Monthly Archives: June 2009

Tuesday…Free rail symposium today, advertising and blogging, and a rainy morning

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I’m heading off this morning to attend the city’s rail transit symposium at the Blaisdell.

Funny thing about it is that the city has been featuring Dan Doyle, who was a transit official in Vancouver, B.C. during construction of the SkyTrain system, the model for Honolulu’s proposed system. But most of the rest of the “experts” appearing in today’s program are from cities featuring the more flexible and less expensive type of light rail technology that would allow planning a system that would run on overhead tracks where appropriate, but drop to street level where that would work best. Charlotte, Denver, Phoenix, and Seattle have all gone with the more flexible system. So while the experts from those cities will sing the praise of rail transit, it’s important to keep in mind that Mayor Hannemann is trying to prevent Honolulu from considering the actual rail technologies they have implemented.

And in today’s program, it’s the Skytrain that gets the prime morning slot that probably will get most broadcast news attention, while those flexible rail systems get pushed into the afternoon, after lunch, when attendance and media interest is likely to wane.

Kind of like the old card trick where you fan the deck out but “push” a selected card forward so that it’s likely to be selected. The illusion of choice masks the deliberate effort to push one solution.

Kauai blogger Andy Parx raised some excellent questions last week about blogging and journalistic independence in the age of Google AdSense and other automated contextual ads. He noted that the day I wrote about door-to-door alarm system sales, Google’s system was pushing some of those same alarm systems.

Lind has no control over which ad google will post with which article, but of course google is well known for automating a process where their ads correlate with the content- as anyone who uses gmail knows all too well

The problem is that to anyone who doesn’t know how google works or doesn’t put it together with the ad on Ian’s site, it makes what is an extraordinary piece of investigative work onto one that raises questions about the integrity of the author by making it appear Lind is just running down the competition for his “paid” masters.

Andy’s right. I usually just laugh at the pairings that can result, but the questions remain.

I’ve been quite ambivalent about those ads and have gone back and forth on whether or not to use them.

If they produced real money, the choice would be easier. But over the course of a year, they really don’t produce much at all, enough to pay hosting fees and some incidentals, but no real income. I’ve stripped the ads off several times, then experimentally added them back.

I tried limiting ads to companies I really like, like Powell’s Books, but few people seem much interested in books. Even Amazon produces only miniscule income, and I’m not even sure why I leave those ads there. Inertia is the operative word, I believe.

So what’s the answer? Is there an answer? I could try declaring this site “shareware” and solicit donations. I could require subscriptions. Perhaps there’s someone locally with good values and business practices who would like to advertise in one of those spots currently occupied by Google or Amazon? I would love to hear from you.

Part of the problem is that I’ve never been clear what this site is all about. It’s not a business, that’s clear. But it’s more than a “hobby”, since I feel that need to publish daily and, at least now and then, produce original content and useful documents and information. It’s an expression of that journalistic impulse that hasn’t been either constrained, or supported by, any economic sense. In other words, somewhat unsustainable except in this crazy world of blogging.

Suggestions? Thoughts? I welcome them all.

[text]This was the view yesterday morning in Kaaawa. Clouds, the threat of rain. Umbrellas at the ready. Enjoy.

Monday…Father’s Day report, court takes on campaign contribution issue, newspaper numbers, etc.

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[text]Meda and I met my mother and sister for a Father’s Day visit with my father, now more than half-way to his 96th birthday. We took along a tray of fruit–strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, lychee–and some fresh homemade shortbread that Bonnie made from a recipe of our grandmother’s.

Unfortunately, we got a call about noon saying that he had a dizzy spell and had gone back to bed, so we didn’t know what to expect for our mid-afternoon gathering.

But he was feeling quite a bit better by the time we arrived. He didn’t recall the dizziness, thought he had been asleep since last night, and recognized all of us and was able to both enjoy the fruit and cookies, and sort of understand the Father’s Day thing. We’ve learned to take what we can get from these interactions.

Last Wednesday’s oral arguments before the Intermediate Court of Appeals in the case of the Charmaine Tavares Campaign v. Barbara Wong in her capacity as executive director of the Campaign Spending Commission didn’t give much comfort to those hoping the court might uphold the commission’s interpretation that there is a $1,000 cap on campaign contributions by corporations in any election period.

