July 9, 2005 - Saturday

The state Supreme Court's decision and order suspending attorney Ron Au from the practice of law for five years is probably going to be popular summer reading within Honolulu's legal community. In arriving at its decision, the court rejected a recommendation for a two-year suspension made by the Disciplinary Board, and instead imposed the harshest penalty short of disbarment.

Au's violations included paying a "runner" to bring in legal business and then lying about the matter during proceedings, the court found. Au also mishandled client funds, and was hit for misrepresenting the facts of a published legal case during courtroom arguments in another matter. In that instance, both the judge and opposing attorneys filed complaints over Au's behavior.

Au has been a highly visible attorney for decades, adding to the interest in the court's ruling. Of course, there's more detail available in the Supreme Court file in the case, which includes records compiled by the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel.

Cats and computers? Check out this "review" assessing a kitten as a common computer accessory.

Here's another "find" among the old stuff stacked in the garage. The envelope bears a simple return address: The White House. Five cent stamps with the image of JFK, issued in May 1964. Postmark Washington, D.C., July 1964. Contents, unknown and missing. Another one of those little things that apparently will remain a mystery. I'll just have to imagine what it might have been.

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July 8, 2005 - Friday

5:20 a.m. and suddenly it's raining, hard. Toby and Kili have already come running in soaking wet. If it's just passing through, we're okay. If it hangs around, it could disrupt the morning walk. We've got 30 minutes to figure out which way the day goes.

A reader added this note on the Advertiser's web remake: "One other thing has disappeared from the home page as well that I use frequently – the link to Back Issues." It has been reduced to a tiny link at the very bottom alongside the heading, "help page".

Another reader-noted anomaly: "I checked the Advertiser site at 10:06 and found the Michelle Wie story “posted at 10:13.” Maybe they run the site out at Kapolei? Different time zone? (by a few minutes?)"

The San Francisco Chronicle has a long story this week about a Kauai pig hunter, worth reading. The Economist reports on a study pointing to Taiwan as the source of Polynesian migration. The Washington Post notes a move to amend the Freedom of Information Act, as well as more questions about Rove's possible involvement in leaking classified info. Compare it's coverage to these questions posed to Rove's attorney...

And check out Buzztracker, an interesting graphical representation of the shape of the day's news, along with links to a wide range of international publications.

After scanning the photos from the 1971 Amchitka nuclear protest (see Wednesday's entry), I did several Google searches for the sailors involved. Very few hits overall, but there were several for a Leo Lockard, so I sent off an email inquiring whether he was the Leo Lockard. I had to wait overnight, but then received a quick affirmative reply followed later in the day by an unexpected telephone call.

Leo's excited by this blast from the past and referred to a Midwestern colloquialism: "Well now, this is more fun than a new baby!"

And he still keeps in touch with the other former sailors involved in that protest, so I'm hoping to talk to them all and see how the experience looks in hindsight. Should be interesting.

The next batch is from a segment of what was billed as the "Hawaii March for Disarmament and Social Justice". I think it was 1976, when a similar march took place across the U.S. mainland. In this photo, it is being led by Jim Albertini and Robert Aitken, with Meda visible hoisting one end of the banner behind them. I should have these photographs finished up by tomorrow.

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July 7, 2005 - Thursday

Advertiser editors had a quite a workout putting together yesterday's lengthy list of corrections, with eight different items from seven dates.

Also at the Advertiser, it's online remake has been taking shape over the last 24 hours. It's pretty much in place now (4:46 a.m.) and the only obvious thing I notice missing right now is the day and date on the front page. What edition are we looking at? Otherwise, it's perhaps cleaner than the old design, a bit less enthusiastic on the colors.

A reader had this comment yesterday on the management-initiated departure of John Heckathorn from Honolulu Magazine:

From a business standpoint, announcing a new direction without actually announcing a new direction is the quickest way to spook advertisers. Am wondering whether anyone over at PacBasin really understands publishing.

Good point, and an open question.

Not all journalists are rushing to the political defense of New York Times reporter Judith Miller, still remembered as the unapologetic mouthpiece for false or misleading information about Iraq clearly put in her way by the Bush administration. Now a different administration leaker has put her in a professional dilemma which has resulted in jail. Howard Kurtz surveys the confusing terrain in today's Washington Post.

