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February 14, 2004 - Saturday
Thanks to the Conservative "Talon News", we've got a glimpse of comedian Robin Williams' riff on our President.
"We're here tonight because of the Shrub, you know who I'm talking about. George W. Bush, Jr.," Williams stated. "The W stands for 'where the Hell is it?' You know, you look at George W. and you realize some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some get it as a graduation gift. So sad. I just want to ask the Secret Service, is it true that his Secret Service code name is Gilligan?"
and...
"Bush is complaining about a lack of intelligence, which seems sort of redundant," Williams joked to Reuters. "They say they don't know if Iraq had any WMDs - well, all they have to do is ask [Vice President Dick] Cheney for the receipts."
| Remember my successful search last year for Joe Voges, the artist who did this 1945 painting of the Sumida watercress farm out in Pearl City?
I had an unexpected addition to the saga in yesterday's email, a notice of a message waiting for me on a message board at Ancestry.com. It turned out to be from a Jeannie Waggoner-Voges, who was preparing to drive to visit with Joe Voges, who she describes as her husband's great uncle.
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"Ian, just came across your website iLind.net with your notes about finding Joe Voges. Wish I had found your posting sooner, but was amazed and appreciated what you shared. Joe is my husband, Mike's, great Uncle and treasured by our family. I actually did the search because tomorrow we are planning on heading to Nebraska City. AGAIN, thank you for documenting your work and search as being the family researcher ... it gives us even more insight into Uncle Joe, whom is a humble guy. THANKS for the Voges family. Jeannie"
Somehow it just made my day.
And now off for a very early walk so that Meda can get to a Saturday a.m. meeting at the university.
February 13, 2004 - Friday
Another Friday the 13th, but of course we don't believe in any of that stuff, do we?
We saw the "green flash" at sunrise yesterday morning for the second day in a row. I'm sure that mitigates the Friday the 13th impact.
After months of delay, the appointment of Neal Smatresk as vice-chancellor for academic affairs at UH-Manoa is on next week's Board of Regents agenda with a recommendation for approval.
The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz has an interesting column today reviewing bits & pieces of news showing W now struggling politically, at least in the short term. Signs of vulnerability have appeared.
Along the same lines, Meda and I were talking yesterday morning about the news that reporters have been unable to locate any members of Bush's former National Guard units who can recall the somewhat zany and apparently personable Yale grad with lots of political connections.
Would the young Bush have been so invisible that he would pass through regular Guard gatherings without being remembered by anyone?
Meda sent me scurrying for a New York Times profile by Nicholas Kristof written during the 2000 election, which indicates to me that Bush would have been remembered if he had showed up for all those Guard meetings.
Kristof reported:
Roommates recall Mr. Bush studying the class register and memorizing names of classmates, and he clearly made friendships a great priority.
"George probably knew 1,000 of the 4,000 undergraduates at Yale," said Mr. Betts, a friend.
"There probably was no one else who knew 200."
"He was the best-known guy at Yale," Mr. Betts added.
And Kristof describes an incident when Bush recited from memory the names of all 55 members of his fraternity pledge class, an example of his "people skills".
That doesn't sound like a guy who would have remained anonymous in a group of young men, lending credence to the view that he was AWOL from his Guard duties.
If you missed it, Star-Bulletin reporter Sally Apgar's series this week, "Gambling Wars", is definitely worth a read. She's connected a lot of the dots to get a better picture of what's behind the latest round of 'underworld' violence. The series started on Sunday, and ran for several days.
February 12, 2004 - Thursday
Several reactions have come in to yesterday's reader comments about Bush's military service, etc.
It's a whole set of issues that evokes strong emotions. Here's the first reply:
What two interesting and different messages today from your readers regarding the Prez’s avoidance of real military service. I especially liked the second, longer one. The first person is totally too judgmental about people who served in the Vietnam War. I wonder if this is a woman and how old he/she is? I was in the Air Force during the beginning years of the Vietnam War and I came to loathe that war. I agree we had no business being there. But the young men who fought in that war were drafted. Unless they wanted to become draft dodgers, they had no choice but to go there. They were mostly poor and or middle class. There weren’t very many aristocrats like John Kerry there, as you know. To now, all these years later, say anyone who fought in Vietnam should be “shunned” is—well, I can’t even put into words how cruel and heartless I think that statement is.