Deputy Attorney General Russell Suzuki gamely tried to argue the commission’s convoluted case, relying on a mix of legislative history and creative explanation of what happens when a corporation makes a contribution to a candidate.

To make their the commission’s theory work, Suzuki argued that before a corporation can make a campaign contribution, it must first organize as a noncandidate committee “and administratively remove the funds from the corporation to this committee before they can be transferred or contributed to the candidate’s committee.”

And, Suzuki argued, it was that presumed administrative transfer that ran directly into the $1,000 limit on contributions to noncandidate committees.

But attorney William Crockett saw the case as very simple, and by their questions the judges seemed inclined to agree.

He pointed to Section 11-204(a), which provides that “no person or any other entity shall make contributions” to a candidate or a candidate’s committee in excess of statutory limits, which range from $2,000 per election period in the case of local races to $6,000 for statewide races.

The contributions involved in this case were all made to a candidate’s committee. All were within those limits. Case closed, Crockett said.

One of the judges asked Suzuki the key question. “Under your interpretation, would any ‘person’ other than an individual be able to make a contribution under 11-204(a)?”

Suzuki: “No.”

So that even though the statute clearly allows “any entity” to give candidates up to $6,000, in some cases, or up to $4,000 in a mayor’s race, the commission gets tangled up in logic and would have to say that such contributions wouldn’t really be legal.

Crocket then made the obvious point. The $1,000 contribution limit was to regulate contributions to PACs, political action committees and ballot issue committees. Higher contribution limits were set for candidates and their committees.

When interpreted that way, Crocket argued, “the statute hangs together and does make sense.” That’s not the case with the commission’s proposed interpretation.

You can listen to the recording of last week’s hearing and decide for yourself, but I would expect a ruling from the Intermediate Court generally agreeing that the commission’s attempt to create and impose a $1,000 limit on corporate contributions contradicts the clear language of the statute.

Just a few weekend stories to comment on. Erika Engle presents Oahu newspaper “readership” stats (as opposed to sales numbers) showing the Star-Bulletin posting solid readership gains. But the numbers also make clear that the S-B’s overall impact falls far below the Advertiser’s. The Sunday Advertiser reaches nearly 60% of Oahu’s population, according to these numbers, with 50% reached on weekdays, while the S-B hits around 20% all week.

Let’s see. Still on the newspaper front, both Honolulu dailies editorialized on the issue of furloughs. The S-B editorial was simply a recitation of the situation with no value added. The Advertiser, on the other hand, called on the parties to give up the “posturing” and get to an agreement. I would give the ‘Tiser’s version of the editorial at least a high “B” grade. I would have had trouble giving the S-B a passing grade. Just too little thought went into its editorial.

And I have to give Advertiser business writer Sean Hao a mention for his excellent story on the state’s solar power contracts. Excellent analysis of an overlooked set of contracts, locked in at the worst time with no protections against falling energy prices.

And from the Seattle Times, a look at what that city is doing to confront the issue of youth violence. Compare that to the inaction we’ve seen from our state and city. Again, Hawaii lags far behind in social policy.

Sunday (2)…Summer arrives in Kaaawa, and vacationing at Kokee in 1939

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[text]As suggested here yesterday, I did go ahead and compile a little gallery of photos taken on our early morning walk yesterday morning. Just click on this photo to see the full gallery.

And the arrival of summer seems like a good time to share another letter sent to friends by the late-Carey D. Miller, in which she describes a 1939 summer trip to Kauai for a vacation in a cabin at Kokee. It isn’t the best scan, but it will have to do for now.

I was surprised to read that in 1939, it didn’t take a Superferry to provide interisland transportation for Miller took her car onto a boat departing Honolulu harbor at 10 p.m., and arriving in Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai at 7 a.m.

After breakfast on the boat we climbed into the car and were off on the 50 mile trip to our destination, Kokee in the National Forest Reserve.

Miller’s brief letter is full of vivid descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells that surrounded her at Kokee. Here, for example, is her description of driving to the lookout at Waimea Canyon.

