyle, just to make themselves sleep better at night.  They should be prosecuted and jailed for crimes against humanity and Hawai’i!  Yet the State wants to put more of these Behemoth’s in Lani’i!

The so called revised building regulations just make it harder for low income people to build.  Why?  Because people like Pete Hoffman and Brenda Ford, B. Smart and the Sierra Club have their slice of Hawai’I Nei, and they don’t want anyone else to get a chance at achieving Paradise.  It is discrimination, both racial and economical.  So they put these ridicules environmental rules in place to prevent anyone from building a better life for their families.  That’s our Hawai’i County legislators, the Scum of the Earth.  On this Earth Day, I wish them all to HELL!

 

 

 

What’s for Breakfast?

 

 

 

 

 Egg McKini

 

 

Hawai’i’s Legislative Tyranny

STUPID

What are some members of the Hawai’i state legislature thinking?  They approved a bill that was submitted to the Hawai’i Senate calling for a United States Constitution Convention. They want to put Obamacare into the Constitution!  They want to eliminate the Electoral College and Repeal the Second Amendment!  They want the Tyranny of the Majority to rule over all!  Hawai’i Free Press Andrew Walden writes:

• writing Obamacare into the Constitution,
• upholding the tyranny of the majority by abolishing the Senate Filibuster
• abolishing the Electoral College so corrupt political machines in Chicago and elsewhere can run up the national vote totals and swing the Presidential election instead of being limited to their effect on one state.
• weakening the ability of the Senate to review unfit Presidential appointees so after stealing an election, the next Obama can lard the judiciary with his co-thinkers.

Here is the language from the Resolution, as approved:

 (1)  A declaration of the constitutionality of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including the individual mandate requiring the purchase of health insurance;

 (2)  An amendment to Article I, Section 5, to prohibit the supermajority cloture requirement under Rule 22 of the United States Senate for ending floor debates and filibusters, to facilitate a more reasonable voting standard for cloture;

(3)  An amendment abolishing the electoral college established under Article II, Section 1, and providing for the direct election of the United States President and Vice President by voters; and

(4)  An amendment to Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, to require that Senate confirmations of appointments of officers of the United States be made by a simple majority vote within sixty days of the nomination; now, therefore,

They did remove the language to eliminate the 2^nd Amendment.  However, there are far more pressing issues in Hawai’i and the legislator shouldn’t be wasting their time and our money with useless legislation like this.  First, the State of Hawai’i has no business telling the Senate and the House of Representatives how to conduct their business.  Neither does any other State have that privilege in determination.  This is disturbing at best because it shows a lack of understanding of the United States Constitution by members of the Hawai’i State Legislature, in particular the Judiciary committee.  Read the testimony given to the legislature by the public here:

The original bill had language that would have eliminated the Second Amendment; the right to keep and bear arms: It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights; and now some in the Hawai’i legislature wants to eliminate 221 years of a Constitutional Rights?!?  What are they thinking?  Surely not the Bill of Rights as defined by the Founders of our system of government.

Video of the Hawai’i Legislators voting against this Rubbish Legislation

There are those that understood that a Constitutional Convention would not be in the best interests of either the Hawaiian people, or the country as a whole.  These legislators that voted for this piece of rubbish legislation should be forced to take a course on the Constitution!  Hillsdale College has a free course on understanding the Constitution and I recommend the Hawaiian legislators take this course.

Is there a need for a Constitution Convention?  What would be the purpose but to change the Constitution into the form of Socialism that Democrats will use to enslave the American people in.  It probably would be a great way to prevent illegal immigration, because no one would want to live in a socialist country that will look more like either Cuba or Venezuela, rather than a free America.  But I digress!

There is no need to change the Constitution in its present form, at all!  Period! Socialist Democrats have been attempting to rewrite the Constitution for decades!  It is a form of creeping Communism that was once predicted:  Nikita Kruschev said communism would take the US without firing a shot, was he prophetic?  We now have a president and members of congress that have already crossed the line to socialism. We are only one step away from Marxist communism. What do you comrades say? Is this the Hope and Change you wanted?

Obama, I am told, is a Constitutional scholar, a professor of our system of government.  I no longer believe that with the passing of Obamacare by Socialist democrats and signed by an obvious believer in Marxism.  I believe Obama’s constitution was written by Karl Marx’s Communist manifesto, and like members of the Hawaiian legislature, they are following down the road to serfdom; both economically and politically.

