I was sitting at a small desk in the Land Use Commission office yesterday afternoon reading through some old documents when my cell phone rang. It was the wife of a friend we’ve known and kept in contact with for about 20 years.

She was crying.

“He’s sick. He’s really sick, and he didn’t want you to hear it somewhere else,” she said, then described his return home after a week in the hospital where he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. It’s at a stage where, according to one web site I consulted after the call, the outlook for survival is “not overly optimistic,” although medical interventions have already started.

I could hear the edge of controlled desperation in her voice, that “what will I do if…” fear she was wrestling with, the radical upheaval this represents. I could also hear their young daughter playing in the background, a point of grounding, a reason to go on. I was stunned. It was the last call I expected to get after the short bus ride downtown on a warm Wednesday afternoon. I literally didn’t know what to say except to absorb the news, share the weight in a small way, offer to help in any way, and let her go on to the next call.

The rest of my day was blown out by this news, my mind on our friend and his family. How do you go forward after this harsh reminder of our common mortality? One foot at a time.

So here’s another step forward.

The Toronto Star recently reported its 1st quarter 2008 earnings, including its 19.35 percent stake in Black Press, owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The reports from Torstar provide the only publicly available information on the financial performance of Black Press.

Torstar’s loss from Black Press was $0.9 million in the first quarter of 2008 compared with a loss of $0.1 million in 2007. The larger first quarter loss in 2008 reflected the negative impact of financial derivatives being marked to market, not a change in the underlying business performance.

In a footnote, Torstar reported:

As described in Note 15 of the Company’s December 31, 2007 annual financial statements, the Company has entered into various forward foreign exchange
contracts. The Company has entered into forward foreign exchange contracts which establish a rate of exchange of Canadian dollar per U.S. dollar of $1.05 for U.S. $34 million in 2008 and $1.02 for U.S. $8.5 million in 2009. The net fair value of these contracts was $0.4 million unfavourable at March 31, 2008.

What does that mean? With Black Press split between its Canadian and U.S. newspapers, it sought out a way to mitigate its risk as the relative value of the two currencies shifts. In this case, the hedging resulted in a loss.

Here’s , what Torstar reported in the prior period for the 4th quarter of 2007:

Torstar’s income from Black Press was $0.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with $0.8 million in 2006. Black Press benefited in the quarter from the strong economy in Western Canada but was negatively impacted by non-cash mark-to-market losses on foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives.

In another footnote, Torstar commented on its use of derivatives.

Derivative financial instruments that are designated as cash flow hedges, such as the floating to fixed interest rate swap agreements and forward exchange contracts are presented at their fair value. The gains or losses arising from the revaluation at the end of each period are included in other comprehensive income to the extent of hedge effectiveness. For effective fair value hedges, such as the fixed to floating interest rate swap agreements, changes in the fair value of the hedging derivative
are recorded in net income. The carrying value of the hedged item is adjusted for unrealized gains or losses attributable to the hedged risk and also recognized in net income.

Whew. If you followed all of that, please interpret for the rest of us.

Crosscut.com, a Seattle blog, reports on the continuing financial struggles of the Seattle Times.

And John McCain says he is a computer illiterate and leaves that stuff for his wife. It’s just one reminder that he’s from an older generation. Not using a computer today is almost unthinkable. David Corn asks: “Can a guy who doesn’t know how to use a computer become president?”

Similarly, I don’t think an attack on college degrees is a winning argument in the dispute over continued funding for Hale Na’au Pono, a Waianae coast mental health program.

Noted on Tuesday by CQ Politics:

The New Hampshire Cultural Diversity Awareness Council, along with Sens. Judd Gregg and John E. Sununu , R-N.H., host a reception to honor Senator Daniel K. Inouye , D-Hawaii, and present him with the “Keeping the Dream Alive” award. 5 p.m., Dirksen Senate Office Building.

And from the UH Manoa Campus Beat, which reports campus crime, big news:

Thursday, June 12

• Coconuts were stolen from the Agronomy and Soli Science facility on Woodlawn Dr. If you bought any of the stolen coconuts at the swap meet, please return them for a full refund.

Friday, June 13

• Someone had a problem with their reflection and broke the mirror in the women’s restroom on the second floor of Saunders Hall. Hopefully, the new mirror will provide better reflections.