How Relevant is "The Nation" Now?

According to these people, not very.

Kalahikiola Congregational Church Website

Kalahikiola Congregational Church has under construction a website here.

Obama as Lincoln

http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary19.html

The Earthquake Aftermath

By now, you've probably heard about the earthquake off the West Hawaii coast. I live in East Hawaii, incidentally. I was already awake when I felt the house shaking. We've had minor tremors, but as the shaking increased in force, we went to the doorframes.

KITV Channel 4 (our ABC affiliate) had continuing coverage with Shawn Ching et al. KGMB Channel 9 (CBS) was off the air until the evening because the station lacked back-up power. (Honolulu had a power outage). By 11 a.m. Hawaii time CNN and the other cable news channels began covering the earthquake. CNN had a screen of live coverage from KITV.

The County Civil Defense advised people to stay off the roads and refrain from using telephones unless absolutely necessary. Around eleven, however, our houseguest wanted to go to the Verizon store to see about a telephone with a local number. The Waiakea Center parking lot was full of cars and people walking as if nothing extraordinary had happened. We waited for about twenty minutes, then our houseguest returned. He decided to buy calling cards from Long's, where I bought the Star-Bulletin. Then we went home. Later I had my hair cut.

The weather was hot, sunny, and windy.

Tuesday, 17 October update: Other Hawaii bloggers discuss the earthquake: http://kalapanapundit.blogspot.com/2006/10/my-thats-big-one.html

http://hattie.typepad.com/hatties_web/2006/10/in_paris.html

http://hunterbishop.com/journal/2006/10/15/where-were-you-when-it-hit.html

http://www.ilind.net/2006/october/oct15-21.html

http://aaronstene.blogspot.com/2006/10/earthquake.html

http://poinography.com/index.php?p=3390

18 October update: Damage to historically significant buildings:

Availability of Meeting Minutes From State Agencies

Ian Lind today looks at various websites of state agencies to check the availability of their meeting minutes. (I added URLs--P.Z.):

So, with a few minutes to spare yesterday afternoon, I browsed more or less randomly through some state agency web sites to see if they include meeting minutes. Names of agencies with minutes available online appear in green, while those with no minutes, or minutes I couldn't find, appear in red.

Employee-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund: Minutes are available. Last minutes for May 10, 2006 meeting, which could have been the most recent. Committee minutes from 2005 are available but none from 2006. No list of meeting dates or agendas [sic] is provided. Instead, a link is provided to a centralized state central calendar, which is not particularly convenient.

Hawaiian Homes Commission: No minutes, despite its immediate impact on thousands of people.

Ethics Commission: No minutes.

Land Use Commission: Minutes appear to be up to date. Latest minutes for meeting August 25. Next meeting was Sept 7, and those minutes would not be due until this week.

High Technology Development Corporation- No minutes

State Foundation on Culture and the Arts--Web page for commission meetings "under construction". No minutes.

Board of Education: Minutes appear current for both the board and its committees.

Board of Agriculture. No minutes. Instead, an agenda that includes "actions taken" but do not contain all the information required by law to be included in minutes.

Procurement Policy Board. Latest minutes, July 13, 2006.

State Procurement Office, The Community Council on Purchases of Health and Human Services. Minutes are available with the latest for a meeting on July 27.

Aloha Tower Development Corporation. Lists link to agenda and minutes, but no minutes are actually included there and only the latest agenda (9/27/06) is listed, so its impossible to even check what business was dealt with at prior meetings.

Hawaii Tourism Authority. HTA does include both agendas [sic] and minutes, although they are buried down several levels below the home page. But the latest available are for a meeting on June 1, 2006, while the link to minutes for July 13, 2006 brings an error message.

Hawaii Community Development Authority. Minutes appear up to date with latest from September 6 meeting.

Hawaii Film Office Development Board. Neither minutes nor agenda are available.

Employee Retirement System. No minutes, no agenda.

