I got whiplash during yesterday’s VP debate. On the one hand, there was Sarah Palin saying the GOP now backs “strict oversight” by the federal government of the systems we rely on.

We need to make sure that we demand from the federal government strict oversight of those entities in charge of our investments and our savings and we need also to not get ourselves in debt.

Oversight, of course, is a polite way to say “regulation” without actually uttering the word. This, of course, despite John McCain’s long record of backing deregulation.

But, later, Palin leaves the impression that we don’t really want those mean government regulators mucking with our lives after all.

Patriotic is saying, government, you know, you’re not always the solution. In fact, too often you’re the problem so, government, lessen the tax burden and on our families and get out of the way and let the private sector and our families grow and thrive and prosper.

I guess it’s “take your pick” time. Whichever view you want, you’ll find a bit of it there.

And I was surprised to hear Linda Lingle among Palin’s list of luminaries.

Look at Lieberman, and Giuliani, and Romney, and Lingle, and all of us who come from such a diverse background of — of policy and of partisanship, all coming together at this time, recognizing he is the man that we need to leave — lead in these next four years, because these are tumultuous times.

I got up this morning and found the NY Times live blogging the House debate on the bill addressing the financial situation.

Another interesting story in today’s NY Times on an SEC rule that made a large contribution to today’s crisis.

A friend forwarded a column explaining the dynamics of the situation which I found useful for some of its specific examples of critical parts of the system that are melting down. It may be written by a Republican, but it offers specific examples of why and how markets have panicked. It’s not necessarily the best analysis, but it gets beyond ideological views of “big government” or “wall street” to specifics about the technical problems we’re facing.

Oh, speaking of Main Street. I predict that a lot of Honolulu condominiums are going to be mired in financial problems soon. Already, soaring electrical costs and required maintenance on Honolulu’s many older condo buildings are pushing up monthly common area maintenance fees at double-digit rates. I understand many condominium owners will see their monthly fees go up 20 percent or more in the next budget year. This is likely to trigger a rise in delinquencies as fees are paid late or not paid at all. In a condominium situation, if some owners don’t pay their fees, the slack has to be made up by the remaining owners. It takes many months or longer for delinquencies to begin to be visible in foreclosure statistics, so they are a leading but hidden indicator of financial stresses. Anecdotally, it’s already an issue. Down the road a few months, we’ll see where it goes.

Let’s see. In response to my comments the other day about the fine Star-Bulletin front page illustrating the plunging stock market, a reader commented:

Meanwhile, you might be interested to know that the later edition of the Star Bull yesterday had a totally different from page – highligting the morning’s developments in the bailout saga – not quite as dramatic graphically, but as up-to-date as a print-edition newspaper can be. Their layout people are busy, pay-attention folks.

It took me a while to figure out what’s wrong with this picture of the Hawaii State Capitol. The street in the foreground is disorienting, because this appears to be the corner of the building closest to the State Library and there is no street there. There’s a nice grassy mall and walkway alongside the capitol, running from Punchbowl Street past the library and the archives, then behind the palace and over to Richards Street.

Ah, but it wasn’t always that way. This photo was apparently taken when Hotel Street extended right through that same corridor. This web page has a photo of the State Capitol while it was still under construction, which shows Hotel Street still running through.

I don’t recall what year Hotel Street was closed and landscaped, but it must have been after 1970 or so.

And it is, after all, another Feline Friday. This lovely calico is Ms. Pilikia, who lives next door. When I noticed her rolling in the sun in our driveway several days ago, I went for the camera. She was glad to oblige. And so Ms. Pilikia joins the regular cast in this week’s photo gallery. Just click on her photo and enjoy.