Poll: Cayetano Ahead - Rail Support Down

The first poll of the political season is out. The race for mayor will be a doozie. Seven months before the August 2012 primary and we find former Governor Ben Cayetano ahead of current mayor Peter Carlisle in the first poll. This is a good thing. The former Governor has been a longtime opponent of rail. If elected, he promises to kill the $6 billion plus heavy rail project that is championed by The City, the current mayor, construction unions and some developers.

Hawaii cannot afford rail. Honolulu has pressing problems that need funding, and rail is not one of them. It will be a problem if it is built, but so far even with the start of construction, can be stopped if an anti-rail candidate such as Governor Cayetano can be elected this summer.

The Hawaii News Now / Star Advertiser poll also indicate that support for rail is also waning.

There surely will be more polls in the coming months, and we'll see if this trend will continue. Of course the only poll that truly matters is the one you can participate on election day by going out to vote. If you hate rail (like I do), then a vote for Governor Ben Cayetano will be a good thing.

Ben Cayetano for Mayor website
Hawaii News Now Poll Report
Honolulu Traffic.com

Costa Deliziosa in Honolulu

Costa Deliziosa in Honolulu, originally uploaded by macprohawaii.

Costa Deliziosa is the 964.5 ft. long flagship of the Costa Crociere cruise line. Costa Deliziosa was in Honolulu for 2 days (Feb. 2 & Feb. 3) - a port call in her around the world voyage that started in December 2011.

She is one of the sister ships of the ill-fated Costa Concordia which capsized and partially sank on the weekend of January 13, 2011 near Italy.

Costa Deliziosa docked at Pier 2, Honolulu Harbor - taken from the Aloha Tower observation deck.



Over at Pier 11, the Pacific Princess tied up for a day. This photo was also taken from the Aloha Tower observation deck, Feb. 3, 2012.

Photos of the Week - January 30, 2012.

It was a great weekend for sunset photos. Here are some from Ala Moana Beach Park.



The sunset crowd (above and below).



Honolulu's beautiful Ala Moana Sunset.



After sunset, dusk.



Hope you enjoyed these. Have a nice week. More photos to be posted by this weekend. Aloha!

More photos at my Flickr photostream.

Danger! Legislature In Session

Can anything be more dangerous than having the Legislature back in session? For our wallets it always is.

Since the Hawaii State Legislature is dominated by a Democrat majority in both the Senate and House, their socialistic agenda is sure to make progress again this year. Hot on the table among Democrat sponsored bills are more tax increases, more fee increases, a new and hefty fee for plastic and paper bags, a possible ban on paper bags, more funding for social programs at a time when the State does not have enough money, "make work" construction programs (where's the money?), gambling, and more taxpayer funded bailouts.

Can we continue to afford the taxes and fees being proposed by the 2012 legislature? No way. They took more than enough money from us in the previous 10 years already. Remember rail? The bottle tax? Cell phone 9-11 tax? Higher gasoline taxes? Ethanol tax? More???

Last year GE Tax exemptions were taken away from many businesses. That has increased the cost for goods and service for many consumers. Wonder why a flight from Honolulu to neighbor islands is so expensive? The local air carrier which has been hard hit by high fuel prices has also been hit by the "take away" of GE Tax exemptions. Now they have to pay more taxes (in addition to higher fuel costs) and pass the increased prices on to us.

We need a break from the expensive state, county and federal governments. Less taxes, less regulation, more freedom and more money in our pockets is what we need. Hold on to your wallets!

Chaotic Five: Classic Rock Lives in Hawaii

There is hope rock still lives in the next generation. Caught a free Ala Moana Shopping Center concert featuring these pint size rockers who excel in musicianship and can belt out the classic rock tunes with the best of them. They're Chaotic Five, billed as Hawaii's youngest classic rock band.

Young they are. Most of them seem to be just around 10 years old... maybe younger. The songs they sing are decades older than they. Last night's set included covers of Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," Heart's "Barracuda," Guns n Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine", Blondie's "Call Me" and Journey's "Separate Ways" and "Anyway You Want It". Wow. They rock.

Check the video links below:





More Links:

Chaotic Five on YouTube

Chaotic Five on Facebook

Oppsed to SOPA and PIPA

Yes, I'm opposed to censorship of the internet by the music and movie business. The bills written to do this should be opposed by everyone who values a free and open internet. Don't let government take this away from us.

LINKS:

https://blacklist.eff.org/

http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2012/01/18/sopa-and-protect-ippipa-an-update/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act