Out here the local TV weather bromide, heard nearly every night, is the forecast “Windward and Mauka showers.” It just means that our tradewind and rainfall patterns will almost always include a little liquid sunshine over on the Eastern side of the island and in the upper elevations (“Mauka” means “to the mountains”). Similarly, the …
In light of the news that Lech Walesa plans to visit the Occupy Wall Street crowds in NYC soon, I’m reminded of a summer long distant. Back in 1980 I had gone to work for a start-up, a health, fitness and social club in Honolulu. I was the Data Processing Manager, and as such was …
What else could he be? Florida state Rep. Brad Drake (R) is angry that Valle’s execution took so long. So angry, in fact, that he introduced a bill yesterday to eliminate lethal injection as a execution method altogether in favor of electrocution or the firing squad. “I’m sick and tired of this sensitivity movement for …
Continue reading ‘Taliban acolyte moves to Florida legislature’ »
Tom Frank wrote a book entitled “What’s the Matter with Kansas” a few years back, attempting to explain why citizens vote against their best interests. After reading this, one can only wonder what indeed is the matter with Kansas. “By a vote of 7 to 3, the City Council repealed the local law that makes …
I had to go run some errands today (Longs Drugs for photo pickup — yes, we still use film occasionally; Safeway for cottage cheese and papaya; the tobacconist and the gas station — $4.08/gallon). Took me about an hour. If I were female, driving a van and dropping off my kid at a soccer game …
Hey, the NYT suddenly recognized the Republican party’s war on Democratic voters. In an unsigned editorial titled “The Myth of Voter Fraud” it says: It has been a record year for new legislation designed to make it harder for Democrats to vote — 19 laws and two executive actions in 14 states dominated by Republicans, …
Hoo boy. Brian Fischer of the evangelical American Family Association asserted yesterday that by singing “God Bless America” instead of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” baseball has saved us from more 9/11-style tragedies. “By God’s blessing, we have not been hit by a Muslim attack since 9/11,” Fischer said. “I suggest that in …
There’s a lot that will be said about Al Davis, the managing general partner of the Oakland Raiders who died today. He was a polarizing figure, no question about it. But the thing that may be given short shrift in all the eulogies soon to be written is this: He . . . holds the …
Yesterday was Game Five of the American League Division Series, and the Tigers managed to hold on to beat the Yankees in a game which had anxiety dripping off every pitch from the first inning on. Today there are two more of these high-wire acts. Over the past few years there have been relatively few …
Continue reading ‘Baseball’s equivalent of football’s “Sudden Death”’ »
According to this article by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker, a businessman named Art Pope spent $2.2 million bucks in 2010 and bought 18 seats in the North Carolina General Assembly, flipping it to Republican control for the first time since 1870. That’s not all Pope has done; he’s attempting to dictate the content …
Continue reading ‘North Carolina bought by right-wing businessman’ »