Free Republic

Posted by Jim Hoft on Sunday, May 19, 2013, 2:50 PM The hits keep coming… Two independent IRS offices targeted Hawaii conservative leader Dylan Nonaka last year at the same time. hawaii gop Dylan Nonaka is former executive director of the Hawaii GOP The Daily Caller reported, via FOX Nation: In what former Republican executive and activist Dylan Nonaka is calling a massive invasion of privacy that suggests a coordinated effort to target conservative groups, two IRS offices last year independently and simultaneously conducted costly audits and sought tea party-related training materials that they apparently believed could be tied to...

Honolulu - Police in Hawaii are looking for a Mt. Hood Community College student who went missing in Waikiki Thursday. Ivanice "Ivy" Harris, 29, traveled to Hawaii for her birthday with a group of friends including her boyfriend of eight years. She is a graduate of Jefferson High School. "We talk every single day and I hadn't heard from her, and I sent her a text. I didn't hear back but that's when I got a text from her boyfriend. She was ready to do Hawaii for her birthday today," her mother Patricia Harris told KGW Saturday Harris was last...

Japan Maritime Self Defense Force warships JS Atago, foreground, and JS Shimokita, at Pearl Harbor naval base, Hawaii. The superstructure of a third Japanese warship, the helicopter carrier JS Hyuga, can be seen at right. On the deck of Shimokita are ground vehicles and helicopters – shrink-wrapped to protect against salt air -- that will take part in major amphibious warfare training in southern California.Warships from Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force have making stops at the American naval base at Pearl Harbor for more than two decades. But it’s going to seem strange, indeed, when Japanese ground troops clamor aboard...

In the last few weeks, numerous Hawaii healthcare industry leaders have stepped forward to create deniability for themselves in the upcoming Hawaii Health Connector/Health Exchange disaster. Those who are implementing Obamacare in Hawaii are now putting themselves on the record explaining that Obamacare will mean higher insurance premiums, fewer doctors and nurses, and shuttered hospitals. Here are their statements, accumulated in one place so that it can be clearly seen that many of those who are in charge are predicting failure: HMSA Chief Predicts Obamacare 'Rate Shock' for Hawaii Maui News May 9, 2013: If Hawaii consumers think health care...

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have broken through a symbolic mark. Daily measurements of CO2 at a US government agency lab on Hawaii have topped 400 parts per million for the first time. The station, which sits on the Mauna Loa volcano, feeds its numbers into a continuous record of the concentration of the gas stretching back to 1958. The last time CO2 was regularly above 400ppm was three to five million years ago - before modern humans existed. Scientists say the climate back then was also considerably warmer than it is today. Carbon dioxide is regarded as the...

I cannot sit silently after reading “Census Calling on Kaua`i” (April 29, 2013). The article is counter to my personal experience and I feel compelled to share my experience with you. In the article the statements made by Mr. Gene Henry of the American Community Survey are counter to fact. This is not a letter representing one party or another. It is not an attempt to sway you to opt out of the American Community Survey. It is simply a recitation of fact. In 2010 my wife and I received a letter demanding that we participate in the ACS. The...

HONOLULU (AP) -- A group of Hawaii fishermen is asking the federal government to remove northern Pacific humpback whales from the endangered species list, saying the population has steadily grown since the international community banned commercial whaling nearly 50 years ago. Hawaii Fishermen's Alliance for Conservation and Tradition Inc., a coalition of fishing clubs and groups from across the islands, filed a petition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last month. There are more than 21,000 humpback whales in the North Pacific today, compared with about 1,400 in the mid-1960s. (snip) The fishermen say they don't want whaling to...

Weird. I just received a phoned in threat from a "hacker group" in Hawaii. Missed the name and he wouldn't repeat it for me, but he says, "If FR does not immediately start moderating our forum and quit our racist attacks on Hawaiians and their flag, they are going to shut us down." Have no idea what this is all about but I politely informed the little punk that he could KMA!! Also used some salty language and for that I ask the Lord's forgiveness.

