"Fact: Stacy Higa Supports Continued Marijuana Eradication!"

"Language most shows a man; speak that I may see thee," said Jonson. With that in mind, I reproduce in full Stacy Higa's letter to the editor in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald (5 June 2007, p. A4) on how he really is for marijuana eradication:

Higa takes exception

I felt that I would wait for your newspaper to print the "correct facts" regarding the marijuana eradication grant funds. As usual, your newspaper doesn't accurately report the news.

Your Sunday headline states, "Green Harvest funds cut." WRONG. Fact: My vote was to remove these funds from the budget process, which we did. Green Harvest funds for county budget year 2006-07 is still in the police budget, and they will have enough money to continue their operation till the grant ends in September or October of this year. Fact: When the police department applies for next year's grant, (which should be around September), they will have to appear before the council and request that we accept or deny these funds by resolution. Fact: During this resolution process before the council, marijuana advocates will have the opportunity to present their testimony again, and so will the police.

During my three years on the council, I have been privileged to hear the testimony from the pro-marijuana people, but I have not heard the police side of how they conduct their operations. My vote is for the "process," and I want the police to explain to the council and the public all the facts on how the operation is handled. Educating the public and informing all of us on what is taking place in and around our neighborhoods are very important.

Fact: Stacy Higa supports continued marijuana eradication! I have heard some of the horror stories about helicopters hovering intrusively above homes, and stories of the police supposedly traumatizing children and family members. These claims have come from marijuana advocates, but I have never heard the police side of these allegations. The public needs to hear BOTH sides of what is happening.

To my constituents and supporters who have asked the question, "Why did Stacy Higa vote against marijuana eradication?" the answer is ---that was never the question. Stacy Higa voted to change the process of how the county accepts the federal grant money.

I think it is very sad that I have to write a letter to the editor to correct the misinformation that the newspaper prints in its headlines. Don't believe everything you read in the headlines or the newspapers, without verifying the facts.

Councilor Stacy K. Higa

District 4-Hilo

Degrassi Spoilers

http://www.tv-eh.com/tag/degrassi/

5 June update: According to this interview, Deanna Casaluce ("Alex Nunez") considers leaving the show.

CTV.ca: What's next for you in your acting career?

Deanna: This is the very tip of the iceberg; at least I hope it is. I think after this season, season seven, I'll be leaving the show. I'm planning on moving to Los Angeles in September.
I'm halfway done a degree in philosophy with a minor in social psychology, and I'm leaving that behind for now. I would like to finish my degree because I love learning. But I'm too busy right now.

On Vermont's Secession Movement

The aghast headline from The Drudge Report:
VERMONT GROUP WANTS STATE TO SECEDE FROM USA!

The more sedate title of the Associated Press article which is linked at Drudge:
In Vermont, nascent secession movement gains traction

5 June update: VT Secession's YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=VTsecession

The Sopranos

With the final episode to air next Sunday, I'll be writing about lesser-known aspects of the show, especially the Sopranos know-it-alls and A.J.'s music.

Lady in Waiting

http://yabanji.tripod.com/

17 July update:

Exclusive to CounterPunch Newsletter Subscribers!Why Hillary Clinton Has Always Been a Republican

In the first of a series of profiles, Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair chart the formative years of Hillary Clinton. Watch her as she zigzags from Nixon campaigner and vote-fraud investigator in 1960 to Goldwater Girl and President of Young Republicans at Wellesley to her
internship for Gerald Ford and campaigner for Nelson Rockefeller. Witness her reaction to the student protests at Yale and the demonstrations at Grant Park during the Democratic Convention in 1968. Learn how she and Bill vowed to "remake" the Democratic Party--using the Nixon model HRC learned about as a member of the House impeachment staff. And much more!

Gassy Old Pachyderms Self-Destruct

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts05232007.html

Hilo: Hawaii's Forgotten City

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-big_6may13,0,96324.story

"America's Mayor"

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E4DD1031F933A25756C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

and

http://www.tenant.net/Tengroup/Metcounc/Feb98/stanton.html

Wolfowitz in Hawaii--Five Years Ago

I found a transcript of a May 2002 interview Paul Wolfowitz did with KSSK Radio
: http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3429

KSSK: Is this your first time here in Hawaii?

Wolfowitz: Oh, no. I've been here many times. I'm kind of an old Pacific hand in some ways myself.

KSSK: I didn't know in your current capacity if it was the first time you've had a chance to visit us. I was assuming it was.

Wolfowitz: In my current capacity, yes, it is my first time and it's exciting to be here. in this position, I must say.

