The Wall Street Journal reports that a Russian academic has predicted the United States will meet the same fate as the Former Soviet Union, although not for the same reasons.

Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces — with Alaska reverting to Russian control.

HALL: Matt, I bring up location because obviously I think if it were really a big deal and there was something that he needed to do, meaning the President-Elect, any type of damage control, he would be in Chicago and not on vacation, which gives off the idea obviously he knows what's in the report. If he's easy-going at the golf course, whatever we read tomorrow won't be a big deal.

LEWIS: I think it's very likely what we read tomorrow will not be a big deal. However, you know, you could make an argument that if he wants it to appear to be not a big deal he would be out of the country.

KAHULUI - Due to a large turnout, Maui Community College officials will repeat a free lecture on the ceded lands issue at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Ka'a'ike Building, Room 109.

MCC Hawaiian studies instructor Kaleikoa Ka'eo will present historical and contemporary perspectives on the 1.2 million acres of ceded lands once owned by the Hawaiian monarchy.

In a unanimous ruling last January, the Hawaii Supreme Court blocked the State of Hawaii from selling or exchanging ceded lands until resolution of Hawaiian claims to those lands.

Gov. Linda Lingle's administration has appealed the Hawaii court's decision and is preparing to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that Native Hawaiians have no ownership claim to the lands formerly held by the monarchy.

For information on the MCC lecture, call 984-3313.

WASHINGTON — With a larger Democratic majority in the new Congress and an incoming Democratic administration headed by a Hawai'i native, the Akaka bill seems to have its best chance yet of passage.

But supporters of the bill also fear that Republicans may erect procedural roadblocks that they have used before to prevent the full Senate from voting on the bill since it was first introduced in 2000.
[...]
If Congress approves the legislation, Obama is expected to sign it, a commitment he made during his presidential campaign.
[...]
But with Congress focused on reforms for the nation's financial system and other pressing issues, Abercrombie and Akaka are not expected to push for action on the bill right away.

The Lingle administration will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that Native Hawaiians do not have an ownership claim to land that belonged to the Hawaiian government prior to its overthrow in 1893.

News of the legal brief filed by state Attorney General Mark Bennett on Thursday in the state's case against the Office of Hawaiian Affairs did not sit well with Native Hawaiians gathered at Central Union Church yesterday for a swearing-in and investiture of OHA trustees.

"It's a pretty immoral position for the governor to take," said Bill Meheula, an attorney representing OHA in the case.

At issue are 1.2 million acres of ceded lands once owned by the Hawaiian monarchy which were taken by the provisional Hawaiian government following the overthrow of the monarchy. Those lands were then handed over to the U.S. government when Hawai'i became a U.S. territory, and finally the state of Hawai'i in 1959.

In 1993, the U.S. Congress approved an apology to Native Hawaiians for the federal government's role in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. The apology, signed into law by President Clinton, called for Congress to support reconciliation between the nation and Native Hawaiians.

"Now the governor is telling all Hawaiians, 'You don't have a claim to the ceded lands even though the overthrow was illegal,' " Meheula said.

In an e-mailed statement last night, Gov. Linda Lingle's office said, among other things, that:

The Hawai'i Supreme Court erred as a matter of law in finding that the 1993 Congressional Apology resolution either changed the legal landscape in any way, clouded the state's title to the state's public trust lands, or forbade the state from selling or transferring those lands to fulfill any one or more of the purposes set out in the 1959 Hawaii Admission Act;

And that as a matter of law, the state's title to its lands is unchallengeable in the courts.
The state previously had argued that it has the authority to manage the ceded lands, but did not argue for ownership rights, as Bennett's new brief does, Meheula said.

"They are seeking a ruling from the United States Supreme Court that Native Hawaiians have no claim to the ceded lands," he said.

In 1842, Kamehameha III had a “very strong desire that his Kingdom shall be formally acknowledged by the civilized nations of the world as a sovereign and independent State.” To accomplish this, he appointed Timoteo Ha'alilio, William Richards and Sir George Simpson, a British subject, as joint ministers plenipotentiary on April 8, 1842. Shortly thereafter, Simpson left for England, via Alaska and Siberia, while Ha'alilio and Richards departed for the United States, via Mexico, on July 8, 1842.

