Open Letter to Governor Abercrombie

Dear Governor Neil Abercrombie:

For about 15 years County of Maui and State of Hawai'i have knowingly allowed, aided and abetted a lucrative, harmful and violent criminal enterprise to flourish in Kahului and online. The county has gone so far as to allow the criminals to use violence against me to stop my lawful demonstrations that expose the scams. There is now an extra-judicial ban on my lawful demonstrations, a ban enforced by potentially-lethal violence and threats of murder. Details are provided in previous posts on this blog (especially third post previous to this one, posted on 3/28/12) and my blog www.killerlies.blogspot.com.

The motive of the governments is clearly financial. As long as the business and its criminal owners pay their taxes, those who have sworn to uphold the law will look the other way. They are, in essence, running a protection racket for the criminal enterprise.

It is dangerous and illegal to claim to have OTC cures for HIV/AIDS, advanced cancers, heart disease and whatever else might ail you; and to claim to have safe and effective substitutes for "dangerous and deadly" vaccines while urging people not to get their children vaccinated. But this business, Alive and Well Health Emporium, does these things every day with impunity. The owners have no credentials in any health-related field, but they've been getting rich marketing their fraudulent miracle cures in hour-long radio infomercials for a decade and a half.

People assume that if the government allows such claims they must be true. The state's stubborn refusal to investigate my complaints makes it complicit and possibly liable for harm done to victims of the frauds.

The buck stops with the Governor. If you don't instruct the Department of Health to do its job (see HRS 328-3 and 328-6), you will be personally complicit in the ongoing swindles, and you will show that the state's utter disregard for consumer rights and the rule of law, so prominent during the Lingle years, continues as unwritten policy.

Please do the right thing and put a stop to this despicable racket.

Sincerely,

Kurt Butler

Links to my other blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Is Police Chief Yabuta A Criminal?

Picture this scenario. In spite of years of hard work your small business has failed and you become homeless. After several weeks of misery a woman named Maria offers you a temporary job doing home repairs. You jump at the opportunity and bust your butt for two weeks. You've been promised enough payment to get a small room for a month. You have a chance to get back on your feet. But when the job is done, instead of paying you Maria evades and avoids you. Then you meet another homeless person who tells you this same woman ripped him off for ten days of labor.

You realize you've been screwed, but you lack the fee required to file a claim in Small Claims Court. Desperate to get out of the rain at night, you do the only thing you can do, try to embarrass the con artist into paying you by lawfully demonstrating near the restaurant where she works part-time. Your sign calls her a thief.

Determined not to pay you a dime, Maria files a petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) asking the court to enjoin you from demonstrating. It is full of outrageous lies claiming that you never worked for her, that you demanded sex and money, that you threatened to kill her and that you punched a big hole in the living room wall.

TRO petitions are always granted as ex parte orders pending a hearing on the matter within a month or so. And so this one is granted and served on you. Its intent is to stop you from demonstrating, but you read it carefully and realize that it says nothing about staying away from the restaurant. It only orders you to stay 100 yards away from her home, which is well behind the restaurant, about 150 yards from where you stood with your sign.

Wanting to keep the pressure on, you demonstrate again in the same spot. Maria calls the police and tells them that you're violating the order. When they arrive the con artist is standing at the gate to a neighbor's house, which is well within the forbidden 100 yards from you. The residents are not home. Maria tells the police she lives there and you are arrested.

The police never read the address on the TRO and never ask her for proof that she lives at the house. They just measure the distance from you to the house, assume you are guilty and arrest you. You're booked into MCCC, facing a year in prison. Two weeks later you are taken to court in chains for the hearing on the TRO petition.

After listening to both sides the judge pronounces the petitioner a liar and dissolves the ex parte order. But the prosecutor refuses to dismiss the charge of violating the order before it was dissolved and demands you remain locked up until trial in several months. The judge inexplicably agrees and you are returned to the slammer where you are horribly abused by prison staff for the next two weeks. You finally manage to contact a friend who bails you out.

A week later the prosecutor finally sees the futility of his case and drops the charge. You then contact the police and request that felony charges be brought against the con artist for filing the sworn TRO petition filled with statements that can easily be proved to be lies. The police refuse, saying that their policy is to not investigate complaints of perjury.

