Homespun Honolulu

Remember when they covered the news with all of those stories about the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo? Remember we bombed the heck out of what was once Yugoslavia because of those claims?

Pure fiction! They lied to us! There was no such ethnic cleansing. It was all propaganda and false media reporting. How can we now look away and ignore this? Has our entire country become so parochial that we’re comfortably oblivious to the atrocities that are done with (and sometimes without) our citizen’s oblivious stamp of approval?

I know the newsies are laughing at me. Yeah, I know, you news experts are chuckling and wondering why I’m so surprised. You’re thinking, “They always lie to us, didn’t you know that?” Yeah, okay, I know. But this, for me anyway, is way beyond anything I have experienced in the way of deception by my own government.

If our government officials had said to us that we needed to protect our interest in the oil, we would have understood that. The problem is, they know we would have NOT understood, or tolerated, our country backing drug-trafficking terrorists! That’s what they were doing.

Are you mad yet? Believe me, it took me a while to cool down enough so that this post wouldn’t sound like raving lunacy. So, why am I writing about this? What does this have to do with me? What does this have to do with Honolulu? Read on…

The United States is not without its share of Serbian Americans. Serbian Orthodox churches all over the United States held big demonstrations about our (the United States of America’s) condoning of the Kosovar Albanians claiming Kosovo as their own — declaring independence in a land that is not and never was theirs.

My friends and members of my Church family are deeply hurt by this — hurt from personal, historic, religious and ethnic standpoints. Comparatively speaking, the declaration of disgust expressed in Honolulu was very small, but just as sincere and heartfelt nonetheless.

They gathered a concerned few together and met in front of the Federal Building just outside of downtown Honolulu. What America has done, without the knowledge of its citizenry, is to create a stage for this mess to play out where the outcry is too soft to be heard. Nobody is talking about it. The media is disinterested because there is no mob and there is no violence in the street. The feeble cry of, “but Kosovo is Serbia!” falls on deaf ears.

Yes, people were more than willing to talk it through — more than willing to explain their position and why it hurts them. I was able to get the full impact of those explanations. But, where do I go for a disinterested party?

At this point of discovery I am angry. I needed more information to make a case for seeing the Serbian side of this Kosovo conflict. I needed more to disagree so vehemently with my own government — the government that is supposed to be doing good throughout the World.

Increasingly frustrated and still in denial that my country could be so deceitfully secretive, and leave us with no access to news from the other side, I kept searching. You see, it’s not that we don’t care, it’s that we just don’t know and we don’t fully understand the degree of our involvement.

Other countries think our calm is because we’re wimps. That is not the case. We are seeking knowledge and trying to ascertain the truth. I don’t want to hear governmental rhetoric that is laced with “creative” truths, aka lies, that are designed to sway public opinion. Give me the facts and let me make my own decisions on the movements of the people we voted into office!

Do we have culture clashes going on here? Definitely. Hawaii, of all places, should be used to it! Well, for the bulk of the population, the Slavic nations haven’t made a large enough impact on Hawaii to keep us all paying attention to what’s going on with their cultures and their homelands. We keep track of China, Japan and the Philippines, but, for the most part, the European Union seems to be kind of off our radar.

The media (I refer here to mainland media — our local stations are exempt on this topic) is obviously hell-bent on lying to us. Either that or they’re being strong-armed or paid huge sums to rewrite the facts. So, we need news sources that come directly from the people — people who are in the middle of it all and know the truth. Fox News is already on my list of places not to listen to because they shoot their mouths off before verifying their information — anything for headlines and to be first with breaking news — even if it’s false!

I really don’t want to add CNN to that ugly place of distrust. Sigh. This is a classic reason why we need something like the blogosphere if we expect to get the truth. We’ll get particles of truth, but at least they’ll be just that — the truth! When I say blogosphere I mean real people, not spin-off blogs from the news channels — those are just the same thing we already get from the media with some added editorial comment. They’re not bad, they’re just not reliable when the honesty of their station(s) is being questioned.

