December 2008
Amicus Brief
for Supreme Court case Hawaii vs. OHA
This case deals with the gravest threat to the State of Hawaii in its history. GRIH believes the January 31, 2008 decision of the Hawaii Supreme Court, the 1993 Apology Resolution on which it is based, and the Akaka Bill which it would enable, have brought the State of Hawaii to the brink of self-destruction. On March 7, 2008 GRIH advised the Honorable Linda Lingle of its concerns and asked her as Governor to take appropriate action on behalf of all the people of Hawaii. GRIH's concerns were that the State Attorney General had not contested the misstatements of history in the Apology Resolution; and did not raise the constitutional and trust law defenses to the Office of Hawaiian Affair's ("OHA's"). (www.aloha4all.org/news.aspx.) (more)
December 2008
Government Operated Education: An Oxymoron
Hawaii’s popular view of its system of government education (k-12) has experienced a major shift in the past 20 years. Twenty years ago, the prevailing attitude was that there were some flaws in the DOE organization but none that could not be fixed by injecting more money into it. Today, it is conventional wisdom that the system is broken. It is failing great numbers of our children. And what is being done about it? Not much. But at least the "more money mantra" is dying a slow death. The Governor wants to accomplish some significant change. The legislature disagrees. They want to tinker with the system. Yes. Tinker. Leave it intact with an adjustment here and a tweak there. In effect they are making a generation or more of children tinkertoys. And it gets worse. Talented, dedicated teachers and administrators whose calling is the development of children are being drowned in a mindless, unaccountable, unresponsive bureaucratic system that feeds on itself from within and from the public through the legislature. (more)
Blogs
The Mystery of Hawaiian History
Correcting historical revisionism and misconceptions promoted by the Akaka Bill.
Hawaii Spendometer
How Fast Does The State Government Spend Your Money?
$9,122,166,121.47
