The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective brought to you by Wild Root Cream Oil Heratonic, the non-alcoholic heratonic that contains lanolin. Wild Root Cream Oil, again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. Spade Detective Agency. Same wah, sweetheart. Oh Sam, how did it go? Well, it wasn't exactly a ten-and-one outfit, more of a mud show, dog and pony type, you know, rag front. Sam, what are you talking about? And by the way, where were you last night? I missed the last bus in from the cow palace, so I had to do a star pitch. Connie talk after. Oh, if you think I'm going to ask what a star pitch is, you're mistaken. What were you doing at the cow palace? Oh, just...bullying around. Oh, Sam? Yes? Um, Sam? Yes? You asked her any questions. Sweetheart, in the patois of the carnival, I'll be right down to pitch my spiel, spiel my pitch, and make with a canvas on the blue beard caper. Dashel Hammett, America's leading detective fiction writer and creator of Sam Spade, the hard-boiled private eye, and William Spear, radio's outstanding producer, director of mystery and crime drama, join their talents to make your hair stand on end with the adventures of Sam Spade. Presented by the makers of Wild Root Cream Oil for the hair. Say, Mom, if the summer winds are making Junior's hair drier and mustier than it should be, why not borrow a little of Dad's Wild Root Cream Oil and restore that sweet, angelic look? You'll find Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic comes in handy for every member of the family. It grooms the hair so neatly and naturally, relieves that summer dryness, and removes loose dandruff, too. Better check on your supply right now. If it's running low, then tonight or tomorrow, first thing, get Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. And now, with Howard Duff starring as Spade, Wild Root brings to the air the greatest private detective of them all in the adventures of Sam Spade. Ready, Effie? Yes, ma'am. By the way, what is a star pit? Oh, you're closed. You look as if you slept on the ground. That's what it is. Date, August 8, 1948, 2, Detective Lieutenant Dunley, Homicide Detail, San Francisco Police. From Samuel Spade, license number 17596. Subject, the, uh, blue beard caper. I, uh, will not offer as an extenuating circumstance the fact that business is bad all over. But it is true that I'd been sitting in my office for four hours and the phone had not rung once. This one didn't fall. Then the look sudden, he didn't have the required nickel. The hangover he was wearing under his eyes had cost some in a pretty penny, so I figured his credit might be good somewhere. Mr. Spade. Yeah? Oh, my head. Yeah, try this. Oh. Want it mixed? Oh, no, no, no soda. I couldn't stand the noise. Where'd you wake up? In any same clothes. Figures. Uh, it all started at my sister's engagement party. Uh, mint julips. Mm.  Flukum. Uh, you don't happen to have an ice bag. It's customary for my clients to bring their own. Oh. Well, now here's a spiel. Uh, did I tell you my name? The name you gave my secretary was Ned Towers. You want to stick with that? Yeah, Ned. Ned Towers. Yeah. It's about my sister. Her name? Uh, Sylvia. Sylvia Towers. Sylvia Towers. But it's not about her, really. It's about that bluebird. I mean bluebird. She's married. Jefferson Davis Calhoun. What about him? Oh, that marriage has got to be stopped. I found out that his name's not Calhoun at all, that he's been married three times at her, three different names, and that all his wives died mysteriously, and that he collected their insurance, and now he's talked my sister into ensuring herself for 100,000 bucks in his paper. When did you learn all this? In a barbershop yesterday. Oh.  Here's his picture. Oh, look at it. I had heard of the case. In his heyday, the papers had called in the mint julebromio, and any name he happened to be using at the time had Colonel in front of it. None of his three wives had survived the honeymoon. Wife number one, an aviatrix, bailed out at 10,000 feet over Mount Hood along with her husband. His parachute opened, hers didn't. They found the body the following spring. Wife number two, a snake dancer, died of snake bite when she squared off with a full-fang diamond back instead of her usual non-poisonous partner. The cause of death was never officially proven because the body was embalmed by mistake, it said there, before the coroner arrived. And finally, number three, a professional stunt woman disappeared over Niagara Falls in a beer cake instead of her specially designed barrel and was never seen again. Well, Mr. Spain? Yeah, but are you sure your sister's fiancé, this Calhoun, is the same guy? Here's a picture of them together. They're engagement photographs. What do you think? Brunette. My sister? Redhead. That's him on our left. Redhead?  How much money you got? About $100. I'll take $50 now. You are going to help her. How much does she already know? I tried to tell her. She's beautiful. She wouldn't even listen. I thought she might listen to you. I pray she will, Ned. I pray she will. There were two aspects of the case that I wanted to look over more closely. The first was Sylvia's red hair and B, the red splotches on my client's face. I had a hunch she might be suffering from more than a hangover. So I dropped him at the address of a medical friend of mine who specializes in poisons. He said the tests would take most of the afternoon, so I decided to find out who was Sylvia. What was she? Was she as kind as she was fair? Yes? Yes. I beg your pardon? Miss Towers? Yes, I'm Sylvia Towers. Are you the florist? You were expecting maybe a detective? Come in. Thanks, I will. As a matter of fact, I wasn't expecting a florist or anyone else. But I'm glad to see you. I really am. Huh? Sit down here. I was just relaxing. Oh, no, over here. Oh. Well, why not? There. Isn't this more cozy?   What do I look like? Well, I'll have to model it over. Now, don't tell me. Let me dream. Like Sylvia. Miss Towers, I mean. Oh, Sylvia. I like the way you dress. Nice and casual. Oh, you do? But you know, you really shouldn't wear a handkerchief. Hey, hey. You ticklish. Well, look, if you want to frisk me, get it over with. It's your apartment. You got a right to. Well, isn't this way nice? Sure. It's fine. It's just that, in fact, I just didn't expect. Well, what do you want, a butterfly act? No, it's just that my feelings are hurt you. Haven't asked me who I am, what I'm doing here, anything. Oh, I don't care.  Is this how you got engaged to Calhoun? No, he was selling some phony stock certificates. So I bought a few. They were phony, so you bought a few. I guess. He'd had bad luck with marriage. It was the only way I could force the issue. You're forcing him into marrying you?  I did it very nicely. I'm sure you did, but why? Oh, I don't know. He's so, so courtly. A real southern gentleman. How real? Hand me that cushion, darling. Oh. Oh, no. Here. It's behind my head. Oh. Oh, that's better. Well, don't go away. Why do you want to be number four in a good parade?  Oh, that's one of two theories. He's a dead tree, didn't he? Oh, I love your hair. So nice, bristly. Does this bother you? Yeah, but don't stop. Now, wait a minute. Look, I've got my client to think about and I'm trying to think about it. Darling. I didn't want to take this assignment, so I thought I'd be worried about you. Oh, now, who on earth would be worried about me?  Well, don't say that, yes. This marriage may not last long. Don't you say that. Oh, I know his marital life has been full of tragedies, but I'm not superstitious. I think I may change his luck. Okay, Sylvia. Okay, it's your life. I told your brother I talked to you and I have. My brother? Yeah, Ned.  Oh, no.  Well, my dear, we will discuss this further in private. I have only this to say at the present time. In the South, it is not customary for a lady to receive a gentleman alone just prior to her marriage to another gentleman. But, Jeff... I know your motives were pure and innocent. Customs differ, that's all. I am Colonel Calhoun at your service, sir. I'll call you when I need you. I'm afraid I must ask you to remain. Sylvia. Oh, Jeff, I meant to tell you. It was just a flirtation. Yeah, that's all. You mean he made certain proposals? Well, what did I do? What could she do? He said there were things in your past, Jeff. Yeah, that's what I said. Oh, there, there, my dear. It was blackmail. Absolutely. I did it for you, Jeff.  