March 25, 2006 - Saturday

I'm glad that President Bush made a strong statement about the case of the Afghan man facing a possible death sentence for converting to Christianity. Here's what he said in response to a question during an appearance in West Virginia:

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate the question. It's a very legitimate question. We have got influence in Afghanistan and we are going to use it to remind them that there are universal values. It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because they chose a particular religion over another.

Agreed. It is most troubling. But it is also most hypocritical coming from a politician who has exploited a strategy of provoking the religious intolerance of his own brand of Christianity for political gain. I guess it's easier to spot the dangers of theocracy when the religion involved isn't your own.

Is it too much to hope that the situation in Afghanistan might serve as a mirror to see ourselves more clearly? Probably.

By the way, while looking for the transcript of the president's statements, I mistakenly landed at www.whitehouse.org instead of the official www.whitehouse.gov. That turned out to be quite a difference!

I was taken to task by a reader yesterday for my comments Thursday about the computer identified as FBI-Laptop56.

As a daughter of a onetime undercover FBI agent, I'm offended by your supposition that if an FBI computer shows up as a possible wireless user, that is somehow sinister. This is what happens to a generation raised on popular culture that continually demonizes law enforcement through popular culture (the X Files, various moves and TV shows, etc.). Yes, I'm aware that you have a "file" with the FBI because of your Vietnam War protesting, which you seem quite proud of. Now get over it. The FBI has done a damned lot of good. If they're at the state Capitol, perhaps they're on to something. I certainly trust them more than I trust whoever you're working for up there.

I admit to being a little taken aback. When I used the phrase "silly or sinister", it certainly wasn't intended to "demonize" the FBI. I was thinking of this definition of sinister--"Presaging trouble; ominous: sinister storm clouds"--which would certainly seem to apply to the possibility of an undercover FBI presence at the Legislature, at least from the point of view of its members.

Deep breath.

This is Ms. Hina. She lives along the regular route of our morning walk, although she's not always waiting for us. I only lately realized that after 10 years of morning walks, she's getting to be a senior citizen. But it hasn't dimmed her enthusiasm for the daily treat. In any case, here's another round of Kaaawa morning dogs.

Ms. Hina-click here

March 24, 2006 - Friday

Yesterday did bring more rain, but it also provided just about the first bit of blue sky since this wet streak started at the beginning of the month. This was the view from the beach in Kaaawa yesterday just a few minutes after dawn. For the last eight or nine hours, there's been a tremendous light show on the horizon, an almost continous lightning storm that had started by mid-evening and was there to greet me this morning. No thunder, an indication that the storm is at quite a distance. I hope it's heading in a different direction.

I was watching the news last night about the dismantling of General Motors, which its tradition of decent pay and good benefits now being discussed by pundits as part of another historical era. Here's University of California at Berkeley professor Harley Shaiken on last night's PBS News Hour:

I think we have to remember that, in the 20th century, General Motors and the UAW paved the road to the middle class, not simply for hundreds of thousands of auto workers, but for many millions of Americans who look at this model of a company with rapidly rising productivity who passed those gains, because of a strong union, on to the workforce. The result was a consumer-driven, vibrant economy and a strong middle class.

The danger today is, given the pressures of the global economy in general and competitiveness at home, we may seek to have companies that become more competitive by paying lower wages, despite the fact that workers may be more educated.

If that becomes the model, I think we have a very troubled economy potentially and a society that becomes far harsher and far more difficult for many millions of Americans. That's not the only alternative that's out there, but that appears to be the direction in which we may be headed. [emphasis added]

And the common thread that runs from the airlines through the auto industry and on down the corporate food chain is the cost of health care. Company after company, even state after state are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy in part because this country has failed to create a public system of health care that can provide for all. How can our many layers of government stand by and watch the economic system crumble piece by piece under the weight of health care costs without taking bold action? Maybe it's all part of a long-term plot. Prevent the creation of a rational health system, cause economic chaos, destroy the collective power of organized labor by essentially doing away with the industrial economy in which the U.S. labor movement thrived, and then pick up the remaining bits of wealth and concentrate them in a handful of powerful interests, leaving most to work harder for less money and far fewer benefits in competition with third world workers while the few modern robber barons pay for the political system that protects their wealth. And all because of an ideological allergy to the idea that reasonable health care, like food, water, housing, and freedom, is a basic human right.

March 23, 2006 - Thursday

Kaaawa dodged most of the rain that fell yesterday and into this morning's early hours. It rained here, but didn't storm. It was different in upper Kalihi Valley early this a.m., according to this report from a friend:

As I write, it is 12.55 a.m., and all hell is breaking loose.

