i L i n d . n e t

It’s official. 365 days and counting. President Bush will become “former” and depart from our daily lives one year from today, on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009.

From former islander Karen Waygood, writing from Atlanta:

Just discovered fact: Snowflakes swirling in streetlamp light look remarkably like termites swarming in summertime.

It’s 17 degrees now!

But do snowflakes mean the Atlanta drought is over?

I’ve got to say thanks to the blogger known as MauiBrad of the Hawaii Superferry blog, who has just announced, “My work here is done.” A job very well done.

And thanks to Life of the Land’s Henry Curtis for the link to the group’s climate change blog, and it’s link in turn to the “Flooding Oahu” and related web pages created by scientists at UH Manoa.

I especially liked the attitude displayed in a little note at the top of the page:

Check back often for more cool stuff like the flooding of the other Hawaiian Islands.

Cool stuff like more flooding! Yeah!

Another email newsletter from former Congressman Ed Case has arrived. I was somewhat surprised by this part of the newsletter:

Returning home last year, I accepted an invitation to serve as a director of Small Business Hawaii, a private, independent, nonprofit association of 2,000 small businesses dedicated to enhancing the business climate and private enterprise opportunities throughout Hawai’i for the benefit of all citizens. Recently, SBH (www.smallbusinesshawaii.com) hosted a very successful 32nd annual conference, at which I spoke.

So let’s see. Right after the hotly disputed election, Case accepts the invitation from Sam Slom’s organization. I’m not criticizing his interest in business issues. However, SBH has always been reflected Slom’s broader conservative right-wing agenda. There are other business organizations out there, and Case’s decision to align himself with SBH certainly won’t do anything to allay the concerns of Democrats who felt he wasn’t just in the center of the road but vearing into the right lane.

I can understand the political urge to tap into this constituency, but

For those interested, here’s Ed’s speech at the SBH annual conference. As a speech, interesting. He’s got a message that doesn’t get bogged down in policy specifics, instead taking an open-ended approach with the “we’re all outsiders who need to get involved” theme.

Just another winter dawn on the beach in Kaaawa.

Click for a larger version.