March 26, 2005 - Saturday

It's a very wet morning in Kaaawa. Although it was sunny downtown (on the other side of the mountains) yesterday, it was cloudy and damp here with a heavy layer of VOG, that volcanic haze that sometimes spreads our way during eruptions on the Big Island. And it's been raining--not necessarily very hard, but pretty steadily--since late yesterday afternoon. [5:15 a.m. and the rain slowed enough to get the trash can out to the street, but it isn't clear whether our morning walk will be rained out.]

The Advertiser carried an AP story yesterday on legislative efforts to allow trusts that benefit pets. We've worried about what would happen to our cats if something unexpected happens to us, and at present you've got to trust someone else to follow through on your wishes, although they are not easily enforceable. Unfortunately, the story fails to give the bill number or title, so readers can't easily act on it or follow its progress. The Advertiser has been pretty good at citing specific bills by number, so I'm assuming this was AP's lapse. If not, I apologize in advance.

A legislative document search indicates the bill is probably HB 1453, now awaiting a Monday hearing in the Senate.

Another ongoing problem surfaced again yesterday. The Star-Bulletin reported on the arbitration award for firefighters issued 10 days ago, but there is absolutely no evidence in the story that the reporter has seen the panel decision. The story quotes both labor and employer representatives, which is at least better than the one-sided versions seen previously, but the reader might never suspect that there's a detailed analysis behind the decision. It's important to know, for example, whether the panel reached a consensus. It might even be important to know the names of the arbitrators on the panel and how these specific increases were justified.

Over time, avoiding specific details in favor of general impressions undermines the public's ability to understand the whole process. Nothing new here, but I'm still moved to comment.

I finally got sick of the emotional blather being peddled as reporting on the Terry Schiavo case and turned to the case record. After all, this case has been before the courts for a decade, and one thing courts are good at is collecting the paper trail. So once again, although the daily reporter is reduced to the relatively simple "he said-she said", there are clear facts of the case available in the record but which rarely intrude into the daily reporting.

The Washington Post, New York Times, and perhaps other papers have small links to the case documents. Both turn to the compilation of documents available at FindLaw.com. Links to additional documents, including the initial court ruling after trial in February 2000, can be found here.

The first document I turned to was the Guardian ad Litum report by Jay Wolfson, which reviews the history of the case and quotes from other parts of the record. It is insightful and revealing. I was especially struck by the paucity of medical or scientific backing for the parents' position, something which has gotten lost in the emotional appeals. It is terribly sad, but this poor woman's brain has essentially dissolved into liquid and there appears to be no scientific basis for assertions that her condition can somehow be improved. This has been assessed and reassessed in evidentiary hearings with the parties granted more leeway to introduce evidence than would typically be allowed. And the evidence was found to be "clear and convincing" that Schiavo's condition is permanent and irreversible.

But the overall tone of the reporting on this whole issue encourages people to ignore the factual record and instead focus on personal, family, and political dynamics. In my view, it's a shame.

Retired Star-Bulletin editor Chuck Frankel caught this little tidbit of current interest:

The notice of the annual meeting of the New York Times shows these two members of the board of directors of interest to the Hawaii telephone business:

Robert E. Kennard, managing director of the Carlyle Group.
Doreen A. Toben, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Verizon Communications.

March 25, 2005 - Friday

One news pro responded to my comment yesterday about the new site of McClain Auctions:

Not much of a scoop....There's been a sign in the window for several weeks announcing the move.

It's just another example of how little attention reporters and editors pay to the world around them these days.

Observation and inquisitiveness seem to have disappeared.

I wouldn't want to stay so negative, because it also shows that reporters who do observe and pay attention get a step ahead of their colleagues.

And if you're interested, McClain is auctioning off bits and pieces of several Waikiki Restaurants beginning at noon today. Click here for auction information.

Ms. Annie gave me quite a scare yesterday. I was having a pleasant afternoon doing little jobs around the house and following cats around the yard with a camera. Just before 4 p.m. I started sorting through the contents of several boxes of files and old papers which have been in storage and are now facing the "valuable or garbage" test.

Ms. Annie

I found some gems, some garbage, and some things that will probably be in the "grit your teeth and throw it away" class, like files from my lawsuit against the Navy that finally forced disclosure of an old list of accidents involving nuclear weapons. I was very interested to see drafts of legal arguments and my correspondence with other researchers at the time, but in the grand scheme of things these can go.

