Carnival lines cruise ship "Carnival Spirit" sailed into town this morning for a 3-day stay in Hawaii. The cruise ship is a regular visitor to the islands at this time of the year as its cruise itinerary brings it to the islands.
It was a special treat to be up early this morning to catch not only the "Carnival Spirit" but the weekly port call of Hawaii's only cruise ship, NCL's "Pride of America". The early morning sunlight was great to get several good shots of these "floating hotels".
The cruise ship business is good for Hawaii's economy as boat loads of tourists visit the various island ports and spend their money here.
Two photos above: The Carnival Spirit. Photo below: NCL's Pride of America.
The deed is done. I voted this morning in the primary election. My vote was for Panos Prevedouros as he is the only one of all the candidates running for mayor and even other high executive level offices who have publicly come out against the $7 billion Mufi Hannemann backed "choo choo train" to higher taxation and bankruptcy.
Panos is the guy who I know will change our city priorities into fixing things that are needed to be fixed now. Roads, sewers, sidewalks, infrastructure and more. He is the right person for the job today.
AS you can see in the photos below, the polling place for my district at Washington Intermediate School has quite a garish, green paint job. Ick! Green gone wild. How can students eat in this place which is their cafeteria looking at these walls?
Regardless, voting in our precinct was uneventful at the time I was there, which was around 8:45 in the morning. The place was not very busy. The parking lot was about half full and the line fairly short. I took my time to carefully mark my ballot, making sure the black mark kept to within the rectangle square and not stray out of bounds, less it not be read by the vote counting machine. Every vote counts if you do it correctly.
As of this posting there is still about 5 hours before the polls close at 6 pm tonight. Be sure to vote if you haven't done so already.
Photos & story by Melvin Ah Ching. Copyright 2010 All Rights Reseved.
For various reasons, not all stated here, I opine and generally support the following candidates to elective office this fall:
Panos Prevedouros is the only candidate running for Mayor of Honolulu that will stop the $7 billion Mufi train. It's time for all opponents of rail and everyone else to vote for Panos Prevedouros, Mayor of Honolulu.
U.S. House First District: Representative Charles Djou, our current U.S. Congressman is already on the job and the most qualified of the top 2 candidates for that seat. He will be in a great position this coming November once the Republicans take over the U.S. House of Representatives this fall.
Governor: The ones I am not voting for are former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercombie mainly because he is a 1. communist 2. tax and spend liberal and 3. supports gay marriage/civil unions.
I am also not voting for former Mayor Mufi Hannemann because he is the biggest supporter of the $7 billion rail project and will ask the legislature to increase taxes to pay for it if elected. And while he is a Mormon, he can't be trusted on the the "civil unions" issue. Mufi would likely pull a Governor Burns on civil unions by letting a bill like that become law without his signature, despite his religious beliefs, because of pressure from the Democrat Party and the labor unions that endorsed him.
Republicans should not vote in the Democratic primary as it hurts GOP candidates. Don't listen to Mufi on this.
So going with a Republican vote for Governor this year, leaves me with a toss up between current Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona and former State Senator John Carroll. Each of them have strengths and weaknesses on some key issues. I oppose the Akaka Bill, expensive clean energy proposals, the Jones Act, civil unions and new taxes.
Lt. Governor: My choice in the primary is Adrienne King (see video below this post). House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan is qualified, but she should have ran for State Senate.
State Senate: It's too bad I don't live in the 8th Senatorial District because the only person qualified for that seat is State Senator Sam Slom. He's the real deal, a no new taxes kind of guy. His opponent, one Larry Price is not the same guy on KSSK radio.
State House: In my district I am voting Republican which means out with Scott Saiki (he voted for HB 444) and in with newcomer Gregory Cuadra.
Recommended House candidates in other districts include Chris Baron (18th), Julia Allen(20th) and Tom Berg (42nd). Kymberly Pine (43rd) should also be re-elected to her House Seat.
City Council: There is no election for city council person in my district. However if you are a voter in Honolulu's 6th district, a highly qualified, anti-rail candidate is Frank Lavoie. He is also a fiscal conservative and knows how to run a tight ship. He is currently chairman of the Downtown Honolulu Neighborhood Board.
City Prosecutor: I am undecided on this.
Board of Education At-Large: Voters can select 3 candidates in this crowded field. The only one that gets my vote so far this year is Malcolm Kirkpatrick, a perennial underdog who is scholarly and focused on some different (to the entrenched leadership) ideas for public education.
Absentee walk-in voting for this year's primary election started on September 3 and ends on September 16. Primary election day is Saturday, September 18. Dozens of polling places used at the last election have closed. It is likely your polling place may have moved. You can find out where your polling place is by going to the Hawaii State Elections website at the following links:
Adrienne King's TV commercial for Lt. Governor. Pull a Republican ballot. Never mind the battle on the other side. Vote absentee September 3 to September 16. Primary election day is September 18.
