Turns out that Poinography.com’s Doug White knows the guy who took those hiking pictures featured here yesterday.
“He is a friend of mine (via amateur radio, hence his strange url) and happens to be my webhost, too,” Doug writes.
I probably should have included a warning and disclaimer with that set of photos.
Here’s how one hiking guide describes the trail:
Always a foot or hand-hold away from a perilous fall, this trail traverses some of the most spectacular cliffs on Oahu. It is also one of the most dangerous on the island….The best way to warn you is to say this: with few exceptions, you couldn’t find a more dangerous trail on the island.
If you’re downtown this morning, you might want to check out the special House task force looking at ethics.
Today’s meeting, set for 9 a.m. in Room 329 at the Capitol, will feature two guests testifying by teleconference, Professor Alan Rosenthal of the Eagleton Institute, Rutgers University, and Jack Maskell, Legislative Attorney of the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Alan Rosenthal is Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Rutgers. He is a nationally recognized expert and published author on the subject of legislative ethics. Currently, he is working with the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Center on Congress at Indiana University, and the Center for Civic Education on the development and communication throughout the states of a new public perspective on representative democracy. His most recent published work is entitled, “Heavy Lifting: The Job of the American Legislature” published by CQ Press in 2004.
Jack Maskell has worked with Congress on issues about ethics, censure, and the recent ethics bill which was sent to President Bush.
Presidential candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth, will be in Hawaii later this week. According to a note from his campaign:
The Democratic Presidential Candidate for Peace, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, will be visiting Hawaii
for a few days with his wife, Elizabeth. He will be speaking at a number of events on Oahu on Saturday, Sept 15th.2-4 PM HEALTH FORUM, UH Architecture Auditorium (free) sponsored by Progressive Democrats Hawaii, with selected HawaiiState Legislators
7- 9 PM STRENGTH THROUGH PEACE, Kaimuki High School (free by donation, everyone welcome)
8:30-12 PM POETRY SLAM & JAM, HAWAIIAN HUT ground floor, Ala Moana Hotel (free by donation,
everyone welcome) Dennis speaks at 9:30pm.
Did the media learn anything from its uncritical coverage during the rush to war in Iraq? If so, when will we see those lessons make a difference in the current drum beat about Iran?
You’ve got to love examples of good writing. Here’s one featuring a tight word limit.
Here’s a site I was just introduced to–Legistorm.com offers a quick and easy way to browse the salaries of congressional staffers or privately paid travel of both members of Congress and congressional staffers. The site also includes discussion forums, always interesting.
MediaStorm.org is a site devoted to great photojournalism. Check out the MediaStorm blog for links to different projects and links to other blogs.
I took the long weekend as an opportunity to put together a few more recent photos of our friendly morning dogs. Just click for more.
This is Mr. Piko, making a repeat appearance. He’s an expert at giving that look of sheer pleasure when dog biscuits are offered. At the same time, he’s picky and will turn his nose up if I try to sneak in the wrong brand of biscuit. Amazing.
This got me thinking about the string of digital cameras I’ve used since 1999. Here’s the list, at least as I’ve been able to reconstruct from memory, although it will likely bore most of you.
Ricoh RDC-2
Canon A50
Nikon 800
Canon s20
Canon G2
Canon S410
Canon 350D
Panasonic LX1
Canon 400D
I was surprised to see that it’s about a new camera per year on average. I’m happy with the cameras I’m using now, but of course that urge to try out the latest is hard to resist.
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Speaking of Bush and Iraq… any thoughts on faking out Hawaii’s media on a presidential stopover this weekend, faking everyone out with a phantom decoy trip while the Commander in Chief flew into the Middle East?
On Kucinich, he will be appearing on Thursday 9/13 on Town Square, Hawaii Public Radio, 5-6 pm 89.3 FM or via their webpage. Listeners can call in and ask questions. The radio is a chance to interact no matter where one is.
I did go to the ethics work group meeting this morning. Good session, actually, but I felt that the committee members should have been able to answer some of their questions themselves. No harm in asking, though. For example, on receiving honorariums. In a nutshell, if they are talking at an event related to their private employment (we have a part-time, citizen legislature), they should be able to accept honorariums.
I was interested in the makeup and powers of a possible committee, so I stayed for an hour and then left, they were going into other things. The question came up about whether it should be bipartisan, 50-50. No discussion of third parties. With only 4 Republican senators (out of 25) left and only 8 Republicans in the House, the Republicans are diminished (in my view) and I wonder why other parties should not be included? Should Republicans have 50% representation on an ethics committee? Suppose they had only one person left, would they still merit 50%? In other words, where/when to draw the line? These questions didn’t come up, of course.
An interesting question on what happens if a House ethics committee and the Ethics Commission both investigate a case and come up with different conclusions.
I did at one point pass a note to Rep. Caldwell, although it was very much out of order, suggesting an ombuds model in response to one of their questions to Rosenthal. In other words, someone legislators could go to and ask questions in complete confidentiality. The conversation would not leave the room. They might be able to ask, for example, “my law firm represented so-and-so, should I recuse myself on a vote on yyy bill?”
Anyway, necessary work, let’s see what they come up with. Consulting with outside experts was a good move I felt.