i L i n d . n e t

Here we go again. A “breaking news” item in the Advertiser this morning reports “a large brawl” near the Pipeline Cafe in Kakaako. There was fighting and a shooting in the same location last month. What’s going on over there?

The House rejected amendments to the original version of the Superferry bill yesterday, but at this point it’s as much about internal power and politics as it is about the ferry. House Speaker Calvin Say is trying to keep members in line and compliant, and there’s still only a minority willing to publicly go against his directions.

According to the Legislature’s web site, those voting against the House bill were Representatives Belatti, Berg, Carroll, Hanohano, Morita, Saiki, Shimabukuro, Takamine, Tokioka voting no (9), while Representative(s) Cabanilla, Chang, Marumoto, Takai, Takumi managed not to be present for the vote, often a “polite” way to express opposition without having to vote against the majority position.

I notice that the House bill makes much of the cargo capacity of the ferry. This is from the introduction to what is designated HB1:

The legislature further finds that the operation of a large capacity ferry vessel company, specifically, using a new class of large capacity ferry vessels capable of transporting large numbers of people, motor vehicles, and cargo with ease, is in the public interest in that it provides a real and innovative alternative to existing modes of transporting people, motor vehicles, and cargo between the islands of the state. With its ability to transport large quantities of cargo between islands in a very short period of time, agricultural produce would suffer less heat damage in transit, resulting in higher quality produce and fresh food products at a lower cost for all residents of the state. By encouraging the growing of products on the islands of Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii for the Oahu market, the operations of a large capacity ferry vessel company would foster diversified agriculture, helping the State of Hawaii to meet one of its constitutional mandates.

The problem with that, as clarified during the two days of hearings this week, is that the ferry isn’t permitted to carry cargo. It’s operating license from the PUC is to transport passengers and vehicles. So a very small farmer could load up a pick-up, but a larger farmer couldn’t send a container of product to Oahu via the ferry.

As with much of the ferry debate, this is more spin and hopes being passed off as reality.

This was the view from the beach in Kaaawa early Thursday morning. The sunrise is getting a bit later each day, which means we’re slowly catching up with dawn. It won’t be too long before we have to begin delaying our daily exit in order to coincide with the sun’s appearance. In any case, enjoy our daily view.

Quote from Robert Prichard, president and chief executive officer of Torstar, which has an important minority stake in Black Press, which owns the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, at a media conference in early October:

“We’re delighted with the performance of Black Press. It’s Metroland replicated in the West with a particularly strong economy,” said Prichard.

I noted two reports with very different takes on the presidential race. One points to a substantial cross-over vote by Republican women for Hillary Clinton while another reports more people say they would absolutely not vote for Clinton than any other candidate.

From Liz Donovan’s blog, an interesting entry on the continuing lies and distortions of the right-wing spin machine.