August 20, 2005 - Saturday

Yesterday's Honolulu Advertiser ran the following correction:

• Two paragraphs in a Local News story posted Wednesday that reported on a federal probe into the O'ahu Community Correctional Center inappropriately included phrasing from a Weblog report by Ian Lind the previous day. All facts included in the story were based on reporting by The Honolulu Advertiser.

I do appreciate the acknowledgement. Last night, a friend called my attention to an exchange about the incident over at Hawaii Threads.

Another reader sent along this more general comment, which left me laughing:

Anyway, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your mix of hard news and soft furry animals, and especially your measured, moderate views on stuff.

No wonder that, while Joe McCarthy was asked if he had no decency, the worst anyone asks of you is, "Have you no refrigerator magnets?"

I see in today's Advertiser that the Hilton Hawaiian Village is again touting a plan to clean up the lagoon. Way down in paragraph #8 we learn that the project is actually required as a condition imposed by the city in order to get approval of Hilton's new timeshare tower. This round of promises to clean up the lagoon go back at least three years, and the cleanup, if it happens at all, could stretch out a couple of more years.

It's interesting that Hilton now says the cleanup will cost some $13 million, while just a few months ago the Star-Bulletin cited a $5 million figure. Is there a little wiggle room in these cost estimates?

Of course, the underlying point that is lost is that keeping the lagoon clean was a condition of the first state lease of the area to Henry Kaiser, original developer of the Hawaiian Village, and has run with the property from the beginning. Obviously, though, the state has been lax in enforcing the provision, perhaps in deference to Hilton's political clout and economic weight.

Finally, another reader posed this question:

i do hope you'll explore who we are to believe this morning (Friday):

the advertiser, that two-thirds of our schools failed NCLB

the bulletin, that school officials are thrilled with the test scores.

Both stories appear accurate, just emphasizing different viewpoints. And isn't that the point of having competing daily newspapers?

And the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday on growing opposition to the "No Child Left Behind" law.

August 19, 2005 - Friday

I was taken to task earlier in the week by a friend at the Star-Bulletin.

You've been using political labels lately to describe people you disagree with. I would like to advise you against doing that. It distracts people from what is really being said, by both you and those you disagree with. Someone's position on a particular issue should stand or fall on its own merits, not be smeared or invalidated by association with a label that is pregnant with an infinite variety of implied meanings.

Know what I mean, Vern?

He suggested checking this web site on the use and avoidance of political labels.

I have to admit being ambivalent about this advice. On the one hand, I agree that it's desirable to avoid ad hominem arguments of the "they're wrong because they're like that" variety.

However, making sense of the now almost infinite number of political voices and their relations to each other is, in my view, aided by use of categories, even if there is less than complete agreement on their absolute boundaries. Political ideologies do have a real impact on the events of the day, and I think it's a mistake to avoid references to ideological categories when they seem relevant, while recognizing the dangers they pose both to adherents and observers.

Luckily, from where I sit, I can ignore the "rules" and take time to think over this advice. I can also solicit your opinions. Consider that done. Please.

Today's comic relief is provided by the new dog up the street, who we have just started to interact with. Actually, I'm not sure if "he" is a he or a she. It's clear, though, that he/she is very sincere about joining that group of dogs favored with a morning treat when we go by. And who could ignore that look?

August 18, 2005 - Thursday

It seems a shame that Alexander & Baldwin's announcement last week that it sold its remaining share of California & Hawaii Sugar Co. was reported here in Hawaii as just another business adjustment with no added historical perspective.

The era of King Sugar ended years ago, but this announcement was certainly an echo of those times past.

A&B, of course, was one of Hawaii's "Big Five" sugar factors--along with C. Brewer, Castle & Cooke, Theo H. Davies, and American Factors--that dominated Hawaii's economy, society, and politics for half a century. The Big Five's joint purchase of C&H a century ago, ensuring smooth access of Hawaii grown sugar to the U.S. mainland market, appears to have been a key point in their expansion.

The dominance of the Big Five, the sugar economy, and, eventually, most of the companies themselves were broken up by the changes brought by WWII, the arrival of mainland corporations, the Democrat "revolution" in Hawaii, statehood, the transition to multinational capitalism, the export of agricultural production, and other factors. It took decades but it was, in retrospect, a swift and decisive transition.

