The Doug Note

deOccupy Honolulu as Salon des Refusés

2013-05-13T13:41:00.003-10:00

I've written tons of stuff about deOccupy Honolulu in my last year and a half of documenting them and supporting their cause. In preparation for tonight's Open Community Forum on Thomas Square hosted by Mayor Caldwell and Academy of Arts director Stephan Jost, I thought that instead of repeating or summarizing myself, I'd use pix and vidz and take a new approach.

For the longest time (around 500 days) the encampment was directly across the Academy of Arts. Whenever the Academy would host an evening "Art After Dark," deOccupy Honolulu would host an "Off Art After Dark," with it's own art and entertainment. Much of the deOccupy Honolulu artwork found exhibition at "Off Art." Of course, Off Art wasn't as well funded as the Academy's event, but that was kinda the point. Bourgeois on one side of Beretania and Bohemian on the other. Honolulu's own Salon des Refusés.

Sometimes, I think the term "Free Speech" is something of a misnomer. The sign of any vigorous political movement is usually the creation of art. And there was a lot of that from the very beginning.

[Anonymous artist okay with ephemeral chalk art. Week 2 of encampment.]

Not all artist were anonymous (or Anonymous). Renowned California muralist Raul Gonzalez of Mictlan Murals came to Thomas Square to paint a mural of Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle that Kamehameha I declared as the first law of Hawaii. Enshrined in the State Constitution it protects the humble lying by the roadside from abuse by the powerful.

Ironically, the mural – slated to be the centerpiece for the scheduled May 1 celebration was targeted for seizure by the City the very next day. The creation and recovery of the mural is a story in itself and if anyone is interested there is a 30 minute documentary about this (compiled mostly from my livestream video) here.

deOccupy Honolulu held five events countering the Academy's "Art After Dark" evening events:

[Poster for the 10/26/2012 Off Art After Dark]

The events featured artwork and music. Free expression, free admission.

Of course, from time to time, these events would attract the attention of the authorities who claimed that neighbors were complaining that they could no longer hear the sound of emergency sirens and traffic...

[When the live music serves as appropriate soundtrack to the livestream -- magic! From the September 30, 2012, Off Art After Dark.

The most traditional political event in the park is the observance of La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, the restoration of sovereignty to the Hawaiian nation on July 31, 1843. deOccupy Honolulu's solidarity with this and with people in occupied lands everywhere led to the creation of a solidarity piece during an Off Art 2 days before the 2012 La Hoʻihoʻi Ea. deOccupy peeps also helped set up tents, and ran the tent where a video of the 1986 revival of La Hoʻihoʻi Ea was shown continuously.

[Note use of "E mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono" rather than "Ua mau ke ea..."]

The larger art installations perplexed the City "art collectors" only momentarily. In western context, art is an esthetics based commodity with an exchange value in excess of its utility value. These works were deemed without sufficient exchange value to qualify as "art":

Most disturbing to me were midnight raids that would confiscate art. This 3am raid trashes several works of art that would never be recovered (because they were destroyed). The seizure of a #STanigawa painting can be seen at 6 minutes in:

A large number of #STanigawa's were created at the encampment. Here is a collection of sets of some of the works.

Some works did survive:

"Free The Land" was sold and is now in a private collection

Artist Terry Anderson shows La Hoʻihoʻi Ea by the American flag burning off to leave the underlying Hawaiian flag. This painting survived many raids before finally being seized by armed force of the "civil" authorities:

The movement and encampment has inspired much art, design, and music.

[Does it take an "outlaw" artist to design a sign that looks like the place it's about? Art by Michael Daly]

And finally (for now), those planters have not escaped the attention of artists...

[Art by Mettaben]

More pix and vids and links to be added to this article. But for now, I have to run so check back later. And I hope to see you at the Forum for Thomas Square at the Doris Duke Theater at the Academy of Arts.

13 May 2013

H. Doug Matsuoka

Makiki, Honolulu

Mayor Caldwell brings Maginot and Disney together at Thomas Square (and the Masked Limericist responds!)

2013-05-07T14:31:00.000-10:00

OK, I get it, really. People would much rather see pink hibiscus bushes in planters than protesters in tents. And I would much rather live in a prosperous and happy community than a poor and contentious one.

Where I disagree with Mayor Caldwell is that I think the way to build a prosperous and happy community is to help the community become prosperous and happy. I know, easy to say, hard to do. Mayor Caldwell and the Honolulu City Council take the easy (and I say low) road: make being poor a crime and just simulate the appearance of prosperity.

There's bound to be some glaring evidence of inauthenticity when you do things that way. When you go to Disneyland and see Mickey Mouse, you'll have to notice that his smile is permanently sculpted into his mug. He can't frown (and if he did he'd get fired).

The City used armed police to take the possessions of protesters and the homeless and kick them off the sidewalk. Then they put up 65 planters along the sidewalk. What you can't see in this video is the more recently constructed fence along the other side of the sidewalk allowing for what I would eyeball as the exact 36 inches required under ADA regulations. Of course, that means that when a wheelchair coming from the Ward end comes upon another coming from the Victoria side -- well, it's a Robin Hood meets Little John situation. Neither can pass or turn around. Nice job!

You can't just simulate the appearance of prosperity and happiness using a Disneyland Maginot Line of hibiscus planters.

Reaction to this has been swift. Larry Geller in an article in Disappeared News points out that the City "believes that by doing things to homeless people it is solving a problem, while so far avoiding doing anything for homeless people that would help solve their problem."

And the one I have dubbed "The Masked Limericist" dropped off another limerick around midnight last night:

And I'll have more to say in a day or two, for sure.

H. Doug Matsuoka
7 May 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

Caught in the act, a "Guerrilla Video" roundup

2013-04-06T15:53:00.000-10:00

Some of the most historically significant film/video footage has been caught by regular folk on humble equipment and then employed in the interest of social justice by holding people accountable. I call this Guerrilla Video.

I like this definition of "guerrilla" from FreeOnlineDictionary.com: "A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy, as by surprise raids." The term has been used to describe the underfunded soldiers of the American revolution and the people's army of Vietnam alike.

Video can be used as weapon for social justice. It was someone testing out some new video equipment in 1991 when he inadvertently caught California police beating Rodney King. And more recently, who would have believed a BART police officer would brutally shoot Oscar Grant in the back without seeing the cell phone video?

Although fortunately not as fatal, a number of local guerrilla videos have turned up recently. I thought I'd share some while they're still hot.

Boss GMO flows a fuse:
"IslandGirl637" (Youtube handle) was video recording some of the participants at Hawaii State Legislature's "Ag Day" which had been organized by Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation's "Boss GMO" Dean Okimoto. She turned a corner to see Okimoto confronting two women from GMO labeling group Babes Against Biotech. Okimoto has denied doing what he caught doing in the video. Go figure.

Kanaka Garden:
This next video catches Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) personnel destroying a garden planted by Native Hawaiian activists. DLNR also arrested 8 - 10 of the outlaw gardeners and towed their cars away. The DLNR has authority of so called "ceded" lands, also known as "seized" lands as they were seized from Hawaiian royalty to be returned. That was over a 100 years ago and counting. The video will at least make you think about the true ownership and use of these lands.

This video differs from the previous in that it was edited to make a statement. Which it does very well, IMHO.

Berserk cop:
This one has been making the rounds. Like a lot of people at the deOccupy Honolulu encampment, Chris Nova Smith always has a cellphone camera ready to document raids and police actions. When a cop went berserk and Chris tried making a complaint at the police station, the berserk cop prevented him from doing so, and his buddies helped! It's like they didn't see the camera? What the heck were these guys thinking?

I'll be highlighting more guerrilla video from Hawaii soon. If you see any, send them over for me to look at. Email me at hdougm at gmail dot com.

Defend the right to own and bear cameras! (And learn how to shoot one safely.)

H. Doug Matsuoka
6 April 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

What to do when poverty becomes a crime

2013-03-23T14:33:00.000-10:00

This past Wednesday (3/20/2013), the Honolulu City Council met to hear Bill 7 which would empower the police and City crews to declare any tent, bedding, clothing, or food on public property a "nuisance" subject to immediate seizure without notice. And realistically speaking, the property would not be subject to return to the owners. The bill passed the second hearing after much testimony against, but no discussion among councilmembers.

Bill 7 is actually milder than its companion Bill 6 which would seize any structure designed for shelter as well as subject "illegal campers" to arrest and a year in jail. Both seemingly fly in the face of Constitutional protections and ancient Hawaiian Law. The Kanawai Mamalahoe of Kamehameha protects the humble from the powerful in part by protecting the safety of those lying by the roadside. The law is incorporated into the State Constitution.

