Sunday, November 29, 2009
Military stimulus
by Larry Geller
Sometimes a picture is the best way to understand an issue. Sam Smith included this simple bar graph in his article AF-PAK Math (Progressive Review, 11/26/2009).
… and as Smith points out, the additional 30,000 troops that Obama may send don’t make that much of a difference.
Also, can you find Al Qaeda in the chart? That’s because there are fewer than 100 of them, he points out. Check out the original article.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Straightforward logic on the slippery oil tax
Henry Curtis scored a prime spot in today’s Star-Bulletin with his op-ed, Proposed oil tax a barrel of trouble for Hawaii (11/26/2009). His message is common sense and clear. Referring to the proposed tax on oil he begins:
Unfortunately, the proposed state oil tax is anti-business, anti-labor and anti-common sense, and might significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.
For the reasoning behind this, check out the article.
Now you know what you already knew about Congress delivering the goods for their paymasters
by Larry Geller
Obama’s teleprompter may be the butt of jokes, but Congress seems to have its own—the drug industry writes the lines they speak.
Well, you knew this, of course. They say what they are paid to say. Here it is, exposed in print, something a bit rare.
In black and white you can read that the same drug companies that pay out huge campaign contributions also write speeches for the representatives (and I use the term reluctantly) to insert in the Congressional Record or to use on the floor. Of course, there is no connection between the bribes … … (what else to call it?) (but I would never suggest that…) and the opinions they are voicing.
Trouble is, when many almost identical statements appear, it becomes obvious that these folks lack even the brains to personalize the words a little bit so it won’t look like they’re on the take. The New York Times has exposed them:
The boilerplate in the Congressional Record included some conversational touches, as if actually delivered on the House floor.
In the standard Democratic statement, Representative Robert A. Brady of Pennsylvania said: “Let me repeat that for some of my friends on the other side of the aisle. This bill will create high-paying, high-quality jobs in health care delivery, technology and research in the United States.”
Mr. Brady’s chief of staff, Stanley V. White, said he had received the draft statement from a lobbyist for Genentech’s parent company, Roche. [NY Times, In House, Many Spoke With One Voice: Lobbyists’ , 11/14/2009]
How effective was this propaganda campaign?
The New York Times observed in an editorial:
As Robert Pear reported in The Times on Sunday, statements inserted into the official record by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by lobbyists working for Genentech, a large biotechnology company that expects to prosper under some of the provisions in the reform legislation. The company estimates that 22 Republicans and 20 Democrats picked up some of its talking points. [New York Times, Puppets in Congress,11/16/2009]
So what we all knew all along is now out in print, in one of the largest newspapers in the country. People now know officially. But what will come of it?
In our democracy, nothing.
Web news conglomeration is coming to a city block near you
by Larry Geller
It’s not just newspapers or TV stations that join into (generally politically conservative) large media conglomerations. As our attention is drawn to the traditional media gobbling itself up, the same could be happening on the Web.
As with the traditional media, these Web conglomerates will be controlled by moneyed conservative interests.
Media Matters for America highlighted the progress of Examiner.com, whose traffic they report already ranks 21st among U.S. news sites, in becoming one such media empire through its acquisition of NowPublic.
Given the newspaper industry's struggles, it isn't inconceivable that Examiner.com could quickly become a key source of news and information for many Americans. At which point, based on []Examiner owner Philip] Anschutz's history, it'll be like having a local version of Fox News Channel in every city in America.
Examiner.com is hyper-local and NowPublic has contributors, according to this story, in 140 countries. The article notes that it already reaches 129 markets within this country. That’s already a sizeable empire.
Should newspaper readership continue to deteriorate and as more and more readers flee to and depend upon the Web for their news, the Right is moving to grab choice chunks of cyberspace in preparation. Newspapers that are building a large Web presence (as is the Gannett chain very successfully) may already be camped to the Right of center.
As with traditional media, the Left may find itself Left Behind.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Insecurity upgrade
by Larry Geller
Something else to worry about. Check out this YouTube video of a news report on how easy it is to steal the data from these chips.
You would think that someone would have thought about this. RFID readers are getting better at reading at a distance.
I’ve wondered if an aluminum foil wrapper would do the trick.
