March 4, 2006 - Saturday

Just when it looked like the rain would never stop, it did. Without fanfare, it just slowed, stopped, and stayed stopped. The roads were still closed until late in the morning, but people were coming out to assess the damage. We spent three hours walking the neighborhood, and got a few photos of the clean-up. Click on this one for more, and check both the Star-Bulletin and Advertiser today for more Kaaawa news. That's a tough way to get your name in the newspaper!

There could be more serious problems ahead. At the top of the scar on the mountain above Kaaawa Park Lane where Thursday's landslide originated are what appear to be several large boulders resting somewhat precariously on the now bare slope. That can't be good.

When will we get back to "normal"?

A reader commented on the photo by Cindy Russell of Molokai activist Walter Ritte, which appeared in the Star-Bulletin yesterday. "If I were Walter, I'd ask them to run that photo with my obituary when I died." He's right-a great photo.

And another reader commented on the DNA story posted earlier in the week:

It is actually rather well know among the women science community that Franklin's work was stolen and used with either her permission or acknowledgement of her contribution to the discovery of the DNA double helix. Here is a link to a relevant book.

Unfortunately, it's a common problem among scientists in general that we don't do a good job of publicizing our work. And here is a piece of history, involving the Nobel Prize even, that underscores the treatment of many women contributors in scientific endeavors.

A topic to get me fired up in the morning. Thanks for mentioning it in your blog.

And so it goes on this Saturday when the good news is that it might be gray and overcast but it's not raining!

March 3, 2006 - Friday

I'm starting this entry early, on Thursday evening, in order to add some photos from the second day of flooding in Kaaawa. The heavy rain and flooding had us trapped at home again as Kamehameha Highway was blocked in both directions much of the day. But Thursday night the rain finally stopped, at least temporarily. We're hoping that it stays this way. Overnight note: By 11 p.m. the "no rain" period had ended. Steady rain, occasionally heavy, and still raining at 2:25 a.m. And at 5 a.m. At 5:35 a.m., Channel 2 reports Kamehameha Highway is closed, so we're stuck here again for the thrid day.

click for photos from Thursday

And radar images make it appear the rain in our little area is never going to stop.

Sitting here in the dark with eight increasingly restless incarcerated cats, I'm wondering whether Mitch's house by the fire station survived the night, whether the water at the end of Hauhele road has subsided, whether Julie and John's house on the highway is under water, and the question everyone is asking, when will the road to town be passable?

Poet, professor, and Kaaawa resident Kathryn Takara yesterday with her thoughts about the weather.

I did get comments from several other people yesterday:

From Claire in Colorado:

Though they depict a tough time for the residents, your pictures are truly beautiful and look so lush from our perspective in winter brown, parched earth, Colorado. It brought to memory a similar storm in 1962 or so when people were traversing their yards in row-boats and we had a "rain day" from school.

And from Pete in Montana:

Your pictures of the flooding brought back a <flood> of (very good) memories of when I was a kid on Oahu and the Kona Storms. As a kid I recall we just termed it heavy rain, and took advantage of it, or if it was especially heavy, stayed inside and did several days long extended versions of Monopoly. Your pix of the kid on the bike towing the other kid on whatever it was that floats, a small surfboard maybee, should framed and be added to your collection of local classics, and entitled simply "Local happy Kids" .

Major bank full streams, well, I attended Star of the Sea school by Kahala, on Malia St. If you ever look when driving by that place, there are 2 streams, one on each side of the school, in concrete raceways, and I have seen them fully full right up to the top when I was a kid in the early 50's.

March 2, 2006 - Thursday

At least half of the old adage about the month of March was proved true yesterday, when the new month roared "in like a lion". It started raining before dawn, and rained steadily until late afternoon. I ventured out about 3:30 p.m. to check conditions, and found flooding across the length of the community.

