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HONOLULU — Hawaii would be allowed to opt out of key requirements of national health care reform legislation, the only state given such a privilege because it already has its own comprehensive health insurance law. Hawaii's exemption is written into three paragraphs of the 1,900-page House bill that's set for a vote Saturday. U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Thursday that Hawaii's 35-year-old health law should be preserved because its requirement that employers pay for full-time workers' health insurance has boosted the number of insured residents to one of the highest rates in the nation. "We have this exemption because...

The economic crisis has forced every state to scramble to get its budget in balance. This has meant torturous efforts to preserve essential services and minimize the pain and damage from slashed spending and lost jobs. Every state has sacrificed. But Hawaii has sacrificed its own schoolchildren. The 50th state, the only one with a single statewide school district, has just cut 17 days from the academic year, under a new labor contract with public school teachers that avoids layoffs in favor of pay cuts and furloughs, all to be taken on instructional days.

Hawaii Celebrates Saint Who Cared For Lepers Huge crowd takes part in service for canonization of Saint Damien [Pic in URL] A relic of Father Damien — now Saint Damien — is carried in a procession to the Iolani Palace in Honolulu on Sunday as part of the interfaith celebration of his canonization. HONOLULU - Hawaii feted the canonization of Saint Damien with a Mass and an interfaith celebration that underscored the 19th century priest's enduring popularity in the islands. More than 1,200 people attended Sunday's Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, where Damien was...

The ‘Lost Battalion’ was surrounded by Nazis and near certain death – until the men of the 442nd appeared. Now, they meet again Even 65 years later, Astro Tortolano thinks almost daily of his struggle to survive in the Vosges Mountains of northern France in October 1944. Surrounded by German soldiers after stumbling into a trap, Tortolano and about 280 men in the 1st Battalion of the Texas 141st Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division rationed food and bullets. They fended off Nazi assaults. They thought all hope of surviving was lost. Six days into the crisis, different soldiers...

Most mainlanders have trouble rousing much sympathy for teachers in Hawaii, who have to bear such indignities as perfect weather and sun-drenched beaches. Under the previous teachers-union contract, starting pay for a teacher with a master's degree was $46,609, about $1,800 above 2007-08. Those high salaries are a necessary evil for school officials because of the island state's extravagant cost of living. This year, however, teachers will spend 17 fewer days gazingly longingly through their classroom windows at the blue skies and gently swaying palm trees. Unable to secure salary concessions, officials reduced the school year to 163 days, shortest...

see post below for link

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Three-in-ten Americans think their current head of state was not born in the United States, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies. 70 per cent of respondents believe Barack Obama was born in the U.S., while 30 per cent do not. While only 13 per cent of Democratic Party supporters believe Obama was not born in the U.S., the proportion rises to 25 per cent among Independents and 51 per cent among Republican Party backers. In American elections, candidates require 270 votes in the Electoral College to win the White House. In November 2008,...

54-year-old man has been attacked by a shark while surfing at Kalama Beach Park on Maui. Maui County spokeswoman Mahina Martin says the unidentified man was bitten Monday morning in the upper right thigh and the lower part of his right ankle. The man was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center. His condition wasn't immediately available. Martin says the shark is believed to have been a 6- to 8-foot sand shark. In response to the shark attack that occurred shortly after 6 a.m., ocean use from the south end of Kamaole 1 Beach Park to Waiohuli Road in Kihei was...

THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT STORIES OF THE YEAR ?!WALTER HUDSON is the blogger who witnessed, recorded, and broke the news of LORD MONCKTON's siren call for our paramount American Sovereignties, under attack by the "Climate Change Treaty." We will listen to Mr. Hudson and to Lord Monckton's brief presentation, hour-1. Then, MissTICKLY may have found evidence tending to indicate that (please take a deep breath) Barack Obama is the son of cousins, Stanley Ann Dunham and Frank Marshall Davis -- and Hawaiian royalty -- perhaps heir to the Hawaiian throne. If true, this would imply criminal fraud by Obama. Don't...

