Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Cleaning House
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Civil Beat fills information gap about newly chosen Honolulu rail czar
by Larry Geller
Good thing we have an alternative news source in Honolulu. The above pull-quote is from a Civil Beat story posted today on the controversy surrounding the hiring of Daniel Grabauskas as the city’s new rail czar.
As I wrote yesterday:
Civil Beat’s stories on newly selected Honolulu transit czar Daniel Grabauskas are must-reads.
Check out Adrienne LaFrance’s story Honolulu Rail CEO Pick Comes With Track Record That Raises Concerns (Civil Beat, 2/25/2012)
and Michael Levine’s article New Honolulu Rail Chief Was Late, Over Budget on His Biggest Project (Civil Beat, 2/28/2012)
Today’s story is Off the Beat: What About the Mayor's Calls for Transparency? (Civil Beat, 2/29/2012).
If you read the previous Civil Beat stories you already know quite a bit about the controversies surrounding Grabauskas’s prior employment. Anyone not tuned in to CB will only have a chance to ask questions on Thursday, during his confirmation hearing. That’s 10 a.m., for those of you who have a day job and of course can’t come. Why no more information? CB notes that media inquiries are going unanswered.
HART [Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation] board members are deferring to Grabauskas on questions about his record. But Grabauskas is not responding to media inquiries and HART's PR team says he won't be available till Thursday.
The message is that public input is not a factor in the board's decision making. After all, the HART board says it has already reached a "consensus" about hiring Grabauskas.
Compare the CB coverage with this thin report in today’s Star-Advertiser, which notes “partisan-politics turmoil” but explains nothing about what that “turmoil” might have been about:
Now comes news that the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation will pick Daniel Grabauskas as its rail CEO. Grabauskas was forced to step down as general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in 2009 amid partisan-politics turmoil.
A vote on Grabauskas' hiring, at $287,000 annually, will be held 10 a.m. Thursday at HART's public meeting at the Mission Memorial Annex conference room, 550 S. King St.
No doubt more info on Grabauskas will emerge before, during, and well after that meeting.
[Star-Advertiser, Off the News, 2/29/2012]
An earlier S-A story alluded to the issues which CB explored but did not go any further than this:
According to published reports, Grabauskas, a Republican appointee, resigned as MBTA head in August 2009 amid political pressure brought on by the new Democratic administration of Gov. Deval Patrick.
Patrick had questioned the agency's leadership amid financial troubles and two crashes on one of its train lines, according to a report in the Boston Globe. Grabauskas' backers, who included legislative leaders, characterized the move as political.
[Star-Advertiser, Panel picks finalist to direct rail board, 2/25/2012]
You’d think our daily paper would want to know about those two crashes and financial troubles.
At least, they could have provided links to Civil Beat for the details.
This just in: Occupy far from dead as commercial media would like you to think
by Larry Geller
Tweets are flying today about Occupy actions in various locations around the country (and some in Europe).
Yes, it’s cold on the Mainland, and it’s tough to stay outdoors. Plus, police have recently mounted concerted efforts to take advantage of the weather and clear out Occupy encampments. So your daily paper may want you to conclude that Occupy is over.
It hasn’t worked, though, as anyone watching events on Twitter will know. Occupy is still there, and maybe the evictions are simply part of the evolution of the movement. It was never 100% outdoors anyway (maybe 99%?).
These tweets came in within the past hour. Some describe the same event, some are just, well, tweets. And I don’t follow even a small fraction of the localities.
Again, I set an arbitrary limit of one hour. You can see the time-stamps at the right of each tweet.
… and more are still coming in.
On Twitter, it’s always “This just in.”
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Hawaii Reporter: Hawaii hot spot for human trafficking
Hawaii Hot Spot for Human Trafficking
Friday, February 24th, 2012
BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN - Hawaii is a hot spot for sex and labor trafficking. So much so, that when Google.org awarded a sizable grant to the Polaris Project and International Justice Mission last year to work on the ground in 5 key states to help establish stronger laws against trafficking, the alliance chose Hawaii as the first stop.
Representatives from these groups who have dedicated $1.8 million to Hawaii's campaign, have joined Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery and Reps. Karen Awana and John Mizuno to push for six new bills they say would help "identify, protect, and offer assistance to victims of human trafficking."
They were at the capitol yesterday, reviewing the need for the proposed measures for 2012, which include:
- "Safe Harbor Bill that allows for a mandatory referral of child victims to a licensed and trained child service provider.
- "Vacating Convictions bill would enable sex-trafficking victims to file a motion to vacate all prostitution charges from their criminal records while they were held in captivity, illegally.
- "Education and awareness would provide greater education to the public and youth of Hawaii on human trafficking and prevention.
- "Victim Services State plan for human trafficking victims service would be created to address the needs of rehabilitating human trafficking victims.
- "And a Steering Committee on Human Trafficking Measure would be formed to review and recommend public policy and a state plan for human trafficking victim services."
- There also would be a mandatory reporting bill for medical professionals who encounter a trafficking victim.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline that connects trafficking victims to services they require, has received an estimated 164 calls since December 2007 related to human trafficking in Hawaii. The Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery has documented many more.
Rep. Awana, who appeared at a press conference on the issue on Thursday, said it is important for lawmakers to address the issue and support activists trying to stop human trafficking. She called it “the worst form of treatment inflicted upon another human being.” Awana and Mizuno are asking other lawmakers in the House and Senate to support these measures and are optimistic they will pass. They already have received positive feedback from the respective committee chairs the bills have been assigned to.
James Dold, Policy Counsel for the Washington D.C.-based Polaris Project, works in all 50 states to strengthen anti trafficking laws. He said yesterday he has seen "first-hand how laws like these make a real difference for the lives of women and children who have been brutally exploited for the profit of others."
He added: “If all of these bills pass, Hawaii would have one of the strongest anti-human trafficking frameworks in the United States.”
Hawaii is first on the list, Dold said, not only because Hawaii has a trafficking problem, but there are activists on the ground willing to do what it takes to combat human trafficking and state lawmakers are open to making changes.
He said Illinois, Texas and New York are leaders in this effort, Virginia has seen tremendous improvement in the last year in terms of its legislation and legal tactics to combat various forms of slavery, and he is optimistic Hawaii will continue to strengthen its laws.
Hawaii Reporter has uncovered a number of stories about workers from Asia, mainly Laos and Thailand, trafficked to Hawaii to work on local farms. See the most recent series here:
Scammed In Laos, Trapped in America
After Oahu Farm Workers Fall Ill, State Inspectors Look Into Workers’ Safety, Food Security
Special Investigation: Laotian Workers Suffer Health and Financial Problems on Oahu Farms
Support Honolulu food trucks–gather at Honolulu Hale for Bill 59 hearing on Thursday March 1, 1 p.m.