Then, from another reader:
In response to the writer who says we should shun the candidates who fought in Vietnam, I have this to say:
There will always be wars. It's in man's nature. War is indeed senseless and more horrible than I can imagine. I am just fortunate that my active military service didn't begin until the end of the Vietnam war.
But I would rather have a leader who has experienced war firsthand and come back to testify to its horrors than a leader who has no emotional connection with war when he wages it.
I think John Kerry would wage war when necessary, but he would commit troops with a great deal more sensitivity to the consequences. He had bullets fired at him, he saw his friends die and he saw Vietnamese combatants and noncombatants die. He felt his stomach churn on the battlefield where he became well acquainted with his own mortality.
Kerry stuck his neck way out to publicly oppose the war under the Nixon administration's scrutiny when he returned from Vietnam, and he offered gut-wrenching testimony to Congress.
I'd suggest reading Douglas Brinkley's "Tour of Duty," an account of Kerry's wartime experience.Or for a quick glance, go to this excerpt from the book in Atlantic Monthy:
| It was a "green flash" morning yesterday. It's been several weeks since our last sighting. For those of you who haven't seen one, here's a green flash site with a detailed explanation, photographs, and a good animated simulation of the green flash, both at sunrise and sunset. |
After the flash...Kaaawa |
February 11, 2004 - Wednesday
Here's another bit of UH -related news. Neil Smatresk, reported earlier to be the leading candidate in Manoa's much delayed search for a vice chancellor for academic affairs, is now listed as a finalist for provost at Texas State University-San Marcos. He's actually there today for campus meetings and interviews, according to the itinerary available online. His application letter, also publicly available online, is dated in mid-October, a month after he was in Hawaii for interviews.
I received two serious replies to comments yesterday about this President Bush's military service record.
Here's the first:
I just can't believe all of the cynical flak regarding W's apparent AWOL during the Vietnam War. I think it's wonderful that he didn't fire a bullet into the chest of a Vietnamese soldier (Viet Cong) or dropped napalm on innocent villagers! That was a civil war and we had no business being there. In fact, the other candidates should be shunned for fighting there. I know men who fled the USA to dodge the draft. At least, W didn't do that.
What I don't like about Bush is that he authorized the invasion of Iraq, and for that reason, I might not vote for him.
The problem, though, is one he has created himself by swaggering across the deck of that carrier and wrapping himself in the "war president" mantle.
But here's the second, longer, reply.
It's amazing how the WH is muffing this whole business of Bush's service.
Made difficult, of course, by the fact that no-one has come forward to say - 'O yes, I served with Bush in Alabama (or Texas, or wherever) at that time,' which i'd certainly think would be likely, given the family prominence then and later - there should be someone who would remember serving with the son of the President (or Vice-President; or Director of the CIA).
At first I thought that the WH would ignore it and the story would die out - as it did in 2000.
But no, the WH (and its shills) keep bringing the story up and keeping the story alive - and now it seems to have staying power.
Today, the Washingtoin Post reports, WH officials were 'stunned' at the questioning.
Possibly it would probably go away if the President just spoke plainly and said that he did what many young men did and used the system ... even took advantage of it ... perhaps even to the extent of explaining that in those days he was wild and young and a confirmed substance-abuser (a problem which his wife and his church were able to cure him of) ... and that they were days that he is not proud of now - a part of his past that he has found it difficult to deal with. But that he did feel that his military superiors took whatever action they then believed was appropriate in dealing with him - so that he was honorably discharged with what he believed then, and now, was the satisfactory completion of his military duties in the eyes of his superiors.
(Of course, someone will surely question what was 'appropriate' for the son of the head of the CIA in those days!)
There is, of course, the possibility that a 'blue dress' will turn up somewhere - especially now that the WH is spinning with 'records.
Tuesday the Washington Post had this unusual, and interesting, story- especially as regards NG pay - which seem to be the key to the current WH spin.
The real story may be that 2004 will be the first election in which the Vietnam War has a significant direct effect on the candidates -and, in particular, that Bush's service record; the stories he's told about it; his posturing on the carrier and elsewhere, and; even the treatment of Max Cleland in the 2000 SC election will come home to haunt him, because Vietnam veterans, having been polarized by Bush, find in Kerry, and his Vietnam record, a significant and telling basis for differentiating the candidates - and judging their trustworthiness.
