Saturday, August 28, 2010

They're really bacon-wrapped peach slices in celebration of National Peach Month. You didn't think they were potato wedges. via Slashfood

Visitors

The posse wasn't visiting me. I just happened to be in the basement garage when they swooped in to visit somebody who lives in my apartment building. You should have been there to hear how loud their pipes echo against the basement walls. If any tenant's car had a car alarm, it would have went off. I had my camera with me so I took some pics. Make that, I took some pics because that's what bloggers do. One of the members of this hard core biker club assessed the value of their five motorbikes to be worth over $200,000. Originally the pics came out way underexposed despite the flash. I lightened them up with a photo software, thus the resulting grainy-ness. It's amazing the things you can do with today's photo software.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

State Sued for Reducing Health Care Benefits

A group of Pacific island migrants in Hawaii have filed a federal lawsuit against the state to reinstate benefits that were cut in July.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction on the state's Basic Health Hawaii Plan, which gives non-citizens with less than five years of residency a scaled-back benefits plan. The change mostly affected more than 7,500 U.S.-affiliated migrants from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and other Pacific islands.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Yes people, the microdots are at it again. This time with the aid of Lawyers for Equal Justice, the micronesians are petitioning the court to prevent the state from reducing their health care benefits. Nothing like free health care benefits for non-citizens. Again, the issue is a "reduction" in health care benefits, not a denial of health coverage. And only to the non-citizens who have been in Hawaii for less than five years. The micronesians were successful in an earlier law suit which stopped the state from reducing their health care benefits across the board not just for recent arrivals. What kind of do-gooder organization has the gaul of anointing themselves, "Lawyers for Equal Justice," when they ignore the fact that state workers are being furloughed two days a month, and city workers are being furloughed two days a month because the state and city can only afford to pay them in coconuts, yet on the same moral ledger, the state is obligated and rich enough to pay for health care benefits of non-citizens.

Providing health care for these jackasses is costing the state $120-million per year. That's not including public housing and complementary car insurance for their SUV's which totaled together would amount to a conservative $200 million per year. How about a billion dollars in five years, then. Of the $120 million cost per year for the micronesian's universal health care plan, the federal government reimburses the state a measly $10 million per year. Rep. D'jou (R-Hi) has been actively pushing legislation in Congress that would arrange for the US to send money directly to Micronesia where they can build their own health care clinics so these bozos won't fly to the islands and cost the state room and board while awaiting medical treatment. Compared to where they're from, the micronesians have struck it rich here. Whereas in Micronesia, if you were starving, the government would hand you a spear gun which would have to last you for life. Then maybe, just maybe, when the government felt like it, they'll mail you a voucher for a medical appointment. According to Rep. D'jou, micronesians amount to one percent of Hawaii's population yet use up 30-percent of public assistance resources.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Anchor Babies

There's a movement by Republicans in Congress to revise the 14th Amendment so that it'll now deny citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants in the US. The so-called anchor babies whose arrival grants the parents immunity from any meaningful threat of deportation. How are you suppose to haul away the parents or even detain them from that point on? Dunno. It's just that there's been a bumper crop of anchor babies in recent years. Then came the recession. Legislation to plug the 14th Amendment loophole has been around for a while but it just seems to fizzle out whenever it has been put up for a vote. The US is about the only nation in the world that allows citizenship by virtue of birthright, albeit not by the letter of the law, but by a convenient misinterpretation of the statute.

The 14th does not grant citizenship to a person "born on American soil." Or even to babies born "to parents with their feet firmly planted on American soil." The 14th states "born to parents within the jurisdiction of the US." "Jurisdiction," in this sense, does not refer to the physical borders of the US. Between the East Coast and the West Coast, between Makapuu Pt. and Haleiwa, etc. "Jurisdiction," instead addresses the legal standings of the parents of the baby at the time of conception. Thus, if the parents were illegal, the parents fall outside the same jurisdiction by virtue of their illegal status. The 14th Amendment excludes the children of diplomats and foreign ambassadors who were born in the US the right of citizenship despite the obvious that the dignitaries reside in the US legally. It goes without saying how the same exception applies to the children of illegal immigrants.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Vision Exercise

I've thought about mounting an onboard camera on my motorbike, but the resolution of the cameras that's available don't do the ride justice and they're on the expensive side. The objective of the video below is to keep your eyes focused on an imaginary 1-inch by 1-inch square in the middle of the screen. Laterally, your peripheral vision should pick up more information than that's needed without moving your head. If you're able to make out the faces of the spectators, or read the signs on the storefronts, the odds are you'd doing too much sightseeing to avoid a crash. Also, try see if you're able to make out whether an approaching turn is a left-hand turn or a right-hand turn before you actually reach the entry point. Up to 1:46 in the video there's a leading rider to lock on, but after that, the bike which is shooting the video passes the lead rider and there's nothing for your eyes to trace and you'll have to chart your own course. Another thing, it's against the rules to blink. Obviously, I wouldn't ride this fast on my own bike as these professional racers are in a race that took place on the Isle of Man where they sweep the turns at 80+ mph and attain speeds of 200-mph on the straightaways. I have a strong hunch too that the riders don't afford themselves the luxury of thinking about what they saw on tv the night before, or immerse their minds in any form of internal dialogue. (warning: video has sound.)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Existentialism Tuesday