The blogosphere I’m talking about is the actual people living in the neighborhoods they’re talking about. The real people that understand the culture and current events and are living and sharing their lives with the world through their blogs.

While our local media and blogs are quiet about the topic of Kosovo, the blogosphere as a whole is not without its opinion and voice on this matter. Nothing Against Serbia tells us about how Zurich has heard the pleas of its Serbian population.

So, Now What?

Where do you think the United States stands with Serbia now? Our applauding this illegal drama has made Russia mad at us too. Have we made enemies out of our friends?

The damage has been done, so what will Washington do now to keep the peace? Anything? Hmmm… I wonder what Barack Obama would do to fix the situation? I don’t know. Perhaps he will open the lines of communication and help mend the rift and discuss options with all involved. What would Hillary Clinton do? NOTHING! Her husband was president when it started! What will McCain do? Nothing — he and his party want to continue it all in their “business as usual” manner.

What can we do? Not much. As citizens we can acknowledge the injustice done to our brethren so far across the globe, we can send venom-filled letters to our representatives in Congress, or we can pray for them as seen here.

Why does our Russian Orthodox Priest see this as important? Aside from the fact that Serbia gave refuge to the Russian Orthodox so many, many years ago, when so many were threatened by the communists, Father Anatole justifies his prayerful support in this way:

First of all, ANY immoral act, whether committed by an individual or by a government, must be condemned in no uncertain words. Let me just cite a few undisputed facts connected with the Kosovo debacle:

1. Kosovo is not only a territory which formed the heartland of Medieval Serbia, but by long standing tradition it is the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate. In addition, there are (or were) many historically important churches and monasteries in Kosovo.

2. When NATO, led by the United States, was threatening to bomb Serbia and Kosovo, the Kosovar Terrorists (a.k.a. ‘freedom fighters’ in the United States) were demanding full independence from Yugoslavia. At that time Clinton’s girdle saleswoman, Madeline Albright, told the Kosovar Albanians that ‘unless you only ask for autonomy, NATO cannot bomb the Serbs.’ Well, since the Albanians wanted Serbs to be bombed they changed their demand to ‘autonomy’.

3. NATO was originally formed to defend Western Europe from aggression from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries. Yugoslavia, at the time of the bombing was not allied with the Soviet Union, and the Warsaw Pact had disappeared. Thus, the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO was not an act mandated to it – it was interference in the internal affairs of a country that had not attacked anyone.

4. During Miloshevich’s crackdown against the Albanian separatists in Kosovo it was the Serbian Orthodox Church that did its best to shelter and defend innocent Albanian civilians. And what thanks did it get after the Serbs were driven out of Kosovo? Churches, monasteries were burned and desecrated, and the NATO peacekeepers did little to stop the Kosovars from doing their ‘ethnic cleansing’.

5. There is so little law and order in Kosovo now that after NATO eventually pulls out, the remainder of the Serbs in Kosovo can only expect genocidal attacks against them. (And the Kosovars can be sure that they will be in no way punished by NATO and the United States for that.)

6. Finally, the Israelis, if not the United States government, have spotted the precedent, a very unfavorable precedent for them, in the Kosovo situation. If NATO can bomb a sovereign state because that state refuses to grant independence to one of its territories where a particular ethnic group is in the majority and even engages in terrorist acts against it, what is preventing the Palestinians from declaring independence in Gaza and the West Bank? After all, logically, NATO should be protecting them against Israel by bombing the Israelis. One may also add to this, the Kurdish separatists in Eastern Turkey, the Basque separatists in Spain, etc., etc.

Does he know what he’s talking about? You bet. A now retired linguistics professor from the University of Hawaii, Father Anatole has had his own ethnic reasons to follow the news of the Slavic regions all these years. He is Russian and he was born in Yugoslavia where his mother, like many other Russian people fleeing the Russian communist regime, was given sanctuary.