I will deal with this adventurer. If this were the South, there would be better ways but never fear where there's a Calhoun there, too. You will find southern chivalry. Please. No, Jeff, phone the police. Sylvia, I must insist that you do as I say. Very well, Jeff. Well, sir. How about you and me putting our heads together over a little old matured person? Fine, sir. I'm not thirsty yet. What's the fetch, Colonel?  What is your asking price, sir? What's your bid? Uh, $5,000 now. $5,000 after she's buried. $20,000 after the insurance people pays off. No dice. Capers worth $100 grand. $50 for me, $50 for you. That is out of the question, sir. Okay. From here I go to the cops. Then our son, let's not be hasty about this. It will require a slight change of plan, but I reckon I can swing it. All right, $50,50. When are you going to knock her off? You want her to fly the coop? Is there another way out of here? Well, not that I know of, but she's crafting. She's crafting? Well, come on. Let's get it over. Yes, you're right. Maybe now or never. That's fine. Sylvia? Hey, wait a minute. Come here. What is it? How are you going to do it? Well, hit her with this and then out the window. Let me see then. Yeah. Looks good. Quite a heft to it. Where'd you get this sap? Souvenir of Niagara Falls. Know where you're going to get it? What are you, Yankee? The souvenir of Niagara Falls was deadlier than I thought. The blows spun him around like a top and he went down on the other side of the room taking the bar and the mint julep ingredients along with him. I headed for the room Sylvia disappeared into, but she had already disappeared out of it. I looked in the closets, the bathroom, under the bed, tapped the walls for secret panels and then forced myself to look out the only possible exit, the open window. Ten stories, sheer drop to the street. Two stories, sheer unclamable masonry to the roof. I get this, Dundee. No other exit, no horizontal ledges, drain pipes, niches, cornices, not even a helicopter landing. I asked myself, who is Sylvia? What is she? The makers of Wild Root Cream Oil are presenting the weekly Sunday adventure of Dashel Hammett's famous private detective Sam Spade. If you want the well-groomed look that helps you get ahead, socially and on the job, listen. Recently, thousands of people from coast to coast who bought Wild Root Cream Oil for the first time were asked, how does Wild Root Cream Oil compare with the hair tonic you previously used? Better than four out of five who replied, said they preferred Wild Root Cream Oil. And no wonder, Wild Root Cream Oil grooms the hair neatly and naturally, relieves annoying dryness and removes loose dandruff. What's more, non-alcoholic Wild Root Cream Oil is the only leading hair tonic that contains soothing lanolin. So ask for Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonic. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. By the way, smart girls use Wild Root Cream Oil too. And mothers say it's grand for trading children's hair. Now back to the Bluebeard Caper, tonight's adventure with Sam Spade. There was no use wasting any time trying to figure out how Sylvia had done whatever she had done to escape from that escape-proof room. There was nothing of interest in it, but a diving helmet, deep-sea type, and the current issue of billboard. There was a magazine which records the movements of show people. Under carnivals and tent shows, an item was circled. Colonel Carlisle's colossal Carnival and Tent Show, which was currently playing San Francisco out by the Cow Palace. That reminded me of the Colonel in the next room. I went in to hit him again, but somehow his not being there didn't surprise me a bit. What I found on the roof did surprise me a little. I lived with the circus-y aspect the Caper was beginning to take on. But I'd never have taken Sylvia for a stunt woman. I, uh, put a neat, uh, deep knee bend to get in the condition for what lay ahead, slid down the banister to the top floor, somersaulted into an elevator, and rode it down to the lobby, no hands. Pausing only to acknowledge the applause of the scrub woman, I skated on over to the phone booth. So his hands like the night in the harbor. Bernie, Sam Spade. Oh, say, I'm glad you called, Sam. That, uh, patient you brought in here at Ned Tower? Yeah, what about him? Well, your hunch was right.  And that ain't all. He dead? No. Then what's all? Well, his stomach had enough foreign objects in it to keep all the newspapers in town in Monday morning feature stories for the rest of the year. What type of foreign objects? Nothing valuable. Where'd you send him? Oh, he wasn't a hospital case, Sam.  Glassware, spoons, hunting knives, and not a hospital case, huh? The poison, he's, uh, developed an immunity. The other stuff, uh, it's harmless. Harmless?  Uh, no, no. Forget it, Bernie. You've given me enough. Thanks. From then on, Dundee, it was, uh, mostly entertainment. I, uh, headed to the carnival grounds outside the town, and Colonel Carlisle's Carlossal Carnival, in Thenshaw, unfolded before my very eyes, just west of the Cow Palace. In the interest of artistic endeavor, Mademoiselle Mahalla, the favorite dancing girl of the Sultan of Zanzibar, brought direct from the perfume gardens of the Mysticorian every muscle of a gorgeous body. And now, now, ladies and gentlemen, in the interest of science and the furtherance of national defense, one of the medical miracles of the 20th century, a ladies and gentlemen, a man with the iron stomach, and the asbestos esophagus, Ralph Fessar de la Torre. Professor, if you please, sir, give the folks a sense of your control over the fiery elements. I will like the torch. And the truth of professor. And now, professor, if you will kindly... The coach dance left me cold, the fire-eating professor looked hot. It was none other than my client, a man who had called himself Ned Towers. I moved as close to the platform as I could without setting fire to myself and caught his eye. When he caught mine, it singed my eyelashes. Hey, Scrammo, I got my act to do. I can't talk to nobody. Where's the Colonel? There ain't any Colonel, just for the banner tack. Where's your sister? I ain't got no sister. Then who is Sylvia? I do me a favor, Shamus. Keep the 50 and forget the whole pitch. Now be it, huh? What's the show? Okay, you're paid for your ducking. Stare your eyes out if you want to. Okay, but you start squawking. They're drifting away.  Why, he eats the stone and throws the beach away. And he uses powdered poison on his soft-boiled eggs. Now tell me, if you will, is there a doctor in the powder? I drifted on down the midway. There was Boona Boona, Nature Boy. Gilda and Hilda, the Siamese twins. There was Shorty, the Fat Man and Fatty, the Short Man. A bearded lady in several natural freaks of nature. At the very end, there was a big canvas enclosure. The act was called the Free Death Defying Darling. From the noise inside, I judged that to be an understatement. I bought a ticket and got inside just in time to see a trim, energetic blonde and tailored coveralls crawl out of the twisted wreckage of the car. She'd just driven point blank into a concrete wall at an advertised speed of 80 miles an hour. She took a bow, tripped lightly out of a ring and a brunette about the same size and shape but wearing a costume consisting mainly of three live rattlesnakes past her coming in. I swear she did. I also swear that she danced so well I didn't even notice the snakes after I got used to them. Before the lead snake had taken its final bow and wriggled out of sight, a redhead in green coveralls appeared at the top of a 60-foot tower.  