| Special notice-Update
One of the Shih Tsu puppies was adopted this week, leaving three searching for good homes. Click on the photo for more info and photos taken Sunday morning, Oct 6.
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October 19, 2002 - Saturday
The race for governor is apparently closer than ever. Everybody's got a favorite poll or pollster, but last night we heard that at least one ongoing poll shows Hirono has closed the gap and perhaps even taken a slim lead of a few statistically insignificant percentage points. With two weeks to go, it's too close to call.
And on the national scene, Rhode Island Republican Lincoln Chafee won't rule out changing parties if the GOP retakes control of the Senate and moves again to the right, according to a story in Roll Call this week.
A quick check of the Federal Election Commission shows Bob McDermott had only $749.98 in the bank at the end of September. Tough to run a campaign on fumes that thin.
On the home front, I received a couple of notable replies to Thursday's description of a bad cat morning.
From Tim in Hawaii:
I am sickened and confused. How could you fling your cat Leo into the morning storm of October 17 by the scruff of his little neck? What kind of traumatic picture does this one consistently hopeful click of early morning leadership from Hawaii send over the net: a politically aloha oe, ffffft, end-of-debate response of future leader Mayor Lingle in a Garfieldless huff heaving Maizie seaward amidst an unprincipled feline monsoon.
Whew. I'm sure it will make more sense on second or third reading.
But then this from Anna in Edmonton:
Just dropped by for a critter picture fix.
The puppies are wonderful. My own Shi Tzu will be 2 years old in a week. I have heard that it's when they finally get brains......... Lily is a wonderful pup and has been elevated in household status by the arrival of the kitten. They play together endlessly, and I do mean endless. I feel I am back with preschoolers when I have to separate them at 3:00 a.m. so I can get some sleep. Because, just like little kids, they feel I should watch them play and they like to do this on my bed, up by the pillows, or best of all, on my head. Fizzgig, the older dog, has taken on the "I'm too dignified for this" attitude and watches from the couch. Once in awhile he will jump in on Lily's side to protect the honour of dogs in general but only if the cat seems to be getting the upper paw.
October 18, 2002 - Friday
On politics: UH President Evan Dobelle, in comments before the UH-Manoa Faculty Congress a couple of days ago, noted that Senator Dan Inouye brings as much money to the university system through Congressonal add-ons as the state legislature budgets for the university. And what happens when Inouye retires or dies? UH officials have got to worry about this as they look ahead, as do the many community organizations that have come to rely on the federal dollars that Inouye is able to steer our way.
I wrote a brief item for the Honolulu Weekly now on the news stands, but I'll reprint it here for those who are out of town. It's one of those interesting situations the dailies have so far managed to ignore.
District Court Judge David L. Fong, whose financial ties to several Honolulu hostess bars are the subject of a confidential judicial investigation, has abruptly withdrawn an application for reappointment and will instead retire when his term expires on November 3.
Fong came under fire in July 2000 after a Star-Bulletin story by this writer reported that Fongıs wife, Connie, owned a building at 818 Sheridan Street from 1991-98 where several hostess bars were located. Fong was a part-time or per diem judge during most of that time, and also represented the bars as a private attorney while his wife was their landlord. Allegations of drug use and prostitution at clubs in the building were raised several times during the years it was owned by the Fong family, court records and Honolulu Liquor Commission files show.
Residents have opposed the concentration of hostess bars in the area, and news of the judgeıs involvement in these businesses drew criticism at the neighborhood board and in the broader community.
Although Connie Fong purchased the building in 1991, it was not included in Judge Fongıs annual financial disclosure, required of all judges, until 1995, records show. Other financial interests, including several large loans to bar owners and an alleged hidden partnership interest in a nightclub, also went unreported.
Judges are not prohibited from having outside business interests, but they must limit those activities to avoid embarrassing the court or creating potential conflicts for themselves or other judges.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct launched a confidential investigation of Fongıs financial interests at the request of Chief Justice Ronald Moon, and in September 2000, following a finding of sufficient cause, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel was appointed to conduct the investigation on behalf of the commission.
Judge Fong could not be reached for comment. Attorney Gerald Sekiya, chairman of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, said this week proceedings have not been completed.