Peaceful by nature, with a strong and passionate Christian Faith, prayers over the icon of the Serbian saint, Saint Lazar, offer some peace to the distressed Serbs who continue to watch their ethnic homeland and the holy places of its national Church being desecrated. This is all the more hurtful when the land they now call home applauds these visual and mental horrors.

Why is America Being So Disagreeable?

Caution: The following is my paranoid opinion section based only on my own thoughts and observations.

Could all of this be the reason for the rise in the cost of gas? The new pipeline to transport the ever-coveted oil from one country to the next is an ongoing project. That pipeline runs right through Kosovo! Hello?!?

Okay, maybe that’s being just a little too paranoid but, $9 billion of oil revenue has suddenly vanished? (I was listening to Dianne Feinstein on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and had to go get the transcript just to confirm what I thought I heard.) Was that to fund the sending of more soldiers to “help” the citizens of Iraq or are we going there to distract the American public from the travesty in Kosovo? What ever they’re doing, it’s working.

Let’s think about it:

Tibetan Monks being persecuted by China, we say nothing. There’s no oil involved.

Darfur abuses are running rampant and we verbally condemn them, but nothing more. There’s no oil involved.

Yet phony genocide is retaliated with war with a country over it’s own property. That would be like Mexico taking over California or Cuba taking of Florida and calling it their own, with the help of the army from yet another country. What were we thinking? It’s all about the oil.

Okay, that’s the end of my paranoid opinion section.

I was almost ready to wrap this up and then I ran into this article about Russia, China, and India looking to revisit this very issue with Kosovo. The article opens with:

“The US administration rejected with derision Thursday’s joint call by Russia, China and India to resume talks on the future status of Kosovo.”

With “derision?” Who the hell do we think we are?!? I swear we have no diplomacy or shred of decency left! We have GOT to change what’s going on in the White House.

Still hungry for more? There are articles galore but here is just a bit more reading if you care to absorb more information about this fiasco. I just can’t stand this oil-based hypocrisy.

We’ve all been distracted by what’s going on in the political arena at the national level and the ability of candidates to ignite a country behind them and their campaigns. Honolulu has its own political drama going on over here. This is not as glamorous by any stretch of the imagination yet, suddenly, it’s another one that is winning the support of the people.

These are the real people! They’re taking this seriously and the media, at least for now, is taking it seriously too. I saw KGMB, KHNL, and K-5. The others may have been there too but I’m not sure. I love the sign, “If You Build it, They Won’t Come.” We’ve been saying that from the start but only in conversations among friends and co-workers.

You have to wonder why we weren’t consulted. How can someone, even if he is the Mayor, have this kind of unilateral control over our land, our skyline and our money?!? Because we let him. Dennis Callan (above left), a photographer for the Hawaii Geographic Society, and Dr. Michael Uechi (above right), a physician, are looking to change all of that. The purpose of this “grassroots” movement is to get 40,000 signatures in the next 90 days so that we can get this question on the November ballot — as it should have been from the start! What will it say?

“Honolulu mass transit shall not include trains or rail transit.”

We should have been asked, we should have been the ones to make this decision and we’re going to try to take this decision making back! The Stop Rail Now! campaign was just ignited yesterday at Honolulu Hale. Of course I just had to be there because my feathers have been ruffled for a long time and I needed to flock with the birds of the same feather! In addition, there are so many ideas out there and there have been studies going on to work through the traffic problem without ruining our home.

Quite obviously, this whole transit thing has become a very volatile topic of discussion. I knew I had a lot of angst about it but I thought everyone had just thrown up their hands and walked away from the whole thing. Uh, no they haven’t! Someone did say that a couple of the Mayor’s secretaries were out there taking notes. As I walked by I snidely remarked, “Oh, let me give them a pen!” Attitude? You bet — it’s all about “By the People, For the People!” Darn! I forgot my t-shirt! Still in doubt? Check out this video!