Update 10-15-2009: For a detailed look at Citizenship please see the article: Obama's Achilles heel - Natural Born Citizenship. This article goes into depth on the definitions of differing forms of US Citizenship. +++++++++++++++++++++++ The latest legal turn out of Hawaii leaves very little wiggle room for the state. On July 27th 2009 The Hawaii Department of Health in a press release declared that Barack Obama was a Natural Born Citizen.

This is my own article, and I own all relevant copyrights on its content. Barack Obama and State of Hawaii on the ropes. The latest legal turn out of Hawaii leaves very little wiggle room for the state.On July 27th 2009 The Hawaii Department of Health in a press release declared that Barack Obama was a Natural Born Citizen. Researcher Justin Riggs on July 29th was informed by email that Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett reviewed and approved the Statement released by DoH Director Fukino. Attorney Leo Donofrio has been investigating the irregularities in the State of Hawaii at his Blog Natural...

...There is an Usurper in the White House, and his name is Barack Obama. He and those who aided him in this usurpation, including the DNC are guilty of Treason to the United States. Every law that has been passed, every treaty signed, every order issued to the military has zero legal weight. This leads to a singularly terrifying reality that must be dealt with. The United States does not have a constitutional government....

According to law, the State of Hawaii must now disclose how it came to the decision that is found in Director Fukino’s July 27th Press Release that was approved by the State’s Attorney General. Haw. Rev. Stat. 28-4 states very clearly that formal opinions of the Attorney general must be made public. Further, The Hawaiian Office of Information Practices in 1991 formally set out the requirements that informal opinions of the AG must also be made available for public inspection. According to Donofrio, under the Uniform Rules of Evidence (Rule 510): “when the conclusions of an informal Attorney General opinion...

Wednesday morning will present an unusual sight off Ford Island in Pearl Harbor: the uncoupling of the battleship Missouri from its mooring opposite the sunken Arizona in the pairing that symbolizes the beginning and end of World War 2. The 887-foot Missouri, the last battleship built by the U.S. and site of Japan's unconditional surrender ending the war, will be headed to drydock at about 7 a.m. if all goes as planned. Officials recommend that people go to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park next to the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center for public viewing of the historic -...

Priest Who Lived With Leprosy Now A Saint Pope Benedict praises Father Damien, who died from leprosy in 1889 Audrey Toguchi, 80, from Hawaii, at right, with her doctor Walter Chang, looks on during a canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Sunday. VATICAN CITY - A 19th-century priest whose courageous work with leprosy patients in Hawaii has been likened to the efforts of those battling the stigma of AIDS was elevated to sainthood Sunday by Pope Benedict XVI, along with four other Catholics he hailed as heroes of holiness. Among the 10,000 pilgrims packing St. Peter's...

Peggy Chun's portrait of Blessed Father Damien Rome, Italy, Oct 9, 2009 / 06:24 am (CNA).- As the October 11 canonization of the Fr. Damien de Veuster approaches, an art teacher is leading a small group from Hawaii to Rome to present Pope Benedict XVI with a portrait of the saint painted by an artist paralyzed by Lou Gehrig’s Disease, also known as ALS.Fr. Damien, a hero to Hawaiians, ministered to a major leper colony on Molokai where he contracted and eventually succumbed to leprosy in the late nineteenth century.The late artist Peggy Chun had created the artwork with...

Ellen Bellerose rushed to Maui Memorial Medical Center's emergency room on her cardiologist's recommendation after she felt severe pain in her neck, chest and arms. As the pain intensified over the next two hours, she walked up to the counter three times to report difficulty breathing. She was told there were no beds available. "I was becoming terrified that I could die, unattended, in the emergency room." Although registered as a patient for 27 hours, she never entered the main hospital that February 7, 2006, but was billed as if she had. Bellerose is one of many Maui residents with...

http://naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/uipa-request-5-from-leo-c-donofrio/ This morning, it dawned on me that I wasn’t aware of any previous UIPA requests to the DoH for the actual records which contributed to the DoH declaration that President Obama’s birth had been filed by the DoH Registrar on August 8, 1961. How could a birth have been”FILED” on “August 8, 1961″ for President Obama with the DoH “REGISTRAR” without the Registrar having been informed that he was born? That’s not possible. Not unless clairvoyance was officially recognized by the DoH in 1961. (More secret law?) In order for the DoH Registrar to have filed President Obama’s birth...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 5, 2009 – The Hawaii National Guard’s medical mission in American Samoa wrapped up over the weekend, but 14 Guardsmen with the state’s civil support team will remain there to conduct joint hazardous-material and damage assessment operations, Guard officials reported today. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Lisa Bartolome of the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Medical Group shows an American Samoan boy how to make a paper airplane at the Congressional Christian Church of American Samoa in the Fafatiua village, Oct. 2, 2009. The Hawaii Air National Guard provided basic medical care to residents after a tsunami struck...