The tank she landed in was no more than three feet across and couldn't have had more than a foot of water in it. But she emerged from the stutters with her face wet and some of the greasy, carnival-type makeup washed off. The red-headed branch of the Death Defying Darling was, you guessed it, that miraculous escape artist, the one and only Sylvia. I was anxious to meet the rest of the acts, so I bolted over the canvas to their train of wrestling. It was a sinister buzzing sound at my ankles as I entered. I jumped out of the way just in time to miss getting bitten by one of the brunette's dancing partners, the Diamondback. Sylvia looked at me, cuddlingly, grabbed it expertly, just behind the head and shoved it down into its basket. You should have known better than to come in here on a now. Strangers make Salomi terribly nervous. Then we're even. How did you know I was here? I didn't. I was looking for my client. What are you working for, Ned? Who else? When I heard you bargaining with Jeff, I didn't know what to think. Before that, I'd been so sure. Look, sweetheart, I haven't been sure of anything in this caper from the start, at least of all you. No matter how sure I get, I still won't believe it. Look at me, Sam. Touch me. I'm only flesh and blood. Well, anyhow, how did you meet yourself coming on with the snakes when you went out in the coveralls? Oh, zippers. I was wearing the snakes underneath all the time. Doesn't the auto-crash make them nervous? Oh, no. They're used to it. Mother trains them. That was after father... Never mind your family. Let's talk about you. All three of you. Well, after mother and father... Well, the act was the threesome, you see, and they wouldn't keep me on as a single. Yeah. So Jeff Calhoun worked out a routine so only one of me would be on at one time. That figures. How often do you come out of it alive? You mustn't say things like that, even in joking. I'm terribly out of condition. I hadn't had a real workout since... you went over Niagara Falls and that beer keg. And by the way, how did you manage that? Simple. Relaxation. Secret of everything. I could teach you that, Sam, darling. Jeff could never learn it. How long do you think we'd get away with it, sweetheart? Aren't you taking rather a lot for granted? Maybe not enough. So far as I know, you've only been killed and resurrected three times. Darling, if it frightens you, I promise I'll never do it again. How did you drop 10,000 feet without a parachute? You know that Mount Hood stunt? I crash landed the plane, set fire to it. There were witnesses, something dropped. Nothing but a weighted flight suit. Whose body was that they found? There are always bodies in the snowmelt. By the time they get to them, they could be anybody. Well, that's a relief. What about that other body? Which other one, darling? When you were unbombed after the snake bite. Oh, well, Jeff just claimed somebody from the morgue that nobody else wanted. Don't be so critical, darling. We didn't hurt anybody. What happened after those insurance companies? Well, they should be happy. Jeff says it helps them with their taxes. Does it make you happy? Dying and being dug up every year or so? Well, it's better than doing it every night, but I couldn't go back to Jeff. He lost his nerve after Ned found out. You see, Ned's the only one left who knew me in the old days. If I were dead, he couldn't prove anything. Jeff really meant to kill me this time. What was Ned after? Blackmail? Oh, no, he wanted me back with a show. I had you to frighten Jeff into letting me go. After all, I am the best threesome in the business. Well, anyway, in the Sunfield. Did you see my review on Billboard? I saw for myself. You know something. I was thinking. With all you know about crime... Don't say it. Darling, it's so easy, and we could have a honeymoon every time I came back and we got married again. Thanks for the offer, but if I get married, I want my wife to stay alive every night. But I wouldn't really be dead. Only legally, for the insurance. Only legally, sir. Come here. Look, sweetheart, let's not relax. You're not safe. Not as long as that insurance policy is floating around with Jeff's name on it as beneficiary. He'd never think of looking for me here. Well, let's say you better take that policy in the town in the morning and make some changes. Where is it? Oh, it's in my safe. You got a safe here in this trailer? Well, it's just a secret place. I only call it a safe. I thought I'd find you here. But I hardly expected to see Mr. Spade. You don't surprise me a bit, Bluebeard. Hello, Jeff. Sit down. Stop waving that revolver. What do you want? That policy. I heard ever words you two have been saying.  You won't even be around when a bank's open. But having the original policy in my hand will save a lot of delay at red tape. Of course, Jeff. Where is it? Oh, what's the use? It's in the basket. Right by the side of your chair. Wait a minute. Don't move, Spade. If you do, I'll blast you. Listen to me. Don't raise that leg. So this is your safe.  Don't do it, Calhoun! Don't do it! And that lieutenant there took the lid right off of the caper. Due to my Boy Scout training, my split-second timing and the fact that Salomi's Fang missed an artery by a 30th of an inch, I understand Calhoun will live long enough, which as far as I'm concerned, is any length of time you care to name. About Sylvia. I really don't know how to advise you there, but if you're planning on charging her with attempted homicide, you'll find that there are three Darling Sisters listed as U.S. citizens and residents of California. It might be hard to figure out which one of her to indict. Period. End of Nightmare Alley, Bluebeard Division. Any questions, F? Oh, just one, Sam. A grammatical error, but I'll correct it. And just whom do you think you are to be correcting my grammar? Who, Sam? Nominative case. Nominal. I believe, Sam. The most frequently used cases in English are nominative, accusative, and possessive. I'm referring to your sentence which reads, it might be hard to figure out which one of her to indict. Of course, you met them, since there are three Darling Sisters, her being singular. Indeed, her was singular, Effie. Oh, Sam, you made a joke. That's a very small one. Now I'll type that up and leave my grammar as is. It's colorful. Oh, very well, Sam. I'll just fix the syntax as I go along. I'll fix the syntax. In California? Say, are you looking for a hair tonic that will groom your hair neatly and naturally? Then you're looking for wild root cream oil.  Get wild root cream oil.  The answer again is wild root cream oil. The famous hair tonic that gives you the big advantages men consider most important. Step up to your drug or toilet goods counter first chance you get and ask for wild root cream oil in the big economy bottle and the handy new tube that's easy to pack when you travel. Also, ask your barber for a professional application of wild root cream oil hair tonic. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. It was only one girl, so I looked it to her and made the correction back farther. Back where, Twinkle Toes? Twinkle Toes. You said three darling sisters. I changed it to one. That's impossible. It takes two to make a sister. That is not funny, Sam. Who's laughing? It's no laughing matter, Sam. After all that silver, the darling sister, whatever she... I don't care if she can go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Let's get it right up, beer keggy. In fact, the only funny thing is you being taken in. After all, snake charmers of that type are a dime a dozen. Here's 20 cents, phone up that place. What place? Where you get the red headed snake charmers, 12 for 10 cents. Dime a dozen, Sam. It's a figment of speech. You can say that again, sweetheart. Tenny to be three people, all with different hair. Wearing snakes under a cover all. No laughing. No normal girl would do that, Sam. I don't know. Women do all kinds of work.  I wouldn't trade you for 30 cents worth of snake charmers. Oh, Sam. That's the nicest thing you ever said. Well, next to the nicest. Good night, Sam. Good night, Salome. The Adventures of Sam Spade, Dashel Hammett's famous private detective, are produced and directed by William Spear. Sam Spade is played by Howard Dove. Lerene Tuttle is Effie. The Adventures of Sam Spade are written for radio by Bob Tolman and Gil Dowd, with musical direction by Lud Gluskin. Join us again next Sunday when author Dashel Hammett and producer William Spear join forces for another adventure with Sam Spade. Brought to you by Wild Root Cream Oil. And again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. This is Dick Joy reminding you to... Get Wild Root Cream Oil Charlie. It keeps your hair in trim. You see, it's non-alcoholic Charlie. It's made with sooth and lanolin. You better get Wild Root Cream Oil Charlie. Start using it today. You'll find that you will have a tough time, Charlie. Keeping all the gals away. Hiya, Baldi. Get Wild Root right away. This is CVS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.