This sale, and the severing of another link to the plantation past, reminded me to stop and reflect on those changes, but without the historical perspective in reporting I doubt many others had an opportunity to do the same.

No wonder I enjoyed reading yesterday's Advertiser's story about the latest Department of Justice investigation of our prison system--it must have struck a familiar chord. Actually, the lead paragraphs were a bit more "familiar" than proper, I would say on rereading, but you be the judge. Here are the first three paragraphs from each version, with emphasis added.

iLind.net version (August 16) The state, already under federal scrutiny of its juvenile detention facility, is now facing a new federal probe of conditions at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi, just six years after the facility emerged from more than a decade of court-imposed monitoring. The U.S. Department of Justice notified Gov. Lingle in June that it has launched the investigation into conditions at OCCC. The probe reportedly will "focus on the provision of mental health services to inmates and detainees," and could lead to a federal lawsuit under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, according to a summary later submitted as part of a request to the State Procurement Office. Lingle learned of the investigation via a June 16, 2005 letter from acting Assistant Attorney General Bradley Schlozman, who also authored the highly critical report on the state's youth correctional facility that was released last week.

Honolulu Advertiser version (August 17) The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the treatment of inmates with mental illnesses at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi, six years after the jail emerged from more than a decade of court-imposed monitoring. The Justice Department notified Gov. Linda Lingle in a letter dated June 16 that it has launched an investigation into the "provision of mental health services to inmates and detainees," according to the letter. The investigation could lead to a federal lawsuit under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, known as CRIPA. The latest federal scrutiny of a state facility was revealed less than a week after Justice Department investigators issued a blistering report on conditions at the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility in Kailua. The report said the youth facility lacks safeguards to protect the juveniles from violence and from trying to harm themselves and committing suicide.

My source was a request by the Office of the Attorney General to the State Procurement Office for an exemption from bidding to contract with a legal specialist from Ohio. It explicitly refers to potential litigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, while the Advertiser relied on a copy of DOJ's letter to the governor, which does not contain a similar reference, although their story did.

I understand the news food chain and expected at least one of the dailies to follow, but there are dangers in following so closely. Sometimes you can run into the guy in front.

August 17, 2005 - Wednesday

Happy Birthday to me!

A new Maui group, Citizens to Save Akaku, has formed and created its own blog in an attempt to block a "hostile takeover" of Akaku: Maui Community Television. The group fears the takeover will be attempted during a board meeting on August 26, just nine days from now, when "many or all of the staff, officers, and members of the Board of Directors will be 'replaced.' " The groups web site provides an analysis of the current situation, points an accusing finger at developer Everett Dowling, and suggests a number of ways individuals can help save Akaku. Please check it out--it could make a big difference.

The Advertiser picked up on the new federal prison probe with a good story this morning by reporter Peter Boylan which adds a lot of detail.

Re Kamehameha, a reader notes:

Brother Greg O'Donnell, the president of Damien Memorial School, came out strong on The Mike Buck Show last Tuesday in favor of the Kamehameha admissions policy.

You can hear the podcast at www.honolulu.townpodcast.com/ and it is listed as The Mike Buck Show, 2005-08-09. He is the first guest on the podcast.

A couple more quotable responses came in about my problem of childhood art (see Sunday's entry).

Mary from West Virginia advises:

What to do with the pictures? That's what refrigerators are for. Then you realize that they look sort of haphazard and cluttered so you make "frames" from construction paper or poster paper. Then you'll find that there are too many to fit on the fridge so you'll get poster frames and high quality matting paper and give them a good place on the wall. Then, one or two of them will stand out -- composition, color, subject -- and you'll take them to the framing shop and they'll do their magic. Then you'll create a system with wire and clips to create a changeable display. Then you'll buy a big art box or art file, store away all of those that aren't framed, and get them out on holidays and tell stories about them.

And another local reader begins with her own kids:

Said my 5-year-old: That is BE-you-TE-FUL!
Said my 4-year-old: I like it!
Let’s see the cats mom! Click on the cats!

I have saved a lot of their art already. But I’ve also done the painful purges. When we moved here, bought the house from my in-laws, I was trying to help my mother-in-law get packed up. I was eight months pregnant, it was May, and I was growing impatient with everything. My husband has four sisters. His mom would ask me if I’d want this, that or the other created by him or any of them. When one particular artwork surfaced, unsigned, I had to be blunt: “No, I don’t think so. It’s time to make our own memories.” That was hard for me to say. But I’m less passive aggressive now than I was then, LOL. Things last about a week on the dining room table and if they merit future scrutiny, we have a big flat box in the living room. My kids make rainbows all the time. I’d be surrounded by rainbows if I didn’t clear them out!

