May 21, 2005 - Saturday

5:15 a.m. and it's raining in Kaaawa, and has been for most of the night. It has been variable, slowing to a drizzle now and then, but coming down harder at other times. It's very cloudy, so there's little sign of dawn, although the sun is now coming up well before 6.

But I do feel cheated after reading in this morning's Star-Bulletin that there was a 4.1 magnitude earthquake yesterday morning about this time centered 19 miles northeast of Kaaawa. We were awake and preparing for our morning walk and didn't feel a thing.

Yesterday's entry drew a response and clarification from Jeffrey Green, senior vp for advertising and marketing at the Advertiser.

The reason "It didn't take former Advertiser "new media" director Dexter Suzuki long to find a new job" is because he had that job before he resigned and worked out a month-long notice with us. Your blog has attempted on two occasions to suggest that Dexter was fired or forced out. That is inaccurate and untrue. Dexter left the Advertiser on good terms and we wish him well.

I do appreciate the additional information.

There hasn't been an update on the case of sportscaster Russell Shimooka, who was reportedly due in court this week on charges of abuse of a family member, and the case doesn't appear in online court index. According to KITV, Shimooka called the case "a bogus charge". The court index does show Shimooka filed a petition this week for a temporary restraining order against Shelley T K Granger, but it isn't clear how this is related to the earlier abuse case. A hearing on the TRO is scheduled for May 31.

May 20, 2005 - Friday

It didn't take former Advertiser "new media" director Dexter Suzuki long to find a new job. A press release distributed earlier this week reports Suzuki "has joined the Hawaii office of Bedrock Brand Consultants on May 1, 2005. He will be responsible for business development, strategic and creative marketing, and client management for Hawaii."

I see that Hawaii's been in the news again.

Canadian officials have issued an arrest warrant for a psychiatrist who managed to fraudulently obtain professional credentials from the University of Hawaii by providing fake identification to claim another person's education and training, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Closer to home, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that a Hawaii man was at the center of a brawl at a girl's rugby game. An earlier report said the Hawaii man, brother of one of the coaches, threw the first punch, hitting the coach of the other team in the face three times.

And The Tennessean reports that the Hawaii Structural Ironworkers Pension Trust Fund is suing to block the sale of a medical firm, alleging that the sale doesn't serve the interests of stockholders.

There's just all kinds of island news floating around out there.

And I've added another bit of Hawaii history to my photo archive.

It was 34 years ago this month when hundreds of people turned out to prevent the defoliation of the Japanese garden at the East-West Center. The defoliation threat made by the Hawaii Peoples Coalition for Peace and Justice was, it turned out, really just a bit of theater to call attention to the widespread U.S. use of chemical defoliants as part of its Vietnam war strategy.

Click for more

East-West Center officials met protesters with free coffee and doughnuts, live Hawaiian music, and, as they said, Aloha spirit. And, looking at the photos, not one burly security guard in sight.

May 19, 2005 - Thursday

More evidence downtown yesterday of the state's ongoing maintenance woes. First stop was the Hawaii State Library. I was checking out some old newspaper clips in the basement, and right in the middle of the room was the missing ceiling tile and the tell-tale wastebasket below to catch the water from an obvious leak. It wasn't clear whether the water is seeping in from the courtyard or something like the air conditioning system, both likely suspects. The mid-floor wastebasket is getting to be a very familiar sight in public spaces from Honolulu Airport to the First Circuit Court. Perhaps it's time for the "Golden Wastebasket" award to recognize long-needed repairs. Any nominations? Next door, a project to fix the leaking roof of the Kekauluohi Building, which houses the State Archives and its irreplaceable records, has been stalled for months. A $51,399 contract was awarded to ADI Design Group in April 2003 for planning, and Walter Arakaki, General Contractor, won the $491,000 construction contract in August 2004. But apparently the architects and planners didn't notice asbestos in the building materials, and the approved price isn't enough to cover removal. So the job is stalled and the historic records continue at risk pending additional funds.

Hawaii State Library

State Archives

May 18, 2005 - Wednesday

One thing I forgot to mention about Iowa: Wine. That's right. We were surprised to discover that there are 19 Iowa wineries on one industry listing. We sampled one bottle which we bought at the Des Moines Farmers Market, and it was pretty good. Just another factoid for your round file.

Belated congratulations to the Advertiser for winning a "Best of Business" award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for coverage of the Aloha Airlines bankruptcy. The joined the Charlotte Observer as winners in the breaking news category for medium size newspapers.

I found yesterday's Senate testimony by George Galloway quite refreshing and so very different from the usual fare. He apparently referred to the committee as "lickspittles" of the president, which appears to be an appropriate image.

All this is being played out as Newsweek is being attacked for reporting what has previously been reported from numerous sources, as spelled out by The Nation, while Americans ignore yet more evidence of the Bush administration's trampling of the facts in its rush to a predetermined war against Iraq, and Senate moves to the brink of the "nuclear option". These are unsettling, no, frightening, times on a grand scale.

