So whose fault was Hawaii's false missile alert yesterday? Oh, I think we know.

Omg pic.twitter.com/ZbDTL1rcaF

— Michelle Broder Van Dyke (@michellebvd) January 13, 2018

Could you even imagine receiving that?

I grew up during the Cold War and I never had anything happen that was anywhere near as frightening as this.

And it even appeared on local Hawaiian television.

TV with the alert pic.twitter.com/VCZAtvyuzQ

— Michelle Broder Van Dyke (@michellebvd) January 13, 2018

Terrifying!

I went to college in Hawaii and I have say that back then at least there were just not that many places to go to for shelter.

The same must be essentially true today because residents were literally stuffing their children down storm drains in a frantic attempt to keep them safe.

BREAKING VIDEO: Footage shows children being placed into storm drains immediately after Emergency Ballistic Missile Warning was sent to residents in Hawaii.pic.twitter.com/GVDyVEARgR

— Jemisha (@JemiSHaaaZzz) January 13, 2018

It was almost forty minutes later that residents received this correction.

Just got this second alert, almost 40 minutes later. pic.twitter.com/q2uVL5cMDV

— Sonali Kohli 🙆🏾 (@Sonali_Kohli) January 13, 2018

Can you imagine being that terrified for more than half an hour, only to find out that it was all a mistake?

Speaking of mistakes Donald Trump just kept right on golfing while all of this was going on:

Critics are blasting President Donald Trump for continuing to golf Saturday while frantic Hawaii residents rushed for cover after a false cell phone alarm about an incoming ballistic missile. 

The president was on the course at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, after the alert was issued at 1:09 p.m. EST, according to press pool reports. His motorcade didn’t leave the club for Mar-a-Lago until 1:38 p.m.

As of Saturday evening, Trump had not issued any personal statement — or tweet — about the scare. He did tweet about “fake news” and again called journalist Michael Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, a “fake book.” He described Wolff as “mentally deranged.”

I guess he must consider Hawaii to be one of those "shitholes" that are beneath his notice.

Ultimately what we learned yesterday is that this White House is completely incapable of responding to an actual nuclear attack.

Courtesy of Politico:

A false warning of a missile threat in Hawaii sent White House aides scrambling Saturday, frantically phoning agencies to determine a response and triggering worries about their preparedness almost a year into the Trump administration. 

President Donald Trump's Cabinet has yet to test formal plans for how to respond to a domestic missile attack, according to a senior administration official. John Kelly, while serving as Secretary of Homeland Security through last July, planned to conduct the exercise. But he left his post to become White House chief of staff before it was conducted, and acting secretary Elaine Duke never carried it out. 

The administration ran the exercise on Dec. 19 at the deputies' level, at the behest of Kelly and newly sworn in Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen. But as of Saturday, when Hawaii residents were taking cover, the federal government had yet to play out the same scenario with Cabinet secretaries at what is known as the principals level. 

"The U.S. government hasn't tested these plans in 30 years,” said the senior administration official involved in the White House response. “All the fresh faces sitting around the table in the situation room have little idea what their roles would be in this scenario. The bottom line is that without a principals level exercise we shouldn’t have any confidence that the Cabinet would know what to do in an attack scenario." 

Can't say I am surprised by this.

I saw the poor man in charge of these alerts in Hawaii taking responsibility for his mistake, and I think there is a strong possibility he will lose his job over it.

However let's take a moment to remember that the ONLY reason that Hawaii was doing these kinds of drills in the first place is the now very real concern that North Korea might send a missile toward America, and that this fear took hold because of some childish exchanges between Kim Jong Un and the imbecile in the White House.

It took actress Jamie Lee Curtis to say what most of us are probably already thinking.

This Hawaii missle scare is on YOU Mr. Trump. The real FEAR that mothers & fathers & children felt is on YOU. It is on YOUR ARROGANCE. HUBRIS. NARCISSISM. RAGE. EGO. IMMATURITY and your UNSTABLE IDIOCY. Shame on your hate filled self. YOU DID THIS!

— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) January 13, 2018

Yes, exactly!

If Barack Obama had still been in charge, I seriously doubt that the people of Hawaii would have been quite so panicked in response to that alert.