you're welcome back to the breakfast and plot cv africa it's now time for off the press our segment i'll take a look at the big stories in our national dailies um let's now welcome our analysts for today mr tundi kawalee good morning thanks for joining us good morning hope you have a great weekend yes we did thank you beginning with the punch newspaper 17 southern governors the scots buhari's land recovery order for herders southern governors worried about grazing routes recovery order suspect hidden agenda states helmsmen deliberate and malamese pronouncement activities in leagos meeting today senate summons x n s itf bosses over alleged 84 billion naira embezzlement mc dn decides 70 medical practitioners cases august over alleged negligence also on the punch newspaper only 88950 out of 3.4 million hectares irrigated our greek output suffers petroleum industry bill dangote refinery others to buy crude in naira sim nin telcos lose 20.83 million subscribers 29.58 billion naira in revenue the youth arrested in a budja church over buhari muskos shirts and slogans also on the punch newspaper we see a picture here of a bad road and the caption reads agbado kyaro road in agbado if for local government area shun state augun state on sunday also on the punch newspaper quara assembly attacks by mohammed faction reports minister to the national working committee brazil based nangiri and held with 100 wraps of cocaine in private parts and in bag tears as tanker kills four traders in all your markets and lastly on the punch european nation rally police killed my daughter i want justice sales says sales girl's mother all right moving on to the nation news papers let's see what we can also find here it says the big one senate panel ok is cabinet formation within 30 days also on the nation news papers this morning truck kills five in the budo market lai mohammed didn't sponsor us a choir quara house members and also the nation news papers this morning yishaw and 10 others listed for nigeria prize for literature police arrest 49 european nation agitators with charms and guns no law against kareen charms that's on the nation this morning still naira devaluation would push petrol subsidy to 7.1 billion naira per day niger delta stakeholders pib provisions not far reaching and finally efcc drills or your assembly officials over one billion naira vehicle contracts those are the big ones on the nation news papers this morning i'm turning out to the next newspaper the guardian debt service burden subsidy may push deficit above seven trillion naira this year deficit already three trillion naira at the end of may debt service ratio hits 97 percent past pib scandalous niger delta group declares bandits kill seven kidnap seven in kaduna canu didn't authorize ritual killings says ipop police parade 49 european nation agitators in legos third wave scare legos inspect synagogue ahead of joshua's burial deadly delta variants already in 96 countries says the buho nigeria records 71 new cases legos with 63 fears over misappropriation of 80 billion naira released for local manufacture of vaccines all right now on the daily independent news papers banks aggressive digital drive may spur massive job cuts also aviation stakeholders worried as a ground handling rates drops to four hundred dollars syraps use buhari over 25 billion naira overdrafts taking for 25 billion dollars overdrafts taken from cbn police parade 49 suspect for holding european nation rally in legos display charms and ammunition recovered also defections pdp governors takeover on dog divine material supreme court battle bandits abduct babies nurses security guards in xaria hospital shocking and moves on the way to suspend live mohammed over factional apc secretariat reps inquires because the sole minister of a claim on campaign funding finally ncc exceeds revenue target post 150 billion naira spectrum fee in five months good morning once again mr call wally thanks for joining us all right let's start with the european nation agitate agitators the news says 49 of them were arrested with charms and you know some say also ammunition quickly react to the response of the legos state government to the rally and the arrest of these 49 what the response of the police so the rally and that was the legos state government in my own bulletino they are irresponsible and they clearly give the intended meant let us and all that the negera constitution stands for there are a plethora of authorities with regard to the people's right to demonstrate you and i will remember the speciality of police and the the constitutional provisions under the fundamental malice a freedom of association freedom to protest a war of yours one of the tenets of democracy is that when people grip with government programs policies and action is either they go to court to eliminate the grievances or they will put the national assembly to reverse some of those policies they don't like or they go into lobbying and medication mobbing mediation constellations and what are you with the government so if this is the case and you don't expect people to begin to take losses of their hands or engage in health and you must allow people to feel the exercise they are right to protest and hold demonstrations and we must remember that the people in government today use the tools of demonstrations and protest a great deal for them to be able to get to power and get to Nigeria before to vote out their predecessor government so everything that they have promised or everything that they have stood for everything that the constitutional guarantees of everything that the law has given to the negera people the people in government today present moment worthy and the apc are taking it away from us it's like we are returning to nineteen eighty three nineteen eighty five from present moment where it was in power this was how we saw this intolerance those people exercising their fundamental human rights and the police are even overstepping a band by parading those who demonstrated in uh who persuaded in those demonstrations uh it has also been uh alleged and the murder of again and claimed that it was the police that killed a daughter all these things are manifestations of what you call a racist government in fact this government is becoming more and more addicted to the blood of evils and to the blood of Yoruba and to the blood of those who criticize them and it is incumbent or on Nigeria to stand up and say no to all these senseless kingdoms or traditional kingdoms that we are seeing all over the place the world has grown has has grown this kind of just a poor manner of a managed government you are you got into government and your performance has been atrocious uh competent uh irresponsible and then you know Nigeria people are now crying and you are now seeing this you shut out your mother should not cry where is that a battle when the child is beating the child is expected to cry but what the government is telling us today that we should not complain about their incompetence about their inability to deliver the this is a democracy uh it is only in Nigeria that this kind of a thing should be happening and we should all stand up and say no to it okay so one of the key issues you know in the country right now still remains this farmer's head is clashed there's also the Yoruba nation agitation and all the reaction to it by the state and the federal government now 17 southern governors are set to meet in Lagos today in Alousa who's said by Governor Babaji Desong Walu what do you expect of that decision and how would you assess the impact of the one they had in May in Delta State can you repeat that again I think I get it can you hear me yes I'm telling you now okay I was saying that okay I was saying that 17 southern governors are meeting in Lagos today in Alousa to discuss issues that affect the southern part of the country and you know recall that they had met in May 11th you know where they banned up and grazing amongst other resolutions so I'm saying what are you expecting of these governors and what are your comments on maybe their synergy you know coming together to make decisions that affect their states well first and foremost it's a very no-putting it's something that it's a long battle you will remember when even battle was a life it will usually discuss the kind of things the kind of activities that the southern governors are doing now as a kind of a court concordia or a shake across a Niger it's probably this will probably be the second time that we are seeing the southern governors exercise this kind of solidarity this kind of comradeship this kind of friendship so we encourage them I'm suspect that when they meet in Alousa they might be reviewing the decision that they took in the first met I think was it in Onitsha or in Delta where they left that was there that when the first met in the Delta state I suspect that they might also be reviewing the directive of Mr President that the autonomy general of the tradition should talk about the effect and recover all the grazing routes that have been encroached upon all over the country my worries is that when they take this kind of decision they usually will not have the will the political will this time to really push through whatever decision that they have taken for because of their very special political ambition also because most of them also they have coupled at an end that they have what those that are meeting with escalating water flow otherwise this not immediately the president gave that kind of a clarity what would have expected the whole reaction from some of these other governors but to them their personal ambition is more paramount to the welfare of their people it might just be another talk show I don't see them having the political with really able to drive through some of the things that or again that that they have said for them say say for example the kidnap of Nandikano and then the horrendous attack on the home of a Sunday boy in the process I haven't had any of this anything called