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Thursday, May 01, 2008

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE







Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive


"Let's all be careful out there!"

THE PERPETUATION OF A LIE

The last I heard, there are 300, or so, different activist groups of Native Hawai'ians vying for control of their people's hearts, souls and minds. The one central theme to their activities and goals is to wrest the State of Hawai'i from the United States. Reforming it as an independent nation called the Kingdom of Hawai'i. I've watch the programming displayed on the various cable-access channels. The more strident groups want everyone, who is not a "native" to leave and return all lands to their people.

The original Kingdom only existed for barely 100 years. Formed by an alliance between the British and the first ruler of the entire island chain. The British supplied what we would call today "military advisors" to assist King Kamehameha-I in consolidating his rule, in the late 1790's. Prior to that, the various islands had their own autonomous rulers.

The British came, the whalers came, the missionaries followed. As plantations were built, other peoples from Asia and Europe followed to provide the necessary labor. The Hawai'ian people suffered from diseases for which their isolated habitat had not developed immunities. This decimated their population. One King led to another as the plantations grew and the non-native population expanded. In the mid 1890's the owners of the plantations rebeled against the autocratic rule of the monarchy and established the Republic of Hawai'i. A short while later the USA annexed the Republic as a Territory of the US and, in 1959, the Territory became the 50th State.

I have read so much of the revisionist history that you begin to wonder what actually happened.

The facts are simple, the Queen faced a rebellion and while having the troops necessary to quelch the effort, she instead abdicated her throne and the rest is history.

This interesting article attempts to set straight some of the outright lies that the activists have long promoted as justification for their rebellion against the USA.

Of course, as the old saying goes:
"Don't confuse us with facts. We've already made up our mind."



Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive


"Let's all be careful out there!"

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

"BANNER-GATE"
5 YEARS LATER

5 years ago, today, our "fearless leader" arrived aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, via a S-3B Viking. Having flown aboard the navy aircraft because the carrier was too far for his Marine Corps Seahawk helicopter, "Marine-One", to fly the 30 miles from the coast to the carrier (say what?). He pranced around in a flightsuit and helmet and announced the end of the war in Iraq. Of course, we all know, 4,058+ deaths (3,920 since he spoke) of US GIs later, that wasn't exactly the case. The White House spin on the whole banner issue has been refuted by the facts multiple times. Mostly by blaming the sailors. But White House spokesman still try to tell us that we misunderstood.

Did anyone of you misconstrue the banner and his words:
"Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans:Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

"In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment - yet it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage - your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other - made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.

"Tonight, I have a special word for Secretary Rumsfeld, for General Franks, and for all the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States: America is grateful for a job well done."
to mean the war was over? How silly, it was just meant to acknowledge the return of the sailors to their home port from the war zone after another "mission accomplished". I don't know how you would classify his meaning, when he said:
"America sent you on a mission to remove a grave threat and to liberate an oppressed people, and that mission has been accomplished."
to our troops at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar the following month.

I am sure you also remember his symbolic gesture of "spiking the ball" in a photo-op on board the carrier. Doing it on the 5-yard line, just a wee bit short of the goal, should have told everyone just how competent he was at doing anything.
ANYTHING.


We know that Dubya wouldn't want to besmirch his Vietnam War record. Most of which has been conveniently destroyed by the Defense Department. During his service with the Texas Air National Guard, we never were faced with a single aggressive invasion by Mexico. Due to his diligence. Thank you Mr. President.

Dubya has a long record of success in his life.
  • A stellar graduate of Harvard University.
  • A competent owner/manager of a sports team.
  • Multiple accomplishments in the world of business.
  • A true defender and protector of our Constitution.
  • A brilliant military leader.
  • An astute guide to the nation's economy.
  • A noteworthy proponent of human rights.
  • A national leader revered and admired by the people of the world.
  • A person of deep, contemplative thought about the future.
  • An environmentalist extraordinaire.
  • A person who listens to all the facts on any issue before forming an intelligent, sound decision.
  • A President of "the people" rather than big business.

With all this going for him, its amazing the Pope didn't bestow Sainthood on GW during his recent visit.

***
FISC (Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court) domestic wiretap warrants have doubled since 9/11. Are you one of those under surveillance? I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you.

***
Is this a situation of letting the fox guard the henhouse? Sounds like it to me. NASA's Orion Project, the name designated for the next generation of manned space capsules to the Moon, has a review/oversight board. All NASA projects have these boards. Its required by law to insure that the contractors are meeting their responsibilities and obligations. Making sure that no one cheats on what they are suppose to produce. Quality, safety and reliability are the main goals. The 19 oversight board members include 6 individuals who work for the companies that are constructing the crew capsule. 4 of the 6 are also stockholders in companies doing the work.