Pledge Allegiance To Karl Marx and Socialism

It is most likely that the Supreme Court will strike down the Unaffordable Care Act as unconstitutional.  So why would the legislators want to put Obamacare in the US Constitution?  It forces you to purchase an insurance product and many in Hawai’i cannot afford health insurance.  It’s one of the reasons why we have so many free clinics.  The law also states that if you do not purchase insurance you be fined.  Did the legislator realize that many of the poor cannot afford to pay fines for not purchasing insurance?  What will the legislators do, throw everyone in jail?  Place the burden of paying the poor’s insurance on the backs of the Taxpayers?  I wouldn’t put it pass the legislators to do such a thing.

The reason why the Hawai’i legislators put this lame excuse for a bill forward is about power.  The Socialist Democrats are emboldened by Obama’s blatant power grabs of the Auto, Insurance and Health care industries.  So now they are trying to change the Constitution to keep them in power and to repeal our God given rights.  They want to foist upon us rights determined by their lust for power.  They want to create a class of entitled people hopelessly dependent on government assistance.  They are not interested in self-determination, they will decide for you what you will eat, wear, drive, and where and what kind of house you can live in!

 

This is Agenda 21 thinking by members of the Hawaiian Legislators.  It is an attempt to control economic and social dimensions.  It is an attempt to legislate conservation and management of resources.  It is a means of wealth redistribution.  It is an attempt to inject socialist rule on the American people.

If you are not familiar with Agenda 21, and how it relates to this article, watch this video:

By now you’ve guessed how some in the Hawai’i legislature think.  This One World Government approach to all your needs provided by government.  A centrally planned world government that seeks to redistribute wealth to other nations is the goal of Agenda 21.  The United Nations is rife with corruption and any semblance of peace, love and happiness.  Or any fairness, because it’s a power grab!  The language that was removed from the bill to eliminate the 2^nd Amendment is the first step to a communist tyranny, take guns away from the people, and it leaves them defenseless and at the mercy of a dictatorial government.  The Hawaiian legislature is dominantly made up of democrats and most are socialist democrats with Marxist beliefs.  They are extremist, and like all extremist, they use flowerily statements to pretend they are doing something good for you; when in reality, they torment you to make themselves feel good.

 

 

 

What’s For Dinner?

 

 

Spicy Pork and Pineapple Vegetable Stir-Fry

 

 

 

 

Pana’ewa Zoo

A visit to the Pana’ewa Zoo.  Located just south of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai’i, a wonderful place to visit.

 

The entrance to the zoo is lined with Royal Palm trees.  The zoo is free and does accept donations.

We always give five or ten dollars to the zoo.

 

A map of the zoo grounds as you enter shows the exhibit areas.

 

 

Exhibit cages hold a variety of animals and birds.

 

 

This Namaste, a white Bengal tiger that is a favorite attraction at the zoo.

 

 

Family Friendly park area

 

 

Billy Goat

 

 

More Strange Animals

 

 

The Petting Zoo

 

 

A Place for Keiki (children) to play

 

 

Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s caged and who’s not!

 

 

The Visitor’s Center

 

 

Tranquility

Happy Easter | Happy Passover

 

 

What’s for Dinner?

 

 

Grilled Pork Chop with Pineapple Mango Chutney over Steamed Jasmine Rice

 

 

 

 

 

Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation

 

My Congressional misrepresentative Crazy Mazie Hirono (D-HI) sent out a newsletter proudly proclaiming that she’s against the people of Hawai’i in the Second District where I live.  In her newsletter she states that she voted against the Ryan budget because she claims it will harm the priorities of communities and the people of Hawai’i.  That’s a flat out lie!

Hirono outlines 10 points where she misrepresents the Ryan budget with Socialist Democrat talking points.  Each point is a complete distortion of the Ryan budget.  Hirono would rather keep with the failed policies of the Obama regime.

