January 8, 2005 - Saturday
The Honolulu Advertiser has announced that it is dropping its afternoon edition after a four year run. The afternoon Advertiser failed to accomplish the original goal of destroying the newly independent Star-Bulletin. The end has been rumored several times in the past, so this announcement is not really a surprise. Burl Burlingame has a few things to say about it on his web site, Check 6 Honolulu.
I recently ran across the Dubious Data Awards given by the Washington-based Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) to "honor" the outstanding media math errors of the year. It makes for interesting reading. But a quick Google search turned up an entry in Disinfopedia which describes STATS as a front group for another conservative-leaning organization.
A Star-Bulletin staffer reacted to Tom Brislin's parting shot yesterday ("But you are correct in your question to the Bulletin: Is hoodwinking a legitimate function of the press?") with this answer:
Legitimate, no.
But it's been producing profits since 1876.
Point well taken.
Finally, another indirect entry in the Dobelle file. This time it's a study by a pair of corporate finance specialists published by Forbes.com which compares the track record of chief executives who court celebrity with others who take a lower public profile.
"Guess what?" Forbes reports. "Celebrity leads to hubris--and lower returns for shareholders."
Unfortunately, it sounds a lot like the UH experience with Evan.
January 7, 2005 - Friday
Yesterday's Star-Bulletin featured a page A-2 photo of a Hawaiian Monk Seal which settled down on the beach in Kaaawa. It was right along a part of the beach that we walk along daily, but our schedule failed to coincide with Ms. Seal. This is probably the same seal spotted lounging at the Kualoa end of Kaaawa over the Christmas weekend, then again in Punaluu several days later. At that time, one reader checked and sent along this info:
It's a tagged female ... we called DB Dunlap who is the 'seal man' here.. he says that this shoreline is her home... he knew her right away, even before we gave him her tag number.
So seals join the list of things to watch watch for when we're on the beach, which already includes turtles, whales, and rays.
My mention of the Star-Bulletin's reporting on "psychics" brought a comment from reporter turned UH professor Tom Brislin, who had already penned some thoughts on the topic on another occasion
Check the Jan. 6, 2004 Bulletin and you can measure yourself how accurate last year's psychics were.
Of course, many write in such generalities that it's hard to be wrong. I wrote a piece on that, including my short career as a psychic (and it includes a REAL scientific study!) a while back. It was prompted by a Bulletin feature about astrology, although it appears in the Advertiser.
OK, I'll call on the universal forces to reassemble my psychic abilities just for you:
1.) Although there will be short periods of respite, the world will continue to experience great turmoil.
2.) New Mayor Mufi will find great opposition to some of his programs in the City Council.
3.) Scandal will once again rear its ugly head in government.
4.) The press will not be immune. We will be shocked by an egregious breach of ethics from a surprising source.
5.) Threats to public health will come from new outbreaks or strains of disease.
6.) Mid-April will bring a period of great stress and anxiety among millions of Americans.
7.) Celebrity deaths will seemingly come in threes. After one person of note dies, two more will follow.
8.) While the economy will continue to show signs of strength, many will feel their personal finances have stayed relatively the same. For some, they will have grown worse.
9.) Look to the end of the year for significant films to be released about important people and topics.
10.) Ian Lind will write exactly 23 blog entries in 2005 that make no reference to cats or what he made for dinner. Many of his entries will be critical of the local press.
-- Tom.
He added that "folks WANT to believe, even when they know they're being hoodwinked. But you are correct in your question to the Bulletin: Is hoodwinking a legitimate function of the press?"
January 6, 2005 - Thursday
Well, I guess there won't be any honeymoon at city hall for Mayor Hannemann.
Mufi has already pointedly refused to answer questions about the appointment of Pat Kubota, former executive director of Unity House, as deputy director of budget and finance, according to a report by Denby Fawcett at KITV News. Unity House, of course, is at the center of the investigation and federal indictments of labor leader Tony Rutledge and his son, Aaron.
Then last night KITV's Catherine Cruz reported that John Reed, Hannemann's choice as managing director, was sued in California for allegedly creating a racially insensitive work environment while CEO of BriteSmile Inc. The Star-Bulletin followed with a story today.
Does this mean we can look forward to increased news resources for the city hall beat? I suppose we'll have to just wait and see. In any case, former reporter turned Hanneman press secretary, Bill Brennan, will certainly have to earn his keep.
| It was COLD in Kaaawa yesterday morning when we walked out the door and headed for the beach just before 6:30 a.m.
The National Weather Service was reporting a 60 degree morning temperature, and scientific studies show that's cold enough to bring snow here at the base of the Koolau mountains as much as 85 percent of the time. Really. And here's the photographic proof, snow on the bananas.
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snow on the bananas
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Okay, I admit it, the photo is for illustrative purposes only. It came from a friend in Corpus Christi, Texas, down on the Gulf of Mexico, where they had a very unusual white Christmas.
| Actually, this is how winter looks in Kaaawa, cold (for us at least) and clear. The sun still appears to be rising from behind Molokai, and yesterday we saw the "green flash" as the sun emerged from behind the peaks of Molokai's east end. |
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January 5, 2005 - Wednesday
The Star-Bulletin's Gary Kubota got a big jump on the competition with his story yesterday identifying a Maui shooting victim as a former star basketball player for Chaminade University. Hopefully someone's going to write the full story of that trip from star college athlete to homeless on Maui.
