The Smokers Rights Newsletter

Smoking law will make things easier for thugs
We ask the lawmakers of Hawaii to reflect on the dire effects their new smoking law has had already.

We tourists will probably cross off coming here and most certainly Waikiki Beach. Think of the disgrace --
a White House official was beaten and robbed (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 22). Why? Because he had to go outside to smoke.
He obeys the law and gets mugged as a result. [A fact omitted in the referenced story, which only says he'd 'left a bar"]

This is only the beginning, as hoods will simply use this terrible law to make their task simple. This is a disgrace.
The other night I could not sleep and went out the beach entrance, and there was an older lady, 20 feet front from
the hotel, smoking. A filthy beach bum came up to her and it was my duty to send him on his way. All bars, hotels
and the like will be forced to have armed guards to protect them from vile people like the above.

Now young children will really want to smoke. If it is considered against the law, they will pursue smoking
more than ever.

The Red List

Insiders who are wondering why smoking advocates David Kawika Crowley and Jolyn Tenn have not been patrolling the state Capitol over the past few weeks might be interested in a manifesto the colorful duo have released to the news media.

Entitled, “It’s The Ballot, Stupid!” Crowley and Tenn explain how they are done lobbying for a special smoking license so bars can avoid the statewide smoking ban and will now take their activism directly to the ballot box.

Judging from history, we’re guessing Crowley mostly wrote the six-page manifesto, which vows revenge on a hit list of lawmakers.

A sample:

They wanna’ play dirty? They want war? How about over 40,000 pissed off Hawai’i smokers SMOKING their sorry-asses OUT come November 8. (Our exploding constituency is expected to reach close to 60,000 by then).

They had their chances to fix this. We didn’t ask for much …just a small ADJUSTMENT. They blew it. And now it’s Payback Time.

The hit list?

*Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser
*Sen. Rosayln Baker
*Sen. J. Kalani English
*Sen. David Ige
*Sen. Clarence Nishihara
*House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell
*House Speaker Calvin Say

Crowley had sent a letter critical of Hooser that was published in the Garden Island, the Kaua’i senator’s hometown newspaper. The manifesto describes an encounter between Crowley and Hooser near the senator’s second-floor office after the letter appeared.

When I ran into him a few weeks back, he was pissed, turning red, all unhinged, at the sight of me walking past him into his office to drop-off one of our fliers. I passed him and with a low growl I stated, “Mr. Hooser.”

He didn’t say a word as he must have wanted to scream something at me. I swear I saw a set of horns popping out of his sorry head.

Asked about the exchange, Hooser laughed and agreed he probably did not greet Crowley with a smile and a hug. But the senator was diplomatic when told that he topped Crowley’s hit list.

“You know, you can make some of the people happy some of the time, but you can’t make all of the people happy all of the time,” he said.
http://capitolnotebook.honadvblogs.com/2008/03/

Police are asking for the public's help in locating three suspects who allegedly assaulted and robbed a 25-year-old White House official in Waikiki early yesterday.

Gregg Pitts, acting White House Travel Office director, had left a Waikiki bar and was walking through the International Market Place when he was attacked at about 2 a.m., according to police.

Capt. Frank Fujii, spokesman for the Honolulu Police Department, said Pitts was knocked down, punched and kicked by three suspects. The suspects also stole his wallet and identification cards.

Pitts suffered bruises, cuts and scrapes to his face. Fujii said Pitts could not provide a description of the three suspects.

He was transported to a nearby hospital in fair condition. Pitts was awake and alert but remained behind at the hospital after President Bush's departure because of a possible concussion, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

Emily Lawrimore, another spokesperson for the White House, said Pitts is doing well and in good spirits. He is expected to be released from the hospital today to head back to Washington, D.C., Lawrimore said.

Initially, a rumor the victim was a Secret Service agent had spread. But Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge Danny Pierce of the U.S. Secret Service's Honolulu office said agents were told yesterday morning the rumor was false.

Fujii described the assault as an isolated incident and described Hawaii as a safe place.

"Yes, we are a safe city, but we are still a big city with some large-city crime. And very little when compared to cities comparable to the size of Honolulu," Fujii said at a news conference at HPD's headquarters yesterday.

Jessica Lani Rich, president and executive director of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, said, echoed Fujii's sentiment.

"I think Hawaii overall is a safe place. It's a safe destination for a majority of visitors who come here. I hope this one incident does not deter other people from coming here.

The city Prosecutor's Office's victims assistance program has also offered to help Pitts.