After all they knew an adult was in charge and probably would have thought it was a mistake. Which it was.

But under Donald Trump, NOBODY feels safe.

And we know that not only is a nuclear war more likely, but that our government is completely unprepared for the first missile launches that would likely start one.

Welcome my friends, to Trump's America.

In escalating war of words leader of North Korea calls Donald Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.”

Courtesy of New York Times:  

Responding directly for the first time to President Trump’s threat at the United Nations to destroy nuclear-armed North Korea, its leader called Mr. Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” on Friday and vowed the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.” 

The rejoinder by the leader, Kim Jong-un, who is about half as old as Mr. Trump, 71, added to the lexicon of Mr. Kim’s choice of insults in the escalating bombast between the two. 

“A frightened dog barks louder,” Mr. Kim said in a statement, referring to Mr. Trump’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in which he vowed to annihilate North Korea if the United States were forced to defend itself or its allies against it. 

“He is surely a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician,” Mr. Kim said.

Damn I hate to agree with a deranged North Korean lunatic, but that is a fairly accurate description.

Of course the problem is that we expect this sort of name calling and childishness from the life size Weeble dominating the people of North Korea, but now we have our own man-child egging him on by flinging his own preschool level epithets, like Rocket man, in Jong-un's direction.

And all of this might simply be good theater, if it did not potentially devastating real life consequences.

Courtesy of US News: 

Hawaiian officials are reportedly preparing for the possibility of a nuclear attack, and they're doing it quietly. 

The Honolulu Civil Beat reported earlier this week that Hawaii lawmakers attended a closed-door briefing Tuesday by emergency officials on the topic of such an attack from North Korea. Officials reportedly viewed slides on the potential fallout from a nuclear attack that included information on where an attack might target and the fatalities that could result.

That's right we now have American citizens now terrified of being decimated by a nuclear bomb.

Only nine short months ago there was no such fear.

And there are no signs that the rhetoric will come to an end any time soon.

Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2017

In actuality Trump is simply increasing sanctions: 

President Trump ordered a widening of American sanctions on North Korea on Thursday to further choke off its trade with the outside world, in what some experts described as perhaps the most sweeping set of punitive economic measures enacted by the United States in many years. 

A new executive order signed by Mr. Trump aimed to cut North Korea out of the international banking system while targeting its major industries and shipping. The move suggested that for now, at least, the president was still committed to applying economic pressure rather than military action, despite his vow this week to “totally destroy North Korea” if the United States were forced to defend itself or its allies.

That may have some effect if others were not trying to remove themselves from the line of fire if this thing escalates any further.

Courtesy of CNBC: 

South Korea on Thursday approved $8 million worth of humanitarian aid for Pyongyang in a move likely to muddle international efforts aimed at isolating the nuclear-armed state. 

The package will include $4.5 million in nutritional products for children and pregnant women through the World Food Program in addition to $3.5 million worth of vaccines and medicinal treatments via UNICEF. The timing of the delivery has yet to be confirmed.

The news indicates South Korean President Moon Jae-In isn't backing down from direct engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even as other major players in the long-simmering crisis push for a tougher approach.

Yeah, that is because South Korea realizes that the minute somebody decides to call the other's bluff it is their asses which get fried first.

There is a reason that voters are supposed to choose the most sober, experienced, and mentally stable candidate to the President of the United States.

Trump's Muslim travel ban banned. Again.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Hours before it was to take effect, President Donald Trump's revised travel ban was put on hold Wednesday by a federal judge in Hawaii after hearing arguments that the executive order discriminates on the basis of nationality. 

The ruling came as opponents renewed their legal challenges across the country, asking judges in three states to block the executive order that targets people from six predominantly Muslim countries. 

More than half a dozen states are trying to stop the ban, and federal courts in Maryland, Washington state and Hawaii heard arguments about whether it should be put into practice early Thursday. 

U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson decision prevents the executive order from going into effect, at least for now. Hawaii had requested a temporary restraining order. 

Hawaii also argued that the ban would prevent residents from receiving visits from relatives in the six countries covered by the order. The state says the ban would harm its tourism industry and the ability to recruit foreign students and workers.