Update: Tweet from Street Grindz:
This photo is snipped is from a 1966 University of Hawaii Press book, The Food of Paradise : Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage, by Rachel Lauden. The book is unclear as to whether this is an actual Honolulu sign or just that the author thinks there should be such a sign.
Maybe we’ll get there one day.
In the meantime, a skirmish has been underway at the Honolulu City Council that you may have read about. Police were ticketing food trucks for parking too long in one spot. A bill introduced to the Honolulu City Council was supposed to fix that and allow up to two hours parking, but a poison pill was inserted in that food trucks would pay a heavy penalty if caught for traffic infractions. Why we would want our police department chasing down errant food trucks instead of speeders and cellphoning SUV drivers, I don’t know. So the pressure was on to get the evil out of that bill.
I understand from Camille of Camille on Wheels that Bill 59, to be heard by the City Council on Thursday, March 1, could be amended to allow street parking for three hours and eliminate all the evil stuff about cops chasing food trucks for traffic violations, etc. Apparently the forces are gathering there at 1 p.m. on Thursday. Won’t you join them?
For more information and what else you can do, click on the tweet below.
The Food of Paradise book has some incidental history of food trucks. For example:
In World War II, lunch wagon business boomed as dockyard and military workers looked for relief from institutional food.
The book credits lunch wagons for the origin of the plate lunch, the centerpiece of Hawaii local food:
There is some speculation in Hawaii that the plate lunch evolved from a cross of the lunch wagon and the bento, the traditional Japanese packed lunch that the plantation workers took out into the fields.
While ethnic food prevailed in the home, it was the lunch wagons that were selling food on the plantations starting in the 1930s that promulgated local food, according to the author.
Civil Beat raises critical issues surrounding choice of new Honolulu transit czar
Civil Beat’s stories on newly selected Honolulu transit czar Daniel Grabauskas are must-reads.
Check out Adrienne LaFrance’s story Honolulu Rail CEO Pick Comes With Track Record That Raises Concerns (Civil Beat, 2/25/2012)
and Michael Levine’s article New Honolulu Rail Chief Was Late, Over Budget on His Biggest Project (Civil Beat, 2/28/2012)
Gambling bill died. But you guessed it, it’s alive again. Never bet a bill will stay dead.
by Larry Geller
If you’ve got clout at the Senate—which leaves most ordinary citizens out—they’ll bend or break the rules for you.
The gambling folks and their lobbyists have clout. Yet legislators know that many (most?) of their constituents oppose legalizing gambling in Hawaii. So SB2893, which would establish a gambling task force, missed the first lateral deadline and was dead. Dead dead. Which means nothing anymore, it seems.
Of course, if it were a bill without big money, big influence, big lobbyists behind it, we ordinary folks would be told, “Gee, I’m sorry, your bill didn’t make it this session. Try again next year.”
So SB2893 walks the halls of the State Capitol once gain. It will have a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10:15 a.m. The hearing notice is here. Two committees will hear it at once, and that will be it for the Senate. They’ll sprinkle it with holy water and it will freshen up and cross over to the House.
You can easily submit testimony, or even call or email members of the two committees (WAM and EDT). To submit testimony, go to the link for the bill. At the top is a box you check, and then you can type in your testimony.
Zombie bills are hard to kill. If the Senate leadership wants it to live again, they want it passed. It takes lots of testimony to drive a stake into the heart of a bad bill if the leadership is insistent.
Just as an example, the testimony not to cut funding for public access television was overwhelming, yet the House Finance Committee passed it anyway. See: Another “zombie” bill brought back to life over the weekend and aimed at public access tv funding (2/26/2012). Thanks to all the readers who sent in testimony! Heck, it might have worked. Please don’t be discouraged.
I’ve been asked if it is legal to bring back these bills from the dead. It appears to be legal, if sneaky and underhanded. The Senate makes its own rules, and it can break its own rules. Some things are protected by the Hawaii State Constitution, but not the revival of dead bills. If they want to mess around with us, they can.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Here we go again, the reapportionment bill to be heard this morning by JDL is another “trojan horse” deception
by Larry Geller
This morning at 9:30 the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear SB212, a bill that is intended to correct a problem with the state reapportionment plan. The problem is, while saying he will hear SB212, instead the chair will present the committee with the guts of SB2615, a different bill, introduced by Senator Slom, The public record will show that SB212 was heard and voted upon.
Why is this substitution important to know about? It involves the counting of non-residents in election redistricting, which has been extremely controversial and that has embroiled the Reapportionment Commission in legal action.
If the Senate wants to hear SB2615, it should just schedule it and hear it. Instead, SB212 is being used to stage another subterfuge.
Do you remember the deception perpetrated last year by chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Clayton Hee, in gutting and replacing SB671? The state legislature’s attempt to grab free meals and endless junkets made news in Hawaii, the Mainland, and strangely enough, on a website in Italy.
The original bill was intended to close loopholes in lobbyist disclosures, but instead was warped into lining legislators’ campaign fund pockets.
The original bill appears to have been used by Senator Hee as a “Trojan horse” to push through a questionable gut-and-replace measure bearing no resemblance to the bill put forth to the public. Even now, the Senate’s status page for SB671 continues the deception. It states: “The committee(s) on JDL recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS.” The truth is that the original bill was not heard nor was it debated. There is still no committee report, and the public record, as of this writing, misrepresents what happened in the hearing room. The only debate was on the proposed “amendment,” which was a possibly unconstitutional gut-and-replace.
…
The process was deceitful and disrespectful of the public, and clearly self-serving on the part of legislators. Surely they are paid enough that they don’t need to sell influence in exchange for handouts at non-profit fundraising events. Even if the intent of the legislator is fully honorable, there’s no reason why the legislator could not have supported the non-profit by purchasing a ticket like everyone else.[The duplicity behind the SB671 ethics bill caper, 3/2/2011]
This year’s caper is much more subtle. Even after reading it a few times you might not get the switch. Which makes it doubly bad.
Again, if Sen. Hee wants to hear SB2615, why deceive the public? Why not just hear that bill as well as SB212?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Another “zombie” bill brought back to life over the weekend and aimed at public access tv funding
by Larry Geller
We asked you earlier this month, along with other blogs and advocates, to Help kill “zombie” bill, save public access television in Hawaii (2/5/2012).
It worked, but as you know, anything can happen at our State Legislature. And Zombie bills might even turn up again—nothing is sure until the final gavel is pounded.
Sure enough, public access TV funding is under attack again. And it’s another “zombie bill,” a bill that was dead but has been brought back to life again over the weekend.