What to do? I caught Kanaka Maoli activist Laulani Teale right after the hearing. Convinced that a government that treats people like this is not long for the world, Teale cites both the Kanawai Mamalahoe and the lesser known Niaupio Kolowalu of Kualiʻi (that humanely requires the feeding of the hungry and the housing of the houseless) and suggests:

"What we need to do is we need to start reforming what will be here instead. Follow the ancient laws. Feed people who are hungry, help people who need help, take care of one another, respect those people... People who must lie by the roadside [must be] protected. Stand up for those people. We need to stand up. We need to stand together.."

The proposed bills also conveniently take a pot shots at protest groups like deOccupy Honolulu and anyone else hoping for protection of 1st Amendment free speech provisions. The group encamped on the lawn of Honolulu Hale the night of the hearing and invited councilmembers to the sleep over. None accepted the invitation. Several deOccupiers gave testimony against Bill 7, but to no questions or discussion from Councilmembers. Iʻll have video of some testimony soon.

But for now, can I move you take a closer look at the bills and submit testimony opposing Bill 6, and 7?

Links:

Bill 6: http://www4.honolulu.gov/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-134353/7lsk1-0h.pdf
Bill 7: http://www4.honolulu.gov/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-134717/7mft2b_b.pdf

Submit testimony: http://www4.honolulu.gov/docushare/dsweb/View/Collection-1777

H. Doug Matsuoka
23 March 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

Rath: "I guess I only had a right to own things when I had a place to stay"

2013-03-20T01:07:00.000-10:00

[Richard Rath is an Associate Professor of History and the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Rath emailed this to Councilmember Chang regarding proposed ordinances in Bills 2, 6, 7, and 8, which target Oahu's homeless population. Bills 7 and 8 will be heard today, 3/20/13, on the 2pm agenda at Honolulu Hale.

Links to the text of the bills are at the bottom of this post. Doug]

03/14/13

Dear council member Chang,

“I guess I only had a right to own things when I had a place to stay.”

I am writing to ask you to refuse to support bills 2, 6, 7, and 8. Please vote against these bills for the following reasons:

While all these bills proclaim as a common interest the free flow of traffic, they are clearly directed in their consequences against the houseless, including those houseless who have used their right to speak up politically. These bills remove the property rights of anyone without a permanent address. The constitution, forced on the Islands with the illegal overthrow and annexation, has many safeguards against the infringement of property rights. Indeed, the Declaration of Independence of the US is based on the inalienable right to “happiness,” which to anyone who has studied the origins of that idea knows, means property (they changed the word in part to defuse arguments about enslaved Africans as property). Nowhere does it say that such rights will be limited to those fortunate and well off enough to have a roof over their head, yet that is what each of these bills says in its own way.

Bill 2, while claiming to be about the protection of traffic through the sidewalks (a legitimate concern, which as far as I have seen, all the houseless, politicized or not, have done their best to respect) in fact removes the rights of houseless people to their property, subjecting it to arbitrary seizure. The sidewalks are the only place left for the houseless to go unmolested. This is inscribed on our police badges and in the state constitution, in the provision of Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the law of the splintered paddle, which assures that anyone may lie by the side of the road unmolested. The City and County have shut down access to parks, raided out of the way encampments from the side of Diamond Head to Waianae, and gotten the houseless population largely confined to that narrow strip of sidewalk. While this may be the letter of the law, and in fact the letter of the state constitution only permits the old, women and children that right, the spirit of the law is that even the least of our fellows deserves the good treatment and the right to protect life, liberty, and property and go about their living without being harassed, stolen from, and bullied by the state, city, and county.

In practice (meaning in the execution of the equally flawed Bill 54 of last year and its descendants), Bill 2 and the other bills would arbitrarily take away the property rights of the houseless in other ways. By making the rightful owner jump through an impossible set of hoops to regain that property, by charging the rightful owner for the city's theft of that property when the city knows that the houseless population, even the ones who speak up politically, do not have the resources to pay the city fees, by the city selling off the valuables if the rightful owner cannot provide documentation, even knowing that most of the possessions are second hand, undocumented, and thus irretrievable, by making the city to perform due diligence to find the address of the houseless people -- this is particularly absurd, of course, since they are living on the streets precisely because they do not have an address: By all these means, the city is singling out and discriminating against the most vulnerable of our citizens instead of addressing the problems that underlay houselessness in the first place: The great wealth inequity, the inability for people, especially local working class people and people of color, to make a living wage , the utter lack of affordable housing, the lack of any commitment to bettering our society rather than just punishing and oppressing those with the least voice and sucking up to those with the deepest pockets. Again, the proposers and supporters of this bill should be ashamed.

The proposed law against tents is a bizarre attempt to legislate the free speech of deOccupy Honolulu out of existence that will greatly impact all the houseless. This was tried in Bill 54 as well, and when raids prior to APEC happened, authorities tried to tell other houseless people that it was because of DeOccupy rather than admitting it was a police paramilitary action (look at the pictures of actions before and during APEC if you think I am exaggerating) in the most militarized state in the union. This is a ridiculous attempt to blame the people speaking up for houseless rights and making them most visible. For the most part, the houseless saw right through that nonsense. Poor is not equal to stupid. The law against tents would hurt every houseless person in an attempt to single out those who protest. It did not work before and it will not work this time because it does not address the actual problems, the ones the protesters are underscoring by their very presence. That presence and those tents are their political expression on behalf of all the houseless and their allies.

Political expression is something that can only happen at tables in bill 7. Any other form of protest or political expression, especially political expression that points directly to the failings of the city county, and state to protect the interests of any but the wealthiest and most entitled citizens, is forbidden. You have the right to free speech as long as your not fool enough to actually try it. If you do speak up, especially if you do so loudly, creatively, with few resources, and not through the greased and corrupt channels of City Hall (sorry, but that is the only way to understand the favoritism shown to special monied and powered interests), you will be shut down through laws that declare your political expression a “sidewalk nuisance.” And remember, it is the city that has herded all the houseless to the sidewalks in the first place, creating the problem instead of addressing the underlying issues. Remember that when you get outraged that the tents are parked so close to traffic. It is the city that narrowed the meaning of sidewalk to the point that the only place left was at the edge of the sidewalk right next to traffic. The bill is disingenuous in claiming concern for the well being of the people the city itself put in harm's way!

Finally, the banal to underscore the hypocrisy. Merchants and their property are treated separately and better than the rights and property of the houseless under these bills. Let not a poor merchant get tangled up with the bureaucracy of the city in retrieving their shopping cart, so there is a proviso in two of the bills giving merchants a way out of the consequences of these laws. Only the houseless should be fined, imprisoned (in the case of the tent law), and stolen from, because of course “they” are the problem. You do understand they are just the symptom calling out loud and clear and that it takes a corrupt politician to reformulate that into an all out attack against free expression and property of the most vulnerable people in our state. It takes a special kind of empowered and entitled ignorance to conveniently not see that. The houseless see you, and they see the hypocrisy, very clearly. Talk to us (for while I have a roof over my head today, I stand in solidarity) some time instead of trying to sweep us away. We are humans, citizens, brothers and sisters. Treat us accordingly. Do the right thing and don't let these bills see the light of day.

These bills are directed at the houseless alone, including those who speak up in protest, removing their inalienable rights. This is an attack on the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society when the problem should be how to find adequate housing and resources in the vastly inequitable place that Hawaiʻi has become. The proposers of this bill should be ashamed at how they are proposing to treat the neediest people on this island.

Please, I am not calling you out on corruption because you have not yet supported the bills. Please do the right thing and see that these bills are not enacted, in any part or whole. I am writing because I have hope that the new administration since the last election will actually do the right thing rather than the easy (and corrupt, hypocritical) thing. Stop these bills now.

Sincerely, and in solidarity with the houseless of Honolulu county and everywhere else,

Richard Rath

[Here are links to the bills:

Bill 2: http://www4.honolulu.gov/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-133767/7kn-lp2k.pdf
Bill 6: http://www4.honolulu.gov/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-134353/7lsk1-0h.pdf
Bill 7: http://www4.honolulu.gov/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-134717/7mft2b_b.pdf
Bill 8: [Link isnʻt loading for me at moment...]

To sign up to testify, or submit testimony: http://www1.honolulu.gov/council/spkccl.htm

Filing a complaint on a berserk cop

2013-03-14T17:51:00.001-10:00

I'm working on posting a researched and reasoned response to the bunch of bills criminalizing homelessness (specifically Bills 2, 6, 7, and 8) that the Honolulu City Council is proposing as expedients to clear parks of pesky... I was almost going to write "campers" but camping is a recreational activity and those in tents simply have no private residence. But that will take a day or two to draft.

Meanwhile I got hold of some video by the Thomas Square Park deOccupy Honolulu people, Nova Smith and Sugar Russell. After more than 60 raids on the tent community, most police squad visitations are rather routine. deOccupy Honolulu is a politically organized group focused on pointing out the social and financial inequities inherent in a system that allows corporations to dictate legislation. By now, everyone who has had to endure these raids has formed a meaningful empathy with the houseless community. I sure have.