As you might imagine this annoyed Orange Hitler to no end, and so he held another rally where he said this:  

“This ruling makes us look weak ― which, by the way, we no longer are, believe me. Just look at our borders,” Trump told a crowd at a campaign-style rally in Tennessee. “We are going to fight this terrible ruling. We’re going to take our case as far as it needs to go, including all the way up to the Supreme Court. We are going to win.” 

And this:

“It’s a watered-down version of the first one,” Trump said of his new ban. “And let me tell you something: I think we ought to go back to the first one and go all the way, which is what I wanted to do in the first place.” 

That sound you hear is every White House layer slamming their heads into the wall after hearing their client essentially make the case himself that this bill is essentially a watered down version of the first one, which his lawyers had argued it most certainly was not.

And if you remember Rudy Giuliani said this about that first travel ban: 

“When [Mr. Trump] first announced it, he said, ‘Muslim ban.’ He called me up. He said, ‘Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.’”

And those words were actually cited by the judge in Hawaii when he put the brakes on this latest version. 

I swear it's like watching the Keystone Kops run the White House.

Barack and Michelle Obama's tweeted Valentine's Day messages to each other will end your day on just the right note.

Happy Valentine’s Day, @michelleobama! Almost 28 years with you, but it always feels new. pic.twitter.com/O0UhJWoqGN

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 14, 2017

At almost the exact same time the former First Lady tweeted this.

Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life and favorite island mate, @BarackObama. #valentines pic.twitter.com/n3tEmSAJRT

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) February 14, 2017

You know I do not typically get jealous of other people, but these two......well damn who wouldn't want to have a love affair like this?

Dammit, after the upcoming nuclear holocaust the Republicans STILL win the national elections.

Here's what the electoral map would look like if only people who weren't burnt to a crisp in the nuclear holocaust voted. pic.twitter.com/MsrkuOjZWi

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 23, 2016

And people ask me why I choose to live way up here in the wilderness.

Because civilization is apparently trying to kill itself, that's why.

Hawaii becomes the first state to have an all Democratic state senate in decades.

Courtesy of McClatchy DC: 

A strong challenge to the only Republican in the Hawaii state Senate has resulted in an all-Democrat legislative body, the first in the nation in decades. 

Democrat Stanley Chang won election to the Hawaii Senate, ousting Republican Sam Slom from the seat he held for 20 years. 

Chang said he was deeply humbled by the outpouring of support from east Honolulu. 

"We knocked on 16,000 doors, wore out three pairs of shoes, got bitten by two dogs, and all because I think the residents of east Honolulu deserve to have an elected official that will take the time to listen and understand their concerns and translate that into concrete action," Chang said. 

Slom was the lone Republican in the chamber until he was defeated Tuesday. 

The last time a party held all the seats in any state Legislature was 1980, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures.

Can you even imagine?

Man I thought I was jealous of people who live in Hawaii before, but now......

But that also means that these Dems better dot their "i's" and cross their 't's" because you know that the whole state is watching them, and the first time they really screw up the Republicans will be back with a vengeance.

And speaking of vengeful Republicans, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard took a meeting with Donald Trump at Trump Towers, so I am not at all sure what part she is going to play in Hawaii's future, or even if she plans on remaining in the Democratic party.

I hear she has big ambitions, and her relationship with the DNC is rocky to say the least.

Sarah Palin finally speaks publicly about Bristol's hush hush marriage.

Courtesy of E Online:  

"I love having a new son-in-law!" she gushed to E! News on Match Game earlier this week. "He's a wonderful young man, Medal of Honor winner. Such a patriot! I love Dakota." 

As for the celebration itself, Sarah explained that it was very low-key. "They kept it very, very hush-hush," the politician said. "Last go around, it got very hyped and vamped up. This go around, they were just like, 'We're just going to do our thing.'" 

She continued, "It was a year after they had called off the initial celebration…but it's all good. They have a beautiful baby girl, Sailor, and it's great."

Personally I think that Bristol got him drunk in Hawaii and then dragged him to one of those little wedding chapels before he could sober up enough to realize the mistake he was about to make.

Of course there is still not actual evidence that they DID get married. 

