HONOLULU (November 27, 2017) – The Jade Pendant tells the story of the Chinese Massacre of 1871 where a mob of around 500 white rioters entered Los Angeles, Chinatown to attack, rob, and murder Chinese residents of the city. An estimated 20 Chinese immigrants were tortured and then hanged by the racially motivated riot mob. The initial conviction was unlawfully overturned and no one has ever been held accountable for the murders.
“The Jade Pendant,” a novel by L.P. Leung, is based on these true events and will open in limited theaters in Hawaii December 1. The film stars Asian talents such as South Korean star Clara Lee (Some Like it Hot), Taiwanese heartthrob Godfrey Gao (The Mortal Instruments), Russel Wong (Romeo must Die), screen legends Tsai Chin (Now you See Me 2, The Joy Luck Club), Hawaii’s own Bryan Yang (Linsanity, Hawaii Five-0) and Tzi Ma (Arrival, Pali Road). “The story of the Jade Pendant is a part of American history that has been untold and we are very excited to bring diversity and quality story-telling to audiences in North America.” said Jonathan Lim of Crimson Forest Films.
The Jade Pendant is directed by Hong Kong veteran Po-Chih Leong (The Detonator, Out of Reach) and follows the journey of a young girl Peony who fleeing an arranged marriage in China and finds herself on the shores of America.
The Jade Pendant was produced by Thomas Leong, Scott M. Rosenfelt, LP Leung and Bruce Feirstein for Lotus Entertainment. The film will also release on December 1 in Cupertino, California and in West Jordan, Utah. For more information please visit https://bit.ly/2yL0HHk
Crimson Forest Films is a theatrical and home entertainment distribution label that specializes in bringing top content in film & television to around the world.
For more information about Crimson Forest Films please visit www.crimsonforestfilms.com
One lucky artist could get the chance of a lifetime to perform with Grammy-nominated, 18-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano winner, singer Amy Hānaiali’i. Hānaiali’i is looking for the best rendition of her song Palehua to do a duet with her at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua.
The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, Anuenue Room (AR) and Hānaiali’i Interactive’s (HI) Holiday Series, os featuring Hānaiali’i 7:00 pm on Fridays, November 24 thru December 22, 2017. She will fill the stage with song, cultural history and holiday joy as she joins you and her triumphant return to the Ānuenue Room with a brand new show.
Hānaiali’i takes you on a cultural journey from the 1900s in Waikiki, to the 1920s – 1940s in New York City at Hawaiian Room…to the 1950s and 1960s in the glimmering luxury of the Las Vegas strip and the Silver Screen in Hollywood to Hānaiali’i in the present with her sultry vocals of Blues, Jazz, Pop and Hawaiian.
Amy was officially named by Hawai`i’s Governor as Ambassador of Hawaiian Music, and she will give you a glimpse of how Hawaiians bring Aloha to the world’s most prominent stages.
Amy’s Grandmother Jennie Napua Hānaiali`i Woodd was one of the original hula dancers at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki in the 1930’s.
Soon after, she was asked to perform and choreograph Ray Kinney’s show in New York City at the Lexington Hotel. The show room was called “The Hawaiian Room”.
This show was so successful it lasted 60 years sold out 7 days a week. Every major celebrity graced this incredible room, Marlon Brando, Katherine Hepburn, Billie Holiday just to name a few. With the room being an instant hit, it helped with opening other famous clubs, “Rainbow Room”, the “Cotton Club” and the “Red Rooster” in Harlem.
It was ultimate class and everyone wanted to be seen in the Hawaiian Room.
This show is a tribute to Amy’s grandmother Napua and all of the Hawaiian Performers across time who bring Aloha to you perpetuating Hawaiian Culture.
Contest deadline is December 10th. The duet will be featured on 808 Viral.
In the last few weeks I’ve been discussing the Foundation’s involvement in litigation involving online travel companies and the State’s attempts to wrest more general excise taxes out of them. The Foundation has limited its involvement with the case to the “res judicata” issue. This article describes the other issue: whether car rentals are “tourism related services.”
This issue is significant because “tourism related services” have favorable treatment under the general excise tax (GET). Let’s suppose that Travel Agent T sells a car rental for $50. For the car rental, it pays Rent-A-Car Company R $40. Then T pays 4% GET on the $10 and R pays 4% GET on the $40. If the special treatment for tourism related services weren’t there, T might have to pay 4% GET on the $50, which is what it collected, and R pays 4% GET on the $40, which is what it collected.