[more follows at the above link]

The 1980s: Early, Mid-, and Late

The early 1980s: 1980-1984

The mid-1980s: 1985-1986

The late 1980s: 1987-1989

The Return of Gekko

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/05/arts/web0505-fmwall-46347.php

Rap Nostalgia Songs

Ahmad, "Back in the Day"

Boot Camp Clik, "Think Back"

Coolio, "I Remember"

Lady Sovereign, "Those Were the Days"

Happy May Day! Happy Lei Day!

An article on May Day, from Wikipedia, mentions that:

In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day, and is normally set aside as a day to celebrate island culture in general and native Hawaiian culture in particular. While it was invented by a poet and a local newspaper columnist in the 1920s, it has since been adopted by state and local government as well as by the residents, and has taken on a sense of general spring celebration there. The first Lei Day was proposed in 1927 in Honolulu. Leonard "Red" and Ruth Hawk composed "May Day is Lei Day in Hawai'i," the traditional holiday song. Originally it was a contemporary fox trot, later rearranged as the Hawaiian hula song performed today.

More here on the history of Lei Day.

Book cover of Feather Lei As An Art by Mary Louise Kaleonahenahe Kekuewa, Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna, and Karen A. Edlefsen (Mutual Publishing).

An Interview With Stanley Crouch

http://www.salon.com/books/int/1998/02/cov_si_25int2.html

Knowing One's Rights as a Shareholder

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/01/050201.asp

Revamped Sunday Star-Bulletin Comics Page

http://starbulletin.com/2007/04/22/features/story01.html

Blacksburg

The town of Blacksburg, Virginia, site of the bloodiest school massacre in American history, was a few days before named by Money magazine as one of the best places to retire young. Found here. One blog comment: Blacksburg, Virginia–Never heard of it

New Comics in Honolulu Star-Bulletin

http://starbulletin.com/2007/04/15/features/story09.html

When you read tomorrow's comics section, you'll notice some changes.

Webmaster's Note: The comics appear in the print edition of the Star-Bulletin only.

This is Step 1 of the revamping of our comics selection -- Step 2 happens next Sunday with a new lineup of strips in a new format (more on that later).

Weekdays, Zack Hill, La Cucaracha, and Preteena have been voted off the island [as a result of this solicitation--P.Z.], replaced by:

Housebroken: Steve Watkins tells the story of DJ Dog, a self-described "Ghetto Snoopy" and his adventures with two African-American siblings -- Mya Watson, 9-year-old multimillionaire businesswoman, and Malik, her free-spirited brother who masquerades as the costumed crime fighter "Blackman," fighting racial injustice (real or imagined).

State of the Union: Creator Carl Moore calls himself a "fallen liberal," and his caricature-driven satirical strip definitely has a conservative slant. But he says he's really a libertarian who only calls himself a conservative because "not enough people know what a libertarian is." ...

Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!: Satire takes on a more sci-fi flavor at the hands of Tim Rickard, who describes his strip as "a parody both of old serial comic strips such as 'Flash Gordon' and 1950s B-level sci-fi movies. 'Brewster's' reach also extends to skewer other genres such as superhero, fantasy, monster and horror. Even real science and current events aren't safe." His setting is the space station R.U. Sirius.

Enjoy. We'll talk again next week when we debut an exciting new Sunday comics section.

30 April update: Back when Zack, Cucaracha, and Preteena were fresh.

Start Your Week Off Right

Kunstler usually has his weekly column posted on Sundays, despite the claim that it's published Monday mornings. This week, he takes on Thomas Friedman and his sanguine take on "The Power of Green."

Tom Friedman has no idea what the implications are of all these things. His fatuous advice to the nation -- served up by a confused and cowardly Times editorial staff -- will only spur more delusional thinking, which is, of course, the last thing we need. The showcasing of Friedman's article may represent an inflection point in the fate of the mainstream media -- the moment when it demonstrates most clearly its failure to make current events comprehensible, the moment when its lost legitimacy is finally recognized. That legitimacy has been passing to the Internet, where commentators have no advertisers to pander to and no need to defend any status quo.

UPDATE, 20 April: Harvey Wasserman, author of SOLARTOPIA!: Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030, takes Friedman to task in CounterPunch for suggesting that "clean" coal and nuclear power be considered green.

UPDATE, 22 April: Friedman's documentary, Green: The New Red, White, and Blue premiered Saturday on the Discovery Channel. (Here)

R.I.P., Don Ho

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Apr/14/br/br4376190825.html

22 May update: As The Sopranos comes to an end, I wondered if there are any connections between the show and Hawaii. I recall a scene from one of the later seasons in which a newlywed couple was on their way to a honeymoon in Hawaii and a character calls out, "Say hi to Don Ho!" (I'll try to find more on this later.) This is an article on Dominic Chianese and his visit to Honolulu in 2004, where he showed up at Don Ho's Waikiki show.

Photo Caption: He may not be a soprano but HBO's "Sopranos" star Dominic Chianese did get a chance to show his musical side when he showed up at Don Ho's show.