Now the death watch begins to see how long it takes before this doomed marital union disintegrates into screaming matches, accusations of infidelity, late night 911 phone calls, and of course the inevitable splitsville.

And that might be the thing that drives Bristol over the bend so she can join her mother in looney town.

.@SarahPalinUSA: "Splodey heads keep ‘splodin” https://t.co/RX3O84DasA

— POLITICO (@politico) July 1, 2016

"Splodey heads keep ‘splodin?”

Okay here's a health tip from your Uncle Gryphen:

"Do NOT drink the water in Wasilla."

Seriously just don't.  

Hawaii now has a law that automatically places the names of citizens who register a gun into the FBI criminal database.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Hawaii’s governor signed a bill making it the first U.S. state to place its residents who own firearms in a federal criminal record database and monitor them for possible wrongdoing anywhere in the country, his office said. 

The move by gun control proponents in the liberal state represents an effort to institute some limits on firearms in the face of a bitter national debate over guns that this week saw Democratic lawmakers stage a sit-in at the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Hawaii Governor David Ige, a Democrat, on Thursday signed into law a bill to have police in the state enroll people into an FBI criminal monitoring service after they register their firearms as already required, his office said in a statement. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation database called “Rap Back” will allow Hawaii police to be notified when a firearm owner from the state is arrested anywhere in the United States. 

Hawaii has become the first U.S. state to place firearm owners on the FBI’s Rap Back, which until now was used to monitor criminal activities by individuals under investigation or people in positions of trust such as school teachers and daycare workers.

I think this is a great idea.

Of course I am also one of the people in a position of trust whose fingerprints have been sent to the FBI like five times now, for a variety of different positions.

If the FBI gets to keep an eye on me, a peaceful non-gun owner, then it seems perfectly fair that people with deadly weapons in their possession should be tracked as well.

I mean if they don't do anything wrong, they have nothing to fear.

Right?

P.S. By the way Hawaii has the lowest number of gun fatalities in the nation.

Okay kids it's another primary day. But then right now isn't every day a primary day? Update!

MICHIGAN, MISSISSIPPI, HAWAII, IDAHO, GO VOTE! I don't care how you vote, just DO IT! #primaryday pic.twitter.com/g9sQYHtCTm

— Elise Griswold (@GrizzyGalore) March 8, 2016

So what's on the menu for today?

Let's see on the Democrat side we have Michigan with 130 delegates and Mississippi with 36.

According to Fivethirtyeight Hillary has a 99% chance of wining Michigan and since Mississippi has a large African American community she will undoubtedly win there as well.

As for Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican clown car, they have Michigan (59 delegates) which 538 predicts will go for Trump, Mississippi (40 delegates) where Trump also leads, Hawaii (19 delegates) where I have no idea which way the balmy wind is blowing, and Idaho (32 delegates) where Trump is currently in the lead.

So essentially is appears that there will be no surprises tonight.

But then again that's what everybody says until they get surprised.

Update: MSNBC is calling Mississippi for Hillary, and categorizing it as a HUGE win.

Update 2: Trump is now the projected winner in Mississippi. No surprises so far.

Update 3: Trump projected to win Michigan on the Republican side, and it is still too close to call for the Democrats.

Update 4: Okay so finally they called Michigan for Sanders, but only by the slimmest of margins. It looks like all of the pollsters were wrong about this one.

Update 5: Cruz wins Idaho. 

So for those of you wondering when the Daily Mail would finally post those Bristol Palin Hawaii vacation photos, wonder no longer.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

Bristol Palin traded the cold Alaska weather for some fun in the sun with her sisters and her two-month-old daughter Sailor Grace during a much-needed family vacation. 

The 25-year-old left her custody battles with former partners Levi Johnston and Dakota Meyer behind and enjoyed a girls' getaway in Hawaii with her sisters Willow, 21, and Piper, 14, over the weekend. 

Bristol took to Instagram to share photos of them frolicking in the surf and a picture of what was presumably Sailor's first dip in a swimming pool. 

So yeah I think it's pretty clear that the Daily Mail has now replaced Radar Online as the go to source for Palin propaganda.

Though to be honest I have no idea how this helps Bristol sell her image as the poor hard working single mom.

I was raised by a single mother and do you know how many times we went to Hawaii?