Tuesday night's Star-Bulletin contained a story (inside first section) about Bush's service record, and referred to Kerry's 'band of brothers' - a reference, presumably, to the St. Crispin's Day speech in Henry V - a reference which, when read in full, we may hear much more of as time goes on - as it speaks (at least to me) of the decisions Kerry and Bush made so long ago - and of 'honor.'
And I am not a Vietnam veteran.
And if your Shakespeare recall isn't what it once was, here's that last reference:
Henry V; Act 4: Scene 3
"… he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart …
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother …
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us …"
February 10, 2004 - Tuesday
Very interesting...the University of Hawaii Board of Regents have posted a notice of a special executive meeting of their Committee on Personnel and Legal Affairs to discuss the evaluation of UH Pres Evan Dobelle. They'll be meeting Friday morning, in executive session, of course. No word on what prompted this special meeting.
Democracy Now!, a daily independent news program featuring views and perspectives rarely heard in the mainstream corporate media, is now broadcast weeknights on Olelo Community Television's Channel 56. Looking at the schedule, it appears that the program aired last night for the first time. Check it out tonight.
With questions about President Bush's military service record have finally been raised in the campaign, don't forget that there's already a wealth of information and opinion out there in cyberspace. For example, www.awolbush.com offers up lots of views as well as a reward to anyone who observed W performing military duties between May 1972 and October 1973, apparently the alleged "missing year".
A number of original National Guard documents obtained through FOIA requests are also available online with accompanying commentary (click here for a second site linking to the same documents). Both these sites argue that the current media on whether Bush will authorize release of his military records is misplaced because the records are already publicly available and the questions of his service clearly answered.
Editor & Publisher has an interview with Walter Robinson, the Boston Globe reporter who broke the story on AWOL Bush back during the 2000 campaign.
February 9, 2004 - Monday
I was doing a routine check late yesterday of recent opinions by the Office of Information Practices, and much to my surprise found a new opinion dated just last week concerning the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. That issue sounded familiar, and I quickly opened the full opinion. Sure enough, the opinion is addressed to me and responds to a request I originally submitted to OIP back in September 1996!
Just scroll to the very bottom of this list of OIP opinions for links to both a summary and the full opinion.
In 1996, I had written about the unexplained departure of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, and ODC later continued to maintain that its records were exempt from disclosure.
I remember this particular request quite well because then-OIPdirector Moya Gray pleaded with me at the time to entrust the matter to her office. I did, and instead of getting action the request simply languished. And now, seven and a half years later, the matter resurfaces and an opinion is born!
Oh, just so you know, OIP agreed with my assessment that administrative records of ODC are public records and directed ODC to respond. Better late than never, I suppose.
The journalistically inclined might also want to check out the latest newsletter of the Washington News Council, which appears to be a very active organization.
| I finally had a bit of time to follow the cats around the house yesterday in search of photos. The result is this little collection. Just click on Ms. Annie's photo for this update on feline doings in our part of Kaaawa. |
Little Ms Annie |
February 8, 2004 - Sunday
Ashcroft's misnamed "Justice" Department is apparently testing an approach to stifle dissent with a series of subpoenas to individuals and organizations linked to an antiwar conference held at Drake University in November 2003, according to a story in the Des Moines Register and other reports.
Of course, I couldn't resist this cat column, the entertaining description of a cat persons' forced march through Petco, found as I wandered recent stories on AlterNet.org.
It's starting to look like leptospirosis may have caused the death of a college student from Hawaii last month, according to several news reports this week. You can get this killer by wading or swimming in Hawaii streams contaminated by animal "waste". We've brought the subject up several times and have been amazed by the number of stories floating around about people who know people who got leptospirosis and became extremely ill. This anecdotal evidence suggests that it's a bigger problem in the islands than generally realized. Not good news for us living out in the "country".
| Speaking of streams out here in the country, the recent rains have left some wonderful spots for the little band of ducks that call Kaaawa home. We were walking home the other morning and saw this happy bird enjoying a temporary but good-size puddle on an empty lot on the other end of Kaaawa. |
Click for a larger photo of
this happy duck's morning swim |
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