Over at the Chicago Tribune, a column by public editor Don Wycliff lays out several critical points that run counter to the general rush to Miller's defense:

First, Miller is in jail not because she refused to divulge the name of a Deep Throat, who saw the constitutional order of the nation imperiled and so became a confidential source to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their Watergate reporting.

Miller is in jail because she promised confidentiality to a rat--someone who was trying to get back at a political critic of the current administration by revealing to the world that the critic's wife was a secret agent of the United States government. In other words, the source chose to play politics by playing with the life of an American spy, not to mention all of her contacts.

We in the news business can argue that the nature of the source shouldn't matter, that the only thing that matters is that we made a promise and so we're bound to keep it.

But the fact is that it matters to the American people, who know the difference between a poodle and a polecat and whose reactions to these cases determine whether the sort of exemption that Miller and Cooper tried to claim will be honored. That it has not been in this case is not just a function of the law and the judicial system, but also of the fact that the American people see nothing important at stake for the nation. In other words, they smell a rat.

It seems to me that despite a principle of protecting sources, actual instances have to be considered on a case by case basis, and on a very personal level. The question isn't what journalists in general should do, it is what should I, as a journalist, be willing to do for this particular source who took these specific risks for this specific story.

Does the source need my continued and absolute protection? Forget the "I gave my word" approach. Get practical. Will the consequences of disclosure be so bad for them and for the rest of society to warrant falling on my own sword? Do the source's reasons for not going public continue to hold up? Are they compelling? These questions all need to be carefully answered in each case, it seems to me, rather than to simply hold up the banner of confidentiality.

Anyone who has engaged in or considered acts of civil disobedience has had to struggle with these personal issues that now seem to surprise Miller and others. Yes, there can be personal consequences, so one doesn't go down this path lightly. Only Miller knows whether her source deserves her sacrifice and, after all, she's the one who has to live with the decision.

The Board of Water Supply is giving the good advice shown below on saving water by not watering during the heat of the day.

Too bad they aren't paying much attention over on the grounds of City Hall, where multiple sprinklers were doing their thing at mid-day Tuesday. They've got a good excuse--trying to revive the lawns after the beating they took during the "Taste of Honolulu". But the watering could still be done at the cooler ends of the day.

July 6, 2005 - Wednesday

I was not awake quite early enough to witness this, but I'm told today's online Honolulu Advertiser was up and running by 2 a.m., apparently to grab a few extra hours to put final touches on the redesigned site, which is scheduled to appear tomorrow.

What's going on at The Willows? So far, apparently, only Auntie Maria knows. She writes:

According to a friend, who lives just a few doors down from the restaurant and goes their almost-nightly for the Hawaiian music, the change is a good thing.

The Willows' upstairs dining area (The Rainbow Room) is converting to an "Asian-French fusion" restaurant, with ala carte ordering (no buffet). They planned to open by July lst, so it should be ready for customers sometime soon.

And if you don't know it, Auntie Maria's Mele.com is a great source of Hawaiian music, CDs, DVDs, etc. Check it out.

Former Star-Bulletin webmeister Blaine Fergerstrom agrees that Burl Burlingame was the guy pushing for a Honolulu centennial party.

I'll concur, it's true. Back when we were both working there, Burl uncovered the fact that the city had been officially incorporated on 1905, even though it had been there for quite a while before that. He started bugging the Harris people about it and they gave him the W.C. Fields treatment: "Go away, son. You bother me."

Burl kept at it, though, and Mayor Mufi seems more inclined to celebrate it.

So there you have it.

If you're interested in the "new" journalism, you might want to at least check out Dragonfire, a new "fully interactive online publication bringing together innovative audio, video and print content in previously unimagined, mutually-supporting formats," produced at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Here's another small bit of Hawaii protest history. It was October 1971. Gannett had just bought the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for something like $37 million. The S-B, by the way, still not only printed wedding announcements, it also featured engagement notices complete with photos of the smiling brides to be.

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The Vietnam War was still being fought and, against that background, we found ourselves aiding and abetting several sailors who jumped ship to protest the planned nuclear test at Amchitka Island in the Aleutian chain.

I discovered yesterday that the incident never even made it into the published version of the Hawaii newspaper indexes. I was only able to refresh my foggy memory by starting in the microfilms on October 1 and continuing until I found a couple of brief stories on the weekend of October 16-17, 1971. In any case, I've scanned the old photos and placed them in my archive of "old kine pictures".

