January 28, 2006 - Saturday

Sightings...reported by another reader:

one of your readers noting that copies of the Star-Bulletin were found for sale in a rack in Hilo... Yes, we noticed something odd, too, on Kauai in November. At several locations we were able to buy a copy of the S-B, either from an outside news rack or inside grocery markets --including Whaler's Gen. Store in Poipu and the Big Save in far-out Hanalei. In addition, during the same time period, the S-B was being delivered weekday mornings to guest rooms at Marriott's Waiohai Beach Resort in Poipu.

And thanks to the Star-Bulletin for following Joe Moore's quite extraordinary on-the-air comments made Thursday evening before the transition of KHON to new owners.

I got a jolt when I read of the death of Earl Pae Galdeira. A Star-Bulletin obituary focuses on his long service as a football official, but I remember Pae Galdeira as a key figure in The Hawaiians, a civil rights and Hawaiian advocacy group that played a key role beginning in the last 1960s.

I was then pleasantly surprised to learn the activist Galdeira is Raymond Pae Galdeira, Sr., brother of the deceased Earl Pae Galdeira. But it gives me the excuse to look back at The Hawaiians.

It was Galdeira and The Hawaiians who backed Big Island rancher Sonny Kaniho's civil disobedience against leasing policies of the Hawaiian Homes Commission in May 1974, part of their broader campaign to reform the commission. Their efforts eventually led to the appointment of one of their own, Georgiana Padeken, as director of the department and chair of the commission, seen by many as a turning point in the commission's history. In the top photo, note Galdeira's white shoes as he briefs Kaniho and supporters before staging the landmark protest. And Galdeira smiles broadly in the bottom photo arresting officer Leningrad Elarionoff, who later served on the Hawaii County Council, explains the situation.

In a statement while a candidate for OHA trustee in 2002, Darrow Aiona recalled this period:

During the early years of the Hawaiian Renaissance I was deeply involved with my active brothers and sisters Francis Kauhane,the late Georgiana Padeken, Pae Galdeira, Gard Kealoha, Doug Ng, Alvina Park and others &Mac226; as we challenged the Hawaiian Homes Commission to put more lessees on Hawaiian Home lands, even if the lands were not developed. Our activism is seen as having some bearing upon the eventual establishment of OHA.

Galdeira, Kaniho and others involved in The Hawaiians also founded the Hawaiian Coalition of Native Claims, which later became the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. Identified in a resolution adopted by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in 2003 as founders were Randy and Mel Kalahiki, Gail Kawaipuna Prejean, Roy Ula Kawelo, Steve Morse, Winona Rubin, Georgiana Padeken, Darrow Aiona, Alvina Park, Irene DuPont,  Pae Galdeira, Sonny Kaniho, and Roland Mahiai.

January 27, 2006 - Friday

Campaign spending reports covering the second half of 2005 are due on Monday, and expect a remarkable surge in Gov. Lingle's campaign stash. Records show Lingle reported a remarkable 33 fundraisers during calendar year 2005, including eight held on the mainland, most with admission set at $6,000 per person. If I counted right, all but 10 cost $5,000 or more to sit at the table. That's on top of the 25 fundraising events in 2003 and 2004. Money doesn't buy votes, but this is about as close as it gets, I think. No wonder it's been hard to find a Democrat willing to make a late entry into the gubernatorial race. It's plain old sticker shock.

I'm told reporter Kelly Field from the Chronicle of Higher Education was here last week specifically to cover the UARC issue at UH - her story will likely show up in next week's edition of the Chronicle. She came in on Wednesday prior to the hearing and, they say, talked to "everybody..."

A former Honolulu resident now in D.C. sent this comment on a story in the Washington Post last weekend:

Just wondering if you read A Shore Thing,
which The Washington Post Magazine ran Sunday. Regarding his first trip to Hawaii, author Bill Thomas admits to "looking for a romantic escape to someplace so exotic it might as well be fiction."

Regardless of his intentions, Thomas' article perpetuates the stereotypical portrayal of Hawaii's beach bum mentality.

"'Hawaii is just the opposite of Washington," Thomas writes, quoting a friend who lived in Hawaii, "No one cares what you do or where you come from as long as your heart's in the right place'" - the beach.

