Free Republic

The federal government posed a series of questions to Native Hawaiians, with whom it's seeking to reestablish nation-to-nation status. The answer it received, to all, was a resounding "no." This week, the Department of the Interior wrapped up two weeks of public meetings in Hawaii soliciting input from the Native Hawaiian community on setting up a similar structure to the one it has with Native American tribes. Kale Gumapac was one of the 130 people who signed up to speak in Hilo on the island of Hawaii. “[On] the questions that you raised for everyone to answer. It’s a trap,"...

First Potentially Habitable Earth-Sized Planet Confirmed By Gemini And Keck Observatories by Staff Writers Hilo HI (SPX) Apr 23, 2014 The artist's concept depicts Kepler-186f, the first validated Earth-size planet orbiting a distant star in the habitable zone-a range of distances from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet. The discovery of Kepler-186f confirms that Earth-size planets exist in the habitable zone of other stars and signals a significant step closer to finding a world similar to Earth. The artistic concept of Kepler-186f is the result of scientists and artists collaborating to help...

NASA engineers in Hawaii readied a 3.5-ton flying saucer-shaped test vehicle for a 23-mile-high balloon ride Saturday, followed by a rocket-powered climb an additional 11 miles for a high-speed flight through the extreme upper atmosphere to test an inflatable entry body and a huge supersonic parachute for eventual use at Mars. The LDSD project aims to develop and test two sizes of inflatable drag devices and a large new, supersonic ringsail parachute. Credit: NASA Flying at four times the speed of sound in the thin air near the edge of space, the test vehicle was expected to experience conditions similar...

Outwardly, they put on a show of unity — but privately, the Obamas and Clintons, the two power couples of the Democrat Party, loathe each other. “I hate that man Obama more than any man I’ve ever met, more than any man who ever lived,” Bill Clinton said to friends on one occasion, adding he would never forgive Obama for suggesting he was a racist during the 2008 campaign. The feeling is mutual. Obama made ­excuses not to talk to Bill, while the first lady privately sniped about Hillary.

Chinese Ships Arrive at Pearl Harbor By: Sam LaGrone Published: June 25, 2014 11:26 AM Updated: June 25, 2014 11:26 AM An American sailor on guard near the Chinese guided missile destroyer Haikou (171) at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on June 24, 2014. CCTV Photo An American sailor on guard near the Chinese guided missile destroyer Haikou (171) at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on June 24, 2014. CCTV Photo Two Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships arrived at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Tuesday, according to Chinese press reports. Guided missile destroyer Haikou (171) and hospital...

One person can make a difference, President John F. Kennedy said, and thanks to Hawaii State Rep. Bob McDermott (R) more people might try. The conservative dad took on the state’s Education Department and scored a partial victory. Since December, Rep. McDermott has been a campaign of one, working to roll back Hawaii’s explosive sex ed curriculum — which is so explicit it would make most adults blush. Homosexuality gets the state’s support, as well as other controversial practices that parents should reserve the right to explain to their kids themselves. bob mcdermott hawaii “I can assure you my 11-year-old...

The Mount Vernon Assembly – Indianapolis FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Skip Brown skip.brown@iga.in.gov 317-232-9521 The Mount Vernon Assembly to Meet at Indiana Statehouse June 12 and 13 INDIANAPOLIS (June 9, 2014) – More than 100 state legislators representing 33 states will meet at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on June 12 and 13 to continue establishing the rules and procedures needed for a future state-led convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as authorized by Article V of the Constitution. The meeting is a continuation of efforts that began in December 2013 at George Washington’s historic Mount Vernon estate...

Honolulu police officers have urged lawmakers to keep an exemption in state law that allows undercover officers to have sex with prostitutes during investigations, touching off a heated debate. Authorities say they need the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act. Critics, including human trafficking experts and other police, say it’s unnecessary and could further victimize sex workers, many of whom have been forced into the trade. …

Lewis Fuddy Jr.'s Loretta Fuddy died of an irregular heartbeat that was triggered when the plane she was riding in lost power and crash-landed off the Hawaiian island of Molokai in December. A engine manufacturer in Canada is to blame for a small plane's ocean landing and the death of Hawaii's former health director, her brother said in a lawsuit filed Monday. Lewis Fuddy Jr. is suing Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. and Makani Kai Air Charters over the Dec. 11 crash-landing. His 65-year-old sister Loretta Fuddy was a passenger on the flight and died of an irregular heartbeat, police...