Let’s take a look at her poorly defined excuses for not voting for a stronger Hawai’i:

1)      Ends Medicare as we know it:  Medicare as we know it, is going broke.  The Ryan plan brings Medicare back into solvency.  Medicare is already in the RED and will eventually run out of money.  Hirono would rather keep propping up a system going broke.  Doctors are starting to turn away Medicare patients.  Ryan’s voucher plan would give more flexibility to the patient to choose and decide their medical needs.  Under the current plan, the patient and the doctor must follow government rules that restrict how Medicare money is spent.  In effect, keeping the government between you and your doctor.  It is well known that AARP is a stooge for Obamacare, that catastrophe of a healthcare plan soon to be declared Unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.  Social Security is going broke, the government has spent the money that was promised; there are only IOU’s left in Social Security trust.  The only thing Hirono’s budget does is keep our money in government hands to further misspend it recklessly.

2)      Repeals the Affordable Care Act: Also known as Obamacare.  And YES!  We want that Obamanation REPEALED!  It is 2,700 pages of bad law!  Why else is the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) giving waivers away!  Waivers mostly to Unions and Obama cronies.  It is well known that without the waivers, companies would have dropped their employee healthcare plans, well before the Government Insurance Exchange programs will have started in 2014.  The excuse of insurance discrimination is flat out wrong.  Obamacare will discriminate against patients and doctors through a 15 member panel of unelected, but appointed, bureaucrats.  This unelected panel, (a.k.a. Death Panels) will decide if you will get any healthcare.  They will focus on cost and not care.  This panel will judge your eligibility for healthcare by your taxable worthiness. In other words, if you not paying enough in taxes to support the system, you will receive rationed care.  Why else does Obamacare force parents to insure their children till 26 years of age?  Because the law assumes the child’s taxable worthiness will reach the level needed to prop up Obamacare.  Someone has to pay for Obamacare and the law assumes 26 years of age is that age level that reaches the workforce as a fully paying taxpayer.  Seniors and retirees, on the other hand, will receive rationed care.  Obama said it himself; “Maybe your Mother should take the Pill!”  Preventing insurance discrimination for pre-existing conditions can be made a law by itself.  Insurance is not healthcare.  Insurance is a means to healthcare and should be treated separately.  As Obamacare become more online, the costs are going up.  You won’t be able to keep your doctor.  You won’t be able to keep your insurance.  What will result, will be a two tiered healthcare system where the very rich will be able to afford health care, and everyone else will have hospital emergency rooms just to get basic healthcare.  That’s the future of Obamacare.  Is the age of consent now going to be 26 years of age?

3)      Attacks Women’s Health Care:  That’s a total lie! A manufactured scare tactic the Socialist Democrats like Hirono are using to try and scare women.  Insurance discrimination is a falsehood!  Insurance is not healthcare, but a means to acquiring it.  A simple law to prevent insurance companies from discriminating anyone, regardless of either gender, age or precondition, doesn’t need to be in a wieldy 2,700 pages of bureaucratic nonsense disguised as healthcare.  This scare tactic Hirono and her Socialist partners in crime are playing on the American people’s fears is shameful.  There is no proof that the Ryan plan discriminates against women.  That is a simply a lie, and Hirono knows it.  What Hirono wants to do is make everyone pay for abortions and contraceptive services.  There is nothing in the Ryan budget that prevents women from healthcare, that’s the bottom line.  Shame on Hirono for promoting a lie to her constituents.

4)      Eliminates Brand USA, our nation’s travel promotion arm: The question is, why do we need this program?  Wouldn’t a program like this be better administered through private enterprise?  The answer is a resounding YES!  The mission of Brand USA is to encourage international visitation to the United States.  With the debt burden that Obama has done in just 3 short years, something has to go!  The taxpayer money spent marketing the American States, cities and towns would be used at the local level.  The world already knows where and who we are.  This is just wasteful needless spending.

5)      Rolls back efforts to make college affordable: Is college affordable now?  Is college a good value today with leftist professors indoctrinating students into a Socialist model?  No!  This is another scare tactic by Hirono and her Socialist Democrat criminals.  You’ve got Occupy Wall Street (OWS) people running around with worthless degrees in such fields as “Cyberfeminism” and “Taking Marx Seriously: Should Marx Be Given Another Chance?”.  These are real courses being offered in Universities that Hirono wants you to pay for through government grants.  What marketing skills do courses like this offer the soon to be 26 year old about to enter the workforce?  Ryan’s plan does not eliminate grant programs; it just streamlines it towards courses with job marketable skills.  Isn’t that a better use of taxpayer money?  Let the student pay for these whacky courses through other means other than government taxpayer grants.