Professional and Vocational Licensing Boards of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. There are 26 boards. [Note: According to the site itself, there are 25--P.Z.] None appear to post minutes.

From this quick spot check, it appears that only a minority of state boards make minutes available on their web sites in a timely fashion.
---
How many of the agencies of the County of Hawaii post minutes and agenda online? I might try to find out.

Living for the City

"A Reflection on Cities of the Future" is a new essay by James Howard Kunstler. I'll have more on this soon. (Cf. my post on Lunar Park, in which the protagonists flee post-9/11 New York for the seeming idyll of the (fictional) suburban town of Midland.)

The Ever-Evolving List of Links

Architecture
Archiseek, Institute for Classical Architecture and Classical America, The, Jackie Craven, Space and Culture


BLAWgs
Above the Law, Durham-in-Wonderland, Federal Judicial Center, FindLaw's Writ

Book Reviews
Bookforum, Booklist, Bookslut, Choice, Complete Review, The, Danny Yee, Dublin Review of Books, FindLaw's Writ: Book Reviews, H-Net Reviews, Holt Uncensored Book Reviews, J. Peder Zane, Kirkus Reviews Online, Latin American Review of Books, The, Literary Lotus (Hawaii focus), London Review of Books, Mises Review, The, NewPages Book Reviews, New York Review Of Books, The, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, Powell's Review-a-Day, Sentences (Harper's Magazine) Voice Literary Supplement

Comics and Cartoons
Alan Moore Interview Index, Batocchio's Right Wing Cartoon Watch, Black Sheep's Footrot Flats Page, BritishComics.com, ComicsResearch.org, Jess Nevins's Comic Book Annotations,
Madam and Eve

Crafts
CraftZine, Interweave Press, On Letterpresses, Wiki for Crafts

Culture, General
Afronerd, Arts and Letters Daily, Autodidact Project, The, City Review, The, Dynamist, FREEWilliamsburg, HiLoBlog, Lileks.com, Partial Observer, The, Paul Graham, PopMatters, Real Art, Sampaloc Toc, Sepia Mutiny, The, Sign and Sight, Snobsite, Teeming Brain, The, Thomas Frank, Time Goes By, 2Blowhards, Vanity Fair

Culture, Hawaiian and Local
HawaiiThreads, HI Art Magazine, Honolulu Agonizer, Ulukau, Yamanakanaau.com

Economics and Finance
Deal Breaker, How the World Works, Investopedia, Measuring Worth, Polyconomics, Wall $treet Folly, Whiskey and Gunpowder


Education
Chalkdust, Colleges That Change Lives, Inside Higher Ed, John Taylor Gatto, John Holt, Seminario Permanente de Teoría y Crítica, University of Hawaii-Manoa Media Log

Fashion and Appearance
Ask Andy About Clothes, Beard Revue, Beauty Tips for Ministers, Costumes.org, Fashionable Academic, The, Get Kempt, GQ Styleguy Shoes, La Bricoleuse, Lei Chic, Manolo's Shoe Blogs, Materialist, The, Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century, MyFashionCents, Sartorialist, The, Savoir Vivre New York, StyleForum.net, Suitable Wardrobe, A, Textile Blog, The, Uniwatch Blog, Uomo Classico

Fiction and Literature
Dalkey Archive, Fantastic Victoriana, Flashquake, Little Professor, The, Locus Online, Modern Fiction Studies, Not an Exit, Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Studies, This Space, Three Percent, Uchronia.net

Food
Cakehead, eGullet, Food Portal (Wikipedia), Food Reference, Foody, The, FreeRangeGourmet, Grits, Indian Foods, Mr. Breakfast, Retro-Food, Uncle Phaedrus, Finder of Lost Recipes

Frugal and Green Living
Carfree, City Hippy, Freegan, Global Alliance for Incineration Alternatives, Great Green Goods, Grist, Radical Frugality, Simple Living America, Suburban Scavenger, Treehugger, Wastrel Show, Wisebread, Zero Waste Alliance

