Have you noticed that the Star-Bulletin quietly eliminated the easy link to the past week’s editions as well as any link to its online archive, both features which made the S-B stand out in user friendliness. I don’t know when the change took place. I searched in vain for “back issues” and “archives” at Star-Bulletin.com and came up with zip. I’m not at all sure when this change took place.

[Update & correction: Thanks to those who responded so quickly this morning with comments pointing to “Back issues” in the drop down list of links beneath the “Home” button at the top of the page. Thank you!]

Previously, these were wonderful tools for backtracking to news of any specific day, all the way back to the first online edition.

It isn’t that the archive no longer exists, although it’s in a slightly different form. You can go there directly, if you know the URL (www.starbulletin.com/archives). It’s just that there’s no link on provided from today’s news. There is one “archives” link, but it takes you to the New York Times archives.

Big Island peace activist Jim Albertini has organized a vigil for peace in front of the federal building in Hilo every Friday for 437 weeks. That’s more than eight years. Now visions of a peaceful world have been briefly displaced by a more personal issue. The subject on Albertini’s press release yesterday says it all.

No pot to pee in at Hilo’s downtown Federal Building

Apparently the federal building remains open while undergoing a major renovation, but there isn’t a men’s restroom for public use, and the women’s facility will be closed soon.

“It is a disgrace that a port-a-toilet hasn’t been provided. It shows a lack of consideration, even contempt, for the public. The government can spend trillions of tax dollars on wars for empire, and bailing out wall street bankers, but can’t even provide a toilet for it’s citizens in a major government building.”

According to the release:

Albertini wonders why the construction contractor hasn’t provided a port-a-toilet for the public, or if federal employees in the building have spoken up for the public. Albertini said “the security guard told me that the construction company workers use a private restroom in the building. When asked why that restroom couldn’t be opened for the public, the security guard said he didn’t know.”

Thanks to Jim for raising the issue. I’ve complained before about the lack of facilities in some federal and state buildings. Honolulu’s federal bankruptcy court was my pet peeve for a while. The public restrooms are upstairs where the courtroom is located. If there’s no activity in court, that floor is closed to the public. But downstairs there are computer terminals set up for public use in researching bankruptcy cases. But if you’ve got to go, you’ll have to go somewhere else.

Maybe GSA needs to adopt a public user’s bill of rights that would include provide public rest rooms in facilities that provide public access.

And here’s an update on Mr. Duke. Did I mention that he weighed in at just over 19 pounds when he visited the vet on Sunday?

In any case, blood and urine tests show he does not have diabetes! That’s the good news.

The not so good news is that given his family history and weight issues, he is “predisposed” to the disease.

So Dr. Sakamoto has advised us to shift him over to Prescription Diet M/D. Here’s how it’s described:

Key Benefits
Prescription Diet® m/d® is formulated with the following benefits:

* Clinically proven low carbohydrate, high protein nutrition to modify cats’ metabolism and reduce body fat
* Clinically tested to control glucose levels in diabetic cats
* High levels of carnitine to help mobilize body fat and normalize lean body mass
* Appropriate levels of fiber to provide a feeling of fullness and may help reduce begging
* High level of taurine to help maintain normal levels of insulin
* High level of arginine to support insulin secretion
* Added antioxidants to control cell oxidation and promote a healthy immune system

We started the shift to the new food yesterday. Luckily, he likes it. But the recommended serving size for a weight-loss diet is startling small in comparison to his current eating habits. We have just started feeding him separately, and trying not to leave food where he can get to it. It’s going to be a long haul for cat and people.