Raghunatha John Giuffre knows how it feels to return from the dead. The 49-year-old Wainaku man was the third and final person stabbed during a spree that took place around midnight May 23, and the only one who reportedly knew the alleged assailant, 28-year-old Varaha Nrsngha Mims. [snip]

Officials at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are asking for a six-to-nine-month postponement of a Native Hawaiian convention to determine self-governance, in order to educate the public and construct a parallel roll for those who refuse to sign onto a roll ordered by state government. The OHA board of trustees, faced with 63 people wanting to testify, on Thursday postponed a decision until its June 5 meeting. The current plan is to hold an election of delegates this fall, followed by a spring convention. Testifiers, many of whom flew to Oahu from Hawaii Island and other neighbor islands, were mixed...

Homeless campers evicted’ That was the top headline in Friday’s TGI after campers at Anahola Beach Park were told to vacate or face arrest last week. We’re not disputing that these folks weren’t supposed to be there, but we will argue this is a sign of the severity of the homeless problem in Hawaii and specifically, on Kauai .... No surprise that homelessness is a problem. Kauai is a very expensive place to live. Rent, utilities, groceries and gas — all of which hit the shrinking middle class and the rising low-income hard — are among the highest in the...

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs' top administrator is recommending a six-month to nine-month delay in its nation-building process to conduct further education about the issues surrounding the establishment of a Hawaiian government. In addition, OHA CEO Kamana'opono Crabbe on Thursday offered two alternative options for adding people to the list of those who would participate in the nation-building: >> Including those who have signed up for the OHA Registry Program, which provides those who can prove their Hawaiian heritage with an official card that verifies ancestry.

President Barack Obama’s administration has quietly suggested it is willing to create a two-tier race-based legal system in Hawaii, where one set of taxes, spending and law enforcement will govern one race, and the second set of laws will govern every other race. The diversity proposal is portrayed as an effort to create a separate in-state government for people who are “native Hawaiians.” If Obama succeeds, “what’s to prevent creating similar [self-governing racial] groups out of say, Cajuns, or Orthodox Jews or Amish?” said Gail Heriot, a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “If you can do that...

When we pledge allegiance to the flag, we also pledge allegiance to the Republic for which it stands — “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The modern American left has put each of these qualities up for grabs. For example, implementing “social justice” would make it logically impossible to provide justice for all of us as individuals. The left is also unfavorably disposed to the idea of one indivisible nation. The Akaka Bill was a good example. As Gail Heriot and Peter Kirsanow explained, this legislation, which the House passed in 2010, would have enabled...

Hawaii’s ObamaCare exchange, the Hawaii Health Connector, costs the nation’s taxpayers the most per enrollee, according to a new study by Kaiser Health. Hawaii’s exchange, which has just more than 8,500 people registered, has a tab of about $23,899 per person. Former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou, D-Hawaii, noted Hawaii’s enrollment cost is 26 times the national average, 2 1/2 times the cost for the second most expensive state, North Dakota. According to the study, just 8,500 Hawaii residents signed up for the Hawaii Health Connector, while 150,000 people are needed to make the program self-sustainable.

Obamacare is proving to be a lesson in government waste, inefficiency, and incompetence. Does anyone in the world think that a private company could survive if it spent money the way several states have done on their health care exchanges? Massachusetts, Maryland, and Oregon have already abandoned their expensive efforts, and more states are expected to follow. Hawaii may be one of them: The chief executive of Hawaii's largest health insurance company is calling on Hawaii to shut down its beleaguered health insurance exchange, which was set up as part of President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Michael Gold,...

Some senators are trying to push through a bill that would re-authorize the discriminatory housing policies implemented in Hawaii by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which provides special benefits for “Native Hawaiians.” Native Hawaiians are defined as “any descendant of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778.” According to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ website, this means “you must have a blood quantum of at least 50 percent Hawaiian.” S.1352 has a seemingly innocuous provision, Section 503, which simply re-authorizes the Native Hawaiian Home-Ownership Act through 2018....

Hawaii lawmakers voted late on Tuesday to raise the U.S. state's hourly minimum wage to $10.10 from the federal minimum $7.25 at a time of heated national debate over wages and rising income inequality. The new rate brings the Pacific state into line with the hourly wage U.S. President Barack Obama has pushed at a federal level, where the current rate stands at $7.25. Legislation to raise the national minimum wage has stalled in Congress. In Hawaii, as at the national level, proposed increases have drawn strong opposition from some business owners, lobby groups, and economists, who say it will...

The movement to change how presidents are elected is gaining steam and proponents of the long-stalled popular vote initiative are predicting victory by 2020. Eleven states/jurisdictions have enacted the National Popular Vote (NPV) bill, giving the proposal 165 electoral votes — 61 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to trigger the new voting system. Legislatures that passed the law include California, Illinois, New Jersey. Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Rhode Island and Vermont. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a popular vote bill into law last week. All of these states, as well as the nation’s capital...