Community Colleges are one of the best ways to start you post high school education. And Honolulu Community College is taking the lead. From trade schools to college credits during high school HHC sets the bar high!
Think Tech: Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker and the Hawaii Group
This week’s Business in Hawaii highlights the Hawaii Group.
Matt Delaney is back and not wasting any time! He is growing and expanding a variety of services to the business community. The rest of 2017 should be a very interesting time for Matt and his firm.
Pathways to Peace
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For more stories, visit robertkinslow.com
Help me help the March of Dimes – our “March for Babies” is this Saturday!
by David C. Livingston
My daughter Jessica and her husband Nate gave us 5 beautiful grandchildren (Lili was born December 30th, 2015). The picture is a healthy, happy family. 3 of their children were pre-mature. Two spent the first weeks of the life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. March of Dimes Volunteers watched over them. We are blessed to have that love and care during that time in our life. We will forever be grateful for the work the March of Dimes continues to do on behalf of our babies.
Right now, babies need all the help they can get. Premature birth affects about 450,000 babies here in the United States. I’m walking in March for Babies to get the message out about this terrible problem and you can help. Please make a secure donation to help me reach my goal. Together we can help the March of Dimes fight prematurity so more babies can get the strongest start possible.
Your gift matters
Funds raised in March for Babies support research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And they will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.
HAWAII NATIVE WILLES K. LEE RE-ELECTED TO NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Editor’s Note: The following is a press release provided by Willes K. Lee who was recently re-elected as a Director on the NRA Board.
It is truly humbling to receive support from our members and many non-members to continue to serve you as a Director on the NRA Board. Thank YOU. For 26 years as a soldier, I was privileged to be a Defender of Freedom. I am honored to continue to defend freedom with the National Rifle Association of America, freedom’s safest place. If you are reading this, your vote and support made THE difference.
Without having the name recognition of more high-profile candidates, our grassroots victory is important for our five million NRA members, 20 million supporters, and 100 million gun owners. Our Board officers, Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, ILA Executive Director Chris Cox and press officers speak for the NRA, but our readers can follow our civil rights progress online at www.WillesLee.com, Facebook WillesLeeNRA, and Twitter/Instagram @WillesLee.
We’ll do our best to keep our grassroots informed and involved so they can do what they love – protect the Second Amendment, shoot, hunt, collect, or go out in the backyard and plink. We have the opportunity to take back our civil rights stolen by anti-gun activists funded by Bloomberg and Soros. It is our time to secure the Second Amendment and regain the liberties stolen by anti-gun progressives. We’re working to pass an initial national reciprocity law and the Hearing Protection Act.
At state and local levels, I’ll engage in challenges across the nation as legislators, judges, and bureaucrats invent new ways to restrict our Second Amendment rights. As important, within the NRA, this win gives a voice to our grassroots members. Since retiring from our military, having been in politics as a member of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party, current President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) and National Director of the Hawaii Republican Assembly (HIRA), a Director for the American Conservative Union (ACU) Foundation which hosts CPAC, and a Council for National Policy (CNP) member, I am deeply committed to advancing the interests of gun owners while fighting legislative and regulatory attempts to undermine our rights.
It is an honor to serve on the NRA Board of Directors, Col. Ollie North’s NRA Military and Veteran’s Affairs Committee, our NRA Outreach Committee, and as a co-chairman of the Trump-Pence Second Amendment Coalition I am a member of and will continue to partner with our many effective coalition organizations supporting the Second Amendment. However, none offer the depth and range, no pun intended, of the NRA.
In addition to legislation and protecting our civil rights, NRA programs span from competitions, to hunting, youth shooting, collecting, training, self-defense, safety, to conservation and much more. Supporting all our programs, my focus includes legislation, military and veterans, self-defense, the shooting sports, outreach to new segments of our community, and our fastest growing group — women gun owners and shooters. If you are a member of our National Rifle Association of America, thank you. If you are not, please join, today.
Thank you to all the voters and non-voters who supported our grassroots campaign to ensure your voice on the NRA Board.”
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For more information, please visit: www.WillesLee.com www.Facebook.com/WillesLeeNRA www.Twitter.com/WillesLee www.Instagram.com/WillesLee
The Tumultuous Fall of the Great Bill O’Reilly
BY FRANK SALVATO
The king is dead. Long live the king. FOX News Channel has cut ties with Bill O’Reilly, the most influential personality in its 20-year history and the undeniable king of cable talk. O’Reilly’s abrupt departure came after allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior started to steamroll. The network has discontinued The Factor immediately.