At some point I finally focused on Annie, who had jumped into a box I had just emptied and was playing. She looked up at me from a corner of the box and appeared to have just eaten something. Probably a fat silverfish, I thought. Then I looked down into the box and saw a pellet that I had dropped in a day or two ago to combat any roaches or silverfish. Had there been more than one? Did Annie eat one? What's in these things? Has she just happily poisoned herself?

I made the snap judgement not to wait, grabbed a very surprised Ms. Annie and ran downstairs, stuffed her into a cat carrier, then raced upstairs, grabbed wallet and keys, yelled to Meda to call ahead to VCA and tell the vets that I had a possible poison ingestion. Meda had no idea what was going on as I raced out to the car and took off.

It was a very long drive from Kaaawa to Kaneohe. I'm sure it was far longer than normal, or so it seemed. I tried to peek in the carrier every couple of minutes. Did she look ill? Was she normal or not?

Long story short. We got to the VCA Animal Hospital, rushed her inside, they made a call to the SPCA's animal poison center or some such, consulted with specialists there, and decided that (a) if she had eaten a tablet of what turns out to be boric acid she would have shown some indication by that time, vomiting, drooling, etc. And, (b), one tab would not be a lethal dose in any case. And (c), cats don't usually eat chemical stuff. They're not as eager to eat whatever they find laying around as dogs. Or so the vet said.

So in just over an hour Annie and I were back in the car heading home. I'll have to do pennance for the unnecessary vet bill, but I tell myself it was far better to be safe than sorry. I hope Annie (and Meda) agree.

Oh, in one of the first two boxes I found gold for those who want to revisit the 60's and 70's--what appears to be a complete or nearly complete set of one of Hawaii's first "underground" publications, The Roach, beginning with Volume 1, Number 1 and continuing through volumne two. There are copies of the Hawaii Free People's Press, published in Waialua if I recall correctly, and a stack of Rev. Larry Jones' newsletter, Another Voice.

The scanner will be busy next week.

I'm late this morning, so this is getting posted before spell checking or editing. I hope it's all legible.

March 24, 2005 - Thursday

Pat Bigold got the scoop a few days ago on McClain Auctions' opening of a new site on King Street in Chinatown. It was just one of the bits of information he gleaned while reporting on the commercial real estate market, but one of special interest to a big audience of auction hounds. We started going to Marty McClain's auctions back when he was partnered with Steve Rosen in a building on Queen Street just around the corner from the old Star-Bulletin now occupied by the Word of Life, and we've been fans ever since. I suppose it's good news that he's outgrown the current location on Halekauwila, but I'm sure we'll miss the intimacy of that smaller space.

Thanks to Gordon Pang for his article this morning on the status of SB 1551, which was mentioned here yesterday. I'm sure the explanation offered by Rep. Luke won't satisfy the bill's backers, but it seems to make sense. OIP simply doesn't have the resources to take on another enforcement responsibility so don't go there, but attempts are being made to incorporate other key provisions into alternative legislative vehicles.

There's a bit of irony, though, in placing the provision expanding the voidability of actions taken in violation of the sunshine law into HB 551, the overall intent of which is to loosen current sunshine restrictions.

This is an area where I'm not in sync with some other sunshine advocates. The currently overlapping and confusing provisions of the sunshine law have been interpreted to prohibit two members of a "board" covered by the law from discussing official business anywhere except in a public meeting. Frankly, I've never believed that was the original intent of the law nor do I think it is generally a good way to get the public's business done.

Personally, if there's an issue I'm concerned about, I want to know that my representatives are working hard to convince their colleagues about the validity of my preferred solution, and that includes informal one-on-one conversations as well as public pronouncements. It's not only preferable to have that layer of private background communication, it's necessary to any political process. Think about any committee you've been a member of and try to imagine how poorly it would perform if every member went into every meeting "cold", without a good sense of the political and interpersonal dynamics. No phone calls, no hallway chats, no private fights, no cajoling, none of the traditional ho'omalimali. It doesn't work.

