2008-05-01 News
Coconut Wireless
by Anthony Pignataro	write the author
May 01, 2008 WEDNESDAY, Apr. 23 How's this for a way to start the week: "The CEO of Delta Air Lines Inc., Richard Anderson, said Tuesday that domestic airlines need to raise fares by 15 to 20 percent," Pacific Business News reported yesterday. Anderson made his comment at a press conference in our nation's capital, where he was meeting with legislators over his company's planned merger with Northwest Airlines—both of which are in the dumps, with stock prices for each running between $6 and $8 a share. According to an MSNBC report on the press conference, Anderson added that airlines—not just Delta and Northwest—need to raise fares because "an airline ticket has got to reflect the full cost of fuel." See?It's not just us hurting at the pumps. THURSDAY, Apr. 24 Today I got a call from a reader asking if I could publicize Michael Moore's latest newsletter. It points out that even though the mainstream media keeps attacking Democratic presidential hopeful and Senator Barack Obama (D, Illinois) for having ties to the iconoclastic Reverend Jeremiah Wright, few are highlighting the fact (first reported by Politico.com) that back in the depths of the Monica Lewinsky/impeachment crisis, then-President Bill Clinton invited Wright and a bunch of other pastors to the White House to hear him "repent." I'm sorry, but this really isn't the space to comment on matters like that. Nor is it the space to mention how completely non-shocking it is to hear that Wright—an African-American—feels some degree of bitterness and anger towards America. Nor is it the proper venue to point out that all this talk about Obama and Wright is a phony issue anyway—that the real story (written about by Slate.com and, as far as I can tell, no one else) is that Obama's rival Senator Hillary Clinton (D, New York) has shown herself to be all but completely amoral by accepting an endorsement from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a "newspaper" owned by "Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" chief Richard Mellon Scaife that's so deeply embedded in the lunatic fringe that in the early 1990's published wild, completely unsubstantiated filth that Hillary Clinton killed White House Counsel Vince Foster. But now, for reasons that remain completely mysterious because no one's really asking her about it, Clinton is best buddies with Scaife. You know, it's kind of a shame that I'm not going to talk about any of that stuff here, because it's rather interesting. Blue shirt and purple background? Who's Fargo kidding? FRIDAY, Apr. 25 Looks like the take-over of Hawai`i Superferry, Inc. (HSF) by J.F. Lehman & Co. is nearly complete. Today McNeil Wilson Communications announced that HSF President/CEO John Garibaldi is out—no reason given, but given the company's service record over the past year, I think it's pretty obvious—and Admiral Thomas Fargo (U.S. Navy, ret.) is in. Fargo, a former U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, is apparently J.F. Lehman & Co.'s managing director. As you might recall, J.F. Lehman & Co. is a private equity firm run by John F. Lehman, President Ronald Reagan's first U.S. Navy Secretary. The rough-speaking, aviator-loving secretary was known as a bureaucratic infighter who sparred with admirals and dug up dirt on pacifist Catholic Church officials, all as he attempted to balloon the navy to 600 shops—an impossible, budget-busting goal. In recent years Lehman slightly softened his image by sitting on the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, but mostly his efforts have focused on his equity firm. And that meant exerting increasing control over Hawai'i Superferry, Inc. Even before today, six of HSF's 10 directors were connected in some way with J.F. Lehman & Co.: Lehman (founding partner), Tig H. Krekel (vice chairman), C. Alexander Harman (member), Louis N. Mintz (member), George A. Sawyer (founding partner) and John W. "Bill" Shirley (consultant). SATURDAY, Apr. 26 And now for some good news from the Maui Planning Commission: Kaupo resident Jonathan Starr is the new chairman. A long advocate of slow growth, sustainability and renewable energy, Starr has frequently been one of the few commissioners willing to ask developers tough questions. Now he's going to get to run the hearings. For big builders and landowners like Wailea 670 Partners, Alexander & Baldwin and Dowling Company, this is grim news indeed. SUNDAY, Apr. 27 Did I call it or what? Today's Maui News reports that not only did Fargo move over from J.F. Lehman to HSF, but he also brought a chunk of that firm's money with him to save the foundering Superferry. "We've had an increase in the capital base from J.F. Lehman & Company that bodes well for taking us through the difficult times and really supplements the commitment," outgoing HSF President/CEO Garibaldi told the paper. Of course, Garibaldi "declined to detail the amount of the capital infusion provided by J.F. Lehman to keep the business operating," but at this point, does it really matter? MONDAY, Apr. 28 Speaking of foundering, the County of Maui finally has official archives! At long last, the county's boxes and boxes of crumbling, decaying records—some dating back to the Great Depression—will get the treatment they deserve. They're going to be housed in a few Conex containers in the parking lot of the Old Wailuku Post Office, according to today's Maui News. If this sounds rather crude, I will say that it's better than their old home, which was the Old Wailuku Post Office itself: a crumbling, decaying building full of toxic mold and even more toxic asbestos that the county, in its infinite wisdom, is leasing for $75,000 a year through 2026. TUESDAY, Apr. 29 Just a load of good news today. Looks like the cargo remnant of Aloha Airlines is now folding up. That puts another 400 people out of work, and demolishes 85 percent of our state's inter-island cargo carrying capacity. This is very bad news, and nearly–but not completely–eclipses the bombshell that Honolulu blogger Ian Lind dropped this afternoon on Hawai'i Superferry, Inc.'s appalling disregard for honest disclosure of its 2007 lobbying efforts. After Lind complained to the state Ethics Commission, saying the $21,792.56 the company put down for lobbying expenses last year seemed low, the commission made HSFgo back and "amend"their old statements. The new reports, just posted online, show Lind was spot-on:in 2007, Hawai'i Superferry, Inc. actually spent an astonishing $381,693.30 on advertising, lobbyist salaries and the "preparation & distribution of lobbying materials." Anyone still wondering why the state Legislature exempted HSFfrom state environmental laws? Look, reporting $21,000 when the company actually spent $381,000 goes way beyond mere error. HSFofficials are showing real contempt towards the public, and given the way the state Legislature rolled over for them last year, it's only going to get worse. Get snarky news and commentary from Anthony Pignataro sent directly to you cell phone. Just text "follow apignataro" to 40404 and we'll do the rest. MTW

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