Tag Archives: Hawaiians

Akaka Bill

How Big is Bigger and Who Stands to Gain?

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The CEO of OHA, Clyde Namuo, makes remarks in the Honolulu Advertiser of 4/15/10 addressing David Shapiro’s regular column of 4/12/10 opining that Shapiro made some “good observations” but “overlooks the bigger issue of why federal recognition makes sense for Native Hawaiians and for all in Hawaii, in the first place”. He follows that with mostly platitudes, but specifically mentions land, rights and resources “owed” a new Akaka Tribe.

Shapiro, on the other hand, discusses the secret, closed door method used in DC to make the latest changes before they were sprung on then Representative Abercrombie, the Governor, and virtually everyone else, just before the House vote. His observations then turn even darker. Here are some quotes:

“ The Akaka bill would change life in Hawaii in profound ways and confer enormous power on a relative few, but there has been little clear explaination….” Senators Inouye and Akaka “are basicly saying ‘Trust Us’ which many are unwilling to accept on a matter with such enormous impact on local life and so much opportunity for political mischief”

Here are my questions for readers:

Which person outlines the bigger issue?

Which of these two stands to gain power, money, etc if the Akaka bill becomes law?

The best course of action at this time is to stop all consideration and action at this time in the US Senate until extensive educational hearings are held in Hawaii so our people can evaluate and judge what the federal government is planning to do to us or for us and what we think of it. For those of you who like that idea, call an elected official and propose such.

Uncategorized

Save the Bulletin!

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I confess that I’ve always kind of liked the Honolulu Star-Bulletin the best.  Nothing against the Advertiser, but I always felt like there was a little less editorial bias at the Bulletin.  And also there’s just something about the name.  “Star-Bulletin.”  It sounds dreamy, but newsy.  Just what I want out of a Hawaii newspaper.  (Well, that and good, fair news coverage of course.)

But the Bulletin is actually in danger of shutting down–maybe even as soon as next week.  Why is this bad news?  Well, on a practical level, that means that hundreds of Hawaiians are in danger of losing their jobs.  And that stinks no matter how you cut it.  But beyond that, losing the Star-Bulletin will make Honolulu a one-newspaper town.  And if you want to encourage fair, responsible, and hard-hitting reporting, a little competition is important.  The internet may have changed news forever in letting people choose to get their news from a source they trust, but without the journalists on the ground, it gets harder and harder to find good information.  (And this goes double for the outer islands.  Feel a little overlooked now?  Imagine how much worse that can be with only one major paper in Hawaii’s capitol to cover your news and concerns.)

It just so happens that there are two highly-respected local figures who have put forth a bid to buy the Star Bulletin–State Senator Sam Slom and Hawaii Reporter’s Malia Zimmerman.  I won’t bore you all with their bonafides, but believe me when I say that if you’re local and wish that there was a Hawaii newspaper run by people who lived here, understood Hawaii, understood our concerns, and would promote accurate and unbiased reporting, then it would be hard to do better than these two. (And for all y’all on the outer islands, take note that part of their plan for the Star-Bulletin, should their bid succeed, is to expand its coverage of the outer islands and make it less Oahu-centric.)

As to why that matters to those of us concerned about transparency and fiscal responsibility?  Well, it should be obvious that if we want to ensure an independent voice in the community for issues like this, we need to save the Star-Bulletin.

(Want to learn more?  Go to http://www.savehawaiinews.com.)

Uncategorized

An Issue with OHA’s Commentary in the Advertiser

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In his Honolulu Advertiserletter of April 15, OHA administrator Clyde Namuo talks about “reestablishing self-determination and self-governance for Native Hawaiian people.”  But the Hawaiian Kingdom was not a “Native Hawaiian” government.  Most cabinet ministers, nearly all department heads, and about 1/4 of the Legislature were Caucasians.  Thousands of people with zero native blood, including Asians, were native-born or naturalized subjects of the Kingdom.

Taxes

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself (& end up looking foolish)

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With tax day looming tomorrow, how about something that reminds us of how much we all loathe the IRS and the politics of taxation?  (Not you–IRS employee who reads this blog and could conceivably audit me.  I think you’re a fine, upstanding person, a great dancer, and have fabulous hair.  I’m talking about a completely different IRS person who would never be so cool as to be reading this.)

For awhile now, candidates for office who have wanted to demonstrate their commitment to not taxing us into oblivion have signed the ATR (Americans for Tax Reform) Tax Pledge, the gist of which is that the candidate promises to oppose any net increase in taxes, corporate or personal.  (I know, I know.  The horror!  Why, with a philosophy like that, one might leap to the conclusion that the candidate in question wasn’t in favor of driving away business and could even want to improve the economy.  What will those crazy fiscal conservatives come up with next?)