Technorati Tags: Mass Transit, Stop Rail Now!, Honolulu Hale

There’s nothing that ignites a keyboard better than things that ruffle your feathers, make your hair stand up or just plain make you furious!

The Good…

…started out bad. The State of Hawaii’s Department of Health actually had the audacity to try to push through a Bill that would allow any moron to put tattoos on people without being licensed and without having any sanitary procedures or other requirements in place. What?!? What were they thinking?!?

Somebody decided that it was okay to loosen the rules on the Tattoo industry because we hadn’t had any disease outbreaks from tattooing. Hello?!? No, duh! That’s because those regulations were in place to protect the consumers and the public at large! They can’t be that dumb!

Associated Press Writer, Mark Niesse, has a nice write up about the issue. There is also a quote contained in that piece from Anna Paige. Ms. Paige was a spokesperson for the Artists on a news clip that I saw a few days ago. She gets it, the other artists get it, what’s wrong with everyone else? How did it even get this far? Senator Rosalyn Baker said that the Bill, “needs more work before becoming a law.” I’ll say! Is that ever an understatement!
This is a much bigger issue than people seem to realize. These are needles we’re talking about. Hello?!? Think about it, friends, family members and anyone who comes in contact with those seeking and acquiring tattoos are at risk by this kind of deregulation. I’m sorry, I just cannot believe that the Board of Health would have even considered such a thing! It’s just so damn irresponsible!

Anyway, that stupid Bill was killed by the Senate yesterday after the Tattoo artists themselves made a stink about it on Monday. I heard about it on Friday and I went ballistic! Then I saw a news clip where several tattoo companies had gotten together to share their concerns. So, I waited. Their businesses and their clients both need protection from this kind of legislative nonsense!

I will restate, once again, that the image of the Tattoo industry, one that seems to be held by the general populace, is not necessarily an accurate one. This is a wonderful example — it was the artists themselves who yelled about this crazy idea and I say “hats off” and a huge “Mahalo!” to Honolulu’s Tattoo Artists! Thanks gang, for keeping us safe! You stood up, you came forward and you made a good thing happen!

So, what’s Bad?

The weather. Well, not really… Kilauea is bad. Our friends and families on the Big Island of Hawaii are choking on the sulphuric fumes from the volcano, Volcano National Park has been closed yet again, and the American Red Cross is standing by in case there is a need to evacuate some people.

Meanwhile, Oahu residents are suffering from extreme headaches, nasal problems and throat irritation. We can only venture a guess as to how they are feeling on the Big Island. So, while Kilauea is just being a volcano and doing what they do, we’re just breathing some bad air. It has not become a medical issue, yet.

Ugly!

There was a meeting Monday night (last Monday) about the rail system. Did you know about it? Yeah, I didn’t either. But, there was a notice about it from the City and County of Honolulu’s News and Events email. The notice said that, “Monday’s meeting on rail transit will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Radford High School.” When did I get the email? At 8:51 p.m. Monday evening –twenty or so minutes after the meeting was over. Yes, I confirmed it; it was this past Monday night.

Is the Mayor trying to avoid confrontation? Perhaps. I will talk more about my thoughts on TheRail later, I promise. It has become an even bigger issue than simply transportation.

Was this late notice intentional? Maybe, maybe not. At the very least it was negligent and it sure looked ugly. Even more flagrant is the other part of that notice. The rest of the notice is all about the curbside recycling program. There will be meetings for that all over Oahu. There’s even a schedule for those meetings. But, there’s no schedule for rail meetings. Looks very sneaky. Ugly.

I will apologize up front. I am angry and I’m not going to be very nice, or civil even.

This picture came from www.theage.com.au (via Yahoo!) and I hope they won’t yell at me for borrowing it. This little guy looks as angry as me and it seemed appropriate!