Ian Lind covered the situation nicely in his article this morning:
HB2874 originally had a triple referral, but missed the deadline when neither the committee on economic development and business, or consumer protection and commerce, set it for a public hearing. But on February 16, it was re-referred as a single referral to the House Finance committee, and on Friday night it was scheduled for a hearing tomorrow.
[ilind.net, Legislative Alert: Bill to cut public/government access television gets stealth hearing, 2/27/2012]
Yeah, I know I should have written about it earlier, but I had things I really needed to do today. Sorry.
This bill would take away from public access TV in order to fund the state’s broadband project.
I have a few words to say about that, but first, may I ask you to please click the link and submit testimony as early as you can. Of course, I assume you would like to preserve `Olelo, Akaku and the other public access TV providers. Either way, you can send something.
On the status page, if you have clicked the link, there’s a button near the top marked “Submit testimony.” It gives you a space to type something in.
Ok, on to the issue of broadband.
The administration (and the Lingle administration before it) has made an almost obsessive case that Hawaii’s prosperity is hitched to broadband service. That’s not going to work.
Yes, faster service at home and better penetration in rural areas is nice, but neither of those contributes to the economy.
As to business, we don’t have many businesses that would require putting in the bureaucracy and unnecessary infrastructure that the administration is calling for. I’ll give you an illustrative example.
‘Way back in the 1980s the state was convinced that high-tech would come to Hawaii if only we had a high-tech “park.” Actually, it was probably an equal measure of the usual push by developers for more development on Oahu. In this case, it was Castle & Cooke that would benefit from state assistance in populating their Mililani tech park. One thing that happened was that Hawaiian Tel (GTE Hawaiian Tel? I can’t remember who they were then) was pressured to install a fiber-optic cable terminal in the park. Just like “broadband” is hot now with our government, “fiber-optics” was hot then.
So the equipment was installed.
I remember a meeting in 1989 when the High Tech Development Corp. asked the phone company why nothing was connected to the fiber optic terminal.
The answer was that all the services anyone had requested could be provided with ordinary copper wires.
In other words, there had been no demand for the fiber optic terminal.
Fast forward to today. Hawaii has some high-tech, more than in 1989, but there isn’t going to be any revolution if broadband services are improved. This island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is not going to become a haven for high-tech businesses.
Taking the money from public access television and making a gift to certain businesses is not good public policy, IMHO.
So please click that link and say something. You can also click the hearing notice at the lower right and see who is on the committee, and even call or email them, because time is short.
This bill died, and has been brought back to life. It’s clear that there are powerful forces trying to get that public access TV money. And how tricky they are, reviving a bill from the dead over the weekend. So grab a wooden stake and have at it.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Lance Cpl. Orozco found not guilty of hazing in last case related to Afghanistan suicide
by Larry Geller
The court martial of Kaneohe Bay Marine Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III ended today with a verdict of not guilty on all counts.
This was the last of three trials related to the suicide in Afghanistan of Lance Cpl. Henry Lew. Lew, who had fallen asleep four times while on watch, was allegedly awakened and then hazed by fellow Marines before taking his own life with his automatic weapon in his foxhole.
The cases garnered national attention due to accusations by Lew’s aunt, California Congresswoman Judy Chu, that the military condones hazing. Chu called a press conference after the first trial to charge that justice was not done. In that trial, Lance Cpl. Jacob Jacoby accepted a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to assault, and was sentenced to 30 days confinement and the loss of one pay rank.
In the second trial, the squad leader was found not guilty of all charges. Witnesses did not support the prosecution’s claims that Sgt. Benjamin Johns was involved in hazing, and in fact, when he found out that Lew was made to carry a sandbag on his shoulders while delivering batteries, he immediately put a stop to it.
The eight-person jury that deliberated today did not believe that the witnesses supported the government’s charges and returned a not-guilty verdict on all counts.
Orozco was accused by prosecutor Hanorah Tyer-Witek of “piling on,” that is, of going beyond what he had to do to correct Lew. This included making Lew do pushups, side planks, and leg lifts. There was an issue of whether placing a foot on Lew’s back was correction of his position or punishment, and controversy over whether a sandbag was ripped open and sand poured into Lew’s mouth. Witnesses differed and it was not established that Orozco actually did that.
None of the three defendants were charged with responsibility for Lew’s death. By this third trial, it became clear that jurors had all heard or read at least something about the suicide, and the judge was careful to instruct them to set aside anything other than the evidence presented by witnesses in the courtroom.
Comment:
Hazing does occur in the military. See, for example: 17 leaders from Guard company in Kosovo removed amid investigation of abuses (Stars and Stripes, 2/23/2012). But these three cases did not support charges of hazing.
Comment:
When the only tools you have are behavioral, medical or psychological problems will not be addressed
Jumping out of these cases for a moment, imagine that a public school student consistently fails to complete reading assignments. Teachers chastise the student, assign more homework, hold parent-teacher conferences, put the student on study hall detention, and try everything they can to get the student to perform.
But the student has a learning disability, say, dyslexia, and can’t actually complete the assignments.
If the only tool that the system has is behavioral intervention, they will be doing things to the student, not for the student, and sooner or later something will go badly wrong.
Perhaps the student will simply fail, or perhaps the student will act out and bad conduct issues will arise. What the student needs is an evaluation followed by addressing the dyslexia problem.
Back to these cases.
Why was Lance Cpl. Lew put on watch on a particularly critical post, the very spot where Taliban might enter to attack the base? He was situated where they might even have seen that he was asleep, according to the prosecution’s own maps. Lew had fallen asleep three times but gave assurances that he would not doze off again—and then he did.
He was then “corrected,” which is to say, behavioral modification techniques were used to keep him awake until his usual time to sleep.
Yes, he had fallen asleep three times. There is a saying about doing something over and over again and expecting a different outcome. It should be questioned why Lew was put on watch again without some appropriate intervention.
Perhaps Lew had a medical or psychological condition that caused him to doze off. For example, anemia will do it. Of course, he didn’t want to fall asleep. From all reports, Lew had high expectations of himself. He was also physically fit. He didn’t want to fall asleep, but he did. Instead of suspecting that there was some underlying cause that needed treatment, the only tool available in the midst of battle was behavior mod.
And it didn’t work. Lew committed suicide. We don’t know why. I think it’s safe to say that a Marine who falls asleep on watch three times should have been given help to discover the likely underlying problem.
So no, other Marines have not been shown to be responsible for his death. On the other hand, the system, and no doubt the location in Helmand Province in Afghanistan, did not work to give him the help he needed to be a good Marine, a goal which it appears he desperately wanted for himself.