So I'm talking to a friend about somebody that we both know who's world renowned for reneging on things, specifically on his latest renege. Then the party whom I'm speaking to, says in clear and unequivocal terms, "I not like dat." Alrighty. Does the defense rest too, lol. Why, dear reader, do people misconstrue that you're alluding to a flaw in their personality in this type of conversation? What brought this particular topic up was a news item that I saw on tv about how effective running negative campaign ads against political opponents have proven themselves to be in a number of past elections. Nothing like catapulting bubonic goats over the political opponent's castle walls. Does a negative allegation against a political opponent hit a similar "but I not like dat," nerve with the voter. Thusly, to prove that I not like dat beyond a reasonable doubt, I embrace the unsubstantiated allegation against the opponent at full face value. I no like catch the common cold from the tainted opponent or something along those lines.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Ground Zero Mosque

Here are two opposing points on the Ground Zero mosque.

The mosque should not be built .... because the 9/11 terrorists were Muslims, and I don't care how many times you argue that "not all Muslims are terrorists."  With a very few exceptions, all terrorist acts have been carried out by Muslims. It is a foregone conclusion that the next terrorist act will be carried out by a Muslim. Then should we allow a mosque to built in the shadow of that site too?

The mosque should be built .... because that will demonstrate to the Muslim world that America is not against Islam even in a post 9/11 atmosphere. What decent Muslim could deny America's righteousness after such a compassionate act?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A Cat

here

Thefts plague Oahu churches

"A rash of burglaries at Oahu Catholic churches -- including car break-ins during Mass -- has gotten so bad that some churches are struggling to find enough volunteers to monitor their parking lots ...."

"They're stealing everything that's not nailed down," said the Rev. Scott Bush ...."

Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Our Venerable Mr. G

If there' anything that Mr. G  is known island wide for, it's his unique way of phrasing things. It's a mix of understatement and being direct on the subject at hand. Plus it doesn't hurt any that he generally knows what he's talking about. I haven't heard from or bumped into Mr. G around town for a while now but he just wrote me in an Email ....

.... i've been reading the book of mormon and doing meth. one helps me understand the other.

To be absolutely truthful, I find the combination a bit odd.

The problem with meth programs is that they promote the notion that repeating ad nauseam, "I want to quit, I want to quit," resolves the issue as if the mantra possessed the powers to summon up the will that would lead an addict to the light that awaits him or her on the other side of the exit door and it's all a done deal. On the contrary, the more powerful antidote would be just the opposite, specifically, "I don't want to quit, I don't want to quit." With "don't" emphasized to reflect meth's stranglehold on the brain cell's pleasure receptors. Of course, you could buy a bad batch of meth from a street vendor and OD. That wouldn't be any fun.

Thursday, August 5, 2010


I enlarged the size of the video so you're able to read the subtitles. I forgot about the subtitles.

Btw, the video was submitted by somebody on a online motorbike forum that I'm a member of. It's all well staged.

Wahines on Koa Canoe

as I already noted in an earlier post, only a single koa wood canoe plies the waters of the Ala Wai. Today da ladies were up in the rotation. The rest of the canoes on the Ala Wai have less prestigious fibre-glass hulls. For practice. You don't necessarily want novice paddlers banging up the sides of a koa wood canoe with their paddles.

Also, this past weekend the bank put a hold on my charge card because they detected somebody attempting to make what they perceived as a suspicious use of my charge card to make a purchase in Washington State. I forget why but it was apparently an online purchase, so the buyer could be anywhere else from Nigeria to the next apartment building from me. I talked to the bank's security department, and we agreed it's best to cancel the charge card and for them to issue me a new card with a new number. PIN stays the same, whew.

The suspect purchase only amounted to $15 and some odd cents, so it might have been a test run for larger purchases if the thief saw that the bank hadn't flagged it. Also, AOL disabled my access because they weren't able to get paid with the hold the bank put on my charge card. I was a little urinated pee-ed. How do you spell that word. Don't AOL know that these things can and do happen to credit card holders time to time? "Valued member since 2004" .... my okole. Actually, longer than that when I kept a different earlier account with AOL.

At any rate, while I was checking things out on the My AOL page, I realized they're been charging me $11.95/month instead of the usual $9.95/month. How did that happen? At one time I actually was paying $11.95 until I saw somewhere that I could subscribe a $9.95 and receive about the same level of service. I only use AOL for Email. Rarely for anything else. For that matter, AOL offers free Email accounts sponsored by advertisements. Back then, I down graded my level of service at AOL to $9.95 from $11.95. Somehow it's back up to $11.95 again, all by its mysterious self.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Monday, August 2, 2010

Up, Up, and Away

Last night, I replaced a worn front tire on my Valkyrie for peace of mind and just to play it safe. A healthy layer of rubber on the front tire is vital because the front tire on a motorbike is the lead foot. Moreso during a turn. While the rear tire remains the lessor of two evils. The new tire below is a well known Metzeler brand motorcycle tire manufactured in Germany. I already have a Metzeler on my Honda Shadow 600 and it outperforms the factory Dunlop by a mile, but we'll see how the same tread design works out on a larger 800-lb. bike. Also, after I was all pau (finish) installing the tire on the wheel, I went to the service station to fill it up with air because I don't happen to own an air compressor, and the freakin coin operated air machine was 75¢. For air. And yeah I agree. Inflation.