The Hawaii Democratic Party has a long history of primaries split along racial lines, with contests often coming down to an Asian-American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander candidate and a white one, referred to as ”haole” in Hawaiian. And if it wasn’t Hanabusa challenging Schatz, it was likely to be another Asian-American Democrat, because Asian candidates often win in a state that is just 26 percent white. Over the last 20 years, there have been 10 major Democratic races that pitted a white candidate against an Asian-American one, including four out of six Honolulu mayor’s races and three out of...

A newly released memo revealed that President Roosevelt was warned that Tokyo was focused on Hawaii days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Washington Whispers reported: Three days before the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt was warned in a memo from naval intelligence that Tokyo’s military and spy network was focused on Hawaii, a new and eerie reminder of FDR’s failure to act on a basket load of tips that war was near. In the newly revealed 20-page memo from FDR’s declassified FBI file, the Office of Naval Intelligence on December 4 warned, “In anticipation...

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs announced Thursday the launch of a website designed to bring new attention and a strong voice to critically important issues. More than a year in the making, Kamakakoi.com was introduced by OHA's top leadership as a bold, new platform designed for key audiences to get informed, take action and spread the word on policy issues that are front and center in the Native Hawaiian community. The new website features videos and articles that give a voice to community leaders, who are outspoken about such issues as waters rights, the loss of ancient burial sites to...

Judge Rules In Favor of Lesbians Suing Hawaii B&B By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER HONOLULU (AP) — A judge has ruled a Hawaii bed and breakfast violated the law when two women were denied a room because they're gay. The Hawaii First Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of a Southern California couple who sued Aloha Bed & Breakfast for discrimination in 2011, Lambda Legal announced Monday. In 2007, Diane Cervelli and Taeko Bufford tried to book a room at the bed and breakfast because it's in Hawaii Kai, the same east Honolulu neighborhood where the friend they were visiting lived....

Witness Cesar Pena [Pic] A woman suspected of holding a knife to her 3-year old daughter’s throat was in court Friday, listening as her husband described what happened. Cesar Pena told the court his wife Stephanie discovered that he was planning to take a trip. She got upset and grabbed their daughter, holding a knife to her throat, and demanding he change his travel plans.

The massive Thirty Meter Telescope will be able to image objects 13 billion light years away, near the beginning of time. Set atop Mauna Kea, the Thirty Meter Telescope will be able to observe planets outside our solar system. (Credit: Courtesy TMT Observatory Corporation) If you love eye-popping images of space, here's welcome news: the Hawaiian Board of Land and Natural Resources has backed building what's to be the world's largest, most powerful optical telescope above the clouds atop the volcano Mauna Kea. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will have a primary mirror of 492 segments measuring some 100 feet...

The Hawaii Health Connector announced today that it has received a $128 million Level 2 multi-year grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services.This award makes the Connector fully-funded through December 2014. This particular award will fund the customer service call center, consumer assistance program and general maintenance and operations of the Connector through December 2014.“This federal grant will help to inform the people of Hawaii about the Hawaii Health Connector and how it will provide greater access to health care coverage,” Gov. Neil Abercrombie said in a media announcement.“The Connector continues to be an important part of...

The United States and Japan on Friday announced plans for basing troops in Okinawa that will result in Marines from there being moved to Hawaii and Guam. ... “Under the plan, the United States will consolidate our forces over time and reduce our impact on the most populated parts of Okinawa,” U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. “Together, our plan calls for the immediate return — upon the completion of certain necessary procedures — of certain facilities and areas on Okinawa.

Wailuku, Maui (HawaiiNewsNow) - A 58-year-old man visiting from Marina Del Rey, California was bitten by a shark Tuesday morning, in waters fronting 110 Ka'anapali Shores Place, officials say. The incident was reported at around 8:30 a.m. Surfers were evacuated from the water and the beach is closed for a mile in both directions from the area where the shark bite took place. Maui officials say the victim suffered two deep lacerations on the right thigh, above the knee. Video

Honolulu (HawaiiNewsNow) - A new civil lawsuit accuses a former Damien Memorial School chaplain of sexually assaulting two former students in the early 1980's. Father Gerald Funcheon worked at the school from 1982 to 1984. He is accused of molesting the alleged victims, identified as John Roe No. 9 and John Roe No. 10, multiple times. The plaintiffs' lawyers are also representing another former student, Kory Oakland, who filed a sex abuse lawsuit last year. The attorneys released excerpts of Funcheon's testimony filmed under oath in September 2012 for that case. Attorney Jeff Anderson asked him about reports that there may...