After Ha'alilio and Richards secured President John Tyler's assurance of recognizing Hawaiian independence on Dec. 19, 1842, the delegation proceeded to meet Simpson in Europe. On March 17, 1843, King Louis-Philippe assures them of France's recognition of Hawaiian independence, and on April 1, 1843, Lord Aberdeen, on behalf of Queen Victoria, assured the Hawaiian delegation that “Her Majesty's Government was willing and had determined to recognize the independence of the Sandwich Islands under their present sovereign.” Confirming these assurances, Great Britain and France formally recognized Hawaiian sovereignty on Nov. 28, 1843, by joint proclamation at the Court of London, and the United States followed on July 6, 1844, by letter of Secretary of State J.C. Calhoun. Nov. 28 was a national holiday celebrating Hawaiian Independence, Lā Kū'oko'a.

The stock investment portfolio for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs shrank by 27.9 percent during the first 10 months of 2008, 12 percent during October alone, OHA officials said.

The immediate impact is a hiring freeze, but the agency may be forced to cut money for programs in future budgets.

When the Messenger spacecraft begins orbiting Mercury in March 2011, it will look down on "Nawahi Crater."

A little smaller than Kauai, the crater is named for Kaho'oluhi Nawahi, also known as Joseph Kaho'oluhi Nawahiokalaniopuu.

The self-taught artist from Puna, who died in 1896 at age 54, was known as a Renaissance man with many talents and interests from art, law and teaching to newspaper publishing.
[...]
According to the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Nawahi, born in Puna in 1842, was educated at Hilo Boarding School, Lahainaluna Seminary and the Royal School in Honolulu. He was a teacher and principal of Hilo Boarding School, trained as a lawyer and passed the bar exam given by the Hawaiian Supreme Court. He also started the Hawaiian language newspaper Ke Aloha 'Aina in 1895, which opposed the annexation of Hawaii by the United States.

About 300 people converged on the state Capitol yesterday and urged the Lingle administration to back off its legal claim that the state has the right to sell ceded lands.

In a case that places the state against the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Gov. Linda Lingle and her administration are appealing a unanimous ruling by the Hawai'i Supreme Court in January that the state cannot sell or otherwise transfer ceded lands until Native Hawaiian claims against the land holds were resolved.

"The administration's decision to appeal has the potential to adversely impact the way the people of Hawai'i deal with issues affecting Native Hawaiians locally," the groups of Native Hawaiian supporters said in a statement. "A U.S. Supreme Court decision threatens what our state Legislature and state courts have already decided — Native Hawaiians have a valid unsettled claim to ceded lands. ... The Lingle administration's appeal threatens the future of the Hawaiian community and is in direct conflict with the administration's reported support for the Native Hawaiian community."

The Hawaiian punch in Washington is about to get a lot stronger.

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) is taking over the gavel of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D) have begun to wield the legislative clout that comes with seniority. And Barack Obama, a native son who understands the 50th state’s needs and reflects the Pacific islands’ multicultural ethos, is about to become the 44th president of the United States.

The power shift for the Aloha State, among the nation’s smallest with 1.3 million people, is poised to win more federal money and gain influence it has long lacked.

[...] With Obama headed to the White House, Akaka and Inouye may finally win the recognition for Native Hawaiians that had been opposed by the Bush administration and stalled by Republican senators.
[...]
Inouye’s new post will help him increase the substantial amount of money from Washington that he and the rest of the delegation win.
[...]
Hawaii can also benefit from a president who understands the state’s issues. Obama, who went to high school in Honolulu and lived with his grandparents there, has already come out in support of efforts to win federal recognition for 400,000 Native Hawaiians, some of whom have pushed for sovereignty.

An Akaka-sponsored bill that would grant that recognition had passed the House but stalled in the Senate under opposition from Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration. The new administration and a larger Democratic majority in the Senate could get the issue moving again.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Army have settled OHA's 2006 federal lawsuit claiming the Army failed to protect Native Hawaiian cultural resources when it brought the Stryker brigade to the state.

