Hawaii Schools have long had a reputation of being the worst in the United States year after year the children scores overall paint a very bleak picture. The school my children attend currently is given a grade of a “C” by agencies that grade school performance.

For the most part schools in upper class Neighborhoods are better equipped and teachers fight to teach their, in areas where the Neighborhoods are lower the schools are generally very bad.

Part of the issue here is that their are no local school boards. The state has a single elected school board that is largely political and in no way can keep up with all of the various issues in the hundreds of schools here.

This state desperately needs to switch to a local school board system and the state department of education needs to turn 90% of every dollar that is alloted by the legislature to the schools equally based upon student population.

Parents like me have no choice but to supplement classroom time with outside tutor support. Most people cannot afford the $10,000 per child cost to put kids in private school each year. A large number of military families home school their kids for fear when they return to the mainland that their kids will no longer be competitive and their chances of getting into a high ranked university will be slim.

The sad part is most people here do not care and yet millions of dollars a year are fed into the education system here and nothing has helped. Maybe home school is the way to go for my family but something has to change.

My wife and I have decided to make our home here in Hawaii after I retire. Up to this point I have been very quiet in the Hawaii Political front because my residency was officially tied back to the mainland.

This has now changed, and I am now going to become what I would call politically active here in Hawaii. As a small business owner I understand the constraints of doing business in this state, and I also see the stranglehold the Democrats have on the political process here. The abuses they get away with makes me sick to my stomach and would not be tolerated in other States.

Not to mention the taxes being laid on us for the ridiculous rail project that will cost billions and line the pockets of construction companies and make the unions stronger. The rail will not cause traffic relief. Simple fixes to the current infrastructure would provide immediate needed relief to the 100’s of thousands that site in the parking lot of the expressways here.

This state has a boat load of problems, and sadly the state legislature has had their way for to many years. There has been only one democratic process and that is what the democrats in the house and senate in Hawaii want. If the Republican Governor tries to veto a bill the legislature just holds a special session and over rides the veto. I like the Governor but her hands are tied and legislature treats her as a puppet.

The democrat controlled legislature have free reign to do what they want to do, with no accountability. Largely because people in this state don’t vote for candidates on issues they vote for candidates that wave to them while they are driving to work.

It is time for this nonsense to end and for people in this state to wake the hell up and see what is happening. No longer can Hawaii we be ruled and dictated to by one party, no longer should the school system which is one of the worst in the nation be allowed to continue to flush the education of our children down the drain. It is time to start making people accountable and cleaning house.

Case in point the democrat controlled legislature is about to over-ride every bill the governor did not sign or vetoed. She has asked for cooperation not partisanship.

I support the Governors open letter and urge each legislature to really examine what the Governor has presented.

Paris Hilton in my opinion is just a little cry baby, honey if you can’t do the time you should not do the crime, arrogant rich chick and arrogant rich parents.

Never ceases to amaze me that their is such a dual standard in this country. The backlash will be very significant on this, it would have bode her well to stay in jail. The Register

Well my Navy career is winding down, I have my papers in and am waiting for the formal approval to come back. I spent some time in NYC last week meeting with some media buyers to help drive the business of RawVoice along.

I am still busting out a degree and have 5 classes left which makes it nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Overall I guess life is pretty good. My mom is doing ok and my niece is on the mend from the accident that took my dad from us.

It is a truly a miracle that she is still alive. My grandparents on my moms side are not 98 and 96 respectfully and when I was home last week I set them down in front of a camera and recorded some family history starting in 1907 and getting through the mid 1950’s.

Those tapes are worth their weight in gold. Lots of interesting things going on almost to many to blog and some business stuff that I am pretty excited about as well.

We have decided to wait a while and hope that the housing prices here in Hawaii cool a little bit. A $4000.00 a month mortgage payment is so over the top I cannot even imagine writing the check for that amount each month.

I have neglected this space way to long but it is time to update it more often.

Shoko and I have been actively looking for a home here in Hawaii for about a month, and I will be honest with you. The situation here is absolutely out of control.

