i L i n d . n e t

The rain hit as we were walking on the beach across from Kaaawa School, and with it came the rainbow. I ended up dashing across the two lanes of Kamehameha Highway to get a picture without the layers of ugly wires intervening in the otherwise wonderful view. I was surprised to see the faint double rainbow in the photo. You can just make out a bit of it in the upper left on the larger view–just click on this little version to get a better look.

Taking advantage of the Labor Day holiday, I “slept in” until 5:30, then did the cat rounds–put some ointment on Ms. Kili’s newly discovered abcess and gave her a good morning dose of antibiotic, refilled the food dishes, put a scoop outside for Harriet, whose been hanging out on the front deck, refreshed the water dishes, opened the door to let Leo, Romeo, and Toby back into the house since they’d been on the other side of the door when we closed the portals to keep Kili inside overnight. Set up the coffee, and by then it was time to get out and walk down to the sunrise. So I didn’t start on today’s entry until we got back and I got both a cup of coffee and a nice warm Ms. Wally in my lap.

I just ran into a series of photos from a group hike along the ridges above Kaaawa last weekend. The group met at Swanzy Beach Park and then it looks like they took short drive and started climbing just around the bend towards Kahana, then proceeded up behind the Crouching Lion and eventually to a spot overlooking Kaaawa. There are some great views from up there, as these photos make clear.

Condo dwellers might be interested in tracking down a copy of the current issue of Honolulu Weekly, where I’ve got a story about questions raised concerning a Korean insurer that’s been pushing its hurricane coverage to condominium associations. A complaint filed by a competing insurance agency called attention to the fact that Dongbu Insurance has only limited funds invested in Hawaii, and state law limits the recovery in the case of insolvency to funds held in the United States. This means that if a hurricane were to hit and generate substantial damage claims, Dongbu might quickly deplete its available resources.

The company has agreed to stop advertising claims featuring the A.M. Best rating given to its parent company in Korea, and has notified its agents in Hawaii that the local affiliate is currently unrated, a situation that could cause problems for some condominiums and even some lenders, who want to know that properties they issue mortgages for are insured via a rated carrier.

Since I wrote that piece, a Korean news service has reported the Guam office of Dongbu Insurance is one of several companies targeted for a preemptive review by the Korea Financial Supervisory Service.

As weakness in the subprime mortgage crisis becomes more likely to place stress on derivatives, the FSS has set out to analyze the current status of the derivatives managed and transacted by banks and insurance companies and devise methods to deal with possible failures by grasping the details of investments in high-risk assets by insurance companies.

The FSS� simultaneous investigations (comprehensive or partial) cover three domestic insurance companies (Kyobo Life Insurance, Dongbu Life Insurance and Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance), several foreign insurance firms, six securities firms, eleven mutual savings banks (including Moodeung Mutual Savings Banks), 58 loan businesses, 20 credit service companies and four private equity firms.

For a different perspective on the presidential campaign, spend some time browsing TechPresident.com, “a new group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates are using the web, and vice versa, how content generated by voters is affecting the campaign.”

Yesterday we launched the “Kitten and Family Services” adoption inspection and went to visit Ms. Kitten, now known as Olivia, “Livi”, and sometimes “Pinkie” (due to her one pink foot pad). She turned out to be doing extremely well, and is already playing with one of her senior feline housemates. Olivia was a little sleepy when we arrived, so we got to see more than one of those kitten blurs. She is going to be a primo cat!