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*For earlier discussion of issues raised by the so-called Bainum "smear", start back at the entry for Sunday, October 24 and several other entries during that same week. Additional comments appeared Nov 2-6, with just a scattering of comments since, inclulding several in early December..
December 11, 2004 - Saturday
"Great post," one reader commented about yesterday's description of our foray into a different part of the world. "Really interesting. It's always fascinating to mix with the other side and realize they are, on the whole, good people too. And it's pained me so greatly that in America we have taken the civility out of these interactions between groups of people who, by and large, have so much more in common than they realize."
Another wrote: "I can relate to your pacifist leanings as my father-in-law is cut from the same Friends cloth. So I’m quite proud of you for showing up. I’m sure it was noticed by US Sen. Inouye staffers and others."
The drive to the Arizona Memorial also offered another reminder-- We fail to offer visitors a first-class experience. The Arizona Memorial reports some 1.5 million visitors annually, but the visitors bureau sign on Nimitz pointing to the front entrance is faded and nearly illegible, and clearly hasn't been replaced in many years. This is one of the top destinations, so why is it neglected?
| The National Park Service usually does a fine job, but we ran into another example there in the Arizona Memorial parking lot.
The restrooms at the Arizona Memorial appear to be past the ticket booth, so for others there are a couple of portable toilets out in the parking lot in front of the entrance to the Bowfin sub museum. An estimated 1.5 million visitors pass through this area each year, an average of more than 4,000 daily.
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Click for close-up
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Obviously, not everyone makes a pit stop here in the parking lot. But a sticker in one of the portables states it is rated for use by no more than 10 workers during a 40-hour week or 200 continuous uses during a special event. And it warns: "Exceeding this limit will result in an unsanitary condition."
December 10, 2004 - Friday
Today's entry was delayed by Adobe GoLive's crash just minutes before our morning walk departure. I'm sorry for the inconvenience to those who are accustomed to getting their fix with the day's first cup of coffee.
Yesterday turned out a bit different than expected, an unusual cross cultural experience due once again to the wonderful and interesting dynamics of community in Kaaawa.
It started Wednesday night. We got home about 7 p.m. and I was out with a flashlight inspecting the day's construction progress when I heard someone calling from the driveway. It turned out to be Tom, our neighbor from two houses over. He and his wife, Erin, both Coast Guard officers, arrived in Kaaawa mid-year with their twin girls. They're nice folks, and we've tried to make them feel at home in a new place.
Tom handed me an envelope, saying he had tried to deliver it earlier but hadn't found us home for several days. It was an invitation to a ceremony Thursday morning officially commissioning the Coast Guard team he heads. We've heard bits and pieces about his job, but hadn't realized that it's really kind of a big deal.
It was also the ceremony at which Lieutenant Commander Tom MacDonald--same guy--officially assumed command of the new team. Putting a new military unit into play is not an everyday occurance, we learned, and so this was not your everyday flags-band-uniforms event.
So we cleared our schedules and headed off very early yesterday morning for the parking lot of the Arizona Memorial, where Tom picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and drove us over to the USS Missouri, where the ceremony was held.
| So there we were, sitting in the front row of chairs set up under several large tents in the shadow of the Missouri's big guns, two Quaker-leaning pacifists in a crowd of military officers, the 90-something members of the new MSST 91107 and their wives, girlfriends and kids, Lt. Gov. Aiona, Senator Inouye, the Pacific Fleet band, and a marching color guard, all against the backdrop of docked submarines and the guided missile destroyer USS Hopper returning to port after 6-months in the Persian Gulf escorted by a fire boat in full spray. It was one of those unlikely scenes, full of military pomp and circumstance complete with dress swords and formal white uniforms, apparently the tuxedos of the military world and a pain in the you-know-where to wear. And yours truly in the front row in my usual garb, jeans, aloha shirt and well broken-in New Balance shoes.
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 Our friend & neighbor,Tom MacDonald, far right.
Click on either photo to see the full gallery.
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We pose with Tom after the ceremony
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If you're going to pay a visit to the world of military affairs, I guess it's always good to go as a guest of one of the commanding officers present. Although we felt a bit out of place and drew some curious looks, we had several very pleasant conversations with Tom and Erin's Coast Guard colleagues and bosses at the reception that followed, which involved another (for us) unusual trip to the Hickam Officers' Club. All in all, an enjoyable and educational glimpse into a part of the world we rarely see and even more rarely experience.
But I felt bad this morning looking at the news coverage of the event in both papers. It had been Tom's big day taking over what I think is his first command, and in this case a new and newsworthy security unit, but he's not even mentioned in the Advertiser story, although his photo appears in the Star-Bulletin. Instead, the politicans dominated the coverage. So I'll add a few more photos a bit later this morning. [I ended up with a whole set of photos which have now been posted. Just click on either of the photos in this entry to get to the rull gallery.]
So it goes on this cold (for Hawaii at least) Friday morning.