The City is currently under a Federal 9th Circuit Court agreement about how the raids can be conducted, and in any case the police know that this isn't an encampment where they will find weapons, drugs, or illegal activity. No one's going to bust Shao Lin moves or even hurl anything foul at the police other than strongly worded political commentary.

So when a cop went berserk during a raid yesterday and injured a deOccupier, Chris Nova Smith decided to walk the half block to the main Police Station and make a complaint. This video is from video shot by Smith and Russell.

This kind of threatened violence and berserk behavior is criminal and goes way beyond what should happen when making a complaint on a police officer. In my humble opinion. In any case, the police successfully prevented Smith from making a complaint that day. I believe he will make another attempt and I completely support that intent. I'm thinking more people and videographers/documenters might be necessary as "human shields" with cameras.

So there you have it. I just wanted to make a separate post with this video to make it easy to find and reference. I'll have a post on the Honolulu City Council's proposed ordinances to criminalize homelessness in another day or two.

H. Doug Matsuoka
14 March 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

deOccupy Honolulu: Resolution to End Encampment

2013-03-06T07:34:00.000-10:00

[deOccupy Honolulu has been continuously encamped at historic Thomas Square Park since November 5, 2013. They recently moved from the Beretania Street side of the park to the King Street side. What will it take to get them to leave the park? They answer in this press release. Doug]

[Picture of sign taken yesterday, 3/5/2013, and tagged for seizure today. From a Flickr set of ephemeral signs of deOccupy Honolulu.]

deOccupy Honolulu Submit Resolution to End Encampment

(de)Occupy Honolulu // www.deOccupyHonolulu.org
Facebook: Facebook.com/OccupyHonolulu
Twitter: @OccupyHonolulu Hashtag: #OHNL

MEDIA ALERT -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In response to Bills 2, 6, & 7 (de)Occupy Honolulu submits resolution to end encampment

Honolulu 3/6 – As (de)Occupy Honolulu sues the City & County of Honolulu in federal court over deprivation of civil rights during raids; the city fights back by criminalizing the houseless population in an attempt to remove the protesters. The City Council has submitted Bills 2, 6, & 7, targeting the houseless. Bill 2 is much like the current Bill 54, however makes sidewalks no longer public property. Bill 6 criminalizes anyone who has a tent on the sidewalk. The fine is up to $1000 and/or up to a year in jail with the instant confiscation of belongings. Bill 7 would define tents as a “nuisance” with the instant confiscation of belongings that will cost $200 to retrieve.

City Council member Ikaika Anderson has been at the forefront of this bills that will further criminalize the houseless in an effort to remove the movement. “Where do the rights of the Occupiers end,” asks Anderson. The City Council is not the only official supporting the legislation. Mayor Kirk Caldwell had stated that he intends to sign the Bill 7 and has requested city officials to escalate raids to every week.

ACLU Hawaii senior attorney Daniel Gluck reviewed the bills for city officials, and determined that they were not constitutional. “We intend to oppose,” Gluck said, “If implemented, the ACLU will be forced to bring a lawsuit in federal court.”

After sidewalk closures for tree trimming, the world’s longest running Occupy encampment moved from the north side of the park to the south side of the park. The movement has been hard at work discussing real solutions to the houseless problem. A resolution is being submitted to the city proposing to end (de)Occupy’s 24/7 vigil, that highlights the houseless crisis, at Thomas Square.

Resolution:

Let it be known that among the purposes of the ongoing DeOccupy Honolulu protest at Thomas Square are:

To assert that the continued occupation of Hawai‘i is illegitimate, and has been so since January 17th 1893;

To follow in the footsteps of Queen Liliʻuokalani and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in nonviolent resistance to injustice, especially against the poorest of the poor;

To stand in solidarity with the houseless, under the protection of Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle, which is enshrined in the Hawai’i State Constitution and emblazoned on the badge of the Honolulu police, and guarantees the right of the people to lay by the roadside undisturbed and in safety;

To assert that people come first before corporations, profit, and government;

To compel the City & County of Honolulu and State of Hawai‘i to stop treating being poor and houseless as a crime;

To stand in solidarity with those who are otherwise invisible, looked down upon, treated as criminals, chased from the streets and parks, harassed, abused and forgotten.

The changes we seek include, but are not limited to:

That the State of Hawai‘i and the City and County of Honolulu recognize and respect the rights and sovereignty of Kanaka Maoli and all nationals of Hawai‘i, and actively work to end the illegal occupation of Hawai‘i by the United States of America;

That the City and County of Honolulu and the State of Hawai‘i will abide by Kānāwai Māmalahoe, the Law of the Splintered Paddle, and protect the houseless, fishing villages and people living off the land instead of harassing them;

That the $4,100,000 of opt-out in-lieu fees that were assessed for Assistance Housing, but were funneled into the General Fund, be reinstated to help Hawai‘i’s houseless;

That opt-out in-lieu fees be raised on all new housing development to the Hawai‘i County level of $115,000 per unit, and that those funds be provided for Assistance Housing, i.e. shelter and low-income rentals, with a mandatory lock on those fees to prevent them from being diverted away from Assistance Housing programs;

In response to an ineffective shelter system, which provides only 2,000 beds for the 6,000+ houseless population, one-third of whom are children, that the City and County of f Honolulu and the State of Hawaiʻi will provide housing without any compromise of human and civil rights, and accommodate couples, families, pet owners, and people of all gender identities through abundant shelters of quality and Housing First;

That the State of Hawai‘i raise Minimum Wage to a Living Wage in line with Hawai‘i’s cost of living, as at least half of the houseless work, yet cannot afford housing in Hawai‘i;

That the City & County of Honolulu repeal Ordinance 10-26 and 11-029 to protect the rights of the houseless and end expensive, abusive and counterproductive police raids and harassment, and not enact any new ordinances of similar effect or intent;

That shelters allow the houseless to stay in shelters during the day when they are sick, and end curfews and other rules that do not respect basic freedom and human dignity;

That all government programs follow international human rights standards, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We are committed to these goals because they are the fair, just, and right thing to do.

- END -

[Note: deOccupy has invited the public to join in a sign waving today (Wednesday 3/6/13) at 1:30 to coincide with an expected seizure raid (of signs among other things) at 2:30pm. Doug]

Raid brings firsts: Advertising on crime tape, and discussion with the City

2013-02-01T13:03:00.001-10:00

There were some facts disappeared from yesterday's Star Advertiser story on the City's raid on deOccupy Honolulu — the 57th by my list but I may be missing some — but you really can't blame them. Star Advertiser photographer Dennis Oda showed up for part of the raid, and the bylined "Star Advertiser Staff" is a euphemism for cut and paste from the City's press release.

I was there for the entire raid and live streamed video and photographed the whole thing. There were a couple of authentic firsts at what would otherwise have been a routine raid. I don't know if this is part of the new Caldwell administration policy or what, but the "crime tape" that cordons off the exclusion zone required by the Federal court agreement now carries advertising.

Messages in dialog:

On tent:"I am a tent. Often I am used for camping, sleepovers, or housing. Today I am the face of the houseless and a movement fighting for social and economic justice. I am a sign. I am art. I am a message."

On new Honolulu Police Department crime tape advertisement: "Countdown Sales Event, up to $1000 off selected models / See Suzuki Dealer for Details / 0% APR for 5 years"

[Full captioned slideshow at Flickr]

While corporate sponsorship of raids on the homeless is certainly consistent with the Occupy Movement's world view, I can't see why anyone would want to be associated with these actions or may imagine that this kind of advertising is effective. There are better public service announcements that can be used instead of this sort of advertising. I'll be tracking down how organizations can take advantage of this new opportunity if it is indeed a new program, so stay tuned.

But there's more, and this first is perhaps as inadvertent but much more significant:

Under the Carlisle administration, the raids were conducted by Westley Chun, the Director of the Department of Facility Maintenance, a cabinet position. The new Director, Ross Sasamura was watching from the sidelines as Deputy Director Ken Shimizu — an old hand at this by now — actually led the raid (see the Flickr photo set).

While Sasamura dodged my questions with a "no comment," deOccupier Chris Smith (and Makiki Neighborhood Board member) was more successful in engaging him in an actual discussion, the first such dialog after more than a year of adversary action by the City on the group.

The last half of this edited video of the raid features part of the discussion between the two.

Perhaps these discussions will continue without the armed personnel or heavy equipment and their associated costs to tax payers?

H. Doug Matsuoka
1 February 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

The banner story: The Raul Gonzalez Kanawai Mamalahoe

2013-01-24T16:25:00.001-10:00

From its creation at the deOccupy Honolulu encampment to its illegal seizure the next day by police in a raid to its position in front of the official color guard of the Martin Luther King Day march through Waikiki, the true story of the Kanawai Mamalahoe banner by artist Raul Gonzalez.

Last year, when a couple of friends and I started Hawaiʻi Guerrilla Video, it was to continue doing what we were already doing: photograph, video, and livestream front-line social justice action in Hawaiʻi. People have to see whatʻs going on in their own community to be able to do the right thing, but the commercial media doesn't do an adequate job. People in many communities rely on independent media to get them the info they need. And not only did we want to provide coverage, but make the path from the street to the community broader and smoother for other videographers, journalists, and self-documentors.