I have just about had it with the criminal element! This incident was the last straw for me when I heard about it. The incident in question apparently happened at the end of December but it wasn’t until recently that the media focused on it and I was able to hear about it first hand. That’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s a sickening story but there’s an article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin that gives the series of events more clearly and with the most detail.

Warning: If you’re sensitive to animal cruelty and/or have a weak stomach, don’t read it!

Although this is technically old news, I am even angrier now! These men confessed and now they go to court and plead not guilty?!? What?!? I’d like to throw their attorney in there with them! I wasn’t going to even talk about this because it was so nauseating. But, since I’m angry and still have one more angry story that I will talk about in a couple of days, I figured I might as well face it and get this one off my chest.

This crime is not only a legal issue, it is a social issue as well! Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, says it best in his blog article, Betrayal of Trust. I received an email from the Online Communications Department of the Humane Society’s mainland office that informed me about Mr. Pacelle’s article. Thank you, Meghan, for reaching out!

I wouldn’t waste tax payer money on these disgusting freaks. They did it. We know the did it. They confessed that they did it. What’s left? Lock them up and nail them to the full extent of the law! Sick bastards! We’ve got a new law that was long overdue so we should put it to work! I was not able to talk to anyone at our Humane Society office but I read in another article that they are doing some investigating into it as well.

So, I get to fuss and fume about it. Yesterday, the Honolulu Advertiser reported that a man reported “being robbed at knife point on Nuuanu.” This supposedly occurred at 1:30 AM. Thinking it was somewhere down near Chinatown (which wouldn’t be that uncommon at that hour), I ignored the story. However, I have it on good authority and from a reliable source, that this is where the caller was sitting in his car when the supposed incident happened…

According to the man reporting the incident to police, some hoodlum actually tried to cut him with a serrated knife that had a five-inch blade. What?!? So, he takes the guy’s DVD player and rides away on a bike (bicycle) according to the short article. He supposedly had a dark complexion and was wearing jeans and a gray shirt. Well, that’s not very helpful.

These pictures were taken around 6:00 PM or so last night — just before sunset. The parking lot, as you can see, is already deserted except for two, maybe three cars. What was the alleged victim doing there at 1:30 AM, on a Monday morning?!? As far as I’m concerned, I see them both as something to worry about — if the story is genuine!

I can’t even begin to explain how angry this makes me… on several levels. First of all, this is a quiet area and it is a church’s property, which neighbors another church’s property! Second and most important, just off to the left of this picture is the Soto Academy, i.e. an elementary school! Just off to the right, is Cathedral School! In addition, this parking lot is only about 200 yards or so away from Kawananakoa Middle School. On a personal level, I frequent this area, and sometimes after dark! Albeit, not at 1:30 in the frickin’ morning! Idiots! How dare these people!

This turf belongs to me and my neighbors! This is our home! Creeps! Don’t you be bringing your crime element crap, dangerous-weapon waving and loitering menaces around here! Hit the road, Jack(s)! I’ve been ripped off three+ times and I’m sick of it! Make your headlines elsewhere!

My cousin has been having legal difficulties and I ran across this thing that I really think is worth talking about. This looks like something that would definitely alleviate some of the anxiety of being in the middle of any kind of court drama.

We all know the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions legal issues, law suits and the like — money! It’s all about the money! It’s unfortunate but all too true. There is a business called Law Max that will actually help alleviate some of the financial concerns by fronting some money based on the anticipated outcome of your lawsuit or court case. I was stunned to see a company actually offer commercial lawsuit financing — they will actually send you, and/or your attorney, an advance based on your anticipated settlement.

I have to admit that when I saw the term “Commercial Lawsuit Financing,” I was concerned that they might only be set up to assist companies or corporations with their legal battles. But, as it turns out, they not only offer this service for corporations, but for individuals as well! Of course your attorney will have to send them your case documents for their review and to get their approval but if it means having yet another set of eyes looking at the strength of your case and an advance of some much-needed funds, I think this company would certainly be worth investigating!

