Dash of Calabash

The latest from Rubellite Kawena Kinney Johnson, emerita professor of Hawaiian language and literature at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, on the implications and true meaning of the Akaka Bill. Three paragraphs are particularly revealing:

This indigenous Native Hawaiian sovereignty has been classified in USPL 103-150 (Clinton Apology) as “aboriginal communal tenures before 1778 A.D,” potentially applicable to all lands and waterways over sea (channels), and moreover, under access rights, all mineral and natural resources, with water rights, which, under the international Law of the Sea includes a 200-mile zone in all directions around the island chain.

This is why Kaho’olawe no longer belongs to the State of Hawaii, since custody was given to the Kaho’olawe ‘Ohana in stewardship, which under the “Akaka Bill” will be “owned” by the Native Hawaiian sovereignty, which I may remind you, consists of “aboriginal communal tenures before 1778 A.D.”

The ‘Ohana makes the rules about who now may go there, when, and for what cultural exercises or events. The same is true of the coral preserve. Fishermen may not go there now, unless no longer fishing for tabu things in tabu ways. The fact you are Native Hawaiian does not qualify you by ancestry alone to go over there for your own purposes if they are not in accord with the ‘Ohana criteria for anyone being there. No longer a military bastion, but a native and culture preserve, it’s a prohibited area nevertheless, so for we who are not part of the ‘Ohana, it makes no difference that we may not go there. As a qualified observer satisfying ‘Ohana rules, you are not a participant in ‘Ohana programs without approval. The tabu fence will always be up if your native interest is for a reason other than what the ‘Ohana believes proper within their own management, which is right out of the old konohiki system.

Read the whole editorial here.

There probably isn’t a better example of the madness inherent in government bureaucracy than this article.

HUNDREDS of tons of British food aid shipped to America for starving Hurricane Katrina survivors is to be burned.

US red tape is stopping it from reaching hungry evacuees.

Instead tons of the badly needed Nato ration packs, the same as those eaten by British troops in Iraq, has been condemned as unfit for human consumption.

It is this kind of bureaucratic bungling, rather than racism, that led to the deplorable conditions at the Superdome and the Convention Center in New Orleans. That this kind of insanity still goes on at this point demonstrates the incompetence of centralized power. One has to ask where is the executive order from the president over-ruling this stupid FDA action? Is everybody just asleep at the White House? Whole story here.

A new blog by the Heritage Foundation on where the federal money goes. Amazing how much goes for items that should rightly be paid for by local governments. It is interesting to note how many of these projects go to benefit private businesses. One example of many:

$1,500,000 for the Blue Ridge Music Center, Virginia.

This covers installation of lighting and steps; the improvement of the existing trail system; and equipping the interpretative center with visitor information at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Virginia. The Music Center is run by Eastern National, a private organization that runs visitor centers.

Our friends at the Reason Foundation commented today on the current gas price caps in Hawaii on the blog Out of Control. Matt Welch makes the point that when private enterprise causes sudden price spikes then that is “gouging” but for some strange reason that isn’t the case when politicians do the same. Just a quick read.

Mayor of Maui Alan Arakawa, Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings (R, Lanikai-Waimanalo) and City Councilman Charles Djou have called for a two-month moratorium on gas taxes. This is an excellent idea that should be implemented immediately. The state economy is taking a tremendous economic hit due to the high gas prices resulting from the ill-conceived gas cap law and while the economic damage isn’t immediately visible it will soon become so as the inflationary effects of the spike in gas prices makes its way into the general state economy.

Despite the objections of those elected officials who are already worrying about the loss in tax revenues in their endless quest to spend the public’s money it would be far more beneficial to the economy to implement the moratorium than not. If the high gas prices slow the economy significantly, which is likely, then the loss in general tax revenues will be far greater than any loss due to a moratorium of gas taxes.

Gas taxes in this state are unconscionably high. It is only fitting that a reduction in taxes be considered to offset the appalling consequences of the gas cap law. As stated in this article here and this article here, the idea of a moratorium should be seriously considered.