That would be the same number of times we went to Florida, California, New York or even freaking Washington state.

Never, not once, nada.

 But do you know what? Vacations are not the tool by which somebody measures good parenting.

Courtesy of Sunny Johnston's Facebook page.

That would be the quality of the time you spend together, not the location in which that time is spent.

A couple more pics of poor single mom Bristol Palin on vacation in Hawaii.

my heart

A photo posted by Bristol Palin (@bsmp2) on Mar 5, 2016 at 4:12pm PST

☀️ best sister friends

A photo posted by Bristol Palin (@bsmp2) on Mar 5, 2016 at 9:44pm PST

And yes, like many of you, I find that these pictures raise some interesting questions.

P.S. By the way there will be a troll coming by at some point to attack us for spending any time talking about Bristol and her vacation because it is "irrelevant." However the fact that they spend the time to attack us every single time proves that it is not. 

So yes, for those wondering, Bristol Palin is actually in Hawaii with her newborn daughter.

A photo posted by Bristol Palin (@bsmp2) on Mar 4, 2016 at 8:32pm PST

I was not sure what when I first saw the picture so I reached out to some sources, and yep she went to Hawaii alright.

I don't think she took Tripp however, I think he is with Levi and Sunny right now.

So the question to be asked is, what in the hell possesses somebody to take a newborn on a trip to Hawaii?

I mean it's not like Sailor can enjoy the ocean. Or the sun. Or the local culture.

In fact she will have no memory whatsoever that she even went.

All I know is that I wish I had a job like Bristol keeps claiming to have, because I have not been on a vacation for more than fives years now. 

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is resigning as vice chair of the DNC in order to endorse Bernie Sanders for President.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

Democratic National Committee vice-chair Tulsi Gabbard resigned from her post on Sunday to endorse Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. 

“I think it’s most important for us, as we look at our choices as to who our next commander in chief will be, is to recognize the necessity to have a commander in chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment,” Gabbard, a U.S. representative for Hawaii, said on MSNBC show “Meet the Press”.

I have to day that this is a really gutsy move on Gabbard's side as she is a real up and comer in the Democratic party, and I think she is really putting her reputation on the line with a move like this.

Especially since it appears the Democrats are getting ready to close ranks behind Hillary.

Personally I have always liked Rep. Gabbard and found her to be a no nonsense politician with strong ethics.

I guess that's why Sanders appeals to her.

If you want a sense of well being in America there are two states at the top of the list. And we are one of them.

Courtesy of the Alaska Dispatch:

If you want to improve your sense of well-being, leave the Lower 48. 

A new report ranking all 50 states based on residents' sense of well-being puts Hawaii at No. 1, followed by Alaska, which held the top spot last year. 

Hawaii has been No. 1 in the poll five times since 2008. 

"Alaska and Hawaii are both beautiful states in their own way but distinctly different," said Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

I know that our reputation has been somewhat sullied by the one who shall not be named, but really there is nothing anybody can do to damage the beauty and serenity of our beautiful state. 

I lived in Hawaii for a year while I went to school, but in my mind there is only one place to live.

Hiking in Hawaii is great fun. Especially when the President makes a surprise appearance.

When you and your gf meet the President of the United States #POTUS #Hawaii #bucketlist @sandi_jo

A video posted by @dtmad3it on Dec 22, 2015 at 5:53pm PST

There were several other folks out hiking that day who also took notice of the President.

Okay well you know I am not usually one to criticize the President very often, but I have to say that I lived in Hawaii when I went to college, and I cannot imagine why he would be wearing a black t-shirt and long black sweatpants while hiking in that heat.

It is no exaggeration to say that would have killed me.

I did a ton of hiking while I lived there, and unless it was raining, I was stripped down to as few clothes as possible without risking an arrest for indecent exposure.

Still somehow he looks cool calm and collected, even in that muggy heat.

I totally agree with this morning host in Australia.

Courtesy of Medaite:  

Stefanovic: I am never going back into the water. 
Wilkinson: Me neither. No way. 
Stefanovic: That’s it. That’s the biggest thing I’ve ever seen.
 Wilkinson: Stuff summer. 
Stefanovic: No, let’s go to the local pool… Look at the size of that thing!

