For those who thought that the change in Congress meant a respite from the imminent threat of the Akaka Bill, think again. In what might be something of a desperation move, the legislature has introduced a bill that purports to recognize a Native Hawaiian tribe through the state. (Essentially, a state version of the Akaka [...]
So, who do you think pays the most in state taxes in the US? New Yorkers? That would have been my guess, simply based on how legendarily expensive it is. (Not to mention how bad a beating my wallet takes every time I go there. Ok, technically speaking, the nice restaurants shouldn’t count as a [...]
When I grow up, I want to be an editorial writer for the Honolulu Advertiser. What a sweet gig that would be. I’d just have to get up in the morning, come to the office, change around a few sentences in a press release from some favored organization (or on a really strenuous day, check [...]
For the longest time, the small businesspeople of Hawaii have comforted each other with rueful laughs and their club’s secret motto: “Hawaii: Live in paradise, work in hell.” To put it mildly, Hawaii has not traditionally had the most business-friendly reputation. At least not for the non-Doles and non-Hiltons among us. And while some progress [...]
How often do you get to see an actual politician explain how counter-productive and useless this legislative session was? Not very often, that’s for sure. It requires a degree of honesty that (let’s face it) is not exactly plentiful among those with one finger in the prevailing political winds. And that’s why, if you want [...]
A Lack of Resolution
Over on Hawaii Reporter (which I swear doesn’t do anything to get all these mentions here except produce a broader and more fearless variety of opinions than the vast majority of other Hawaii news sources), Ken Conklin has an interesting take on the most recent effort of the Hawaii Legislature to rewrite history. The article [...]