I attended these courts martial in part because I think the issue of “hazing” is too simplistic. Physical correction may not always be the best course of action. I would like to see the services look at the unfortunate loss of Lance Cpl. Henry Lew again, not to assign blame, but to see how they might have handled the situation differently. What they may learn about this Lew may benefit all the Lews who suffer because there is presently no way to give them what they need to continue to serve effectively.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Johan Galtung’s view from Europe: Ten Questions for Coming Leaders China-USA
Ten Questions for Coming Leaders China-USA
by Johan Galtung, 20 Feb 2012 - TRANSCEND Media Service
From Kyoto, Japan
Japanese media make it look as if China attacked Japan in the 1930s-1940s, massacred a major city, with a concentration camp beating Auschwitz in cruelty. And, Japan fears a repetition. Well, Japan fears something, probably what Western aggressors fear too: Of course, we never did anything wrong, but one day they may come and treat us the way we treated them.
In 2012 the power will/may change in both superpowers, and we have a right to know how the power-wielders look at some basic issues. David Shambaugh, director of the China Policy Program in the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, put “Ten Questions for China’s heir presumptive (International Herald Tribune 11-12 Feb 2012), ahead of the coming president Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington. Nothing wrong in doing that, the questions are all relevant, designed to find out whether Xi “embraces and shapes positive changes for China at home and abroad or is he another risk-adverse apparatchik”. Let us design similar questions to US presidential candidates about US problems. A little economic background: in 1980 China was the world No. 11 in GDP, in 1986 No. 8, in 2002 No. 6, in 2010 No. 2. In 2012?
Question No. 1: Will Xi return to a politically reformist path for the Chinese Communist Party? Can Xi stand up to the state security apparatus, the military, the party propaganda system and large state-owned enterprises-or be beholden to them? Can Obama-Romney stand up to their agencies and military, to US mainstream media propaganda and to corporate enterprises, like those running the US Federal Reserve bank? To Goldman-Sachs?
No. 2: Can Xi turn the rhetoric of economic ‘rebalancing’ into reality? Away from exports from coastal areas to domestic consumption and to the interior? (Many will say this is not only rhetoric, though). Will Obama-Romney turn the rhetoric of job-creation into reality, or be beholden to the finance economy?
No. 3: Will Xi be able to devise a more humane policy toward Tibet and Xinjiang? Will Obama-Romney devise a humane policy toward Hawaiians yearning for sovereignty in their lands annexed in 1898, and toward the First Nations yearning for dignity in lands conquered from 1607 in Virginia and 1620 in Massachusetts?
No. 4: Can Xi and the party apparatus reign in the nationalism that is pushing the government to take extreme positions on territorial disputes with China’s neighbors, to “stand up” to the United States and behave aggressively internationally? True, China’s views clashes with neighbors’ over some islands/islets, but major issues with Russia have been settled, as opposed to the rather major USA-Mexico issue over the 1846-48 war; they are probably not even conscious of it. Will Obama-Romney reign in the planned deployment of much of the 300-ship strong US Navy to the Pacific to “stand up” to China, or will they prefer to invite a similar Chinese deployment off the US West Coast for balance? And, will they stop aggressive behavior internationally, not only major wars with invasion and occupation, but also drones and special ops in many countries, unknown even to their own governments, with extra-judicial killings?
No. 5: Will Xi be sufficiently confident to call the relaxation of tightened control of mainstream media, social media, the Internet, and educational institutions?
Will Obama-Romney be sufficiently confident to prohibit three major arms industry corporations to exercise control of the three major mainstream TV channels, CNN-ABC-NBC? Forbid CIA-FBI and credit card companies from spying-controlling social media? To withdraw FBI agents deployed to US university campuses?
No. 6: Can Xi reign in the military, which has demonstrated a worrisome tendency in recent years to undertake actions that provoke China’s neighbors–independently of civilian control? Can Obama-Romney stop the US military, not from provoking, but from killing millions all over the world, overtly under the Pentagon and covertly under the CIA and other agencies? Partly independently of any civilian control under the War Powers Act, partly with Congress support–except for one honorable lady representative?
No. 7: Will Xi authorize a foreign policy that is more substance than rhetoric? Will Obama-Romney authorize a foreign policy that is more rhetoric than substance? The world has had enough US foreign policy substance; rhetoric does not kill.
No. 8: How will Xi handle the growing discontent across Africa, the Middle East and Latin America over China’s rapacious and mercantilist energy, aid and trade policies? How will Obama-Romney handle it? If not, they will suffer the consequences.
No. 9: Will Xi take a more active, supportive, less obstructionist role in global governance? Will Obama-Romney stop crippling the UN, using the Security Council for US purposes, being sensitive to needs and voices from other regions?
No. 10: Will Xi have the strategic foresight to invest in the advancement of the relationship with the United States? Whereas China learns much from the US, will Obama-Romney have the strategic foresight to learn how to lift the bottom up, economic distribution, and green technology from China, thereby advancing the relation?
Questions should not be asked of Chinese leaders without having similar questions answered about the USA first, and vice versa. China has as a principle not to confront the USA, and has attacked neither Japan nor the US; the latter are the ones that attacked China. Hence, a little et tu Brute, watch yourself, may be useful in identifying key world problems.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 United States License.
Comments to this article appear where it is originally posted.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Oahu at risk—little ER capacity if disaster strikes
by Larry Geller
This is going to be a lame article, I admit it. I have not yet found anyone willing to say on the record that Oahu could face a crisis if disaster struck due to inadequate emergency room capacity. Yet the evidence points to that, in the absence of any expert assurance.
This question has been bugging me since the two former St. Francis hospitals closed: What happens if we have a hurricane, an unpredictable tsunami, or other disaster, natural or unnatural? Suppose a plane goes down someplace on the island? Suppose a dangerous virus hits a hotel?
We just lost a chunk of our emergency room capacity when Hawaii Medical Center closed its doors. As a result, there are already diversions (when an ambulance is sent to another hospital because a nearby ER is full). What happens in a crunch situation?
How will ambulances get through a traffic jam on the H-1 to the east side hopsitals in a weather emergency?
Immediately after the HMC closing there was some coverage of diversions. According to information given at a town hall meeting hosted by Representative Kymberly Pine on February 9, 2012, these diversions are still occurring. Relief is in the indefinite future and subject to some unknowns.
When the hospitals closed I fired off some emails, and left some phone messages. I asked if our emergency preparedness was in jeopardy, and asked about the hurricane or tsunami scenario. No answer on the record.
The video of Rep. Pine’s town hall meeting does provide some strong hints. Referring to the closure of ERs, Dr. Scott McCaffery of the Hawaii Medical Association said “We’re in a rough patch right now.”
