Aloha Politics

When people hear there is a state-by-state report on happiness, they want to know a few things. Who’s number one? It’s Hawaii. Who changed the most since last year? Alaska took a turn for the worse, and Delaware improved significantly. How did my state do? You can find out here. But anyone who looks at the map above is likely to wonder: why is that cluster of red states so unhappy?

Gallup and Healthways do not offer specific explanations for their results, but it is easy to see how a poor score in one category might correlate with others. Poor access to quality food and healthcare, for example, could lead to poor physical or emotional health. One Healthways researcher suggested lifestyle choices as a contributing factor, emphasizing the likelihood that different categories contribute to and compound on one another. Many potential explanations boil down a lack of adequate resources.

For the full story: America’s “Sadness Belt”: Appalachian States Worst in U.S. for Health and Happiness

The Earth is warming fast and furious and much of the warming is going into the oceans. You may have heard that global warming had slowed due to slowed warming of global surfaces, but in new research published in Geophysical Research Letters, the authors found that much of the current warming is settling into the deepest depths of the ocean.

Completely contrary to the popular contrarian myth, global warming has accelerated, with more overall global warming in the past 15 years than the prior 15 years. This is because about 90% of overall global warming goes into heating the oceans, and the oceans have been warming dramatically.

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Some recent studies have concluded based on the slowed global surface warming over the past decade that the sensitivity of the climate to the increased greenhouse effect is somewhat lower than the IPCC best estimate. Those studies are fundamentally flawed because they do not account for the warming of the deep oceans.

This accelerated warming is troubling news as extreme warming in the depths of the ocean affects the development of plankton which is at the foundation of nearly all marine ecosystems.

How fast is ocean acidification happening and what are the projections? The projections up to 2100 don’t look pretty. They point to a massive destruction of vital living ocean organisms in less than 90 years.
Go here for the full story! New Research Confirms Global Warming/Ocean Acidification Accelerating Faster Than Previously Thought

Ryan Snakefish Speaks OUt!

Attribution: Keone MIchaels

I found this interesting essay online and thought folks might like to read it. I excerpted a piece and you can take the leap to read the whole thingy!
Go here for the full story: The ideological Jiu-Jitsu of the GOP in Hawaii

Ever since moving here I have regarded the political clime as, well, mystifying to say the least. Even for such a Democratic state, the Tea Party/GOP/fearful conservative demographic is exceedingly small but very very vocal, and overly funded. The fact that someone like Linda Lingle could ever become Governor of Hawaii attests to this bizarre dynamic. Two or three times a year (especially on “Tax Protest Day”) I can drive into Kona and see the annoying gathering of Tea Party holdouts, their expensive cars parked close by, shaking signs and waving yellow Don’t Tread On Me flags in anger over how we are not living in 1789 anymore. It is rare that you see a dark face amongst their scrubbed, white and slightly sunburned ones. But occasionally you do, and when that happens you are lured into a true Post Turtle moment. For those not aware of the joke, one guy walking a country road sees a turtle placed on top of a fence post and asks a neighbor what it is. The response is “a post turtle”. He asks again what that means, and is answered that no one knows how he got up there, but he doesn’t belong there and everyone agrees he needs to be helped down.

6,000 Residents Demand Hawaii Senate Rescind Monsanto Lobbyist Appointment

On Thursday at 3pm, organizers will deliver a petition asking Senate President Donna Mercado Kim to rescind her appointment of Monsanto Lobbyist, Alan Takemoto, to the Water Commission nominating committee.

The appointment of an employee of the controversial Monsanto corporation angered organizers who point out that Monsanto has been turned down twice for bigger shares of Oahu and Maui water allotments. Organizers are concerned that another pro-Monsanto Water Commissioner could tip the balance of power towards Monsanto next time they ask for a bigger water allotment.

“It is inexplicable that with respected UH professors, literally hundreds of trained geologists and watershed experts, that the Senate would appoint a partisan multinational corporate lobbyist instead,” said organizer, Karen Chun. “Here on Maui we have rationing and our county controls only about 9% of our water with a lion’s share being taken by large agricultural corporations like Monsanto. Ag corporations know how to USE water – they are not experts in the skills required to manage and protect water supplies.”

Nomi Kaheaonalani Carmona, who will present the petition added, “Our ethics laws need strengthening. It is beyond belief that a corporate representative with a clear agenda of wanting more water would have a voice in who serves on the Water Commission. What was the Senate thinking?”

The petition is located at http://signon.org/….

From this article: 6,000 Demand Hawaii Senate Rescind Monsanto Lobbyist Appointment

La Repubblica: Pope Resigned After Inquiry Discovered Gay Vatican Network

10. Tried to bet the Vatican in Monte Carlo.

13. Hired a guy named Moe Lester to head the Church’s response to abuse scandals.

The cartoon is my own from 2010. This is where I purloined the 10 top reasons:Top 10 Reasons the Pope is Resigning