Those defending O’Reilly, and a few others – including Roger Ailes, against charges of sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behavior, cite the possibility that the claims come from political and ideological foes. Because these allegations have never gone to trial (or haven’t as of this writing) the facts of the allegations may never be fully known and/or proven. In the United States, everyone – everyone – is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law or via their own admission.
In my own interaction with Bill O’Reilly, a 2005 appearance on The Factor, I found his staff to be less than honest when dealing with their guests. This systemic dishonesty could not have existed without O’Reilly’s knowledge.
After asking his producer about O’Reilly’s stance on our segment subject matter, I was told he “doesn’t make up his mind about the subject until it’s debated on the air.” But once I was on the air I was ambushed with a pre-produced segment that countered my argument that Habitat for Humanity shouldn’t have been using donations to build a theme park in Americus, Georgia, depicting the slums of the world. It turned out O’Reilly’s then-wife was a heavy hitter for Habitat for Humanity. The invite was intended to smear me for the benefit of his wife and her championed organization.
I kept this reality close to the vest for over a decade because O’Reilly sycophants believe – in their hearts – that he was the sole purveyor of truth in the mainstream cable news sphere. Exposing the bully tactics behind the scenes of The Factor would have, for someone who plies his craft on the Right side of the aisle, career suicide. If, in fact, the charges of sexual misconduct are found to be true, I am sure his victims understand the feeling.
And while O’Reilly’s efforts on many stories, issues, and causes were admirable, successful and beneficial – some even considered great works, it cannot be denied that in the later years an air of arrogance on the level of Hillary Clinton’s started to emerge from the man. If a guest dared to deviate from O’Reilly’s stated truths the guest was deemed ideological, political of simply uneducated. That isn’t debate. It’s intellectual bullying, and it certainly isn’t “looking out for the folks.”
Now, evidently, there is enough evidence of bad behavior – actionable behavior – for 21st Century FOX executives to severe ties with the king of the cable news talk sphere. Given the revenue generator The Factor was for 20 years that evidence would necessarily be damning.
Perhaps it was time for O’Reilly to go. Maybe he could have continued his reign for another decade. At this point we will never know. And while the format of the cable news talking head world is slowly molding for a lack of vision where message delivery is concerned, O’Reilly’s base was – at least for the moment – enough to keep him the “number one cable news show for 20-plus years running.” Now, because of his alleged actions, his base is without its “star”; its ideological leader.
I don’t wish Mr. O’Reilly ill, even though he certainly didn’t give me a fair shake on his program. I realized long ago that the cable news talking head sphere is as much about ratings-generated entertainment as it is news-based. But the idea that the “spin” stopped with Bill O’Reilly is, to use a phrase he abhorred, a false narrative. It’s time O’Reilly’s unwavering followers understood that.
In fact, now they don’t have a choice.
North to Alaska (Part One)
Author’s Note: In July 1983, my brother Dave and I (a.k.a. Joe Juneau and Skookum Jim) headed off for a three-week trek into the vast frozen reaches of the Klondike. It was Dave’s first backpacking adventure – and probably his last. He was not big on tent camping in the freezing rain, or surviving on freeze-dried meals for weeks at a time – nor was I. But having recently graduated with a college degree in camping, I was eager to put my new knowledge into practice.
Departing Seattle at dawn, the ferry carried us north to Alaska through smooth, opaque water in the early morning calm. The Inside Passage weaves through coastal islands on the Pacific coast of North America, and was one of the sea routes carrying prospectors north during the Klondike Gold Rush.
Traveling deck fare – warmed at night under heated lamps – we sailed for four days past jagged snow peaks and glaciers flowing in awesome silence down to Spruce and Hemlock-covered ravines, streaming with cascades. A few fellow deck passengers snored easily as we approached Juneau, Alaska’s remote capital.
Camped by Auke Lake at the terminus of Mendenhal Glacier – calving huge chunks of ice into the lake – we broke out our rain gear as a few drops began to fall from an overcast sky, and hitched into town for dinner at the Red Dog Saloon. Chatting with a local “fisherman by trade” in the drizzle of Juneau, we met fellow passengers Kate and Terra who saved us deck chairs the following day for our trip to the Tlinket Indian settlement at Sitka City on Baranof Island.
We saw Bald Eagles, Killer Whales, hiked historic trails by Native totem poles carved from massive Red Cedar trees, visited a Russian Orthodox church and climbed Castle Hill, high above the city where Russian Alaska was formally handed over to the United States in 1867.
