Just after 6 a.m., and it just started raining in Kaaawa. It’s a substantial rain, with the drumming sound on the roof and on the leaves of trees and plants around the house. I hope it’s just one of those brief morning rains, but these days you never know. I suppose that I could break down and look at the weather radar for a better sense of things, but that almost seems like cheating.

Did you notice Georgette Deemer’s comment here yesterday?

Josh Brolin was on Charlie Rose last night talking about his upcoming role in “Milk”. He said that there was a point in his life several years ago when he looked back and was not really happy with the movies he had done, except for one, “Flirting With Disaster.” It’s a hilarious film.

With her 15 years experience as manager of the Hawaii Film Office, Deemer knows her movies and I’m glad to get this confirmation of our take on “Flirting With Disaster
“.

I was browsing through an unfamiliar part of the State Procurement Office web site yesterday. It’s always interesting because you never know quite what you’ll find there about the ways we spend the public’s money.

This time it was livestock feed subsidies paid pursuant to Act 221 (2007) that caught my eye.

The purpose of this Act is to create a livestock revitalization and food security program to administer and disburse funds to qualified cattle, dairy, hog, and poultry farms that apply for and receive, if properly documented, a reimbursement for up to sixty per cent of each farm’s feed expenses. With financial support, the livestock industry will be able to make investments in modern equipment, expand and improve their herds and flocks, and develop new markets and products. This financial support will serve a public purpose by enabling the livestock industries to stabilize their operations, thus, contributing to food security, and make them more competitive with mainland suppliers in the future.

I can’t tell whether the program’s goals have been met, but a little doodling with the data shows the state has paid out $2,025,107 so far under the program.

Three producers–Island Diary, Boteilho Hawaii, and Mikilua Poultry Farm–have each received the maximum $250,000 subsidy, while other producers received as little as $3,000.

Click here for the full list, drawn from the procurement office data.

6:29 a.m. and it’s still raining. This is looking serious, at least in terms of the potential impact on our morning walk. Going out in the rain isn’t the biggest of treats.

Those interested in what’s happening out there in Star-Bulletin owner David Black’s world might want to keep up with BJ Alums, a blog for former Akron Beacon Journal employees. There are some interesting updates as well as thoughtful links.

Here’s a comment on recent departures from the Beacon Journal:

Except for this blog, there would have been no public mention of the 18 leaving the Beacon Journal this month with more than 273 years of service. Chancellor had 24 years and 10 months of service. We do not know how many years Ann and Keith had because as managers they are not on the Guild roster.

And here’s a bit of Sunday reading from Portfolio.com, “The End“, by Michael Lewis, author of “Liar’s Poker”.

Okay, we made a break for it around 6:40 a.m. when the rain seemed to let up somewhat. It wasn’t too bad on the front leg of the walk, although we had to use our umbrellas. But we were still more than a half-mile from home when it started raining pretty hard, and stayed that way until we were home with coffee.