I thank you. The cats thank you.

The sun rises at 6:10 this morning, although forecasts late yesterday were predicting rain to start just a little earlier. So far, no rain, but it's still too dark to see the extent of those morning clouds. I did finally get around to selecting a set of Kaaawa photos from the month of July. So just click on this one to see July's gallery.

click for more

August 16, 2005 - Tuesday

You just never know what you're going to find while "checking the traps", that is, doing those routine periodic checks of public records. I was prowling yesterday when I came across a very interesting tidbit.

The state, already under federal scrutiny of its juvenile detention facility, is now facing a new federal probe of conditions at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi, just six years after the facility emerged from more than a decade of court-imposed monitoring.

The U.S. Department of Justice notified Gov. Lingle in June that it has launched the investigation into conditions at OCCC. The probe reportedly will "focus on the provision of mental health services to inmates and detainees," and could lead to a federal lawsuit under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, according to a summary later submitted as part of a request to the State Procurement Office.

Lingle learned of the investigation via a June 16, 2005 letter from acting Assistant Attorney General Bradley Schlozman, who also authored the highly critical report on the state's youth correctional facility that was released last week.

Schlozman headed a similar investigation into mental health services in California, leading to a report last month that found "widespread and systemic deficiencies" at one facility and accused state officials of blocking key parts of the probe.

Hawaii officials were told to expect the discovery process to begin in July with a federal request to examine state records, and have been told to expect "a more formal organized inspection by a team of experts."

OCCC was monitored by the National Prison Project for 14 years under terms of a consent decree stemming from a 1984 ACLU lawsuit which alleged "harmful and intolerable" conditions. The monitoring was not ended until 1999.

The federal probe was disclosed in a request for an exemption from bidding in order to award a $58,000 contract to Ohio attorney Paul Aucoin, who was scheduled to begin work on August 1. Aucoin is expected to direct the state's preparations for and response to the probe, including defense against a possible federal suit by the Department of Justice.

This may not be the most appropriate place for another round of our Kaaawa cats, but I recently received a request for more photos of Toby, presently our only "cat of color", if various shades of gray, black and white don't count as color. Anyway, just click on the photo for more.

August 15, 2005 - Monday

Who says nothing ever happens in Kaaawa? We were just finishing a quiet anniversary eve dinner when Erin, our neighbor from a couple of houses over, came up the stairs asking if I had a camera handy. What a question!

So we traipsed over to their place and what turned out to be the scene of the accident. Apparently a truck belonging to Joe, next door, rolled backwards from where it had been parked on the street, negotiated a lazy but tricky turn, missed the 6-foot wall and convertible parked in Erin and Tom's driveway, and crashed through their garage door. It was not a pretty sight.

The good news was that neither of the two cars in the garage were damaged, although they're now trapped inside until the door folks show up to remove the damaged portal. So we're going to start off our anniversary morning by strapping a couple of child seats into the back of our car and driving their twins to school this morning.

Hey, it could be a lot worse.

I thought the Advertiser's Gordon Pang did a good job yesterday profiling the right-wing Grassroot Institute, although it would be useful to have a better understanding of the political connections, tactics, and influence of the network of conservative foundations and "think tanks" it has linked up with. Pang pointed out the basics, but left me wanting more.

It also reminds me that I've wanted to comment on one key part of the conservative attack on Kamehameha Schools, the Akaka bill and Hawaiian rights generally. They describe each of these as bricks in a "wall of apartheid".

This rhetoric probably sounds good to someone who knows nothing about Hawaii. If it's a wall, it's one that has been jumped over frequently and repeatedly during two centuries of high outmarriage rates among Native Hawaiians.

It's hard for people from the mainland to "get it". They say Caucasians are excluded from Kamehameha Schools. But according to the schools' web site, "Kamehameha Schools does not have a minimum blood quantum for admissions purposes." A student whose father is 100% Caucasian, and whose mother is 63/64 Caucasian--who had a great-great-grandparent who was 1/8 Hawaiian--would meet entrance requirements. That student would be considered Hawaiian for purposes of qualifying for Kamehameha, but Caucasian for just about any other purpose.