An article in the New York Review of Books cites one particularly revealing quote by a Bush advisor:

In the end, the Downing Street memo, and Americans' lack of interest in what it shows, has to do with a certain attitude about facts, or rather about where the line should be drawn between facts and political opinion. It calls to mind an interesting observation that an unnamed "senior advisor" to President Bush made to a New York Times Magazine reporter last fall:

The aide said that guys like me [i.e., reporters and commentators] were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."[6]

During the flight back to Honolulu, I passed the time preparing another batch of cat photos using files I took along on DVD. This is Ms. Pilikia, one of our neighbors. Just click on her photo to see the full set.

After looking at it for a while, I decided to convert one of the pictures of Mr. Duke into B&W. I think it works better this way, but I'm not sure whether others will agree.

Click for larger version

May 17, 2005 - Tuesday

It's always great to get home, complete a census of the cats, and experience that sense of relief that all was fine in our absence.

Chuck Smith, an old friend now living in the San Francisco Bay Area, has just introduced an entertaining and nice looking blog that's worth spending some time wandering. Yesterday's entry recalls the exploits of our late friend, Dexter Cate, while the prior entry reviews Asian emoticons, in itself well worth the price of entry, not to mention Smith's longer and very thoughtful essays. Bravo, Chuck!

The work of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq and elsewhere continues to amaze. In its news from Iraq, CPT reports on a day spent with a group from the newly organized Muslim Peacemaker Team in Fallujah assisting in clean-up efforts. An awesomely simple and effective bit of direct action. In addition to displaying a vital alternative to sectarian violence, the participants also learned and now report about conditions and feelings in Fallujah.

The latest email from CPT in Baghdad describes walking outside the Green Zone.

Get this, every time the Iraqi National Assembly meets, the Iraqi National Guard shuts down the major bridge connecting north and south Baghdad. Can you imagine the U.S. military shutting down major highways every time Congress is in session? We began walking across the bridge as Iraqis are forced to, and quickly learned that it isn't closed to all traffic; military, contractors, and Iraqi National Guard (ING) vehicles whiz by--often at dangerously high speeds, considering all the pedestrians.

To get to the UN office, we had to go through six checkpoints and deal with five different security forces. We met with the one in charge of the entire UN human rights mission in Iraq. In fact, he's the ONLY representative from the UN Human Rights Commission, and one of only 100 UN workers in the country, which includes the Fijian security forces. These are all the workers the UN has to staff its projects for the entire country, including administration, construction, humanitarian aid, governance, constitution-writing, refugees, children, and lastly, human rights. None may leave the Green Zone.

The UN representative is frustrated that he's forbidden to leave, even with an armed convoy. He said he longed to live like us, or to go for a walk down Baghdad's streets. How is he supposed to monitor human rights in Iraq if he can't ever visit or interview Iraqis in their homes and workplaces?

We decided we might as well walk home from the Green Zone because it wouldn't be too dangerous if we stayed along the riverside. However, we were delayed as we approached the Palestine Hotel compound. Private Iraqi security guards couldn't believe we were really internationals walking outside the Green Zone with no armor or guards.

Can you believe that CPT is the only international NGO working and living in Iraqi communities?

This latest entry will soon appear in the CPTnet Archives along with news from each of the CPT projects, which is constantly being updated.

Now, if you've got any energy or time left this morning, check out this description of U.S. war planning, apparently shifting towards preemptive war.

May 16, 2005 - Monday

Aloha, Des Moines. We're heading for Kaaawa. Oh, that's the view of downtown Des Moines from the state capitol, just up a hill behind the city. Meda and I are represented by our shadows.

May 15, 2005 - Sunday

Doug Carlson points out an error by Malia Zimmerman, writing in HawaiiReporter.com, where she alleges a "most questionable payment" by the city to Brickwood Galuteria, chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. The payment is one of several to entertainers participating in an upcoming "Military Appreciation Day" at Honolulu Zoo.

Zimmerman unfortunately fails to note that Galuteria, long before being the party chairman, was a very well known Na Hoku Award-winning musician and media personality who is taking part in the program in that capacity.

Carlson, a board member of USO-Hawaii, a sponsor of the June 4 event (along with the City & County of Honolulu, the Honolulu Zoological Society and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii), says his organization is funding the event and will be writing the checks to the entertainers. No city funds are involved.

It seems bloggers aren't the only news folks running into or beyond corporate approved limits. Now there's the case of a photographer fired from an Illinois newspaper for posting samples of her photos on a photography web site, SportsShooter.com.

We're wrapping up our visit to Iowa after a bit more running around Des Moines today. Yesterday we started out at 7 a.m. with the Des Moines Farmers Market, which was set up just a few blocks from our hotel, and we later wandered through one massive antique mall (The Brass Armadillo) and then on to the small galleries and shops in an area known as Historic Valley Junction in West Des Moines. Just click on the photo for more.

People here in Iowa are friendly and low key, very much like island folks. We ate in Doozies, the hotel restaurant, on our first night in Des Moines and got into a conversation with Blake, the sous chef. We were surprised yesterday when he recognized us in the lobby and stopped to talk, pineapple in hand.

Blake at the Embassy Suites, Des Moines

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