I don’t know whether any action was taken yesterday by the EUTF board to sanction HMSA for “unauthorized” information.

An unusual set of circumstances made it impossible for me to make the EUTF meeting. I’ll have to check around today to see what happened.

Here’s a hint for Hawaii shoppers. The next time you’re in Longs, ask for an application for a CVS Extracare card. It’s a frequent shopper rewards program that tracks your purchases and quickly delivers special coupons and savings. We just recently signed up after hearing about it, and already got a $4 coupon good on a purchase of $20 or more. The program isn’t advertised, but be sure to ask or check the link online.

So does this new financial world require a whole new world view?

Imagine. The only state relatively untouched by the global meltdown is…North Dakota, according to a study by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Hawaii, meanwhile, ranks among the top tier in terms of budget shortfalls during the current fiscal year, behind Oklahoma, Arizona, and Illinois.

So will there be a new Dakota land rush? Do you suppose a lot of folks will be selling their beachfront property and heading for the frozen north? I don’t know.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire has submitted a legally required budget balancing the books by slashing programs, but immediately announced that she will be proposing tax increases when the legislature goes to work.

According to the Seattle Times:

The cuts outlined in the Gregoire’s budget on Wednesday are certain to make some lawmakers flinch.

It would eviscerate programs that have broad political support and are tough to cut, much less kill.

The budget would eliminate the Basic Health Plan, an insurance program for the working poor, saving about $161 million over the next fiscal year. About 65,000 people are enrolled.

Also zeroed out would be the General Assistance-Unemployable (GAU) program, which provides a temporary safety net for more than 20,000 people unable to work because of mental or physical disabilities. That would save $207 million.

It would suspend funding for school-levy equalization, which aids “property-poor” school districts, saving $143 million, and suspend state-subsidized all-day kindergarten, saving another $33.6 million. All-day kindergarten has been offered at a few school districts, with an intent of expanding the program.

The budget also would cut $146 million in financial aid for college students and lower the qualifying income threshold from 70 percent of median family income to 50 percent. That means the money would go only to low-income families, and the grants would be smaller.

Hawaii lawmakers are likely not going to be enjoying the holiday season as they look forward to coping with the same issues when the session starts next month.

Meanwhile, the NY Times reports a traditional Hawaiian wood surfboard design is all the rage in the surfing world.

My surfcraft that day was an alaia (pronounced ah-LIE-ah), a replica of the thin, round-nosed, square-tailed boards ridden in pre-20th-century Hawaii. The originals were 7 to 12 feet long, generally made of koa wood and could weigh up to 100 pounds. They resemble nothing so much as antique ironing boards, but their most distinctive feature compared with modern equipment is that they are finless.

Whoa! Thanks to Mike Middlesworth for pointing me to this Salon.com report on a newspaper war in Germany.

IT’S STORIES LIKE THIS that drive home just how different Europe and America can be from one another. On 15 November, 2009 the left-wing German newspaper Die Tageszeitung (“taz” for short) unveiled a provocative artwork by sculptor Peter Lenk on the exterior wall of its Kreuzberg headquarters featuring a naked man with a five-story, fifty-two foot porcelain male member that narrows into a cobra head at the tip. And the man depicted in the installation is not just any man, but Kai Diekmann, chief editor of the right-wing Bildzeitung, whose highrise headquarters is within spitting distance – with an unobstructed view of the artwork.

That’s one way to get your point across!

Finally, if you missed it, here’s Ellen Goodman’s recent column on “facts”. Definitely worth a read.