Hawaii Blog

David Motari, the Hawaii marine who was engulfed in controversy over a video clip posted to YouTube in March, has been expelled from the service. The video showed Motari throwing a puppy off a cliff while on patrol in Iraq.
According to an official statement placed front and center yesterday on the website for Marine Corps [...]

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Hawaii’s Sen. Daniel K. Akaka is the latest “superdelegate” to back Hawaii-born Barack Obama’s bid for President of the United States. His announcement was first noted by NBC’s Domenico Montanaro on MSNBC and confirmed via a Star-Bulletin report on Akaka’s official statement. His announcement brings the number of superdelegates pledged today to four, all [...]

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Hawaii grassroots politics, going virtual:
The reality of eDemocracy in Hawaii gains momentum as members of HawaiiConCon.org and Citizens’ Committee on ConCon call on citizens to join Hawaii’s newest open online community at HawaiiConCon.org. Over 70 Hawaii citizens including prominent political and technology leaders have already joined HawaiiConCon.org to “learn, discuss, and decide” on the [...]

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From the irrepressible Malia Zimmerman, editor of Hawaii Reporter, a call for testimony in support of HB 2557 HD1, which limits “compelled disclosure of sources or unpublished information” for journalists — otherwise known as a “journalism shield law.”
HB 2557 HD1 “relating to evidence” will be heard this Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee beginning at [...]

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A YouTube video showing American soldiers tossing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq has set off a firestorm of protest online, and a 22-year-old Marine stationed at Kaneohe has become a ‘figure of hate‘ around the world.
KITV called the incident “terribly upsetting,” and, like other news outlets, broadcast only a portion of the video. [...]

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Hawaii Democratic Caucus from hawaii on Vimeo.
Hawaii-born U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama won handily in Hawaii’s historic Democratic caucuses on Tuesday. More than 37,000 people turned out to participate in a process that previously drew no more than 4,900 caucusgoers, and Obama won 76 percent of the vote (compared with 24 percent for Hillary Clinton).
The [...]

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Tomorrow is “Beach Access Day,” a statewide day of action to preserve public access to beaches and shorelines. While state law says you should be able to freely enjoy our island state’s beautiful coastline, aggressive property owners and government bureaucracy are making it increasingly difficult to reach them.
The non-profit group Beach Access Hawaii, along with [...]

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It’s the stuff of urban legends and a million e-mail forwards: aspartame (a.k.a. Nutrasweet, Equal, and other brands) causes cancer, brain tumors, and a multitude of other ghastly and deadly health problems. And while the FDA, MIT, and several other so-called “experts” have constantly affirmed the relative safety of aspartame, hundreds of thousands of web [...]

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A month after putting out the call, House Communications Director Georgette Deemer announced that she has found her blogger: Thelma Dryer. She will take over the reigns at the Hawaii House Blog, documenting life at the Capitol. Of course, as Deemer commented on my earlier post, her position as Assistant Communications Director comes with [...]

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The House Majority at the Hawaii State Legislature has put out the call, on its blog no less, for a full-time blogger. Well, an “assistant communications director” with others duties as assigned, no doubt, but still… House Communications Director Georgette Deemer is looking for someone who loves to write.
“Not just the usual press releases, media [...]

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