Dr. Don Olden of Wahiawa General Hospital stated that the closed hospitals handled 70-90 patients per day. With the loss of that capacity, Oahu’s ability to handle a typical day-to-day demand has been compromised. What happens in an emergency situation?
This would not be the first time that Oahu has had an emergency room overload situation. Former Star-Bulletin reporter Helen Altonn wrote in 2006, quoting Dr. Bill Lee, emergency physician in charge of the ER at Straub Clinic:
"…The underlying problem is we have more patients every year. They're older, sicker and requiring longer hospitalization. There are no nursing home beds. It's a capacity problem."
Straub's 12-bed ER has had a 10 to 15 percent increase in patients per year, Lee said.
…
"There is no capacity to handle a crisis," he said."We can't get patients out of the hospital, and we can't get them in the hospital and we have backup in the emergency room. ... There are multiple reasons why there is overcrowding, and you just couldn't build a big enough emergency room to accommodate everybody."
A domino effect occurs as ambulances are rerouted from one ER to another because they are full, a CAT scanner or something is not working or a specialist is not available, the ER doctors said.
"Suddenly you're getting another hospital's patients, and suddenly your capacity is overrun…"
[Star-Bulletin, Hospital ERs fall victim to success,7/10/2006]
Where is Helen Altonn when we need her? (The Star-Advertiser “retired” her.)
Maybe some paid reporter could pick up on this. I don’t want to see the question die. I think someone from the established media could get answers. Find out what will happen if a couple hundred people need emergency treatment at the same time on Oahu right now. And what the state is doing about it, if anything.
In the meantime, here’s the YouTube video of Rep. Pine’s town hall meeting. Form your own conclusion. The meeting did not directly address the question of emergency preparedness.
As we learned so many times last year—the Fukushima earthquake/tsunami, flooding in Pakistan, Thailand etc.—stuff happens.
Is Oahu prepared?
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Double take (of taxpayer money) on gay marriage lawsuit
by Larry Geller
The Star-Advertiser reported in breaking news today that the state will defend against the lawsuit filed in federal court by a lesbian couple claiming that they are denied their rights under the Constitution because Hawaii will grant them a civil union but not the same marriage as heterosexual couples are entitled to. At the same time, Governor Abercrombie said that he will not defend it.
So will taxpayer money be used to pay additional legal expenses for this lawsuit should it go forward?
What will a judge think of the simultaneous defend/don’t defend position the state is taking?
Will Hawaii end up on the Daily Show or the Colbert Report?
More important, why not give up the lawsuit now, and also the one before the 9th circuit that would deny Micronesians medical care, and do the right thing?
Of course, then Hawaii would just end up on Fox News (sigh).
Third hazing trial begins at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii
by Larry Geller
The court martial of Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III began today at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base with jury selection and the testimony of the first witness.
This is the third and perhaps longest trial relating to the alleged hazing and subsequent suicide of Lance Cpl Harry Lew in Afghanistan in April last year. The charges against Orozco do not include the death of Lew.
Orozco stands accused of assault, humiliating Lew, cruelty and maltreatment.
The first witness in the trial described watching through a night-vision device in near-darkness as Orozco put his foot on Lew’s back while Lew was made to do push-ups. The witness stated that he did not see any sandbags nor see Orozco pour any sand on Lew’s face, accusations which formed part of the previous court martial as well as this one.
The defense questioned the witness about differences between his statement made close to the time of Lew’s suicide and his testimony in court.
There were no iPhone photos or security cameras watching, so a verdict may hinge on piecing together the testimony of eye witnesses in order to recreate what happened that night in dim moonlight and under the stress of battle conditions.
The first day of trial was not without its drama, including a brief shouting match between the judge, Lt. Col Stephen F. Keane of Camp Pendelton, and the defense attorney. Judge Keane objected to suggestions about what his responsibilities were as a military judge.
Perhaps due to the small size of the courtroom or perhaps to some difference in the way military and civilian trials are conducted, the witness and the jury were repeatedly evicted from the courtroom so that the judge and attorneys could confer. At the federal courthouse in Honolulu, for example, the attorneys would simply approach the bench and talk in private while the witness and jury remained in place.
This is only the second court martial I have ever attended, and both impressed me with the precision with which they were conducted. The questioning of witnesses was efficient. The jury is composed of educated peers of the accused and was allowed to ask questions if passed in writing to the judge.
This third and last trial should be the longest and could be the most complicated for a jury to evaluate. It involves physical contact between Orozco and Lew, so that Lew, the now deceased Marine, was more present in the courtroom than in the earlier trial.
The first court martial did not take place since Lance Corporal Jacob Jacoby reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to assault, and was sentenced to 30 days confinement and reduced one pay rank.
Sgt. Benjamin Johns was found not guilty in the second trial as witness after witness failed to support the government’s charges.
The backdrop to all three trials is the suicide of Lance Cpl Lew, who fell asleep four times while on watch. Intelligence indicated that the Taliban might attack as they had several times previously. None of the three defendants is accused of responsibility for Lew’s death.
Lew was the nephew of US Rep. Judy Chu, who has called for Congressional hearings into the role of hazing in his death and who has expressed dissatisfaction with the two cases prosecuted prior to this one.
Ghosts of Superferries past
by Larry Geller
Found it.
There has been talk on and off about bringing the two Hawaii Superferries back (now not possible, they’ve been sold) or starting a new ferry service just like the old one. I found the video I was looking for on the web today. Without saying a word it illustrates why running a passenger ferry on certain routes around the Hawaiian Islands can be problematic.
This is the video shot by George Peabody of the Molokai Advertiser-News/ and posted on the web here. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not a little toy boat in a bathtub, it’s one huge ferry.
If this isn’t enough, google for articles about cars stranded on Maui or on the Barf-O-Meter method for determining whether to ride the ferry on a particular day or stay home in bed instead. Read about the long period of drydock. Check out estimates of how much money they might have been losing which lead to the ultimate bankruptcy. Read the state auditor’s report about how much money the state itself invested in the ferry and lost ($63 Million ).
If you’re in the harbor area, you may be able to see the two rusting barges the state can’t use, can’t sell, and can’t seem to part with either.
Bill to exempt county councils from Sunshine Law deferred
by Larry Geller
The House Judiciary Committee today deferred HB2742, the bill that would have exempted county councils from the Sunshine Law.
I was attending a court martial today and could not be at the hearing, but I’m pretty sure that the publicity the bill received from Common Cause tweets, Ian Lind, Civil Beat, this blog and possibly elsewhere helped raise public awareness.
And thanks to all the Disappeared News readers who called, emailed or sent testimony. You did, didn’t you? That’s want it takes.
