According to the Honolulu Star Bulletin, about $15,000 in fake money is circulating in Hawaii.  The counterfeit money actually came from the Crips and Bloods, a well known gang in Los Angeles, and has leaked some of its fake money onto the islands.  There has been at least $4 million worth of counterfeit money in the Los Angeles area.

The bills have turned up in Waikiki and Pearlridge, and has even passed onto other neighbor islands.  The Secret Service has also noticed that people have been using the counterfeit money to purchase items and then to return the items later to receive real money.  This way, they are getting rid of their fake money in return for real money.

It was also reported that the fake $100 bills have been made with high quality paper that is close to the real paper used to make official $100 bills.  The printing is also very close, if not exactly the same.  The bills are also sprayed with chemicals so pens that stores use to check for fake bills will not be detected.  As you can see, the operation looks to be pretty large.

Below are ways to spot a counterfeit bill (source: Honolulu Star Bulletin):

» Look for security threads. Genuine currency has red and blue fibers in the paper, not just printed on the bill.

» Check the watermark by holding the bill up to the light. Real $100 bills will have a watermark with the face of Ben Franklin that can be seen from both sides of the bill.

» Look for distinctive and sharp printing in the portrait, border and treasury seal.

Call the police if you suspect a fake bill.  Just beware especially if you use large bills like that.  Fortunately, I don’t use $100 bills, and usually don’t have enough money to aquire them, so I’m safe.  =)  But to you others, watch out!

You might have heard already, but Paris Hilton is in Maui.  She apparently flew in today with her black wig and a big flappy hat.  The harder they try to disguise, the easier it gets to tell them apart from regular folks.

Anyway, she got out of jail by claiming to have a mental breakdown and refusing to eat prison food.  Isn’t a mental breakdown what’s supposed to happen in prison?  What would any prison do if regular Joe or Jane refuses to eat prison food?  My guess is that they will let them go starved….  Well, being a daughter of one of the richest men in this country, of course Paris got a get-out-of-jail-early pass and is supposed to be on probation.  Hmmm, so when did we start letting a criminal who is on probation go vacationing in Hawaii?  Is this some kind of common practice that I am not aware of?  Shouldn’t she be doing community services right now that she promised to the judge?  It always frustrates me whenever celebrities get special treatments.  No one should ever be above the laws.  Now Paris Hilton must feel that she is invicible.  I guarantee you though that she will break the law again soon enough to get herself in trouble.

I am glad that I am not in Maui; I would hate to see a criminal on probation vacationing in my state.

If you are going to Maui this week, please watch out for the brush fire that seems to be spreading.  If you are already stranded in Maui with no place to go, go to the Lahaina Civic Center or the Maui High School to seek a shelter.  The Red Cross set up a make-shift shelters there.  There are already 300 people at the shelters, who are mostly visitors.

Honoapiilani Highway is currently closed, so it would be difficult for you to get to Lahaina.  The authority is saying that you should stay away from Lahaina if you are in Kahului.  If you want to get up-to-date information on Honoapiilani Highway, call the Maui Road Advisery line at 986-1200.

I will be praying that it would not damage any houses or businesses, and everybody will be safe in Maui.   Be strong, Maui!

As you may have read some friends and I were over on The Big Island at the Kona Brewers Festival enjoying some great beer and one of those great local beers was from the Maui Brewing Company.

The beers were great and we were able to talk to one of the main guys from over there in Lahaina, Maui (sorry I forget your name you must remember there were many beers being drank ). We were informed of Maui Brewing Company’s completely No Ka Oi (Local Local Local) brewing practice by building a canning plant right there on Maui specifically for their beers!

That means not only is the beer brewed locally, it is also canned which means that the price is super cheap. The Maui brewing company doesn’t have to ship to the mainland (most likely southern California) and then have the bottle or canned goods shipped back to Hawaii thus increasing the price outrageously. No, their beers will be cheap (sorry, once again can’t remember a price, will find out though).

We then came to find out that the beers would soon be distributed all over the Hawaiian Islands to super markets, liquor stores, and other fine retailers of great suds. That’s some great news!

We’ll look forward to seeing you guys in the stores.