You are visitor since November 2, 1999

September 25, 2004 - Saturday

It's hard to type with a cat standing on the table next to my laptop while trying to rub his whiskered face against mine, whiskers to whiskers. There's a bit of cat drool mixed in the process. This is "welcome home", Toby-style.

I was up early this morning fiddling with three old snapshots I found yesterday in the bottom of a box of miscellaneous photos.

These appear to have been taken from the Ilikai Hotel somewhere around 1960. My intention was to have them ready to post before our walk--I obviously missed that deadline and the next. But they're now finally ready for viewing. Just click on this photo...

Do you recall my efforts to rescue the fledgling bulbul that Harry hunted down a week or so ago? Well, the Maui News reports that farmers and state agriculture officials consider this "fruit eating pest" a danger to crops and are fighting to prevent them from getting established on Molokai. I suppose it's time for a little talk with Annie about hunting. Bulbuls, okay. Cardinals, no. Gray doves? Gray area.

I was very sorry to read of Emmett Cahill's death in today's Advertiser (although the link to the obituary isn't working). Emmett was a major community presence during the 1960's and 1970's when the John Howard Association was a highly visible advocate for the betterment of the state's prison system and improved treatment of prisoners and ex-offenders. John Howard stumbled after Emmett's departure, and the loss of that distinctive voice has contributed to the sorry state of corrections in Hawaii today. After "retiring" to the volcano area of the Big Island, he emerged as a productive author and historian. Quite a guy.

September 24, 2004 - Friday

I've been sitting here in the dark querying the FEC's campaign contribution database via www.politicalmoneyline.com. You never can tell what interesting tidbits you'll find.

Look up donors affiliated with the University of Hawaii and you'll see that most UH money goes to Democratic candidates. Neil Abercrombie probably gets the most contributions, Dan Inouye the most money.

Former president Evan Dobelle made just two political contributions during this election cycle, $200 to Dan Inouye in July 2003 and $250 to Florida Senator Bob Graham's presidential campaign in October 2003.

His wife, Edith "Kit" Dobelle, reportedly contributed $1,000 to Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire in October 2003. What's interesting here is that her employer is listed as "Cassidy & Associates", the Washington-based lobbying firm that has represented UH in Congress for years. It's an affiliation which, if correct, was not included on Dobelle's prior financial disclosure statements.

UH Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert made contributions of $2,000 and $300 to Inouye's campaign. Also adding to Inouye's campaign fund were Pat Cooper, interim associate dean for the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology ($1,800 and $300); Andrew Hashimoto, dean of the College of Tropical Agriculture ($1,000); Dan Ishii, now associate vice-president for international education (total of $4,000); John Radcliffe, associate director of the faculty union (two contributions of $2,000 each are listed, although they have the same date and could be a duplicate listing).

The Republican Party of Hawaii racked up some large contributions, including $10,000 from Barry Weinman of Allegis Capital and $20,000 from Virginia Weinman, president of The Weinman Foundation. Physician Timothy Roe and his wife added $10,000 each.

Brian and Holly Baker of Waikoloa gave $40,000, but $10,000 will reportedly be refunded, the data show. Brian Baker is listed as manager of the Baker Family Foundation. James Krentler, who listed his occupation as self-employed, made two contributions of $10,000 each.

Others reported giving $10,000 each were Robert DeWitz of HIS Mechanical, Russell Figueiroa, president of R.M. Towill, Kendall Hee of Reference Point Suppliers LLC, Bryan Hoernig of Honolulu Hardwoods, former Bank of Hawaii president Michael O'Neill, dentist Lawrence Tseu, and others.

What a difference a Republican governor makes to the party's fundraising efforts!

This late notice just came in regarding a program on labor and the Iraq war scheduled for Saturday evening:

Saturday, September 25, 2004
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
ILWU Hall (451 Atkinson)
Sponsored by Hawai'i People's Fund, ILWU Local 142, Hawai'i State AFL-CIO

Hawai'i Labor for Peace and Justice announces a special forum for working people and our allies on efforts to build an international antiwar labor movement and support workers in Iraq - "Labor in the Crosshairs: The War in Iraq and the War at Home." Admission is free, and dinner will be served.

The Forum will feature presentations by nationally-recognized labor journalist David Bacon and US Labor Against the War (USLAW) National Organizer Michael Eisenscher, as well as remarks by Hawai'i own Kyle Kajihiro from the American Friends Service Committee.