no speak with regards to that and to me that is more important because what those two people what those two great Nigerians are doing is in the way the foundation of what the governors are now going to be discussing in their respective whatever machines that they are holding so for them to keep quiet on that kind of a thing doesn't a sequence for us at the company for them as a covenants really meant a business and because of their integrity they have started it have they provided the necessary funds have they really allowed these people to do the work the way it should be done they won't allow them to do the work because they are always afraid and scared of annoying of not being the good books of the another principle all right the daily impending this morning there's a story on bandits abducting babies and nurses and security guards at a hospital in Zaria quickly share your thoughts on that one it seems like it has gotten you know to that level of desperation where even babies now have been kidnapped you already made yes go ahead please yeah well you are nice to know that the Kaduna state has become the world capital of kidnapping this has been going on almost on a daily basis the stories of kidnapping no longer has a kind of effect or the kind of impact or gives the kind of feelings that the Nigerian people used to have when they hear that people are thinking now we are almost reaching a state of anomaly we're becoming numb with regards to these activities the truth of the matter is that the mining kaduna state too causing that the governor is good at making noise and designing blueprints that he never gets effect not too long ago a few weeks ago he now said he has a blueprint to stop kidnapping in kaduna state i remember he also said that once you don't pay bandits once you don't pay ransom banditry and kidnapping with society or if you want to wear a kaduna but that has not stopped the truth of the matter is that the policies and programs that the government in kaduna state has been doing since the roof i came to power take people take people's jobs away from that it's also take screening opportunities from the children people also lose their houses just a lot or two is another who fees was increased by 500 per cent and the students demonstrated better than the government used to their demonstrations and calling for dollars and dollars and the security guards were sent out and then i think two students were killed in a cold blood for course it is somebody's children somebody's fun it is somebody's daughter you are killing and when the government goes out to kill other people's children and they show the seed of solitude and blood on the people you are not meant to respect the kind of activities and reactions that we're getting in the kaduna state when people lose their jobs not many people who want to be beggars not many people who want to stay at home and die of water for not many people who want to downstab people they are likely to do things that the lord of snot family thought has kicked up here and other to keep making ends meet so the government of kaduna state should give people their jobs back they should also let the children consume it to pay the school fees that they are paying now because the money is not even there when you're supposed to pay the 500 per cent increase for that month they should follow the example of legal space with their security transform and with the government and the private businesses in legal space who put money down to provide the necessary material for the police and also encouragement in terms of extra hours in terms of insurance in terms of compensation when security people lose their job and because of their duty we haven't seen much of this in kaduna state and in other parts of the country all the time it's they they take a boat to abuja to beg and they see that the government at the center should put all the peace of whatever is happening they are like Oliver twist who is never satisfied with whatever it gets at any particular period in time okay so let's talk about syrup and the federal government we know about how they always you know sue the presidency over you know one issue another demanding demanding transparency so right now syrup is in president mohammed abu harry over 25 billion uh nyra billion billion dollars overdraft taken from the cbn that's on the daily independence as well and they're basically saying that the federal government owes in Nigeria that accountability and transparency and they're you know invoking the freedom of information act to demand that the presidency releases details of how they've basically spent about 25 billion dollars that they've taken including those loans from the cbn and no date has been fixed for this hearing yet but how would you foresee this to go do you think the federal government will you know give syrup what they want and the people what they want the transparency or do you think they will continue to slog this out in court and also how would you rate the president in terms of being open with their communication and uh you know spending with the people well let me say that the several people are showing good example you know at the beginning of this conversation i said that people have two three or four opportunities to express their opinion or grievances when government policies and programs uh it's likely the pensioner i say you could go to court because we don't apologize you to in back of seven you can do lobby you can do mediation you can do coordination you can also do protest and not so when syrup goes to court it takes a long time before decisions are taken before the government when syrup goes to court sometimes or most time the government will not even go because of that when these court orders are gotten but to see the syrup is lately listed for the rule of law for the future so that when our children come it will be saying that certain persons at one period in time try as much as possible to ensure that Nigeria does not do the part of anarchy that we govern ourselves with the instrumentality of law that we are a people a society that respects their love so whether syrup gets a favorable position in court and whether the government obeys these decisions or not it's good that they see go to court we are teaching ourselves that we are civilized people that we should always at all see not in time uh encourage government activities that program using the instrumentality left of law now with the issue that they took to court uh you will recollect nothing long ago the governor of those states said the people in authority who are merely printing money and spending it and the government uh initially united but uh somehow a recipient governor came out to say look it was money that were borrowing the state to be able to meet the obligations and pay salaries what is coming out now the overcast that you're talking about and all that is the equivalent of merely printing money and spending it this is what is described as the way that mail by government of finances programs and all that and there is not a source for me that kind of a here if there's also the affiliation in the field and to to the national assembly there are professions in and which was a part into law you have to go back to the national assembly and say look they let me that you are taking from so so so places and all that we haven't gotten the taxes that we say we will use to finance these government programs and all that have not come in we want to borrow money from the cpn we want to use ways and ways to finance government programs and activities and then it is the national assembly will submit the merits and the merits of those things and then maybe first um a appeal to pack up the profession and not have to be able to to take over from the city but this has nothing to focus on this is um a breach of the appropriation please if I it is an impeachable offense and I'm bulldozing because the appropriation law is a law that the government is not expected to violate then let's also go back home a comment that is borrowing money from dust anywhere it could borrow from the international community from the local fund from the cpn and it's also the government that has in the last two or three weeks established about five or six universities what they are about and also some other organizations um where in reality you don't have many to finance those programs to to to to finance this establishment of those schools you also will remember that as of today as we spread to again gold spikes because all the agreement that the which is government that the present school that we have got with the property finance they are not being made by government so how can you be borrowing money to establish a university schools and name and the pay salaries if it's never talked when monies are borrowed such monies are supposed to be invested in project i'll be able to repay a low but that is not what we are saying that with this government furthermore i have been emphasizing this the cost of contract in this part of the world you see is one of the highest is not the highest in the whole world what efforts have this government made to review the cost of contracts in the country but that we can bring in down the monies and all that that we have spent all that is prepared in the back in some of this project also look at the cost of corporate governance and the the jumbo piece in the national assembly the security votes that all the executive hands of government and even the legislative and the local government that we are taking why can't we review some of these things and all that because invariably these people don't deserve to get any or take any security vote they are not the commissioners of police or the dpo of the local police stations in their respective area and there are several theories of other things and ways are made by which governments can corrupt them and prove that it has been the top look at the world that we are passing with a book water this was including also the past day we have to wrap it up here and Nigeria is being forced to basically like a ammunition taking 47 bombs and water for when the landmines when these are things that the book water the right track book water money are produced. Mr. Kulawole who would have to wrap up here because of time would have to wrap up here thank you very much for your time this morning we always enjoy kicking off our monday mornings with you here on the breakfast so thank you for joining us this morning thank you all right we wish you a beautiful week ahead all right stay with us we're of course going on a short break when we come back we're moving into a little bit of history i'm going back to the year 1975 to tell you a little bit about tennis history i'm going back to the year 1946 to talk about you know a time in our history where you know women the bodies of women began to you know be looked at through a different lens we'll be right back