December 9, 2004 - Thursday
Gannett execs discussed the company's fortunes and industry trends at a conference yesterday. Bottom line: Gannett's still making money. Also of interest was a reference to Gannett's "more than 600 non-daily publications" in addition to their chain of daily newspapers.
Kaaawa neighbor Sandra Mosley sent along some advice this week about traveling with cats, a topic raised several weeks ago by a reader planning to drive from Texas to Eugene, Oregon:
A word of warning for your friend who's moving from TX. She might want to consider taking a pair of ear plugs.
David and I drove from San Diego to New York with our 2 cats. We thought it would be a leisurely 7 day trip. We had an old Toyota station wagon at the time. Folded down the back seat and kept the cats within reaching distance in their plastic cat carriers just behind the front seat. They voiced their distress throughout the entire trip. Even the radio couldn't block out their yowling.
Our vet had given us some tranquilizers, which we were reluctant to use, but after the second full day of their caterwauling, we fed them the dope. It didn't calm them or put them to sleep, nor did it stop their complaining. They actually got louder, their meows lengthened and, believe it or not, became more discordant. It was like traveling with a couple of noisy drunks singing a tuneless song. We dispensed with the medication and kept telling ourselves that they would eventually give up -- they did not. Needless to say, all of us were exhausted and irritable by the end of the week.
Whew. I think I would have been chewing the kittie downers myself and letting the cats yowl.
My sister, Bonnie, added her own advice:
We used to use an airline dog carrier, big enough for two or three cats. Now that we're down to one cat, he gets the regulation Pet Taxi from PetSmart or similar. He prefers the smaller cage. I always put a towel in the carrier, but it invariably gets wadded up in a corner. No matter. It's a comfort thing. I like the idea of soft-sided carriers, but the ones I've seen are well out of our price range. The other think about soft-sided carriers is that they don't offer as much protection for the animal in the event of disaster. But the inexpensive plastic carriers aren't much better. I know you're supposed to put small children (and presumably pets) in the back seat, but ours are always happier when they can see and talk to their people. I think restraining the carrier with a seat belt would be a good plan., although I never do, even on our mountain roads. When we moved from Palo Alto to Groveland, 150 miles, we got kitty tranquilizers from the vet. One cat slept the entire trip in her carrier. The other, who was in a makeshift carrier built from two laundry baskets and duct tape, escaped in the first 1/2 hour and insisted in traveling the rest of the way across California in my lap.
And Bryant in Japan added:
We've moved our share...though not to here. A small dog carrier works well. The cat will complain, as well she should, but will be safer for it. The issue is toilet breaks. We put ours on a leash with a harness - not a pretty sight. Sometimes she cooperated, other times we pulled over quickly.
| The sun is now rising at about 7 a.m., pushing us later each morning. It's been cloudy and threatening this week. Clouds have blocked the view of the sun which should now be rising directly over Molokai. Hopefully the weather will clear a bit by the upcoming winter solstice. |
click for larger view
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December 8, 2004 - Wednesday
There were more intrigues this week in the ongoing newspaper war pitting Gannett's Honolulu Advertiser against its smaller rival and former JOA partner, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
An anonymous letter ostensibly written by a disaffected Star-Bulletin employee listing grievances against S-B management was obtained by the Advertiser. Copies were then distributed at a meeting of Advertiser sales reps several days ago, apparently as ammunition for use in their sales pitches to clients and potential clients, with the result that additional copies began spreading. Yesterday word came down from the Advertiser publisher's office directing staffers to retrieve all copies of the letter that had been sent out.
The letter is addressed to Star-Bulletin and MidWeek investors, although the writer threatened to send it to advertisers and various government agencies if quick action isn't taken by the newspaper's management to correct alleged problems.
The letter's central allegation is that the Star-Bulletin's claim of "60,000 plus" circulation is "not true" and "fraudulent".
"We are billing preprint advertisers like Sears for up to 60,000 copies and barely if even delivering 30,000 papers", the letter alleges.
However, the letter does not point to any evidence to support the claim, and an insider closer to the printing and distribution of the S-B (and who has previously proved reliable) told me the lower figure is "absolutely not correct". Based on his personal knowledge of distribution, this S-B staffer backed the higher claimed circulation figure of "above 60,000".
"It sounds like sour grapes to me," this S-B staffer told me. "Although EVERYTHING is not perfect all the time (it wasn't perfect at HNA either nor at the current Advertiser). We are doing very well since the new guys came in. And continue to raid former Advertiser guys."
However, the Star-Bulletin's circulation claims have been vulnerable to challenge since the newspaper withdrew from the industry standard third-party audits conducted by the Audit Bureau of Circulations in 2002, a vulnerability that Gannett has legitimately attempted to exploit.
December 7, 2004 - Tuesday
Another anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, and my father's 91st birthday. "Happy Birthday!"
I'm using the occasion to switch back to winter mode in the photo at the top of this page to match the seasonal shift in our morning experience.