It appears that much of Thomas' knowledge of the 50th state is limited to what he has learned from "Hawaii Five-O" and James Jones' novel, From Here to Eternity, both of which he references in his article.

Thomas acknowledges that Jones wrote "about the two Hawaiis. The fake one for visitors, 'this happy land… the tourists saw from the outside,' and the real one inhabited by the people who live here. "

While Thomas rightly points out that "the real Hawaii is said to be rapidly disappearing," it is clear that he has missed the real Hawaii as well.

And this surprise from a reader on the Big Island:

Noticed the Bulletin on the rack in the Hilo Safeway today...

That observation is only notable because the Star-Bulletin dropped its neighbor island distribution back in mid-2004. A reverse of that decision would seem to be a bullish sign for the paper, but it isn't clear whether this sighting means a broader reentry into that market.

January 26, 2006 - Thursday

An overnight email responding directly on the reader comments earlier this week came in from Congressman Ed Case:

Hey, Ian. Ed Case here, catching up with blogs and emails. Thanks as always for the good reading.

Regarding the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin stories on my campaign last weekend, both reporters, who are, as you noted, excellent and have reported fairly on me in this and other contexts, asked me whether I had polled a Case-Akaka race in advance of my announcement. I told both the facts: that I had not done so, but that I had seen prior party surveys of various statewide elected officials, including Sen. Akaka and myself, of the basic name recognition, favorable-unfavorable variety. The Advertiser did not report that part of our interview, for the reasons noted by reporter Derrick DePledge in your Tuesday entry. The Star-Bulletin did report accurately on the surveys, but mistakenly reported that I had conducted them; I have called the reporter to provide the correction and ensure the error is not re-reported in future stories.

As you correctly note, the fact that I have not polled can be verified on my Federal Election Commission reports, which do not show and will not show any expenditures to date toward polling. With respect to your skepticism that "anyone contemplating such a race would jump in without access to current polling data," I simply don't believe that a poll would have told me anything materially different than what I have already heard across Hawaii over the last four years, nor, even if I had done such a poll, that it would bear any relevance to election day come this September.

Mahalo, and aloha.

Stay tuned. It looks like it will be a very lively campaign. A "challenge" in so many ways. And that's the word this morning from Kaaawa, right here in the middle of Case's 2nd Congressional District.

Another reader chimed in on a totally different subject, although he confesses to nitpicking:

Focusing completely on the compounding fury of globalization and its true implications at this point can be tougher for most people in Hawaii (or even me, visiting from Hawaii, confronting the realities here in Bangalore, India) than viewing an episode of "House" on KHON-TV.

So this sticks with me. Mayor Hannemann, due soon to confront furious fixed-rail infrastructure decisions in his own capacity, wrote (in his own 12/22/05 commentary, "Philippine trip points out close relations", printed in the Advertiser), that fares on the fixed rail that now serves Manila so well, "run about 12 to 15 pesos, or about two U.S. dollars." Please observe that the 15 peso fare from Ermita to the EDSA station represents dramatically less than two U.S. dollars ($US = 52 Philippine pesos).

At today's exchange rate, that 15 pesos would be a worth a bit less than 30 cents in the U.S.

At 5:20 a.m. that point was underscored by a solitary clap of thunder which just echoed through the morning darkness.

It was cloudy and damp in Kaaawa on Sunday for Meda's birthday, and it's stayed that way all week. But here are a few photos from Sunday morning's walk at dawn. It's a wonderful walk even in the rain, although I admit that we gave up and turned back after several blocks in a blowing rain yesterday morning. In any case, click on the photo for more.

January 25, 2006 - Wednesday

Here's one more comment on Monday's entry regarding the Board of Regent's hearing on the proposed Navy research center:

One reason for [Honolulu Advertiser Publisher] Fisch supporting the UARC may be that he is chairman of the Chamber of Commerce's Military Affairs Committee.

As for why the Advertiser didn't report it, most likely it was just incompetence, since it was written testimony and not oral. Who has time to do proper research these days?

Now one wonders whether the testimony was given on behalf of the Chamber and whether it went on Chamber letterhead or that of the Advertiser.

More trouble for Plan Compliance Group, the company linked to more than $2.6 million in retirement funds belonging to island teachers and professors that went missing last year. The Contra Costa Times reported yesterday that some former employees have been unable to collect unemployment benefits because the company had not reported their jobs and failed to pay unemployment taxes.

