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April 12, 2003 - Saturday
I notice this paragraph in the Advertiser story this morning about two people swept away by a flash flood near Hana
[Family members] climbed the steep slope on the north side of the stream and scrambled over a ridge, where they found the Kapahu Farm, a Native Hawaiian demonstration project, and a volunteer worker, who drove them to the Kipahulu Visitor Center and reported the incident at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Star-Bulletin reporter Gary Kubota, in a story which isn't online yet, adds the detail that the "volunteer worker" was my Hawaiian cousin, John Lind.
As I noted back in June 2001:
Regarding her reference to "the Hana Lind family," we discovered within the last couple of years that the original John Lind who emigrated from Scotland and ended up in Hana was the first cousin of my grandfather, William Lind, who ended up in California. Both came from the same small community in Scotland.
Neither my parents nor the Lind's in Hana had been aware of the family link previously.
Yesterday it was my problem. I was tired and rushed. Before we left for town in our rented van, we had plans to solve a logistical problem by staying in town and just sleeping in my office after dinner with my parents--actually, we all attended a dinner at Leeward Community College honoring Michel Martin, founder of Michel's Restaurant.
And what a dinner it turned out to be. The room was staffed not only by students in Leeward's culinary program, but by top chefs from all over town, along with managers of many of Honolulu's finest eateries and wine guy Chuck Furuya. The Star-Bulletin's Betty Shimabukuro was there, serving wine and getting tidbits for a story. What a meal!
But in the midst of it my phone rang--seems I left one key, but not the one needed for our friend to get into the house and feed the cats. So at the end of the evening we topped it off with another long drive to Kaaawa. Made it safely, and here I am at 5:30 a.m. Ready to go.
But this morning RoadRunner is down. So I'm out of touch. For now at least. [7:14 a.m., walk completed, and RoadRunner is back. Whew.]
And George Steele's absence is making itself known. He would have known what to do at a time like this.
I'm late. The day's entry undone. It was exactly the kind of morning that produced these emails from George. Note the times. He could be impishly impatient. His simple mesage: Ahem. I'm waiting....
Date: Sat, 5 May 2001 05:31:57
To: ilind@hawaii.rr.com
From: George Steele <gsteele@malasada.lava.net>
Subject: ahem
it is 5:31 a.m.......
-----------------------
Compassionate action starts with seeing yourself
when you start to make yourself right and
when you start to make yourself wrong.
At that point, you could just contemplate
the fact that there is a larger alternative
to either of those, a more tender,
shaky kind of place where you could live.
-- Pema Chodron,
"In the Gap Between Right and Wrong"
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 05:03:20 -
To: ilind@hawaii.rr.com
From: George Steele <gsteele@malasada.lava.net>
Subject: ahem
it's 5:03 a.m. do you know where your sunrise is?
Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 06:03:11 -
To: ilind@hawaii.rr.com
From: George Steele <gsteele@malasada.lava.net>
Subject: ahem
aaaaa-HEM.
April 11, 2003 - Friday
Well, this has the been first day in quite a long time where I just wasn't able to get an entry posted.
Everything just seemed to back up on me. I forgot to order my sister's birthday present, so had to hop over to Amazon.com for an emergency gift certificate. Then jobs I was supposed to finish yesterday afternoon were left dangling when I got word that our car wouldn't emerge from the VW service department before the end of the day. So instead of finishing a job just before my deadline, I was out picking up a rental car. And although I made my deadline this morning, I didn't leave enough of a margin to get this entry done.
And now I think I've blown all the links on this page, and no time to deal with it now. Meltdown!
Woe is me. I may be a bit late tomorrow as well. Don't panic.
| We were almost home after our walk a couple of mornings ago when we ran into neighbor Bob and the girls next door heading off for school, and a quick photo resulted. |
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April 10, 2003 - Thursday
Those little ads on the top of the Star-Bulletin's front page that I think are so annoying got a strong endorsement from a reader yesterday:
i love those small ads the star-bulletin runs at the top right corner of the first page. already, my husband and i have made use of two taco bell coupons featuring one free burrito supreme with the purchase of one. it just seems the star-bulletin is becoming more like a "family" newspaper, and i appreciate that.
I'm not clear what a "family" newspaper would be like. Anybody else want to help clarify?
According to an article this week on the latest FCC moves to loosen restrictions on concentration of media ownership, Gannett isn't satisfied and has put a priority on eliminating all restrictions.