This kind of thing happens all the time and this is what happened to me. I was robbed of my hard work, jailed for a month, treated like a criminal (there was no presumption of innocence), humiliated and terrorized by the prospect of spending a year in jail. The con artist's criminal lies cost me untold misery and cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

You would think the county would be furious and go after the con artist with a vengeance. But it refused to prosecute because it wants to keep its illegal perjury decriminalization policy in place. The policy, which allows police and other prosecution witnesses to lie with impunity in court, is an integral part of the county's railroad. In its entire history the county has never prosecuted a perjurer. Imagine the uproar if the county had a policy of not investigating and prosecuting complaints of robbery or rape. In this case they went after me with a vengeance for the alleged misdemeanor (TRO violation), while they allowed the con artist to operate her slaving scam and refused to prosecute her for felony perjury.

I wrote a letter to Chief of Police Gary Yabuta telling him that as long as the perjury decrim policy remains in effect he and other county officials could fairly be the targets of unproved allegations. After all, if innocent people can be jailed on the basis of perjury, and the perjurers pay no price for the criminal lies, then those responsible for the insane, illegal policy should pay a price. They should be given a small taste of what victims of perjury endure. The sting of unproved allegations against them is not nearly as severe as being arrested and spending weeks or months in jail, so they have no grounds for complaint.

The county replied with a letter threatening legal action to stop any such demonstration I might attempt. There would be no legal basis for such action, but I would welcome it so the whole perjury decrim can of worms can be opened.

So, is Maui's Chief of Police Gary Yabuta a crack and ice dealer and a predatory pedophile as my protest poster appears to allege? Who knows? But by the county's own standard and policy there can be no legal repercussions for saying he is, even saying so under oath.

Incidentally, if you read the small print of my sign you will see that it actually says that Yabuta is worse than a crack dealer and child molester. I believe this. Destroying the integrity of the justice system by decriminalizing perjury, against the intent of state legislators, is one of the worst crimes imaginable. It proves that the county does not care about truth and justice or about you. Maui does not have the rule of law, but the rule of stupid, dishonest, vicious individuals.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Maui County Government Criminals

Why does Maui County have the lowest voter turnout of the nation's 3 thousand counties? Because Maui residents sense that their government is hopelessly corrupt, arrogant and lawless, and that nothing voters do will make a difference. Most of us have first or second hand knowledge of the county's cynical and criminal behavior. Unfortunately, few have the resources (time and legal costs) to fight back, so we grumble and mostly do nothing.

Now it's time we start speaking out and, whenever we can, exposing the criminals by name. Let their infamy grow and follow them even if they leave government positions and enter the private sector. Lacking a moral core, these dangerous people have proved that they are conniving, self-serving and dishonest. They cannot be trusted. Changing jobs will not change their basic nature.

It's important to make this clear from the start: the vast majority of people who work for County of Maui are competent, diligent and honest. My harsh comments about the few scoundrels named here should not reflect on the many decent, hard-working county employees. Unfortunately, the scoundrels are mostly higher-level bosses and/or employed in some form of law enforcement, and they wield power far greater than their numbers would suggest.

On the other hand, this is surely not a complete list of the criminals who are in, or who recently left, government positions. If you've been a victim, I urge you to start a blog and expose the bad guys.

Here's my list of people who should not be trusted because of the crimes or extremely unethical and stupid acts they committed while in government.

Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Acob (former): Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subornation of perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Mayor Alan Arakawa  Obstruction of justice; Perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise. 

Police Officer Samuel Gasmen  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Perjury.

Police Officer Vernon Gosney  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Jenkins (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subornation of perjury; Lying to a jury.

Police Officer Kenneth Kihata  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Torturing a detainee.

Prosecuting Attorney John Kim  Obstruction of justice; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Subornation of perjury; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Marie Kosegarten (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; subornation of perjury; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Police Officer George Kronoski  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Moana Lutey   Obstruction of justice; Subornation of perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Subornation of evasion of subpoena service. See open letter to Lutey posted 1/8/16.

Corporation Counsel Brian Moto (former) Obstruction of justice; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Chief of Police Thomas Phillips (former)  Obstruction of justice; Perjury, Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Richard B. Rost   Obstruction of justice; Subornation of perjury;  Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.  

Police Officer Mary Sagawinit  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Evasion of subpoena service.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gerry Sheppard     Obstruction of justice; Subversion of the Constitution and the rule of law.

Police Officer Rocky Silva  Obstruction of justice; Assault and battery. 

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mark Simonds (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subornation of perjury; Lying to a jury.

Mayor Charmaine Tavares  (former)   Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Davelynn Tengan (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law. 

Chief of Police Gary Yabuta  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Corporation Counsel Patrick Wong  Obstruction of justice; Subornation of perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.


Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Maui County Runs Protection Racket for Criminals

and sticks the taxpayers with the tab. The incredible story of this out-of-control local government that conducts personal vendettas against citizens it doesn't like and spits on the Bill of Rights is told in the lawsuit I recently filed in Circuit Court against Maui County, et al. The text follows.