OHA representatives, along with an archaeologist, will be able to survey certain Stryker training areas at Schofield Barracks, Kahuku and Pohakuloa as a result of the agreement, the state agency announced yesterday.

Through the surveys, OHA said it and Army representatives "aim to ensure the appropriate identification and treatment of cultural and historic resources located in Lihu'e, the traditional name for the Schofield Barracks region," as well as other parts of Hawai'i.

The FBI is investigating several local companies that allegedly bilked homeowners out of more than $300,000 on O'ahu, the Big Island and Maui with false promises to help them avoid foreclosure, according to local lenders and law enforcement officials.

The families, many of which are Native Hawaiian, were charged between $2,500 and $10,000 to attend seminars or counseling sessions on avoiding foreclosure, and were told they would receive bonds worth $1 million that could be used to pay off the outstanding balance of the mortgage.

Officials said the bonds were bogus and no mortgages were paid off.
[...]
The bogus bonds are not sold through an investment firm or brokerage house, as legitimate bonds are. They also purport to represent ownership in a fictitious Hawaiian nation.

The companies pushing the bogus bonds, several claiming to be affiliated with Native Hawaiian sovereignty movements, are targeting Native Hawaiian homeowners and others who are facing foreclosure.

After attending the seminars, families are told that a $1 million "Royal Hawaiian Treasury Bond" will be sent to the homeowners' bank with a letter explaining that it will cover the outstanding balance of the mortgage.

The companies tell the homeowner that because they are members of the "Hawaiian nation," the bank will no longer be able to demand money from them because they are the land's "rightful owners."

U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation

For Immediate Release
Monday, November 17, 2008

FBI ALERTS PUBLIC TO RECENT FORECLOSURE FRAUD SCHEME

Promises to pay off mortgages with phony Hawaiian and Government Bonds

Honolulu, HI -- The FBI is warning the public to avoid falling victim to an on-going scheme designed to take advantage of island homeowners facing foreclosure or other financial difficulties. The scheme, which comes in several variations, usually starts out by offering individuals a "too good to be true" scenario in which 1) a person can stop making their mortgage payments and property taxes, 2) an artificial bond will pay off their mortgage, and 3) the homeowner can keep their home without a foreclosure or eviction. The phony bonds have utilized government officials names in order to add legitimacy. The scheme has utilized Hawaiian heritage rights as part of the financial backing for the phony bonds, thus preying on Native Hawaiians. Those who have participated have paid thousands of dollars for the organizers' services. The schemes utilize a variety of legal documentation filed with government offices to make them appear legitimate. Further, the schemes have been reported to use false tax return processing which shows the participant being owed large sums of money without having a legal right for such refund. If you, or anyone you know, has been contacted for participation in one of these schemes, please contact the local FBI office.

Meetings are scheduled to begin this week across the state to seek comment from the Hawaiian community on the draft U.S. Department of Defense Hawaiian Consultation Protocol.

When finalized, this draft document will provide guidance to DOD military and civilian personnel on their consultation responsibilities to Native Hawaiians, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs said in a press release.

The draft protocol can be seen at www.denix.osd.mil/portal/page/portal/denix/environment/NA

You know that feeling that you get in your na'au when you drive past 'Iolani Palace or when you hear Kaulana Nā Pua? That chicken-skin feeling that comes over you and lets you know that your kūpuna have been disturbed? That intrinsic sense that wrong has been done?

Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai'i captures that feeling on film.

While it is true the State of Hawaii does not own the “ceded lands” neither do the so-called “native Hawaiians.”

By citing “native Hawaiians” as the default claimants to the “ceded lands” the State Supreme Court perpetuates a critical error, ignoring the historical and lawful fact that the lands in question belong to the Hawaiian Kingdom, not the “native Hawaiians.”

This mis-direction is employed to avoid addressing the actual crime — the theft of the national autonomy and the national lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It also avoids the rightful remedy — the return of the national autonomy and national lands to the Hawaiian Kingdom.

The rightful owners of the land are the parties from whom they were stolen: the crown (ruling monarch) and the government of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The monarch and the national government hold these lands in trust to benefit the people of Hawaii.