Rain began to pound a short while ago, accompanied by lightning -- and the intensity, the fury of it was shocking. I was up late at the computer. This storm was coming off the ocean, as predicted, so I thought I'd better check the bedroom, where Pat had already gone to sleep. We keep the windows open on the south (makai) side, because rain seldom comes from that direction. This storm was different. In a few short minutes, the rain had blown straight through the screens, formed huge puddles over the dresser tops, drenched a sleeping Rosie kitten, and spraying a mist of water for 10 feet! Pat had been dreaming about rain.

But out here all was pretty calm. A little rain, not much more. We took the precaution of bringing all the cats in overnight, but even turned out to be largely unnecessary.

I got quite a surprise late yesterday morning at the state capitol. I was sitting in my cubicle on the Ewa-makai corner of the 3rd floor, doing some work on my laptop. Legislative rules don't currently allow personal computers to be connected to the building's network, so I either transfer files via a small flash drive or send data using my cell phone as a modem.

But yesterday, out of idle curiosity, I checked to see whether there were any wireless networks accessible. I hadn't checked since early in the session when I had satisfied myself no networks were within range. Yesterday, though, produced a different and surprising result.

When available networks were displayed, there at the top of the list in the category of computer-to-computer networks was something labelled "FBI-Laptop56". Is this someone displaying a sense of humor in naming their own computer? Or is the FBI present somewhere there at the Legislature and inadvertently disclosing their presence? I really don't know. It's happened elsewhere. Last year it was Tennessee. Don't know if it could happen here, but just the idea will probably make a lot of people nervous. For the record, I saved an image of my computer's screen with "FBI-Laptop56" displayed in the drop down list at the upper right.

Although my laptop recognized the so-called FBI computer, I could not access it's files or get to the internet through that network connection. Perhaps someone with more computer skills could pull that off.

I carried my laptop to the Diamond Head side of the building, and the connection disappeared. Back in our office, there it was again. I did ask around but didn't turn up any information on the source of this signal.

What does it mean? Is it silly or sinister? I wish I knew.

March 22, 2006 - Wednesday

If the old adage, "red sky at morning, sailor take warning" holds true, then yesterday's sunrise signals that we'd better just hunker down and try to stay dry today. And that's just about what the National Weather Service says as well.

Thanks to Larry Geller for pointing out the problems with the system of corporate lobbyists serving as unpaid "interns" for key legislators. It's been a long-standing practice that has come under fire before.

A column by former UH Chief Financial Officer Wick Sloane appeared this week in Inside Higher Ed.

Reader Bruce Bennett recommended this look at Republican politics. He comments: "Is Lincoln Spinning in His Grave? Some of this is just too painfully accurate to enjoy as humor."

The Maui News isn't alone in coping with attempts to manipulate online poll results. Here's a comment from Star-Bulletin webmaster Blaine Fergerstrom:

We run into the same stuff at starbulletin.com with the poll on the front page. Especially true on the hot-button issues. The Case/Akaka poll was one that attracted a large number of ballot-stuffing attempts. When one candidate was perceived to be behind in the poll, a few of his supporters jumped on the site and tried to circumvent the multiple-vote blocks. It's really easy to do. But we log everything.

It ran almost tit-for-tat with those two guys. One guy's supporters would jump in and "adjust" the numbers to their liking, then would back off, then the other guys would see that they were behind and do the same thing.

But before we close the poll, we certify the results. I review the logfiles and throw out ALL obvious over-voting attempts that I can find.

In fact, with Case/Akaka, once I removed the overvotes and closed the poll, I got complaints from one of the candidates' supporters asking what happened to the numbers when the poll closed. Seems the numbers changed drastically when I killed all the over-votes.

Ms. Bigfoot is today's addition to the Readers' Pets Gallery. Here's part of the wonderful description that accompanied this photo: "Loves to jump on and in boxes. any box. and under papers. purrrs at the slightest touch. then when touch is withdrawn, she geev us da steenkeye. Loves to play hide and seek. and that ol peek a boo thing, too."

March 21, 2006 - Tuesday

A reader followed up with the Maui News concerning the suspension of their readers' poll, noted here on Friday. What poll triggered the suspension?

"It was the poll over A&B's dinner with County Council Members at Mama's Fish House," city editor Matthew Burger responded in an email. The reference is to the company's hosting of a dinner for six of the nine council members along with top A&B brass.