(This lawsuit was dismissed on technical grounds and has been re-filed in federal court.)

To enlarge for easy viewing, click on the document.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

Barbarians in Paradise

The Book The Tyrants don't want you to read. Now available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com.

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Civil War Coming to Maui?

The following is an open letter I sent to all Hawaii State legislators.

Will I go to court or to war? Is civil war coming to Maui? Government terrorists and thugs are running amok in Hawaii, especially on Maui. I first got caught in their net several years ago and I'm still trapped. Since the year 2,000 they have repeatedly persecuted and brutalized me in ever-escalating attacks. In the most recent episode I was unlawfully arrested (this is not in dispute), then incarcerated for 30 days in MCCC without benefit of counsel. There I was assaulted and brutally battered (by guards, not inmates); denied medical care for a very painful and potentially serious condition; taunted and mocked by ACOs while vomiting, kept in isolation in a cell strewn with my vomit for ten days (they refused to clean it up); denied all hygienic measures (no soap, toothpaste, shower, etc, or even toilet paper); denied even one minute a day of exercise and sunshine; subjected to sadistic abuses by guards and nurses; and subjected to one of the cruelest of tortures, ten days of sleep deprivation that continued long after I informed the sadists that I was hallucinating badly and begged for an end to the torment and begged to be allowed to contact an attorney.

In short, I was treated like an enemy combatant -- almost as bad those at Abu Graub. The egregious abuses and violations I endured are unlawful even for death-row inmates. They are extremely offensive by all civilized standards of decency and they are criminal by state, federal and international law. Yet it all appeared to be routine for them. They had obviously committed the same crimes against others.

This happened in June, 2006. When I was released (and the bogus charge dropped) the first thing I did was seek psychiatric care to help me deal with the humiliation, degradation, depression and rage. But no psychiatrist would see me because I did not have the right insurance. My anguish has greatly increased since then.

The second thing I did was seek an attorney with a view to filing a lawsuit in federal court against the County for unlawful arrest and another against the State for cruel and unusual punishment and other violations of my civil rights. Over the next 21 months I contacted one attorney after another, and I believe I have now contacted all personal injury and civil rights attorneys on Maui and Oahu. Much to my shock, not a single one would hear me out or read my chronology and the outline of my case. This has nothing to do with the merits of the case, of which they know nothing. Nor does it appear to be a question of money; they don't ask whether I can afford a retainer. More recently I have offerred a $50K retainer to several: still no response. They simply want nothing to do with it. The ACLU says it is swamped and cannot help me.

So now, with just 3 months left to beat the statute of limitations, I have thought about trying to get help from a non-HSBA member, maybe a paralegal or someone who has represented himself in federal court. However, I learned that this is illegal, so I wrote to Attorney General Bennett and HSBA President Sia and asked them what action they would take should I go to court with such a person representing me. Bennett's office replied but refused to answer my question. The Deputy Attorney said that he cannot give me legal advice (which I did not ask for). Sia did not reply.

So here are my questions:

How can there be any pretense that the Bill of Rights is the law of the land here? How is Hawaii any better than the notorious tyrannies and police states around the world?

Does this case not prove the absurdity and inherent injustice of preventing non-attorney-guild members from representing plaintiffs or at least helping with research and the like? If the HSBA Bums choose not to fight for liberty and justice, who are they to stop others from taking a shot at it? And who are legislators to allow, aid and abet such tyranny by granting them the monopoly?

Might not such tyranny eventually inspire victims of government terrorism to take another kind of "shot" at the problem? People (including our nation's founders) have fought wars and revolutions over the issues at stake here. Since victims of government terrorism have no access to the courts and no hope of legal redress, are there any moral reasons (as opposed to practical and legal reasons) that they should not take up arms against the government terrorists of Maui and Hawaii? Are they supposed to peacefully accept their degraded state and live their entire lives in fear of the next arbitrary assault by the government thugs and criminals? I'm too old to resort to real armed struggle, and I tend toward pacifism anyway, but I can understand the rage that might drive younger people -- especially those not talented with the "pen" -- to resort to the “sword”.

Now I need your advice on how I might regain my dignity, humanity and peace of mind. Would you care to guarantee payment for the psychiatric care that I, thanks to government terrorists, have needed for two years and been denied?

