Blogging the Aloha State and Beyond
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Entries Tagged as 'Politics'

Gov. Abercrombie on Open Data

January 24th, 2012 · 2 Comments · Government, Politics, Technology, The Web

Gov. Neil Abercrombie yesterday delivered his second “State of the State” address before the Legislature. And technology was one of the priorities he singled out as key to the state’s long-term future. He mentioned the Hawaii Broadband Initiative, consolidation of disparate state systems under the Office of Information Management and Technology, and major renewable energy and [...]

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Ready for APEC, But Just Barely

November 7th, 2011 · 5 Comments · Events, Government, Politics

After nearly two years of planning and preparations, APEC is finally landing in Honolulu. This week’s events brings government leaders from around the world (including Punahou grad and U.S. President Barack Obama) to the Aloha State. That definitely means heightened security (which will disrupt traffic and other aspects of everyday life), and supposedly means escalated [...]

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Journalist Shield Law Extension Advances

February 22nd, 2011 · 1 Comment · Blogs, Government, Media, Politics

The House Judiciary Committee today unanimously voted to advance a bill that would remove the sunset provision in Hawaii’s so-called “Journalist Shield Law,” otherwise known as Act 210 (HB2557) from the 2008 Legislative session. The law gives the press (“journalists and newscasters”) some protections against being forced to reveal sources or unpublished information gathered in [...]

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State Senator Hosting Twitter Town Hall

January 5th, 2011 · No Comments · Education, Politics, Social Media

Hawaii voters approved the change from an elected board last year, but it will take legislative action to determine how the new system will work. On Friday, Sen. Jill Tokuda, chair of the Senate Education Committee, is hosting a “Twitter Town Hall,” or “Twitterview.” She’ll be taking comments and answering questions about planned legislation that [...]

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Candidate Cries Foul Over Twitter Posts

October 26th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Media, People, Politics, Social Media

The race for Hawaii governor between Democrat and former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and Republican Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona has been a contentious one. A stream of dueling press releases has dominated the headlines, political ads have blanketed the airwaves, and hordes of signwavers have lined nearly every street. But the latest battle in the [...]

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Abercrombie & Schatz and Fast Fashion

September 20th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Hawaii, Media, Politics, Social Media, The Web

To island democratic voters, “Abercrombie & Schatz” sounds like the ticket to a brighter future for Hawaii. But for many people, “Abercrombie & Schatz” also sounds like a clothing line. On Saturday night, as it became obvious that former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie was going to trounce former Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann to clinch the [...]

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George Takei Speaks Out on Hawaii Equality

September 8th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Events, People, Politics, Pop Culture

On this week’s Bytemarks Cafe, the weekly science and technology radio show I co-host with Burt Lum on Hawaii Public Radio, we had the honor of interviewing George Takei. He’s best known for his role as Sulu on Star Trek, but he’s also been a long-time, prominent, and outspoken advocate of the Asian American community [...]

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Inouye, Akaka Get Low “Digital I.Q.” Scores

August 27th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Hawaii, Politics, Social Media, The Web

Hawaii’s representatives in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Daniel Inouye and Sen. Daniel Akaka, have less than stellar “Digital I.Q.” scores, according to a new study by researchers at George Washington University and New York University. “Digital I.Q.” was defined as “an individual’s online competence including his or her presence on websites, social media following and [...]

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Civil Beat Puts Public Data Behind the Paywall

August 19th, 2010 · 27 Comments · Blogs, Media, Politics, The Web

The headline proclaims, “Civil Beat Shares Hawaii State Employee Salaries“ — but there’s a catch: you have to pay to get full access to the information. To be sure, there’s a reasonable and deep debate to be had over whether the names and salaries of government employees should be public in the first place.  I was [...]

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Governor Vetoes Civil Unions

July 6th, 2010 · 13 Comments · Politics

Gov. Linda Lingle this afternoon announced that she has vetoed HB444, which would have legalized civil unions in the state of Hawaii. A rush transcript of her remarks, and the subsequent Q&A with the media, follows: Aloha everyone and welcome. I wanted to let the media know first of all that at the conclusion of the news [...]

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