The late Admiral Alan B. Shepard, America's first astronaut in space, was once asked what he thought about while waiting for the Redstone rocket to launch his Mercury capsule, Freedom 7, into space. He answered:
"That we are doing this on 'low-bid'."

***
“very difficult times, very difficult.”
Thats how Dubya described the nation's, and the world's, current economic situation. His detailed analysis advised us that "There are no quick fixes" and blamed the Democratic controlled Congress for our current mess.

***
Here is a very intelligent report on the cost of, and competition for, crude oil.

***

Here is some video about the takeover, for 8 hours, of the Iolani Palace grounds in Honolulu yesterday.









***

HAPPY MAY DAY!

Here in paradise, its called LEI DAY.

I'll be back later. Thanks for coming over.

Mahalo

Aloha


THE PICTURE GALLERY




Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive


"Let's all be careful out there!"

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

ON THE LOCAL SCENE

Big city crime worms its insidious way onto Mau'i. We've had two home invasions in the past week. Both occured near Kamaole Beach Park #1, a well known hangout for druggies and homeless riff-raff. These are the "night crawlers" that I have referenced before. The police are now advising folks to keep their doors locked. Something that never use to be a worry or concern.

***
MPD has initiated a crack down on speeders. Wrote 65 citations in one 4 hour period this past week. The department's policy that frowns on pursuits allowed one speeder, who was clocked at 101 mph (166 kph), to escape.

About the only problem I have with MPD is that they seem to operate in "knee-jerk" fashion. You very seldom see them on pro-active patrol. On most incidents they respond from the station. Maybe they spend a lot of time there doing paperwork or in-service training. Who knows? What they don't do is patrol. Looking to stop problems before they start. This could also be a budgetary concern. The brass wanting to save money on fuel costs, strongly suggesting the officers stay "in-house" until they are needed. That happened back on the mainland in the 70's during the Arab oil embargo.

***
A little bird told me that The Grand Wailea is going to start requiring drug testing of their service vendors, especially contract taxi drivers. Makes sense to me. Seems my post the day I was terminated has worked its way through their upper management. I hope they use the hair test, rather than the urine test, like the casinos in Nevada do. There are many ways to beat the urine test. I think the County should make it mandatory for taxi driver's license renewal.


Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive


"Let's all be careful out there!"

TERRORISM IN HAWAI'I

Today a group of native Hawai'ians have taken over the grounds of the Iolani Palace. They have locked all the gates to the palace and are allowing only persons of Hawai'ian descent in. State workers within the palace itself closed and locked the doors, preventing occupation of the building. There are about 60 people involved in this act. No weapons have been seen. Police are getting warrants for their arrest and hope to bring this incident to a peaceful end.

For updates, please use the following links. This is a breaking news story and not all may have updated their sites.




Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive


"Let's all be careful out there!"

VARIATIONS ON A THEME













Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive


"Let's all be careful out there!"

GOOD MORNING

MR. & MRS. AMERICA
And all the ships at sea.

Look out "Snake" Plissken. NYC is gearing up for a new hi-tech security fence around Manhattan. The outer boroughs can kiss their ass goodbye. This is designed to protect the "money" of our nation and the world. Commoners need not apply.
It will be sort of what London has now but in real time with interactive face recognition algorithms. Designed to look for wanted faces and to note repeated questionable activity by persons unknown in sensitive areas of the Financial District.

Its an interesting read.

***
Have you ever watched the game show CONCENTRATION? Maybe you've played the board game. What you are doing in that game is exercising what is known as fluid intelligence. It has always been thought that a person's level of fluid intelligence was fixed at birth. Unable to be increased. New studies seem to indicate that this isn't so. With a little training, everyone can raise their intelligence levels. Too late to help us now but maybe Dubya can finally grasp why he went wrong in so many ways.

***
Box Score - World-Wide Terrorist attacks:
Killed or wounded:
2005 - 39,469
2006 - 59,327
2007 - 66,995
No, I am not making this up. The facts are part of a new report issued by our very own State Department.

***
The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) had its ass handed to it in a recent court decision regarding the sharing of music files on the web. The Federal judge didn't throw out the case but the road block he presented to RIAA is going to force a change in their overly aggressive approach to file sharing.

***
Is Disney being 2-faced in its feigned concern about the timid Miley Cyrus photo? Seems that their concerns don't apply to their marketing strategy in China for its brand name childrens clothing line.

***
Thanks for coming over. I always love the company. I'll be back later with more.

Mahalo

Aloha


THE PICTURE GALLERY




Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive


"Let's all be careful out there!"