mattosk's Xanga

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:56:23 GMT

Stupid Xanga.

Hawaii Vote 2006

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 06:10:04 GMT

Tuesday is voting day and here I am doing my best impression of an unintelligent Bill O'Reilly. I'm posting this for my fellow Hawaii voters to give you an idea on how to vote if you had no idea what to expect. I don't want anyone to take my votes and opinions and adopt them as your own. Make your own decisions people. That's what makes the voting process so special! Feel free to use this as a tool or at least something to give you an idea of what you will be seeing come Tuesday on the Hawaii ballots. I am by no means a political pundit but I think I know enough to make an educated decision. Enjoy this. If you're not from Hawaii then you can just totally disregard this blog.

Key:
D = Democrat
R = Republican
L = Libertarian
G = No Party
* = Incumbent
Bold = My vote

Governor/Lt. Governor

Randy Iwase/Malama Solomon (D)
*Linda Lingle/James (Duke) Aiona (R)
Ozell Daniel/Li Zhao (L)
Jim Brewer/Renee Ing (G)

I cannot vote for Ozell Daniel because I can’t find any information on him other than the fact that he’s a comedian. Jim Brewer, though he has some great stances, I can’t vote for him because it’ll feel like a wasted vote. There’s no way he can win.

I think people overestimate the job that Linda Lingle has done. It was easy for her to do well because she succeeded one of the worst governors in Hawaii history in Ben Cayetano. She’s not Pro-choice, anti-death penalty, “Addicts get treatment; dealers & repeat users get jail”, no gambling and so forth. And you guys should know that she’s a firm supporter of George Bush and always has been. I need to mention the one thing that I hated about Lingle during her campaign was her ridiculous radio ad where she has her little niece asking why Iwase is being mean to “Aunty Linda”. I mean come on … Lingle spent almost 20 times as much on her campaign than did Iwase and she still has not said what she will do for the people of Hawaii in her next term.

Randy Iwase came out on fire during the debate. I only saw bits and pieces of it but he went on the attack and Lingle put up a very timid defense. I think he got a big boost by being endorsed by the HSTA (HI State Teacher’s Association) and the fact that Lingle seemed afraid to debate him more than once.

I’m voting Lingle just because I don’t think she’s done a terrible job and I don’t have a lot of confidence in Iwase or Malama Solomon. Jim Brewer may actually be my favorite candidate but I don’t think he’s capable of leading this state.

Senator

*Daniel Akaka (D)
Cynthia Thielen (R)
Lloyd Jeffrey Mallan (L)

How many of you knew that Thielen was voted “Hempster of the Year” for her work in promoting the industrial use of marijuana? How funny is that. Other Thielen notes include that she voted for bills that prohibit landlords and employers from discriminating against homosexuals and transsexuals; is against importing foreign oil and is for developing renewable resources and using domestic oil; voted against the fluoridation of Hawaii’s water and is for abortion in all instances (Pro choice).

Now on to Akaka. I don’t have much to say about him and that’s a sad fact. He has been a senator of Hawaii for 16 years and I can’t name one thing that he has done for us. Actually, the one thing I can name is that he attempted to get the Akaka Bill passed and he couldn’t. Also, I am Hawaiian, and I, in no way, support the Akaka Bill. The injustices that the Hawaiian people suffered were in no way comparable to that of the Native Americans. Accept it. The overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani was illegal and was an awful thing and there should be some sort of reparation but the Akaka Bill is not the answer. I don’t want to give Akaka another 4 years to do nothing but work on a Bill that I do not support (and he’ll never get it passed).

I’m not going to talk much about Mallan because I don’t know anything about him other than the fact that he’s for Hawaiian Sovereignty. He’ll get votes from his mom and that’s about it.

My vote is for Cynthia Thielen. I do not agree with her stance on importing foreign oil but I think that Hawaii needs a change. Ed Case would have been ideal but Thielen is better than Akaka.

Congress

*Neil Abercrombie (D)
Richard (Noah) Hough (R)

Brief notes on Abercrombie: He’s pro choice in regards to abortion, is for embryonic stem cell research, is for same-sex marriage and gay adoptions, voted against prohibiting US flag desecration, voted against more sentencing and prosecution of juvenile criminals, is against the death penalty, against prayer in schools, and that’s all for now. It’s unreal to read how this guy has been voting in the last 16 years. Totally against a lot of what I believe in as a person. Plus, I remember reading an article a while back that stated that Abercrombie had the worst attendance out of all congressmen in the US. Embarrassing.