Welcome back to come again TV the only place on YouTube. We're all geek culture collides. I'm Shannon and today on the show We're taking a look at the pop movies number 670 This is Hans Gruber All right, so before we take a look at the pop. Let's go ahead and take a look at the clamshell As you can see here. There are no clips on the clamshell at all. It's kind of flopping around I'm not sure why Funko does that why some of their pops Clamshells have clips and others don't But I prefer the clips and then we have the box As you can see here pop movies diehard 670 only at GameStop Hans Gruber vinyl figure See the glass shards from the window that John McClain smashed through right there on the Bars if whatever you want to call them Not really sure what you would call them, but I they're bars and then here on the display side Down at the bottom Okay, and then on the back. I want to get this whole line Number 667 is John McClain 668 is Al Powell 669 is Hans Gruber 671 is Tony rescue now if they wanted to do a family matters line of Funko pops with Carl and Steve Urkel and Eddie and Laura and Harriet All they would have to do is take Al Powell from the diehard pops Change him just a little bit not even a lot just a little bit to make him Carl Winslow Of course they were played by the same character Reginald Vell Johnson He got his he first appeared in uniform as a police officer in perfect strangers Which family matters was a spinoff of for those of you who didn't know He then appeared in diehard. He also appeared in Ghostbusters as the Officer that kind of lets the police off or let's the Ghostbusters out of jail So he is known for his police officer roles. They they could They could do a variant of Al Powell With nothing in his hands because as you can see there he's got his Twinkies in his hands They could do a variant of him just kind of you know Stand in there whatever and in like a pose or whatever and They could really cross that over between multiple lines Just change the box and that'd be it Have a Ghostbusters style box have a family matter style box have a perfect strangers box They could save money that way rather than remolding him all the time And just you know, maybe change the paint a little bit so that it would show up For you know Al Powell and for Ghostbusters It'd be New York Police Department for family matters and for perfect strangers. It would be Chicago Police Department who knows but that would be a pretty cool idea definitely want to get John McClain and Tony Vresky Now I have a machine gun. Oh, oh, oh John of course can do that impression a lot better than I can Speaking of John. He has a channel if you guys want to check it out. It's called the logic I will link it below. He's been doing a lot of reviews of the savage Savage world Funko figures So make sure you check those out Again, that's called the logic the link will be in the description below I'll even put a link to it at the end of this episode So you guys can check out their channel So anyway, there's the box now. Let's go ahead and take a look at Hans Gruber This is actually how he comes out of the package with his head turned like that I'm not sure if it was meant to be like that, but that's how mine came out of the package His head does rotate like most pops he's in his business suit that he's shown wearing in the movie along with his gray trench coat his hands are in his pockets you can see Nice paint job on the beard. There is a little bit That did not get painted on the back of his head on his hair. He's got the gray streaks in his hair very nice But overall not much going on with this figure Yeah, he's he's Hans Gruber Alan Rickman What one more is there to say about I mean he's got the gray streaks in the front of his hair Very nice figure. I would have loved to be able to review this entire line all together Maybe I'll see what I get for Christmas Who knows maybe my wife would have may have got me John McClain. I don't know But if I don't get them for Christmas then Maybe I can get them after Christmas get the entire line and review them all together in a once a month pop review type deal As I've said before This will be one of the last regular pop reviews I do for come again TV They starting in 2019 they will no longer be every Tuesday as you guys may have guessed there there were no pop reviews This these were the first pop reviews. I did for the month of November. I Just kind of like I said, we're faith. I'm phasing them out If I do pop reviews in the future, I'll wait until I get a bunch of them do it maybe once a month just Go through and review them all not even schedule them or anything Just upload them and just flood YouTube with the reviews one day out of the month Who knows but anyway there you have it guys the pop movies diehard number 670 Hans Gruber I'm Shannon for come again TV the only place on YouTube. We're all geek culture collides Take care my friends and have a merry Christmas.  We're all geek culture collides. Take care geeks


Aloha and welcome to Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We are a show that broadcasts live every Thursday afternoon from 2 to 2.30 in the studios of Think Tech Hawaii and beautiful downtown Hualululu, Hawaii. We focus on successful businesses and individuals in Hawaii, try to highlight their successes and how they made it work here in Hawaii. There are challenges. We are an island. There are transportation costs. There are elements of living out in the middle of the Pacific that drive costs up that other parts of the country don't have to deal with. And so we've got some unique challenges here, but there are success stories. All we got to do is look at the Pacific Business News. They have a book of lists, actually multiple lists of successful companies all during the year. The Small Business Administration also has their lists of successful companies. And I act as one of the judges with the SBA going through and helping to decide which companies should be awarded during the year for their successes. And I can assure you it is not an easy process. We have a lot of applicants, a lot of well qualified companies and individuals, and that's a very difficult challenge sometimes trying to find the best accomplished stories in businesses to win the awards. As a matter of fact, we're going to be having an awards luncheon coming up in a few months. And the winners have not been announced yet, but I'm sure they will be soon. And then we'll be recognizing them at the SBA luncheon here, I think it's in May. We do have a guest today that many people know. He has been in the news quite a bit. He is the CEO of Grassroots. He has been in that role for a few years now and has been very successful at it. He has also been recently elected as trustee for OHA, which is the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Now that role that he has is a very challenging one and a very difficult one. And so he's usually very, very busy. And today is not an exception. So today, Dr. Akina, please come in. I was just going to say how busy you are and how it's been very much of a challenge for you to get to all the different meetings and duties that you have. Now, you're the newest trustee or one of the newest trustees on OHA, but you still have Grassroots going on, too. So you've got a lot of balls in here.  But Reg, such a great person, a great show to be on. Yes, I was elected to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as a statewide trustee at large. And I continue because that's only a part-time position. I continue to be president and CEO of the Grassroots Institute of Hawaii, which is a public policy think-tank. Right, and it's a very important one because it's really a great way to disseminate some information throughout the community that impacts not only businesses, but ultimately the individuals, too. Well, absolutely. And in fact, we want to come up with a better economy, a better government, a better society, and do it without creating partisan lines. I think that there are enough people in Hawaii who want to see a future that is great for our keiki. We can work together. And that's been a major theme of mine. That's why I wanted to come on your show just to talk a bit about how I think we can do a new kind of politics in Hawaii. You know, we really need to try to figure out how to make that work because I don't know about you and others. But for me, I'm getting a little burned out on all the political rhetoric that's going on. And I wish we could just start paying attention, trying to get something done and move the ball forward instead of all this bickering. Well, you're not the only one, Reg. I think that a lot of people when they look at different projects that have been scuttled in our state, different endeavors that have divided people such as the rail and Honolulu and so forth, that when that happens, when that takes place, and I'm going to adjust this to make sure that I can be heard all right, we don't work together. You know, Reg, I like to say a Hana Kako, let's work together. And I think that there is a ground that attracts people together where we