Musings: Wait and See

Well before the moon rose, Koko and I were out enjoying the stars and especially the planets — twinkling Venus foremost among them — that were huddled together in the western sky. The moon came much later and hung around over my house, peering in through the skylight, tricking me into believing it was time to get up.

By the time I actually did there was a thin band of rose along the eastern horizon, topped by another band of blue and above that a puffy mottling of yellow-gold-pink clouds that faded to gray before Koko and I returned from our walk this morning. Later, in the kitchen, I realized the sun is no longer rising in my front windows, but the ones on the side, offering evidence beyond the vase of yellow ginger that fall is on its way.

I made my way up to Anini yesterday to attend a picnic of the Sierra Club, which kindly gave me their Pono Award in recognition of my blogging and journalism on behalf of the environment. I hadn’t been out there in a while, and as I drove along that narrow road to the beach park, I thought of how so often people use Anini as an example of a place where they can't possibly farm, and so instead seek a vacation rental use of their ag land. And I was thinking, yes, they can't farm their half- or quarter-acre because their house takes up most of it.

Rep. Mina Morita and former Sen. Gary Hooser, who is now running for lieutenant governor, were there to present the awards and say a few words. Gary is still hanging in there and needs small contributions — under $100 each — ASAP so he can qualify for matching public funds and buy more ads before the primary. Go Gary!

Mina said all the state departments have “been decimated,” the Office of Environmental Quality Control has “been gutted” and the Lingle Administration is proposing sweeping changes to agency rules, including those that govern the conservation district, to further entrench its philosophy before she leaves office.

“I don’t think the state can survive another eight years of Republican leadership,” she said, before urging folks who care about the `aina to support Neil Abercrombie for governor. “Mufi Hannemann doesn’t have an environmental bone in his body.”

Interesting, then, that our own Mayor Bernard Carvalho endorsed him. At any rate, it’s going to be a close race, and as several people mentioned, the guv's race makes voting in the primary worthwhile.

Later, talk turned to the county election, with much discussion about who is vulnerable. We agreed that the Council’s flat rejection of Tim Bynum’s three agricultural land bills last week offered pretty strong proof that he is dead meat on that panel, in terms of advancing any legislation. That doesn’t mean, of course, that he won’t get re-elected.

There seemed to be a general consensus that newcomer Nadine Nakamura is going to get in, and most likely former Councilman Mel Rapozo and incumbent Jay Furfaro. But questions surrounded the rest. Has Kaipo Asing seen better days? Has JoAnn Yukimura fallen so far from grace that she can't get re-elected? Has Dickie Chang got a shot? We’ll just have to wait and see.

I’ll also be interested to see if Kealanani, that ill-conceived ag subdivision on the mauka side of the highway at Kealia does, indeed, die a well-deserved death. That fake farm project should never have been approved, and now it’s looking like the economic downturn is taking a fatal toll.

Economics could also spell the end of blogging in Philadelphia, where the City Council has imposed a $300 business privilege license on local bloggers, even if they make no money, as well as various taxes. That’s one way to silence your critics.

Meanwhile, the progression of information technology races on unabated, as this video shows. It ends with a question that is very often on my mind: So what does it all mean?

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.