Well, in a move so disingenuous that I wouldn’t be surprised if their pants were actually on fire while they did this, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee started running an attack ad against Charles Djou (a Republican running for Congress in Hawaii’s 1st District) based on his pledge.  Of course, they couldn’t claim that Djou was opposed to higher taxes.  (Well, they could, but this would tend to undermine their efforts to not get him elected.)  So instead they twisted his anti-tax pledge into a claim that he supported tax breaks for companies moving jobs overseas.  As FactCheck.org explains, this is a complete misrepresentation of the anti-tax pledge that can only be explained by political sneakiness or crack addiction.  (Ok, I added the part about sneakiness and crack.  But FactCheck really did take the DCCC to task for the blatant misrepresentation of Djou, which, in this time of high unemployment, amounts to little more than a smear tactic.)

So let that be a reminder of a few things:

Don’t be swayed by outrageous claims when it comes to where the candidates stand on important economic issues.  Tax issues are almost always more complicated than can be explained in a 30 second commercial.  And falling for tactics like the DCCC tried with Djou will just teach politicians that making pledges isn’t worth the fallout.

While we can all agree that the employees of the IRS are a lovely group of people who should each individually get to date Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, April 15th still stinks.

Uncategorized

Census Nonsense

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Like most everyone else, I have been feeling the mild irritation that comes with getting a long questionnaire from the government accompanied by vague threats and even vaguer promises about the importance of filling it out.  Apparently, we should all be eager to take advantage of this chance to get “our fair share.”

Has it really come to that?

Are we so greedy, so eager to get our share of the government pie that the advertising wizards behind this year’s census marketing decided that a naked appeal to greed, and social/cultural divisions was the best motivator to use?  Especially in light of the fact that the “fair share” here is really the fair share of my own tax dollars.

Call me cynical if you must, but my experience hasn’t let me to believe that a lot of those tax dollars are coming back to me.  Especially in light of recent legislative efforts.  So when I see the “fair share” ads, all I can think of is the government urging people to fill out their census so they can be certain to get some of my money.

And when we throw race into the equation, it gets even more complicated.

Because (as this site makes so abundantly clear) race and ethnicity and monetary “fair share” is almost an industry in this country.  And the net effect is not to bring us together, but to deepen racial divisions and resentments.

I highly recommend Sam Slom’s recent article about the census in the Hawaii Reporter about the census.  As Senator Slom points out, the census was originally about the reapportionment of the US House of Representatives.  Not the all-out entitlement grab that it seems to have become.  And by standing by and allowing it to be a more and more intrusive process, we’re basically condoning it.  No, I’m not advocating refusing to fill out your census form.  But I think that everyone who has an issue with big, intrusive government and with the business of federal entitlements and grievances should begin asking questions of their elected representatives about the appropriateness of the ever-expanding census.

And don’t even get me started on what it costs.

Grants, HHS

It’s Aloha Friday!

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The hardest part is finding the little surfboard.
The hardest part is finding the little surfboard.

So it’s Aloha Friday.  It seems like we should start things with a picture of a surfing squirrel.  (With all credit to the Photoshop wizards that created it.)  Granted, this has very little to do with grants for Native Hawaiians, unless it’s possible to get funding from OHA for a surfing squirrel program.  (And I’m not saying that it’s not.)  But it can’t all be frustrating government spending programs and mysterious money trails.

So . . . have you been enjoying any Hawaiian language television lately?  Don’t look at me–I have vitally important Survivor episodes to catch up on.  Also, I can’t speak Hawaiian.  But I do hope that there are quite a few of you out there just pining to see some Hawaiian-language programming.  Because in 2009, the federal Department of Health and Human Services granted $494,104 to Aha Punana Leo for the development of Hawaiian language video content for broadcast.  Apparently, the ability to channel surf right past Hawaiian language programming while trying to find the UH game will help, “advance the social development of Native Hawaiians.”  Of course, here in Hawaii, we’re surrounded by examples and uses of the Hawaiian language, and I can’t see how it does much to offer practical help to the average Native Hawaiian, but who knows . . . maybe a few public access TV programs will do the trick.

OHA

OHA Aha!

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The Office of Hawaiian Affairs holds a strange place in Hawaii.  Our general desire to help Native Hawaiians makes people kindly disposed to its mission.  The fuzziness about where the money comes from and where it’s going (on the other hand) has dogged OHA for years.

