If you consume any sort of social media, this weekend you probably noticed the #MeToo hashtag or saw women posting the words “Me Too” on Facebook. Doing so signifies that the woman has at some point in her life been the victim of sexual harassment and/or assault. I really started to see the trend on […]
In wake of Las Vegas massacre, Hawaii U.S. Senator Brian Schatz wants more than just ‘warm words’
What can we say about last night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada that hasn’t already been said a thousand times? Certainly not “never again,” because no one really believes the Republicans in Congress and President Donald Trump will actually do anything at all to restrict guns beyond offering meaningless “thoughts and prayers.” Nearly 60 […]
Hawaii U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono testifies on latest Trumpcare bill
For Senator Mazie Hirono, D–Hawaii, healthcare policy isn’t an abstract issue. It’s a very real reality. A few months ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer, which is why I wasn’t surprised to see her name pop up as one of the testifiers on the latest Republican attempt to destroy your healthcare. It […]
A brief report on U.S. Senator Brian Schatz’s recent Maui town hall meeting
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, D–Hawaii, held a town hall meeting at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 22 at the Binhi At Ani Filipino Community Center in Kahului. About 150 people showed up, including Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa and Councilmembers Stacy Crivello and Kelly King. The air was humid with only an occasional breeze when Schatz […]
Outraged over Trump and the Republicans in Washington? Do something about it!
So yeah, we’re still more than a week away from Baby Donald Trump actually taking the oath of office as President of the United States, and he and his Republican toadies in Congress are already smashing civil liberties, healthcare, environmental protection efforts and who knows what else. Here’s a short list of just what they’ve […]
UPDATED: Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard met with President-elect Donald Trump this morning
[NOTE: After this story went live Rep. Gabbard’s office released an official statement on her meeting with Trump, so this story has been updated accordingly.] Given our Nov. 18 story about how Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D–Hawaii, didn’t sign this letter from 169 of her Congressional colleagues denouncing President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of white nationalist Stephen […]
Watch Hawaii U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono denounce anti-immigrant sentiments
If you take ideas like justice, individual responsibility and the right of people, of families, to make better lives for themselves, then we live in dark times. Right now, not 50 years ago but right now, men in power (and they’re nearly all men) have discovered that denouncing immigrants and refugees, promising to build giant walls […]
Hawaii US Senator Brian Schatz weighs in on US-China carbon emissions deal
Today, the U.S. and China have agreed to an historic cap-and-trade deal on carbon emissions. It’s yet another foreign policy victory for President Barack Obama, and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, D–Hawaii, wasted no time patting him on the back with this statement his office sent out today: “The momentum is palpable. People, governments, companies, and […]
Sign Language: Gemini heads are toxic and prone to explosions
Gemini (May 21-June 20) Get out of your head, get into your body. Get out of your head, get into your body. Get out of your head, get into your body. Stop reading this already! This is head bullshit, and it’s no good for you. Go squeeze out a shit, go screw someone, go just […]
With massive federal budget cuts looming, Haleakala National Park says it brings in lots of money
Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the federal government is about to embark on some of the most contentious budget negotiations in years. Because that’s the whole point of electing right-wing Republicans to congress while a moderately liberal lame duck Democratic president is finishing out his second term, right? Eager to start exercising some power, […]
On Keoua Kuahu’ula, Neil Abercrombie And The Art Of Going Out With Honor
So this weekend I got a chance to spend a few days relaxing over on the Big Island. And me being the history nerd that I am, I insisted on visiting the imposing and extremely well preserved Pu‘ukohola Heiau, site of perhaps the second most important death in Hawaii in the last couple of centuries […]
Today Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie Raises Money At Larry Ellison’s House
As I write these words, people–okay, Democrats–are gathering at 2850 Broadway in San Francisco, to donate large sums of money to Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie, who faces a tougher than expected reelection fight this year. The house, which sold for $3.9 million back in 1998, is owned by billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who also […]
Here’s Our Take On The 2012 Election for Maui, Hawaii And The Nation #HIVote
Guess we don’t have Linda Lingle to kick around anymore. On Election night, the former two-term Republican Governor of Hawaii who had trounced Democrat Mazie Hirono at the polls a decade ago, was herself shown the door in her bid to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D–Hawaii). The final summary vote tally, released by […]
Congress Implodes; Cecil Heftel Gets Own Post Office!
Oh, those crazy congressional Republicans. They wanted control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and now they have it. Too bad they’re mired in a bitter fight between the extreme right and the Oh-My-God-I-Can’t-Believe-He-Said-That right over raising our nation’s debt ceiling. Who knows if our great nation will go into default next week, but I […]
Hirono Fights For Maui Watersheds!
It shows how little power Democrats hold in the U.S. House of Representatives when I get a press release that says Congressmember Mazie Hirono, D-2nd District, is right now “fighting” to restore “$3 million in funding to the Watershed Protection and Flood Program.” That’s right. Three million dollars American. People, and not even really super-rich […]