It took only eight minutes after the most powerful earthquake she'd ever felt knocked her to the ground, for a wall of water to slam through the sleepy Samoan surf resort where she was staying and sweep it away. As she fled in a van, Cristiane "Kiki" Martins said she and others screamed at villagers to escape to higher ground. But the Paia resident said she saw some families stay behind in their homes, waiting for a warning or evacuation order that wouldn't come in time. Back home safely on Friday, but still fragile and shaky from her ordeal, Martins...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 2, 2009 – A physician assistant from the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 154th Wing provided his unit at Hickam Air Force Base with a first-hand account from tsunami-torn American Samoa. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Carissa Maxson of the Hawaii Air National Guard studies the shorelines of Pago Pago, American Samoa, Oct. 1, 2009, while conducting assessments of the area after a tsunami stuck there Sept. 29. Maxson is with the 154th Medical Group's Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear and Explosives Enhanced Response Force Package. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Cohen A. Young  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2009 – The medical support situation in American Samoa has stabilized amid ongoing U.S. relief efforts after a massive tsunami devastated the area this week, a Defense Department official said today. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kimo McKee, Hawaii Air National Guard loadmaster, directs the loading of humanitarian aid supplies into a C-17 Globemaster III bound for American Samoa to assist in relief efforts in the wake of tsunamis triggered by Sept. 29, 2009, undersea earthquake. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mike Meares  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Medical triage, casualty care, shelter and bedding...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2009 – In response to Federal Emergency Management Agency requests, National Guard assets from Hawaii continue to provide air-cargo operations and other support to tsunami victims on American Samoa, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters here today. Airmen from the 204th Airlift Wing of the Hawaii Air National Guard load a vehicle onto a C-17 Globemaster III Sept. 30, 2009 at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, in preparation for departure for a humanitarian mission in American Samoa. The island nation was devastated by an earthquake and Tsunami, Sept. 29, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt....

10 foot tsunami also hit Samoa: http://news.bnonews.com/upti less than a minute ago

* BULLETIN -- OFFICIALS: TSUNAMI MAY BE DESTRUCTIVE FAR FROM EPICENTER; INVESTIGATING THREAT TO HAWAII. less than a minute ago

BULLETIN TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 1 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 805 AM HST TUE SEP 29 2009 TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH A TSUNAMI WATCH IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 0805 AM HST. AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS ORIGIN TIME - 0748 AM HST 29 SEP 2009 COORDINATES - 15.3 SOUTH 171.0 WEST LOCATION - SAMOA ISLANDS REGION MAGNITUDE - 7.9 MOMENT EVALUATION BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON...

KAHULUI - The Maui Chamber of Commerce and the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations will conduct a presentation Wednesday on the automatic unemployment insurance tax increase scheduled to take effect in April. The insurance tax rate is set to change because the unemployment insurance fund balance has fallen below an adequate level because of the ongoing recession and higher unemployment. State Labor and Industrial Relations Department Director Darwin Ching said that the rate will automatically increase from about $450 to $2,040 per employee, depending on the company's unemployment experience rating.

He took a principled stand that the invasion and occupation were violations of international laws." Watada was tried in military court in February 2007 for ...

I would respectfully like to offer my opinion as to why they birth certificate issue does not matter, and why it is harmful to the conservative cause. WHAT IF OBAMA WAS BORN IN KENYA? Let's assume it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Obama was born in Kenya. And let's assume that Federal judge somewhere rules that Obama is not qualified to be President. Obama would appeal and ndoubtedly the Supreme Court would issue a temporary stay, in the interest of stability, while they rule on the case. Ultimately the SC would rule in Obama's favor....