A reporter from Colorado asked White House spokesman Jay Carney how President Obama justifies "lavish vacations" and golf trips, and whether he plans to cut back:(NB: video at link)Bringing up high unemployment in minority communities and government furloughs, the reporter started, as well as "millions of Americans unemployed, and family budgets that have been cut. How does the president justify lavish vacations and a golf trip to Florida at taxpayer expense? And does he plan to cut back on his travels?"Carney responded, "I can tell you that this president is focused every day on policies that create economic growth and...

More and more people continue to buy guns in Hawaii and this weekend's gun show at the Blaisdell was packed. Business at this weekend's gun show is booming. "A lot more women a lot more families, it's not just a man thing anymore," says Sheldon Tyau, Event Coordinator. Organizers say it's the largest crowd they've seen in the show's 35 year history. The longest line was for ammo.

In the past several months the AR-15 rifle has gone from the most popular firearm in the country to the most infamous. Among many people, it is now the most sought after. Defend Hawaii Logo (courtesy of Defend Hawaii) As has been extensively reported, following the presidential election and Sandy Hook, national (including Hawaii) sales of “black guns” have gone ballistic. A December 23 Star Advertiser story reported that OGC Tactical, a Kalihi gun store that specializes in black guns, had a ten-fold increase in sales in the week following President Barack Obama’s gun control task force announcement. Not surprisingly, the sales...

Mililani - For half a dozen former Kipapa Elementary School students, room P-10 was a little class of horrors. Hawaii News Now has learned that the families of six disabled students have now come forward with allegations of abuse by staffers at this Mililani School. The latest allegations come from the parents of an autistic girl who say school staffers force fed their daughter, often to the point of vomiting. Court documents filed in U.S. District Court say that in some instances the girl -- who often had trouble eating -- was forced to eat food she threw up. People familiar with the case say the girl also was...

Jim Albertini will be able to speak at Hilo High School after all. The anti-war activist said that Principal Bob Dircks notified his attorney on Friday that he will be allowed to speak to students, reversing a decision made two days prior to cancel the event due to a backlash over his outspoken views of the military. The previous day, Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz[ACLU] representing Albertini, threatened the school with a lawsuit over alleged civil liberties violations if his presentation wasn’t allowed.

Although real-life circumstances of late may prove more illuminating to them than any words could be, students at Hilo High School will receive a presentation from peace activist Jim Albertini on 'participating in a democracy'

Hawaii has more government workers as a percentage of all workers than every state in the union save Alaska, a new poll by Gallup shows. Nearly three out of every 10 employees – or 27.8 percent of employed adults in Hawaii – work in a federal, state or local government agency, according to the survey. Hawaii falls behind the District of Columbia, at 29.2 percent, and Alaska, 28 percent. Driving the booming government payrolls are factors of geography, military strategy and the strength of unions here. Taxpayers in turn pay some of the highest rates in the country to support...

Honolulu (HawaiiNewsNow) - Accorrding to the 2012 Point-in-Time Count, there are nearly 6,300 homeless across the state. A proposed house bill would establish a program that helps those not from Hawaii return to their home state and reconnect with their family. State Representative Rida Cabanilla is proposing House Bill 533, which establishes the 'Return-to-Home' program and is seeking $100,000 in appropriations to fund the endeavor. "It's (the program) only for select individuals that can really benefit from the program, meaning they have support services, they want to go home, but they can't go home," Cabanilla said. "That sort of stuff."...

The Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that $1.55 billion in new federal tax dollars will be allocated for the first-ever Hawaiian Transit Rail system on the island of Oahu, which will serve downtown Honolulu, at a total federal and state cost of $5.1 billion.The train circuit will be 20 miles long, with 21 stops on an island that is 30 miles wide. … An additional $4 million has been obligated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “stimulus”), and $209.9 million is coming from other sources within the DOT. Both the $1.55 billion and the $209.9 million are proposed...