Starting to ask questions about Hawaii food safety
by Larry Geller
Cute little fella, huh?
I have enjoyed shopping at the Chinatown markets and didn’t think
of visiting there at night with a camera, so I was intrigued when invited to come along and shoot some video. Check it out. It was worth the trip.
According to regulars in the small crowd outside the market window, the spectacle is a regular nighttime attraction. In other words, it happens all the time. The rats were frolicking that night and they probably look forward to their Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. In the meantime, if you have purchased anything at this or other Chinatown markets, there’s a chance that the rats have already sampled your Thanksgiving meal.
Keep in mind that every banana you see in the video, and whatever is under the blue tarps, will likely have been sold to someone the next day. Some kids are eating them now, somewhere. The same bananas that the rats sampled first.
Throughout the shoot we did not see rats actually eating, they looked fat and probably had finished dining by the time we got there. It was all fun and games, swinging from the hanging baskets and enjoying whatever they were doing under the plastic tarps.
Amusing spectacle or not, shouldn’t we be concerned? The illustration at left (click for larger) isn’t something just plucked from the Internet, it comes straight from the Hawaii Department of Health website where they link Chinatown to a historic rat problem:
Rodents also played a major role in Hawaii's past. In 1899, bubonic plague (carried by rats) broke out in the Honolulu Chinatown district. The district was destroyed by fire, which had been set in several homes of victims in an attempt to control the disease.
In the early 1900's, the control of vectors (principally rodents and mosquitoes) was financed by public-spirited private efforts, principally through fund-raising by the respective chambers of commerce. These problems were assumed as territorial functions by the Board of Health under two separate Bureaus: Rodent Control and Mosquito Control. In 1970, the two separate Bureaus were merged into a single state Vector Control Branch. This merge facilitated program and economic efficiency in the protection and prevention of vector borne diseases.
So isn’t it time to start asking questions? In advance of any research, I just want to ask where is the Department of Health after hours? Even if they do inspect the markets during the daytime, it appears that to catch a rat you need to be on the job past sunset. If the rat circus in Chinatown is a nightly event, that means that DOH vector control is lacking.
There are several open-plan marketplaces in Chinatown, including Maunakea Market Place, Oahu Market, and the Kekaulike Market. Each of them is divided into spaces that are run as individual shops. What we saw Monday night was one shop which was infested with rats, and which brought into question the sanitation of all of the others that might sell other than packaged products.
In an open-plan market, there’s nothing to keep a rat from shopping around. One nearby shop visible through the windows sells fish. Everything there was tightly sealed up, but unless they clean the scales and other exposed surfaces each and every day, they also could be contaminated by the next-door rat party.
Unless sanitation is enforced on each and every shop, all the others can be affected. I wonder also about inspections of nearby shops and restaurants that block their windows from view after hours with wood or cardboard.
An infestation of the scale we witnessed is not only unappetizing, but I think it could be dangerous, and wonder when the Department of Health will get around to fixing this. I’ll make sure they see this article.
I have other questions, and for now, they are also just questions. DOH is also responsible for restaurant inspections. Anecdotally, they are few. It is also possible to report problems to their sanitation branch and they are supposed to follow up. I did so around a year ago, reporting a chain restaurant that was not washing the little milk pitchers after use at a table. They took them out of the dirty bussing tray, poured in more milk, and delivered it to the next table. All day long, those things probably never got washed. If someone would sneeze into one, you’d still get it.
Pleasant thought, right? So I called it in. I was told that someone would visit the place and check. Several months later, the practice continues. I mean, I love their pancakes, but I won’t drink their coffee. Obviously, I need to check again with the DOH and see if they visited and/or took any action. I’ll get back to you on that. In the meantime, if you eat pancakes out occasionally, watch those milk pitchers and let me know if you see the same thing.
Bottom line, I think the DOH has something to answer on both of these issues, but I haven’t yet followed up with them.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Invitation to Honolulu Chinatown after dark
by Larry Geller
Please enjoy shopping in Chinatown, Honolulu.