July 5, 2005 - Tuesday

A discussion over at Hawaii Threads credits the Star-Bulletin's Burl Burlingame for pushing the idea celebrating the city's 100th birthday, and the newspaper's solicitation of readers ideas for many of the activities now planned by the city.

Sally Apgar steps up in today's Star-Bulletin with another long look inside the Fong family capers. She's going to have a lot to do now that Rob Perez and Rick Daysog have slipped up the street to write for the competition.

In case you missed it, Advertiser senior editor and reader representative Anne Harpham announced the remake of the online edition, scheduled to debut on Thursday.

And if you hadn't noticed, the New York Times reported over the weekend that government secrecy is at record levels, with more federal documents being classified by the Bush administration and fewer declassified than ever.

For those worried about the fate of public media, National Public Radio has posted the full text of the formerly secret monitoring report ordered by Ken Tomlinson, chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in his search for liberal "bias". Read and weep.

We managed to survive the 4th of July relatively unscathed as there were few fireworks out here to frighten the cats. We didn't even have to institute lock down procedures, and all cats except Silverman have checked in this morning already.

July 4, 2005 - Monday

On the 4th, it's time to reflect on how much of our nation's legacy we're squandering. Among other, The Toronto Star reports on alleged CIA abuses in secret detentions on Diego Garcia island, while The Guardian reports from Iraq.

The New York Times reports that a number of states, led by Texas, are challenging a federal requirement that they reimburse the federal government for certain of the costs of Bush's prescription drug plan. It's an open revolt by the against another unfunded mandate. A most interesting independence day political move.

So what's going on at The Willows? A new upscale restaurant? That's what this help wanted ad on the Advertiser's CareerBuilder site seems to say:

THE WILLOWS" AM Phone Operator New Upscale Restaurant Opening at The Willows needs: PM Ala Carte Servers Apply: Monday-Friday, 8-10am, 2-5pm 901 Hausten St. No phone calls please.

Source - Honolulu Advertiser - Honolulu, HI

I don't see any news on the restaurant's own web site. So what's up?

The Seattle Times reported several days ago that Associated Grocers, an independent food wholesale co-op that distributes in Hawaii as well as the Northwest, is considering options for its future, including a possible sale. I'm not sure who they service here, although I think I've seen the "Western Family" label in some stores here.

I caught up with Wally yesterday for a more formal portrait than the one taken last week when she was ensconced in my lap. At age 7-1/2, she's as photogenic as ever, it seems.

Ms. Wally

July 3, 2005 - Sunday

The 4 a.m. wake-up call was the muffled sound of a cat playing at our bedroom door, muffled thumps, bumps, jumps. It was a bit more than I could sleep through, so I staggered out of bed and flipped on a light. There was Mr. Romeo, as happy as he could be, with a large rat. Deceased. The rat, that is. It measured more than 14 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail, not an exact measurement because I was measuring while carrying Mr. Rat by the end of his tail, gripped with a Kleenex that happened to be in my pocket at the crucial moment. By this time, other cats are circling as I carry the dangling prey through the house. I did fumble around and take a one-handed photo for the record (not included here because it is not a pretty picture), then found a pair of slippers and carried Romeo's catch into the yard where I threw the remains as far down the hill as I could. I suppose there are more elegant solutions, but this was as far as my brain and body managed to get two hours before dawn.

With the potentially historic power struggle going on in the national makeup of organized labor, you would think we could expect some reporting on the local fallout. This week, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners threw their support to the group of unions challenging the leadership of the AFL-CIO and threatening to break away. The group now includes the Teamsters, Laborers, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Service Employees International Union, and UNITE HERE!, all with significant local affiliates.

Now Robert Novack reports that the NEA is also considering joining the reform group, now known as the Change to Win coalition. That means we're talking HSTA and, potentially, UHPA, both NEA affiliates.

This is big news in labor, and must be generating major tensions in Hawaii's labor community. None of it is straight forward, with dissent within dissent. But, again, by largely ignoring the labor beat or adopting an openly hostile stance towards unions, our newspapers and broadcast news operations aren't well positioned to report on how the behind the scenes labor politics is playing out here. We're the poorer for it, in more ways than one.

Last bit--here's a list of some of the places to watch tonight's "deep impact" show, including nearly real time images from Mauna Kea's Keck Observatory.

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