February 26, 2005 - Saturday

Credit the Star-Bulletin's Rob Perez with lighting a fire under the feet of folks over at the Department of Accounting and General Services responsible for troubleshooting problems in several state web sites. Rob's story was posted as "breaking news" just before noon yesterday, putting a spotlight on the web site of the Dept. of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. The department has been unable to update the site for a month, and businesses have been unable to access important economic data.

The DBEDT problem is apparently related to the breakdown of the State Procurement Office site reported here two weeks ago.

Rob reported:

As of yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, the state couldn’t say for sure what was causing DBEDT’s Web woes, when the problem would be fixed and whether the fix would be relatively quick and simple or complicated, drawn out and costly.

And that's after the site has already been "down" for a month.

But it seems Rob's calls about the problem managed to move the problem higher on the agenda over at DAGS. The state belatedly called in the contractor that had been maintaining the site, Empowerosity, a local company headed by HPU finance professor Mark Lane.

A different version of the story was published today with news that Empowerosity has identified the problem as a corrupted system file in the server used for the site.

Rob pressed officials to comment:

Russ Saito, DAGS director, said the troubleshooting efforts in retrospect should have been more intense in the beginning. Saito and DBEDT Director Ted Liu agreed that a Web site limping along for a month was unacceptable.

Well, yeah.

"We ship more to your beautiful state than any other...." That's the word from the folks who make and sell Micks hot pepper jelly in a variety of flavors and heat levels. So I guess it means I'm not the only one jumping for joy now that Micks has arrived at Ala Moana. Not a store (yet) but a push cart located at mall level between Disney and DKNY.

Click here to read the letter announcing Micks' arrival at Ala Moana

I didn't make it over there today, but I'll be there on Monday for sure to replenish our supply.

And retired Star-Bulletin business writer Russ Lynch checked in yesterday with major cat news. Russ writes:

Ian, The news is out! There are cats on Titan, Saturn's main moon. According to Weekly World News they are similar to those seen on Mars. Your own experience of the ability of cats to adapt leads credence to the claim that the Titan cats have "learned how to breathe methane gas and find food on a frozen, barren rock."

Same issue (Feb. 21) has excerpts (and pictures) from a "Cats and Rats Cookbook," a picture of a hen and its 10-pound egg, and other goodies.

Yes, it's true. I always wanted to be a tabloid journalist! Instead I spent 37 years writing about business in the Star-Bulletin.

A thought: Maybe Romeo was an alien abductee, only recently returned by the space cats and needing time to adjust.

February 25, 2005 - Friday

The story of Hunter Thompson took an unexpected turn with this disclosure by a regular reader:

Not sure whether this is sad or pure Hunter, but it's true: the piece you linked to (Wednesday) was written by a staffer to a local politico under Thompson's intermittent and somewhat addled tutelage. The writer had met Thompson the night before at College Hill (Paul Theroux was also in attendance) and was then summoned to the Mandarin to write the piece. He had only Thompson's occasional mutterings and a knowledge of the guy's voice. When it was done, Thompson went over it briefly, then sent it off.

True.

True, I suppose, and sad, at least from our perspective. Although I suppose that for Thompson, the paycheck for the episode took away the cutting edge of sorrow.

Hawaii made an appearance on the national fake news last night with a segment of the Comedy Channel's Daily Show examining Ward Churchill's appearance at UH. The title for the segment: "Academia Nut".

Here's an interesting editorial from Palo Alto Weekly on Knight Ridder's purchase of the publisher of several micro-dailies, including the Palo Alto Daily News.

I was able to sit through the hearing held yesterday by the Disciplinary Board, which oversees the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel, on the appeal by attorney Richard Lee of a recommendation that he be disbarred.

It was extraordinary, to me at least, not only because of the many issues surrounding Lee's long career but because the disciplinary process for attorneys has previously been entirely secret and has only recently let the public get a look inside.

They are still getting used to what accomodations have to be made for the public. The conference room where the hearing was held was filled with about seventeen board members and ODC staff, with only a few chairs available for other observers, obviously still a rarity.

The Star-Bulletin's Rob Perez was the only working reporter present, and he got the story of the board's decision into today's newspaper. The board voted to forward its recommendation to disbar Lee, a former judge, to the state Supreme Court for action.

For those who are at all interested, here's the latest on Mr. Romeo. He was waiting by the front steps when we got home last night. He trotted inside with us, touched noses with Harriet, and then decided that he would join the regular crew for their evening touch of canned food, a taste treat beyond the daily kibbles.