Ron Utt proposed that state’s could give back some of their pork projects recently passed in the bloated federal highway bill. Now some people are beginning to take the idea seriously. Specifically the people of Bozeman, Montana who have started the ball rolling by petitioning the city council to give back $4 million for a parking garage. Since there were over 6,000 “earmarks” in the federal highway bill, many that have absolutely nothing to do with higways, there is plenty to give back. Let’s hope this idea catches on. Read more here.

The Reason Foundation has sample legislation available designed to restrict eminent domain abuse.

Based upon the Institute for Justice’s model eminent domain legislation, these documents offer sample legislation and resolutions to curb eminent domain abuse, while also allowing public-private partnerships to thrive.

The documents are in both pdf and Word format. You can access them here.

Adrian Moore of the Reason Foundation spells out why the price of gas is so high. Written a week ago this article has already proven prophetic, especially here in Hawaii.

A new oil refinery has not been built in the United States since 1976. During that time, our gasoline use has increased over 25 percent. The nation’s 149 existing refineries have been running at maximum capacity trying to meet record demand and, as a result, not only do we import oil, we actually have to import 10 percent of our daily gasoline from refineries overseas.

Notice that last point. We import 10 percent of our daily gasoline usage. This is clear evidence of an insufficient amount of refinery capacity. Moore goes on to say:

Just a few new refineries would alleviate the problem and help keep our gas prices lower and steadier.

But getting an oil refinery built is next to impossible, hence the 30-year construction drought. There will always be environmental activists who fight any new proposed refinery, regardless of where it might be located and how environmentally safe it is. And our environmental rules give them the upper hand. . . .

Consider the example of Arizona Clean Fuels, which has been trying to build a small refinery outside Yuma for almost 10 years. It took five years just to get air-quality permits. Now they hope to be operational in 2010, 15 years after they started the project.

The answer is clearly to build more refineries but few people want them in their communities, or as the saying goes “Not In My Back Yard!”

To bring this into focus: How many groups would come out of the woodwork and oppose the building of even a single new refinery here on Oahu? Until the residents of Hawaii are willing to do so they have no right to complain about the price of gas and the alleged “gouging” in the part of the oil companies. Whole article here.

We have the usual cast of suspects to thank for the severe flooding in New Orleans during the recent disaster. The Reason blog Out of Control examines some of the efforts in recent decades to prevent any changes in flood control prevention measures because they would have hampered environmentalists’ efforts to preserve wetlands and topographical “diversity” over that of human life. A wake up call for anyone who values human life rather than the goals of so-called environmentalists. Article here.

Those opposed to “big oil” never examine the hypocrisy of their own arguments. One of the driving factors in the increasing price of gasoline is the fact that no new refineries have been built in decades, thus constraining the supply. All the refineries in this country are working at 98 percent capacity and cannot do more safely. More refineries need to be built. As reported today the reason for the lack of new refineries and the high price of gas is:

We have not built a single new gasoline refinery since 1976, mainly because of environmental regulations and resultant costs, but we do have 13 special, congressionally mandated “boutique blends” of gasoline that add 4 to 8 cents a gallon to the price of gas.

Now contrast this with a statement reported today in the Honolulu-Advertiser by Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights:

the industry hasn’t built new refineries in decades and otherwise keeps supplies low, “so every disaster means a big hike in profits.”

Now, there is no doubt that Jamie Court and other NIMBYs would be the first to protest the building of new refineries anywhere based upon their narrow environmental considerations, yet these same people claim that lack of new refineries is due to some sort of planning and collusion upon the part of the oil industry.

The hypocrisy of this statement is beyond imagination. Logic and reason doesn’t matter to these people, only the advancement of their dreams of ever more government control of every aspect of life. As the article goes on to note later Court says:

The Congress and the statehouse need to focus on regulating (fuel) supplies in the same way they regulate electricity supplies,”

Oh yeah, that’s going to help assure an equitable supply of gasoline to the public. Just look how efficiently government bureaucracy operated in New Orleans.

Do these people ever learn anything?

(dn)