Now, the bill is “deferred” which normally means “dead,” but these days we have to be vigilant. Until the final gavel is struck, you never know.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Cayetano again attacks a reporter, this time at Civil Beat
“As we have noted previously, this administration has shown scant respect for the constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of speech and press. The PBN case is particularly disturbing evidence that Cayetano does not tolerate criticism and is willing to retaliate against critics with little regard for the First Amendment.”—Star-Bulletin editorial (6/20/2000)
by Larry Geller
Former governor and now Honolulu mayoral candidate Ben Cayetano has lashed out against the media again—before it was the Pacific Business News, this time his crosshairs are fixed on Civil Beat.
In each instance, Cayetano focused his ire on a single reporter, and in each instance probably picked the wrong one. The current spat:
“There is no point in talking to a reporter who accuses me of lacking in ‘believability,’” Cayetano writes to Civil Beat editor John Temple. Of City Beat reporter Michael Levine, Cayetano says, “I will not answer his questions, his phone calls or emails.”
“If Civil Beat wants my opinion on issues — send another of its reporters,” Cayetano writes.
One problem with the former governor’s media criticism: Levine didn’t write the piece Cayetano felt impugned him. Temple did.
[Poynter.org, Honolulu mayoral candidate tries to get Civil Beat reporter thrown off campaign, 2/17/2012]
With the posting on the Poynter Institute website, the incident has escaped Hawaii and is in the national spotlight.
Back in 2001, it was the American Journalism Review that spread the word of Cayetano’s vendetta against then Pacific Business News reporter Malia Zimmerman:
The clashes came to a head on November 30, 1999, when [the governor's communications director, Jackie] Kido filed a complaint on behalf of the state with the Honolulu Community-Media Council, a volunteer organization that mediates disputes about news coverage.
Though the story that sparked the complaint mostly involved another reporter, Kido wrote in her cover letter to the council that Zimmerman was the main problem. The complaint itself said Pacific Business News "continuously ignored journalistic ethics by willfully engaging in the practice of manipulating information and knowingly reporting inaccurate, unbalanced and unsubstantiated stories."[American Journalism Review, Island Ire, January/February 2001]
A month later, Zimmerman was fired. PBN denied there was a connection between the complaint and the firing.
On June 5, Kido notified the media council that the state was withdrawing its complaint because of Zimmerman's termination, with the understanding that "should Ms. Zimmerman regain employment with PBN within the next 12-month period, the case may be reopened at our discretion."
Clearly, Cayetano was aiming his “ire” directly at one reporter, Malia Zimmerman.
The dispute was mediated rather poorly by the Media Council and was, as it turned out, the last time a case was brought to them to my knowledge (I was serving as secretary at the time).
Zimmerman was likely blackballed by the administration’s complaint and subsequently ventured out on her own, founding the on-line Hawaii Reporter, which has just celebrated its tenth anniversary this month (it was founded in February 2002).
Gina Mangieri, editor of Pacific Business News at the time of Cayetano’s complaint, stated that the article in question was written by another reporter.
Fast forward to the Civil Beat article (Time to Get Serious About Rail Conversation, Civil Beat, 2/16/2012), which it appears was also not written by the reporter Cayetano named, but by editor John Temple. Nor was the article an attack on Cayetano. On balance, it could be read as more critical of the City and of Mayor Carlisle than of Cayetano.
So it’s déjà vu all over again. This time, though, Cayetano’s target is a well-respected, widely read, daily on-line publication. Any war with Civil Beat will play out on iPads and computer screens all over the state. It’s a match Cayetano is not likely to win. From the Poynter article:
Civil Beat will continue covering Cayetano as before. “We’re just going to send the same reporter, we’ll ask him the same questions,” Temple says. “If he doesn’t want to talk, that’s his right and we’ll report back. The next press conference he holds, Michael will be there.”
If Levine gets kicked out, you’ll read about it there, here, and everywhere.
Footnote:
Malia Zimmerman was not the first journalist to be attacked by a sitting Hawaii administration. The Star-Bulletin’s Tony Withington was banned from Frank Fasi’s news conferences after an October 27, 1969 story the mayor objected to. Fasi even refused to talk with the Associated Press when he learned the paper was running AP stories about him.
Al Jazeera documentary: The Arab Awakening - Tweets from Tahrir
Watch this excellent documentary—looks great in full screen (click the thingy at the lower right corner).
Since they permit embedding, I assume it’s ok to post this here. Click the title to go to Al Jazeera’s YouTube page instead.
It’s great to have some faces to go with the tweets I’ve been following.
The Arab Awakening - Tweets from Tahrir
Scary tweet nails state legislators trying to exempt county councils from Sunshine Laws
by Larry Geller
A scary tweet flashed into my phone yesterday:
Really? Should our Honolulu City Council be allowed to hold secret meetings and withhold documents from the public?
I can’t even imagine. But that’s what HB2742 says!
There are so many bills introduced each session that’s hard to know when something like this will be snuck in. Thank goodness Common Cause spotted this one.
We’ve been trying to tie these bills to the particular legislators who introduce them or who vote for them. Bills don’t become law by themselves. Whether a good bill or a bad bill, someone wants it to become law and goes to the trouble of writing, introducing, or passing it.
So who’s responsible for this one? It’s right there on the status page snipped above. This remarkable bill was introduced by Speaker of the House Calvin Say.
Let me re-emphasize this point: It is not an amorphous bill that would exempt county councils from the Sunshine Law, it is a bill introduced by Calvin Say that would exempt county councils from the Sunshine Law.
Now, introducing a bill is only the beginning. Next, the bill has to be heard. In our quasi-democratic system, powerful committee chairs determine which bills will be heard and which will die. Lots of worthy bills never get heard (for example, ethics bills). But this one will be heard. The status page indicates that the bill is on the agenda for Tuesday, February 21, at 2 p.m., before the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing notice is here. And which powerful chair has agreed to hear it? Rep. Gilbert Keith-Agaran.
So now we’ve personalized this. Bills do not become law by themselves, they are creations of people with an agenda. They are pushed through by sympathetic legislators.
When a bill like this is introduced, if nobody notices, next thing you know, it is law.
Can you imagine the corruption at Honolulu Hale if city councilpeople can get into bed with developers in secret? Next thing you know, they’ll have cots delivered.
To stop this bill, send in your testimony. Just go to the status page and push the button near the top that says Submit Testimony.
Speaking of ethics bills, there is one on the same agenda, HB2175—but it is an anti-ethics bill, for want of a better description—it would exempt members of task forces from conflicts of interest. Your testimony on this one also would be helpful. It’s the same easy process. Click the link, read the bill information, push the Submit Testimony button and have your say.