Sailing on to Skagway at the northern turn of the Alaskan panhandle, we hiked through lush, moss-carpeted coastal rain forest bursting with life – eager to live it to the fullest during the short summer season.
We climbed from sea level up into snow and ice and finally over the steep 3,500 foot Chilkoot Pass, made famous during the 1898 Gold Rush. Information boards along the trail told the story of that epic journey undertaken by so many hopeful prospectors, including historic photos of the huge loads of supplies and equipment – even horses – being transported over the pass.
In winter, Gold Rush stampeders struggled through blizzards, freezing temperatures and avalanches, transporting thousands of pounds up 1500 steps of the “golden staircase” cut in snow and ice. Indeed, many items never made it, including neatly piled caches of long wooden slats wrapped in canvas we passed along the way, that were to be assembled into boats to float down the Yukon River to the gold fields.
Descending into British Colombia, Canada, we entered yet another world of snowy boulder-strewn tundra and moraine. Glaciers flowed in every direction from towering mountains feeding the clearest, coldest cascades of snow melt.
Camped by pristine lakes, twittering loons laughed from across the water. Happy Camp, as it was aptly named, was the first camp established by prospectors as a welcome reward and rest stop after summiting the steep and perilous 26 mile pass, which shoots up a additional 1000 feet in the final half mile. Happy Camp was also reportedly the first camp where prostitutes were available. Although those services were no longer in evidence when we arrived, we did meet two friendly Canadian lasses camped there who joined us for the rest of the journey.
We also met a nice couple in Whitehorse, the capital and only city in Yukon Territory, whose 28,000 people comprise the majority of Yukon’s population. They graciously lent us their canoe and then picked us up downstream a few days later.
So off we went, paddling down the mighty Yukon River – through wide open, empty wilderness – 10,000 square miles of Yukon Territory to every resident. North-country breezes bracing and invigorating, and not a soul in sight.
On the Alaska-Canadian Highway, we hitched to the park entrance and registered the color of our packs at the ranger station for identification in case we did not emerge on time. We were given instructions to be on the lookout for Grizzlies, particularly when hiking through patches of Sedge Grass that the bears like to eat (we soon noticed that stuff was everywhere!) and set out on foot into the uncharted wilderness of Yukon’s Kluane National Park.
Stay tuned for Part Two, coming soon!
You can read more about Jim’s backstory, here and here.
Theft of Georgia Voting Logs Raise Questions of Vote Tampering
BY FRANK SALVATO
Critical electronic voter logs used in the special election taking place in Georgia to fill the vacant Congressional seat left by HHS Sec. Tom Price were stolen from the pickup truck of a poll worker during a “grocery run.” The theft of early voting check-in books raises the question of fraud in the hotly contested race. Tuesday is election day, but thousands of voters took part in early voting.
Cobb County Georgia poll manager, Craig Joe Rogers, said he parked his truck near the front of a supermarket in Marietta, Georgia, to buy some groceries. When he returned he found thousands of dollars’ worth of elections equipment missing. There were no signs of forced entry. Rogers admitted he “may” have left the doors unlocked.
The idea that a poll worker – a manager – would be vacant enough to leave such critical logs unattended in an open truck is laughable. The likelihood is that this Cobb County “poll manager” knew damn well what he was doing when he “may have left his doors unlocked.”
Cobb County went to Hillary Clinton by over 2 full percentage points in 2016.
No, it is likely that this was a security blanket measure by corrupt Democrat operatives because of the absolute need for the Democrats to win this special election. They haven’t carried the district since the days of Carter and taking a Republican safe seat in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory would give them a talking point for the next two years.
Larger in all of this is that Republicans shouldn’t be in the position that the Democrat tool of voter fraud would matter. There are a ridiculous 11 Republicans running against 5 Democrats and 2 Independents, with one Democrat leading his contingent in a very strong way. The Republicans have, once again, diluted the field by having too many “cooks in the kitchen.”
Just as ridiculous as having 16 people on the Presidential Primary stage, this election wound, should it come to pass, would be self-inflicted. There should never – ever – be 11 Republicans running for an election in which other parties are on the ballot. It’s political suicide; it dilutes the field to give the lesser, more concentrated opposition party candidate the edge. Even if Republicans went to the polls in a 3 to 1 ratio, a concentrated effort by the Democrat delivers the win.
Republican Party leadership must shoulder the blame for this. They are not doing their job in producing superior candidates that the whole of the party can get behind, thus the desire for others to throw their hats into the race. It could be due to the “it’s the next in line” attitude that permeates the Republican establishment. Or it could be that, as they say, there are “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” in the Republican Party both locally and nationally (and no, I won’t bow to the forces of political correctness to bother to rephrase that).