6)      Slashes education programs for Hawaii’s students:  This is also another lie and scare tactic that Hirono should be ashamed of.  Currently the Department of Education (DoE) is spending more money, but getting poorer results.  Hirono would rather continue the time honored practice of throwing taxpayer monies at a failing system and hoping someday it will get better.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  The Federal taxpayer monies spent on education should be a block grant to let the States run their education programs that work for the people of their state.  Hirono would continue with a central planned system that puts conditions on the states like “No Child Left Behind”, a noble plan that never worked.  Hirono would better represent the educational needs of Hawai’i’s students by working to get the largest block grant for her district.  But that means work.

7)      Cuts nearly 4.1 million jobs nationwide through 2014: This is Liberal fantasy!  This is the Socialist Model that states only the government can create jobs.  It is not the role of the government to create jobs.  Our Constitution is based on a Free Market Capitalist system, not a Socialist Central Planning model.  The Obama regime has spent billions of taxpayer dollars trying to make that work and it has failed miserably.  The Ryan plan seeks to eliminate unnecessary wasteful government programs.  Currently, the rate of government spending is unsustainable and dangerous.  It is pure fantasy to believe spending can continue at its current rate.  I believe the Ryan budget doesn’t cut enough!  I also believe Economic Policy Institute is nothing more than a mouth-piece for the Congressional Progressive Caucus to spread economic half-truths and outright misinformation.  The Economic Policy Institute makes claims, but fails to back it up with any supporting data.  Under Obama’s NO PLAN, but continuing run-away spending will eventually hurt everyone; seniors, children, poor, middle class and the rich.  Again, another Social scare tactic by Hirono.

8)      Gives millionaires and billionaires $265,000 each in addition to the $129,000 they would receive from the Bush tax cuts:  Hirono is a student of Keynesian economics and wealth redistribution.  Classic Socialism and Class Warfare! The belief that if you take money from one group of people and give it to another group.  That does not create jobs.  It does not create economic opportunity.  Hirono wants to expand government by using tax payer money to waste on government programs.  That’s unsustainable!  The Bush tax cuts gave everyone a tax cut.  Obama and Hirono wants to punish people that are wealthy and successful.  Hirono wants to tax the job creators.  Hirono wants to slow down the economy by killing small business with unnecessary taxes.  This country has the highest corporate tax rate in the world.  Hawai’i has some of the highest taxes in the nation.  Hawai’i currently tacked on a half percent to the General Excise Tax (GET) to build a train to nowhere.  How long before Honolulu’s mistake starts to affect the neighbor islands?  This nonsense of taxing and spending our way into prosperity is complete idiocy and irresponsible.

9)      Cuts transportation investments in roads, bridges, rail lines, buses, and airports: Again, spending cuts need to be done because we don’t have the money.  Obama has drained the Treasury.  We as a country are broke.  To continue to deny that is like not paying your mortgage.  Eventually you will lose your house.  It’s like not paying your credit cards, eventually the bank will come for you.  It’s like not paying off your car; eventually the repo man will repossess your car.  States should be responsible for their transportation priorities.  Instead, States with Democrat leadership have wasted transportation projects on other general fund projects.  Neil “Crusty the Clown” Abercrombie took money from the Hurricane fund for other projects.  This is the same thing that Hirono wants to do.  Barney Frank, the Congressman crook that once claimed the Housing Market was solvent and not in trouble of collapsing, did a fund raiser for Hirono.  You see, these are the people that caused the economic collapse.  It wasn’t the Bush tax cuts.  It wasn’t the eight years of the Bush presidency.  It started in 2006 when the House of Representatives was dominated by Socialist Democrats.  That’s when out of control spending started.  That’s when the housing market started to implode.  In 2008 when Obama Regime increased spending with Cash For Clunkers, the GM Bailout, the Stimulus plan and the Quantitative Easing of the economy.  All failed economic policies supported and voted for by Hirono.