The tax law defines “tourism related services” as “catamaran cruises, canoe rides, dinner cruises, lei greetings, transportation included in a tour package, sightseeing tours…, admissions to luaus, dinner shows, extravaganzas, cultural and educational facilities, and other services rendered directly to the customer or tourist.”
Now, you and I know that tourists rent cars. They need to get themselves to the luaus, dinner shows, or extravaganzas, and their own vehicles are hundreds or thousands of miles away, and lots of water is in between. So, why wouldn’t rental cars be “transportation included in a tour package” or “other services rendered directly to the customer or tourist”?
According to the Attorney General’s briefs filed with the Supreme Court of Hawaii, there are plenty of reasons. Here are some of them:
First, the Legislature easily could have included car rentals in the list of tourism related services written into the law, but didn’t. Because car rentals are a big part of the tourism industry, one would expect that car rentals would be written into the law if they were supposed to be included.
Second, there is a significant difference between “transportation included in a tour package,” generally a bus with a driver, and a rental car that the tourists would need to drive themselves.
Third, T may be a travel agent, but where’s the tour package?
Fourth, to make sense, “other services rendered directly to the tourist” needs to have something in common with the other ten services spelled out in the law. The common thread between the ten services is that they are for pleasure or recreation, while car rentals are only utilitarian – you need them to get around, but there’s no pleasure or recreation involved.
There are of course other reasons, but those seem to be the big ones.
The problem, of course, is that many in the tourism industry believed for a very long time that car rentals were, and are, tourism related services. Not only online travel companies are affected. Many hotels and airlines offer fly-drive or hotel-car packages and priced them assuming that the favorable GET treatment would apply. These packages and more would be impacted if the Hawaii Supreme Court rules in the Department’s favor.
Furthermore, court rulings generally are retroactive, primarily because the job of the court system is to interpret laws that already exist instead of making new law. Here, the Tax Appeal Court already has ruled in favor of the Department as to standalone car rentals sold by a travel agent (the fact pattern presented in the example above) for tax years 2000-2013. So, taxpayers should now be making some decisions. Should they re-evaluate their tax filings now that the Department’s litigation position is out in the public for all to see? If so, how far back should they go? If not, what financial measures can they take to protect themselves if the decision goes south? Tough questions, to be sure!
Two weeks ago, we wrote about a case now before the Hawaii Supreme Court in which the State audited and assessed the taxpayers, causing the taxpayers to spend millions of dollars on litigation that resulted in a court judgment.
The State then audited and assessed more of the same taxes (General Excise taxes) for the same years, forcing both the taxpayers and the court system through the wringer again without any apparent limit.
The Foundation asked the Hawaii Supreme Court to participate in the litigation as an “amicus,” or “friend of the court,” in order to present a perspective from its role as a watchdog for taxpayers generally.
On Halloween, the State filed a response opposing the Foundation’s request, saying that our brief “cannot aid the Court in the disposition of this dispute.” The State argued:
TFH’s proposed brief fails to take into account that the [taxpayers] did not file tax returns, including “annual reconciliation returns,” for the periods to which any res judicata argument might apply. The broad principles of res judicata that TFH urges the Court to adopt are not properly asserted when the taxpayers utterly fail to meet their filing obligations. Rather, principles of res judicata should have no application to taxpayers that flaunt their reporting obligations, like the OTCs here. For this reason TFH’s motion should be denied because it fails to aid the Court in any way.
Although the Foundation wanted to file a response to the State’s opposition memo, the appellate court rules didn’t allow us to. So, we are using this space to tell you, the court of public opinion, what we would have filed on Halloween. We wanted to say:
The State opposes the Foundation’s motion because it says the ideas expressed in its proposed brief will not help this Court. The State essentially argues that the rules of law and justice should be tossed out the window because the taxpayers before the Court failed to file returns.
The Department fundamentally misconceives what this issue is about. The Department apparently regards the taxpayers here as lower life forms and wants to give them no respect. This case, however, is not about respect for the taxpayers. It is about respect for this Court and the Hawaii Judiciary. The Legislature provided that the Executive Branch could assess taxes when the taxpayer fails to self-assess. It also provided that the Judiciary could review those assessments. Thus, the taxpayers and the Department litigated the assessments, and the courts have rendered judgment. Even if the taxpayers were demons, ghouls, or devils incarnate, they have a judgment. The issue is the respect to be accorded that judgment. If the Department can pursue repeated litigation without mercy and without end, woe be to the rest of us, for we do not know who the Department will demonize tomorrow.
UPDATE: On November 7, the Court allowed the Foundation to file its brief. So there! Oral argument and a decision of the Court won’t be expected until weeks or months later. We like to think that our viewpoint will someday help taxpayers in our state, so we will be anxiously awaiting the next chapter in this story.
