May 15, 2004 - Saturday

A cat tale, prompted by a chance encounter with this old photograph.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago in a land called Kaimuki, Ian and Meda lived with just a single cat, Windfola, named for a small gray horse ridden into battle in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was so long ago that Tolkien was read in books instead of seen on wide screens.

First cats: Emma and Windfola

Not only was this so long ago that there was only a single cat, it was so long ago Ian vociferously opposed the idea of having more than one. He insisted more than one would be, well, just too many. So when Meda found a stray kitten crying forlornly in the parking lot of the green doughnut shaped building where they lived on 9th Avenue and immediately went into rescue mode, Ian balked and squawked, but to no avail. Now there were two.

However, the story did not immediately jump ahead to "happily ever after". At first there was open conflict and jealously as the first cat, Windfola, attempting to defend her turf against the intruding kitten, staked a claim to her many treasured possessions in traditional cat fashion. Favorite pillows and even Ian himself were so claimed before, suddenly, Windfola decided that the kitten, now named Emma, was no longer a threat threat and actually was in need of mothering. So it was that the bond was formed that lasted for the next 15 years and, in the process, the "one cat" limit was consigned to history, never to be invoked again in this household.

May 14, 2004 - Friday

I was in town late last evening in order to participate in a program about Kahoolawe as part of the annual meeting of the Hawaiian Historical Society. Among the audience which filled the Luke Auditorian at Punahou School to a respectable degree were former Star-Bulletin colleagues Chuck Frankel and Lyle Nelson.

Lyle mentioned a new book, so I scurried to Amazon.com this morning and found American Presidents: Year by Year, a three-volume reference with a hefty pricetag (perhaps it's available elsewhere, or direct from Lyle, at less than the quoted $225 cost).

According to a blurb from the publisher:

For nearly 50 years, journalist Lyle Nelson has been compiling the data for this book, mostly for the fun of it. He has read several hundred books about America’s presidents, making notes of what each was doing during every year of his life. Altogether, he has recorded some 10,000 events in the lives of the presidents. Nelson is a World War II veteran who spent more than 30 years as a journalist and columnist for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, during which he has had several "brushes" with former and future presidents.

The Knight Foundation has released a study of newsroom diversity with data for daily newspapers across the country. The Honolulu Advertiser scores well, although it's topped by The Garden Island on Kauai. The Star-Bulletin and Maui News did not report data.

You've got to wonder why these newspapers failed to participate in such an endeavor? The Star-Bulletin wouldn't look bad, so why not cooperate with the rest of the industry? I don't get it.

May 13, 2004 - Thursday

Congressional candidate and Honolulu City Council member Mike Gabbard will no longer allow personal interviews, according to a memo sent via fax to news organizations on behalf of the Gabbard campaign. Instead, according to the memo, all questions will have to be submitted in writing and "with enough advance notice", and responses will be sent by email, typically in the evening. The memo says this is necessary because of Gabbard's busy schedule.

Right. If the memo is legitimate, alarm bells should be ringing in newsrooms across the 2nd District. In my book, a politician who won't answer questions is a politician who doesn't want the public and the voters to know the answers. Time to start digging.

May 12, 2004 - Wednesday

Governor Lingle's lame denials aside, her all-expense paid trip to Israel, paid for by the Israeli government is nothing more than a public relations effort, an attempt to buy favorable opinion at a time when unilateral Israeli military actions and political moves have increasingly put it at odds with the world community.

What's in it for us? Not clear.

Yesterday's Advertiser reported:

"It's not an endorsement of anything except that it's America's greatest ally in the Middle East," said Lingle, who was elected in 2002 and is the state's first Jewish governor. "They've invited us to go and it raises Hawai'i's profile in the world, and we think that has a lot of value for our state."

Come on, Gov, don't kid a kidder. It's clearly an endorsement, and one bought and paid for by the government at a time when Israel's settlement policies, explicit policy of government-sponsored assassinations, and human rights violations are facing intense criticism.

Of course, it isn't that Israel's opponents don't share the blame for the continuing violence, but there seems to be broad agreement that moving towards peace through negotiations rather than unilateral action is the only hope for the region. Appearing to throw uncritical support behind Israel at this particular moment is the wrong message for Hawaii to be sending the world, at least in my view.

And even if Ms. Lingle can argue that her own travel has some tangential benefit to the state, we don't need to have a big chunk of her cabinet along for the ride. There's plenty of work to be done here, the work that we're paying for. Taking part in an ill-advised junket aimed at repairing Israel's tarnished reputation shouldn't be the priority.

We managed to get through our walk yesterday morning just before the rain started again. It rained, and rained hard, for much of the day. Windward Oahu was really like a different island. It was sunny in town, gray and wet here. And it looks like more of the same today.