One local attorney had this reaction to Tuesday's news about Gary Rodrigues:
David Waite reports in this morning's Advertiser that former UPW director Gary Rodrigues is broke and, according to his lawyer, may be looking forward to prison, where at least he'll have regular meals and a place to sleep.
Close to starving. B--- S---. Excuse my french. (Can I still use french?) I take it that Gary still has the Oregon farm that used UPW employees to provide free slave labor for?
If he needs 3 square meals and a roof over his head, why doesn't he just request an expedited sentencing to a federal penitentiary?
A quick online check of the Deschutes County web site shows Rodrigues is still listed as owner of the Oregon property and large log home. At least for now.
April 9, 2003 - Wednesday
| Dozens of George Steele's friends gathered yesterday afternoon along the ocean just blocks from the Star-Bulletin's newsroom to remember George and his contribution to our lives. |
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Most folks were current or former Star-Bulletin staffers, but some of George's friends from the Palolo Zen Center were there, along with Newspaper Guild members from the Advertiser.
Retired S-B managing editor Dave Shapiro had just arrived as I got off my bus and walked over to the park. Dave recalled one of George's good lines: "The best thing about turning 50 is that you know you're not going to die young." Well said.
| Several people shared their memories of George, while just behind us waves rolled towards shore and the ocean met the sky in a simple embrace.
I think George approved.
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Governor Lingle announced a series of appointments to boards and commissions on Monday. The fact that these were largely patronage appointments wasn't surprising. But what was surprising was the very narrow range of patronage. I would expect at this point that Lingle would be trying to solidify a broad base, but these appointments were limited to a very small and select group, underscored by the several couples in which both husband and wife were named to key positions.
One reader responded yesterday to my thoughts about prison escapees in the area: "With all those guard cats at your place, I predict you all will be just fine despite the proximity of convicts."
April 8, 2003 - Tuesday
With three dangerous prison escapees believed to be hiding in the mountains behind us, there's an unfamiliar uneasiness here in Kaaawa and in other communities along the coast. Although they are believed to have gone up a trail in Hauula, another 10-15 minute drive up the coast from here, the trail loops around with possible exits down many of these valleys, including at the end of the road running up next to our house. I don't think it's even 100 yards from here to the end of the road and beginning of the trail. We've been locking our doors at night, a sign of the background worries.
David Waite reports in this morning's Advertiser that former UPW director Gary Rodrigues is broke and, according to his lawyer, may be looking forward to prison, where at least he'll have regular meals and a place to sleep.
Have you noticed the new text ads appearing throughout the Starbulletin.com site? They seem to be on each page when viewing a story. Are they supposed to be somehow related to the stories? Don't know. I haven't seen any information explaining the new advertising style or itemizing the cost relative to other banner ads.
The New York Times reports that several reporters were killed or injured yesterday in Bagdad, and offices of Al Jazeera were hit by American fire.
April 7, 2003 - Monday
5:07 a.m. and I just heard the screetch of a local owl passing in the darkness.
A reader commented on the USA Today story by Judy Keen that was reprinted in yesterday's Honolulu Advertiser:
Judy Keen, of USA Today...in which she writes that
"Bush believes that he was called by God to lead the nation at this time ..."
quoting Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, a "close friend: who "talks to Bush every day."
This is certainly one of the undisclosed secrets of the Iraq War ... and the War on Terror ...
that it is being led by a President with a mandate from God ...
Certainly not something the Liberal, Establishment press would bring to general attention ...
Makes me feel much better ... maybe some German WW I belt buckles, cast with "Gott MIt Uns," can be distributed to our troops ... who probably are not aware of the God-given nature of their leadership.
I should have known, however, as this is the President who revealed some years ago that "... only Christians go to Heaven ..."
"Thank God for librarians." That was the comment from neighbor Bob after reading this Chicago Tribune story of librarian's resistance to the current round of government surveillance.
April 6, 2003 - Sunday
I received an envelope from the Hawaii Pro-Democracy Initiative a few days ago with a CD containing scanned images of campaign spending reports filed by island legislators covering the year 2002. There wasn't any background information about the CD or how to get a copy. Candidates for statewide office, as well as mayor or county council, are required to file their reports electronically, which are then made available online. But legislators don't face the same requirement and most just file paper forms.
Some of the same data appears to be available online from the Campaign Spending Commission, but the CD could still be a very useful resource.
| Parts of the mainland are still facing cold weather, while we're turning the corner towards summer. It's been almost a month since I added a round of Kaaawa sunrise photos, so I went through weeks of images and selected a variety. Just click on this photo or on the Kaaawa Gallery banner to the right for the latest. |
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