I have walked into absolute dumps that would be worth more burned to the ground listed for $650,000. I have walked into Town Homes that have less than 1100 square feet with three bedrooms for $600,000 with a monthly maintenance fee of $600.00. I have seen homes that were priced at a good value but in a school district that ranked at the absolute bottom of the scale.

I have walked through beautiful sub-divisions with model homes to die for that are listed at $550,000 yet the test drive to get to the main highway from the location averaged a hour plus an additional 45 minute commute. The distance travelled in one hour was less than 3 miles. Not to mention those homes are in another crappy school district.

Not to mention a Job market that absolutely does not support at estimated $4000.00 a month mortgage payment. Bankers are more than happy to finance you a home where they know you will be spending as much as 60% of your base salary on a mortgage payments.

Heck we have not even talked about Electric, Water, Sewer and Garbage. I’ll be honest with you, this is a housing market that is completely out of control and for the life of me I do not see how people are able to afford these type of mortgage payments based upon the economy.

So here I sit making a significant salary and completely demoralised that we are finding it near impossible in buying a home at our self imposed cap. Something has to give because if a guy like me that has significant resources is scared of the housing market then I cannot even imagine what others are thinking.

The state simply has to get off their ass and do something because as much as I love Hawaii the shitty schools and crazy home prices is making me look eastward and making me consider packing my suitcase and getting the hell out of of here.

In the past 24 months I have consulted with over 500 podcasters and more than 20 corporations. Many times these services were done over the phone, and nearly a dozen times people have flown out to Hawaii to spend a weekend to consult on a strategy for a new show or idea.

I have not advertised these services in the past as they have come primarily through referals, but now that I am ramping up to go full time in the space. I thought it was time to advertise publicly that I am available. While not usually necessary I am also available to travel worldwide.

Feel free to contact me if you are in need of expert help in getting your project off the ground or back on track. ceo@rawvoice.com

I have been reading the EjectEjectEject.com website for a number of years now and the essays the author Bill Whittle puts together are beyond masterpieces. If you have not read any of the articles on his page you need to prepare for a long evening because once you start you will likely be reading for an extended period.

The articles do not come often but when they do man, he really hits a home run. His latest Seeing the Unseen Part 1 has to be one of his best. [ejectejecteject.com]

My mom mentioned to me shortly after the death of my father that she would like to do a podcast. The Pilot to that show has been created tonight and I must say it is quite riveting. Real Life, Real People, Real Situations is what this Podcast is going to be about giving some insights into what life can throw at you. [CherieCast.com]

I have been having a pretty bad week and deep down I know why. I told a co-worker the other day that I felt like a fist fight with someone would do me good. He kinda laughed but stopped when he realized I was pretty serious. As I have come to grips with my fathers death and all of trauma associated with it I understand that part of the mourning process is anger. I got a bit out of my system yesterday by going to the gym and beating up on a punching bag for about thirty minutes was nice to let the stress go but it was probably better than screaming at someone for no reason.

Deep in my heart I know he is in a better place but man it sure does not make it any easier here. Every person goes through this at some point and I guess I need to be happy that I had 42 wonderful years to know him and build my character from his influence and guidance.

It’s kinda weird people ask me all the time how I get everything done that I get done. It’s pretty simple I come from a family that knows how to work more than it knows how to play. I am easily frustrated with people who appear or are lazy. I also was raised with the understanding that nothing in this life comes easy generally everything is a challenge. I also realize that at some point this Anger phase will pass but the Irish comes out in me even now and I am still pretty mad about loosing him. I guess thats my way of dealing with it so if you run into me and I give you the stare you better move along quickly 🙂

Show 200 was to be a celebration of technology instead I have decided to talk about, and celebrate my father who was killed in an auto accident two weeks ago. The regular show will be back next Tuesday. I made a decision to share with all of you my families experiences over the past two weeks. I thank you for your indulgence in this podcast.

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Photos of Accident
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