With this in mind, it is wrong to assert that Caucasians are barred from Kamehameha. And, looking at the ethnic mix in total, Hawaiian is probably a minority group at Kamehameha. In fact, no ethnic or racial group is excluded from Kamehameha, where you will find students of a multitude of backgrounds.

Remember that throughout most of the mainland, it's has been a binary world. You were either black or white, Caucasian or something else. That's just not the way it is here, where you can be Caucasian, Hawaiian, and lots of other things at the same time. And as a result, Kamehameha's form of exclusivity, such as it is, is very different in substance, and in its consequences, than the images of apartheid being bandied about by conservatives would lead the uninformed to believe.

Or so it seems to me.

I received several replies to yesterday's dilemma of what to do with ancient but personal works of art.

One reader asked: "Have you no refrigerator magnets?" And he added a comment: "I see they apparently taught the "little grass shack" stereotype of Hawai'i in Hawai'i too."

Another had a simple but constructive suggestion: "What to do w/it, you ask. Flog it on eBay."

But then came this one which says it all:

If you're like me, you sit on an upturned 5-gal bucket next to the recycle bin in the backyard, giving a one-second look at most pieces, vaguely interested in the ones your brother did (was he ever really like that?), marveling at the brilliant (in color and otherwise) and unconstrained beauty of your pre-kindergarten through perhaps second grade attempts, thankful your father had access to mounds of scratch paper, irritated at the same time that you have so many to go through.You save a very few for any children you have, the creations you really like (perhaps the circus sequence?) and hope will impress the kids when you're gone.

Then you take all your outdated psychology college texts from 1965-1969, which together weigh close to a ton, and a bunch of notes that now make no sense, and throw them on top, crushing everything and making unlikely your digging down to save even one thing more. On top of that you toss a broken-down copy of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and some other paperbacks you saved for reasons now unclear.

You promise yourself eventually to read the essays pounded onto erasable typing paper so long ago, as there are few of them (what happened to the ones that DIDN'T merit an "A"?) and they take up little room.

You have once again edited your life. And you do a fair amount of mourning that young kid, and even that fledgling adult.Then you go in and make dinner.

At least, that's what I did yesterday.

Well said.

August 14, 2005 - Sunday

5:24 a.m. The computer may be back, but so are computer frustrations. Today's entry was just lost in an unexpected (aren't they all?) crash of Adobe GoLive, the program I've been using to maintain this site. It will take me a while to recreate it, so this post may be delayed.

That's not the best way to start the day, especially since we're in the middle of our annual end of summer-anniversary-Ian's birthday celebration which, as normal, stretches out over several days. We started early this time to get best use of the weekend, although the actual dates of record arrive tomorrow and Wednesday. In any case, we've been making the rounds, including the Goodwill stores in Kailua and Kaimuki, Kailua's "Salvation Armani", to steal a phrase from Tony Locricchio, and Antique Alley in town, with more to go before it's over. Photo record to follow.

Have you noticed those Star-Bulletin banners? "Classifieds are FREE!" Well, turns out, not quite.

I've been curious. Are they really going to a free business model? Not impossible, since the S-B classifieds have been shrinking, and on some days they are simply absent. There is, though, some fine print. "For a limited time. Some restrictions may apply." Well, you can say that again.

A call to 524-STAR clarified the situation. It's a one-time offer to new customers only, I was told. One ad. Three lines. Star-Bulletin only. Seven consecutive days.

But there is another deal that they will gladly push you towards. It's a four line package including the Star-Bulletin, both MidWeeks, one military paper, and the Internet, one week with another week thrown in for free. All for "just" $64.95. And they can make it sound better than free.

So I have to conclude that the "classifieds (plural) are free!" claim is misleading. A classified is free via this offer for new customers only. That's a different beast. Or so it seems to me.

Sunday reading? Try the detailed summary of 21 administration officials involved in the leak of information about undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame in a blog called "Think Progress". Or the Washington Post's great story on the events behind the indictment of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. You really can't make up stuff like this.

This is my "portrait of the artist as a not-so-young man". When we dropped by to see my parents yesterday, my mother presented a package of "treasures" unearthed from the nether regions of the house. Among them--a bundle of my kindergarten art. Island folk primitive, I suppose you might say.

portrait of the artist

Sorry for the late post today, but it was a beautiful sunrise.

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