I'm 63 years old. I grew up in Hawaii (elementary school on Molokai, high school in Kailua, college at UH) and planned on living out my life on Maui. I never had trouble with the law until, in 2,000, I crossed paths with the Maui Police Department's Finest Thugs, Bullies and Perjurers. Now my dream of living out my senior years in peace and happiness here have been shot to hell. My anguish, grief and rage have increased with each day in the last 21 months. I will NEVER forget or forgive those who brutalized me and those who allowed it to happen and continue to allow such atrocities to happen in the name of "The People."

Tyranny always inspires hatred, rage, vigilantism, and revolution. Its victims develop emotions similar to those of a woman who has been gang-raped and cannot get justice from the system even though the culprits are well known and get to continue their lives after wrecking hers. This kind of rage is not easily extinguished.

This open letter to Hawaii State legislators is my Hail Mary. Legislators, current and previous, are largely responsible for the horrid health of Lady Liberty in Hawaii. They have rendered their constituents defenseless against the thugs in the executive branch. So this is a personal appeal for your help in finding an attorney who will secure me a fair trial in federal court.

Is there not a moral obligation for at least one of you to step forward and defend ordinary people from government terrorists? After all, legislators have granted the law guild an absolute monopoly on the practice of law without requiring its members to devote even a tiny fraction of their efforts to protecting the most fundamental rights of all Hawaii residents and gaining legal redress for victims of government terrorism.

Ten years ago I could not have imagined the things that have happened since -- that such atrocities would be committed against me by county and state thugs. Now, however, I know it could and did happen to me again and again, and also that it could happen to almost anyone, including a friend, relative or other loved one of each and every legislator. So I am asking each of you, in such an event what esteemed attorney would you engage to help a loved one (or yourself) get justice and peace of mind, and thereby regain faith in the rule of law in Hawaii? I don't need just a name – I have tried all those in the phone directory. I need a personal request from you to the attorney asking him or her to contact me and consider my case.

A prolonged fight over the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights (and the Hawaii State Constitution) could develop into a form of civil war -- probably nonviolent, at least at first, but nevertheless very disruptive to Maui's vulnerable economy. Unlike in most such civil rights cases, due to the uneducated and inarticulate nature of most potential plaintiffs, or their intoxicated or insane state such that they cannot credibly testify to events, my case is unusually well documented. Success is virtually assured, and this could inspire (or force) immediate reform. Without reform the county and state will continue to fill huge silos with anger, hatred, cynicism and vengeance. Can that be good for these islands?

The people of this county and this state deserve and need a trial in federal court on my case so the critical issues it raises can be properly aired in a manner befitting a democratic society and a liberty-loving people. If a private company had similarly kidnapped, detained and brutalized me, its executives would go to prison and they and their company would be financially ruined by my lawsuit -- lawyers would have been all over it. How can we not hold the government to at least a fraction of such accountability? Without accountability we have tyranny, which causes alienation and invites insurrection.

If June 1 arrives without my complaints having been filed I will resign myself to being officially at war with the governments of the County of Maui and the State of Hawaii. They will have created an implacable enemy for life. These police-state-type entities have waged war on me for some seven years, and the passing of June 1 will finalize and make official my lack of legal redress, in this most brazen and atrocious case. By revoking my rights under the Bill of Rights and rendering me utterly defenseless against arbitrary assaults on my liberties and my person, the governments have made it clear that they consider the Bill of Rights to be null and void in Hawaii and they will not be constrained by its provisions. Why should its victims not fight back, blow for blow? And, denied constitutional rights and human rights, why should they be subject to the Tyrants' laws at all? Tyrany carries the seeds of anarchy.

If this last desperate effort fails I will spend the rest of my life fighting the tyranny of the Maui/Hawaii Injustice System with every fiber of my being. Through the internet, podcasting, books (I've had several published by major publishers over the last couple decades, and I have contacts in publishing and in Hollywood), articles, and other media, I will spend all my days and expend all my resources and energy exposing to the world the evils that prevail in this phony "paradise," and I will urge other victims to likewise fight back with ALL the means at their disposal.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Maui Government Terrorism and the Commissioners who Aid and Abet It

As I announced I would in the previous post, I commenced demonstrating with two simple posters on October 10 for several hours every other day at various high-traffic sites, just like politicians and various interest groups do – except, unlike those, I was at all times in strict compliance with ordinances regulating this common activity -- ordinances that politicians and others routinely violate.

One poster announced my blog URL: SueMauiTyrants.com.

The other poster said: Police Chief Phillips is a Crack Dealer and Child Molester.

In a small box at the bottom were the words "I swear this is true under penalty of perjury."