More morning rain

May 11, 2004 - Tuesday

Another late morning, but not my fault. The power was out again overnight, and it was only partially restored at about 4 p.m. It's now a bit after 5, the lights go on only dimly, cable and Roadrunner are out, and there's not enough juice to power the desktop computer or large appliances. Just another morning in the Third World of Kaaawa.

[Note: Power was finally restored shortly after 8 a.m., just as we were leaving for the morning commute. By that time it was raining hard in Kaaawa, hard enough that we worried about the roads flooding, but luckily it was sunny by the time we reached Kaneohe.]

I received an informative email yesterday from Hank Chapin:

I believe your archly wry (consciously ungrammatical) reference to "goals is goals" is a descendant of the title of a book my grandfather wrote in 1904: "Pigs Is Pigs." You can read all about it on my website, under EPB and the Ellis Parker Butler link. This humorous book had a time of being nationally popular--hey, it's a hundred years old, I just realized--though most have not heard of the book today. Of course, I just think it's interesting, and it's not a linguistic quirk my grandfather originated, as I explain how he got the phrase under the EPB link.

You learn something every day, don't you!

And a mainland friend forwarded an email comment she had received on Bob Dylan's recent controversial appearance in a Victoria's Secret commercial. "One more blow to our illusions", her friend commented, then continued:

Funny how it turned out. Johnny Cash, who I saw as a wonderful, but basically non-political country/folk singer, turned out to be the more radical one. I don't know how I missed it when he recorded "Man in Black" back then, in the early 70s, but do you know why he always wore black? I didn't find that out until when he died, just a few months ago. Check out the lyrics to "Man in Black". Arlean and I heard him talk about that song on a "Fresh Air" segment from 1998 that they aired at the time of his death. Basically, his wearing black protests injustice, especially against the poor, and war, at a time when country singers were pushing patriotism and pro-war sentiment. At least that's the way I was perceiving it. Anyway, he spoke in 1998 about how he still was wearing black for the same reason. Poor people weren't getting a fair shake. 

May 10, 2004 - Monday

I've heard various names floating around as possible Gubernatorial candidates in 2006, but here's one of the strangest: Ken Wilson, recently ousted from his job as the voice of the St. Louis Blues.

Wilson recently told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "I'd like to be governor, I really would," he said. "I know that will be very, very difficult to attain. But you have to have goals. If you don't, why bother?"

Goals is goals.

Alex S. took me to task in an email for yesterday's reference to Al Jazeera:

Are you really quoting or taking them seriously? I find the torture tactics appalling and people should go to jail. But Al Jazeera? The network where anchors nearly leapt out of their chairs with glee when showing replays of 9/11? The network that has seen no fact it won't bend to make the U.S. look bad? I can understand wanting alternative perspectives. The Guardian does that pretty well. Fox provides the other end of the spectrum, as twisted as they may be. But Al Jazeera is totally off the scale.

You know, I just don't think that Al Jazeera is "totally off the scale". After getting used to reports by U.S. journalists about events they have seen only from the relative safety of their hotels, or through the statements of U.S. officials, or who define every issue through the assumption that U.S. interests are paramount, I find it useful to check out Al Jazeera among the various sources with some direct contact with feelings and perspectives from the "other side". Would I rely on it as accurate without checking further? No. Would I dismiss its reporting automatically? No.

It isn't just the other side that isn't covered by mainstream American media. Look at the independent activists who have been in Iraq but almost totally ignored by reporters as sources. The Christian Peacemaker Teams have had staff in Iraq as well as short-term teams of observers, and have systematically gathered reports of the conditions of Iraqi detainees. But mentions of their work and the information they have gathered were rarely seen in mainstream media, at least until the disclosure of abuse photographs finally made reporting on detainees "legitimate".

The past two mornings were clear and beautiful. Rain appeared about the last possible thing. But by noon yesterday it was cloudy and drizzling, and by late afternoon it started raining steadily and continued for the next 12 hours. It's now 4:45 a.m., and the rain finally stopped just in the last few minutes.

Roadrunner's Internet service has been on and off this morning but mostly off, and I can't tell when it will be back on long enough to get this page uploaded.

May 9, 2004 - Sunday

It's always good to go back to primary sources, so here's a link to a copy of General Taguba's report on abuse of prisoners in Iraq (pdf format). I haven't found the Red Cross report, so please send me a link if you know where to find it.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported yesterday that U.S.methods of prisoner abuse are similar to those used against Palestinians detained by Israeli troops.That reminded me of several stories late last year regarding training of U.S. personnel by Israeli intelligence agents. I was able to quickly locate the story that first appeared in the Los Angeles Times, and another from the Guardian. Both appear to lend some credence to the Al Jazeera perspective.

It's Sunday, and time to give a few of the Kaaawa cats a bit more exposure. That's Mr. Sliverman, our handsome but somewhat unpredictable wandering guy. Just click on his picture for more.

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