I tell people that the First Amendment is the new Second Amendment, that to defend our freedom and promote justice, we all need to shoot and use the cameras we carry with us in our smartphones. I donʻt own a video camera and I donʻt know anyone who owns one that has it on him ALL the time. Most people have their smartphone on hip or at bed table 24/7.

I went to Waikiki this past Monday to livestream the Martin Luther King Day march through Waikiki and when I saw the Kanawai Mamalahoe banner it struck me what a history that banner had! I went back and pieced together the history through recorded livestream broadcasts, photos, and courtroom videos (and boy, is that another story).

The story here is told without voice over narration other than what was being said at the time. I let the banner and the events tell its own story. And now, I realize that by compiling the video from a number of clips and photos, at 30 minutes long, I have created my first "documentary." I call it guerrilla video, but I notice Raul Gonzalez calls it "roots video." Yes!

[For those who don't know it, "livestreaming" is broadcasting video directly from your smartphone or other device directly to the internet so people can follow along live. The quality of the video depends on bandwidth.]

Our videos carry a mahalo to Hawaiʻi People's Fund and The Kim Coco Iwamoto Fund for Social Justice. The Hui applied for and was awarded grants by these organizations. They help pay for things that one normally wouldn't imagine necessary: battery power, portable hotspots, and bandwidth. And also things like software and hardware. No cash or compensation goes to Hui members -- we do this because this is what we do.

You can see more about artist Raul Gonzalez at his Mictlan Murals page on Facebook.

H. Doug Matsuoka
24 January 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

ʻAʻole GMO! No GMO! march to the Hawaii State Capitol 1/16/2013

2013-01-17T07:25:00.001-10:00

While legislators were participating in opening ceremonies in the air conditioned comfort of chambers, others were in the hot sun marching toward them in record numbers.

It was an epic and historic gathering of like minded people from a broad demographic. My cellcam guerrilla video canʻt come close to capturing the grandeur of being with all these amazing people. Will the legislators hear us this time? What else do we have to do to get their attention?

There was a stage, microphones, and a PA system once we got to the Capitol. Speakers included Indiaʻs foremost anti-GMO activist, Dr. Vandana Shiva.

Just wanted to share for now. Comments to follow, of course...

H. Doug Matsuoka
16 January 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

Homelessness dilema: No one home at the House

2013-01-09T00:35:00.001-10:00

This story is too precious not to share: Thinking I might be interested, activist James W. Macey sends me an email with notices of two informational briefings at the State Legislature about homelessness. Oh yes I am interested! There are two scheduled one after the other on Tuesday, 1/8/13, and the second one at 10am specifically addresses "designating safe facilities located at camping areas." That's something someone documenting the deOccupy Honolulu encampment this past more than one year might find fascinating.

The hearing notice also expresses wanting to hear from a long list of relevant State of Hawaii department directors, and the mayors of all four counties. I gotta go to this thing and get the info. Are our public officials planning an escalation of the criminalization of the homeless? Are they going to continue to deprive the poor of the protection of law and the constitution (both State and Fed versions)?

So I get there a little early. This is going to be good. Haha! Except no one shows up! Rida Cabanilla is sitting by herself at a large and vacant table. Not a single member of her committee shows up. No testifiers are present. None as in nada none zilch.

This is pathetic. Funny, but pathetic. Without further ado, the latest cartoon of Your Tax Dollars at Work...

[Update of 1/16/2013: I received an email from Representative Denny Coffmanʻs office saying that he is no longer on the House Housing Committee. OK, so who is? Hitting the "HSG" link at the State Capitolʻs website currently brings up a "page not found" error. I checked the page of every representative on the notice and aside from chair Rida Cabanilla, only Mele Carroll lists herself as being on the committee. No one else. Even Vice Chair Ken Itoʻs page doesnʻt list him being on the Housing Committee.

One can only conclude that there is no House Housing Committee at the present time. Doug]

H. Doug Matsuoka
8 January 2013
Makiki, Honolulu

ʻAina Fest celebrates an active year against GMOs in Hawaii

2012-12-28T21:03:00.000-10:00

GMO-Free Oahu and Babes Against Biotech present this Sundayʻs (12/30/2012) "ʻAina Fest -- Food Sovereignty Now." Beginning with a march down Diamond Head Road (across from Kapiolani Community College) and ending at Kapiolani Park (near Kalakaua across from the Aquarium) it hopes to gather together the diverse opponents of GMO to meet each other, talk, and trade stories and ideas.

(Click images to embiggen)

There will be informational booths, childrenʻs activities, and prizes at the park. And organic food, of course.

From the organizers' statement:

We, members and friends of GMO-Free Oahu and Babes Against Biotech, would like you to join us in spreading awareness by demanding food sovereignty for all.

People have the right to decide what they eat and to ensure that food in their community is healthy and accessible for everyone. However, that right has been stripped from us by large corporate interests. The current food system does not support small, local farmers and sustainable agricultural practices. Consumers do not know if they are eating genetically modified food. For two decades, biotech has used prime agricultural lands in Hawai’i for growing genetically modified seed and experimental crops. Their practices is contrary to the heart of Hawaiian value of Malama ʻAina (love and respect of land).

The ʻAina Fest caps a year marked by a record number of protests and demonstrations against GMO in Hawaii. Here is some of the yearʻs anti-GMO action:

February 6, 2012
The Kiʻi of Haloa rises on State Capitol grounds:
In an effort to get some kind of GMO labeling bill heard, a group of activists from Oahu and the neighbor islands erect the kiʻi of Haloa on the grounds of the State Capitol in downtown Honolulu. The structure and the rallies have no effect on the biotech funded Hawaii legislature during the 2012 session.

The stone structure was erected in an afternoon by skilled stone workers from Oahu and the neighbor islands. Click here for more pics.

Hanohano Naehu talks about building kiʻi, the "Hawaiian Billboard" (edited from the livestream):

June 28, 2012
Monsantoʻs Kunia gate protest and demonstration:
For the first time, people are pissed enough to walk in the midday summer heat and stand in front of Monsantoʻs gate in Kunia on the island of Oahu. Monsantoʻs poison fields are directly across a residential subdivision and down the block from a shopping mall where the demonstration started.

Click here for complete photo story

Hereʻs a short highlight video edited from the livestream:

July 13, 2012
Syngentaʻs Kunia gate protest and demonstration:
Like other GMO corporations, Switzerland based Syngenta finds Hawaiʻi an ideal place for their experiments. For one thing, itʻs far away from their Switzerland home where growing GMO is banned. Some take the GMO industryʻs presence in Hawaiʻi as an assault on the ʻaina and the people.

Click here for complete photo story

July 19, 2012
Waimanalo Health Center presents GMO lobbyists!
A rare gathering of the top GMO execs/lobbyists make a presentation at Waimanalo Health Center. Except they refuse to allow any photography, audio recording, or video. Whoops, I leave my livestream on and catch the slick PR presentation of lies. And the people catch them in the lies.

Here's and edited version of my concealed camera livestream:

August 20, 2012
ʻAina defenders take the gate at Pioneer Hi-Bred in Waialua:
One disturbing thing is that since Oahu is very densely populated, all the GMO sites are very close to residential communities. DuPontʻs Pioneer Hi-Bred is being sued in Kauai for toxic drift onto a neighboring residential area. On Oahu, the are just up the road from Waialua High School. On August 20, 2012, a coalition of protesters take the gate for the afternoon and stand along the roadside so the neighbors can find out what is in their community.

Aubrie Marie of Babes Against Biotech Aubrie at the Waialua demonstration against Dupontʻs Pioneer Hi-Bred. Click here for complete photo story.

September 17, 2012
Occupy Monsanto demonstration at the State Capitol:
A nationwide call to protest multinational corporate GMO giant Monsanto is welcomed in Honolulu as protesters call for GMO labeling in front of the State Capitol building.

Anti-GMO activist makes a reasonable request. Click here for photo story.

My livestream of a great presentation on GMO and biotechnology by Dr. Juanita Mathews of the University of Hawaii didnʻt record video, but her presentation is so rich in info it makes a great audio (downloadable if you want) presentation/podcast here at Soundcloud.

November 21, 2012
Hearing on Monsantoʻs request for more water (at Kunia):
Monsantoʻs request to the Hawaii Water Commission to increase their allotment of water meets with public outrage. Hereʻs Mana Ai Daniel Anthonyʻs poignant testimony.

Does testimony like this effect the final decision on December 19? I hope so. Monsantoʻs request fails, 3 for, 3 against.

November 29, 2012
At Monsantoʻs gate again as Honolulu City Council ignores neighbor island GMO labeling provisions.
All three neighbor island counties pass provisions for the labeling of GMOs in their legislative package. Honoluluʻs City Council, heavily funded by the biotech industry, pulls that provision from the legislative package. The demonstration of November 29, is and attempt to get their attention for the last Council meeting of the year on December 5.