Honolulu (AP) - A bill that would have legalized marijuana in Hawaii has died in the state House. House judiciary committee Chairman Karl Rhoads said Tuesday that he decided to kill the bill after learning from House leadership that the initiative does not have enough votes to pass the House. Key lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House supported the measure, including the speaker and the majority leader.

Three Israeli surfers went to the aid of eight children struggling in the waters off Hawaii on Saturday, Channel 2 television reported, after huge waves began surging toward the coast. The three - Tzvika Elias, Yair Naftali and Gabi Liptz - were hailed as heroes by the children’s parents. “We had gone to a remote beach half an hour from Honolulu,” 30-year-old Elias, who lives in New York, told Channel 2. “The waves there were high, huge breakers about four meters high, and as the minutes past, the waves got stronger and even higher.” Elias and his friends then saw...

Honolulu (AP) — Hawai`i gun enthusiasts are organizing to stop gun control bills from gaining any traction at the state Legislature. Hawai`i Rifle Association President Harvey Gerwig said Wednesday that more than 400 people successfully opposed a bill that would have made firearm instructors liable for accidents that occur during training.

In kicking the proverbial can down the road, Congressional leaders acquiesced to the demand that wealthier Americans pay higher taxes. The higher taxes came in the form of a higher maximum tax rate on those individuals making more than $400,000 and the loss of the favorable tax treatment accorded dividend and capital gains income. Such a strategy pandered to the majority of Americans who don’t believe they are “rich,” but fall into the great “middle class” which the politicians claimed they were protecting. In the meantime, those very politicians have deferred dealing with the real issue that is out of...

Press Release - Washington, DC – Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) today released the following statement on the news that the Department of Defense will lift the ban on women serving in ground combat roles: “As a twice-deployed combat veteran, I have a firsthand appreciation and understanding of the contributions women in uniform make every single day, all around the world. I have had the honor of serving with incredibly talented female soldiers who, if given the opportunity, would serve as great assets in our ground combat units. It is crucial that we shed light on the great value and opportunities...

Word is, Phil Mickelson is mad as hell about rising tax rates, and he’s not going to take it anymore. What follows is a brief portion of an interview Mickelson gave earlier today after carding a final-round 66 at the Palmer Course at PGA West in La Quinta – which I assure you, is not associated with the La Quinta next door to your local Denny’s – in which the golfer hinted that he is considering drastic career changes because of a combined tax rate nearing “62, 63 percent:”

As usual, when Malu ‘Aina announces a protest at PTA, members of “The Gathering of Eagles,” were there waving their American and Israeli flags in support of U.S. war policies.

Honolulu (AP) - A Schofield Barracks soldier was shot and killed by police early Tuesday after he repeatedly rammed multiple police cars with his truck in Waikiki. Several police officers were injured in the incident. The 25th Infantry Division said in a statement that it's cooperating with the Honolulu Police Department as officers investigate. The unit won't release the soldier's name until his family members are notified. "This is an incredibly tragic incident, and we offer our condolences to the soldier's family and to the officers injured," Lt. Col. Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said in a...

Oahu firearms owners are increasingly frustrated with long lines at the registration desk at the main Honolulu Police Department (HPD) station. Hawaii's firearms registration laws are among the strictest in the country, and mandate gun owners must register firearms within 72 hours of purchase. Firearms owners can spend more than nine hours in line over three visits to obtain a permit for a firearm and register it, according to Dr. Max Cooper, a legislative liaison for the Hawaii Rifle Association, with rules differing for handguns and long guns. Currently, to obtain a permit to acquire or to register a firearm, HPD requires the applicant...

Waianae, Hawaii - Emergency Medical Services officials say a 19-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition after a stabbing at Waianae High School Friday. Honolulu police responded just before 12:30 p.m. The Department of Education says two students, both 19-year-old men, got into an altercation during class time right before lunch.  They were outside near the basketball court. The suspect stabbed the victim with a pocketknife, according to the DOE.  The victim suffered lacerations and taken to Queen's Medical Center.

In an interview with Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal, newly re-elected House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) opened up about President Obama’s utter unwillingness to cut a single dollar from federal spending. In a stunning admission, Obama reportedly told Boehner, “We don’t have a spending problem.” Boehner added that President Obama continues to maintain that America’s federal deficit is caused not by governmental overspending but by “a health-care problem.” Said Boehner, “They blame all of the fiscal woes on our health-care system.” Boehner told Obama, “Clearly we have a health-care problem, which is about to get worse with Obamacare....