³All proceedings involving the investigation of Judge David Fong are still pending,² Sekiya said. ³The fact that the judge has withdrawn his application for retention does not moot the issue. The commission will complete the proceedings.²
Fong filed a petition for retention with the Judicial Selection Commission this summer, and legal ads soliciting public comment were published in early July. No public hearing was held, and commission chair Amy Agbayani confirmed earlier this week that Fong has withdrawn his request and will instead retire.
Fong was appointed to the District Court in 1996 after serving 15 years as a part-time or per diem judge. He is reportedly well regarded by colleagues, and had served as elected chairman of the Hawaii State Trial Judges Association.
October 17, 2002 - Thursday
It hasn't been a good day so far, and it's only 4:30 a.m.
It started raining last evening and rained hard much of the night. This meant the cats were all inside, except for Mr. Silverman, who must have been hiding out elsewhere on his beat. Cats stuck inside get restless. Restless cats get naughty. What else can I say?
So I was awakened by restless cats, then heard a funny beeping sound somewhere in the house. I checked. It's the kitchen range. It's beeping and displaying a cryptic error message. -F2- . Hit the cancel button. It stops beeping. For a few seconds. Nothing's on. Not hot. Just beeping incessantly.
By now I'm more awake. Turn on lights. Find the electrical box. Find the thingie, luckily properly labeled. Flick it to the left. Power goes off. Out in the kitchen the beeping stops. So does the whole range. No cooking tonight. Brain already worrying about how/when we'll be able to schedule repairs. These things are never simple when you live in Kaaawa.
Try to get back to sleep. Hungry cat nips my elbow. Stumble back out to the kitchen. Cat food into a bowl or two. Leo, though, is on the counter staring at the plastic dish with his food in it. Apparently he thinks it should be exchanged for a fresher batch, but I'm not in a great mood by this point and I ignore him. At my peril. He has a plastic dish because he has a bad habit of pushing it off the counter to get attention. At least the plastic won't break.
I head back down the hall, but the crashing sound propels me back to the kitchen. My Kaaawa sunrise coffee mug has been done in by Leo. He found it on top of the microwave and knocked it to the floor instead of his plastic dish. Grab cat. Fling him out the front door. Clean up remains of mug.
And there's still nearly two hours to go until sunrise.
So I saved the file, opened the ftp window to upload, hit that button on the mouse, and the house went dark. Pop. No power. Crackle. The lights flickered three times, then went out for good. For a second, I was certain that clicking the mouse triggered an unseen microcircuit that was really the micro-straw that broke the Hawaiian Electric camel's back. Out the window, everything was black except for a pulsing glow reflecting off the rain off towards Kahana Bay and Punaluu. In a second it, too, faded, then the dark took over.
Power was restored about two hours later. Just in time for our morning coffee. And perhaps another try at starting the day.
October 16, 2002 - Wednesday
UPW's Gary Rodrigues made it into one "Top 25" list of union corruption cases, which makes for some interesting reading. It just shows how important it is for rank and file union members to demand accountability and democracy within their unions to prevent such situations from developing.
Ka Leo, the student newspaper at the University of Hawaii - Manoa, ran an interesting editorial on Monday, consisting of one phrase repeated for the length of a column. War is wrong. Listen up, W.
And the Washington Post has a disturbing story today on the strained relations between Secretary of War Rumsfeld (his "real" title, obviously) and the military itself. Great reporting, but relying heavily on unnamed sources.
click here |
I managed to update the photo gallery yesterday, which is always fun. |
| And here's another pleasant surprise. Mr. Silverman is returning. He disappeared months ago, and we spotted him several times eating at a neighbors' house down the street. We finally figured out that Silverman was probably chased off by yellow cat and didn't want to fight his way back.
But he's reappeared. After a couple of visits several weeks apart, he showed up on our front steps two weekends ago, and he's been back at least daily since then. This weekend, he was in and out several times a day.
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Welcome back, Silverman!
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October 15, 2002 - Tuesday
Editor & Publisher has a good summary of Seattle's looming JOA battle.