Nomi Carmona of Babes Against Biotech leads the group to Monsantoʻs Kunia gate. Note that subdivision Royal Kunia is right across the street from Monsantoʻs herbicide laden fields. Click here for full photo story.

Interview with one of the organizers, Nomi Carmona of Babes Against Biotech:

December 5, 2012
Honolulu City Council bans saying certain words from hearing and has the police eject activist who dares utter "GMO":
Council Chair Ernie Martin cuts the microphone of any member of the public who utters the words "GMO" or "PLDC" and even has one person ejected by police after 36 seconds of testimony for mentioning those forbidden words. Hereʻs video edited from the livestream of Blade Walshʻs forbidden words and the Councilʻs response (by police):

Which brings us up to this Sunday, December 30. See you at The ʻAina Fest!

H. Doug Matsuoka
28 December 2012
Makiki, Honolulu

Breaking news: deOccupy Honolulu wins Restraining Order against Honolulu

2012-12-17T19:38:00.000-10:00

From Sugar Russell:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Longest Running Occupy Encampment Wins Restraining Order against Honolulu, HI

Honolulu 12/17 -- On Wednesday, December 12th, members of (de)Occupy Honolulu filed a lawsuit against the City & County of Honolulu, Wesley Chun (Director & Chief Engineer of Department of Facilities Maintenance), Trish Morikawa (County Housing Coordinator), and Sergeant Larry Santos (Honolulu Police Department), over deprivation of civil rights during raids on the encampment, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai`i. On Monday, December 17th, a Temporary Restraining Order has been issued, until the Preliminary Injunction hearing in a month, dealing with raids of Thomas Square. All defendants have either quit their jobs or retired since the last raid at Thomas Square, the day before Thanksgiving.

Defendants Trish Morikawa (former Coordinator Office of Housing) and Westley Chun (former Director of Department of Facility Maintenance) pictured here at the June 26, 2012, raid on deOccupy Honolulu, are no longer employed by the City & County of Honolulu

The lawsuit focus on the city & county’s abuse of Ordinance 10-26 (AKA Bill 39), which limits the use of sidewalks after pushing (de)Occupy to the sidewalk, and Ordinance 11-029 (AKA Bill 54), which allows the Department of Facility Maintenance, Housing, Parks, and HPD to traumatize, steal, and brutalize the vulnerable houseless population.

Area taped off with HPD standing guard while bulldozer destroys property during raid 31 (of 53 to date) on deOccupy Honolulu on 5/31/12

Since the (de)Occupy camp was established on November 5, 2011, the movement has been fighting against Ordinance 11-029, which was used as a tool to repress freedom of speech within hours of being signed into law. City ordinances like Bill 39 and Bill 54 criminalize the houseless. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated in Tony Lavan v. City of Los Angeles, “For many of us, the loss of our personal effects may pose a minor inconvenience. However, . . . the loss can be devastating for the homeless.”

Retired Sgt. Larry Santos of HPD at left

“Houseless rights are human rights. We have been standing vigil 24/7 for over a year. During that time the city has repeatedly stolen and destroyed our collective and personal property, including car registrations, medications, and bedding of protesters and the houseless alike,” says Sugar Russell, plaintiff. “The city has humiliated people using intimidation and violence. This is what the government does to people who are willing and able to stand up and document abuse and inequality.”

Trish Morikawa directing the 35th raid (of 53 to date) on deOccupy Honolulu encampment on 8/7/12

“The fight is not over until the peoples’ voice means more than corporate money! (de)Occupy Honolulu is determined to shut down the unconstitutional ordinances of Bill 39 and Bill 54 throughout the County of Honolulu. Prioritizing programs like job placement, rehabilitation, and housing first will show a better return in value for both the community, and the thousands of houseless on the island,” says plaintiff Christopher Nova Smith. “Restructuring the assistance housing funds to mirror Hawaii County’s plan could offset the financial strain on the community. By investing in the value of people, the City and County of Honolulu can save taxpayers millions of dollars while promoting equal civil rights and community sustainability.”

- END -

[A playlist of videos (mostly edited from livestream recordings) showing the illegal seizure and destruction of property, and violation of free speech, civil rights, and the Kanawai Mamalahoe is here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpuR67BLmK3RCstuw_g_opGW1MoBvTB91

A Flickr set of deOccupy Honolulu actions and raids is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hdoug/collections/72157631014137840/

H. Doug Matsuoka
12/17/12
Makiki, Honolulu]

The very strange state of the State of Hawaii and its case against Laulani Teale

2012-12-10T21:37:00.002-10:00

OK, kind of a rant here, but it's as late at night for you as it is for me. Iʻm thinking about how really weird and twisted some things are here in Hawaii:

We take as our state motto -- Ua mau ke ea o ka 'āina i ka pono -- which proclaimed by Kauikeaouli, King Kamehameha III, denies the very existence of the State of Hawaii (hereʻs part of a video by Umi Perkins explaining that point);

And mindful that he would no doubt object to the imposition of foreign rule and an alien legal system on his nation, we name the District Court after him anyway (Kauikeaouli Hale);

We declare Hawaiian as well as English an official language of the State, and although we give government buildings and streets Hawaiian names, we donʻt require any further familiarity with the language or culture, even for government officials and judges;

We enshrine the Law of the Splintered Paddle, Kamehamehaʻs Kānāwai Māmalahoe, into the State Constitution, but donʻt require the State, its police, or its courts to possess any familiarity with it or understand it or have any intention of following it.

We also have panel discussions at the law school about how non-Hawaiians can support the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement without the concept of legal support to Hawaiians coming up except only peripherally. But thatʻs not a bullet point here because thatʻs a whole other post in the near future.

So, for the record, I present a short video: Hawaiian activist Laulani Teale reciting the Kānāwai Māmalahoe in court as the introduction to her closing argument in defense of the charges against her (November 15, 2012). She also translates it for the benefit of the court:

The complete closing arguments and the judgeʻs guilty verdict are in links below.

So, yes, the verdict was guilty, favoring testimony of City & County employees exclusively over video contradicting that testimony. And yes, Teale had to represent herself after finding no attorney willing to represent her. And yes, she will be appealing but has not yet found an attorney willing to help her.

None of this makes sense to me, but I guess that is the theme of this post.

H. Doug Matsuoka

10 December 2012

Makiki, Honolulu

For more info about Laulani Teale and her the circumstances surrounding the case, click this DougNote search link (this story will be at the top for now).

Video: Part 1 of closing arguments (30:44)

Video: Part 2, closing arguments and judgeʻs verdict (16:01)

Video: Skip directly to judgeʻs verdict at (15:04)

[Update: Received this from Laulani late last night:]

Mahalo, Doug! You nailed it on the irony of the State. And mahalo so much for all your awesome assistance with all of this! Mahalo too to the many others who helped as well - some attorneys among them, to be sure. You are all so wonderful!

I do want to be clear that I did not really go looking for representation during this phase of trial. I did need procedural advice at certain points; sometimes people helped amazingly with this, and sometimes I got notably blown off by most of the "law" world (by no fault of the individual attorneys who tried their best to help when they could). But that is part of the point here, too. At the point where no recourse to justice exists, Kānāwai Māmalahoe is in full effect.

Kānāwai Māmalahoe started with an ordinary fisherman taking the law, literally, into his own hands to protect himself from government abuse when nothing else could be done, and his right to do so was validated and ceremonially sanctified in a way that cannot be broken. This is because it speaks to a universal law of humanity, and was set into Kānāwai with the power to break government itself.

I likewise needed to address Mr. Carlisle due to his heinous abuse of the common people, including myself. Why did everyone in the government seem to believe I really intended to hit him with my pū (which I certainly would not have done, and showed no evidence of wanting to on video)? Perhaps it is because they all know the law just a little better than they let on.

It was important for me to address the court in the same way, with my own hands and voice. While I think I was pretty thorough in addressing the many applicable statutes, ordinances, rules and constitutional mandates they were bound to follow, as well as in clarifying their fundamental lack of sovereign authority due to the illegality of U.S. occupation, my main point was very simple: your abuse of the people needs to stop, here and now. If your government will not recognize this here in its own ceremony of court, then the law is clear: hewa nō, make.

I needed to speak that truth in their temple.

Ua noa.

All that being said, yes, I am looking for legal advice, at least, in moving forward through the appeal process. I may also have some paintings for sale soon, as the transcripts are extremely long and expensive. Please stay tuned!

Aloha!
posted by Laulani : December 10, 2012 11:31:00 PM HST

Quick update and reminder: Laulani Teale's trial Day 5, all day 11/9/2012

2012-11-09T00:03:00.001-10:00

Sorry I've been so out of touch. I plead a tired old "too much to keep track of" and "I promise a comprehensive update" on things like deOccupy Honolulu's 1 year anniversary. The one continuous year occupation of the Ward and Beretania corner makes it the most enduring encampment in the entire Occupy Movement worldwide.