"Deals" are rarely brokered in public, and it is those deals--the balancing and accommodation of competing interests--that make politics work. I agree that the deals shouldn't remain hidden, and their intent, terms, and public impacts need to be disclosed and debated. But pulling diverse interests together, especially when things are tense and positions polarized, is usually hardest to do during formal interactions.

Sunshine hardliners see it differently and I expect they're not happy seeing HB551 moving ahead while SB1551 flounders.

I just check the weather via a nice little Mac program, "Seasonality". The "problem" in our current morning schedule is clear--suddenly the sun is rising at 6:31 a.m., so leaving the house at 6:15 doesn't get us through the first part of the walk and down to the beach in time for the potential green flash. The solution is simply getting up earlier so that we can get moving earlier. Groan.

March 23, 2005 - Wednesday

5:32 a.m. and the city truck is already backing down Haahaa Street for the day's trash pickup. No wasting time around here!

Consolidation continues with another joint investment by the news troika of Gannett, Knight Ridder and Tribune Company. Now the three have bought 75 percent of Topix.net, which tracks and serves up news from thousands of sources about a city, zip code, company, or other topic. Topix' own blog gives their spin on the deal.

Michigan's Sen. Carl Levin released information this week on the FBI's withholding of its own criticism of interrogation practices at Guantanamo Bay, including an FBI letter and memo.

From webmaster Ryan Ozawa:

Hey, HawaiiThreads just broke 1,000 registered users...

Then again, AOL claims five billion users, but that includes people who just burn through those free CDs!

Jeff Garland has collected the latest on the controversial legislative attack on Akaku, Maui's community television provider, being pressed by development interests unhappy over Akaku's role as a free speech forum.

From Robin Loomis, president of the group calling itself the Hawaii Pro-Democracy Initiative: "On behalf of the 4 undersigned groups, I am forwarding you the text of a letter sent to the media last week. It is interesting that to date no one has published it. We hope you might be willing to share it with your readers:

Citizens freedom of information rights don't mean much if the law can't be enforced. Or if the fees for public records block access. But it's happened here in Hawaii.

   The state's Office of Information Practices issued an opinion that Mayor Harris' vision teams must follow the sunshine law. But when the Mayor disagreed, OIP was blocked from enforcing the law though they administer it.

   When Environment Hawaii was researching a media story on state plans for an irradiation facility, the Dept. of Agriculture required a $4,200 up-front payment before releasing the documents. That's too much to pay even for the news media, much less a citizen.

   It was only after OIP got involved that the department lowered the access fee to $190. To their credit, this was done voluntarily. But we shouldn't have to rely on such voluntary actions to lower exorbitant records fees.

   Fortunately, there's a bill still alive at the legislature to fix these problems and uphold the public's right to know. But the House Judiciary Committee must approve the bill by this Thursday's legislative deadline.

   Please call committee chair Rep. Sylvia Luke to request a public hearing for S.B. 1551 Relating to Freedom of Information. We just finished Sunshine Week and it would be a shame for our only FOI bill to die this session.

   Peter Bower, Citizen Voice President
   Robin Loomis, Hawaii Pro-Democracy Initiative President
   Beverly Keever, Right To Know Committee Chair
   Jean Aoki, League of Women Voters Legislative Chair

Unless there's already been some movement on this bill, it appears to be too late to realistically expect action this year. But that doesn't mean calls won't have an impact.

March 22, 2005 - Tuesday

My friend Marne Weeks of Mele Nani Music notes the passing of Hawaiian singer and musician "Uncle Joe" Keaulana, whose bass playing and voice are key to Kimo Alama Keaulama's great "Hula Lives!" CD.

And from a former islander now living on New Zealand's South Island:

Saw Poki Pokipala's standard obit in the online S-B just now.

Guess I really am an old f___ (oops, I mean fogie).

Poki was a great piano player and had several gigs at bars and lounges around town.

Am I the only one who remembers him?

The Star-Bulletin adds some details today to the story of Cane, the cat who survived 44 days trapped in a dresser shipped from Hawaii to Kentucky. The tale was mentioned here 10 days ago based on a news report from Cane's new home town.

Here's the latest from former UH president Evan Dobelle, writing in the Boston Globe.

I wonder what this means? The Hawaiian Free Speech Forum (freespeechhawaii.net) has two (yes, that's 2) registered users and no messages posted.

