|
| |  | | | |  | | We’re gonna miss you, George. |
November 20, 2008 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Yesterday was Veterans Day. My personal stance is generally anti-war, because I have found very few wars that weren't mostly or completely about a small group of rich and powerful people trying to make themselves more rich and powerful on the backs of those who are neither rich nor powerful. That doesn't mean I don't respect the men and women who choose to serve. I don't care if they signed up out of enduring love of country or a desire to get some money for college; they've got a tough, tough job. One person who's made their job a lot tougher is our current Dear Leader, the subject of an AP story The Maui News ran on the front page of today's edition titled "Wistful Bush salutes veterans." In the piece, the lame duck-in-chief says he'll miss being in charge of "such a fabulous group." Maybe it's just me, but every time Dubya praises the troops, he comes off either as a condescending asshole or a pathetic wannabe who always dreamed of flying the big planes but didn't have the cajones and so hid out in the Texas Air National Guard (or, more often, not in the Texas Air National Guard). I know polls still indicate Bush's approval rating is higher among members of the armed forces than the general public, but I bet a lot of that is the result of chain-of-command indoctrination (like: respect your commanding officer even if he's a total douche). Secretly, though they may think Barack Obama is a peacenik commie terrorist, most military personnel have got to be ready to have a different finger on the button.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Creepy coincidence of the week: Less than 24 hours after I wrote yesterday's entry, I got a mass e-mail from some hard right lobby group or another titled "Vets Day Bush Bashing Shows Liberel [sic] Media Bias." The subtitle? "Why Does the New York Times Hate the Troops?" I checked, and this isn't some Onion-style parody. These folks are for real…if that's the right word.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14
The War on Drugs marches on: Seven Mauians were busted yesterday for marijuana cultivation and distribution in a sting dubbed (apparently unironically) "Operation Weedkiller." Among those arrested was Brian Murphy of Paia, a vocal medical pot advocate and founder of the organization Patients Without Time. While the cops painted Murphy as a drug dealer hiding behind the smoke screen of medical marijuana, Rep. Joe Bertram, himself a medical user, came to Murphy's defense. Quoted in The Maui News, Bertram said Murphy's arrest means many patients will now be "cut off from their source of medicine." And Bertram took things a step further, saying that the bust shows police will continue to enforce unjust marijuana laws until we embrace outright decriminalization. Even in a state like Hawaii where the voting public clearly leans pot friendly, that's a bold stand for an elected official to take. Good on ya, Joe… In other news: A day after we published information about Wednesday's Makena development hearing, the Planning Commission saw fit to quietly change the meeting time from 1:30pm to 8:30am. I spoke with community organizer Angie Hofmann, who said she heard the change was made to allow more time for public testimony. Perhaps—but it's hard not to at least suspect an ulterior motive. And while we're on the subject, what's the deal with having these important civic gatherings in the morning (or afternoon) mid-week? Kinda like having Election Day on a Tuesday and then not declaring it a national holiday. A cynic (or, you know, a realist) might wonder if the goal is to squash, rather than promote, involvement.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Ah, to be a CEO. While most of us get a handshake and a "don't let the door hit your ass on the way out" with our walking papers, guys (and gals) at the top generally enjoy a softer landing. Take Maui Land & Pineapple CEO David Cole, who, The Maui News reports, could receive more than $2 million in cash and stocks when he cedes control of the floundering company at year's end. Of course, we pick on Mr. Cole, but he's far from the only top executive running from the smoldering wreckage of his former company, arms loaded with dough. Of all the commodities losing value right now, one item remains steadfast: golden parachutes.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16
I have a humble request: Can we stop with the Sarah Palin 2012 talk until at least, I dunno, 2009? We're still two months away from Obama's coronation, er, inauguration, and already the media is awash with stories about how Mooseburger has her scope trained on the big prize. Everyone bitched about how this election dragged on too long. So the solution is…to start talking about the next one before the Obama girls even get their puppy? On a related side note: If Palin does decide to seek the presidency in 2012, it'll lend some credibility to the apocalyptic predictions of those who study the Mayan calendar and believe that in four years a spaceship is going to link up with some crystal skulls on the moon and the world will explode (or something).
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Pick up just about any newspaper today and you'll read a headline that says some variation of the following: "Iraq approves U.S. security pact." The faulty assumption is that there is a united entity called "Iraq" about which accurate generalizations can be made. There are some in Iraq who want us to stick around; there are others who will continue to kill us until we leave. The point is, that country (if it even is a country in any real sense) is nowhere near cohesive enough to "approve" anything. Bottom line: We broke it, we bought it. And we're still buying it.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
The vultures are circling: The Maui News reports that the FBI has launched an investigation into a group of scam artists who conned desperate homeowners out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by promising to help them avoid foreclosure. Many of the victims were Native Hawaiians who were duped into attending "seminars" for as much as $10,000 a pop. Man, just when I was starting to have a little twinkle of renewed faith in humanity… 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 |
|
|