10)   Protects tax breaks and boosts incentives for corporations shipping American jobs overseas:  I don’t know what incentives companies to move overseas, except for high taxes and over regulation.  Hirono and her gang of Socialist Democrats have choked businesses with high taxes and over-regulations.  Their failed economic policies to pick winners and losers have resulted in millions of job losses.  Conveniently, Hirono blames the Republicans for the Democrats failed policies.  The Democrats owned the House of Representatives for 4 years until 2010 when the Tea Party and Conservatives swept the house with Fiscal Conservatives.  There hasn’t been a budget passed since Obama came into power.  Even the Senate rejected Obama’s budget.  So for Hirono to gleefully cast her vote against fiscal sanity just shows the lack of intelligence she has understanding how the economy works.

Hirono offers no budget solution herself.  Typical Marxist Democrats that are good at making speeches but little on substance and follow through.  At least Ryan has a budget with substantial fiscal sanity.  Sooner or later, this nation needs to come to grips with our fiscal house.  If not, we will surely end in worse condition.  Hirono can hide her head in the sand all she wants, but standing on the sidelines and making unhelpful comments doesn’t demonstrate good government.  It does show a small petty woman with an ego of empty vanity.

 

 

House Budget Commitee Chairman Paul Ryan corrected Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s incorrect speech on Medicare during House Floor debate of the Path to Prosperity Budget.

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz: As a member of Congress representing a large number seniors in south Florida, I can tell you that the House Republican Budget would be devastating for seniors and older Americans. This Republican path to poverty would pass like a tornado through America’s nursing homes, where millions of Americans seniors receive long-term and end-of-life care.

HBC Chairman Paul Ryan: The growth rate of Medicare under this budget is the same one the President proposes in his budget. Here’s the difference: President Obama in his law — the one being debated over in the Supreme Court — says 15 unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats will be in charge of putting price controls and cuts to Medicare to accommodate that growth rate. Our plan puts 50 million seniors in charge of choosing what health care plan is best for them — more for the poor, more for the sick, less for the wealthy, and it makes Medicare solvent. 

And here’s the catch: we don’t change the benefit for current seniors. This just applies to younger people – unlike the current law that the President passed — that my friend voted for – 15 bureaucrats are in charge of putting price controls on current seniors’ medical care which leads to denied care for them. So if we’re talking about who’s “saving and strengthening Medicare” it is this budget as opposed to the status quo, which raids it, rations it and still allows the program to go bankrupt.

“This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility,”

Presumption is a scary thing.  Does Obama know something we don’t?

The Ryan Republican Budget did pass in the House today.  The Senate is scheduled to review the budget, but the Socialist Democrats that holds the majority rule under Harry Reid will most likely put the budget on hold.  This means the current rate of mismanaged spending will continue until after the election.  If Obama gets reelected, the America as we have known it will cease to exist.  Our economic future will look like Europe, in particular Greece.  That is a future which will end the republic and the beginning of a socialist model much like Russia.  If Obama is reelected, the Second Amendment will end and Obama will disarm the populace.  If Obama is reelected, free speech will be a thing of the past; any dissenting opinion will be not be tolerated.  If Obama is reelected healthcare will be rationed, jobs will be scarce, housing will be government owned and the disintegration of individual freedoms and liberties will be forever lost.

 

What’s For Dinner?

 

 

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon Salad

 

 

 

 

I Was Inspired

 

 

I am inspired!  Last night, I had an encounter with great wisdom.  I had recently written an opinion article for my local newspaper regarding the Rush Limbaugh faux pas.  In it I explained that this wasn’t about what Limbaugh said, but about the moral decline being promoted by the Socialist Democrats.

Last night I received a phone call from an 85 year old elderly Japanese woman, she wanted to complement me on my opinion editorial.  Her name was Arlene, and she wanted to tell me how much she enjoyed reading my article that I wrote to the Hilo Tribune-Herald.  I’ve written opinion articles to the Hilo newspaper many times before, and on occasion people have complemented me on my ramblings.  However, this was the first time I had an hour plus long conversation with someone so passionate about losing a voice on the airwaves.

Arlene was disappointed by the decision by our local radio station KPUA to pull the Rush Limbaugh show from their programming schedule.  Having the dubious recognition of being the only radio station in the nation to do so, KPUA’s President Chris Leonard was obviously pleased with himself.  By punishing the listeners of his radio station, he must have felt he was making a bold statement for righteousness, or something.