Holy shitballs that thing is huge!

I have never been to Australia, but I did live in Hawaii for a year while going to college.

My favorite pastime was snorkeling which I did every chance I could get.

But the thing was that every time I saw a school of fish I heard this in my head "Duuun dun duuun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun BOM BOM dun dun dun dun dun dun doo dedoo doo dedoo dede doo dede doo dededoo."(For those who don't read music.)

And that freaked me out so much that I would start to panic a little and invariably it sent me swimming back toward shore convinced that at any minute I was going to feel one of my legs get ripped right off.

If I had seen a shark like the one in the video, I would never have even washed my hands in the sink again.

Republican lawmaker helps to cripple Hawaii's sex education program because he claims it "normalizes" homosexuality.

Hawaii State Representative Bob McDermott clearly very upset that he never gets in any of this.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

Hawaii’s state Department of Education announced on Saturday that its middle school sexual education program would only be taught to students whose parents explicitly opted-in. 

The announcement was a victory for Hawaii State Representative Bob McDermott, who claimed that the program would “normalize” homosexuality. Rep. McDermott has long fought against sexual education programs like Pono Choices, which was developed by the University of Hawaii at Mānoa’s Center on Disability Studies using funding from the federal Office of Adolescent Health. (“Pono” is a Hawaiian word typically translated as “righteous.”) 

“I am a little uncomfortable saying this, but this is what your children, your 11-year-old children, are being taught. To me, this is outrageous because it robs them of their innocence and it’s not appropriate,” McDermott said about the program late last year. 

“I can assure you my 11-year-old girl knows nothing about anal sex, and one of the reasons is because she’s not exposed to Pono Choices.” (Yeah, well I can assure this uptight prick that his daughter knows all about anal sex, and could probably teach him a thing or two. These kids are NEVER as innocent as their parents think they are.)


After he made that statement, the Department of Education temporarily suspended the program until it could determine the curriculum’s “appropriateness.” It found that “the cirriculum meets department standards” and “is a culturally responsive curriculum that has resulted in positive outcomes for students.”

However the program was only reinstated on an "opt in" basis which means that parents have to sign a paper allowing their children to attend instruction, rather than the usual method of "opting out." Of course the result of this approach is that more children will miss the opportunity to learn and that is not good for fighting STD's and keeping teen pregnancy stats low.

Personally I am a little surprised that Hawaii is still struggling with this kind of thing.

Not only did they recently pass a law allowing gay marriage, but in my experience it is just about the gayest place on the planet.

Not to mention that everybody is dressed in brightly colored garb, wearing flowers around their neck, and that they have a long standing tradition of young men who dress like women to have sex with other men, called the Mahus.

Historically the Mahus are widely accepted in Hawaiian culture, and are also revered for their dancing and sexual abilities.

But leave it to some uptight haole to screw things up for the people of Hawaii.

President Obama's holiday reading indicates that there may well be big changes coming to the NSA.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:  

Before he left for Hawaii, the president was sending signals that government surveillance programs need an overhaul to restore the public’s faith on issues of national security. 

Before President Obama left for his 17-day vacation in Hawaii, White House officials made it clear that his holiday reading would consist of a lot more than beach novels to escape the stresses of Washington. He’d also be studying a 300-page report on how to rein in the government’s controversial surveillance programs that had just been delivered to him by a high-level panel of experts. 

Sure, Obama has gotten in plenty of rounds of golf with his presidential posse, as well as impromptu trips to shave ice joints and leisurely strolls along the islands’ stunning beaches with his family. But weighing on him throughout the winter getaway has been one of the most consequential national security decisions of his presidency: whether to adopt a set of recommendations that would represent the most dramatic curbing of the intelligence community’s eavesdropping powers since the Vietnam War. 

Many will believe that this is just for show and that Obama has no intention of limiting the NSA's ability to gather information.  After all now President reduces his power, or ability to gather information.

However those people have not been paying attention.

Obama’s willingness to go back and reform his own counterterrorism policies sometimes has led him to give up power or place it under tighter constraints, an unusual characteristic, given that most presidents try to enhance executive authority, especially in the national security arena. Obama, on the contrary, ordered a policy review toward the end of his first term that eventually placed greater restraints on his targeted killing program, resulting in fewer strikes. 