I don't know what has happened to Dean Osono, the company's representative in Honolulu until he quit last fall in the wake of PCG's financial woes.

The Arizona Republic reports today that US Airways new flights to Hawaii bumped dozens of passengers during their first month of service. Unexpected winds and the weight of necessary fuel loads are blamed. Whatever. Not good for business. And I don't recall reading about this in our local dailies.

And now that mortgage lender Ameriquest has agreed to pay $325 million to consumers in a number of states to settle charges relating to alleged predatory lending practices, I wonder what Gov. Lingle will do with the $12,000 her campaign received from the company's majority owners, Roland & Dawn Arnall, also major backers of President Bush?

Remember the principle articulated by the Lingle campaign earlier this month: ""Our policy is if any donors admit to a crime, we obviously don't want to accept money from them." So far, Ameriquest has not admitted any crimes, but is willing to pay $325 million to avoid further questions.I wonder if that meets the threshold for returning the funds?

January 24, 2006 - Tuesday

A power outage knocked out HostRocket, the hosting service used for this site, for more than an hour earlier this morning, prompting a number of inquires from readers. Hopefully all is now back to normal.

Yesterday's entry drew a quick retort from another regular reader:

The comment you posted from the reader on Ed Case and polling was so unbelievably biased that it made me laugh and its exactly why in Hawaii the Democratic Machine is in fact so undemocratic and damaging.

Who's to say the reporter didn't make a mistake in interpreting what Case had said? Last time I checked both papers are running at least one correction per day and sometimes as many as four or five. And if he made a mistake and said something he didn't mean, who gives a rip in this case? Polling or no polling, how does that change anything?

Personally, I think its far more important to focus on actions and not parse news articles written by time-addled journalists at two newspapers that are poorly edited on good days.

I don't appreciate his view of the reporters involved, as I consider them top notch, but I'll try to overlook those comments. He went on to say that, in his view, it is obviously more important to look at actions--how two candidates voted on ANWR or their views on the war in Iraq--than on what Candidate Case reportedly said about polling or not polling.

Later in the day came the following from Honolulu Advertiser reporter Derrick DePledge:

In response to the question raised today by your blog, I called Congressman Case and again asked him if he took any polls before he announced his campaign against Akaka.

"I have not polled. I have not taken any surveys," Case said.

The party apparently had polls taken last year that measured the favorable/unfavorable ratings of several Island political leaders, including Case and Akaka. These surveys were what Case was referring to when he spoke with the other newspaper.

We chose not to mention the surveys in our Sunday story because we have not actually seen them and could not verify Case's descriptions of how he fared. Besides, Case said it was his conversations with people across the Islands over the past few years, not any poll, that persuaded him to run.

It's possible, but I'm sceptical that anyone contemplating such a race would jump in without access to current polling data. But we'll see as the campaign registers with the Federal Election Commission and discloses prior contributions and expenditures made while "testing the waters" and before Case's public announcement of his candidacy.

It's interesting to do a quick sweep of blog comments on the Case announcement. Click here for the similar results from Technorati.com and Google. Case has drawn much more comment than I expected, and from a bunch of blogs I've never run into before.

Here was one comment that caught my eye by Dan Seto, self-described "Hawaiian Curmudgeon and Proud of It".

I'm not providing any insider information - just my idle speculation - I think Rep. Case has planned his run for some time and he assumed that Senator Akaka would retire this year - thus leaving the way clear for his run.

I further believe Senator Akaka did plan to retire this year. That is, until the Republican's went back on their word to hear the proposed measure commonly referred to as the Akaka Bill . This legislation would start the process to organize native Hawaiians in order to provide a voice in our own governance. Had such hearings and votes occurred, I think the bill could very well have passed and then become law. But, due to behind the scenes arm twisting by certain conservative Republicans, the hearings were put on hold. Some would say permanently.

To have come so close, after so many years, must have been heart wrenching to Senator Akaka. So, his decision to run for one more term to try to get this bill back on track is understandable. And that, dear friends, may turn out to be the the highest mountain Representative Case will have to overcome.

And so it goes on this wet and windy Tuesday morning in Kaaawa.