Kaaawa flooding Click for more

And if you find yourself wanting to check weather conditions in Hawaii, check out the comprehensive collection of weather information, including radar images from a variety of sources, all collected by Edward Dung, If you check it now, you'll find that an almost stationary area of rain is again stalled over Koolauloa this morning. I'm hoping it's not going to be a repeat of yesterday.

And of you find Mr. Dung's site useful, send an email his way and let him know. It's a labor of love for him and he appreciates the feedback.

Regarding the scientific infighting behind the discovery of the structure of DNA, my old friend Mike, now in Hilo, noted these links to a PBS interview about Rosalind Franklin and a detailed entry in Wikipedia.

Another reader offered this opinion: "James Watson writes about the competition between him and Rosalind Franklin in "The Double Helix" and acknowledges their bickering and her important contribution; thus the Writer's Almanac report is history, not news."

But interesting and less than fully appreciated history, it would appear.

It's still raining hard at 5:30 a.m. This might be the first time in 10 years that our early walk will be rained out on two consecutive days.

March 1, 2006 - Wednesday

Thanks to Alan Murakami at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation for a reference to a March 2005 article by Advertiser reporter Andrew Gomes. The story describes the real estate speculators stepping in to purchase lots in the Hokulia project on the Big Island, where development was stopped by court order in 2003. These are the speculators who will score a big win and pocket a lot of cash if the legislature approves a bail out bill, with separate measures up for a vote in both House (Finance Committee) and Senate committees (joint Water, Land, and Agriculture, and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs) this afternoon. It's not too late to call legislators and express your view. Senators Kalani English (phone 808-587-7225) and Fred Hemmings (587-8388) are considered important swing votes.

Hawaii made the front page of the Chicago Tribune today with this headline: "Hawaii on front lines for bird flu". A bit scary, but the story stresses the state's preparedness.

There's also an accompanying story about the cat in Germany that apparently died of bird flu.

"French cat owners panicking," Ireland Online reports. This is startling stuff. Forget the people. We're worried about the cats.

We've started discussing our own preparedness, which will have to include restricting our cats' access to the outside if this bird flu eventually reaches Hawaii, even though rats have displaced birds as the prey of choice. We would probably have to divide up the cats and put a few downstairs in order to get enough space for each of them to feel comfortable, but it would be workable. And what about the population of feral chickens along the windward coast? Is this wild population now a hazard?

Speaking of cats, Ms. Annie decided to go missing yesterday. Well, it was more complicated than that, if truth be told. I decided to round up the cats on Monday night and she didn't show up, so I left a bowl of food outside and we went to bed. Yesterday morning she was nowhere to be found. I made two trips down through the jungle below our house looking for her, then up and down the road above the fire station. No luck. No Annie. So off we went to town with this underlying anxiety. Nine times out of ten, or 99 out of 100, the errant feline shows up wondering what all the fuss is about. But sometimes it's more serious. At the front end there's always the worry. Last night, though, it only took her a few minutes to appear, apparently fine. Relief. For now.

Yesterday's edition of the NPR feature, The Writer's Almanac, noted: "It was on this day in 1953 that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of the DNA molecule."

But the brief entry quickly took on a dark tone:

They were working in a lab in Cambridge, England, where they didn't even have the right equipment to examine DNA. That equipment was located at King's College in London. They learned that a woman named Rosalind Franklin was taking X-ray pictures of DNA there, and they decided that the only way to discover the structure was to look at those pictures.

Watson got to know Rosalind Franklin's lab partner, Maurice Wilkins, and one night he persuaded Wilkins to show him one of the X-ray pictures that Franklin had taken of a DNA molecule.

In plain words, Watson and Crick apparently stole the needed data developed by a rival in the world of science and shoved her out of the way of history. It's a disturbing view of this important advance in science.

And a Washington Post story on the politically motivated IRS audit of a Texas organization critical of Rep. Tom DeLay has been getting a lot of attention. It's a good read.

