Lexicon Listing

The folks over at the American Heritage College Dictionary have the hubris to create a feckless list of 100 words that they say all high school graduates should know (see their site here). While they would never be considered diffident, you have to be churlish to decry their yeoman effort. I guess it's just their way of creating the sine qua non of dictionaries.

Election Day Neareth

As we enter the last days before the U.S. elections next week Tuesday, the real attack adds are beginning to hit the fan, ahem, air waves. I expect all kinds of lies, damned lies, and statistics to be thrown out in the hope that some of it will stick.

Personally, I like the Republican one that tries to say that gubernatorial candidate Lingle will have a greater influence in Washington because she is a Republican. But if that is true, why are the Republicans sending the former White Counsel (the President's lawyer firgoodnesssakes) to help the campaign while the Democrats are sending former U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton? I am so tired of their endless spin. I wonder if they would know the truth if it slid on the ground and bit them on the asp?

By the way, if you believe polls, Democrat Hirono has closed the gap between her and the Republican. A gap that many thought was to big to even come close. As I've said before, I'm optimistic that the people of Hawai'i will see through the Republican shibai and vote for their own people, rather than the mainland carpet baggers whose main purpose in life is to transform paradise into Orange County.

Aloha!

Short Shrift Mode

Sorry, but this week is another busy one. In addition, I will be off on Friday and Monday so I can move our stuff from the front house to the back. Hence, no post on Friday, although I may be able to do one on Monday (assuming the PCs are setup and Road Runner is hooked up). Of course, Tuesday is the election so remember to vote early and vote often.

Aloha!

Siberian Sable

Dr. Pournelle just got the cutest looking Siberian Husky puppy. The proud papa has pics at his site (the link changes once the week is over so I'll not be linking here). One of the pics has the pups eyes glowing red. As it so happens, Scientific American has an interesting reply to the question as to why pictures of some dogs show their eyes reflecting blue or green, instead of red (like humans). See the reply here.

He Ain't Heavy

As former U.S. President Ronald Reagan used to say; "Well, there you go again." It seems Florida Governor Jeb Bush is in the news again because of a relative. In this case, it's his brother, Neil Bush (He of failed Silverado Savings and Loan. You remember, the S&L bail outs? I knew that you could). It seems brother Neil is now head of a software company that is, purely by coincidence, trying to sell software to the Florida school systems (see the story here).

Nothing wrong with that, you say. It is a free country (at least, it used to be before the coming of this President - ed.). Quite right. But some things are unethical because of the appearance of impropriety, even if none is actually found. I will leave it to the good citizens of Florida to decide whether this is ethical or not. But I can smell the stink from here.

The Air War

Local Democrats have always said that political campaigns are won on the ground, in the mud, with the help of thousands of dedicated foot soldiers, rather than over the air with TV commercials. And if the Democratic candidate for Governor wins this year, this is as good as explanation as any as to why.

While the Republican candidate has been out spending her rival on commercials by between two to four times, depending on who you believe, her poll numbers have, at best, been holding steady while her opponent has been gaining ground. In fact, one recent poll actually shows the Democrat with a slight lead. So how does someone come from 20 points behind a month ago to leading the race today?

By having a message that resonates with Hawai'i voters. A message based on values that the majority of people here believe in. Fairness, inclusiveness, respect for others, and the spirit of Aloha. Her Republican opponent runs ads full of hate, exclusiveness, and cheap shots.

I have always believed in the basic fairness of people. And regardless of how this election turns out, I will continue to believe in the people because I think they will see through all the rubbish and vote for the person who represents all of us, rather than the favored few.

Aloha!

Pax Americana

As I understand it, Dr. Pournelle has been saying for some time that the U.S., led by President Bush, seems to be acting like a republic moving towards empire. He is not the only one to come to this conclusion. You can follow this link here to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I don't know that I would agree with all of the effects that the writer states will happen, but who knows?

Consider the Source

I am outraged by the unsubstantiated claims being made by Republican leaning web sources. I'm not going to help their cause by linking to them but they are spreading the most vile filth that they can think of. All I can say is that most people can see through this and will not support their efforts.

One of these sites, which hides behind the name of what sounds like a legitimate newspaper is actually run by a woman fired by her Republican bosses at a local business weekly. There is some controversy about why she was fired, but the bottom line is she has ethical problems in her personal and professional life that were so great that her bosses had no other choice other than to cut her loose before she brought their entire business down with her.

And yet, this site is being linked to as an authoritative source on the 'net. There, she refers to un-named sources which claim to have information about Democrats spreading rumors. But when you try to track down these people, it's always a friend that was directly involved. But if you check with that friend, it was actually a close relative that had been involved. Then when you track down that relative, it's actually a personal friend that had heard the rumor. And so on and so on. Eventually, you come to the realization that no one knows who started it and for all you can confirm, it could have been a Republican who started it all.

As I said at the top, and I've said before, I have much faith in the people of Hawai'i and I believe they can see through this and make the right choice.

Publictization

The MorningPaper has a great story about how privatization is not always the answer to the question of how to provide excellent services to the public. It seems the State had contracted with a private company to run a "correctional facility" (what correcting do they do there? - ed.). But due to economic pressures, the company tried to save money by not having sufficient guards to have any level of security, much less an acceptable level of security.

The public safety was clearly in peril by the number of people breaking out of the facility and so the State fired that company and tried another. But due to economic pressures, the company tried to save money by cutting the number of guards. Gee, didn't I just say that above? Yes, I did. And yes, they had people breaking out by the van load.

Perhaps public safety is not an area which is conducive to the economic model of reform. Perhaps, instead of blindly following a one-size fits all dogma, we need to carefully look at what works and what doesn't and then choose what does and discard what doesn't.

Have a safe and happy Halloween! - Aloha!

On Vacation

No post today.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!