October 29, 2005 - Saturday

Here's one reader's comment on yesterday's indictment in D.C.:

Regarding the indictment of Scooter Libby, President Bush was reported to say: "In our system, each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to due process and a fair trial."

I wonder if he thought the same thing about scientist Wen Ho Lee or former Army Chaplain James Yee.

One thousand, one hundred and fifty dollars and two cents per week. That's apparently what the state has been paying a private company to clean the Oahu District Office of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, part of the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources. Information about the contract appears on the State Procurement Office web site because of a request to bypass normal procurement requirements.

I can't help wondering what's so wild over there at the Forestry and Wildlife office that the state's normal UPW cleaning crews can't do the job.

If you happen to know why forestry folks require this extra cleaning effort, please let me know. I'm can't help being curious.

I'll just let a few of our cats top off the week. All you dog people will have to wait for a day or two for your next "fix". This is Ms. Annie in her latest favorite perch. Just click on her photo to see the full gallery.

October 28, 2005 - Friday

I'm waiting along with everyone else for this morning's press conference by the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case, scheduled for about 8 a.m. Hawaii time.

From LeeAnn in California:

As a former resident of Honolulu, I love reading your website and love the old photos. I moved to Hawaii in 1970 and the photos you just posted brought back nice memories. I really enjoyed the ones of Old/New Kahala, since that's where I lived....on Onaha St.

I lean towards the Right but enjoy reading your view points and yes I have one black/white cat at home.

Thanks for that, LeeAnn.

And, as promised, here are more photos of the mock nuclear weapons convoy organized sometime in 1975-76 by the American Friends Service Committee (where I was working at the time) and catholic Action of Hawaii. I've also scanned FBI and military intelligence reports on related anti-nuclear protests, obtained earlier via the Freedom of Information Act. Among other things, these disclose that at least one informant had gone to federal authorities to report on a classroom discussion at UH, while police reports on legal protests were being forwarded to the military.

peace convoy arrives at Pearl Harbor's West Loch--click on photo for more

The same file yielded another smaller batch of documents dating to the Hickam protests in the spring of 1972, which I've also posted.

October 27, 2005 - Thursday

Sticks and stones...

Thanks to the several people who contributed excellent reactions to my email from Andre, making excellent points about the supposed "bias" of the media, right-wing ideology, and the direction of politics over the next few years, as well as the similarity of Andre's message to the taunts lobbed at other non-conservative sites.

The temptation is to respond in kind, but I'm reluctant to simply melt down the conversation.

Deborah had a wee bit of advice:

"Respond to Andre, or don't... your call and doesn't seem warranted. You know what they say, "Don't feed the Trolls".

Without feeding the trolls, though, it occurs to me that Andre's view is quite ahistorical, as if we haven't had a vocal right wing before, even during those now mythical 1960's and 70's. If you were here, you'll remember KTRG radio, Young Americans for Freedom (the Nixon Youth movement), etc.

Andre's viewpoint is nothing new, and he's not the only one on the right with a short memory. I was throwing away newspapers yesterday and ran into a Rick Hamada column in the October 19th, 2005 MidWeek. The column is about reports that Neil Abercrombie is considering a run for governor. Rick commented: "Neil did serve on the city council. But that's about it for local governance. He loves Washington."

At least we know that Hamada became aware of the world some time after 1988, when Neil was elected to the council. But he served in the legislature before that. He was elected to the House in that big freshman class of 1974 and then won a senate seat in 1978, I believe, and served two terms before running unsuccessfully for Congress in 1986. That's not an endorsement of Neil, but simply making the point that it's beneficial to have a bit more historical perspective.

Other good points were made by readers. Larry writes, in part:

Can't argue with Andre. People who hate cats may be beyond reach. Maybe it's not their fault, could be something to do with their childhood.

But what he said is interesting. The '60s and '70s are over. Yes. So what? So will the '05s be over. If the grand jury does its work this week, they may be over more quickly.

And Matt added this comment about the media:

Andre also has derisive words for certain local print publications that are "left leaning" except notably for the one that happened to fire Malia Zimmerman for publishing rumors about Governor Cayetano and the '98 election. She would have been fired at any news outlet in Honolulu for such a report, proving not that the media in Hawaii are "liberal," but exactly the opposite: conservative. Newspapers can't publish sloppy, thinly disguised polemic masquerading as reporting like Malia's because they'll get sued.

Getting rid of Malia was a conservative move on the part of a conservative industry. The reporters employed might be flaming liberals, but the writing they produce and the business undertaking that publishes them is nothing of the sort.

In any case, I'll sidestep responding directly to Andre and hope that he feels comfortable to keep stopping by and checking out what's going on here on this side of the spectrum.

And now for a few old photos which should sidestep any controversy. They show the view in 1969 from the 15th floor of the old Circle Jade apartment building in Kaimuki, as close as I could get to a 360-degree sweep of the city at that time. Kaimuki itself looks pretty much the same, with a few additions and deletions in the intervening 36 years, while the rest of the city, seen only in the distance, has changed dramatically. And just to let you know that cat haters don't get me down, I couldn't resist slipping one kitten picture into the mix in honor of our #1 cat. Anyway, click on this photo for more.

Kaimuki, 1969

October 26, 2005 - Wednesday

My day started with this email from Andre:

Consider me a regular reader of your increasingly popular web-blog. By the way, I am the dog-lover and cat-hater.

