I noticed this headline on Governor Lingle’s official web site yesterday:

Administration Leads Effort to Submit Balanced FY10 Budget

It sounds like they’re claiming credit for going beyond the call of duty by “leading” the balanced budget effort.

Of course, the governor’s responsibility for preparing the state budget and the requirement of a balanced budget are established by the State Constitution. Lingle is simply doing her job by preparing to submit a balanced budget.

So what’s new here? Nothing, really. Just another good example of manufactured news by making something out of nothing.

Beware what might be lurking in that turkey dinner!

Meda has a little trick. When we cook a turkey, Meda doesn’t make gravy right away, instead unthawing some that’s been in the freezer since the last turkey meal.

Then she takes all the fresh pan drippings and puts them in the refrigerator overnight. When cooled, it’s easy to scrape the fat off. And it’s kind of gross to see how much fat there is! I took these photos the day after Thanksgiving. Not a pretty sight, although Ms. Kili thought she wouldn’t mind getting a few licks off that mound of fat.

Thanks to Kevin Dayton for his story in today’s Advertiser on the failure of the state’s main prison to provide adequately for visits by prisoners’ families. It’s an important, chronic, but hidden issue. And it highlights the continuing failure of the state to resolve staff grievances and issues within the prison system. Dayton has tracked related issues for a long time and comes to it with a depth of knowledge and experience.

And I no sooner finished praising that story when someone pointed me to the accompanying story on Kevin’s immediate resignation from the Advertiser. He starts next week in a new job as executive assistant to the new mayor of Hawaii County.

That’s a very big loss to journalism and I’m sorry to hear it. But, I suppose, another sign of the times.

We made one of our rare excursions in Blockbuster in Kaneohe this week and I stumbled across the 1996 Ben Stiller movie, “Flirting with Disaster“.

How is it possible that I didn’t know about this movie? It is hilarious and had us laughing all the way through. Stiller’s supporting cast, including Mary Tyler Moore and Lily Tomlin, help to make this one something special. If you don’t know this movie either, rent it. And if you haven’t watched it for a while, try it again.

Of course, I’ve probably just revealed just how warped our sense of humor and view of the world really is!

So it goes on this chilly Saturday.