$16.4 trillion – that’s the latest figure for America’s massive national debt. Nearly $6 trillion of this debt was racked up in the first term of the Obama presidency – a 50 percent increase. It is horrifying to imagine what the debt will be when Obama leaves the White House in 2016, unless Congress has the willpower to stand in the way. Meanwhile, as the world’s superpower is literally drowning in debt, President Obama is basking in the warmth of the beaches of Hawaii, at an exclusive resort way beyond the financial reach of most Americans. The president pays the...

The White House’s Flickr account recently released a photo of President Barack Obama and his top advisers. The complete absence of women in the image is another reminder that females are underrepresented in Obama’s staff. Additionally, the president still pays his female employees significantly less than their male counterparts. ... It is unclear when Obama and the Democrats will call off the war on women

President Barak Obama left Washington D.C. tonight and is flying to Hawaii to rejoin his family on vacation.

If Michelle Obama's greige nail polish she wore during her Democratic National Convention speech was enough to spark discussion from Pulitzer prize-winning authors, then her Christmas Day polish is sure to cause fireworks. The First Lady, visiting a military base in Hawaii with President Barack Obama, celebrated December 25th in summery style, wearing a sleeveless cotton dress, sandals and a neon yellow pedicure. While she kept her hands bare, the pop of yellow on her toes was a simple way to liven up and add some colour to her black and white ensemble. The president and his family spent the...

--SNIP-- The property is 6,000 square feet with 5 bedrooms, 6 baths and an contemporary Asian theme. Supposedly it was to be listed after the Obamas vacationed there last year for $7.9 million. It’s unknown if plans changed to sell the house or if the property just never sold. Either way, the Obamas are sure to have had a good time in this luxury beachfront home.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced tonight Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz will replace the late Sen. Daniel Inouye as the U.S. senator from Hawaii -- not Sen. Inouye's first choice. On the day he died, the late senator wrote a letter to Abercrombie asking that he pick Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, to replace him. Hanabusa made it to the final round of consideration, but she did not win the nomination. "The charge of the central committee was to take all points of view into account, from Sen. Inouye and from the rank and file -- the Democratic grass roots," Abercrombie said...

Someone needs to tell Barack Obama—it must get particularly confusing this time of year—that his own birth is not Year One, the date around which all other events are understood. His much-noted, self-referential tic was on cringe-worthy display Friday when the president gave his eulogy for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, who served in Congress for half a century representing Obama’s birth state of Hawaii. Inouye was a Japanese-American war hero (he lost an arm in World War II, destroying his dream of becoming a surgeon), and as a senator he served on the Watergate committee, helped rewrite our intelligence...

Yes, everything is about Barack Obama. From the beginning, he has built his career on his own personal story, and the funeral service of former Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye at the National Cathedral on Friday apparently struck him as an opportune time to remind the world what that story was. In his 1,600-word oration, Obama even managed to work in the fact, as though someone in the universe might not have heard, that he had "a white mom [and] a black father" "and was raised in Indonesia and Hawaii." The problem, however, is not just that Obama used the word...

Obama Golfing in Hawaii With Pal Arrested in Prostitution Sting HONOLULU, Hawaii — Taking a break from the fiscal cliff negotiations, President Obama is spending the first day of his holiday vacation golfing with friends and aides, including longtime pal Bobby Titcomb, who was arrested last year on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute. After arriving in Hawaii late last night, the president spent this morning at his family’s vacation residence along the shores of Kailua, a quiet town on a stretch of beach on the east end of Oahu. Shortly before noon, the president made the trip to the Kailua...

The president arrived at Honolulu Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam early Saturday morning. The first family is staying at a vacation home in Kailua.

Unbelievable - During funeral for Senator Daniel Inouye, Obama diverts remembering Inouye for by speaking of himself for about 10 minutes

A hero for Hawaii - Daniel Ken Inouye, the grandson of Japanese immigrants, sacrificed his right arm for his country in combat during World War II and devoted much of his life as an unwavering voice for Hawaii in the U.S. Senate [Video, images, text]