These two fantastic ladies stole the show today!! Learned so much about growing flowers, plants and all kinds of things here in Hawaii. Watch this show and be prepared to learn! Aloha, Reg
Author’s Note: This is a series of selected highlights from two years (1986-88) of budget travel through 18 countries and a half-dozen US States – hosted all along the way by national and local YMCAs – from Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and Papua New Guinea, to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, The Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Macau,Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and back to the USA.
Source: CIA Factbook
Burma – the “Modern Raj”. Remnants of the British colonial atmosphere permeated the place. Rangoon was so green – like a garden. And not much automobile traffic, air pollution or crowded streets like in Bangkok. The former British colonial capital also has the highest number of colonial-period buildings in Southeast Asia, as well as a remarkably intact colonial-era downtown area.
Aside from the busy tourist areas, the place was fantastic – really appealing, with a very laid back atmosphere. It was like stepping into the past, and the people were some of the friendliest and most genuine I had ever met. Very helpful, kind, and gentle folks – and all English speakers! Another legacy of the British colonial rule.
My Burmese visa was good for only 7 days – so it was a whirlwind tour. Three days with YMCAs in the capital Rangoon and in the up-country city of Mandalay – Burma’s second largest city.
I really would have preferred more time in Rangoon and Mandalay instead of racing all over the country. It was a good trip, but thoroughly exhausting with all the rushing around.
Reclining Buddha, Rangoon
Established under the British regime in 1897, Burma’s early YMCAs served mainly the British communities, and the educational programs were accessible only to those who could afford them.
Since then, the YMCAs have focused on meeting the needs of the local people, including vocational training and educational programs that seek to empower all, especially young men and women to assume increased responsibility and leadership at all levels, while working towards an equitable society.
In downtown Rangoon, I visited the 2600-year-old Sule Pagoda, an important religious, historic and political rallying site, and the Chaukhtatgyi Buddha Temple,which houses one of the most revered reclining Buddha images in the country, and at 66 meters (217 feet) long it is one of the largest in Burma.
Dominating the Rangoon skyline, the Shwedagon Pagoda — also known as the Great Dragon Pagoda or the Golden Pagoda — is the most sacred pagoda in Burma, and is believed to contain relics of the four most recent Buddhas including eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama the Buddha.
Karaweik Palace, Rangoon By Ralf-Andre Lettau, Wikimedia Commons
Also in Rangoon, along the shoreline ofLake Kandawgji, the impressive replica of a royal barge, the Karaweik Palace, is actually a concrete structure in the shape of two enormous golden birds from Burmese mythology, and with a Burmese style multi-tiered, ornate roof structure.
Traveling north to Mandalay, I visited the scenic hill station Maymyo, built by the British as a retreat from the soaring summer temperatures, and then boarded a river boat for a relaxing float down the Irrawaddy River to the ancient city of Pagan. A rental bicycle was perfect for touring the surrounding plains which are home to the remains of thousands of magnificent and well-preserved 11th and 12th century temples, pagodas, and monasteries.
Sarongs, lassie yogurt, horse and bull carts, ornate temples, and pretty girls with powdered cheeks exuded a distinctive South Asian feeling, reminiscent of my time in Sri Lanka.
Ox cart and pedicab
The river boat also brought us back to the days of the ‘British Raj’ – with the very disturbing protocol that seated all the ‘white’ foreigners in comfort on the upper deck – linen table clothes and all — while the local people were crowded unceremoniously into the dark and dingy lower deck. I was not even allowed to go down to say hello.
A desperately poor place, even the YMCA was forced to operate on the black market, and openly accepted my ‘street market’ currency. Indeed, I financed my entire 7-day trip with a fifth of Johnny Walker Red and a couple cartons of 555 cigarettes that I unloaded immediately upon arrival at the Rangoon airport to eager buyers for a substantial profit in the unofficial currency.
This financial windfall covered all my expenses in Rangoon, Mandalay and Maymyo, as well as passage on the river boat, my guesthouse in Pagan, the return trip to Rangoon in a hot and crowded share-taxi over rough, dusty and pothole-riddled roads, and the purchase of some of Burma’s famous lacquer ware for gifts back in Thailand.
Sunset over the Irrawaddy River, Pagan
Fresh tropical fruits were available everywhere for a mere pittance, and my favorite all-you-can-eat “Vegetarian Thali” (an assortment of delicious vegetable dishes) cost about 30 cents.
Stay tuned for Asia-Pacific Tour: The Philippines – coming soon!
You can read more about Jim’s backstory, hereandhere.