January 23, 2006 - Monday

Let's start the week with a "Two Newspaper Town" double.

#1: It took the Star-Bulletin to report that Honolulu Advertiser Publisher and Gannett Pacific President Mike Fisch submitted written testimony in favor of the controversial Navy "University Affiliated Research Center" proposed for the University of Hawaii. [Oops. Early visitors got linked to Powell's Books instead of to the S-B story. Corrected now. Sorry.] There was no mention of the Fisch testimony in the Advertiser's coverage of the same hearing. By becoming a party to this controversial issue, Fisch puts Advertiser reporters in an awkward position and gives readers to question whether the newspaper can be objective in its coverage. It also prompts some interesting speculation on why Fisch decided to take this position, whether it was at the request of anyone in particular, and what evidence he had to suggest that a classified UARC would create any meaningful number of local jobs?

#2: A reader flagged a critical difference in reporting by the two dailies on last week's announcement by Ed Case:

Am I the only person who noticed this? 

From the 1/22 Advertiser:

Case, in an interview yesterday over chili at Zippy's in Kapahulu, said he had not done any polling against Akaka and based his decision on conversations he has had with people since his unsuccessful campaign for governor four years ago.

From the 1/22 Bulletin: 

In a telephone interview yesterday, Case said he had conducted at least two surveys in mid-2005 to help gauge his chances of winning. Favorable opinions among voters were about the same for both candidates, he said, adding Akaka had slightly higher unfavorable ratings. He could not provide copies of the surveys yesterday and did not remember the exact questions asked.

Has the first lie of the campaign been told? Will the journalists involved follow up on which one of them was given the "inoperative" statement? Was it something in the Chili at Zippy's?

Or can Ed Case make a parsing that reconciles the two statements (e.g., "I didn't poll for a head to head race, I just compared favorable and unfavorable ratings")? If it's the latter, then Ed Case was being at best disingenuous and misleading in talking to the Advertiser at Zippy's. So much for the "straight-talking independent" . . . .

These are excellent questions looking for answers.

January 22, 2006 - Sunday

There's been thunder and lighting through most of the night, including quite a show for the past hour or so. It's just 6 a.m. now, and it's a dramatic announcement that Meda's birthday has arrived. Happy Birthday, Ms. Meda! We have to decide pretty soon whether to abandon our regular morning walk in the face of lightning, thunder, rain, and high tide.

[Note: We did walk and watched the sunrise from the beach, as usual. The thunder and lightning stopped as soon as we left the house, we hardly had to use our umbrellas, and the morning light had a very different character filtered through the dark, almost blue, clouds. Gorgeous!]

Now, as to the cat question posed several days ago which, briefly restated, was something like this: Why is it that your cat will be happily purring while being petted and then without warning become samurai cat with flashing claws and sharp teeth?

It seems, judging from our cats and the responses from readers, there are several similar but different types of behavior which should be distinguished. For example, that's Ms. Annie and I in the photo during an attempted nap a couple of years ago. She's doing just what she usually does--trying for a little bite of my nose. Somehow it seems to her like just the thing to do under the circumstances. But it's not the kind of sudden behavior change that prompted the question.

On the other hand, Mr. Toby regularly exhibits that exact behavior. He loves to be loved, and shamelessly solicits petting whenever offered the opportunity. The more, the merrier, or so it seems until you reach a tipping point where, suddenly, he stops, tries to immobilize the petting hand by holding it between paws with claws fully extended, and then either bites or attempts to run in place on the offending hand. I understand and don't take offense, despite scratches and the occasional loss of blood. But Sarah and Katie, the six year old twins down the street who have been desperately courting Toby for months, are afraid of turning that corner and getting scratched.

So what does this all mean? Readers offered up a lot of ideas, which I've collected on a separate page. Cat people, read on and see what you think.

As the intro to Meda's birthday weekend, we did make a run through Kailua's thrift shops yesterday. Unfortunately, this colorful chicken was already heavily damaged when I found it on a shelf in the Kailua Goodwill Store. It was made in the old Pottery restaurant in Kaimuki, long gone but well remembered. We've got several sets of Pottery wine glasses and at least two bread servers shaped as loaves of bread, but this chicken was a world apart. Never seen anything like it and probably won't ever find another, but it's one of those things that keeps you hunting.

Superchicken