Note: Access was down last week Friday and by the time it came back up I didn't have time/forgot to upload Friday's post. It's there now and, I think, worth a look see (follow this link here). Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Making the Case for Change

The primary election in Hawai'i is over and the sole agent of change, Ed Case, lost by 2,600 votes (out of about 150,000 cast). Who says each vote doesn't count? I was up Saturday until midnight watching the count get closer and closer, but in the end, he came up short.

Starting first thing yesterday, the Republican candidate began the run up to the November general election by throwing mud saying her opponent had pulled out of a scheduled debate tomorrow. This, from a woman who has run screaming from every single debate for the last 12 months. Does she think we can't remember? Talk about chutzpah.

And then, she has the gall to say her opponent lacks experience. Experience in what? Lying? Lets look at the record. Democrat Lt. Governor Hirono has a J.D. from the respected Georgetown University School of Law. She was a state Deputy Attorney General for two years, elected to the state House of Representatives for 14 years, and then elected as the state Lt. Governor for the last eight years (source:MaizeHirono.net). That's 24 years of state-level experience in governance.

On the other hand, Mau'i is a sleepy backwater of an island with a year 2000 resident population of 128,241 (about equal to the metropolis of Naperville City, Illinois), or about 11 percent of the total population of the state: 1,211,537 (source:State of Hawai'i Databook 2001).

Conversely, Republican Mayor Lingle has some kind of degree in journalism (not sure what kind) from the California State University - Northridge. She was elected to the Mau'i county council for five two-year terms and Mayor for two four-year terms (source:Honolulu Advertiser). That's eighteen years on the little island of Mau'i. You do the math and decide who has more experience overall and who had experience specifically at the state-wide level.

Clearly, the Republicans have decided to take the low road, and to take it early. So be it. But Hawai'i voters have a long history of taking another path, and rejecting all who don't follow. Thus, I am still optimistic that the Republican will lose in November.

A Little 'Net Humor

Democrats versus Republicans

1. Democrats buy most of the books that have been banned somewhere. Republicans form censorship committees and read them as a group, then burn them in a fit of misguided religious fervor.

2. Republicans consume three-fourths of all the rutabaga produced in this country. The remainder is thrown out.

3. Republicans usually wear hats and always clean their paint brushes.

4. Democrats give their worn-out clothes to those less fortunate. Republicans wear theirs.

5. Republicans employ exterminators. Democrats step on the bugs.

6. Democrats name their children after currently-popular sports figures, politicians, and entertainers. Republican children are named after their parents or grandparents, according to where the money is.

7. Democrats keep trying to cut down on smoking but are not successful. Neither are Republicans.

8. Republicans tend to keep their shades drawn, although there is seldom any reason why they should. Democrats ought to, but don't.

9. Republicans study the financial pages of the newspaper. Democrats put them in the bottom of the bird cage.

10. Most of the rubbish alongside the road has been thrown out of car windows by Democrats.

11. Republicans raise dahlias, Dalmatians, and eyebrows. Democrats raise Airedales, kids, and taxes.

12. Democrats eat the fish they catch. Republicans hang them on the wall.

13. Republican boys date Democratic girls. They plan to marry Republican girls, but feel that they're entitled to a little fun first.

14. Democrats make plans and then do something else. Republicans follow the plans their grandfathers made.

15. Republicans sleep in twin beds--some even in separate rooms. That is one reason why there are more Democrats.

Aloha!

Note: Access was down last week Friday and by the time it came back up I didn't have time/forgot to upload Friday's post. It's there now and, I think, worth a look see (follow this link here). Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Scorched Earth

We don't really have a yard. At least, not what most people would call a yard. But what little we have is full of noxious weeds with sharp barbs that stick to your skin and clothes. So a month ago a relative of our tenants upstairs spread poison hither and yon to banish the weeds forever and a day. But within a few weeks, the weeds were back, taunting us. Spreading everywhere as if to say what pathetic creatures we are.

So over the weekend, the relative came back and got biblical. Verily I say unto you, did fire and brimstone come raining down from above smiting the once mighty weeds about the head and leaves. Excuse me, got carried away there. Actually, they used a propane torch to burn everything to a black crisp. We hope that will last for awhile but we will probably have to do this again. Soon. But with stronger medicine. Hmmm, maybe if I add some LOX.

Mountains of Muscle

I haven't done a sumo update recently but Musashimaru (aka Fiamlu "Moose" Penetani) won the recent Autumn Grand Sumo basho by beating long-time arch rival Takanohana (see the story here). I know a lot of people make fun of these guys but I think there is a lot to admire about them.

First, know that the Moose is not a Japanese native. He was born in Samoa but grew up in Hawai'i. Hence, there was a fairly large culture gap to span when, at the young age of 18, he moved to Japan to train as a rikishi (wrestler). The language and different customs must have been very difficult to learn. Further, there is a certain amount of cultural isolation (if not purity) on the part of the Japanese. To be a gaijin (foreigner) and try to compete in a sport long revered by the host country is even more remarkable.

Second, what they do, at that high a level, requires speed, power, perseverance, and intelligence. To compete at the highest levels of the sport (Penetani is one of only 67 grand champions in the entire centuries old history of Japan) does not come easily. The training system rikishi go through is literally feudal in nature. You are treated less as a human and more as an animal to be beaten into submission.

And yet, the Moose rose to the top of his sport. No matter what happens after he eventually retires, no one can say he lacked the heart of a champion to overcome so many obstacles.

With Friends Like These

Got this tidbit in the mail yesterday. Senator John McCain continues to be a thorn in the side of his party's leaders. The Washington Post reports (see it here) that McCain has joined top Democrats in demanding a vote on a prescription drug bill that would give consumers access to less expensive generic drugs.