Gardening and Landscaping
Garden Design Online, Garden Rebel, Plants for a Future, PlantZAfrica

German Matters
Dialog International, German Historical Institute, Tradition und Leben

Grammar, Editing, Typography, and Journalism
After Deadline,
Big Island Press Club, BookDesignReview, The, BuzzMachine, Council of National Journalism Organizations, Double-Tongued Dictionary, Edward Tufte, Form of News wiki, Fowler, FreeDaily, GlobalJournalist, Graphic Sociology, Hawaii Publishers Association, Maggie Media, New York Review of Magazines, The, Newsdesigner.com, Newseum's World Front Pages, Newsthinking, Nieman Narrative Digest, OldPapers.org, PoynterOnline, Slot, The, Typographica,
Under Consideration, Underground Grammarian, The, Weblogs of UNC Journalism School

History, Anthropology, and Sociology
American Men's Studies Association, Archaeological Survey of India, Axis Europa, BundesArchiv, Contexts (American Sociological Association, Cranky Sociologists, The (formerly at Global Sociology), German Propaganda Archive, History News Network, International Studies Association, Internet Sacred Text Archive, The, Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Lapham's Quarterly, National Women's Studies Association, The, Newcomen Society for the Study of the History of Engineering and Technology, The, Off the Wall (National Council on Public History), Religion in American History, Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing, WikiHistory

Internet
Bloggasm, Blogger Blogs of Note, Cool Site of the Day, John Labovitz's E-Zine List, Radical Reference, Technorati

Libraries and Library Science
Connexions Information Sharing Services, Dewey Decimal System, Directory of Libraries in Hawaii, Hawaii State Public Library System, Internet Public Library, Librarian.net, LISNews, Shush.ws, U.H.H. Mookini Library Blog

Movies
Feminema, Film Metro ("the online source for information about free movie screenings tickets"), In70mm.com, Internet Movie Script Database, The, Kyonsi, MicroCinemaDVD.com, Midnight Eye, Movie Review Query Engine, OpenFlix, Pajiba, Revenge is My Destiny, Self-Styled Siren, Turner Classic Movies, TwitchFilm

Music
All Music Guide, AlohaGotSoul.com, Chronicles of Chaos, Collectors' Choice Music, Discogs, Dusty Groove America, FluxBlog, FreeMuse.org, House Of Diabolique, I Was a Teenage Chart Freak, Jonathan Coulton, Louder Than War, Metal Sucks, Murder Dog Magazine, Only Solitaire, Parterre Box, Progression Magazine, PW Archive, Rebel Frequencies, Rock & Rap Confidential, Seattle Sound, Silent Ballet, The, Slipcue, Ugly Things, WARR

Peak Oil
Club Orlov, Life After the Oil Crash, Mike Ruppert, Sharon Astyk

Pets
Veterinary News Network, The

Photography
Wikipedia Photography Portal

Poetry
American Poetry Review, The, Bob Grumman's Comprepoetica, Electronic Poetry Center, Minimalist Concrete Poetry, New Formalist, The, RamblingRose.com Poetry Resources, Ron Silliman, Scorecard, Sharpsand, Terminal Chaosity

Radio
Air America Radio, Hawaii Public Radio, J.P. Muntal Honolulu Radio Show, The, MarksFriggin.com, Radio America, Radio Equalizer, Radio Locator, Talkers Magazine, Transom.org

Society
New York Social Diary, SocialRegisterOnline, The Times Court and Social Section

Sports
Armed Forces Sports, Asia League Ice Hockey, Basketball Comics, BP Sports, CasteFootball, Cosellout, Deadspin, Edge of Sports, E-Lacrosse, FanBase.com, HondaReport.com: Talkstory Central for Hawaii's Sports Fans!, L'Equipe, Mediasoftball.net, New York Corporate Athletic League, The, Newspaper Sports Pages, Polynesian Football News, SportsBlogs.org, Starting Five, The, Wikipedia Sports and Games Portal