Michael (National Organizer and Website Coordinator for USLAW and Coordinator of the Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice) will describe the growing movement against U.S. military occupation in Iraq within the American labor movement, the development of an international labor antiwar movement, and the shifting attitudes among working people toward the war, the occupation, continued military involvement in Iraq, and its impact on the U.S. economy.

David Bacon, a widely respected labor journalist, photographer and author of the recently published Children of NAFTA (University of California Press, 2004), as well as associate editor of Pacific News Service and regular contributor to The Nation, the Progressive, Z, The American Prospect and L.A. Weekly, will describe his experiences in Iraq and his discussions with workers and union leaders there, and share his observations about the situation of working people under conditions of war and occupation. His article "Iraq's Labor Upsurge Wins Support from U.S. Unions" was recently published by Foreign Policy in Focus.

And so it goes on this Friday morning.

September 23, 2004 - Thursday

Now that summer is "officially" over, I can say that we've been very aware of the change of seasons for at least a week. We've had the first winter-like morning high tide that forced us off the beach and onto the side of the highway and then onto the back roads of Kaaawa for much of our early walk. And we've had to shift our departure time to 6 a.m. to avoid walking in almost total darkness. Sunrise now isn't until about 6:21. And as the sunrise gets later, it gets harder and harder for us to walk, eat, and get into town for anything approaching an early appointment. What a great excuse!

This is Ms. Kili in what used to be a typical position but now, with construction disrupting all the feline routines and adding a chronic layer of stress, is a noteworthy repose. At least Kili has gotten into a routine. She disappears at 7 a.m. and returns sometime before 6 p.m. And she's also suddenly remembered the bedroom, and has been sleeping with us all week.

Kili beneath her favorite Hironaka watercolor. Click for larger photo.

The good news is that things are moving. Wayne the electrician was here yesterday, and returns next week to finish the wiring. We've got a 10 a.m. pour scheduled today for the new sidewalk and maybe part of the stairs. Donald the plumber delivered the new bath tub and will be back soon to install it. Actually, the new rooms downstairs could be finished in about three weeks, with the new garage following somewhat later, and so far within budget. It feels like we're close to turning some important corner. The light isn't visible yet at the end of the tunnel, but at least I think we're in the tunnel and stumbling in the right direction. For a while this was all in doubt.

Finally, here's another addition to the growing archive of "old kine pics". May 5, 1971. It was billed as "No business a usual", a day of anti-Vietnam War protest that began with a march from the University of Hawaii's Manoa campus to the old federal building and courthouse in downtown Honolulu. It ended up with a small group sitting down and blocking the main entrance to the building.

"No business as usual" Click on photo for more

September 22, 2004 - Wednesday

There was a bit of a flap at the monthly meeting of the Honolulu Community-Media Council yesterday when KHON's Tina Shelton and her camera crew were bounced from the Pacific Club while trying to cover the council's program on political news coverage.

According to an email apology sent out by current council prez Beth-Ann Kozlovich:

The Pacific Club has a policy about no media coverage on the club's grounds, unless there is previous agreement -- and apparently, there is particular sensitivity to cameras. The club is private, and seeks to protect the privacy of club members who might inadvertently be captured on film, especially in the lobby, where we were told Ms. Shelton's camera was located. That is why she was asked to leave.

Freedom of the press, Pacific Club style.

A subsidiary of the Stephens Media Group, which owns the Hawaii Tribune Herald and operates the Hawaii.com web site in tandem with Gannett, has been hit with a lawsuit by two casino companies over control of the LasVegas.com domain name.

And just as the Christian Science Monitor reports on disaffection among voters in the military, along comes news that the Department of Defense has blocked access to the official government web site that is intended to assist absentee voting by military personnel.

An editorial in today's New York Times criticizes President Bush's speech at the UN for "transforming a golden opportunity into a lead balloon."

Army Times reports that 250 Navy personnel at Pearl Harbor waiting for an annual "prevention of sexual harassment" training workshop were surprised when the photo of a nude woman was projected onto the auditorium screen. Seems the young man setting up the presentation booted up his personal computer and mistakenly projected the unauthorized image. He's now facing disciplinary action.

From writer Glenda Chung Hinchey:

Funny thing happened today. My daughter, Lisa, took her 6 month old kitten to the vet to be neutered. They called later and said "Jimmy" is a female so she has to be spayed not castrated! We will now call her Jenny.

Lisa has been referring to the cat as her boyfriend's son. Will he be surprised when he hears the news!

And so it goes on this Wednesday.