Citing his party's ties to the pharmaceutical industry and the less than enthusiastic Republican investigations into corporate corruption and greed, McCain notes "'frustration among voters'" and predicts that it's "'very, very likely' that Republicans could lose control of the House this fall".

Are there differences between Republicans and Democrats? You decide, then vote in November.

Aloha!

Bumper Snickers

The federal Office of National Drug Control Policy, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, has an ad campaign in the newspapers showing the back of a van with a bumper sticker. The sticker says:

If you can read this, you're too close.
My son smokes pot and is a dangerous
driver to share the road with.

I'm sure every parent would be proud to have that on their bumper.

Bumper Cars

The MorningPaper has a story about a 34-year old man arrested on attempted murder charges. So what, you say. Well, it seems the man saw a 16-year old boy stealing his car from the front of his house. So he jumped in his other car and chased the boy down the highway at a high rate of speed. Eventually he caught up and began ramming the stolen car from behind. The cars came to a stop whereupon both the boy and the man were arrested.

Rather than arresting the man, I think he should be given a medal for taking responsibility for his belongings. Yes, I know, it is dangerous to go speeding down the highway ramming a car, but if the boy hadn't stolen the car, there would not have been a need to chase after him. As far as I'm concerned, had anything untoward happened, I would lay the blame on the boy.

Smoking Bumped

First it was O'ahu. Them Mau'i. Now the Big Island of Hawai'i is working on a smoking ban in restaurants. One can hope Kaua'i will be next.

Of course, there wouldn't need to be a county by county ban had the state legislature had the cajones to pass a statewide bad. But I guess that is too much to ask of a group owned by the smoking lobby and their money.

Found on the 'Net: Tao of the PC

A file that big?
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

Yesterday it worked
Today it is not working
Windows is like that

The Web site you seek
cannot be located but
endless others exist

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.

ABORTED effort:
Close all that you have.
You ask way too much.

First snow, then silence.
This thousand dollar screen dies
so beautifully.

With searching comes loss
and the presence of absence:
"My Novel" not found.

The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao, until
You bring fresh toner.

Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.

Stay the patient course
Of little worth is your ire
The network is down

A crash reduces
your expensive computer
to a simple stone.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.

You step in the stream,
but the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.

Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.

Rather than a beep
Or a rude error message,
These words: "File not found."

Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

Aloha!

Nature vs. Nurture

When is a haiku, the familiar three-line 5-7-5 syllable Japanese poem, not an haiku? When it's a senryu. So what's the difference? From what I understand, in classic haiku, the subject would be the seasons, or metaphors related to the seasons. Senryu would be everything else. Hence, most of what we think of as haiku, should really be called senryu.

Of course, as time has gone by, common usage seems to be combining the two into one generic name - haiku. I don't know if it makes a whole lot of difference to most people, but be aware once again that all you thought you knew is wrong.

I'm working on a post that I intended to have today but time has run out so I will try for tomorrow. Until then, Aloha!

Inside Out

As a public safety announcement, I note a safety related recall of "Rampant Rabbit" vibrators. See the link here.

Insider Information

Yesterday's news talked about the ongoing investigation of insider trading alleged against TV personality Martha Stewart. The thing that bothers me is that some people say "What's the problem?" Why is it anyone's business if she had people who could give her information that would be useful to her? Isn't that how life is? Don't we all try to get an advantage, whether it is by becoming well read on a subject or simply paying someone to advise us, it all seems to be okay. So just what's the problem with "insider trading"?

To answer that question requires an understanding of the art and science of decision making in an environment of scarcity, risk, and uncertainty. That's right, you need to understand economics. That is, the study of the trade in a market place - when does it occur, under what condition(s) does it occur, why it sometimes doesn't occur, and what is an optimum trade?

Let's define the last question first because it tends to answer the other questions at the same time. An efficient trade (one term used by economists is "Pareto optimal allocation") is one in which an exchange, i.e., trade, will increase the overall net gains, but in addition, and this is by definition critical, make one or more of the traders better off, and none worse off.

So how does this work in an insider trading situation? Well, it comes down to another economic phrase - asymmetric information. Imagine you were shopping for a used car. In a perfect world, you could spot the difference between a good vehicle and a lemon without the seller telling you which is which. Hence, you would be willing to pay more for the good one and less, or nothing, for the lemon. But we don't live in a perfect world so under most circumstance, you don't know if the car you want to buy is a good one (and the seller probably won't voluntarily tell you, hence the term asymmetric information) or a lemon and you therefore have to make a calculated estimation of the benefits of buying a particular car versus the probability of getting a lemon (there are economic phrases for this but I've already thrown enough stuff out there).

If your calculation of the cost outweighs the benefits you probably won't buy, that is, there will be no trade of money for a car. If there is no trade, there is no benefit to either party (lose/lose). If there is a trade, but the buyer indeed gets a lemon, he or she will be worse off than when they started (win/lose). In other words, they have less money than before and a car that will be very expensive to fix. There is a whole new area of economics called "adverse selection" that looks at this kind of trade, but I digress.

In either case, this is an example of an inefficient trade. People try to avoid inefficient trades. If enough people avoid a trade there is no market (i.e., the market collapses). Let me repeat that last parenthetical remark: The Market Collapses.

Given this, can you guess when the first law against insider trading went into effect? Can you say The Depression? I knew that you could. While there are economists who say there can be Pareto efficient trades even under insider information conditions, I think the insights coming from adverse selection studies will prove that to be incorrect. YMMV.

In either case, before we start rolling back laws against insider trading, perhaps we should pause and reflect on what led to those laws in the first place.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!