actually help one another. And the good thing about the political arena is we can use it to discover that. As long as people are willing to have a little bit of an open mind and explore the possibilities. I mean, I see a lot of people, they just shut their mind and they just want to do it one way. And that can be kind of a roadblock at times. Well, there's nothing wrong with people taking a stand. We live in a democracy. Ideas need to be competitive in order for the best ideas to rise to the top. We need to have political parties that are competitive. The problem is when there's only one voice in power. For example, our state senate, Sam Sloan was the friend of many people, whether they're democrat or republican, but he lost his seat. And as a result, something else happened. Our state senate became the only one in the United States with only one party. Whether you're democrat or republican, that's not a good thing. Because the functions of government don't take place. The people don't get represented as well as they would if there was some competition. Well, both sides need to be heard. That's right. And with one party, sometimes that doesn't always happen. That's right. Now, there's no hiding the fact that some of my views have really lined up well with many of the conservative positions that Sam Sloan had. And some of my views have been different. But I think if I'm going to share something with friends who have more conservative leanings when it comes to taxes, when it comes to the size of government, fiscal accountability and so forth, we have to recognize that it's not enough for us to complain about the system. We have to come up with a politics in which we're providing solutions that actually will work and will do things that people need. Do you think it's a coincidence that, you know, so Sam's not in the senate anymore, but it just seems to me, watching all these bills, you know, both on the senate and the house side, that's kind of going through the process right now, there seems to be an awful lot of them focused on raising taxes. More than I've seen in the past. Well that's because this year is not an election year. If you track the legislature, raising taxes is not a popular thing when you're also trying to be elected. But in an off year, yes, those bills flow. And we have seen bills that have attempted to raise our general excise tax, which is quite pervasive. Very few people realize that about 50% of our state coffers are filled by the general excise tax. I'll let you as an accountant explain what it is. But we've also seen attempts to raise property taxes and so forth. And, you know, part of it is a mindset that says the only way to get these goods that we need in society, a better education system or transportation, the only way is to raise taxes on the tax-paying public. And at the Grassroot Institute, we challenge that idea. We point out that sometimes raising taxes is actually something that harms getting good things to people. It has pushed a lot of people away from Hawaii. People have relocated because of that. And these are good, solid people. And it's a shame to see them go. But, you know, you raised an interesting point about the general excise tax. Sure. And I think, if I'm wrong, please correct me, but you've got an economics background too. Well, some economics. That was my first major in college. All right. Well, you're more than most people then. But, you know, we have what they call a general excise tax. That's right. Not to be confused. With a sales tax. With a sales tax. And they're two completely different animals. That's right. So I think if we try to equate the two, and I've seen different numbers on this, but we've got something because of the excise tax and how it works, equivalent to about a 12 or 13 percent sales tax? Well, the result of combining our GET, our general excise tax and our sales tax, is that when it hits the consumer and the business person, it takes on a greater impact than either one of them alone. And the people who are hurt the most are often the people that in the legislature through these bills, we're trying to help. Let me give you an example. One of the bills that we spoke out about a couple of years ago was designed to help those at the lower end of the economic ladder, the poorest in society. But it was going to raise the GE tax. We pointed out that those at the lowest end of society pay in effect a higher percent of their own salaries or their own income in GE tax because of the way they shop. And they could pay effectively 13 to 18 percent of their income on GE taxes as we construct them here in Hawaii. That's one of the highest rates, if not the highest rate in the nation. And by looking at that data, we can see a lot of times things that sound conservative fiscally actually are going to be good for the poor. In the true sense of the word, I mean it actually will benefit the poor, which we really need to do because in a lot of people, it's not obvious, it's not clear to a lot of folks, you have a lower social economic group that is struggling. They're the ones that use most of the different type of support programs that are out there that really drive the taxes. And if we can get them to a higher level on the economic ladder, then the cost is going to drop in the social welfare area. I think one of the things in addition to leading rather than complaining that we need to do if we're going to gain some political clout, whoever you are, is to unite rather than divide. There are so many things around which we are divided here in our state. I think people are tired of that. It doesn't mean that we all have to think the same way. No, we cherish our diversity in our state. But political leaders are going to have to bring people together. I remember when I first came to the Grassroot Institute, I spoke to an interesting audience. Half of them were Hawaiian native independence and sovereignty activists. The other half of the audience were a collection of conservatives, libertarians, Tea Party people, Republicans. Interesting mix. It was. It was an interesting gathering. And it was hard to reconcile the two groups together, so I threw my speech out. And then I said to one group, I said to the conservatives, you don't want the federal government telling our state what to do.  And they all cheered and went, yay. And then I turned to my friends in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement and said, now you don't want the federal government telling you how to run your own self-determinism. You don't want bills like the Akaka Bill or you don't want the Department of Interior to be running what it is to be a Hawaiian entity. And they all cheered and went, ew. And starting with that group, people came together across different political lines. And ultimately that was one factor in my election when we had an overwhelming number of votes when it came to the 2008-16 general election. For my seat in trustee at large in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, we garnered 164,000 votes. That's impressive. It is because to become a legislator here, you need about 15,000 votes or 10,000 votes to become a congressperson, 80 to 120,000. Because we were able to bring people together around a unified point, we saw 164,000 votes. Let me ask a question that I don't know if you know the answer. How many votes does it take to become the governor? A little more than that. In this last election there was only one election in 2016 in which more people voted and there were more votes for the winner and that was for Senate. Brian Schatz. Oh, yeah. But the voter's behavior changed. It was incredible. Very few people actually voted in the OHA election in past elections. Sometimes as few as 45%. Most people left that blank because they didn't see how relevant OHA is for everyone in Hawaii. In my election, trustee at large, in 2016, 73.1% of all voters marked their ballot. And I think because they were more aware of some of the issues and if something as basic as knowing that they did have a choice that they could vote. That's right. Over 300,000 people, 330,000 people in the last election and this was not reported by the news, voted for an OHA candidate. Wow. And what that shows is when you take issues away from dividing people along political lines and find a central point around which to rally, uniting rather than dividing is a good political strategy. We've all got common ground somewhere, but we need to take a quick break. Dr. Ikeena will be right back, but this is Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. I've got Dr. Ikeena with me today and we're talking about some very important issues in Hawaii. We'll be right back. Aloha. Thank you. I apologize for being late. I'm Kaui Lucas, host of Hawaii Is My Mainland, every Friday here on Think Tech Hawaii. I also have a blog of the same name at kauilukas.com where you can see all of my past shows. Join me this Friday and every Friday at 3 p.m. Aloha. Aloha. My name is Richard Emory, host of Kondo Insider. More than a third of Hawaii's population live in some form of association. Our show is all about educating board members and owners about the responsibilities and obligations and providing solutions for a great association. You can watch me live on Thursdays, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. each week. Aloha. Hi, I'm Chris Leatham with Think Tech Hawaii and I'd like to ask you to come watch my show, The Economy and You, each Wednesday at 3 p.m. Welcome back. This is Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker and my guest today is Dr. Akina and we've had a very spirited conversation in the first half of the show about some of the more important issues that's going on in Hawaii right now. And Dr. Akina is also the CEO of Grassroots Institute and has a very interesting newsletter that goes out at least once a week. And this last week he had a very scary story that's not new, but it always scares me whenever I read it. It's about the unfunded liabilities that we have in Hawaii