In an earlier article, I wrote about customer service at the Department of Taxation. One alert reader wrote, with tongue firmly in cheek (I think), “I object to the use of the word ‘customer.’ It certainly doesn’t feel like that type of relationship to me. Maybe ‘hostage’?” he writes.
Calling a taxpayer a customer isn’t too far from reality. Taxpayers are certainly paying money. They pay for the protections and conveniences that a civilized society brings to us. It might not feel like a normal customer relationship (for one thing, we can’t return the product if we are unhappy with what is delivered) so the government employees, tax professionals, and others can contribute toward making this relationship less difficult and strained.
Yelp, a website that collects customer reviews on a wide range of businesses, apparently thought that the Department of Taxation is sufficiently like a business that people could benefit from seeing reviews. So, it has published a few of them. The remarkable thing about the reviews is that most people don’t run out of vitriol – pending long wait times, and incomprehensible computer system, arcane processes – until they actually meet an employee. One person changed a one-star review, the lowest possible, to a four-star review out of five after finally speaking with a department employee. That must have been one heck of a conversation!
Many taxpayers have experienced frustration when, just before the due date of a return, they try to sign up on the system and can’t. They then try picking up the phone to get help getting in, but are either put on hold for a tremendous amount of time or, worse, are disconnected because there is no space in the call hold queue. If all fails, the taxpayer sends in a paper form with a paper check, and is distressed when, weeks later, a notice comes in the mail accusing the taxpayer of not making the payment at all and threatening unseemly consequences.
Customer service has improved, but improvement doesn’t mean the problem has been solved completely. There are still victims. To make sure you aren’t another of them, we suggest a few things:
First, allow extra time when trying something new. A new computer system and no time before a deadline are a recipe for lots of stress. You can’t control the first ingredient, but at least you can control the second.
Second, use electronic filing and payment whenever possible. If you can’t, make sure you get a receipt. The principal advantages of electronic filing and payment are that they are recorded on the Department’s computers right away, and you get an electronic receipt from the Department. That means there is less chance of the Department’s computers accusing you of not filing or not paying when you actually did, and even if you are accused you have a receipt to wave at them.
Third, if you are trying to do something for the first time, such as register on the Hawaii Tax Online system, file your first GET return, or submit your first application for a tax clearance, consider accepting help. If you are doing something for the first time, by definition you don’t know what you’re doing! Of course that doesn’t stop people, myself included, from trying anyway; but if they have the slightest doubt they should get assistance, because there may be nuances not understood at the moment. For example, suppose you are trying to fill out a tax clearance application for a corporation. Your corporation has several shareholders, some of which are other corporations. When do you check “Corporation” as opposed to “Subsidiary Corporation,” and if you do the latter, which federal employer identification number are you supposed to put in for the “Parent”? This question is there to help the Department find the corporation’s net income tax return. If the corporation needing a clearance files a Hawaii N-30 under its own FEIN, check “Corporation.” If it’s part of a group return filed under another FEIN, check “Subsidiary Corporation” and fill in the FEIN under which the group return is filed. If this isn’t filled in correctly, the tax clearance could be delayed or denied. Better to get help on the front end than after the denial!
You cannot turn on a television or cable news show these days without hearing about another Hollywood celebrity claiming to have been sexually assaulted by someone with influence in show business. From influential producers to prominent actors to lesser knowns trying to make it to stardom, there appears to be a wave of predatory depravity emanating from the elite circles in entertainment. I say “appears” because we all know the truth. This stuff; the people who do these acts and are willing to have these acts done to them have been around since the first movie studio and recording contract.
When the revelation that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein used his power and position to intimidate women – young starlets – to have sex with him came to light, one of the most disingenuous gasps wafted across the information sphere. News programs and social media were on fire in their castigation of the man. Somehow, in an industry that created the term “casting couch,” the idea that a powerful movie producer would extract sex in exchange for making someone famous was suddenly foreign and appalling.
Just as with the transition from darkness to light in the flip of a switch, many who once found moral relativism in advancing their careers through gratuitous sex acts with the powerful now see themselves as victims. It is as if being a predatory victim of the elite in Hollywood is now a prize to be coveted; a label that gains the wearer entry into the “in crowd.” The designation is a cloak of relevance in today’s entertainment industry.
This is not to say that all of those who are claiming victimhood in this wave of wanton subjugation are not indeed victims. Many naïve people have gone to Hollywood only to become the prey of maniacal degenerates and megalomaniacs who dwell in that sphere; opportunistic cretins whose only way to find self-worth is to oppress and damage others, physically, emotionally and intellectually. Those people, the bright-eyed and star-struck who end up used and cast aside, they are the real victims of an industry peppered with human refuse that has been allowed to ascend to influence.
