Posted on: Saturday, June 21, 2008
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VOLCANIC ASH
From rail to ferry, and life in Isles
By
David Shapiro
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flASHback — Transit honey and political money top our weekly "flASHback" on the news that amused and confused:
Some 300 company reps attended a city seminar on how to get contracts for the $3.7-billion rail transit system. I'm glad I wasn't the guy who had to mop up the saliva from the floor after that.
Barack Obama, nicknamed "Obomber" in his Punahou basketball days, missed the rim when he reneged on a pledge to accept public election financing. Broken campaign promises are such "Obummers."
An international survey ranked Honolulu as the most livable U.S. city, partly because of our political stability. Yeah, the living is easy when elections are uncontested and you don't have to worry about voting.
The Marines are circling the Humvees around the Privacy Act and refusing to say whether an Internet video of a Kane'ohe Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq was authentic. The public relations dodge is code-named "Semper Fido."
Hawaii Superferry is lobbying to make its ships more attractive to the military. Hmmm, a boat that can't get past a few kids protesting on surfboards isn't exactly battleship material.
Environmentalists are "shocked" that solar energy companies oppose legislation that would make them money by requiring solar water heating in new homes. See what happens when you spend too much time in the sun?
Gov. Linda Lingle signed a bill to deter prostitution by making habitual solicitation a misdemeanor. That's like battling obesity by letting off banana cream cheesecake as a light appetizer.
The PUC wants to let Molokai Ranch double the water bills of local residents the company just laid off. What did did these poor people do to deserve "kick me" signs pinned on their backs?
HMSA says we'll have 24-hour access to our doctors with its new online system. Sure, the docs will get up at 3 a.m. to tell us how to stop our hammertoes from throbbing. More likely they'll teach their dogs to type.
Lingle says high oil prices take $7 billion a year out the Hawai'i economy and put it in the pockets of foreign governments. Well, the part of it that doesn't end up in Republican campaign coffers, anyway.
And the quote of the week ... from Honolulu police Maj. Frank Fujii, on dismal Hawai'i scores in a national drivers test: "Who can say whether people are not knowledgeable about the rules of the road or if they choose consciously to disregard the law?" Whatever, as long as they "Click It or Ticket," right?
David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at http://volcanicash.honadvblogs.com.
David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.
