Jim Manke, recently moved to Oregon, called my attention to a story in The Oregonian, “$100 million-plus gap for Portland-Milwaukie light rail came with some warning“.
It seems that the financial plans for a 7th light rail line in the Portland area were based on getting 60% of the required funds from the federal government, a level of support earlier projects had received. But this time the feds are sticking to 50-50, leaving a significant gap.
It’s an interesting story, especially in light of the delicate state of Honolulu’s rail plan.
Now that Sean Hao has left the Star-Advertiser to take a job with the Office of the Auditor, I am going to miss his reporting on the rail issue. His depth of experience and understanding of the issues is going to be hard to replace, at least in the short term.
Speaking of former newspaper reporters, did you notice the announcement that Jim Dooley has joined Hawaii Reporter?
In a separate post, Hawaii Reporter notes:
Greg Wiles, formerly of The Honolulu Advertiser, has already been writing for us.
In addition, we have a television pilot project with Matt Levi, formerly of KGMB TV 9 and the Levi Files, which will expand Hawaii Reporter’s investigative news coverage.
It remains to be seen whether Hawaii Reporter can keep its conservative bent in the background and let these good reporters set their own agenda. If they work it out, Hawaii Reporter could increase its impact.
Hmmmm…at risk of prolonging the back-and-forth over Duke Aiona’s personal opposition to vaccinations, a reader noted a relatively new Facebook group using the name “Coalition for Vaccine-Free Hawaii” endorsed Aiona just before the primary.
The “group” registered with Facebook on August 16, and linked to a web site that doesn’t exist.
Its Facebook postings rely almost exclusively on items from Mercola.com.
The web site of Science-Based Medicine describes Mercola and provides a devastating critique:
Mercola.com is a horrible chimera of tabloid journalism, late-night infomercials, and amateur pre-scientific medicine, and is the primary web presence of Joseph Mercola. Unfortunately, it is also one of the more popular alternative medicine sites on the web and as such is uncommonly efficient at spreading misinformation.
Mercola.com has also been warned by the FDA at least twice about illegal health claims made about products being marketed by the site, according to the blog, Quackwatch.
And so it goes on Sunday morning.
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Oh come on. Hao’s reporting was incredibly sloppy, biased, sensationalist, misleading and, often, just plain wrong, and anyone serious about following rail issues figured that out long ago. He and his incompetent handlers did this entire community a huge disservice by continuing that shoddy onslaught for so long, and it didn’t even stop the Advertiser’s ultimate failure.
Rail is a huge project that deserves lots of scrutiny, and there are plenty of legitimate aspects to cover. Hao and the Advertiser fell far short of any reasonable expectations for fairness or fundamental accuracy.
It’s really sad that you are so easily impressed and still buy into that cheap charade after all that’s happened.
I can only hope that the Office of the Auditor requires adherence to basic standards of accuracy and professionalism that eluded the Advertiser from the top down.
It’s always works to shoot the messenger, doesn’t it, Mr. Get Real? You call reporter Sean Hao and his work “shoddy” and a “cheap charade.” You are overwrought. Mr. Hao is a very good, very dogged reporter. He deserves a medal for what he did. As it turns out, it’s the shoddy, 40-year-old rail plan that’s the cheap charade, and yes, it was Sean Hao and his editors who pulled back the curtain on the mess, despite the best efforts of some of Honolulu’s most skilled public relations professionals.
Get Real’s comments are incredibly sloppy, biased, sensationalist, misleading and, often, just plain wrong, and anyone serious about following Get Real’s issues figured that out long ago.
Sounds like Get Real is jealous IRL.
The first time I heard of this local group & saw them was in this year’s Kailua Fourth of July Parade. There must have been about 35 adults and a couple of dozen kids in the “marching” unit.
Why would anyone with half of a brain and piece of an axx want to use a small town annual event to harass and harangue?
I saw a couple of them get into debates with people and third person yell at a local official.
I wouldn’t take one of their handouts and got a major jolt of stink-eye.
Free speech – yes, they are welcome to blah-blah-blah even if these people are cookoololos.
I wonder what sort of presence they’ll have at the Capitol this coming year.
We had a similar controversy a year ago on the Big Island when Puna councilwoman Emily Naeole introduced a bill on vaccines:
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/?p=9518
I get every vaccination I can. But then I have no influence over anyone except my cat, that alone is an illusion. So my illusionary life may be a effect of getting a vaccine.
