The findings of the Senate special investigation of DBEDT’s Hydrogen Investment Capital Special Fund management contract have now been made available online, including what appear to be thousands of pages of documents. Good stuff here for those who like to browse.
Looking at some of the recent press coverage, I’m struck by how the central political issue went unreported. Here are some samples, Advertiser stories of Oct. 14 and Aug. 29.
It wasn’t simply that Gov. Lingle’s appointed head of the department pushed the contract to Barry Weinman, who he described as a “friend”, or allowed Weinman to play a behind the scenes role in setting up the deal which was then pushed his way.
The point underscored by the committee is that Barry Weinman and his wife are part of Gov. Lingle’s A-Team, major financial contributors to the governor, the Republican Party, and legislative candidates the governor backed with targeted fundraising.
Among the exhibits gathered by the committee is this lising of the Weinman’s many campaign-related contributions.
But that political angle didn’t make it into much of the reporting, and I can’t figure out why.
After all, you didn’t need the committee’s summary to know about the Weinman’s political clout. Even cursory examination of Lingle’s disclosure reports over the past eight or ten years would have made that quite clear. Then why the relative silence? Your guess is as good as mine.
If you’ve got vague worries about “Big Brother & the Intrusions”, this Washington Post story describing current and upcoming surveillance capabilities will give you something concrete to worry about.
Seattle voters will also be deciding the fate of a multi-billion dollar investment in a rail system next month, according to the Seattle Times.
And the Seattle City Council is again looking at a possible ban on chaining dogs or keeping them constantly confined in small areas, conditions which allegedly make dogs more likely to attack people or other dogs.
And, by the way, the Newspaper Guild just reached a tentative contract deal at the Times, according to Crosscut, a Seattle area online news site.
Newspaper news…This in yesterday from Doug Carlson (Hawaii Energy Options, Say Yes to the Honolulu Rail System, and more) :
Have you heard of the latest SB marketing offer? They’re offering the paper for 96 cents/week. I took it; that’s $50/year.
Hmmmm. I’m paying a lot more than 96 cents a week, and hearing about such huge discounts doesn’t make me too happy. Are existing subscribers just taken for granted when discounts are being offered?
And I was checking Rick Daysog’s “Biz Bites” blog at the Advertiser yesterday, and got a taste for how spammed up blog comments have become.
Check this entry from July. There are 17 comments, at least there when I checked yesterday afternoon, all pure spam.
What do you suppose Mr. Toby’s trying to tell me here?
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Morning Ian- Thanks for the link regarding chaining dogs in Seattle. Animal Rights Hawai’i is proposing anti-tethering legislation in the ’09 leg session.
Some dogs are tethered for parts of a day, usually if their humans don’t have a fenced yard. We will be targeting the sad dogs who are locked up 24/7/365–and here in Hawai’i, those are a lot of dogs. These dogs often do become aggressive because their lives are deprived of exercise and socialization.
Dogs are, as you know, very social animals, and should be members of the family, not just a cheap form of theft deterrent.
As always, mahalo for your blog . I read it every day!
PS- I keep a can of compressed air on my desk to keep the cats from sitting on my keyboard. Now all I have to do is reach for it and they’re gone.
I think Mr. Toby is upset that he’s not the kitty on your laptop’s background display. 🙂
“What do you suppose Mr. Toby’s trying to tell me here?”
This butt warming device is excellent. You should get one for yourself.