i L i n d . n e t

From the “where are they now?” file comes this report last week from Lebanon:

Beirut – Charles Camille Chidiac announced today his candidacy for the president of Lebanon to replace the pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud whose extended term ends on November 23.

Chidiac made the announcement during a press conference at the American University of Beirut alumni association center in the presence of Baabda MP Pierre Dakkash and other prominent Lebanese.

Chidiac lost the elections for an MP position in the Baabda area in 2005

According to the story, Chidiac is the founder of the Republican Reform Party, formed in 2003. I don’t have any idea whether this report, or Chidiac’s apparent candidacy, is given any credence by those more familiar with the situation.

People in Hawaii will recall Chidiac as the gregarious developer and president of Palace Development Corp. who wined and dined the power elite of the state while running through $40 million or more of other people’s money pushing the proposed “Hawaiian Riviera Resort” in Kau in the late 1980s. Chidiac became visible on the national level because of his relationship with Nora and Gene Lum, who went on to be convicted in the last scandal involving Asian campaign contributions in a presidential campaign.

Another Superferry tidbit…I’m still working on the assumption that, as reported earlier by the Advertiser, Senator Inouye remained on the political sidelines when federal loan guarantees to the Hawaii Superferry were being considered by the U.S. Maritime Administration.

That leaves me puzzled about a couple of questions among those posed in writing by Inouye to nominees for two U.S. Department of Transportation nominees during an April 2005 hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Inouye was, at the time, co-chair of the committee). The questions seem to imply that there was excessive bureaucratic scrutiny of the Superferry loan application. This tells you the senators’ office was aware of the Superferry application and how it was handled, which could be seen as inconsistent with the assertion that they took no position on the Superferry request.

Maritime–Title XI
Question. The Title XI ship financing program has recently undergone significant reforms to meet Congressionally mandated recommendations. Yet the financial safeguards the IG has imposed above and beyond GAO and Congressional requirements, has lead to excessive oversight, redundant reviews, and unpredictable bureaucratic red tape by the newly formed Credit Council. How do you intend to revitalize Title XI to focus the expertise of the Maritime Administration and the Department’s limited resources to make this program functional once again?

Answer. It is my understanding that the Credit Council was created to provide overarching credit policy direction for all of the Department’s credit programs. As with the implementation of any new process, the Secretary views the new credit process as a work in progress, which will be modified as needed to incorporate future refinements over time.

With the obligation of Title XI subsidy for the Hawaii Superferry project, I am told that there are effectively no subsidy funds available for new Title XI loan guarantees. Consistent with the Administration’s intent to eliminate corporate subsidies, the President’s FY 2006 Budget did not request subsidy funds for new Title XI loan guarantees. Thus, the Department’s main focus is ensuring that the Maritime Administration has the tools it needs to manage the outstanding Title XI portfolio effectively.

Then a question or so later:

Maritime–Review of Title XI Applications

Question. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Pub. L. 108-36) has a statutory provision for independent reviews of Title XI applications. The Committee report accompanying the legislation makes clear that Congress did not intend for this authority to be used in “routine cases or where MARAD already has sufficient expertise to assess full the risk or approving a loan guarantee application.”

In view of clear Congressional intent, why is MARAD required to obtain independent reviews from applications that appear to be routine or clearly within MARAD’s expertise?

Answer. I have been assured that MARAD is not required to obtain independent reviews of Title XI applications that would be counter to the guidance provided in the Conference Report accompanying the 2004 DoD Authorization Act. To date, there has been only one Title XI application–Hawaii Superferry–for which an external advisor has been retained. Although I was not here at the time, I have been told that MARAD proposed–and the Department agreed–that an external advisor should be retained in that case, because the project involved an applicant with less than 5 years operating experience and service in a new market.

There’s not enough context here to assess the meaning and intent of those questions, but that might become clearer when placed in context. But, no, I’m not prepared to do that this morning.

Here’s another reader’s shipping tale:

I’ve pretty much given up ordering musical accessories from the mainland,as shipping tends to be 50% of the cost of the item. But I didn’t know small round
plastic salt and pepper grinders were so difficult to ship here from Las Vegas. Two 3″ round grinders take 3
weeks and an ADDITIONAL $20.00. On top of the $14.00. Cancelled that order immediately.

On the other hand, Designer Linen Outlet of Ohio is fantastic! They have memory foam for beds-all sizes
$69.00. Shipping to Honolulu is @$17.00 2nd day air. The mattress I ordered at 02:00 Sunday arrived AT MY
DOOR at 1pm Tuesday. Seven pounds in a 2x2x2 box in less than 48 hours. So it can be done,IF the merchant really wants to.

Another reader reacted to the new look earth colors of the University of Hawaii’s web site.

I thought I stumbled onto the UPS web site, with all the brown colors. Trying to attract students by copying the colors up on Haleakala? Or remind locals of the crumbling classrooms?

Hmmmm. I guess that’s not a rave review.

I don’t know if you can read this pair of signs (although you can click for a larger version). The original is a “keep out” sign on a fence in Kaneohe. It’s been supplemented with a second sign, reading simply, “of Iran”, making a straight-forward political message. It’s one of a number of homemade signs appearing in the Kahaluu-Kaneohe area in recent weeks that question the Bush wars and related policies. A sign of the times, I suppose.