Television
Brilliant But Cancelled, British Sitcom Guide, The, Current.tv, Degrassi.tv, Degrassi: Extra Credit, DramaWiki, FORA.tv, IGN TV, Minisode Network, The, Newshounds, Simpsons Archive, The, Something Old, Nothing New, TV Tropes.org, Vice Broadcasting System

Travel and Regional Flavor
AllAfrica.com, Ask the Pilot, Detroit Blog, Far Outliers, German Joys, Hawaiirama, Library Hotel, The, Pacific Islands Report, Southernbyways, Today's Deep South, Tokyo Journal, YouTube Travel and Places

Political News and Views

Across the Spectrum
Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed, Anarchism + Race, Anarchist Writers, Ann Althouse, Antiwar, Bad Eagle, Baptist Planet, Black Commentator, The, Blackfive, Blue Dog Coalition, The, Brendan Nyhan, Chicago Boyz, Classical Values, CounterCurrents, CounterPunch, Crunchy Con (see also Rod Dreher's Dallas Morning News columns) , Deliberate Agrarian, The, Dennis Perrin, Dissident Voice, Dougout, The, English Independence Party, The, Evangelical Outpost, FireDogLake, First Amendment Project, The, First Principles Journal, Francis Wayland Institute, The, FromThe Bleachers, FrontPage, Gay Patriot, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Hip Hop Republican, Huffington Post, The, Ilana Mercer, Index on Censorship, InstaPundit, James Howard Kunstler, James Lileks, Jesse Walker, JesusManifesto, Kat's Korner of the Common Ills, Larry Flynt, Lawns to Gardens, Lew Rockwell, Lila Rajiva, Lila Rajiva at MindBodyPolitic.com, Louis Proyect, Max Blumenthal, Middle American News, Middlebury Institute, The, MIM (Maoist International Movement, The), Moderate Voice, The, Monarchist, The, Mondoweiss, Monkey Smashes Heaven, MR (Monthly Review) Zine, Mudville Gazette, Mutualist Blog, New Agrarian, The, Op-For, Peter Hitchens, Prison Legal News, Praxeology.net, Professor Zero, ProPublica, Public Eye, Racism Review, Rachel's Tavern, RealChange.org's Skeleton Closet, Rebellion, Ridenbaugh Press, Rittenhouse Review, The, Rob Schumacher, Rothbard Caucus, Samizdata.net, Steve Sailer, Stop Me Before I Vote Again, Strike the Root, Surfeited With Dainties, Swans, Taki's Top Drawer, Tech Central Station, Think Progress, Thousand Nations, A, Tory Anarchist, The, Volokh Conspiracy, The, Washington Babylon, World Socialist Web Site

Politics in General
Campaigns and Elections,
Politics1.com, Parties Worldwide, Politics Portal (Wikipedia)

Politics in Hawaii
All Hawaii News, Alan McNarie, Big Island Chronicle, Capsun's Corner, Damon Tucker, Disappeared News, Environment Hawaii, Gary L. Hooser, Global Hope, Hamakua Times, Hardball Hawaii, Hattie's Web, Hawaii Election Watch, Hawaii Free Press, HawaiiIndependent.com, The, Hawaii Land Use, Hawaii Legal News, Hawaii Matters, HawaiiPoliticalInfo, Hawaii Right to Life--Hilo Chapter, HawaiiReporter.com, Hawaii State Majority Caucus, Hawaii Sunshine Chronicles, HawaiianKingdom, Ilind, Island Breath, KauaiEclectic, Kauai Politics, Kenneth R. Conklin, Kona Blog, The, Kona Blog (new), The, Kubehead, Maile Shimabukuro, Malu Aina, MaoliNews, Midweek.com Political Columns, Once Upon a Krischel, OSHawaii.net, Pablo Wegesend, ParxNewsDaily, Poinography, Progressive Democrats of Hawaii, Smatter of Opinion, SusHI: Sustainability in Hawaii, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, The, Toward Freedom, Your Chore