Mercola is quite a character.
He says: A researcher who authored one of the first articles connecting aspirin to Reye’s Syndrome, a lethal disease that attacks the liver and brain, is suggesting that aspirin also could be to blame for a significant portion of deaths in the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.
The actual NYTimes article he links to says “Now it appears that a small number of the deaths may have been caused not by the virus, but by a drug used to treat it: aspirin.”
“significant” or “small”?
I was not able to locate a family medicine department at St. Alexius Medical Center where Dr. Joseph Mecola states he was chair for five years http://www.alexianbrothershealth.org/services/stalexius/our-services.aspx
His publications list include numerous responses to scientific articles rather than rigorously reviewed research publications. Looks impressive, but. . .
Finally his web site sells everything from cook ware to tanning booths to “sustainable” krill oil to a book on the great bird flu hoax, but no snake oil.
Yet! Give it time.
FYI, Hawaii Reporter carries the following – not its own opinion/reporting – but ‘independent’ polling:
Rothenberg Political Report: Djou Leading Hanabusa in 1st Congressional Race
The nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report provides this analysis on Hawaii’s First Congressional District, giving Rep. Charles Djou the lead:
“Hawaii 1. With only one candidate in the race against GOP Cong. Charles Djou, Democrats are extremely confident that State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa will take this seat back for their party. In fact, this is one of four seats nationally that Democrats count in their column as they assert Republicans actually need to win 43 seats for a majority. But not so fast. There is little evidence that voters are willing to throw Djou out of office after only a couple months on the job. A private Democratic poll showed the congressman leading by double digits. This race is not over, and Djou may even have the advantage.” (Rothenberg Political Report, “2010 House Overview,” 09/24/10)
I’m a big Democratic supporter but I am not impressed with some candidates ability to actually campaign, she better learn how to, fast.
Sean Hao appears to be inquisitive. That’s a perfect fix for the office of the auditor. His knowledge acquired from his rail research should come in handy hopefully.
Star Advertiser can easily fill in the puka left by Hao. SA can hire PANOS as an independent guest writer to question the status quo :=).
i went to your link and read Dr.Joseph abietz’s article “9 reasons to completely ignore Mercola”. i’ve been looking at Dr. Mercola’s web-site for the last 6-7 years or so off and on and i subscribe to his free e-mail health news and alerts and am definately going to continue doing so.i don’t care how many main stream doctors pile -up on him.Mercola focuses on disease prvention and health maintenance.he and other alternative medical doctors are being bullied by corporate interests.Mercola is an entreupenuer and his popular web-site is his private practice.he is always in search of safe,sound and inexpensivetreatments.Dr. Mercola is fighting the good fight against the FDA/Pharmaceutical/industrial/complex.our personal liberties and health are at stake when it comes to FDA abuse and deceit.
In the words of the late sainted (well not really) Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, “We are all entitled to our own opinions, we are just not entitled to our own facts”
It scares the hell out of me that people think the way you do. “I don’t care about science, I’m subscribed to this newsletter and I’m going to keep subscribing to it, so it must be true!”
There is no “good fight” against the scientific method. I fear for our future. We’re going backwards.
RE: Hawaii Reporter. A right week screed lightly peppered with a few local liberal lights to superficially balance out the propaganda and deepen polarization? Sounds like the Midweek formula for the web.
seriously…. Hawaii reporter?? haha. so what, they are the new civil beat?? on line “journalism”?? Really? Malia and her dad? I thought they said they wuz buying property somewhere and they wuz buying a press??? Maybe they didn’t have enough money to buy cameras….we’ll see how long their new “hires” last…did no one take note that the real (from here) journalists that CB hired lasted just a few weeks before they quit…?? wake me up when the dream is over…
hey nancy, i’m wondering but is the VIOXX scandal “good science”? or how about the AVANDIA scandal? this scandal involved side effects,hidden test data, and links to heart attacks. and despite that the FDA voted to keep this drug on the market. good science? what about the PAXIL scandal? more hidden data on this anti-dpressant.you know what GSK,the manufacturer was trying to keep under wraps?that PAXIL was causing an increase insuicidal thoughts and behavior in children.real good science! are these drugs the best that your science can do? well,sure,there’s alot of money to be made.