But that's a long story. Just wanted to remind all that Day 5 of the trial of Laulani Teale will be today (Friday, November 9) at District Court. It's scheduled all day on the 7th floor starting at 8:30am in courtroom delta (7D) and changing in the afternoon at 1:30pm to courtroom alpha (yup, 7A). Laulani Teale is the activist who was arrested on disorderly conduct charges when trying to talk to Mayor Carlisle at the last May Day Lei Day celebration. Iʻm a witness. Or I should say, my video recording is a witness.

Yes, Hawaii Guerrilla Video's Kamuela Vance Viveiros will be covering the courtroom proceedings, but I will be hanging out in the witness room or out in the hallway like last time. I'm a witness so I can't be part of what's going on inside. So no live streaming, live tweets, etc.

Laulani's friends and supporters at end of Day 4

But I wonʻt be lonely because there are a bunch of witnesses and weʻll all be hanging out. A boombox and a cooler and a dollar at the door. Not quite, but kinda.

If youʻre around downtown Honolulu tomorrow drop by and say hello. District Court at 1111 Alakea, 7th floor. Iʻll have my streaming rig so I can interview you if you have anything to say, or you can follow my "hallway tweets" at @hdoug on Twitter.

And I hope to have more news for you tomorrow afternoon.

H. Doug Matsuoka

9 November 2012

Makiki, Honolulu

The 1st Amendment is the new 2nd Amendment

2012-10-17T00:12:00.000-10:00

OK, so itʻs past midnight and I have to go to sleep. Iʻm going to be a witness in the ever continuing trial of Laulani Teale later on today (Wed 10/17/12). Actually, before her trial, the Court will hear whether the Hawaii Guerrilla Video Hui can continue the court coverage it was granted by the original judge in the trial. Judge Paula Devens doubted that the original order allowing us to provide media coverage was "providently granted" and halted the trial to avoid media coverage. The ACLU supports our right for continuing coverage of the trial -- Iʻm a member of the named "Hawaii Guerrilla Video Hui."

My recorded livestream of the Teale arrest itself contradicts the testimony of the prosecutionʻs witnesses -- all of them City and County of Honolulu employees. Whether they will allow the video or not, Iʻll be able to show it to you so you can decide.

Which brings me to this point. I hear 2nd Amendment proponents talking all kinds of stuff about how the right to keep and bear arms will protect us. Whatever -- that may be the case. But bro (and sis), you already have a smartphone with a video camera. You can record and livestream off that thing. Learn how to shoot that thing because thatʻs what will help keep us free.

Iʻve livestream videoed a lot of the raids from deOccupy Honolulu and the neighboring homeless encampment on Victoria Street. Today, someone sent me a video they took of the police "standing by" in a 3am Waikiki raid while City crews stole property from the homeless. The videographer reports calling to reclaim the property but he was told that the property had been trashed. Thatʻs entirely consistent with my videos in town.

We need to arm all citizens, especially the homeless and those on the street. With cameras. Check this:

More tomorrow...

H. Doug Matsuoka
17 October 2012
Makiki, Honolulu

Two members of deOccupy Honolulu's "chain gang" arrested

2012-09-26T19:25:00.000-10:00

When Honolulu Police Department (HPD) officers and City crews raided the deOccupy Honolulu encampment today to seize property tagged yesterday, they also came upon three protesters who had chained themselves to each other and to the tent flooring pallet. The "chain gang" was protesting the City's continuing use of Bill 54 (ordinance 11-029) to seize and destroy the belongings of the homeless.

Press interview the deOccupy Honolulu "chain gang" after police left. Two -- Catherine Russell and Jehle Phillips were later arrested and released on bail.

The police called for an ambulance and a firetruck, but the firemen to their credit refused to cut the chain gang out of their chains so they could be removed to jail. And the ambulance workers likewise refused that their ambulance be used as paddy wagon. So the police left to raid the pop-up encampment that deOccupy Honolulu had set up at the University of Hawaii on September 17, as part of the worldwide Occupy Monsanto effort.

That encampment had been moved temporarily to private property to circumvent the ordinance. The police did not even bother getting out of their cars at that encampment and left after being called out by the deOccupy Honolulu bullhorns.

Shortly after the chain gang disentangled themselves, police swooped in and arrested two, Catherine Russell and Jehle Phillips at Thomas Square. They were charged with Obstruction of Government Operations and were released quickly on bail.

I don't know if this case will present an opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of Honolulu's Bill 54, but it's worth speculating on. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently found LA's version of the ordinance violates the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, but as Larry Geller points out, they had a lawyer. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, deOccupy Honolulu plans to go ahead with their Off Art After Dark this Friday (9/28), a permitted event with live music, art, and of course, an open mic celebration of free speech. The better to preach the primary tenet of the group, the separation of corporation and state.

Here's a 5 minute edit of today's livestream coverage of the raid:

Now, if these raids would stop for a while, I could get you my article on the goals and accomplishments of the group during the last (almost) one year!

Click for a Flickr photo set of today's events.

H. Doug Matsuoka
26 September 2012
Makiki, Honolulu

How your news gets disappeared by the Court

2012-09-20T01:03:00.004-10:00

So how did the trial of Laulani Teale go today at District Court? Tealeʻs first court appearance on a disorderly conduct charge was on August 24 of this year. The four officers who were subject to subpoena did not show up. If you or I donʻt show up at court, the Court issues a warrant for our arrest. In this case, they continued the trial to today.

Laulani Teale in Court during her August 24 appearance

Before Teale's first Court appearance, I applied for and received an order for "Extended Media Coverage" that would allow me and Kamuela Vance Viveiros to video and photograph the proceedings. The application cited Hawaii Guerrilla Video Hui as the media organization. Viveiros and I are both founding members of the hui which was recently awarded a grant by the Hawaiʻi People's Fund and the Kim Coco Iwamoto Fund for Social Justice to continue frontline media coverage of social justice actions. Viveiros' recently competed documentary, Kalo Culture, will premier on October 13, at the Hawaii International Film Festival.

Viveiros -- also an experienced Olelo producer -- showed up at Court with the digital video rig he uses to produce documentaries. It's small, portable, and high quality. I came with my streaming media rig which includes an iPhone and a Verizon hotspot for bandwidth. I routinely stream at around 1 megabit per second for high quality streaming video on the internet.

Judge Paula Devens did not even let the hearing begin after finding the Court's order allowing the hui to video somehow flawed or otherwise not to her liking. She claimed not to see "television cameras." By that I assume she means the monstrously huge set ups that TV news crews use in the movies. Since Devens canʻt herself void another judgeʻs order, she scheduled a continuance to October 17, at which time the original judge will revisit his order allowing us extended media coverage, and for Laulani Tealeʻs trial to progress directly after that.

So Iʻm seeing a scenario where the judge gets the not so subtle hint to disallow the hui to cover Tealeʻs trial. Just my own opinion here, but it seems to me the Court has already taken sides and decided that having the public see four big-body officers next to the rather petite Teale may make the desired guilty verdict something of an absurdity.

But thatʻs something the public wonʻt see. It will have been effectively disappeared in advance.

Larry Geller of Disappeared News was there too. Hereʻs his take on the same thing:
Why this is not a more interesting article

And for some background on the actual arrest:
Laulani Teale arrested during Lei Day program at Kapiolani Park

H. Doug Matsuoka
19 September 2012
Makiki, Honolulu

Well okay, not to leave you without something. After the abbreviated hearing, Teale revealed that she had brought through security and into the courtroom the "weapon" cited by the police officers.

And hereʻs the link to Viveirosʻ Kalo Culture premier at this yearʻs Hawaii International Film Festival:
http://program.hiff.org/films/detail/kalo_culture_2012

(de)Occupy Honolulu celebrates Occupy Wall Street’s one-year anniversary

2012-09-16T13:23:00.000-10:00

Day 316, deOccupy Honolulu: Although Honolulu took 49 days after Occupy Wall Street took Zuccotti park to set up their own encampment at the corner of Ward and Beretania, (de)Occupy Honolulu is the longest continuing encampment in the worldwide Occupy Movement.

In the works is a short history and list of accomplishments (in the face of 42 raids by police and City crews) but for now I'm circulating the official schedule of events celebrating the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.

Honolulu will be joining various Hawaii Occupy groups and the Occupy Movement worldwide to stop corporate GMO giant Monsanto.

I'll be live streaming some of the events starting tonight. Follow me @HDoug at Twitter for broadcast notifications, or Ustream channel HonoluluDoug.

And follow the Twitter hashtag #S17 for news before it's disappeared.

H. Doug Matsuoka
16 September 2012
Makiki, Honolulu

For Immediate Release
September 15, 2012

Occupy Wall Street, the first of many public demonstrations that have now spanned into a world-wide grassroots movement, will be celebrating its first anniversary on September 17th, 2012. In solidarity with OWS’s calls to action, (de)Occupy Honolulu has plans for the upcoming days.