Here's an interesting item identifying "ten troublesome trends" in broadcast reporting of health-related news. It's based on a study of Minneapolis television stations, but appears to describe more general issues.
We OD'd on Antiques Roadshow last night. Couldn't make it through a whole hour of $2 garage sale finds being valued at $100,000. It was too much. What we need is a Roadshow follow-up. Where are these people and their valuable antiques after several years? Are people happy with their newly discovered wealth or do couples and families self-destruct over conflicting opinions of what to do with the swag? Does greed overcome family ties? Can things really be sold at anything close to the values assigned in on-the-air appraisals? Some follow-up stories appear on the Roadshow web site, but deserve to be in the spotlight. They're more interesting than the appraisals, if truth be told.
Labor historian and retired UH history professor Ed Beechert is here on another research trip and was handed a video copy of a one hour film on the Oliver Lee case and the Bachman sit-in. We came home last night to watch it and had the extreme frustration of discovering that our rarely used VCR has died.
But a quick Internet search turned up former UH professor, Loren Ekroth, who was able to add a bit of background on the film:
The movie was made by Joe Martin, who used to hang around UH Manoa for years. I haven't seen him since the late-90s, but he almost always came to HNL during the winters. A self-described documentary film-maker, a bit depressive, now about 65 years or older, I suppose. Might turn him up with a Google search, Ian.
I don't know who Joe's friends were. Various ancient EW Center grantees among them. He was quite a loner, as I observed. He was known by faculty in the Art Department....
I had some hand in writing and narrating the movie. At some point in the mid or late 90s (maybe around '98, 30 years after the Bachman Hall sit-in.) the film was shown in the auditorium of Webster Hall to an appreciative crowd.
I think Joe managed to arrange that for his opus....
I vaguely recall meeting in Joe's upstairs apartment in a house near UH to script and narrate the film -- That was some time after the actual filming, perhaps months later.
So now I've got the double chore of finding someplace to watch the video and seeking out more of its history. Does anyone out there have a computer set up to copy this video to DVD?
December 6, 2004 - Monday
An Associated Press story by Martha Irvine that appeared in the Advertiser and other newspapers across the country captured the dynamics of the Internet generation that are transforming the delivery of news. Journalists need to understand and appreciate this technology's impact on the lifestyles and world views of news consumers. For newspapers, it's a matter of survival.
Recommended: The daily review of crime news from across the country compiled by the Criminal Justice Journalists. It's a good way to spot trends and issues.
In the context of the debate over the Hawaii Reporter & Malia Zimmerman's reporting on Jennifer Bainum, it's useful to take another look at the thorny issue of libel, something obviously in the minds of mainstream editors evaluating whether or how to treat such a story.
One question is whether a reporter is protected from libel charges when quoting from public records, such as court documents. The shorthand answer is "yes", although the full answer is "yes, but..."
Here's one useful little summary of libel law issues, and down in the second section (Particularized Questions) item #13 deals with the so-called Public Record Privilege. It warns that "the report must be fair and accurate for the privilege to apply."
A more detailed review of the issue by the Student Press Law Center observes:
The news report must fairly and accurately reflect what is in the public record or what was said during the official proceeding. News reports that provide an inaccurate or misleading account or that contain "extra" information not found in the official record might fall outside of the privilege.
I'm no lawyer, but it would appear that little caveat could spell potential trouble for the Hawaii Reporter's handling of the issue.
If you've found a good analysis of the public record privilege and its limits, pass it on to me at ian@ilind.net.
And from a reader in the process of leaving the big TX:
Oh boy, more cat pictures. Toby has grown into quite a handsome cat, although I must admit I'm partial to Mr. Leo, myself - he's gorgeous.
Thanks for the link to Ken Ige's article...I particularly enjoyed his (hopeless) protest `I AM NOT A CAT PERSON.' I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who got suckered in by a ball of fur.
December 5, 2004 - Sunday
Cat people are going to love former Star-Bulletin photographer Ken Ige's column today (complete with photos, of course) about his rescue of a litter of kittens. It's a "must read". I especially liked the way he captured that moment of unanticipated responsibility. So true.
| Meda pulled down our box of special cat ornaments yesterday, and I found Ms. Annie checking for toys. Nothing in the box matched her high standards, but it did give me a brief chance to expand the pool of holiday-themed photos. |
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"Where the hell are all the women?" That's the question being asked at the country's leading universities, where a huge gender gap continues to exist in the ranks of the faculty, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.. This temporary link to the normally 'subscription only' story will expire by the end of the week, so read it while you can.
National Public Radio's Anne Garrels spoke last week about her experience embedded with a group of Kaneohe-based Marines in Iraq. The interivew is worth a listen.
The National Weather Service has issued high surf warnings for our entire coastline and gale warnings farther down the islands, and it is suitably windy here in Kaaawa this morning. We'll see the surf shortly. And it's cold, dropping down well below 70 degrees overnight, giving us (and several cats) renewed appreciation of the down comforter on the bed. This is as close to winter as we really want to get on a regular basis.
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