Musings: Random Firings

All that glitters is indeed not gold, as evidenced by the stars that sparkled brilliant silver in a super clear sky last night, providing ample light to navigate the dark road, although it was hard to walk with my gaze fixed on the heavens.

By the time Koko and I dug ourselves out of bed and faced the cold this morning, all that remained of that stunning celestial show was a wedge of white moon shining in a sky tinted the faintest shade of purple.

The mist receded into the deepest pockets of the pastures as we walked, quickly, in the pre-dawn chill, and though Waialeale, clear when we started out, repeatedly shrugged off drifting bits of clouds, her summit was covered by the time the sun crawled out of its own fleecy bed.

I’ve been taking advantage of this recent spate of stellar weather to hit the beach and work in my taro patch, but I did conduct a phone interview yesterday with Sen. Gary Hooser, who was in Washington, D.C., but due back on Kauai tonight.

It’s looking to be a rather interesting legislative session, what with the Senate majority package seeking to strengthen the safety net by emphasizing human services, health care, education and renewable energy, while the Guv is pushing for infrastructure spending.

Gary said Senators also plan to introduce a bill prohibiting future power plants from using fossil fuels to generate electricity. “It’s a pretty big thing,” he said, noting that Hawaii is the first state in the nation to consider such a proposal.

It seems HECO has already “tentatively agreed” to the legislation, but KIUC reportedly is not on board. Perhaps this law will give it the kick in the butt it needs to break its dependence on imported oil.

I’m not sure what lit the firecracker under KITV’s ass, but yesterday it finally got around to reporting that the Naue trespassing charges were dropped, a story that ran in this blog and The Hawaii Independent last Thursday — the day it actually happened. It used to be that media outlets were embarrassed when they missed news and tried at least to give catch-up stories a second-day angle. But now it’s more like whatevah, whenevah.

Unless I missed something, the Garden Island still hasn’t picked up the story. But yesterday it did get around to reporting on Wednesday’s Council meeting and today it has a piece on last Tuesday’s planning commission meeting.

The most interesting aspect of their tardy coverage was learning that former Councilmembers Mel Rapozo and JoAnn Yukimura, who lost their seats in a failed mayoral bid, are remaining active in politics, only this time it’s as lowly members of the public giving testimony to bored persons who already have their minds made up.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Advertiser is running a new blog, He Hawaii Au, by Hawaiian activist Trisha Kehaulani Watson. Yesterday she wrote that the DLNR’s response to a sovereignty gathering she attended on Sunday at Iolani Palace was overkill.

The news story on the gathering prompted the usual spate of anti-Hawaiian comments, including one by a person who asked:

How many of these protesters...i repeat, how many of these protesters are working, have an education, and not taking hand-outs from the govt.

Ummm, you mean like Trisha Kehaulani Watson, a Punahou grad and attorney?