And there’s another interesting bill: HB2157
Deems elected state or county officers to have resigned from office upon registering with the campaign spending commission as a candidate for another elective state, county, or federal office with a term that begins during the term of the office currently held.
This bill seems to be in reaction to my report and complaint that Bobby Bunda appeared not to have resigned his office before filing nomination papers in 2010.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Happy Birthday Maui News
by Larry Geller
The Maui News is 112 years old today. They commemorated it with an article, Program showcases publications from past: Maui News’ first issue available on Web; paper marks 112 years (Maui News, 2/17/2012).
Happy Birthday, Maui News!
The Maui News article linked to a scanned copy of the first issue (click here).
I love reading old newspapers. It’s like entering a time machine, a chance to experience the history of a place, particularly if you have been there or perhaps still live there. This first issue did not disappoint.
If you click over to page 3, there is an article about the arrival of the plague on Maui. The disease was not well understood, and the reaction consisted of rounding up the usual suspects and then burning the district where they lived and worked to the ground. A snip:
Dr. Wood immediately took charge of affairs and by noon on Monday the detention camp was ready for its occupants. Over 200 Chinese, Japs and natives were fumigated and dressed in new suits, and at two o'clock the procession quickly moved out to their new quarters.
Scarcely had they reached their destination before everything was prepared for the destruction of their old quarters. At three o'clock a cloud of dust and broken timbers leaped into the air, accompanied by the savage roar of dynamite; then another and another, being the exterior houses of the doomed district. Soon dense volumes of smoke, through which pierced yellow shafts of flame, told that the work of destruction was begun. In two hours the whole block from the Kahului saloon to the Custom House was a heap of glowing ashes. The breeze was from the sea and no trouble was experienced in holding the fire within the prescribed district.
Honolulu’s Chinatown suffered a worse fate when the wind shifted and a massive fire destroyed everything.
[These days we have YouTube, which turns out to be a much more economical way to get rid of the rats than burning the place down. At the time of the Maui News article, the method of transmission of the disease was not understood.]
That was page three. On the first page is an aggregated article from the Cleveland Leader about obesity! It included how-to instructions, depending on whether the reader wanted to gain or lose.
Fat and Lean
Scientists with the government in Washington assert that American men are bulging in the middle because they eat wheat and oats in one form or another. Men with large stomaces are frequently proud of the distinction. Often they stand with their hands on their hips and their coat tails pushed back. The side elevation may be startling to the beholder or may be entertaining or may engender covetousness. It all depends upon the point of view. But stomachs are largely a matter of food and drink.
If you want flesh around the hips and abdomen eat sugar and starch--wheat,oats, fresh bread, cake, pie, preserves, candy, ice cream, potatoes, heave soups, fat meat, nuts, butter, cream, oyster patties, goose livers, beans and bananas.
If you are already too lare, diet, diet, diet and then begin all over again. Crucify your appetite; go into a strait jacket; array yourself in sackcloth and ashes. Live on lean meat, eggs, fish and raw cabbage. Drink hot water. Walk five miles before dinner. Starve in the land of plenty. Become irritable. Watch the hungry and fierce look grown into your face. Go to the scales every day. Dream of banquets. In three months your clothing will not fit you. Oh, it's great fun for the tailor and the doctor. --Cleveland Leader
Another front-page story describes the assassination of a Mainland governor. The front page also ran ads, a practice that somewhere since then fell into disapproval but is sneaking back into vogue these days.
Take a trip back to Maui in the year 1900 by clicking one of the links above.
More disturbing details of case against Hawaii and CCA for murder of Hawaii inmate
Courthouse News Service has posted a summary of the case filed in Hawaii's First Circuit Court by the family of the late Bronson Nunuha against the Corrections Corporation of America and officials of the state.
Nunuha was stabbed 140 times. The killers carved the name of their gang on his chest. The family is represented by ACLU’s Daniel Gluck.
Although the story has appeared in the news, you may appreciate the summary and additional detail in this article.
Disturbing Complaint Against Private Prison (Courthouse News Service, 2/17/2012)
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Help end medical cannabis raids
by Larry Geller
Hey – have you called the Governor yet today? Not yet? Good. Here’s something you can discuss with him when you do.
This is a broadcast email from the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii. Reclassifying cannabis out of Schedule I should save Hawaii a lot of money, aside from other good reasons. And why should we pay to keep prisoners in dangerous Mainland prisons when we can empty the jails of non-violent pot smokers?
But DPFHI’s request is more specific and related to medical cannabis. Maybe we can help make these federal raids disappeared news.
Call or Email Governor Abercrombie Today!
Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii joins with other national organizations in
asking members to call or email Gov. Abercrombie and ask him to sign
with Governors Gregoire and Chafee on a petition to reclassify cannabis
out of Schedule I.
In the past year , the U.S. Justice Department has taken a very
aggressive stance on medical cannabis, using raids and threats as a
means to undermine the laws of several medical cannabis states. Notably,
U.S. Attorneys sent intimidating letters to several governors (including
Gov. Aberecrombie) in an attempt to stop them from implementing safe and
sensible regulations. Enough is enough!
In response to these aggressive actions, Governors Gregoire (WA) and
Chafee (RI) have filed a petition with the Drug Enforcement
Administration to reclassify cannabis out of Schedule I, which would
recognize its medical efficacy, increase therapeutic research, and help
establish greater access for sick patients across the country.
You can email Gov. Abercrombie here:
http://www.policyninja.org/inside-advocacy/?letter=125&public
Or you can call: 808-586-0034
Hilo: 808-974-6262
Kauai: 808-274-3100
Kona: 808-327-4953
Maui: 808-243-5796
Say something like: "My name is ________, and I am calling to urge Gov.
Abercrombie to sign onto the petition of Governors Gregoire and Chafee
to reclassify cannabis out of Schedule I; doing so will help us end
federal interference in medical cannabis programs. We need his support
to ensure that patients have safe access to medical cannabis. Thank you."
Please call or email today!
Jeanne Y. Ohta
Executive Director
Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii
HPD destroys cannibis, but the church wants it back anyway, takes case to the 9th circuit
by Larry Geller
This case is different, and the article is well written. Check it out even if you don’t usually read legal cases.
Church Takes Cannabis Claims to the 9th Circuit (Courthouse News Service, 2/16/2012)
There’s no prosecution against the church, which said it uses the pot in its religious activities. It wasn’t seized from them, either. FedEx gave the package to the DEA which gave it to HPD which destroyed it (really? by, um, slow burning?). So shouldn’t the church get it back, or monetary damages? (Side question: just what was FedEx doing looking into their package?)
