|
October 11, 2007
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 3
You gotta love marketing that poses as news. The Star Bulletin printed a fascinating news item today. It talked about a new poll showing support for Superferry. "The poll was conducted by QMark Research, owned by the marketing firm Anthology Marketing Group, which is handling the Superferry account through its public relations firm, McNeil Wilson Communications,"? said the story. Um, okay. In other news today, Hawaiian Airlines is suing Mesa Airlines (the owners of go!) for using unauthorized trade secrets to get ahead. In today's Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaiian Airlines Chief Executive Officer Mark Dunkerley cried foul saying, "Mesa's true colors showed through today. ...The notion that they are here to bring cheap inter-island travel is untrue." Makes you stop and think: Wait. Could this possibly be the case? There was also news today that showed that Hilary Clinton is backed by more current legislators than any other democratic candidate. And if she won? That would mean that Mauians would have a female mayor, governor, and president. They'd all be women. It would be a first, that's all I'm saying.
THURSDAY, Oct. 4
Maui News reported today on a meeting called by Marilyn Parris, the woman in charge of Haleakala National Park. She announced that there'll be no commercial bike tours in the park for 60 days while they study why three people have died on bike tours this year. The irony is one competitor's client was actually killed by another competing company's van. Obviously this is a serious and horrendous accident and evidently the bike rider simply lost control. But, there's still an obvious elephant in the room here. And, it's not that the park superintendent is female. Honolulu Advertiser reports that Disney's coming to Oahu to open a themed hotel. The theme? Hawaiian. Whoa. Imagine a Disney hotel in Manhattan with a Jewish theme. What about a Disney hotel in Wisconsin with a cheese theme? That's goofy.
FRIDAY, Oct. 5
Turns out, money is a very strong motivator--as revealed in just about every newspaper in the country today. Some say that people just want their freedom, but dang it, they'll screw you to get it. Here are a few examples: The Associated Press (AP) reports today that there's trouble at Oral Roberts University which was started by preacher Oral Roberts when, he says, God came to him and told him to open the school. The report details dozens of alleged instances of misconduct. Among them: The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president."
And, Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors. Where the heck was Tammy Faye when this stuff was going down? She'd have had them back on the road to piety in no time. Reporters at the Aspen Daily News asked waiters and waitresses if they added a li'l somethin' somethin' for themselves when they batched credit cards. When guaranteed anonymity the overwhelming response from the servers was: "hell yeah, you better believe it." Then there's the Honolulu Star Bulletin story today detailing the conclusion to one of the largest fraud cases in the state: "(The) fraud cases began when auditors noticed the huge price tag for four plywood planters for holiday poinsettias at the airport: $14,000." Basically airport personnel rigged the bidding system so that overly high bids would be accepted and they'd make off with the extra cash. After bilking Hawaii's taxpayers of over $3.8 million, three of the perpetrators are getting jail time.
SATURDAY, Oct. 6
This just in from the Honolulu Star Bulletin--"The court-martial of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada is on hold after a federal judge in Washington state agreed yesterday to hear the Iraq war objector's arguments that another Army trial would violate his constitutional rights. He's also requesting that he be allowed to leave the Army. His term of service ended in December, but he's been kept in the Army so they could court martial him. Ouch. On another note, from Slate.com, ""¦celebrity tax evaders Elaine and Ed Brown were arrested yesterday in New Hampshire, ending an eight-month standoff. The Browns had challenged the federal government's authority to levy income taxes, a stance that won support among anti-government activists, many of whom visited the Browns during their stand." So much for hospitality--they were arrested by two U.S. marshals posing as supporters. "They invited us in. We escorted them out," said one marshal. Perhaps owners of Maui vacation rentals deemed illegal can hole up in the unit and have guests come and go. They could charge them the normal rate, but without tax, and stay in business for at least another eight months.
SUNDAY, Oct. 7
In state marijuana news, the Honolulu Advertiser fronts a story on the sprouting number of indoor growing operations. Police busts on indoor cannabis growing green houses has gone up 700 percent in five years and jumped forty-fold on the Big Island from 2002-2006. But still, the indoor crop is much smaller than the outdoor variety. And so, the real story might be the statewide massive decrease in numbers of plants "eradicated" between 2001 and 2006. The numbers went way, way down: roughly 525,000 in 2001 to 189,000 in 2006. So, either the police aren't doing nearly as much "eradication" these days, or there's a serious decline in toking. And, after an unscientific poll conducted by your's truly, it was discovered that the former must be case.
MONDAY, Oct. 8
Today's news consisted of things that couldn't be finished. The decision on whether the Superferry could run while an environmental assessment was conducted was supposed to be announced today. But, to add suspense to the whole drama, Judge Cardoza announced he needed an extra day to think about it. And, the Chicago marathon was cancelled half-way through--one person croaked, and hundreds were hospitalized because of high temps.
TUESDAY, Oct. 9
Today was the day that things could finally get done. Superferry can't operate until an environmental assessment is done. Period, so says the judge. But wait! The politicians are already strategizing with Governor Lingle on when they'll bend the rules... Uh, have a session to talk about bending the rules. Money talks, baby! And, today is the day that the county heard emotional pleas for and against vacation rentals in Maui County.
Greg Mebel is a ghost name for a national Sunday news show talking head. MTW
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| Entertainment and lifestyle news for Maui, Hawaii and the surrounding Islands. Maui Time Weekly is Mauis only independent and locally owned newspaper.
Mail this link to a friend |
|
|