(click to enlarge0

On Sunday, September 16th from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm activities kick-off with a celebration; Food Not Bombs and a live streaming party marking the anniversary of the Occupy movement by joining a countdown to midnight in time zones across the United States.

Beginning Monday, September 17, at 10:00 am and continuing through the week, “Occupy UH Manoa-santo,” a public forum and encampment, will be formed on the sidewalk at University & Dole Street. A rally will be held at the Hawai‘i State Capitol from 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm, followed by a discussion on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) at Thomas Square from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, featuring guest speakers and soap box. At 6:00 pm, a march will commence from Thomas Square and end at University & Dole to join the encampment there. Documentaries, music, and other media will be shown at the UH encampment media center.

"At the UH Manoa campus, you have CTAHR," explains Blade W., “It stands for College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. They've received $620,000 from Monsanto to establish the Monsanto Research Fellows Fund. We’re setting up an encampment at UH to bring public attention to the University’s connection to this harmful form of agriculture.”

"Monsanto's money has blinded the University to the downsides of GMO." tells Michael Broady Jr., "When you listen to the official story, biotechnology seems like a positive thing. It is supposed to help farmers grow more food, prevent loss of crops, while Monsanto is able to provide the University with funding. However, those first two claims have not been substantiated, instead leading 250,000 farmers in India to suicide due to the increased dependence on Monsanto which comes with patented GMO seed. I urge UH CTAHR to question the paradigm of monoculture, which is not profitable if all factors are considered including damages to the environment and human health."

(de)Occupy Honolulu stands in solidarity with the larger Occupy movement and all those in occupied territory throughout the world. Organizers have kept a full presence at Thomas Square since November 5, 2011. It is the longest, sustained Occupy encampment in the world.

Links:

facebook.com/occupyhonolulu
deoccupyhonolulu.org
occupy-monsanto.com/
occupywallst.org/

Facebook events like for deOccupy Honolulu
https://www.facebook.com/OccupyHonolulu/events

Schedule for Sept 16 & 17:

#S16
Food Not Bombs @ Thomas Square (3 pm - 6 pm)
LiveStream Party @ Thomas Square (6 pm - 10 pm)

#S17
Rally @ Hawaii State Capitol (12 - 3 pm)
Network, organize, and stand against harmful agriculture.

Discussion @ Thomas Square (3 - 6 pm)
GMO discussion, guest speakers, and soap box.

March to University & Dole (6 - 7 pm)
Bring your expression! Voice, art, signs, banners, tent!
Soap box, media, and public forum.

Camp at U.H. on University and Dole all week long starting the night of the 17th.

Then and Now (notes for a presentation on activism in Hawaii)

2012-09-11T13:26:00.000-10:00

I've been asked to give a presentation for a class focusing on the history of local activism, especially comparing the movements of "then" with the "now" of Occupy Movement (at deOccupy Honolulu) and Hawaiian Sovereignty/Kanaka Maoli struggles. At least that's what I think I'm presenting -- as documentor who was there then and is here now.

My premise is that activism (or "reactivism") has a definite cultural component and you are "activated" when something strikes you as compelling. And often that can be culturally defined.

Rather than just be some old guy with reminiscences, I thought I would present some data that might be interesting. So here is my outline with notes and links.

Intro and format of presentation:

I was 19 and at UH in 1971, 42 years ago. Some old guys I remember talking sense then, compared to my 60 yrs old now:

John Kelly (52 then) -- Save Our Surf
Love, Truth, and Action

Robert Aitken, Roshi (54) AFSC, Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Should say where I'm coming from politically to put my presentation into context and let people know not only where I'm coming from but where I'm going to.

Want to avoid having "activistitis." Mention Madori's aversion to the word "activist."

Also want to avoid inducting people into the "nonprofit industrial complex."

Brief bio and the world I grew up in:

Why I have the only western name in my family and why it was a toss up between Douglas and Dwight: HUAC and McCarthyism. The bad guys: communists and the USSR (which disappeared in ... 1990 or so...?)

I. Mostly Nukes:

1952 Year of birth (my mom and dad are 31 and 34), first Hydrogen bomb test detonation in Pacific Proving Ground vaporized Enewetok atoll with equivalent force of 10 Megatons or 769 Hiroshima bombs.

1957 (5 yrs old): Amid reports of atomic bomb tests by Russians, our TV experiences periodic static. Dad says it's from Sputnik circling overhead. Thanks dad!

1960 (8 yrs old): Parents take me to Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory). Based on a novel written by communist Howard Fast about a historic Roman slave revolt, screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood Ten to be imprisoned by HUAC. At 8 it was mostly a boring film with small bits of sword action and nudity.

1961 (9 yrs old): Stand on the sidewalk and watch Starfish Prime light up the sky with equivalent 1,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. Russians test drop largest hydrogen bomb yet. Tsar bomb detonation equivalent almost 4,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs.

1962 Pacific Proving Ground ends, American nuclear testing ends after detonation of 210 Megatons detonations in, on, or over Pacific. Equivalent of 16,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. Who's afraid of Fukushima.

Both Russian atomic weapons designer Andrei Sakharov and American atomic weapons designer J. Robert Oppenheimer become anti-nuke activists. Both Russian and American plans are to use nuclear weapons to inflict fatalities in the hundreds of millions.

II. Civil Rights,"The" War, the draft, killing, dying:

(Cover of large format family magazine when I am 13 yrs old)

Article link to "Iconic Photos"

"Unregulated" news gathering. Journalist let loose in the field bring back stories. No internet, but TV and magazines show war in "living color" (NBC television slogan).

1965 (13 yrs old): Watts riots.
1967 (15 yrs old): Detroit riots.
Civil Rights acts of 1964 and 1968.
Summer of Love. Didn't get any.

1968: Man on moon - yay!

1968 What did I see at Laurence Hata photo lab in Waikiki.

1969 (17 yrs old) My Lai massacre of 1968 revealed -- massacre of 500 women, children, and elderly by US soldiers.

1969 (17 yrs old) First "activist" actions against Vietnam war and draft. Help coordinate successful school strike/walkout protesting Cambodia bombings.

John Kelly and Save Our Surf. Wave size calculation. Surf prediction science.

Friend Mike Moriarty tells me about the Blount Report. My reaction: "Yeah, sure."

1970 (18 yrs old) Four dead in Ohio. I graduate Kalani High school. Register with the Selective Service. Draft lottery number reported in paper as 30. Misprint, it was 300. I petition for and receive Conscientious Objector status. Hear about Ethnic Studies struggles.

I'm a documentor. Somewhere around here I meet Ed Greevy. We both are fans of W. Eugene Smith.

American casualties in Vietnam = 58,000. In Iraq = 4,488. =American Vietnam War casualties are 13 times greater.

Vietnamese casualties in Vietnam War (military and civilian) = 1,500,000.
Iraqi casualties in Iraqi war =

Video interview of photographer who caught execution photo:
http://youtu.be/Bv11KilBpHQ

1970's UH:

What is odd and what is not?

Bachman Hall occupations for Ethnic Studies. Why is Ethnic Studies established so far ahead of Hawaiian Studies?

John Witeck's history of the Ethnic Studies program at UH.

University of Hawaii has no Hawaiian Studies. This isn't "odd" to many people.
Center for Hawaiian Studies creation timeline: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hshk/index.php/site/acad_studies_hist/en/

Save Our Surf to Ethnic Studies to Hawaiian Sovereignty issues.

Other differences between Then and Now:

Grabbed this random Jefferson Airplane poster from the net. Some time around late 60's Jefferson Airplane did a free concert at the Waikiki Shell. Threw tabs of acid (LSD in aluminum foil sugar cubes) into crowd. I got there too late.

World population 1971: 3,500,000,000
World population 2012: 7,000,000,000
Twice the world population now.

Hawaii population 1971: 769,913
Hawaii population 2012: 1,340,674
74% increase in population

Tuition at UH in 1973-74 (per Ibrahim Aoude): $81/semester
Tuition at UH in 2012-13 (per website): $4,332/semester
(Inflation adjustment $81 in 1973 = $424
Tuition = 10X more now adjusted for inflation

Kinds of drugs used stats
Sexual behavior, STDs (no AIDS), birth control pills. People related to people very differently.

UH campus much more uptight and locked down now.

2011 The "phone call"?

2008 Crash, layoff, brush with death, APEC, Occupy movement.

The Kanawai Mamalahoe encampers and supporters (including a large contingent from Occupy Honolulu) pick up the pu'uhonua and take it on a five hour circumnavigation of Kapiolani Park! At "park" opening of 5am, we return it to the same spot.

2011 APEC week Kanawai Mamalahoe encampment gets help from deOccupy Honolulu. Flickr set.

The anarchist missionaries and the relationships and the metal bits in the face. March 14, 3am raid -- young women lead kūʻē. Not an old boy's network. Edited Youtube of raid.