I don’t know much about Hough. He’s a newcomer and I don’t know how he beat Mark Terry in the primary. Still, I read though his website and he does stand for a lot of things that I do like the preservation of the pledge of allegiance, no tax hikes and other things. Plus, you really have to read though that link I provided. He’s funny as heck man. For example:

Noah favors adopting the 9/11 Commission Recommendations
Neil Abercrombie believes that the recommendations are misguided and that we just need a Department of Peace - then the world will sing kumbiya!

I’m voting for Hough just because I cannot vote for Abercrombie. Much like Akaka, Hawaii needs a change.

U.S. House Representative II

Mazie Hirono (D)
Bob Hogue (R)
*Ed Case held position before giving it up to run for Senator ... I voted for him!

Mazie is a former Lt. Governor where she served with Ben Cayetano. And I mentioned that I didn’t like him. Still, . The only thing that disappoints me is that the tactic she uses to “discredit” Bob Hogue is that she paints him as a George Bush stooge and herself as anti-Bush. Her commercial is all about that. Showing images of Hogue with Bush (edited together … they’re not physically in the same room) and naming Bush policies and saying that she’ll do the complete opposite. Her campaign is just anti-Bush. There should be more substance than that.

As for Hogue, don’t know much about his political stance. All I know is that he used to be a sportscaster alongside Joe Moore on Channel 2 news. I mean, even his Bob Hogue 2 Congress site doesn’t have much information on his political stances. I just can’t vote for him … even though it pains me to vote for a Cayetano supporter.

State Representative (District 26)

*Sylvia Luke (D)
Bob Tom (R)

This one is just for me because I doubt anyone else reading this lives in my district. These two people have been running ever since I’ve lived here in my district. I voted for Sylvia Luke last time and I’m changing my stance. Sylvia Luke has been our representative for a while now and I don’t know what she’s done. I’ve seen her once and that was at a Kawananakoa Middle School band event. At least I know that Bob Tom is against the idiotic rail transit system and that’s something. What does Luke stand for? No idea.

Constitutional Amendments

"Shall the governor be required to select board of regents candidates from a pool of qualified candidates screened and proposed by a candidate advisory council for the board of regents of the University of Hawaii as provided by law?"

NO

"Shall the Constitution be amended to provide for a salary commission to review and recommend salaries for justices, judges, state legislators, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the administrative director of the State, state department heads or executive officers of the executive departments, and the deputies or assistants to department heads of the executive departments, excluding the superintendent of education and the president of the University of Hawaii?"

NO (in the words of Bob Jones … “Salary commissions do make sense, but this says the recommendations must either be totally accepted ... or totally rejected. That makes no sense.”)

"Shall the mandatory retirement age of seventy for all state court justices and judges be repealed?"

NO

"Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaii be amended to provide that in continuous sexual assault crimes against minors younger than fourteen years of age, the legislature may define:
(1) What behavior constitutes a continuing course of conduct; and
(2) What constitutes the jury unanimity that is required for a conviction?"

YES!!!!!!!!

"Shall the State be authorized to issue special purpose revenue bonds and use the proceeds from the bonds to assist agricultural enterprises serving important agricultural lands?"

YES

Charter Commission Questions

Do the charter questions on your own because there are just too many for me to list for you. Read up on them here

I hope this does something for you. I really did my homework this year.

Killer-long entry that you won't have the time to read entirely (at MySpace)

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 09:53:08 GMT

Click here

Everything from me moving to new friends and God. Wouldn't be surprised if you fell asleep in the middle of reading it but I appreciate the effort.

Oh ... should mention that the song "Majesty" by the Valley Boys is streaming in the blog page so that's another reason to check it out.

And streaming on my Xanga is:

Blessed by Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Check it.

Life would be so perfect with you

Sat, 07 Oct 2006 12:33:02 GMT

New song uploaded. The Sessions @ AOL version of Tennessee by The Wreckers. Beautiful.