September 21, 2004 - Tuesday

Problems with private prisons have a number of states reconsidering the transfer of prisoners to out-of-state facilities, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Obviously here's something we need to hear more about.

I don't know if I missed it yesterday morning or if it was posted later in the day, but I did finally see the Advertiser's 'To our readers' notice explaining their new production schedule for posting the daily online edition has shifted to 6 a.m.

I'm sure there are good reasons for the change, although they weren't included in the notice, but it's giving up a huge online advantage, especially with mainland readers. Up until now, if you were living or traveling on the mainland, you could get the latest Hawaii news by checking the Advertiser first thing in the morning, usually a full 5 hours before the Star-Bulletin became available. This new production cycle takes leaves both as afternoon newspapers, at least as far as mainland readers are concerned. Actually, the S-B will now regularly be online first. That's a big change.

UH artist Gaye Chan has launched a new online project that will probably have eBay's lawyers spinning sooner rather than later.

She calls it Freebay, "an anti-capitalist project", a prototype for sharing instead of selling. It's a not too subtle critique of the entire eBay concept of converting everyday stuff into commodities. Chan explains::

There used to be places all over the globe where land, water and labour were not for sale. This was where community was and this is where community still can be. Not based on profit. Not based on imposed categories like nations or race. But based on the belief that life can be shared freely and benefit all.

You got something to give away? Contact me. Or better yet, start a free store in your neighborhood.

Click on and then select "Free papayas" for an instructive essay on the Diggers and the history of subversive sharing. Whether this use of eBay's logo and look fits into the category of "satire" and fair use remains to be seen. Either way, any controversy will give Chan's larger project a boost.

You can also click here to visit Chan's other projects.

If you're downtown for any reason on Friday, stop by Bestsellers bookshop at 1001 Bishop Street from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. for a book signing by Raelynn Hillhouse (I mentioned her new book, Rift Zone, a month ago on Aug. 21).

Now living in Hilo, Raelynn drew on her past adventures as a smuggler, money launderer and rum runner to write her cold war thriller, Rift Zone, which has received uniformly rave reviews. "Absolutely riveting," according to the Chicago Tribune, and "flashy, slick and suspenseful," writes People magazine. Raelynn's website provides more information and glowing reviews about her smoothly written and fast-paced debut novel:

September 20, 2004 - Monday

This is the first day I can recall that the Advertiser is not available online as late as 5:24 a.m. They're still on Sunday's edition even after the Star-Bulletin has gotten its Monday edition up for viewing.

A former islander, now in New Zealand, reacted to yesterday's photo of sunrise viewed from Magic Island:

I can taste, smell, see, feel, touch, sense every bit that scene.

I spent years and miles racewalking and working for personal bests around Magic Island and Ala Moana Park.

Chinn Ho used to sit on one of the benches in the late afternoon -- looking out and over to his Ilikai Hotel.

Would look forward to seeing him there each late afternoon and we'd say hello to each other, and sometimes I'd stop and we'd chat....

Thanks for the memories . . .

A new report by Rep. Henry Waxman finds that Bush administration policies make up "an unprecedented assault on the principle of open government." Read and weep.

I was looking for information about the Christian Peace Teams' decision to stay in Iraq, and ran across ElectronicIraq.net, which seems a useful source of news. Here's a link to an introduction to their effort.

This might look like a calm Sunday afternoon in Kaaawa. Appearances are deceiving. Just click on the photo for the actual story.

September 19, 2004 - Sunday

We stayed in town on Friday night, so the early walk took us around the convention center and out to Ala Moana Park and Magic Island for the sunrise. It's different watching the sun coming up behind those concrete cliffs, but beautiful nonetheless. Then we saw evidence of Star-Bulletin problems. The Saturday S-B wasn't available when we stopped at a 7-11 just before 7 a.m.. Saturday's Advertiser was displayed along with the Friday S-B. No a.m. Bulletin. Same scene in the street racks across from the convention center. It could have been a localized problem, but who knows?

We survived the primary, and now it's on to November. Senate incumbents Cal Kawamoto and Melodie Aduja lost their seats, continuing a trend of Senate turnover in recent elections.

A polling story caught my eye yesterday with news that the Gallup organization has overweighted their polling sample with Republicans, perhaps accounting for W's strong showing. Here's another explanation by pollster John Zogby. It's just another reminder that reporting of polls is tricky and potentially deceptive if it excludes some of these technical matters needed to interpret conflicting results.

Previous week • Other

Search this site,
courtesy of the folks at Atomz.com