However, just as there are naïve innocents that get chewed up in the pornographic gears of Hollywood, so, too, are there the opportunists employing moral relativism who intellectually barter their dignity for stardom. There are, and there can be no doubt about this, people – both men and women – who will and have rationalized getting on their backs and/or knees to be “anointed” to fame and fortune. One can only imagine the “stains” a fluorescent light would reveal if shined on the inhabitants of Tinsel Town’s red carpets. It is enough to make one feel the need for a hot shower.
The truth is this. The cauldron of opportunistic depravity that captivates many circles in the entertainment industry is self-manufactured. If those who were, and are, willing to whore themselves for stardom, would refuse to allow themselves to become grist for the twisted sexual appetites of the Hollywood’s Weinsteins; if each of them had taken a stand at the time, refusing to subjugate themselves, perhaps with even a forceful punch to the groin, then there wouldn’t be any casting couches; there would be no predatory sex scandals. Alas, there are those who find nothing wrong with waring kneepads to get ahead. And then there are those who have worn kneepads to get ahead who kept quiet for years, allowing the cycle to continue. One has to ask this question. Aren’t the ones who have kept quiet just as guilty; just as evil and the sexual predators themselves?
So, pardon me if I don’t have much sympathy for those now coming forward to accuse Hollywood’s elite of having sexually assaulted them oh-so-many years ago. I find their “convenient courage” to suddenly do the right thing a bit self-serving in its publicity, and a bit nauseating.
Maybe if we purged them all from fame; shunned them as they deserve, we might even see some creativity dripping out of Hollywood. Lord knows it would be better than what’s dripping out of there now.
Hawaii Five O stuntman shares his story about getting into the acting business. Not an easy process and patience is one of the keys to success in acting. Not to mention knowing people and having some outstanding skills!
“We celebrate the affirmation of state law HRS 343,” say plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by Ke Kauhulu o Mana against the State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) and Syngenta welcomed those portions of Judge Randal Valenciano’s ruling today affirming the importance of HRS 343 while rejecting his conclusions on other aspects of the case which they intend to appeal.
“We are immensely pleased that Judge Randal Valenciano ruled today that state law HRS 343, Hawaii’s Environmental Policy Act DOES APPLY to companies such as Syngenta when they propose new operations on State-owned lands. This means leases for any new or expanded operations in the future will be required to go through an environmental review process,” said Gary Hooser, President of the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action (H.A.P.A.), one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Hooserpreviously served as Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control.
“We are celebrating today those key parts of the court’s decision which validate our core position with regards to the demonstrable negative impacts of the actions of this industry on health and the environment,” said Hooser.
Gary Hooser, President of the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action (H.A.P.A.) one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, (left) in conversation with public interest lawyer, Lance Collins.
Judge Valenciano found that BLNR was justified in granting Syngenta an exemption from the requirement to do an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in connection with the lease it obtained recently for use of a parcel of Crown lands.
Hawai`i Revised Statute (HRS) Chapter 343 typically requires an environmental assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for any significant actions or development proposed on publicly-owned, coastal and conservation-zoned lands.
The lands in question are on the west side in Mana adjacent to the coast, just about three quarters of a mile from Kekaha, and close to Targets, a popular recreation spot.
“We are disappointed the judge ruled that this parcel of land in Mana was not required to go through environmental review. But he did rule that Syngenta’s use of state conservation land is subject to Hawaii’s environmental review laws. Until reviewed by a higher court, this means that any new leases or expansion of operations on state lands, in the conservation district or within the shoreline must go through normal environmental review,” said public interest lawyer, Lance Collins, who represented the plaintiffs.
“We believe the Judge’s decision to exclude the BLNR’s revocable permit to Syngenta for the land at Mana is erroneous. We will appeal that point to a higher court,” added Collins.
Anne Frederick, Executive Director of H.A.P.A. with lawyer for the plaintiffs, Lance Collins.
Endangered species affected
Night-time activity involving the use of bright lights is known to impact endangered species such as the ‘a’o (Newell’s Shearwater) and ua’u (Hawaiian Petrel). The Kauai Endangered Seabird Recovery Project has reported that between 1993 and 2013, populations of the ‘a’o declined by 94 percent while the ua’u declined by 78 percent. The federal permits held by Syngenta to grow experimental crops state clearly that the activity is occurring in areas where critical habitats for endangered species exist.
“We will continue the fight to protect both our people and the environment,” said Loui Cabebe, of Ke Kauhulu o Mana.