Chris Leonard: Click on the pic to read the full story

“Apparently, we were the first in the country to cancel and it has generated a fair amount of national attention, which was certainly not our intent, and we have received a ton of feedback on both sides of the issue over the past several hours,” he noted. “We’ve heard a lot from Rush listeners who are disappointed in our decision and we’ve also heard from a lot of people who are very happy about the decision.”

 

Arlene was angry that KPUA canceled the Rush Limbaugh show, and she told me that she called the station to express her anger.  She told me she did not know what she was going to do without her daily listening of “Excellence In Broadcasting!”  She went on to explain that she agreed with Rush; that Sandra Fluke is a “slut”!  Anyone that would publicly shame themselves before “Pelosi’s Gang” is deserving of such rebuke.  I agreed that the larger point was not lost in the fluff of leftist manufactured outrage.

 

When Conservative women are disparaged by the left, not a word is heard by the elitist media.  Why does the media turn a blind eye at the conduct by so called late night comedians, leftist cable news anchors and leftist radio talk show morons that regularly disparage women?  In particular conservative women?

Media Mashup

Letterman’s top ten countdown – number 2, he makes a remark about Sarah Palin.

 

This is, apparently, acceptable behavior to the National Organization of Women (NOW).  Notice that they didn’t say a word about any vulgar remarks about conservative women.  That’s because in their feeble little hateful minds, this is acceptable in today’s society.  Allow some women to be discriminated against and then only defend those that fit their political views.  This is also because the National Organization of Women is at war with itself.  How else can you explain the content of their website.  They are promoting an appearance that women are all discriminated against.  This is patently not true!  Discrimination is not the exclusive domain of women.  People like me were not raised that way.  People like Arlene are not like that either.

Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda and others have expressed outrage over Rush Limbaugh’s comments and demand the FCC ban the show.  Considering the brain trust of these two, I would have thought their greatest collective concern would be either spit or swallow.  The moral outrage over a talk show host is lost in hypocritical hyperbole of “do as I say, and not as I do”!  Arlene and I spoke of this double standard and how it has poisoned the discourse in today’s society.  After all, it was Gloria Steinem that once said about housewives:

“[Housewives] are dependent creatures who are still children…parasites.” ~ Gloria Steinem, “What It Would Be Like If Women Win,” Time, August 31, 1970.

I was having an enjoyable conservation over the phone with a wonderful grandmother, a widower and a very intelligent woman.  A bold and passionate woman that was not afraid to speak her mind.  A woman with a voice, and not afraid to use it either!  A woman with health problems, for her age, but she was not afraid to pick up the phone and call me; to thank me for my opinion.  I was inspired and humbled!

How could anyone not want to hear a complement?  This was different.  She was praising a man she admired.  She was angry that a source of information was gone.  She was hurt by losing a friend on the radio for three hours a day.  She was emotionally distraught over a person that when they spoke, made her think, was now off the airwaves!  Much like the passing of Andrew Breitbart, I felt the same way.  She was grateful to know there were others like me out there.  Who appreciated free-thought and lived by conservative values.  I was inspired!

Arlene told me about her upbringing.  Growing up in the plantations north of Hilo town in Pēpē’ekeo.  How back in that time people didn’t conduct themselves like Sandra Fluke, out of fear of shaming their family and shaming themselves.  People had more pride in keeping with the morals they were taught.  Indeed, 85 years ago means she was born in 1927, and she lived through World War II, the Japanese interment and she has seen the changes in the world with a lifetime of experience.  Growing up on the slopes of Mauna Kea during the plantation days must have been an experience.  Back then, Hilo was just a small town and Pēpē’ekeo was just a small sugar plantation.  Arlene told me how she was raised with family values which she passed onto her children and grandchildren.  I was inspired!

Values that included pride and respect!  Values that included independence and interdependence.  Values that shared love and family.  Values that had mutual partisanship and commanding directness.  Values of respecting ones person, a temple, if I could use that phrase.  Something that seems in great deficit in today’s society.  The rational that contraception is cheaper than the full birth of a new life brought into the world is somehow a better trade off, is just frightening.  That was partially the subject of my article, but she saw it from a higher elevation and seen the larger picture.  She called me at home to tell me that.  I was inspired!

Bart Simpson explains Sandra Fluke

We agreed that if there was a War on Women; that I would surrender.  I said “willingly”.  All joking aside, my conversation with her was thrilling!  She went on to explain how she called the radio station’s phone number (KPUA), and voiced her displeasure with the stations decision to cancel the Rush Limbaugh Show!  She also told me she apologized to the station operator for her choice in language.  She did not elaborate on what she said explicitly, and neither did I inquire, but I can only imagine!

