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July 23, 2009
Interesting wrinkle in the ongoing tussle between Gov. Lingle and Hawaii's labor unions: As reported in today's Maui News, the state's mayors are joining forces against the governor, complicating negotiations. Lingle gets four votes in the contract process and each mayor gets one; that means the Guv has to lure only one mayor to her side to get her way. In the past, that's how it's gone. But this year, according to Mayor Tavares, she and her colleagues have decided to "stay together as a group." In the same Maui News piece, Tavares called Lingle's furloughs "draconian." We've taken shots at the Mayor before and we will again, but it's nice to see her breaking ranks with Her Majesty.
THURSDAY, JULY 16
Speaking of Lingle's ever-increasing political isolation: the Dem-controlled legislature overrode 34 of the governor's vetoes yesterday, crushing the previous state record of 19, according to an AP report. In an early contender for understatement of the year, House Minority Leader and lonely Republican Lynn Finnegan (who opposed the overrides) was quoted as saying her fellow lawmakers "were kind of flexing their muscle." One veto that was left alone was a tax hike on imported oil. If we're serious about embracing alternative energy sources and seeing less of our money poured back to Mainland corporate behemoths, that would have been a good place to start.
FRIDAY, JULY 17
I didn't go through the Maui public school system and my son has yet to enter it. I am also the son, grandson and brother of public school teachers. Additionally, I think standardized test scores are an incomplete measure of student achievement. I tell you all that as a disclaimer, because I'm about to report some bad news about the County's schools and I don't want it to be seen as a shot at public education in general. OK, enough with the windup. Here's what the headline in today's Maui News says: "County schools make progress." Here's what the first line of the accompanying story says: "Eight out of 32 Maui County public schools met state and federal reading and math benchmarks this year…" When two-thirds of the schools tested are failing and that's considered "progress," it's safe to say we've got a long way to go.
SATURDAY, JULY 18
As the news business (like all other businesses) struggles to stay relevant through reinvention, it's interesting to ponder the legacy of Walter Cronkite, who died yesterday at age 92. Cronkite was the template for the nightly news anchorman: he embodied the trustworthiness and gravitas that became prerequisites for the job. What Johnny Carson was to late night stand-up and celebrity interviews, Cronkite was to news. Even his famous tagline—"And that's the way it is…"—suggested unquestioned authority; he wasn't asking you, he was telling you. Now, of course, the whole idea of the nightly news seems quaint. We don't wait for the day's end to get our news, we digest it in bits and pieces 'round the clock and our sources are as diverse as our means of consumption. On the surface, this seems like a good thing—and it is, mostly. As long as you teach yourself to sort the good information from the bad, the reliable from the unreliable (and that's your job as a citizen, by the way), more is better. But while we've gained, we've also lost. (Isn't that always the way?) Cronkite (and Carson) offered something that none of their contemporaries can: a collective experience. When you watched them, you knew lots of other people were watching them, too, and watching them the same way you were—on a TV set, in their home, probably on a couch or some other piece of furniture. It may seem silly and sentimental, but in the age of the iPhone and YouTube, microblogging and RSS feeds, the rabid individualism that has always informed the American experience has been kicked into overdrive. We're more connected than ever (most of us, anyway) but we're also, in some respects, surprisingly isolated. This isn't a rant against technology—far from it. It's just interesting to note how things have changed, and the passing of cultural icons affords an obvious opportunity to do exactly that.
SUNDAY, JULY 19
The County Board of Ethics finally released its opinion in the complaint against Councilman Wayne Nishiki. (Well, to be fair, it could be a complaint against a different Maui County Councilman who accepted a $100,000 personal loan from a major developer and failed to reveal it until well after the deadline despite repeated reminders and warnings—names were withheld.) What does it say? Not much. Basically, the board tells Nishiki that, as a longtime public servant, he should have known better and that he needs to go back and read the rules concerning financial disclosure. To call it a slap on the wrist is an insult to slapping… In other news: On this day 40 years ago, no one could utter the phrase, "They put a man on the moon but they can't [insert thing that's less difficult than putting a man on the moon]."
MONDAY, JULY 20
Then, on this day 40 years ago, they could.
TUESDAY, JULY 21
Amusing item in today's Honolulu Advertiser about safe and unsafe ways to view the impending solar eclipse. Under "unsafe," the fourth item listed is "looking at the sun with the naked eye." I don't know what's worse—that people still need to be reminded it's not a good idea to stare at the sun sans protection, or that it was the fourth thing on the list. MTW
Jacob Shafer is also available in Twitter form. Visit twitter.com/jacobshafer or text "follow jacobshafer" to 40404.
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