Judge Susan Oki Mollway rejected the plaintiff’s claims, and so this perhaps unlikely case has gone before the appeals court.
How much does Target know about your private life? As much, maybe, as your spouse does, or more
“Also linked to your Guest ID is demographic information like your age, whether you are married and have kids, which part of town you live in, how long it takes you to drive to the store, your estimated salary, whether you’ve moved recently, what credit cards you carry in your wallet and what Web sites you visit. Target can buy data about your ethnicity, job history, the magazines you read, if you’ve ever declared bankruptcy or got divorced, the year you bought (or lost) your house, where you went to college, what kinds of topics you talk about online, whether you prefer certain brands of coffee, paper towels, cereal or applesauce, your political leanings, reading habits, charitable giving and the number of cars you own.”
by Larry Geller
The pull-quote above demonstrates how corporations use information mined from various sources to set you up to buy. Even your smartphone rats on you. If you can’t trust Siri, who can you trust?
The New York Times article opened with the question of how a Target researcher could deduce that a woman is in her second trimester of pregnancy.
“If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didn’t want us to know, can you do that? ”
Why would Target want to know that?
… And among life events, none are more important than the arrival of a baby. At that moment, new parents’ [shopping] habits are more flexible than at almost any other time in their adult lives. If companies can identify pregnant shoppers, they can earn millions.
[NY Times, How Companies Learn Your Secrets, 2/16/2012]
Of course, the process would end up highly automated. Then some computer somewhere in Target would do a mailing. That’s how they earn millions.
The article is a good read, touching on the psychological and neurological aspects of habit. Partway down they introduce a tiny OR in which surgeons implant tiny electrodes in the brains of rats (will they learn that the rats would rather be eating bananas in Chinatown? Nevermind).
It’s possible to stay out of these databases, especially if you pay cash and don’t use a store discount card. And if you both turn off your smartphone and pull out the battery before heading off to the store. Most of us are not going to do that, so our shopping (and other) habits are enshrined in databases everywhere. Of course, that data can be sold, traded and subpoenaed.
Read the article.
Oh, and of course, someone knows you are doing that, and when, where, and on what computer. And maybe they know if your toenails are clipped and if you are wearing fresh underwear. And what you will do tonight should one of you get pregnant.
Or if it’s not your wife who gets pregnant, they may know that too.
Help kill the bill: SB2845 erodes workers’ rights in a workers’ comp dispute
by Larry Geller
Update: I received an email today (2/21/2012) asking that I note, so that readers understand, that Senate President Tsutsui introduced the bill, by request of the Governor as part of the Administration’s package.
The bill passed, by the way, with amendments. The amended version isn’t posted yet on the Capitol website. Thanks to readers who filed testimony.
SB2845 will be heard tomorrow at 10 a.m. by the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee. It has no testimony as yet, except mine (opposing). Here’s your chance to exert your power and kill the bill.
This bill (introduced by Senate President Shan Tsutsui) takes away a worker’s right to a hearing if medical treatment is denied in a workers’ comp case. It takes away a worker’s right to due process.
Instead, the Director of the Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations will make a summary judgment in disputes on treatment plans.
What qualifications does the Director of DLIR have to do this?
More important, it will be much more difficult for a worker to challenge the decision in court because would be no evidentiary hearing, no finding of facts, and no record for a court to review.
In other words, a sick or injured worker will be screwed if DLIR decides to cut off treatment. Workers’ comp cases are ugly enough without this bill.
This bill would also tilt the table even more towards the employer.
So please consider clicking on the link above, then push the Submit Testimony button at the top-center of the page, and ask the committee to reject this bill. You can use this article as talking points, but please don’t quote it exactly, form your own opinion and use your own words.
And spread the word. Working people in Hawaii should be concerned that this bill might pass. It’s up for a hearing tomorrow, so tweet today.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tea Party + Occupy + Beer
Watch: Occupy & Tea Party Hold Beer Summit at CPAC, journalist Eddie Becker's YouTube video (with comments below) (2/13/2012). I won’t embed it here because you’d miss the comments. Please click.
Your iPhone doesn’t have an operating system, it has a spy network
“Twitter Inc. has acknowledged that after mobile users tap the "Find friends" feature on its smartphone app, the company downloads users' entire address book, including names, email addresses and phone numbers, and keeps the data on its servers for 18 months. The company also said it plans to update its apps to clarify that user contacts are being transmitted and stored.”
by Larry Geller
Yes, your entire address book. Out of your hands, out of your control. Well, you bought an iPhone, this is what you get.
For those of you who are old enough to remember DOS, now that was an operating system. When a program needed to write to the screen, DOS did it. DOS managed the disk directory, etc. DOS was crude and not very capable but enough for a desktop computer running only a program at a time. Unfortunately, the system architecture and operating system design have maintained that simplistic model even though we are now networked and like to multitask.
Who really knows what’s running on their computer today, right now? And what can you do about it if you find out?
On larger machines, particularly those that ran time-sharing services, the operating system enforced security through bulletproof system architecture. Multiple users were present in the machine at the same time, much like the multiple applications that run on modern desktops. The users could not communicate with each other. No way could Ford see Chrysler’s data, or the time-sharing vendor would be out of business.
No application could read or write anywhere in memory or on disk. No application could write to a system area like WINDOWS/SYSTEM32. Of course not, that doesn’t make sense.
We’ve lost that technology. So an app on your iPhone can literally do whatever it wants. No one is looking out for your interests, no operating system is enforcing security. Your contact list is an open book to the world. Some kid in Russia could be reading it now.
The Los Angeles Times article quoted above continues:
The company's current privacy policy does not explicitly disclose that Twitter downloads and stores user address books.
It does say that Twitter users "may customize your account with information such as a cellphone number for the delivery of SMS messages or your address book so that we can help you find Twitter users you know."
[Los Angeles Times, Twitter stores full iPhone contact list for 18 months, after scan, 2/14/2012]
So are they going to quit spying on you? No, they’re going to fix the wording of their privacy policy.
We have the technology to prevent this kind of spying, and at the same time to eliminate viruses and trojans and misguided programs of all sorts. It’s not rocket science. A virus is a program that accesses areas of the computer which it shouldn’t have access to. That is easily prevented, but not by the Microsoft/Intel architecture and not by the app masquerading as an operating system that runs your smartphone.
Perhaps users are so used to having their privacy violated that the massive complaint needed to reverse this trend will never happen.
Spying on you is a trend. Today it’s Twitter grabbing your contact list, tomorrow it will be something else. Or a new virus could invade your computer, because your computer permits it.
Unless users realize that this spying can be stopped and take action, it will only get worse.