I could not imagine we are the only two people on the Big Island of Hawai’i with the same values.  I know we are not alone.  She told me because of her age and frail condition, she is no longer able to either drive, or get around without some assistance.  We talked about conservative groups here on the Big Island; The Conservative Forum and the Hilo Tea Party.  Both are a rich diverse group of people of both men and women that are like minded.  She was surprise and happy to hear that there were others out there.  Free-thinkers that often get together to discuss issues that affect our lives.

We talked about the entitlement mentality, the desire by people to depend on handouts from the government.  They call those handouts, free!  A right!    We talked about a variety of topics from family to politics.  We talked about how we make decisions and what guides our decision processes.  We talked about the Hawai’i caucus taking place today.  We talked about our candidates of choice.  We talked about the current administration, and local politics.  I was impressed by Arlene’s knowledge of current events.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was getting her news feeds via twitter or facebook.  I was inspired!

 

 

What’s For Dinner?

 

Luquin’s Mexican Restaurant

After voting in tonight’s Caucus

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

 

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas

 

Shaka Santa

 

One Horse Open Sanpan

 

There is no “X” in Christmas

 

Too Much Katnog

 

What’s for Christmas Eve Dinner?

 

Steak and Lobster with Fried Potato’s and Kim Chee Cucumber

 

 

 

Elevated Fire Wagon

Honolulu is taking a great gamble with the taxpayers monies to build an elevated rail system.  Federal funding for this project hasn’t been allocated yet.  Given the Federal Government’s debt problems, this project may end up being a huge waste of taxpayer’s monies.

The project is an elevated rail system that would run 20 miles from Kapolei in west O’ahu, to Ala Moana center in downtown Honolulu.  It is composed of electric, steel-wheeled, trains that would carry about 300 passengers each.

Transit Rail Map

The island of O’ahu has raised the General Excise Tax (GET) a half percent to help pay for the project.  Anyone doing business in Hawai’i is required to obtain a GET license.  Depending on the business you are in, the GET tax can range from 1/2 of 1% for Wholesaling and Manufacturing, to 4% on Retailing, Contracting, Rentals, Entertainment, and anything else.  Add the 1/2 of 1% to any business done on O’ahu and your tax rate can be as high a 4.5%.

Hawaii does not have a sales tax; instead, we have the general excise tax, which is assessed on all business activities. The tax rate is .15% for Insurance Commission, .50% for Wholesaling, Manufacturing, Producing, Wholesale Services, and Use Tax on Imports For Resale, and 4% for all others.

To put all the eggs in the Rail Basket, the City of Honolulu is relying heavily on federal funding to build the rail system.  The project is still ongoing despite the uncertainty of federal funding.  The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) has even raised the question of the city’s funding abilities:

“Given that GET surcharge revenues are highly leveraged in the financial plan, any shortfall in revenue would have material consequences on the City’s ability to finance the local share of project cost, unless other sources of capital funds are identified.”

The FTA also warned that the financial stress test the agency uses to grade the viability of the city’s ability to meet its obligations would not meet the agency’s standards.  Under the rail’s current plan, and the city’s projected financial weakness, the FTA would deny the request to advance the rail project.  So where will the city make up for the revenue deficiencies?

In 1879, King Kalakaua inaugurated the first rail system in Hawai’i on the Island of Maui.  Kahului Railroad Company was started to operate passenger service between Kahului and Wailuku.  Ka’a Ahi Kau I Ka Lewa literally means Elevated Fire Wagon.  The song, Ka’a Ahi Kahului speaks of this.

The first question is, does the city of Honolulu need an elevated train service?  The second question is, can the city support and pay for the rails construction and upkeep.  The environmental impact on the city is enormous.  It will mean rerouting sewer line, electric, traffic and roads.  There a host of unseen costs that hasn’t emerged from this project.

When the costs overruns begin to drown the city in debt, and when the project has gone too far to stop, I predict the state will step in and take control of the project.  Eventually, this will burden the costs of the project statewide.  It’s just a matter of time before that happens.

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What’s For Dinner?

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BBQ WINGS

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