I had to look into it a little deeper before giving this site too much credit. I was pleasantly surprised and, to be honest, shocked that anyone would provide such a service. The thought of courts and legal drama makes me cringe! This just looks like something to help ease at least some of the anguish. I’ve added this to my bookmarks (Favorites) just in case, and so I don’t have to try to find them again!

You guys have got to be kidding me?!? How long do we let this asininity continue? At what point do we put the brakes on and stop this nonsense?

So, now we’re going to demand a study on an already-existing process that transports life-sustaining water from one end of Molokai to the other? Did I miss the State-wide, governmental brain tumor? Or, is it a virus that has moved from the Department of Transportation over to the Attorney General’s office?!?

Molokai Ranch transports water (drinking water) to the West end of the island, i.e. from one end of Molokai to the other. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, referring to this as Superferry Fallout, reported today that a contract with Molokai Ranch will not be renewed, and that over one million gallons of water a day should not be transported to the opposite side of the island until an environmental study is completed.

“The ranch is the main provider of drinking water to western Molokai.”

What?  I repeat, “You’ve got to be frickin’ kidding me?!?” Enough is enough! Just get the EIS(’s) started and let the businesses continue (Superferry included) until the studies are complete. If the studies show problems, then stop the corresponding vessels from running.

Everyone knew before any of this started that we have endangered species in our waterways. The study should have been the first thing to be set in motion before making promises to an incoming line of business! Now Molokai Ranch is to be impacted too? Molokai Ranch has been doing what they’re doing for years. Suddenly they will be made to stop because the Courts have made a decision about an unrelated topic?

The State let all of this go this far; now the State needs to support the businesses that have either spent a huge amount of money based on faulty information (that the State provided), or rendered essential services to residents for a long time. These are businesses that have either had the rug pulled out from under them, or are about to.

It would also be nice to get island residents away from being at each other’s throats! Stop it! Just do it! Nobody else asks before they make decisions for the rest of us.

If I was a business coming to Hawaii to set up shop, you can bet I would come with attorney in tow. Count on it!  Any new business should get it in writing that it won’t be told to shut down after sinking time and money into setting up shop! Come on Governor, draw the line and make it stop!

Duane “Dog” Chapman has been cleared of the legal cloud that the Mexican government has had hanging over his head. What an ugly experience. Things are bad enough, but to get thrown into prison lock-up because you apprehended a repeat sexual offender… that’s gotta sting!

I never thought about it but bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico. Duh, that’s why people run there! It seems that the legal system over there has let go of the charges against the Dog since the charges have now exceeded the statute of limitations.

He’s out, he’s clear and he’s damn happy to be so! It had to be hard for a man who is now on the right side of the law, to be back among the accused — even if only for a short time.

To add to the revelry, Chapman’s book, The Dog’s “You Can Run but You Can’t Hide,” was hot off the press!

KHNL, Channel 8 had a good video of the promotion and the fun going on at Barnes and Noble in Kahala Mall last Thursday. (If you get an error message just ignore it, the Windows Media Player will open anyway and play the video.)

Even though Amazon shows the book as not being out until tomorrow (Tuesday), Borders wasted no time getting things up and running for this surprise, early release. The Chapmans were thankful that both the release of the pending litigation and the release of the new book happened at the same time. I think they saw it as a good omen.

Borders decided that the book was more than worthy of a display and the one above is currently appearing at both the Ward and Pearl Ridge locations. I didn’t get out to Kapolei but I’m sure it’s there too!

Congratulations Duane and Beth! Whew! Good Karma? I hope so. I’m sure A&E is breathing easier! I was standing right there next to the display and I didn’t get a copy. What was I thinking? Oh well, any excuse to go back to Borders is always good for me!

So anybody that had their eyes on this space on Queen Emma Street is plain out of luck! The Dog’s back at home and that doggy in the window is not for sale… well, maybe for some criminal justice services, for a fee!