It may be reached by trail from the cottage, but our finest view was one evening an hour before sunset when we went by car twelve miles down the mountain road to an excellent lookout and stayed until night descended. Alone and undisturbed, 2,300 feet above the floor of the canyon, we ate our supper and watched the cloud shadows in this vast, ruggedly sculptured gorge. No picture nor description is adequate to convey the impression of this canyon with its exquisite coloring. THe soil and rocks range through hues of brown, red and yellow; deep in the valleys, semi-tropical foliage contributes many shades of green; and over it all and in the winding distances a misty lavender haze blends the whole into a symphony of color. In the bright sun, in the glow of the sunset or in the short, swift twilight when the lavender haze deepens to purples and blues, this great silent canyon with only the faintest sound of roaring water in the distance, leaves one with a feeling of awe and the timelessness of nature. Geologists tell us it cannot have changed much in the last ten thousand years.

It would be hard to add anything to that!

Thank you, Carey D.

Sunday…Two dogs and a cat

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[text]First, the dogs. As we reach the end of our daily walk at dawn, we pass the home of friends and their dogs, who apparently keep watch for us to pass by. As we get closer, we can usually hear a commotion behind the gate at the top of their driveway as four dogs race from the house and vie for good positions. Often they’re jumping, whining, or barking while looking out through the chain-link fence just off to the left of this photo. But yesterday the two puppies, Sadie and Riley, could be seen peeking out under the bottom of the gated entry. The pair, half-Rottweiler and half-Boogie (the dog across the street), are just five months old and now probably can brag a combined weight in excess of 80 pounds. And it’s probably no surprise that they do enjoy their dog biscuits!

Then there’s the cat. This probably started several months ago when both Romeo and Silverman got into fights that left them pretty beaten up with lots of scratches and bites. Both have recovered. Then a couple of weeks ago, I heard growling in the yard and ran out to intervene, just in time to see two orange cats run out the corner of the yard with Romeo is ragged pursuit. That scene was repeated within a few days, but with the escape route on the other side of the yard.

Then there were several sightings of one of the orange cats coming up the stairs to the decks, once or twice in front, and at least that many times onto the back deck.

Forward to this past week. I was awakened two nights by muted growling down the hall at around 1 a.m., stumbling out of bed to the living room. When I turned on a light, I saw an orange cat–not Mr. Toby–beating a high speed retreat across the back deck and down the stairs. In the second sighting, the cat–likely a “he”–was first seen just a few feet from our cat door, which allows our cats to freely go in-and-out as they please. But it wasn’t clear whether he was approaching the cat door or whether he had already learned to negotiate the cat door. I had my own suspicions because each time I responded to the sound of cats growling, the several food bowls in the kitchen had been licked clean, not a single kibble or fragment left. Our cats do that on occasion, but I don’t think it happens on a regular basis.

Yesterday I looked out into the yard and saw Romeo in that classic “meatloaf” position, hunkered down in the middle of the lawn. Hopefully you recall the cat drawings of cartoonist B. Kliban, who said a cat is “a damn fine creature, often mistaken for a meatloaf.” In any case, closer inspection revealed the orange cat perhaps 20 feet away at the edge of the yard. The meatloaf posture usually indicates that some accommodation between the parties is being negotiated.

Last night brought the answer. The clock read 1:35 when I heard the telltale growling and threw myself out of bed and down the hall. This time when the lights went on, the stranger was about four feet from the cat door, fur puffed up in excitement. But this time he was inside the house and heading out. Romeo and Harriet were standing by, although when the stranger took off, Romeo followed, although he stopped the pursuit at the edge of the deck.

So now we have to sort out what to do. Neither of us wants to increase the size of our cat household. Eight is enough. But this cat, while scared, has not been scared away. So what do we do? We haven’t faced this question very often, because wandering cats are typically chased off by our boundary patrol. It’s not clear yet whether this cat has fought his way through and now enjoys a tenuous access pass, or whether he has been tentatively accepted.

Now we have to figure out what to do next.

Oh, by the way, Happy Father’s Day. We’re going to be visiting my dad this afternoon, along with my sister and mother. Perhaps our cats will bring me Father’s Day greetings. Perhaps not.

So it goes.