Uncategorized
Amazing Things, Armageddon Online, Baptist Blogs and Bloggers, Can It Happen Here?, City Comforts Blog, Daddy Types, Don Aslett, Early Office Museum, The, Foot Talk, Hard Crackers, Hawaii Venture Capital Association, Houseblogs, International Brain Research Organization, Markets of New York, MidlifeCrisis Hawaii, Mo!, Paleo-Future, RetroThing, Ritter Antik, USA Cops, Victorian Database, Wikidumper Defunct but Not Forgotten

New Look

I just redid the blog. The deep blue is much nicer. I'll be restoring the links (at least some of them).

Demolition Men

I found this, on the Ambassador Hotel, at Franklin Avenue. More here and here. The Ambassador was a swank hotel, famous for more than being the site of Kennedy's demise. With Emilio Estevez's upcoming film Bobby, about Bobby Kennedy's assassination at the hotel, you'd think the Ambassador would become a tourist draw (albeit a macabre one). No. The hotel met its own demise a few years back. The above links tell the story of the Ambassador's glory days, then its neglect and destruction.

On the other side of the Pacific Rim, Tokyo officials plan to cleave in two the hip Shimokitazawa neigborhood with an 81-foot-wide thoroughfare. The article says:

The road has set off a rare battle for preservation in a country where big construction projects have long been welcomed as progress and used to grease the wheels of politics. The fight pits boutique and bar owners, among them the first bearers of hippie culture to the neighborhood three decades ago, against city hall and older residents who resent the relative newcomers.
In cities from New York to Bucharest, the practice of plowing large roads through urban communities has been widely discredited. But Tokyo is only just beginning to consider the social costs, after decades of covering its medieval moats and rivers with highways, and replacing tile-roofed dwellings with featureless concrete buildings.

"Until now, nobody cared if we destroyed the culture and environment of Tokyo," said Mikiko Ishikawa, a professor at Keio University here who specializes in urban planning. "People are gradually coming to understand that these things matter, too."
For many Tokyoites, the charm of Shimokitazawa lay in the fact that it had escaped such redevelopment. A sleepy residential community on the city's outskirts, it escaped American wartime bombings.

Ironic, no?

The article also mentions the conflict between older, longtime residents who welcome the development (one reason, the thoroughfare would be an earthquake-evacuation route) and resent the hipper newcomers protesting the project.

Preservation begins at home. The National Trust for Historic Preservation should be your first stop.

Hawaii Electoral Trivia

It was a great piece of campaign art, listed on eBay as the "Hawaii Signgate sign, autographed by Ed Case."
It was the sign that became famous when it was removed from its spot in Manoa by Nancie Caraway, wife of Congressman Neil Abercrombie. The lengthy description continued.
"A sign of our times? Here's your chance to own a piece of Hawaii's Political History! Yes, this is the very "Ed Case Senate" sign that Rep. Neil Abercrombie's wife, Nancie, took and crumpled from a Honolulu Community Garden on Sept. 5, 2006. The sign was eventually returned to its rightful owner and Ed Case supporter. Now it can be yours! Signgate happened during a heated senate campaign that pitted Rep. Ed Case against incumbent Sen. Dan Akaka. Abercrombie and wife are supporters of Dan Akaka. Dubbed "Signgate" it was one of the most talked about events of Hawaii's 2006 election season. It could be a first in Hawaii Political History. The famous sign comes in its original, unrepaired condition with Rep. Ed Case's autograph. Nancie has not autographed this historical item, but it does have her fingerprints on it! Winning bid to be donated to Community Gardens.
So I bid $15.25 (why not?) and won the eBay auction, but now the sad part...when I tried to arrange to pick up the sign or pay for postage, the seller--using the name "casevolunteer"--disappeared. I've sent three or four emails which have all gone unanswered and the sign remains somewhere in eBay limbo.

Happy German Unity Day!

Sixteen years ago today the two Germanys were reunited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Unity_Day