Romeo joins the clan for dinner

It took me a minute but I did manage to grab a camera and immortalize the moment. That's Romeo, Ms. Kili, and Annie (left to right, farthest from the camera) and Toby in the foreground. I think Leo was on the counter just beyond camera range, and Harriet was behind me. And they all managed to not only eat but stay in position for a refill without fighting or fussing.

There are two prominent exceptions to the new household order. There's Mr. Duke, who still dives into the defensible and hidden space under the bottom cushion of a four-strand rattan chair in the living room whenever he sees, smells, or otherwise senses Romeo anywhere in the house. And then there's sensitive Silverman, who has been bumped off his normal routine by the rain of the last couple of days and his desire to avoid a run-in with Romeo. He's the one I'm most worried about as he missed his regular food visits yesterday.

February 24, 2005 - Thursday

Apparently there's something about Moiliili. Yesterday's Honolulu Advertiser follow-up on the 2-year old who fell four floors from a Nuuanu apartment building was datelined Moiliili, several miles from the scene of the fall and not the location of any of the quoted sources, as far as I can tell. Go figure.

And on Tuesday, the Star-Bulletin reported the following correction: "Chaminade University and Saint Louis School share a campus in Kaimuki. A story on Page A1 yesterday incorrectly said the campus was in Moiliili."

And I have to wonder why the good folks on either side of Punchbowl Street don't seem to pay any attention to what's going on across the asphalt divide? Same question for folks in different parts of the newsroom.

On the one hand, as various media have reported, referees from various high school and amateur sports have been at the capitol this week pleading with legislators to protect them from rowdy parents, spectators, and players. But across the street at city hall, the city council is considering serving beer at three of the parks where the many sporting events are held. Doesn't anybody in the room see that it would contribute to the problems faced by the refs? Helloooooo....

Here's one reader's on-the-scene report from Tuesday night's controversial appearance of Ward Churchill at the University of Hawaii:

Miscellaneous notes from the Churchill appearance ... which turned out to be pretty much a non-event. Looked like lots of folks simply showed up because they were curious more than anything else. Estimates of 800 in the crowd are pretty close - art auditorium seats 300 and there were standees, and a big bunch of people outside. A few minor but relatively vociferous "debates" between pros and cons outside during the event

"Hey, look! It's Sonny from Kapolei!" someone remarked when Fred Hemmings showed up. Among the folks who dropped in to support the Young College Republicans was the Lt. Governor of Vermont (!), who apparently was in town on vacation. Sam Slom dropped by later as well.

"I thought the young republicans promised 100 protestors?"

"Well, they've only been in existence since Thursday." (The day the Churchill appearance began to appear on the horizon.)

Best descriptions of the young republicans - definitely young, very white, very "earnest."

Media: Malia Zimmerman; reporter from the Chronicle of Higher Education sent specifically to cover Churchill (who was their cover story last week), huge satellite truck hired by Fox TV to send a video feed of the speech back to New York; couple of people (out-of-towners) identifying themselves as magazine reporters; many students obviously sent to the event as part of class assignments, many of whom did not get in and will have to be "creative" in reporting on the happening.

Today's Star-Bulletin contains a major correction acknowledging an incorrect quotation attributed to Churchill yesterday. The correction is also prominently featured alongside the original story online.

One reader had these overly caustic remarks on reports of writer Hunter S. Thompson's death earlier in the week.

Am I the only one who found it incredibly ironic that the Advertiser had the death of Hunter Thompson on its front page the other day?

Whether you liked Thompson's writing or not, it was the absolute antithesis of the sterile, bubble-gum "journalism" the Anesthetiser spits out these days.

The paper has all the zip of a PTA newsletter or suburban church flyer. Nothing close to Thompson's personality would ever be tolerated in a paper owned by corporate crooks and run by clueless lunas.

I never thought I'd miss Sammy Amalu.

Pat Bigold notes that Hunter was in Hawaii in 2001, 2002, and 2003 as a guest of the Honolulu Marathon, and always wrote an off -the-wall account bearing no resemblance to reality.

"Hunter always gave you the impression that he was at the starting line but in fact he never left the hotel," according to Bigold.

Bigold writes:

I met Hunter once -- in 2001 -- at the marathon's post-race function at the Outrigger Canoe Club. He seemed to toddle up to me to shake my hand. Didn't say more than a word or two. I was surprised to find he wasn't nearly as spry or as talkative as I imagined he'd be. I expected an acerbic greeting not a gentle handshake.

But Hunter was not well in the last few years of his life. His pen remained mightier than his sword to the end.

As one who probably started reading Hunter S. Thompson before being introduced to the New York Times, I'm grateful for his mighty pen.