Thousands of miles from his Hawaii congressional district, Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie has discovered a lifeline for his state's struggling construction industry - and a potential boost in his campaign for governor. His idea is to legislate high wages for a massive construction project in the federal territory of Guam, restrict the ability of foreigners to get those jobs and hope Hawaii residents, although 3,800 miles away, will flock there for the work... The cost to U.S. taxpayers if he gets his proposal through Congress is $10 billion by one official estimate, doubling the price tag of the project. At...

Hawaii businesses will have to pay an average of about $1,000 more per employee in annual taxes come April to help keep unemployment payments flowing to laid-off workers. The rising number of unemployed is sapping the state's savings fund at a rate of $32 million a month, triggering the drastic tax increase called for by law. Businesses currently pay an average of $90 per employee each year into the unemployment fund, but that figure is expected to rise to an average of $1,040 by next spring. "It means less money businesses have to pay wages or create new jobs," said...

Security: An Iranian mullah once said "a world without America and Zionism" was a real possibility. Our sellout of Eastern Europe and missile defense brings that dream closer to reality. It would take only one warhead."Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?" Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked at a "World Without Zionism" conference in Tehran in 2005. "But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved." He added that Iran had a strategic "war preparation plan" for what it called "the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization." A...

Unemployment insurance payment of $90 surging to at least $1,040 per worker

On Saturday, September 12, nearly 200 citizens attended the local TEA Party in Kailua Kona, HI. Participants in the rally braved first the sun, and then the rain in order to demonstrate their displeasure (to put it lightly) with the current (albeit, long-evolving) state of affairs in Washington, D.C. The overall message of the organization is that Americans have been “Taxed Enough Already”. Most participants’ signs elaborated on this basic belief. Kona’s TEA Party was the last in the nationwide, day-long event. The incredibly well-attended Washington, D.C. TEA Party kicked off the day in a strong way. I would argue...

Oahu's Tea Party movement has an official web site, http://oahuteaparty.wordpress.com. We are looking to set up a protest on the 5th of November at the State Capital in Honolulu at a time TBD. If anyone would like to lend a hand in putting this together, as it is going to take alot of work and planning, please let us know at oahuteaparty@gmail.com.

I have been looking for several weeks for a leader or point of contact for the Oahu Tea Party Movement, and have had little to no success. That being the case, I am going to set up a Tea Party Protest for Thurs, November 5th 2009. I would like to coordinate with any conservatives from the island of Oahu. I can be contacted by email: black_rabite@hotmail.com and phone by 808-557-1206. Mahalo

I’d like to take a few minutes and write directly to younger readers, specifically teens and young adults. When you’ve questioned authority – for whatever reason – and were told, “Because I said so,” what was your immediate response? What is your general knee-jerk reaction to being told that “you’re too young to understand”? (Do not confuse this with being disrespectful to authority.) Questions can – and should – be asked, but in a respectful way. This is the principle upon which our Constitution’s First Amendment is based: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting...

I know yall are not fans of the public health option, neither am I, Hawaii's Reps and Senators are making themselves very scarce (Tele-town halls etc). What can I do to make sure the nails are put in the coffin of both the health care plan, and Barack Obama's socialist agenda. I am legally a resident of the State of WA, so I can do things in that respect.

HONOLULU — Stinky city bus riders soon could get soaked. The Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose up to a $500 fine and/or up to six months in jail for public transit passengers convicted of being too smelly.

Prejudice in Paradise Hawaii Has a Racism Problem By Larry Keller Celia Padron went on a Hawaiian vacation last year, lured by the prospect of beautiful beaches and friendly people. She, her husband and two teenage daughters enjoyed the black sand beach at Makena State Park on Maui. But a Hawaiian girl accosted her two teenage daughters, saying, "Go back to the mainland" and "Take your white ass off our beaches," says Padron, a pediatric gastroenterologist in New Jersey. When her husband, 68 at the time, stepped between the girls, three young Hawaiian men slammed him against a vehicle, cutting...