It's 6 a.m. and suddenly it is raining seriously. If it doesn't stop soon, we'll have to skip the walk today. We venture out in light rain, but not in real downpours.

February 28, 2006 - Tuesday

Here's another reader's reaction to the comment yesterday about the Star-Bulletin:

I think your reader today needs better sources when commenting about the wishful and hopeful demise of jobs and the continued existence of the SB. First, what market share has really been lost to the "spanking new plant"?? I checked with people who REALLY know and the only printing account that has left the SB/Midweek is PBN. I don't know the business but I hardly think a 15,000 or so circulation weekly print job helps pay for a $80,000,000 press.

My friends there tell me that the big printing jobs are the 350,000 copies like Times and all the other grocers. It's been a year and a half and none have switched. Doesn't sound like "rapidly losing market share" to me.

I admit, I'm a fan of the Bulletin and gang and hope they keep publishing for another 100 years. I just wonder why nearly every "reader comment" is always negative? Am I the only fan? Or is it the silent majority at work? Also, I think the term 'RFD' is old. Isn't it just the SB and Midweek? Not sure about that one. 

By the way, my cat just had 9 kittens. Need any new friends? Aloha, thanks for listening!

And thanks for the perspective.

Over at Poinography.com. Doug White caught an interesting note about Superferry secrecy. Interesting, especially in light of a proposal being considered by the legislature to open up commercial camp grounds, including parking areas, on agricultural and conservation lands in order to provide low cost accommodations for Superferry passengers. Check HB 767, for example.

With rain expected to begin again this afternoon, we're hoping to leave town early to avoid any potential flooding in Waikane.

February 27, 2006 - Monday

Home safely after an hour delay due to weather on the west coast. Kili was the last cat to check in, slipping in about 45 minutes after we arrived at home. Even Silverman beat her to the kitchen. But all appeared to do fine in our absence.

Kauai's Gary Hooser spelled out his estimate of the cost of entry in the 1st Congressional campaign in an email to supporters: "Fund-raising will play a critical role in the success or failure of any effort. Our initial budget requires us to raise approximately $40,000 during the month of March and an estimated total of at least $350,000 prior to the September primary election."

Multiply that by the number of expected Congressional candidates, factor in the governor's race, and you can see it will probably end up being a lean year for many campaigns.

One reader doesn't foresee good times emerging with a new Star-Bulletin contract:

I've spoken to several over there. I think there is basically no hope of pay raises. And, in reality, why should they get them? The paper is not profitable on a stand-alone basis. Midweek might be profitable but only marginally so. And RFD, with its decrepit and poorly performing printing plant, is rapidly losing market share in commercial print jobs to the Advertiser with its spanking new plant. So why should Black pay his employees more if the enterprise is in fact performing more poorly than before. Frankly, if they agreed to strike they'd be doing David Black a huge favor and give him an excuse to trim operations significantly -- just like what happened on the Kauai with Lihue Plantation when the ILWU said it wouldn't take any more pay cuts and Amfac shuttered operations.

There are news reports today concerning the latest legal move in the ongoing political war between the Bush administration and the internet giant Google. But Google currently serves up its own opinion--or should it be explained away as a quirk in it's search engine? In any case, it's been going around in an email. And it is true. Go to Google.com. Enter the search term--excuse my French--"asshole". Then click on the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, which delivers a single site. And up pops?...you'll see.

This is Ms. Audrey. We met as she sat in her place of honor in a small antique & collectibles store in the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. She's an Australian Blue Heeler like the puppy one of our neighbors recently adopted. Audrey stumbed onto a secret. I sometimes carry my small travel camera on our morning walks and, when it rains, it's thrown into the bag with the dog biscuits. She immediately smelled the dog biscuits and begged for a bite of the camera. Her person finally had to let me give her one of her favorite carrots. Luckily, it seemed to satisfy her.

Audrey Click for more of Seattle

In any case, she's part of my short Seattle photo gallery. So just click on Audrey's photo for a few more images of Seattle.