February 23, 2005 - Wednesday

The Great Aloha Run always can rely on great publicity year round. As one of Hawaii's premier charity fundraising events, the gushing coverage seems natural.

But just out of idle curiosity, I checked out the web site of Guidestar, an organization which collects the tax returns of nonprofit organizations and makes them publicly available online.

What you notice right away is that this is a very inefficient way to raise charity dollars. Of every dollar raised by Carole Kai Charities, Inc., the events sponsor, during the year ending June 30, 2003 (the latest tax return available), only 27 cents of every dollar raised was actually given out in the form of grants to charitable groups.

The total of $159,457 distributed to charity is indeed impressive, but expenses ate up another $423,401. And even that amount wasn't sufficient. After making the charitable grants, the year actually ended with a loss of $12,987, forcing Carole Kai Charities to dip into its $1 million endowment fund to cover the difference.

They did a little better the year before, with nearly 32 cents of every dollar raised paid out in charitable grants, although the year still ended with a loss of $23,290.

Unless you consider the one-day run in itself a charitable activity worth supporting, evaluating the Great Aloha Run may be sensitive. How the group is rated will depend on how those numbers and its various activities are interpreted.

For example, the Council of Better Business Bureaus offers a set of standards for evaluating charitable financial statements. Their first criteria call for "at least half of the charity's total income to be spend on programs," with no more than half going to administrative and fundraising costs.

Clearly, in the case of Carole Kai Charities, more than half of gross income goes to the direct costs of organizing and putting on the Great Aloha Run. So whether or not they meet the Better Business Bureaus test depends on whether you view the Great Aloha Run as a worthy charitable activity in and of itself, or whether it is considered a fundraising vehicle for the charitable grants the organization makes to other groups providing direct services.

In its tax return, Carole Kai Charities describes its tax exempt purpose as "contributing to selected qualified charitable organizations which serve the community needs of Hawaii."

So you can decide. Email your comments to me at ian@ilind.net.

February 22, 2005 - Tuesday

Oh, my! We've earned namesakes in Sock Dollyville, a suburb of Monkeytown! I've just been introduced to "Ian-boy" and "Meda", and I'm speechless.

At the Legislature, two stealth bills pushed by Maui developer Everett Dowling (HB 784 and SB 959) are attacking the free speech mission of Maui's highly regarded public access provider, Akaku: Maui Community Television. The bills, introduced at Dowling's request, would gut current Akaku's current funding and transfer it to Maui County, the Department of Education, and Maui Community College.

Dowling has previously threatened to sue Akaku's Board of Directors for airing specific anti-development programs by public access producers, although Akaku has refused his demands for censorship.

According to community activists and legislative sources, Dowling's stated goal is to silence critics of his development projects who successfully used their Free Speech and Akaku's open platform to oppose development of Makena. Dowling testified in favor of the bills, as have prominent and politically connected developers Steve Goodfellow (Goodfellow Bros. construction contractors) and Charlie Jencks (former Maui County public works director, now develop advocate for Wailea land owners).

Dowling's paid lobbyist, Sandra Wong, has reported accompanied proponents of the bill in making the rounds at the capitol.

"This is a fascinating case of land developers using education projects as cover to sabotage community voices," according to Akaku CEO Sean McLaughlin.

You'll recall that Dowling resigned from the UH Board of Regents after questions were raised about conflicts in a proposed land deal.

The bills are now pending before the respective money committees (House Finance and Senate Ways & Means). Communications to members of either committee opposing HB 784 and SB 959 would be appreciated by the folks at Akaku.

For further information, contact McLaughlin (808-871-5554 on Maui) or via email at sean@akaku.org.

From the newly formed Committee to Protect Bloggers:

FREE MOJTABA AND ARASH DAY
From Santiago Chile to Wellington, New Zealand it is Tuesday, February 22.

Today is Free Mojtaba and Arash Day in honor of the two Iranian bloggers currently incarcerated by the Iranian government.

Read about Arash and Mojtaba.

Here is what you can do. With additional contact information.

Banners are available at various locations on this blog.

We have already had a tremendous response, including encouragement and thanks from bloggers in Iran.

Let's make a difference today. Freedom of speech is not a partisan issue, not an issue of culture or ethnicity, it is a bloggers' issue and a human issue.

February 21, 2005 - Monday

Hawaii travel took another hit in the Los Angeles Times last week, with a story on major lobbyists who hosted several California Democratic legislators on a trip to the Pro Bowl. The repeated "Hawaii = junket" message has to hurt in the long run.

