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| |  | | This is not something to be worried about. Whales dying is. |
January 22, 2009 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14
You might think a federal agency that claims to be "dedicated to the stewardship of living marine resources…and the promotion of healthy ecosystems" would like, I dunno, try to stop the U.S. military from needlessly killing whales. You would be wrong. According to an Associated Press report in today's Maui News, the National Fisheries Service, being the "dedicated stewards" that they are, gave the Navy permission to test sonar equipment in Hawaii's waters, despite numerous studies—and the Navy's own admission—that sonar is harmful and sometimes fatal to whales and other ocean creatures. I suppose we should all be happy though, because at least this time the Navy had to go through the trouble of getting rubber-stamped. According to the AP report, for the last two years the Navy was able to get around the permission-getting requirement altogether under the ominously titled National Defense Authorization Act. Look, military readiness is all fine and good, but sonar? Is the threat we face really coming from submarines these days? Just asking.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15
Gil Keith-Agaran it is. After not much deliberation, Gov. Lingle chose the Wailuku attorney as Maui's new 9th District representative, filling the hole created by the death of Bob Nakasone. I'm not saying Keith-Agaran isn't a fine choice; he certainly has the longest governmental resumé of the three candidates the Democrats put up for consideration, though whether that's a good thing or not depends on your point of view. But, as I touched on last week, the fact that Lingle reportedly didn't even make direct contact with the other two candidates—Lance Holter and Kehau Filimoe'atu—shows a blatant disregard for her duties. (Seriously—two phone calls. That was too much?) The most obvious explanation is that, as she slogs through her final term, the Guv's already got one eye on the next step, which many say is a Senate run in 2010. At least Lingle made her selection in a somewhat timely fashion (not too hard when you don't do any leg work, but still) rather than waiting until the February 5 deadline. Now Rep. Keith-Agaran can be sworn in with his colleagues next week on Oahu and the fun can begin. Yipee.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 16
The Honolulu Advertiser reports that the Superferry will be out of commission February 2-17 for "annual maintenance and Coast Guard recertification." People who made reservations during that period are supposedly being offered refunds or alternate tickets. Here's my question: if this two-week hiatus really is just for routine, scheduled maintenance, why were tickets being sold for those dates in the first place? Maybe I'm seeing something where there's nothing (wouldn't be the first time), but when it comes to the Superferry, it's good to be skeptical of the official story. Actually, let's amend that: it's always good to be skeptical of the official story.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17
An interesting ripple in Maui's ongoing water wars: the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has put the squeeze on Wailuku Water Company (WWC). Earlier this week, the PUC ordered the company formerly known as Wailuku Sugar Plantation to freeze rate hikes and not add any new customers or sell off any assets until a review of its petition to become a public utility is completed. Opponents of WWC's operations—which center on diverting water from Na Wai Eha, "The Four Waters"—naturally applauded the move. Quoted in a press release, attorney Isaac Moriwake of the Oahu-based environmental advocacy firm Eathjustice said "the PUC has taken the first, bold step of holding WWC accountable" for its "unregulated water profiteering." Given the agency's tendency to roll over and play dead when it comes to cracking down on utilities run amok—see: HECO and MECO and Molokai Ranch—that may be the first time in a long while anyone's accused the PUC of being "bold."
SUNDAY, JANUARY 18
OK, I'll admit it: despite the fact that it was a gorgeous day (that "big storm" that closed the schools and had everyone in a tizzy sure turned out to be a dud, didn't it?) I stayed in and watched football. And drank beer. So as far as I'm concerned, nothing noteworthy happened today, other than the Cardinals (seriously, the Cardinals?) and Steelers advancing to the Superbowl. Belch.
MONDAY, JANUARY 19
Landing fortuitously on the eve of Obama's inauguration, this has to be the most significant, poignant Martin Luther King Jr. Day since the holiday was first observed in 1986. So I'll give today's entry over to Dr. King: "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
TUESDAY, JANUARY 20
All right, he's really in charge now so let's start taking shots at him: remember the secret, warrantless domestic wiretapping program that Bush Co. snuck through the back door under the guise of keeping us safe from the evildoers? The one Obama voted to authorize as a member of the Senate, even as he used it to bludgeon McCain and the GOP on the campaign trail? Well, the issue hasn't gone away. Over in good old San Francisco (the heart of Sarah Palin's "fake America") a legal challenge to the program is still alive, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle. And now it's in the hands of Obama's Justice Department. How the case is handled (whether it's aggressively shot down or allowed to proceed) will tell us a lot about where the new administration's priorities truly lie. This is where rhetoric meets reality, folks, and we get to find out if talking points translate to policy… In other, related news: we're giving enough ink to the Inauguration-related hoopla elsewhere, so let me just say one small, silly thing: I was getting really sick of having to tack the word "elect" onto the end of Obama's title, because it was both cumbersome and a tacit acknowledgement that Dubya was still technically the commander in chief. Now I don't have to do that anymore. Hooray. 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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