Disappeared News

Guest editorial: Compassion requires we expedite medical marijuana

2010-03-15T11:17:00.001-10:00

by Richard S. Miller The Honolulu Advertiser editorial “Marijuana shops? Wowie, what a bad idea” (Mar. 10, 2010) is itself a very bad idea. Indeed, it is irresponsible. There is overwhelming scientific proof, in refereed journals, that marijuana has important medical uses, and that it is far less dangerous than other legal substances, such as tobacco, alcohol, and many prescription drugs. The

Air travel 2015 rant

2010-03-15T05:40:00.000-10:00

by Larry Geller Since I’m still not in the mood to write anything serious, I thought I would reveal my suggestion for improving the air travel experience. It’s related to my Hospital Rant (previous article). I thought of it while waiting at Queens for my procedure. Flying anywhere these days can be a horrible, often degrading experience. Here in Hawaii we can’t even go to the next county without

Hospital rant

2010-03-14T20:52:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller I haven’t written much recently because I decided to go have that eye surgery I’ve been needing for so long. It worked fine! In a couple of days I’ll be able to see better what I am touch typing! No big deal. I should’ve done it some time ago. Just being in a hospital triggered one of my oldest hangups, though. Theme music. As a kid in New York City I watched TV in the early days.

Legislative workshop today on Olelo

2010-03-12T10:36:00.001-10:00

Tweet from CommonCauseHI Legislature 101 Wkshp with @KanuHawaii rebroadcast on Olelo channel 49 today Fri 3/12 at 12:30 PM. Or online http://www.bit.ly/aF3DI8

A question of staying employed in the news biz in Honolulu

2010-03-10T21:01:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller I just want to pose a question now, and let’s think about it for a few days. Suppose you were a reporter working for either the Advertiser or the Star-Bulletin right now. What would you do to increase your chances of having a job after the Advertiser changes hands and the Star-Bulletin is either sold or is shut down? If you’re a sports writer, your job is critical to the success

Marjah, the screenplay

2010-03-10T20:33:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Yesterday I wrote about the controversy over whether Marjjah is a town or not. It’s clear that there is a big battle there, and one that the US military wants well-publicized. The controversy is not trivial. If Marjah is not a town of 80,000 people, what is it, and what of the military propaganda can we believe? Curiosity lead me to read again the stories that I had clipped from

John Pritchett’s rail cartoon packs a wallop

2010-03-10T16:13:00.001-10:00

I often feel that a Pritchett cartoon can be worth much more than a thousand words. Today’s Honolulu Weekly features an impressive statement about Honolulu politics and rail. I won’t give it away. Click here to visit John’s website to view the cartoon yourself.

Interested in the rail controversy? Check out Ian Lind’s article today

2010-03-09T17:03:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Rail fans, anti-rail fans, and I suppose even anti rail-fans: don’t miss Ian Lind’s post today. The one under the cat video. Especially read about HB2434, coming up for a hearing on Friday. You may want to submit testimony on it. These days, it’s very easy to do so from the Capitol website. The instructions are on the hearing notice. Ian is doing an excellent job following the

More on Marjah soon

2010-03-09T16:54:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller The quick interactivity of the Internet continually impresses me. No sooner than I hit the Enter key on my Marjah post than AP reporter Mark Niesse emailed a compendium of AP coverage from Marjah that his computer gathered quickly for him. So more later. Right now, off to V-Lounge for an early dinner of real pizza.

Congressional candidate has experience in the trenches of health care reform

2010-03-09T13:57:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Hawaii Kai resident and attorney Rafael del Castillo has filed as a Democrat for the 1st Congressional District seat formerly held by Neil Abercrombie. Del is no stranger to health care advocates. The cases he has brought on behalf of patients against denials by Hawaii’s powerful monopoly health insurers have often been life-saving. In Washington, he would be the one person who

Marjah, a town of 80,000 people or just poppies? Let’s go have a look

2010-03-09T12:41:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller HONOLULU HAWAII— What’s in a dateline? It’s a claim by the reporter that they were there when the reporting took place. So a dateline on the Feb. 20 AP story (Feb. 21 in Advertiser) MARJAH, Afghanistan, implies that the reporter was there. Perhaps he was. Yet the story is a string of quotes from military commanders and others, with little indication of first-hand observation. And

The Nation editorial on Bill Moyers

2010-03-05T20:12:00.001-10:00

The Moyers Legacy (3/4/2010)

Rail accidents and safety debate

2010-03-05T17:10:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller There is some good discussion raging over on Ian Lind’s blog on the subject of grade-level or elevated transit. Have a look, and check also for earlier articles. You’ll find a dispute over the accident rate of elevated vs. grade level rail several weeks ago. I also wrote an article here. The high accident rate that the grade-level system in Phoenix, Arizona, has experienced is