Flickr collection of the sets of photos from deOccupy Honolulu starting with first Bill 54 raid on 2/2/12.

Raids to date

"Activistitis" and the Nonprofit Industrial Complex. Startacus redux?

How do you get from deOccupy Honolulu to Songs of Sovereignty? I'd like to see gatherings bringing different groups together to discuss how to work together. What should a non-Hawaiian person's attitude and actions be toward Hawaiian Sovereignty issues?

What is the fundamental basis for activism? Who we are; the two stacks of stuff comprising the Universe and how to shape long term actions to accommodate them.

OK, so how do you get from deOccupy Honolulu to Songs of Sovereignty? Follow Karen.

Nine minute clip from the live stream of deOccupy Honolulu's Food Not Bombs Jam and Song's of Sovereignty 8/26/2012 in Thomas Square.

H. Doug Matsuoka
11 September 2012
Makiki, Honolulu

From deOccupy Honolulu to Songs of Sovereignty

2012-08-28T23:08:00.002-10:00

Some would think Hawaiian Sovereignty groups and deOccupy Honolulu would have trouble sharing Thomas Square… or anything else for that matter. But this yearʻs La Hoʻihoʻi Ea, (the commemoration of the restoration of sovereignty on July 31, 1843) saw the participation of deOccupy Honolulu with the Kanaka Maoli groups that filled the Victoria Street quadrant of the park at the end of last month.

I think some people want to look at the park and see a vast unused expanse of greenery and feel offended when something else happens there. But there are many ways to share park space and use. It takes cooperation, not armed police and bulldozers.

This past Sunday a Hawaiian sovereignty group met for the first of many "Songs of Sovereignty" gatherings. Of course, deOccupy Honolulu has been holding its "Food Not Bombs" jam sessions at the same day and time for months. Conflict? Time to call the police and bulldozers? Not at all.

So, how does one get from deOccupy Hawaii to Songs of Sovereignty? Follow Karen. (Oh, you were thinking this was an ideological question?)

(De)Occupy Honolulu is in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the worldwide Occupy Movement which asserts that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. They urge people to exercise the right to peaceably assemble, occupy public space, create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

H. Doug Matsuoka

28 August 2012

Makiki, Honolulu

P.S. There has been a steady stream of information coming out of the deOccupy Honolulu encampment and I havenʻt been able to keep up! More reporting soon, I promise!

Today's "Heil Carlisle" raid on deOccupy Honolulu clears corner -- but for how long?

2012-08-08T20:29:00.002-10:00

Day 277, deOccupy Honolulu. I swear, I was working on a pleasant, uplifting little article on the recent accomplishments, achievements, and precious moments at deOccupy Honolulu (at the art and political events in the park) when the third raid in three days cleared the whole corner.

And since the mainstream media isnʻt covering it, a little interim report follows:

The City must be upset that yesterdayʻs raid was such a public humiliation for them. They had invited media to witness massive heavy equipment and armed force to close the encampment. But the deOccupiers had swapped out the tents making themselves exempt from seizure under the Bill 54 ordinance 11-029. The tents were swapped out again, but today they didnʻt bother following the law at all and just seized everything even though nothing was tagged and nothing was at all subject to seizure.

Tell me if Iʻm wrong. Iʻm thinking that under pressure from lagging poll numbers, Mayor Carlisle sent a couple of cabinet members (Westley Chun and Kenneth Shimizu) and a buddy from his days as Prosecutor (Trish Morikawa) to the deOccupy Honolulu corner (Ward and Beretania) with a bunch of police, big body crews, bulldozers, dump trucks, and other heavy equipment to clear the corner at all costs. Then he could pop out his chest and boast about how he put these political dissenters in place. But how long will it stay cleared? Theyʻve done this before to no avail. Theyʻve either tagged or attempted seizure more than 30 times and they havenʻt managed to keep the protesters off the corner for the last 277 days. Iʻm thinking tents will be back on the corner this evening.

RRrrrr. Okay, maybe Iʻm venting. While I work on the uplifting article, I thought Iʻd show some photos and what not of todayʻs raid. Oh, Iʻm calling it the "Heil Carlisle" raid not just Director of Department of Facilities Management Westley Chun struck a perfect "Heil Carlisle" pose at the end of the raid, but because this method of controlling peaceful (and well organized) protest has been used before. By that other guy that compared poor minorities to "rat infestations."

Anyway, Beretania is the street that many voters will drive down on their way to the polling station on Saturday. Just sayinʻ.

Meanwhile, hereʻs a Flickr set of photos from todayʻs raid, plus a short video of Trish Morikawa stealing a tent, and links to the livestream recordings from me, Nova, and iZombies. Those should keep you occupied (no pun intended, really) until I finish drafting my article listing some of the significant achievements of the movement and encampment.

(De)Occupy Honolulu is in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the worldwide Occupy Movement which asserts that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. They urge people to exercise the right to peaceably assemble, occupy public space, create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

[Update: Just for the record, red tents went up that very night. Continuous encampment continued. Doug]

H. Doug Matsuoka
Makiki, Honolulu
08 August 2012

The Life of the land... goes into the garbage

2012-08-03T02:50:00.000-10:00

Day 272, deOccupy Honolulu. In a midnight raid, Honolulu police and City crews descended on the deOccupy Honolulu encampment on the corner of Ward and Beretania to seize artwork created for this past weekendʻs "Off Art After Dark" event and Sundayʻs "La Hoʻihoʻi Ea," the commemoration of the return of sovereignty to the Hawaiian nation on July 31, 1843.

Hereʻs a livestream of the raid by iZombies:

The main installation, an art wall, was painted with the words, "E mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono," in solidarity with Sundayʻs La Hoʻihoʻi Ea commemoration of the return of sovereignty to the Hawaiian nation.

[The art wall before destruction]

The other side of the wall featured works by #STanigawa. These paintings -- many of them political statements -- were seized and destroyed on site.

The area of the installation is directly across the sidewalk from the encampment, and not within the walled park boundaries. Armed police were used to keep deOccupy Honolulu residents from saving the artwork.

Many of the #STanigawa pieces in this flickr set were destroyed.

Stay tuned for more info.

H. Doug Matsuoka

03 August 2012

Makiki, Honolulu

Hey Big Brother, Little Brother is watching back!

2012-07-20T08:00:00.000-10:00

[First posted at DisappearedNews.com on July 19, 2012.]

Day 257, DeOccupy Honolulu. I couldnʻt be at Thomas Square today for the expected seizure/tagging raid by Honolulu Police and the Department of Facilities Maintenance, so I followed along on Honolulu City & Countyʻs "traffic cam" of the area. The encampment was abbreviated in preparation of the seizure raid, and also because there is currently a second encampment in front of Kamehameha Schools Kawaiahaʻo Plaza protesting Bishop Estate landlord injustice.

I followed along also on livestreamer "iZombies" livestream of the raid. And when the police and DFM crews went to the Kawaiahaʻo encampment I switched to livestreamer "RebelutionNovaʻs" channel. My five photo Flickr set also has links to the recorded livestreams.

I long ago noticed that the camera was almost never focused on the traffic. Itʻs usually focused directly on the DeOccupy Honolulu encampment. This is creepy in some ways, and in some ways, not.

Mayor Carlisle had some expensive high resolution cams put in for APEC but the image gets deresolved before itʻs served to the public. The one devoted to DeOccupy Honolulu is usually (around 5 out of 6 images) especially blurred out. I did find a (legal) way to access the unblurred image, though.

Hereʻs one I just captured from the official "traffic cam."

And hereʻs one from the same cam, but from a different source:

During todayʻs raid, I noticed the camera "zoom" into the action. Check the Flickr set for some comparison shots.

For better or worse, weʻre living more and more in public, and Iʻm okay with that. Now, imagine if we could bring this sort of transparency to government! Iʻd really like to see who Mayor Carlisle is talking to or what lobbyist is buying the drinks for my legislator. Or whatever.

Maybe a politician will volunteer for some kind of constant live streaming coverage? He/she would be able to turn it off whenever he/she wanted to, but at least the public would either be able to follow or know he/she had killed the feed. What think you?

H. Doug Matsuoka

Ustream "HonoluluDoug"

19 July 2012

Makiki, Honolulu

The Vegas Ohana and DeOccupy Honolulu protest Bishop Estate

2012-07-11T02:49:00.002-10:00

[Photo by DeOccupy Honolulu]

Even before it got dark, the line of red tents fronting Bishop Estate headquarters at Kawaiahao Plaza in downtown honolulu was growing. By midnight there were seven in a neat line:

The Vegas family has been trying to get Bishop Estate to do something to prevent the continual flooding of their Punaluʻu property. At this point, they are working against an eviction order -- from their home, not the tents.

Some background here at the Vegas familyʻs BishopEstateLandlordInjustice.com and in this video.

More later,

H. Doug Matsuoka

11 July 2012