Posted on: Saturday, August 23, 2008
A bad day for all at the palace
By David Shapiro
flASHback — It's good to be back from vacation. Well, not really, but let's "flASHback" anyway on the week's news that amused and confused:
Hawai'i soldiers going to the Middle East gathered with 7,000 supporters at Aloha Stadium to try a world record group hug. If only we could end the war that way — or at least the pilikia between state and city law enforcers at 'Iolani Palace.
Would-be monarch James Akahi planned to chain himself to the throne when his group broke into 'Iolani Palace, but he couldn't find it. The only throne this "king" will ever sit on has a flush handle on it.
Jerry Coffee of the local McCain campaign dissed Barack Obama's visit to Hawai'i, saying: "John McCain would have taken more time to visit historical sites and been more generous with the public." Talk is cheap. Why not come show us?
Gov. Linda Lingle will speak at the Republican Convention and campaign on the Mainland for McCain.
With her Hawai'i GOP contesting barely half of local legislative seats, she has plenty of time to fly around auditioning for her next job.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann's new campaign ad shows him passing a basketball to fellow 'Iolani alum Derrick Low. Good to see he's picked up a new hoops skill since high school.
The airline getting to be known as "going, going, gone!" saw quarterly losses double despite the shutdown of Aloha Airlines. On the bright side, its pilots stayed awake this quarter.
Kapi'olani Community College Chancellor Leon Richards joined more than 100 college leaders in calling for a debate on lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18.
That's one way to become the toast of the campus.
A Mililani man allegedly assaulted his wife after she tossed a video game she thought he played too much.
After all those hours at the joystick, you'd think the dude would know that Super Mario is supposed to save the princess, not choke her.
Honolulu Zoo vets think their Sumatran tiger Chrissie might be pregnant, but they aren't sure. Every time they try to give her the rabbit test, she eats it.
Hawai'i is the second-thinnest state behind Colorado, a national report says. They must be measuring us around our wallets.
And the quote of the week ... from state economist Pearl Imada Iboshi: "Some people are panicking, but the numbers aren't that bad." Whew, I was starting to worry about the 2,500 layoffs, the 45 percent increase in bankruptcies and the double-digit drop in visitor arrivals.
Reach David Shapiro at dave@volcanicash.net.