Hot news: Blackwater conducting operations in Pakistan that are more secretive than the CIA’s
by Larry Geller
According to reporter Jeremy Scahill, even Obama may not know what Blackwater is doing in Pakistan:
Blackwater is also said to be involved in a previously undisclosed U.S. military drone campaign that has killed scores of people inside Pakistan. The article says the program has become so secretive that top Obama administration and military officials have likely been unaware of its existence. [Democracy Now, Blackwater’s Secret War in Pakistan: Jeremy Scahill Reveals Private Military Firm Operating in Pakistan Under Covert Assassination and Kidnapping Program, 11/24/2009]
Scahill’s article posted last night on The Nation’s website, Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan, is hot on the tweetosphere. Be sure to read Scahill’s article, not someone else’s summary. The Democracy Now interview is a good introduction.
There’s a lot there about US use of private contractors to conduct bombing raids against key individual targets even if civilians also die, while claiming we are not at war in Pakistan. If indeed the President is not aware of these operations, it presents the question of who is actually running our wars around the world.
Also, why are ordinary Americans not concerned that, as Scahill reports, the dronemasters don’t mind taking out 34 civilians in order to score one high-value target? If we continue to be silent, are we not all complicit?
To much of the world it is not the Taliban but the US who are viewed as the terrorists. This article on Blackwater is but another chapter in world history that will haunt us for generations.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Legislative auditor joins call for Ted Liu removal
by Larry Geller
Today’s Advertiser breaking news features the story Hawaii auditor calls for removal of DBEDT Director Ted Liu which begins:
The state auditor, citing "numerous and egregious acts," has recommended that Gov. Linda Lingle remove Ted Liu as director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
The auditor speaks with some authority (the article is based on a draft, the final report may be different).
For those wanting more detail than found in today’s short stories, of course it will be necessary to wait for the full report to be released. But there has been enough reported to give some background to the auditor’s recommendation.
Some of us formed opinions earlier based on that background. I wrote on October 24, 2008:
Let’s have some balance around here. Rex Johnson was forced to resign over forwarding offensive emails from his work computer. Fine. Now, a lengthy investigation by the Senate has reached conclusions over alleged violations of state procurement law on the part of Ted Liu, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism's (DBEDT), and his management team.
I quoted a few results from a Senate investigative committee report:
• That the DBEDT Director (Director) sought to manipulate the procurement process and bypass procurement laws and rules to steer the Hydrogen Fund Management Contract to his favored bidder;
• That the Director had a pre-existing personal relationship with Barry Weinman which he concealed upon questioning by the Committee;
• That the Director allowed Mr. Weinman to be inappropriately involved throughout the procurement process including the preparation of the work plan which ultimately led to the Request for Proposals for the Hydrogen Fund Management Contract (RFP);
And the last one:
• That there is a reasonable belief that the actions taken constitute a knowing and intentional violation of the State procurement laws and rules by the Director and his top management team.
On November 8, 2009, still waiting for Liu’s resignation, I cited Bob Jones’ MidWeek column, Governor Lingle And The Liu Ruse which began:
It’s res ipsa loquitur - the thing speaks for itself - that Gov. Lingle should have fired state business director Ted Liu for incompetence and malfeasance.
Any reasonable person must conclude that upon reading the Senate Investigative Committee findings on how Liu awarded management of the state’s $8.7 million Hydrogen Investment Fund.
and went on:
If the story eluded you, Liu ignored advice he was legally required to take (the law against favoritism) and awarded a lucrative contract not to the No. 1 or No. 2 qualified bidders, but to No. 3 that was fronted and advised by Lingle’s well-moneyed supporter Barry Weinman.
It wasn’t just the Senate report. The Advertiser summarized the issue in a single, succinct paragraph today:
In a draft report, state auditor Marion Higa alleges the department filed false financial reports related to a federal grant, spent lavishly on a trade mission to China in 2005, and mishandled finances at overseas offices in Beijing and Taipei.
The Advertiser breaking news story ends with:
Lingle is expected to issue a statement later today defending Liu.
Reviewing the reports, one might conclude that she shouldn’t do that, although Bob Jones’ has explained why she might (the contract award cited above).
A Star-Bulletin breaking news article also indicates the Governor will continue to back Liu:
Also Lenny Klompus, Lingle's senior assistant for communications, said the governor would not dismiss Liu.
"To attempt to make criminal what may be likes and dislikes -- disagreements or differences in judgment or approach -- to seek to paint everything with a paintbrush of 'violations', to constantly review and re-review old issues for political purposes, is in my view, unfair and unproductive," Liu said.