and how they just seem to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Well, you know, Reg, one of the problems we have here in Hawaii is that we owe our retirees more money than we have for them. So there are these wonderful people who work for the state government and county governments who have devoted their lives and when they retire they will find in their pension funds their health care program that we don't have the money to pay for them and their needs. And neither will we have the money by the time their grandchildren are grown up. And this is what we call the unfunded liabilities because the two insurance accounts we have, one of them people know as the ERS, the Employee Retirement System, and the EUTF, which handles health, are not managed in the way they are in the private sector. If you had an insurance company and you're familiar with this and an insurance policy for any number of things, you'd want to know that the money is there. Well, they have reserves that are set aside that are supposed to be earning and keeping up with things in order to meet these obligations. So our total of unfunded liabilities as of last week, because it's a floating figure, was at least $23 billion. Billion with a B. That's right, and that's huge. It is. One of the things is that we're cash-strapped in the state in any case. And so when we move ahead and increase our expenditures at the state legislature through various bills to do things that people want that are good, we have to take from Peter to pay Paul. And we end up frequently rating these funds. Well, there's a limited amount of dollars and you have to move them around in order to meet the obligations. It's not an easy job, and they have to make some hard decisions. That's right. And these unfunded liabilities have grown over the years and they're for legitimate, as you pointed out, very legitimate purposes, but they're basically pensions and retirement funds and then also the commitment that we made to fund the health care for these retirees. That's right. And people are retiring. And this is getting bigger and bigger and the costs are going up higher and higher. It's just, you know, somehow we've got to control it. Well, we have to think outside the box. One of the things we do at the Grassroot Institute is look at models across the nation. Now, Hawaii's unique. We can't just import some other model. But there are best practices in the world and in the nation. One that may be too extreme for us is to take a look at Singapore, which is a very different place, but where their government makes a profit. And as a result, payments for things such as insurance and housing for others comes from the money being made. We have a different model here. In our state, in order to raise revenues, we tax the taxpayer. And there's a limit to how much we can do that. So while we have some of the highest-paid county workers in the nation here, some of the highest-paid government workers, and there's nothing wrong with them receiving high pay and benefits and salaries. And it costs a living inside here too. So there's some correlation. That's right. But while that's the case, the problem is sustaining that is done on the backs of all taxpayers. And we can only go so long in doing that. We've got to find another solution. Are you familiar with the wagon analogy? Tell me that. The wagon and the cart? Yes. Okay. I understand the concept. There's a wagon or a cart. And back a couple hundred years ago, there was, say, ten people pulling this cart, or nine people. And one of the people was in the cart. They needed to help. They were the lower-injured. And so they needed the support of the other nine to get them through. And so there was nine people pulling this wagon. And there was only one that needed to help.  And now the last number I heard is that we've got about six or seven people in the cart and only three or four that's actually pulling it. Which, to me, that means that we've got about 30% of the population paying all of the taxes to help support the other 70%. You know, at some point, it's going to collapse. What's going to happen if we've only got one person left pulling the cart? Right. That's right. Now we have to understand that the retirement system for public employees is only one system within our state. There are multiple systems that we're financing. And the solution has really got to do with thinking bigger. Turning Hawaii into a place that preserves our beauty, our unique culture, our heritage, but also is a destination for venture capital from across the world. We have start-up businesses, but the next level of capital doesn't seem to be here. We need to change that.  We need to turn Hawaii into a business engine that will bring greater prosperity for everyone. And at the Grassroots Institute, we believe that one of the ways to do that is to lessen the level of regulation that we have on businesses here. Yes. And as you probably know, I sit on the Small Business Administration Regulatory Review Board, and we look at federal regulations on a regular basis to try to figure out how we can either eliminate or to modify to try and help the businesses become more successful. That's right. And hopefully we've got a new administration that's been making some noise about dropping the regulations. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. You mentioned venture capital, and I am a business person. I've been doing it for a long time. I've got a lot of clients that I still work with. One of the challenges that we have always had in Hawaii is that it's not a huge market. It's a smaller market. And a lot of companies, when they invest, they would prefer to invest in an area that's got maybe a lot more growth potential. But in today's world, with the virtual reality and the electronics and the internet, that's not as much of a problem as it used to be, depending upon the industry that you're getting into. So what we have to do is try to create an environment that the venture capitalists can come in, make the investments, and then provide an opportunity or a platform to springboard that out to the rest of the world. That's right. Absolutely. Given today the markets in finance, in science and technology, in communications and so forth, Hawaii is not disconnected from the world. This has opened up huge market space. The problem is the structure of government regulation here, both state and federal, keeps us a very small closed protected market. And if we can make some change there, we're going to be able to take advantage of global forces and control them as well. Some people are somewhat afraid of opening up Hawaii to further development. Development doesn't necessarily mean planting high-rises on every open space. It doesn't have to be brick and mortar. And it also gives us the resources with which better to protect our environment and our cultures. Well, think of what could happen if we had the opportunity to waive, say, a GET type of taxation for any business that would export some of their technology. And to be able to open that up and help them, not only to grease the wheels to help with the exporting, but also make them competitive price-wise with the rest of the world. I would agree that there are many immediate steps we can take. We can think of a dozen on the level of what you just suggested in terms of opening up areas where we're not taxing. But at the same time, we need a bigger vision. We need to have a government that recognizes that the role of government is not to grow bigger and bigger. And we've documented at the Grassroot Institute that the public sector here in Hawaii is growing faster than the private sector, which should support it. Instead, we need to have a government that sees it's the other way around, that government exists so that the private sector, private individuals, the corporate world are able to grow and that the needs of everyone are met by an increasingly prosperous state. That's going to take a lot of effort because we haven't had that mindset, I think, since the first governor. Well, even prior to the first governor, we had visionaries, Prince Kuhio, King Kalakaua, others who wanted in Hawaii to be far more than just a rare destination that is protected from the rest of the world. They wanted to protect the culture and the environment, but at the same time see us as the hub of commerce in the Pacific and now we can be globally. Interesting. That's a very good point. So this thought has been around for a very long time. How come we haven't been able to make it happen? Well, that's an interesting point you bring up. It has been around for a long time. At one point, Hawaii was the shipping hub of the Pacific. You couldn't go down to Honolulu Harbor or other harbors on other islands without seeing large numbers of ships in port all the time. We had sugar cane, we had pineapple, we had other commodities that were being produced in the 1800s and 1900s, but our government decided to enact a law to protect shipbuilding in the United States called the Jones Act. And at the time it was enacted in the 1920s, we were one of the largest shipbuilders on Earth for civilian ships that carry cargo. Because of this protectionism, which we've never lifted, we are now the producers of less than 1% of the tonnage of deep bottom ships in the world. And if we could just modify that a bit, update it for the 21st century, we could reverse something that has kind of cut off Hawaii from the level of commerce that it could really establish. I think that might be a topic for a whole show. Absolutely. And I'd love to come back and revisit that, but believe it or not, we have run out of time. Well, it's been delightful to be with you and with your viewers today. Thank you for the good work you do.  So thank you very much, Dr. Kena. This is Reg Baker, business in Hawaii. We broadcast live every Thursday from 2 to 2.30 from the ThinkTech studios in downtown Haluulu in the Pioneer Plaza. I hope to see you next week. Until then, aloha. Well, thank you. And again, I apologize.