Assistant City Editor Brian Perry added:

A&B noticed that poll results changed dramatically in minutes, and Maui News technicians who looked at the IP addresses of voters found a number of them were voting numerous times. At that point, the decision was made to pull the poll and throw out its results because they had been compromised by hackers. It is hoped that new security measures can be put in place that stop multiple voting.

So what do we learn? Corporate PR types must watch these pseudo polls carefully to spot minute by minute changes in the numbers, and apparently they think negative results can hurt. And when poll numbers look bad, they aren't hesitant to complain.

And a newsroom veteran had this comment on yesterday's entry regarding interview preparation and backgrounding:

I blame the editors more than the reporters. In the old days, when there were reporters and editors who had been at the paper for 20 years or more, there was an "institutional memory." Young reporters were told why someone was important, what their history was, etc. and then sent to the library to check the clips. The death of an old-timer never went unnoticed. In the past few years that has not always been the case. It's sad, but it seems that newsrooms nowadays are mostly run by people just passing through.

Finally, this is Jiro, the latest entry into the Readers' Pets Gallery. Actually, not the latest, but I'm a bit backlogged and trying to catch up with the most recent submissions. In any case, Jiro is about 18-months old, and moved here from California. A beautiful cat, indeed.

Jiro

March 20, 2006 - Monday

It didn't take long for the waterfalls to start flowing again yesterday above our house. By mid-morning, this was the view from Swanzy Beach Park. Luckily, the heavy rain only lasted several hours and had stopped by mid-day. Click on the photo for a better view of a few of our waterfalls..

This comment from a reader was received several days ago:

Regarding your mention of the fact that the Advertiser didn't note it's previous article on the status of dams in Hawaii: I subscribe to both dailies and I've noticed that the reporters for the Advertiser don't seem to research the subjects of interviews. I find it rather appalling that they interview a person--especially a local person of note--without doing any type of research on them.

The most recent example I noticed was an interesting article about Patricia Lei Anderson Murray and her fame as an Hawaiian quilter. But absolutely no mention in the article of her fame as an entertainer/hula dancer for many years. That wasn't the point of the article, but it would have added some interesting "history."

Anyway, I e-mailed the writer and kindly mentioned that to her--in a tactful way. She replied and told me very sweetly that Patricia was "far too modest to talk about herself," and she didn't know about Patricia's past until people told her after the article came out! Oh, gosh, she didn't know how to use the newspaper's "morgue" or even how to google? I did, and there are umpteen articles about Patricia. Well, maybe she just didn't have time, but this happens a lot nowadays with the Advertiser. I don't notice it so much in the Star-Bulletin, but then, it uses a lot of "canned" articles that aren't about Hawaii. 

I can't say whether the reader's general impression is correct, but I would agree that reporting is too often lacking depth that a bit of history can provide.

The New York Times has carried a couple of key stories in recent days. A story today tracks the worsening crisis among black young men in this country. And a long story yesterday detailed yet more systematic abuses of prisoners in a secret U.S. detention facility.

We were all--cats and humans--stuck inside during yesterday's rain. I finally got the camera out and tried chasing cats. I was partially successful, but there really wasn't quite enough light for a good session. Just enough, though, for another gallery of Kaaawa cats.

Mr. Duke Please click for more

March 19, 2006 - Sunday

We've been looking for someone to reupholster the much faded and cat hair covered cushions of our living room chairs and, if possible, the chairs in our dining room as well. It's been harder than it sounds. The place that did these for us years ago is out of business, as were several suggested by others.

Then we got a referral to Joe's Upholstery in Kailua, and paid Joe a visit yesterday. He lives with his wife in a neat little house with a fenced yard. He's got a workshop set up in part of the garage. You have to walk up the driveway and around the car that occupies half of the garage to get into his cozy work area.

I asked how long he's been doing upholstery.

Joe explained that had been a crane operator and retired at 62. Looking for something to occupy himself, he signed up for a correspondence course in upholstery. The rest is history.

And here's the punch line: Joe's been doing this now for 32 years. You can do the math. He's now 94. He's survived a quadruple heart bypass. Had some health problems last year with three hospital stays but pushed through. He hoists his pants leg to show that his leg is still swollen, just a casual embellishment of his story.

Joe offers up his answer to a long life. "I gotta keep active," he says quietly. "I think if I stop, I'd go quickly."

He's got a calculator to help with his price quotes, but he's got a pencil at the ready and relies largely on careful long division by hand in his notebook, each step studied along the way. He's got a few tools, a small set of fabric samples, a vintage sewing machine, a couple of jobs in progress, including a sofa getting a full recover.