I stood with the signs in areas where lots of people drive slowly by. This gives me a large potential eyeball count and gives them plenty time to read the signs without risking an accident.
Predictably the Maui cops used their usual unlawful tactics in attempts to bully me into leaving the scenes because they believe my words are dangerous weapons. It's not about enforcing the law; it's about controlling and censoring political speech. The following are some of the ploys they used this time and routinely use if they object to a demonstrator's signs. Each is followed by my replies and comments.

Cop -- Show me your identification and tell me your Social Security number or I will arrest you.
KB – I don't have to show you anything because there is no reason to suspect that I am committing a crime.

Cop – Show me your identification or identify yourself. What is your name?
KB – There is no law that requires pedestrians to carry ID or to identify themselves.

Cop – You're obstructing the sidewalk. You have to leave or you will be arrested.
KB – I'm standing on a tiny area about one foot wide on the far edge of the sidewalk away from the road. And there's hardly any foot traffic. Who did I obstruct? (Just then four kids zoomed by us on skateboards, obviously unobstructed. I looked at him and smiled. Attracted by the altercation the kids wandered back toward us and I asked them to stick around and witness the likely police brutality and unlawful arrest about to take place. Passers-by were also watching. I believe these witnesses prevented the abuse and arrest I was anticipating.)

Cop – It's against the law to say false things about people.
KB – No it's not. Chief Phillips can sue me if he wants to, but I am not committing any crime.

Cop – We got a complaint about your sign. It's our job to do something about it.
KB – Just like the old KGB, huh?
Cop – What?
KB – Never mind.

Cop – You can't say stuff like that on a sign.
KB – As long as it's not threatening I can say anything.

Cop – How long have you been on Maui?
KB – None of your business.
Cop – (Insisting) How long have you been on Maui? (Flustered, he repeats the question several times, louder each time.)
KB -- That has nothing to do with anything. What does it matter?
Cop – (In exasperation) That's the trouble with you guys. You come over here, you been here one month and think you just can say whatever you want. (Note: This attitude is not inspired by racism but by extreme provincialism and localism. I'm Caucasian and grew up in Hawaii, but I lost the pidgin long ago, so I'm often suspected of not being local enough. There is an element of ethnic profiling for newcomers, be they whites, blacks, browns or Asians, so if you don't look or sound local enough you are more likely to be hassled. Ironically, it's even worse, as it always has been, for those who are the poorest and the most kanaka, i.e. descended from Hawaiian commoners. )

KB – How long does a person have to be here before his constitutional rights kick in?
Cop – (Long silence, then he changes the subject) Why are you demonstrating where there's so much traffic?
KB – (To myself) Duuuuhhh!! (Then to cops) I'll be doing this all over the island in coming weeks. If you look in the law books and find the law that makes it a crime to do anything I'm doing just show me and I will cease and desist.

After a half hour of this comical inquisition they left.

We need a new federal law. It is a crime to impersonate a police officer. It should also be a crime, a federal felony, for police officers to intentionally or negligently misrepresent the law in attempts to manipulate, indimidate and threaten people into surrendering their constitutional rights.

Outrageous as these confrontations were, at least I did not get arrested these times, and the hassle and stress I endured from them is nothing compared to the pain and terror caused by unlawful arrests and brutality that many are subjected to while in custody. There is no point in complaining to the Maui Police Commission about any of it. The Commissioners know very well what goes on and have refused for years to do anything about it. Their job is to provide a pretense that there is oversight of police conduct and discipline or prosecution for misconduct and criminal behavior. They are white-washers of police misconduct and crimes, engaged in a massive cover up. Until the Commissioners do their duties, including firing Chief Phillips, they are willing participants in the ongoing Maui government terrorism. As such, they are legitimate targets of political protest.

What can political gossipers and public protesters say about these people? Anything they want to say. Nothing they say could be as harmful as the perjury decriminalization policy, the police brutality and other violations of constitutional rights that the Commissioners refuse to put a stop to and thereby, in essence, aid and abet. Therefore, any non-threatening words constitute protected speech, and most emphatically so if they are mock sworn testimony, which makes them political satire.

For example, a sign might say, in large lettering:
Police Commissioner Andrew Bayron is an Ice Addict & Kingpin

A small note is added:

I swear this is true under penalty of perjury.

I don't know whether this gossip is true, but who cares? He doesn't care about the fate of those who fall into the hands of Maui's Finest Torturers who he is supposed to watchdog. Why should I shed a tear if people spread rumors about him?

The members of the Maui Police Commission are:

Andrew P. Bayron – Chair
Doreen N. Gomes – Vice Chair
Keone Ball
Verna Boonstra
Sean M. Connolly
Leil Koch
John Ornellas
Tina Pedro
Mark Redeker

Maui's future foretold:  Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com 

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com.