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February 26, 2009 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Well, that didn't take long: Less than a month after trumpeting its maiden flight from Kahului to Honolulu with press invites and much fanfare, Mokulele Airlines is teetering on the brink of insolvency. First came an AP report that Mainland-based Republic Airway Holdings was set to step in and seize Mokulele's assets if Mokulele failed to make a payment on a maxed-out $8 million credit line. A few hours later, Pacific Business News reported that Mokulele had at least earned a stay of execution by ponying up $300,000. The PBN story also says Mokulele is looking for "angel investors" and is soliciting money on its Web site (mokuleleairlines.com). So what do you say—anyone wanna bankroll a floundering airline? Anyone? Bueller?
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19
Can I make a humble request? We know we're in a big financial mess. We know it's going to take a long time to clean things up, if they ever get cleaned up. So please, Obama and company, stop saying it over and over. We're aware you're not miracle workers sent from outer space endowed with magical economic powers. In fact, we're aware that some of you are the same people who got us into this pickle, or at least played a role. The prompt for this mini-rant came courtesy of our own Sen. Dan Inouye, chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, who was quoted thusly by the AP: "Don't expect everything to be rosy in two weeks." Seriously, who is expecting this? I think even Pollyanna is hitting the bottle and buying lotto tickets at this point.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20
It has not been a good month for relations between the Navy and Hawaii's natural treasures. First we got the announcement that the Navy will be testing sonar, which can be harmful and even fatal to whales and other marine life, in local waters. Now comes word that the 9,600-ton USS Port Royal warship caused significant damage to a stretch of coral reef when it ran aground a half-mile off Oahu on February 5. And even though the ship has been pulled out of the water, the destruction may not be over—the Honolulu Advertiser reports that 5-foot chunks of reef are still floating free in the surf and could wreak more havoc if they aren't contained. But the real question is whether the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will slap the Navy with a fine. There's certainly precedent. In 2006, the Kai Anela, a Maui Snorkel Charters boat, destroyed nearly 200 square meters of reef at Molokini, as reported in these pages by former editor Anthony Pignataro. The DLNR board hit Maui Snorkel Charters with a $550,000 fine in January 2008 and suspended its commercial use permit. We'll see if they have the stones to give the U.S. military the same treatment.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21
Other than "hope" and "change," the words Obama stressed most often on the campaign trail were probably "honesty" and "transparency." In an effort to prove that was more than rhetoric, Team Barack has set up a Web site (stimuluswatch.org, which almost sounds like a porn site) where us ordinary folks can follow the money from the stimulus package and see where it's trickling. As of this writing, Maui County had about 90 projects identified on the site, ranging from commonplace stuff like road improvements to more ambitious endeavors like a $25 million allotment for electric vehicle charging stations. In addition to listing the projects, how much money they'll get and how many jobs they'll (allegedly) create, the site lets users participate. By clicking on a project you can vote whether it's necessary and write arguments pro and con. A random sampling of clicks reveals few projects with more than a couple votes, and most have zero comments. Come on, Maui—it's your money. Weigh in. (OK, now the cynic's counterpoint: the argument could be made that the site is just window dressing to give people the illusion of control and that in the end votes and comments won't mean anything. I don't dismiss that possibility, but it beats sitting on your hands. Unless, you know, that's your thing.)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22
The showdown approaches: On Friday the state Senate voted—unanimously, no less—to prevent Hawaii from selling off ceded native lands. Well, almost. The bill does allow a little wiggle room for small chunks to be sold, but it's not even close to the carte blanche mandate Gov. Lingle is seeking. (According to an AP report, "Lingle has said she has no plans to sell or otherwise transfer large swaths of ceded lands but wants the right to do so." Which is analogous to the fox saying he has no plans to eat any chickens but he'd like to live in the henhouse.) Now the whole thing heads for a date with the U.S. Supreme Court later this week. Depending on the outcome, it'll be interesting to see if our Hawaii-born president gets involved.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23
After movies, preachy self-righteousness is Hollywood's biggest export. So I understand why people take the political views of actors and their ilk with something less than a grain of salt. But last night's Academy Awards telecast offered two concise, impassioned pleas for gay rights. Both came from folks attached to the film Milk: Sean Penn, who took home a Best Actor trophy for his portrayal of the famed San Francisco activist/politician, and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who won Best Original Screenplay. After facetiously referring to Academy voters as "commie homo-loving sons of guns," Penn called on the anti-gay protestors who picketed outside the theater to "anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes." Added Black: "[Milk's story] gave me the hope that one day I could live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married." They've been sanctimonious and out-of-touch before and they will be again, but those damn film industry liberals are on the right side of history this time.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24
Also: am I the only one who's happy that Brad Pitt movie about the old baby didn't win anything? MTW
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