Woman took items while bags were being screened. A 30-year-old former Transportation Security Administration worker was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years' probation Thursday for stealing jewelry, gift cards and other things out of tourists' bags as the items were undergoing security screening at Kahului Airport. Devie Darla Dale Feig... The agency already has reimbursed the victims. "I'm not a bad person. But what I did was wrong. I wanted to say I'm sorry," Feig said ... Deputy Prosecutor Terence Herndon called the case egregious and asked that Feig receive the full 90-day jail term. "I believe...

Muted commemoration as Hawaii turns 50 as a stateBy MARK NIESSE Associated Press Writer Sunday, August 23, 2009 HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii welcomed its entry as the 50th state with a new postage stamp Friday but independence supporters marked the day with passionate protest — including an effigy of Uncle Sam being beaten and Hawaii’s star cut out from the U.S. flag. State leaders called Friday’s events a “commemoration” of Hawaii’s 50 years of statehood rather than a “celebration” out of respect to Native Hawaiians and their unresolved claims since the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. A few hundred...

Additional documents uncovered by WND support a previous report that President Obama's parents did not live together as husband and wife at the Honolulu address listed in birth announcements in two local newspapers. Both newspapers, the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, carried the announcement that Barack Obama Jr. was born Aug. 4, 1961, to Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, residing at 6085 Kalanianaole Highway in Honolulu, Hawaii. Additional research has established that the grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, lived at 6085 Kalanianaole Highway, not Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham. Moreover, Mr. and Mrs. Obama apparently did not...

Two videos regarding Obama's birth. "Tell the Truth" and "Hawaii Never Confirmed Obama's Birth Document"

Big companies warn of a shortage and ask the U.S. to ease import quotas. Domestic sugar producers say there's plenty available and that raising quotas could drive them out of business. The price of sugar on world markets has soared this year, prompting a coalition of the nation's largest food manufacturers to warn of a pending shortage and to ask the Agriculture Department to ease quotas on imports. But although prices have risen domestically and abroad, analysts say fears of empty supermarket shelves are overblown and that the gloomy outlook of big food companies is really part of a larger...

The Tulsa World again showed its bias against Sen. Jim Inhofe in the headline for its article on the questionable evidence of Barak Obama's natural-born status ("Inhofe weighs in on Obama birth site," July 28). Inhofe specifically said he didn't weigh in because he hadn't studied the facts. Jim Inhofe said, "No comment," but he "weighed in"? Your article derisively calls all who wonder if Obama is a natural-born citizen, "birthers," while Obama has blocked access to his long form birth certificate. Two Hawaii hospitals have claimed to be the hospital where Obama was born. No hospital has produced the...

"I did see a poll yesterday where 8% of the people said they didn't know if Hawaii was, or weren't sure if Hawaii was, a state." Video

Three leading Republican governors on Monday defended the heated exchanges and vigorous protests taking place at health care town hall events across the country. "I think you see a heightened emotion and passion and, you say anger, because people are scared," said Hawaii GOP Gov. Linda Lingle, during a conference call with reporters organized by the Republican Governors Association. "You're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts in spending on Medicare, and that's why you see members of the AARP separated from their leadership on this issue, because they're scared," the Hawaii governor said. "The heightened anger is...

PRINCETON, NJ -- From the time Barack Obama took office as president until the end of June, 63% of Americans, on average, approved of the job he was doing. The breakdown of his half-year approval ratings at the state level shows that Obama's approval rating was above 50% in all but two states, Wyoming and Alaska. His highest approval ratings were in the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Vermont, Maryland, and Massachusetts. Since June, Obama's approval rating has descended into the 50s, sinking as low as 52% in late July before recovering somewhat and settling back in the mid- to upper...

Documents uncovered by WND strongly suggest Barack Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham, President Obama's parents, did not live at 6085 Kalanianaole Highway in Hawaii – even though birth announcements in local newspapers listed that address. Both newspapers, the Honolulu Advertiser and the Star Bulletin, carried the announcement about the Aug. 4, 1961, birth. Both included the 6085 Kalanianaole Highway address. But WND has confirmed that the house at that street number was owned and occupied in 1961 by another longtime resident Hawaii couple. Moreover, throughout the time he was in Hawaii, Barack Obama Sr. maintained his own separate apartment...