Whatever the reason, the failure exists and it threatens to allow minority radicals of the Progressive ideology to capture elected office. With Democrats focused on a 50 State game plan for 2018 and 2020, this type of leadership failure will cost Republicans dearly.
Consumer Appetite for Electric Vehicles Rivals Pickups
Despite lower gas prices, a new AAA study, released just days before Earth Day, reveals that consumer interest in electric vehicles remains high, with the survey showing that more than 30 million Americans are likely to buy an electric vehicle for their next car. With rising sales, longer ranges and lower costs, AAA predicts a strong future for electric vehicles, and announces the top electric, hybrid and other efficient vehicles in its independent, rigorous test-track evaluation published in the 2017 AAA Green Car Guide. The guide can be found in the AAA Hawaii Honolulu branch.
“With their lower ownership costs and compatibility with emerging autonomous technologies, electric vehicles are poised to be a key vehicle of the future,” said Greg Brannon, AAA’s director of Automotive Engineering. “Tesla — a standout in AAA’s evaluations — has helped widen the appeal of electric vehicles by showing they can be stylish, performance-focused and filled with cutting-edge technology.”
Hawaii ranks second in the nation, behind Calif., in the number of electric vehicles (EVs) registered per thousand people, according to Megan McKernan, manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center which conducted vehicle testing and evaluations published in the AAA Green Car Guide. More facts and figures about Hawaii and EVs can be found here: https://energy.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/FF_Nov2016_EV-only.pdf
Even with gas prices that are about 40 percent lower than five years ago, AAA found that consumer interest in electric vehicles and hybrids has not waned. In fact, the number of Americans interested in an electric vehicle approaches the number planning to purchase a pickup truck, with the survey showing that 15 percent are likely to buy an electric vehicle for their next car. Millennials are even more accepting of electric vehicles, with nearly one-in-five interested in going electric for their next car.
Concern for the environment remains the primary motivation for electric vehicle shoppers, but AAA also found that lower long-term costs, desire for the latest technology and access to car pool lanes are all influential. With their extended range and flexibility, hybrid vehicles are also desirable to Americans, with nearly one third (32 percent) likely to buy the gasoline- and battery-powered alternative.
With a focus on the future, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center rates and ranks electric vehicles, hybrids, compressed natural gas-powered (CNG), diesels and high fuel economy gasoline-powered vehicles for the annual AAA Green Car Guide. Vehicles are rated on the criteria that matter most to car buyers, including ride quality, safety and performance.
“While desire for green vehicles is strong, making the leap to an electric, hybrid or other fuel efficient vehicles can be daunting to car shoppers,” said McKernan. “AAA’s rigorous evaluations help take the guesswork out by providing an unbiased evaluation of these vehicles based on more than a dozen individual criteria.”
Beyond electric and hybrid vehicles, AAA’s survey found that fuel economy remains a major purchase consideration for all U.S. drivers, with 70 percent rating it as an important factor in selecting any vehicle – equal to the importance of the cost, crash rating and performance – ahead of safety technology (50%), brand (48%), style, color and design (46%) and smartphone connectivity (34%).
In 2017, the following vehicles earned AAA’s Top Green Vehicle award:
Category Winners:
Overall: Tesla Model X 75D
Subcompact: Chevy Bolt EV Premier
Compact: Volkswagen e-Golf SE
Midsize: Lexus GS 450 F Sport
Large: Tesla Model S 60
Pickup: Ford F150 XLT Super Crew
SUV: Tesla Model X 75D
Winners, detailed evaluation criteria, vehicle reviews and an in-depth analysis of the green vehicle industry can be found atwww.AAA.com/greencar.
While electrics are an attractive option for car shoppers, AAA found that more than half of Americans are hesitant to make the switch due to “range anxiety” – the concern over running out of charge or having too few locations to charge a vehicle. This fear persists despite that U.S. drivers report an average round-trip commute length (31 miles) and time (46 minutes) that are well within the range of the more than 100 miles of range that most electric vehicles offer.
“Range anxiety stems from seeing gas stations, not charging stations, on every corner,” continued Brannon. “While electric vehicles may not yet fit every lifestyle, the number of charging stations has quadrupled over the last five years and battery ranges support average commutes.”
To assist with range anxiety, drivers of electric vehicles can find the closest charging station via the AAA Mobile app or AAA’s TripTik Travel Planner. In 2017, charging station availability has grown to more than 15,000 locations across the United States.
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