The 4Hawaiians Only Wiki documents quite a few OHA grants from 2007 and 2008 (and we’re currently adding more from 2009), and we’re looking to you to help us fill in the blanks.  Check out the wiki and let us know what you know (or have learned) about these programs.  Do you know someone who has actually participated in programs like the Pu’ulima Taro Education Project?  (I presume this has to do with educating people about taro and not educating the taro itself.  Because that would be a huge waste of money.  Everyone knows that taro has to learn at its own pace.)  But if you do know someone who has insight into these programs, get him to post about his experience.  If he loved it, then he can let people know that this is a worthy program that deserves support.  If he thinks it was a waste of time, he can spread the word that there are better uses out there for the money . . . or that this isn’t helpful to Native Hawaiians.  OHA and the state of Hawaii have spent a lot of money building community programs and resources.  Now it’s time for the community to evaluate their work.

After all, if you know that someone is out there, going on about how much they’re helping you, wouldn’t you like some objective evaluation of what they’re doing?  OHA is notorious for avoiding this kind of scrutiny.  Now that we have the power of the internet, we don’t have to wait for them to respond to the reporters and researchers.  We can start the grading process ourselves.

Health

An Unhealthy Curiosity

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Health disparities are both sad and frustrating.  As a local girl who did her law journal research on the problem of health disparities among women and minorities, I’ve long been concerned about how to address the problem.  The interesting thing about social problems, however, is that the answer is not always more money.  That’s just the easy way out for government: “Hey! Here’s a sad and worrisome problem!”  “Oh, no worries, we’ll just set aside some money for studies and an outreach project.  Problem solved.”  Or not.

Consider the news that Hawaiians and those of Asian descent often face certain health disparities.  Native Hawaiians, especially (we are told), are prone to obesity at a higher rate than the rest of the population.  Putting aside for a moment the inherent problems with how obesity is measured at present (and speaking of disparities–how about the fact that many of the measures for health are not tuned to obvious differences between ethnic groups), it’s not as though there have not been efforts to reach Native Hawaiians specifically in the realm of health care.  As you can see in our database, there is a large amount of money set aside specifically for Native Hawaiian healthcare.  But that hasn’t eliminated the disparities.  Interestingly, I think one of the best tools so far in making people in Hawaii (of all ethnicities) more aware of obesity, diet, and nutrition, is the more recent work from Sam Choy.  And he’s not getting a grant for spreading his message–heck, he’s creating employment for others in Hawaii.

And that really is the whole reason for this project.  No one is saying that these programs are good or bad on an individual basis–that’s for you to look at and determine.  (We’re just helping provide the tools to do so.)  But we do want people to think about how we’re trying to help Native Hawaiians and how well it’s working in a larger sense.

Entertainment

Top of the Aloha to You, Brah!

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What with it being St. Patrick’s Day and such (and a happy one to you), I thought we’d step away from the usual stuff for today, and give a small nod to the awesome that results from combining the influences of Ireland and Hawaii.

No, I’m not talking about green poi.  (If such an abomination exists, I would rather not here about it.)

I’m talking about modern surfing.

We all know that surfing is an invention of the Polynesians, and the original Sport of (Hawaiian) Kings.  And that it was discouraged by the missionaries.  But what is less well known is that it was revived and popularized in the 20th century by a local Hapa-Irish/Hawaiian man named George Freeth, whose father immigrated to Hawaii from Ulster in the 1870s.  Freeth re-introduced surfing in the early 20th century and then helped to make it popular on the mainland (especially California).

A documentary on the Irish contribution to surfing, called Waveriders, traces this story.  Filmed in Ireland, California, and Hawaii (They have surfing in Ireland? Who knew?), the movie won a Best Documentary award in Ireland, and has just been released on DVD.

So there you are–combining Hawaii and Ireland saved surfing.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t come up with a heck of a good boxer out of it too.

Akaka Bill

A Primer on the Akaka Bill

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As you go through the many grants in our database, the obvious question (aside from “How much money????” and “Do any of these really help people?”) that comes to mind is how these programs for Native Hawaiians fit in with the Akaka Bill.  Or it should be.  Unfortunately, the Akaka Bill is one of those things that people tend to react to emotionally even when they don’t know much about it.  The people of Hawaii are generous.  They want to help Native Hawaiians.  They’re told that the Akaka Bill will do so.  But what they’ve only begun to find out is the true implications of the bill . . . that it’s not good for Hawaii. Or Hawaiians, Native or otherwise.

At the American Spectator, Peter Hannaford has a good article on the implications of Akaka—how it creates a race-based government inside the state and a truly unequal situation for the residents of Hawaii.  (He also points out how passage of Akaka plays into the strategy of the sovereignty movement.)  And he makes the important point that Congress cannot create an Indian tribe, which it would be doing by passing the Akaka bill.  After all, the sovereign nation of Hawaii was not composed only of Hawaiians, but of a wide variety of races and ethnicities who had come to the Islands for a variety of reasons.  Hawaii was a melting pot before melting pots were cool.  In that sense, Akaka is a violation of the spirit of the Islands.  (And, as this site demonstrates, helping a group via government action is a tricky thing to accomplish effectively.)