No thanks to Governor Lingle. While Linda Lingle saw fit to veto 27 of the Bills that were approved and submitted for her rubber stamp, the Hawaii Legislature in turn overrode 11 of those vetoes. The Governor’s veto of HB 1830, the Abandoned Children; Safe Haven; Immunity from Prosecution Bill was one of the Legislature’s overrides. Hooray!

We touched on this briefly last month. I really thought Lingle would change her mind and not veto this Bill. I guess I was wrong… obviously. The amendments added to the Bill included an answer to the reason Lingle vetoed it the last time. So, I don’t get it. What’s the excuse this time?

The State of Hawaii added a little bit of a twist to the law. The parent relinquishing their parental rights needs to provide the agency receiving the child with the child’s family medical history and any known familial health issues. I think, in addition to that, they should confirm the child’s Hawaiian bloodline, if any. There are many programs that benefit those of Hawaiian ancestry and Kau Inoa is looking to expand on that. I think this kind of information will be important for the child to have later in life.

I know that a lot of people disagree with me and with this legislation. I know there are people who feel that suddenly everyone is going to abandon their babies all over town. I think that is just as ridiculous as the denial that we have an issue with infant abuse and mortality rates. For the most part, the people of Hawaii love their keiki and this law will never impact them. But for those exceptional cases of careless parents, perhaps the Safe Haven law will prevent things like this from happening right under our noses.

Mahalo to Kids and Cars.org for the simple yet appropriate illustration.

Hawaii’s Governor, Linda Lingle, is not on my you-know-what list of people that have said or done something to make me angry. In fact, in her case, it’s just the opposite. I have agreed with most of what she has done or said. I think she’s a pretty darn good governor.

Now, last night I was watching the rerun of yesterday’s episode of Oprah. I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but Oprah has taken over the job description of E.F. Hutton, i.e. when she talks, people listen. That’s why so many spam emails mention her as they think it adds weight to their message.

Anyway, Oprah’s show was all about the young women who have babies and abandon them immediately after birth. Apparently there is a law on the books in 47 of our 50 states called the Safe Haven law. This law says that a child can be dropped off, within the first 72 hours after its birth, at any of the locations designated in the law and the person leaving the child can turn around and walk away — no questions asked. I didn’t know about this and apparently there aren’t many people who do. But, Oprah had it on her show so now everybody knows!

Wait a minute… who are the three states without that law? Nebraska, Alaska and, oh dammit, Hawaii. The worst part of this is that one of Lingle’s “advisors” told Ron Mizutani of KHON Channel 2 News that the Department of Human Services reports that there are no incidents in the state of Hawaii according to their records — of children being left on door steps and dumpsters and bathrooms. So that means it doesn’t happen? That means we don’t need this law? That means we don’t need to try to protect the children of confused and/or disturbed parents?

What an idiotic thing to say! The Department of Human Services has nothing to report because the babies that are being abandoned around here are found dead or dead and buried in shallow graves. No record? Check with the media, they have records that they are more than willing to share with the rest of the residents! Hello?!? Talk about frustrating!

Yes, many of the babies born here are taken care of by the relatives of the biological mother, but NOT ALL! To lose even one baby because a terrified young woman sees no alternative is enough of a reason, in my opinion, to sign that Bill into Law! There are so many people who would love to adopt a child like this. I know, you’re going to say — that nobody will adopt a child if it’s a drug baby. That may or may not be true, but a child like that is taken away from the birth mother by CPS (Child Protective Services) anyway so what’s the difference?

So, what’s my problem? Why am I writing a Honolulu Rant? Because Governor Lingle has vetoed this law once before and the feeling I’m getting from what I’ve read is that she will do so again. I don’t get it. It’s not just protecting the newly born babies, it’s protecting the young girls that are having them who are babies themselves. Sorry, I see this decision as a no-brainer. Just sign the frickin’ thing!