Burl batted me the last time I made this error, but obviously the lesson was not learned to the "5 a.m. and no coffee yet" standard. This time the correction came from another longtime journalist:
"It's flak, not flack...."
Flak is the stuff they shoot at you. Flack is a professional spinner. Got it.
You never know who might track you down in cyberspace these days. Last week it was William Lind from England, who traces his family back to a common Lind ancestor at Cobbinshaw, Scotland in around 1800. "It's exciting finding distant relatives," he comments.
I was able to point him to the Advertiser's Sunday story about another cousin several times removed, John Lind in Hana, whose grandfather also came from Cobbinshaw (if I've got the generations right).
Then there was this email from David Vincent in Washington:
I grew up in Kaaawa and love and miss my home so much. I left 8 years ago with my wife and three children to go to Washington State University after being out of school for eight years and have been in Washington ever since. I enjoyed your images of Kaaawa and hope you continue to build on the beauty of my home through these images so when I do become homesick, I have a way of returning, in a sense. My parents still reside in Kaaawa and I hope to visit this summer.
| Of course, Kaaawa is a very small place and we were able to quickly realized we often pass David's dad (a skilled ukulele maker) and exchange greetings on our morning walks.
So, for David and the small world file, here's a photo of his dad taken one morning last week.
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January 4, 2005 - Tuesday
It was disappointing to see the Star-Bulletin aiding and abetting the anti-science crowd with its feature yesterday on people claiming to be "psychics", "clairvoyants", and "mediums". Unfortunately, the S-B didn't use quotation marks or any other device to signal the questionable nature of those claims, although the story meandered through a "some people believe, others don't" apology.
The story even relays this claim without blinking or choking:
"Anyone who claims 100 percent accuracy is a liar," she said. "Scientific studies have shown that the best of us have 78 to 85 percent accuracy. A normal person usually rates a 30 percent."
Oh, come on. Scientific studies? Right.
I can understand the entertainment value of so-called psychics. But to present them to readers at face value, as if they have the same stature as other serious professions, does everyone a disservice.
I turned to retired UH physicist Vic Stenger, who has worked tirelessly to debunk such pseudo-scientific claims.
Stenger, now living in Colorado, commented: "As for your psychic, how come her brain didn't melt with the intense spiritual energy that was emitted by the 150,000 people killed by the tsunami?"
A fair question, me thinks, although I know I'll take flak for these comments from some of my Star-Bulletin friends.
Meanwhile, power was knocked out again in Kaaawa overnight for a bit over four hours, and restored just in time to add today's entry. There was a rumor that the recent similar outage was caused by vandalism. There may be a story here....
January 3, 2005 - Monday
| No we aren't back from today's walk yet, and I didn't jump forward in time for this photo. I simply took advantage of the advanced planning at Kaaawa School, where they posted today's "welcome back" sign a couple of days early. |
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Editor & Publisher reports that members of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild split their votes between executive board members supporting and opposed to the Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town, reflecting the uncertainty surrounding the battle over the future of the Seattle JOA.
Associated Press writer David Bauder had an excellent piece yesterday which examined the differences between television and newspaper coverage of the tsunami disaster.
Here's a concise discussion of the "problem" of Social Security from Talking Points Memo, a blog by Joshua Marshall, who argues "the challenges we face over the next several decades aren't really Social Security problems but national indebtedness problems, though the issues are clearly related."
Bothered by embarrassing ethical lapses? Just change the rules to make it harder for anyone to complain. That's apparently the tack being taken by Congressional Republicans, New York Times reports.
And if you like numbers, FedStats is a great place to spend time browsing statistics gathered by federal agencies. Lots of interesting things to discover here.
| More cat photos? Simple answer--Yes.
More time at home over the last couple of weeks translates into more photo opportunities. So I threw together a year-end collection in which Mr. Toby (shown here) and Ms. Wally have starring roles. Just click on the photo to see the whole batch.
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January 2, 2005 - Sunday
Thailand's Prime Minister has now pledged to investigate a report that government meteorologists decided not to issue a tsunami alert before last Sunday's waves hit because of fears of hurting the country's lucrative tourist industry, according to a BBC report. The allegation first surfaced in a Swedish newspaper and then translated into English, but I hadn't seen any followup or confirmation of the story until this BBC story. This morning, more details are available from The Australian.
The Center for Media and Democracy has introduced the "Falsies Awards", created "to remember the people and players responsible for polluting our information environment...." The ten finalists, and several honorable or dishonorable mentions, are included in this announcement.
| Here's a peek at the "Farewell 2004" dinner in the Chesney-Lind household. Ian's pizza and Meda's salad with a side of accidentally excellent Spanish red wine. The cats were hiding out because of the fireworks, so the usual table decorations are absent.
Click on the photo for a closeup.
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Click for more
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| It didn't seem like an auspicious beginning for the new year, unless the whistling winds foretell powerful events ahead.
In any case, I thought I would share just a snippet of Kaaawa at dawn on the first day of 2005. This is a large Quicktime file, so select the one appropriate for your Internet connection.
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Now we've got a New Year's refugee, a beautiful gray cat looking for food and refuge after the fireworks, or so it appears. I've only caught glimpses of the cat so far, which left the first clue by breaking into my bag of dog biscuits on the deck. I put food out last night, which quickly disappeared. And just a few minutes ago Leo was facing off with the visitor under the house. A lot of whining and crying but no move to attack from either side. I'm not sure how we're going to finesse this scene.