His trajectory on surveillance fits the pattern. As a senator and as a presidential candidate during the 2008 campaign, Obama harshly criticized the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. But shortly after taking office, he was persuaded by officials that the programs had been placed on a firmer legal foundation and were necessary. He had been briefed on occasional compliance lapses so serious that the secret court overseeing the surveillance programs had threatened to shut them down. But each time he was reassured that no harm was done.

After the Snowden revelations the President was far less easy to  convince of the necessity of the data gathering operation. 

It was only after Snowden’s revelations and the uproar over the disclosures that Obama began seriously to probe his own administration’s policies. Even then, he publicly backed the programs and said they were essential tools in the fight against terrorism. But behind the scenes, Obama was showing some irritation with the intelligence leadership that had pressed for these capabilities and repeatedly vouched for their value. 

One story that rocketed around the intelligence community involved a meeting between the president and NSA Director Keith Alexander. Alexander, who holds advanced degrees in physics and electronic warfare, was trying to explain certain aspects of one of the surveillance programs to Obama. As his highly technical and jargon-laden presentation rambled on, Obama was beginning to lose patience. When Alexander finished, the president thanked him and then icily asked if he could do it over again, “but this time in English.”

So will Obama act on the findings of this report and actually rein in America's intelligence gathering capabilities?

There are indications that he will. 

A number of panel members, speaking anonymously, said they had the clear impression that Obama was personally inclined to back their proposals on ending the metadata program, as well as many of the other recommendations that would rein in the NSA’s surveillance capabilities. “The question is whether he will be able to resist whatever pushback comes from the intelligence community,” said one panel member.

The Republicans would have you believe that the thing most damaging to the President's approval ratings is Obamacare. However I disagree with that, I think what is most damaging are the Snowden revelations about our metadata programs, and that if he seriously addresses our concerns about that it will dramatically improve his poll ratings and overall support from the American people. Especially the YOUNG American people.

I sometimes feel sorry for these guys.

My favorite memory of the Mormons, is from when I lived in Hawaii for that year while attending school.

I would see these young men riding their bikes up and down the hills of Hilo, Hawaii, dressed in their black slacks, white shirts, and ties in 80 degree temperatures, and think to myself that for that reason alone it was a religion to be avoided at all cost.

When I lived on the island I could barely wear clothes without being reduced to a puddle of sweat.

While we are on the subject I should probably admit that I have often had a rather adversarial relationship with the Mormon church though in my defense I don't think it was all my fault.

I don't really have any more against them then I do other religions (You know I dislike them all equally.), but it just seems that we have crossed paths more than a few times and I have always been left with a bad taste in my mouth.

And this was BEFORE Mitt Romney.

Hey, maybe it's just me.

Hawaii signs bill to make it the next state to legalize same sex marriage.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

The Hawaii Senate passed a House-amended bill legalizing same-sex marriage on Tuesday. 

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie is expected to sign the bill into law quickly, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, which would allow Hawaii to beat out Illinois as the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. 

The Hawaii law allows same-sex couples to marry in the Aloha State beginning Dec. 2, just in time for destination wedding season.

I have to imagine that hotel owners and  wedding planners in Hawaii are cartwheeling all over the place.

I mean comes on! A gay wedding in Hawaii? Who would not want to attend?

I'm straight but even I want to get gay married in Hawaii.

Here was President Obama's statement on this earlier:I want to congratulate the Hawaii State Legislature on passing legislation in support of marriage equality.

With today’s vote, Hawaii joins a growing number of states that recognize that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be treated fairly and equally under the law. Whenever freedom and equality are affirmed, our country becomes stronger. By giving loving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry if they choose, Hawaii exemplifies the values we hold dear as a nation. I’ve always been proud to have been born in Hawaii, and today’s vote makes me even prouder. And Michelle and I extend our best wishes to all those in Hawaii whose families will now be now given the security and respect they deserve.

I have to say that this can ONLY serve to reinforce every fear that the religious conservatives had about  Barack Obama becoming President of the United States.

Which is so awesome in my opinion.