“Race to the Top” is part of a plot against public education

2010-03-05T12:27:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Both Honolulu dailies defined Hawaii’s omission from among the 16 states that were selected for the first round of federal “Race to the Top” grants as a miss and the loss of a possible $74 million (see: Advertiser, Hawaii fails to get federal Race to the Top education funds (3/5/2010) and Star-Bulletin, Hawaii outpaced in initial round of 'Race to the Top' school funding (3/5/2010

End Furlough Fridays with Kwedit

2010-03-04T16:36:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller As Lingle representative Linda Smith meets this afternoon with the Board of Education to talk about Furlough Fridays, and as the House Finance Committee tosses a few billion in the pot to restore a few furlough days, the unwanted school holidays continue. Is it every other week from now on? Somewhere I think I saw that. More bad news: Hawaii didn’t make the cut on the federal Race

Outsiders determine the fate of Hawaii’s media

2010-03-04T15:44:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Not connected with this article—tune in to Town Square tonight on Hawaii Public Radio, KIPO, 89.3 FM at 5-6 p.m. to hear Beth-Ann Kozlovich and guests discuss the state of Honolulu’s newspaper scene. If you’re out of range, it streams from hawaiipublicradio.org. Next week on Town Square: interview with Bob McChesney on “The Death and Life of American Journalism” for a macro-view

Tsnownami in New York City

2010-02-26T14:18:00.001-10:00

Lucky we live Hawaii. AFP snow pics tweeted originall by davewiner.

Tell ‘em, Bob

2010-02-25T22:02:00.001-10:00

Cross-blog debate on professional licensing

2010-02-24T08:16:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Darren left a comment on Bill would take away consumer protections, hurt marriage and family therapists with a pointer to his discussion at “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Professional Protection!” on his Island Notes blog. Check it out. I don’t know how to join to blogs together to hold this kind of debate. Comments don’t work well because many people don’t read them. There’s

Hawaii’s power gridlock

2010-02-23T08:17:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Jonathan Cole’s comment to my article HECO shortcircuits Hawaii’s alternative energy plans (2/22/2010) is worth a plug. I disagree that an efficient power grid isn’t needed. We can’t all generate our own electricity. If it’s reasonable to purchase it, then the grid will be necessary far into the future. Why not, though, feed the grid with power from renewable sources generated by

Your testimony needed on gambling bill—or it will keep rolling on

2010-02-22T17:45:00.001-10:00

Relaying an email on the urgency for testimony for this Wednesday's hearing. TO: HCALG Board, Advisers, Member Organizations, and FriendsFROM: Dianne F. Kay, PresidentRE: Hearing for HB2251, HD1 on Wed, Feb 24, 12:30 pmThe House Finance Committee hearing for HB 2251, HD1 will be Wed, Feb 24 at 12:30 p.m. in Conf Rm 308. Decision making to follow hearing.The bill

HECO shortcircuits Hawaii’s alternative energy plans

2010-02-22T06:11:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Readers of this blog know that an independently owned and operated power grid, as can be found in some other parts of the country, facilitates independent power generation. We don’t have that in Hawaii. So I was not surprised by this article in today’s paper, which would seem to short-circuit Hawaii’s alternative energy plans indefinitely: Hawaiian Electric Co. is asking that

Growing pot in Hawaii is a better bet than legalizing gambling

2010-02-20T13:57:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller Thanks to George Fox for discovering this article: Why Hawaii Should Legalize Pot Instead of Gambling (The Faster Times, 2/20/2010). I’ll just suggest you click over there to check it out. It’s by travel writer Amy Westervelt. [I like The Faster Times. It has more variety than most neo-journalism projects, and it’s run out of Brooklyn, where I used to live. Sam Apple may already

Bill would take away consumer protections, hurt marriage and family therapists

2010-02-19T09:52:00.001-10:00

by Larry Geller There are so many bills in the legislature, both good and bad… how to keep up? And do we really need all these laws anyway? (sigh) Here’s one I should have written about yesterday, when I got the phone call. It deregulates (and de-licenses) several professions in order to save the state a few nickels. But it gives away your protections, and hurts some of the professions. In

Viral video documents Dubai assassination of Hamas leader allegedly by Mossad

2010-02-19T07:53:00.001-10:00

by Larry GellerA video put together by Dubai authorities documenting the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh has gone viral. The background to the story can be found on today's Democracy Now, Israel Accused of Stealing Identities, Using Fake Passports in Killing of Hamas Commander in Dubai (2/19/2010), or in this Wired article, Dubai Assassination Was Work of Mossad and Likely Sanctioned by