Regarding your recent 60's type protest photo of "nuke arms", it only proves what many skeptical readers have long suspected: Honolulu dailies (and the mainstream media) is basically run by liberals with press passes.

As Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Goodwin stated recently in his New York Daily News column (July 12), "already held in lower esteem by the public than lawyers and Congress, the press risks looking like a special interest group".

So have fun Ian. You, the Hon. Weekly, Advertiser & Bulletin are obviously hard at work pushing the left-leaning agenda. Why not? It's a free country. But don't scratch your head wondering why more right-leaning blogs like Hawaii Reporter and like-minded talk-radio increase both readership and listernship. HELLO! The 60's and 70's are OVER!!

However, your silly and radical generation is hitting retirement age now, so you old folks have a great deal of time on your hands.

Not my favorite kind of pre-coffee missive. In fact, I'll save myself some grief and hold off on responding until I'm fully awake. Perhaps someone else will be moved to provide their own reply. If so, just email me and I'll post it here tomorrow.

Today's redesign is the result of my attempts yesterday to track down the source of recent random errors. The basic effort failed, although I'm going ahead with the different look. Next stop: Software update.

News of the ACLU's latest lawsuit against the State of Hawaii over conditions at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility has been picked up by quite a few mainland newspapers, according to a quick Google search.

And I've got a story coming out today in Honolulu Weekly which examines the United Public Worker's corrosive influence at the youth facility, one of the things that has to change if progress is going to be made in improving conditions.

Finally, here's one to note:  The 25th Annual Ia 'Oe E Ka La Hula Festival & Competition will be held November 4-6 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, Ca., according to a story in the Vallejo News.

Eighteen na halau hula or Hawaiian dance instruction houses are scheduled to participate.  Many are award winning groups in the NorCal and SoCal areas.  Along with the states of Utah, Washington and Nevada, Japan is sending it's strong representative as well.  Six powerhouse schools all the way from Hawaii will vie for the trophies and cash prizes. 

One of our dailies should send a reporter for the weekend to see how the spreading Hawaiian renaissance is playing out on the mainland.

October 25, 2005 - Tuesday

The Honolulu City Council, at the request of the Maui County Council, will be considering Resolution 05-342 this afternoon that urges the legislature to exempt the counties from the state sunshine law. If successful, it would leave each county free to adopt its own version of the sunshine law with varying degrees of public access to the internal process of government. A bad idea, and one clearly aimed at expanding the spheres of secrecy at the counties. The hearing before the Planning and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the council's regular committee meeting room. Testimony can be submitted via email by selecting the Planning agenda and clicking the link for email testimony.

This is an idea that has returned year after year for the last 20 years. So far, the legislature has not been receptive. Voting to maintain the openness at the county level doesn't cost legislators anything and it allows them to say they voted for openness without undermining their own exemption from the statute. Hopefully this year's county effort will similarly be defeated when it gets to the legislature.

Last night was Blaine Fergerstrom's first night shift as returning webmeister at the Star-Bulletin. He's probably got some learning to do on their current system before getting fully up to speed, but today's edition was right there on time. Maybe even early. Good luck, Blaine.

More protest history coming soon. I spent yesterday afternoon scanning photos of a mock nuclear weapons convoy from back around 1975-76. It was a parody of the real thing, and drove the same route used when the real things were transported by armed guards from the storage tunnels in Waikele to Pearl Harbor's West Lock. In our case, the arms were plastic toys and the uniforms cast offs.

click for larger photo

I should have the full set of photos ready in a day or so. For starters, though, here's the group photo just before the group got rolling. It must have been a month when my barber was on vacation.

October 24, 2005 - Monday

I have to think that there are some elected officials watching the confirmation fight over Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers with something other than the makeup of the court in mind.

What I'm thinking of is the sudden weight being given to a candidate questionnaire completed by a city council hopeful back in 1989. These almost never have life beyond the immediate election and even there are typically not expected to gain much broad traction. And yet now we've got journalists and scholars poring over such a questionnaire as if it really mattered or really disclosed the candidate's inner thoughts. Wishful thinking, if you ask me.

Here's a blog I've just added to my regular check list: PI News Link, articles of note for the investigator. It made my cut because of the Hawaii note about the shutdown of the judiciary computer system. I have to say that I previously read the first part of that press release which announces the closing of the state traffic courts and didn't get to the item buried down at the bottom about the computer system going down next weekend. Oops. That means I also have to admit failing to read the Star-Bulletin's story on the closures closely enough. A dog would have his tail between his legs in recognition of bad behavior, but I don't know of a comparable cat signal communicating knowledge of misbehavior. Isn't that an interesting side note?

I'm also wading through the site of something called the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, before even checking out the group's background.

Also found, but on a very different note, this description of the process going on just a couple of feet off our front deck, the unfurling of a new frond.

Finally, from New York, courtesy of Steve Okino:

As a fellow human owned by cats, I thought you might find amusing the website for an off-Broadway show I had the pleasure of seeing this afternoon while in New York on a business trip related to my next documentary film project.

It's playing at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, and stars a sterling troupe of a dozen-or-so cats in what's billed as the "world's only cat theater".

I admit I've seen nothing like it anywhere...cats frolicking, jumping, climbing, scowling, pushing dogs in strollers, emerging from cooking pots, but constantly displaying the phlegmatic and inscrutable countenance of feline superiority.

And the show is so popular that its run has been extended through December.

Aloha from New York City.