Life is good people. It really is. Even though its hectic ... its still really, really good.

Lame copy/paste job

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 02:46:44 GMT

This is a lame copy/paste entry from Last.fm but I figured its something for you all to read. lol

I should have a review up of each very soon. I just got a couple of them an hour ago. lol

Bought Today:
John Mayer - Continuum
Papa Roach - The Paramour Sessions
Dixie Chicks - Taking The Long Way

Last Week Tuesday:
Audioslave - Revelations

Been a fan of Mayer and Papa Roach for years now. I've been eagerly anticipating Continuum ever since the John Mayer Trio's Try! album came out man. As for Papa Roach, I didn't hear of the new album until last week when I bought the Audislave CD and checked out the Releases board at Tower Records. lol So I'm really going into this album without hearing any thing about it which was the same mindset I had with Audioslave's CD. The Dixie Chicks were an impluse buy. I saw the video for "I'm Not Ready To Make Nice" on VH-1 and I just loved the song and video. I've never heard much from them since I'm a relatively new country fan but I can't wait to check them out.

Yeah ... that's it. lol Matt ... you know I"m sending you Continuum.

Shut up

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 05:02:48 GMT

The update is coming. lol I can't say I don't have the time because I do. lol I promise I'll have one on Friday. No classes and only a three hour work day!

For now ... a new song. I bought Madden the other day and decided to pick up the CD by the local group Kalaeloa. Haven't listened to the whole album yet but their two singles are amazing. Let The Good Times Roll was a Hawaiian Song of the Week a while back and now I bring you Kiss U In The Morning. Beautiful.

Download Link

By the way ... Madden '07 is pure crap.

One Day I'll Blog For Real

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 07:53:29 GMT

Instead of just updating the music.

Europa by Pure Heart (featuring Jake Shimabukuro)

Farked

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 02:36:54 GMT

Stealing that word from Reuben. My iPod is farked dude. Computer at work kept freezing up while my iPod was plugged in and all I could do to reset the Mac was to turn off the power switch. Did this about three times while my iPod was plugged in until I finally uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes. After that, my 6.97GB's of music as now shrunk down to 2.57 because now most of the files are corrupt. Will be spending the rest of the night and most of the weekend trying to fix this.

On a positive note ... Live Bookmarks in Firefox own!

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 07:42:36 GMT

She's Everything by Brad Paisley

She’s a yellow pair of running shoes
A holey pair of jeans
She’s looks great in cheap sunglasses
She looks great in anything
She’s “I want a piece of chocolate”
“Take me to a movie”
She’s “I can’t find a thing to wear”
Now and then she’s moody
She’s a Saturn with a sunroof
With her brown hair a blowin'
She’s a soft place to land
And a good feeling knowing
She’s a warm conversation that I wouldn’t miss for nothing
She’s a fighter when she’s mad and she's a lover when she’s loving

She’s everything that I ever wanted
And everything I need
When I talk about her I go on and on and on
Cause she's everything to me

She’s a Saturday out on the town
Church girl on Sunday
She's a cross around her neck and a cuss word cause it’s Monday
She’s a bubble bath and candle baby come and kiss me
She’s a one glass of wine and she’s feelin kinda tipsy
She’s the giver I wish I could be and the stealer of the covers
She’s the picture in my wallet and my unborn children's mother
She’s the hand that I'm holdin when I’m on my knees and prayin
She’s the answer to my prayers
She’s the song that I’m playin and

She’s everything that I ever wanted
And everything I need
When I talk about her I go on and on and on
Cause she's everything to me

She’s the voice I love to hear
Some day when I’m 90
She's that wooden rocking chair
I want rocking right beside me
Everyday that passes I only love her more
She’s the one that I'd lay down my own life for

She’s everything that I ever wanted
And everything I need
She's everything to me
Oh she's everything to me
Everything I ever wanted
Everything to me

Download Link

One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Enjoy!

Boo!

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 07:28:56 GMT

I'm still alive. I promise a blog updation on Saturday. It's late and I spent the night catching up on posting. I have a new song though:

You Can't Stop Me by The Faders

Thanks to Jackson for the song hookup. This is my fave Faders track. Check it dudes. G'night ... or morning. Depending on where you are. We're behind everyone. Suckage.