March 21, 2005 - Monday

Governor Lingle raised $246,781.25 during the second half of 2004, with a big chunk coming from out of state.

Just for fun, I pulled out the top out of state donors from data filed with the Campaign Spending Commission and came up with this list. Just this small group accounts for about a third of the total Lingle raised during the period. It's clear that Lingle is pulling support from wealthy donors, mostly major Republican contributors, as well as companies doing business in Hawaii.

8/25/04	Aramark	Philadelphia	$3,500
9/24/04	Roland & Dawn Arnall	Los Angeles	$12,000
11/29/04	Eileen Blau	Westport, CT	$6,000
11/29/04	Guilford Glazer	Beverly Hills, CA	$6,000
12/2/04	Hawaiian Holdings Inc	San Diego, CA	$6,000
12/5/04	Lewis P. Geyser	Salinas, CA	$3,853.50 (in kind)
12/6/04	Robert Cohen	Los Angeles, CA	$3,800.12 (in kind)
12/15/04	Russell B. Geyser	Encinitas, CA	$6,000
12/15/04	La Jolla Investment	La Jolla, CA	$3,750
12/15/04	Patrick Investment Grp	San Diego, CA	$3,750
12/15/04	The Corbis Group	San Diego, CA	$6,000
12/17.04	Marc S. Goldman	Hoboken, NJ	$6,000
12/22/04	Abraham T Keh	Los Altos, CA	$5,000
12/22/04	Ty Ross	Goldendale, WA	$5,000
12/27/04	Pacific Coast Capital	El Segundo, CA	$5,000
12/30/04	Corrections Corp of Am	Nashville, TN	$6,000

Aramark is the large Philadelphia-based food service and management company which does business in Hawaii.

Roland and Dawn Arnall are major Republican donors who are majority owners of mortgage lender Ameriquest. The Arnalls were members of the Bush Inaugural Committee, and personally gave $88,594 to Republican candidates during the 2003-2004 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It appears that Ameriquest and affiliates gave $1 million to the Bush inaugural (unless I'm misreading the chart). The companies and their employees contributed $680,472 during the campaign, with $562,972 going to Republicans, including $252,650 to Bush.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Ameriquest recently announced that its lending practices have been questioned by attorneys general in 25 states, and that it has agreed to a $50 million settlement of a pending class action lawsuit involving borrowers in four states. It is not known whether Hawaii is one of the 25 states referred to, although Ameriquest is an active lender here, according to records in the Bureau of Conveyances.

Real estate investor Guilford Glazer ranks as #304 on Forbes 2004 list of the country's richest people.

I'm still working through the interests these donors represent (and if you've got any insights on that, please let me know). But one thing is certain--this is just the beginning in what is going to be a costly reelection effort, despite the fact that the Democrats have yet to identifiy a plausible candidate.

Top off your Monday morning with another brief look at our Kaaawa cats. Here's Mr. Leo displaying his complexity. Just click on his photo for more.

March 20, 2005 - Sunday

It looks like Gannett will be increasing its use of email to target customers. According to a story in the Indianapolis Star, Gannett has selected Indianapolis-based ExactTarget to provide software "to deliver news, communicate with subscribers and help advertisers reach the right customers through email."

Will Durst offers his suggestions for remaking America's image abroad. Good reading for a Sunday morning.

There's a good article in Slate on the disappearance of "unclassified but sensitive" information from the public domain. We've had a bit of experience with this in Honolulu when the city revamped its online real property records to eliminate the ability to search for property owners by name. There's no question that the information is public as a matter of law, but city officials, without public discussion, decided it was best to move that information out of sight. Apparently the Bush administration has been doing the same thing on a far larger scale.

A newspaper war in Boulder, Colorado? Yup. The Daily Camera, which provided the info last week on UH's Herman Frazier's position on a University of Colorado short list, is being challenged by the Colorado Daily. But it is also proving to be another test of the free delivery model, which apparently is facing a backlash from folks who don't want the extra trash in their driveways. Hang on to your seats!

Spring is officially here, but it looks like we can expect a repeat of yesterday's gray, cloudy dawn. At first there was only a hint that the sun was above the horizon, but it soon made its appearance above the thickest layer of clouds. None of those dawn colors, though. Probably the same today.

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