Big news: Micks is coming! Meda answered the phone Sunday afternoon and it was a Micks' representative contacting Honolulu customers with the news. A mailer is apparently on its way. Micks is the maker of a most incredible array of hot pepper jellies, including the hottest one I've ever eaten, "Beyond Buzztail". I've raved about them here before. And now they've opened some kind of outlet at Ala Moana Center. I guess I'll be there tomorrow searching them out.

In the process of looking for info on Micks, I ran into the Accidental Hedonist, a fun blog about "Food, Travel, and other Irrelevant Irreverence". It goes on my keeper list.

Saturday was also a BIG day. First day of a three day weekend. No appointments in town. An increasingly restless Romeo downstairs (perhaps it's properly spelled Romeow?). No more parts to the "confidence building" plan I've been pursuing, gradually letting the cats get used to him and vice versa. Time to free Mr. Romeo and hope for the best.

As we got back from our morning walk I was out of excuses. Time to do it. So I went downstairs, petted the big guy as he gobbled some breakfast kibbles, and then I just opened the sliding door and got out of the way. It took several seconds, maybe half a minute, for Romeo to figure out that it was okay to leave. Then off he went, out the door, slowly at first, then picking up speed. First he had to check out the room from the outside, satisfying his built-in curiosity about smells and other things, then he was off. I worried that he might just disappear, and he did for several minutes, but soon it became clear that he was just doing a boundary patrol around the edges of the yard, around once, then again. I would go out to check from time to time. Sometimes I saw him moving cautiously through the first line of vegetation, other times he was out of view. I was a nervous wreck. He was obviously fine.

Long story short--there were a few bouts of hissing when he couldn't avoid coming nose to nose with other cats--generally they hissed as he ventured too close for comfort--and one brief bit of snarling and yowling (probably with Mr. Duke again). And there were looks of surprise and shock when Romeo marched right into the house and did an inside boundary patrol as well.

Yesterday was day two and a repeat of Saturday. Romeo did surprise us by demonstrating that he knew how to use the cat door. He must have been sneaking in for food back before we trapped him because there was no hesitation when he marched in and headed for the food dishes.

Romeo invites himself for lunch

There are still some rough edges, hurt feelings, and threatened feline masculinity to deal with. But all in all, it was a major relief.

At least until Silverman arrived for dinner. I happened to be outside when Silverman and Romeo met nose to nose on the stairs to the back deck. After being Mr. Mellow all day, Romeo instantly went into battle mode, fur bristling, body stiff, all attention focused on Silverman's blue eyes. And, of course, Silverman reciprocated. I wasn't really sure where the bass growling was coming from. I suspect it was in stereo. In any case, I decided the ambiguity of human intervention was preferable to the potential for injury, and I scooped Romeo up and deposited him back downstairs for a "time out". Silverman bolted, but appeared back at the door in about five minutes and managed to eat a significant amount before heading back out who knows where.

I suppose that even with that last minute excitement, it was still a good two days.

Oh. Just a request. Please don't ask how many cats we have. We're a bit sensitive about that right now.

February 20, 2005 - Sunday

Pity the poor Star-Bulletin.

Back in 2001, just months after the sale of the newspaper to Canadian publisher David Black, the S-B joined KITV in challenging the secrecy of closed-door court proceedings regarding Campbell Estate. After an initial attempt to open the courtroom doors was rejected, the issue was appealed. It was an unusual move for the Star-Bulletin, which most often has chosen to avoid costly litigation in such cases. Perhaps it was important at the time to demonstrate a renewed aggressiveness. But the appeal went forward.

But when the Supreme Court issued an important ruling this week backing the news media's position, nearly four years and probably tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees later, you couldn't read about it in the Star-Bulletin. And, so far, I haven't found a KITV story on the decision either.

The Honolulu Advertiser's court reporter, Ken Kobayashi, is the only one who immediately recognized the important of the ruling and jumped on the story.

Both the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin caught the tension at this week's meeting of the UH Board of Regents when regents were told that another round of promises regarding the financing of the new medical school cannot be fulfilled. UH officials now admits that grants will be millions of dollars short of covering the operating costs of the school.

The Advertiser's Bev Creamer caught the best quote:

"We were sold the fast-tracking of this building and no one seems to have planned for the operation of it," said regent Kitty Lagareta. "Here we are and we have this building and we don't have some of the planning in place. I don't want this to be a Kapolei Library (which opened without enough money to buy sufficient books)."

But neither paper made the obvious point that this is more of the lingering and often hidden damage legacy of the Dobelle administration's smoke and mirrors approach to issues. After taking the heat for their decision to terminate Dobelle, it must have been hard for BOR members to avoid a loud "we told you so!"

And round out your Sunday reading with this Washington Post story on the unprecendented challenges facing newspapers in this new media world.

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