The Star-Bulletin suffered from some mangled listings in its "bidding advantage" auction in Saturday's paper. As a result, Borthwick Mortuary was listed offering a garage door, while J.E.S. Jewelry listed the "dignity memorial tribute cremation". Ouch.
| It was quite a sunrise yesterday. Red sky at morning. But the storm clouds weren't far behind. By the end of the day it looked like the storm was ready to let loose, and we had some heavy rain overnight. The clouds are so dense that I can't see what this morning's weather looks like or what our chances might be of completing our sunrise walk without getting drenched. |
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October 14, 2002 - Monday
Meda's new book, Invisible Punishment, got a good writeup in today's Washington Post. That was a nice thing to discover first thing in the morning.
Thanks to a reader for this Star-Bulletin anecdote:
Friend called the Star-Bulletin and asked for Blaine Fergerstrom. (He wasn't aware that ex-Webmaster Blaine had left the Bulletin last year October 19th.)
The person who answered the phone said, "He used to be Webmaster here, but he took a year's sabbatical to write a book."
The book title was reported by unspecified wags to be "101 Ways to Cook a Canuck."
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And I did manage to add photos of a couple of new dogs, and several familiar cats. Just click on the appropriate banners to the right, or on either of these photos. |
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October 13, 2002 - Sunday
It wasn't my fault! These pages were unavailable for most of the day yesterday due to problems at Hostrocket.com, the hosting service that I use. They finally got everything back online sometime last night.
Sitting in on the federal court trial of UPW director Gary Rodrigues has been interesting. The investigation into his handling of union funds was prompted in part by a series of stories I wrote beginning in January 1998. Watching the prosecution's case unfold is like watching a familiar book turned into a movie. I know the plot by heart, but some of the details are surprising.
This past week, the jury heard evidence that Rodrigues took cash payments from insurance agent Herb Nishida over a period of six years.
Nishida said he brought envelopes filled with hundred dollar bills, usually $3,000 to $5,000 each time. He testified that he usually took the money to Rodrigues' office at UPW and left it on his desk. Nishida might have said he put it "in" Rodrigues' desk. It was a little hard to make out some of his answers. Nishida was a "hostile" witness, compelled to testify by a court order that also granted him immunity from prosecution for anything in his testimony.
Nishida was described in news accounts as an insurance agent. True. He's also chairman and a director of Occidental Underwriters of Hawaii, a director of the Japanese Cultural Center, and was president of International Communications Corporation, which owned KJPN, an AM radio station in Honolulu until it was sold in May 2002.
Just a few other items of note. It appears that we haven't heard the last of PGMA, the failed Hawaii health insurer and subject of another series of stories I wrote for the Star-Bulletin. Allegations of kickbacks from PGMA in the form of "consultant fees" paid to Rodrigues' daughter are the next focus of the trial.
Fraud investigator Tom Hayes testified at the end of the day on Friday. Hayes was hired by the state's Insurance Commission to take over PGMA and shut it down, then analyze what had happened to the business. Hayes was one of the first to raise allegations of fraud in the PGMA collapse, and the first to publicly draw a connection between PGMA and Rodrigues' daughter, Robin.
Rodrigues' defense attorney asked Hayes about his service as a consultant to the federal government, apparently intending to plant doubts about Hayes' testimony. But prosecutors objected when Hayes was asked about the case he consulted on, and the lawyers on both sides trooped up for a consultation with Judge David Ezra.
When it was over, the question to Hayes was rephrased in generic terms to avoid any specifics about that other case. It would appear that there's an active case and potential prosecution pending, most likely against company founder Peter Wong. At least that's my interpretation of the exchange.
Hayes also testified Rodrigues' daughter, Robin Sabatini, failed to comply with a subpoena for records from her company, Four Winds RSK. During cross examination by Sabatini's attorney, Hayes was asked whether there was an attempt to enforce the subpoena.
Hayes replied: "I don't know. It was handled at a different level, by Insurance Commission Reynaldo Graulty."
It was a statement pregnant with meaning. As I wrote in early 1999, Graulty had applied for and been selected to serve as a judge. His nomination was considered by the Judicial Selection Commission while the PGMA matter, and the subpoena to Sabatini, were pending. And Gary Rodrigues was a member of the Commission and took part in the deliberations that resulted in Graulty's appointment. Whether this was a factor in Graulty's failure to enforce the subpoena remains one of Hawaii's little mysteries.
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