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November 27, 2008 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19
The career paths of Senators and good buddies Ted Stevens and Dan Inouye are now officially headed in opposite directions. Inouye's party is in charge and he's poised to inherit a very important committee chairmanship; Stevens is a newly convicted felon and about-to-be former Senator. After absentee and rural ballots (which apparently took a little longer to make it through the snow) were added to the mix, Stevens's opponent, Democrat Mark Begich, pulled ahead. Barring a recount or other shenanigans, Stevens, the longest-serving Republican Senator in history and an Alaskan icon, will now just be an ordinary citizen. And a felon, did we mention that?... In other news: Another Senator who seemed to be heading for a royal bitch slap escaped with a love tap. Despite fighting for the other side and all but openly lobbying to be the GOP's vice presidential pick, Joe Lieberman will keep his post as chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Man, what happened to the good old days when turncoats were tarred and feathered in public? Imagine the ratings that would get for C-SPAN.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20
Had to make an unexpected trek to the Kahului airport today, and I know airport security jokes are almost as stale as the food on the planes (ba, dum...cha!) but seriously: is that person who peers for two seconds into your trunk at the entrance to the public parking lot really accomplishing anything? I'm not blaming the individuals; I know they're just following a directive. But it's gotten to the point where, from taking your laptop out of your carry-on to removing your slippers, it's more about the illusion of safety than, you know, actual safety... In other news: Sign of the Apocalypse Number 1,873: I see in the AP's "Today's People" column printed in The Maui News that little Scientologist-in-training Suri Cruise has been named one of "Hollywood's 10 Hottest Tots" by Forbes.com. OK, I'm just gonna reel off the first three words that come to mind: creepy, stupid, whatthefuck... In other, other news: There's been a lot of talk about how Obama wants to build a team of rivals. But based on his appointments thus far, it seems more like he wants to build a team of former Clinton Administration insiders. Seriously, other than Hillary being President rather than Secretary of State, how different would the cabinet have looked if she had won? This isn't necessarily a bad thing—we did enjoy some peace and prosperity (remember those?) during the Clinton years. But it ain't change.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21
It deserves more ink down the road, but this space will have to do for now: The Superferry Chronicles, a new book by Koohan Paik and Jerry Mander (awesome name, by the way), is a must-read for anyone looking to get the under-reported back story on our seafaring boondoggle and learn about the good and bad guys who starred in the (still unfolding) melodrama. The authors are staging a reading and discussion on December 2 in Paia; see Picks of the Week for details.
| |  | | | |  | | He goes back, he leaps, he catches...flak from PETA. |
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22
From chatting with kids at the Lahaina Cannery Mall to photo-opping with his dad in the County Council chambers to participating in a golf tournament, World Series golden boy Shane Victorino's triumphant return to Maui has been a busy one. No word yet on whether PETA has decided to rescind its ridiculous stance against Shane's love of Spam. We didn't hit them for it at the time, but jeez people—it's called picking your battles. This kind of stuff is the reason PETA has gone from a legit organization with an important message to a cheap punchline.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23
Further proof that rain is awesome and it would be great if we got more of it: Though it dampened beach plans, the recent wetness helped put out the last smoldering bits of the fire on Lanai, filled reservoirs and cut demand by over 3.7 million gallons a day island-wide according to a report from the county water director. And while Kauai and Oahu dealt with flooding, Maui dodged the bullet, making this the good kind of perfect storm.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24
Journalists and the media they serve catch a lot of flak. Sometimes we deserve it. But it's important to remember that this is an important job that often requires bravery and sacrifice. Take Sarah Park, a Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter who went up in a plane to cover a tsunami off the North Shore of Oahu in 1957 and died when the craft went down. Park's name will be added this spring to the Journalists Memorial in Washington D.C. We salute her, and the many other members of this fine profession who have paid the ultimate price to get the story... Jumping jarringly from the serious to the silly, we present the headline of the week, from an AP story in today's Maui News: "Astronauts tinker with urine-to-water gadget." [Insert juvenile joke here.]
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25
Cheech and Chong timed their comeback perfectly: Even as pot advocate Brian Murphy of Paia awaits trial, the Honolulu Advertiser reports that the number of medical marijuana users statewide has grown about 87 percent over the last two years. More doctors are handing out prescriptions (one Big Island doc, according to the Advertiser, prescribes sticky-icky to about half the state's certified patients) and they're finding plenty of demand. Whether you think cannabis is legitimate medicine or this whole thing is an elaborate ruse to usher outright decriminalization through the back door, it's impossible to deny that there are a whole lot of people—most of them otherwise law-abiding, tax-paying, apple pie-eating citizens—who want access to ganja. But I guess we already knew that. MTW
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| Entertainment and lifestyle news for Maui, Hawaii and the surrounding Islands. Maui Time Weekly is Mauis only independent and locally owned newspaper.
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