The Governor herself is selective in what laws she obeys, choosing not to implement laws passed by the Legislature at her whim. But this is different. Filing false reports, for example.
Check the articles linked above. As taxpayers, are we not entitled to better?
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Forget hydrogen, forget expensive lithium batteries, fuel up on compressed air? Maybe… The MDI AirPod rides through the streets of Paris
by Larry Geller
It’s clean, it’s green. At last, it moves.
It takes two minutes to fill the tank of this futuristic prototype air-powered car. It emits zero pollution. There are no batteries to replace or recycle, no hydrogen to explode in a crash. No fuel cell. But still too weird, too small, no aircon yet, (not even a seat belt!).
Who knows if it will succeed, but this may bear watching.
The car is small and light, hence its efficiency. If the electricity needed to run the little air compressor that refuels it comes from renewable sources, it could be very green. It’s top speed of 28 mph and range of about 140 miles would be good enough for city driving as is, and it could improve.
Development is clearly at an early stage, and many of these projects fail to succeed. A recent IEEE Spectrum article is far from positive. The company behind the cars, Motor Development International, has scored some important sponsors.
If we are to see any of them in Honolulu one day, Mufi will have to either fix the potholes or the AirPod will need bigger front wheels. It will need some way to cool down—right now it’s a green greenhouse that bakes its passengers relentlessly. Since the release of air from the engine is cold, it shouldn’t be too long before the designers figure out that they can use that to help cool the passengers.
Besides seat belts, air bags would seem to be a good idea in a vehicle this light.
Let’s see how it goes.
Johan Galtung’s view from Europe: PTSD and PGED: Post Glory Exuberance Disorder
“Once upon a time 13 colonies-states on the Atlantic seaboard were peopled by Albion's Seed… USA, can you deny others what you made yourself? Why not rather help them, give institutional advice, do not leave that to the Europeans alone. Make them your friends, do not try to turn the time machine of history backward. Do not rest on past glory letting that exuberance run away with you. Rather, reach out, find friends close to you.”
PTSD and PGED: Post Glory Exuberance Disorder
By Johan Galtung – 23 Nov 2009
Washington: There is much talk about post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, these days. Yes, it must be tough to kill so many Afghans who fight secularism, Kabul and foreign soldiers dying for that fraudulent dictator Karzai, and invasions by some chess game drunk players. And, at a risk of an IED, US$ 10 per piece, lethal, effective. And, maybe with the sneaking doubt about the whole exercise, a stupid farce concocted in twisted Anglo-American minds filled with Russia-China-Muslim-free pipe-lines and bases for, just in case, a war with China. With no real proof that 9/11 was made in Afghanistan, nor that Al Qaeda needs that place. To fight that war carries triple trauma. They need that spiritual fitness center on the Fort Hood Resiliency Campus (WP, Nov. 16 2009).
Not strange that the soldiers collapse. They desert massively. And may take it out on their families. Or on themselves in the mounting suicide rate. As walking veteran time bombs in minefield USA, still with unexploded Viêt Nam veterans as PTSD devices. Fresh loads coming. A sign of health: they are still human.
15,000 of the soldiers in the US army are among the 2,3 million US Muslims. They signed up for an Obama-administration fighting four Muslim countries at the same time, Iraq-Pakistan-Afghanistan directly with some local assistance; Palestine indirectly via Israel as arms-money-veto supplier. In addition threatening Iran with obliteration in case they aim at a second strike capability. Yemen, Somalia, solidly Muslim. Maybe not psyche strange if some of them see this as a war against Islam?
One of them a psychiatrist, Major Nidal Hasan. Maybe weird, maybe psychiatrized into innocence. But imagine listening to a litany of PTSD of soldiers reporting not only the fear of being killed, but the pain of killing countless Muslims. Just imagine.
He issued a warning: give US muslims the conscientious objection option (WP Nov 10, 2009). Ignored. The rest is history.
That country, fighting for Western values, will conclude a twisted court case focused on behavior only, not on the underlying agony of any Muslim whose duty it is to defend Islam when trampled upon with a death penalty; bringing the war into the court room like the Obama administration plans for some court close to Ground Zero in Manhattan. Predictable all, and predictably useless for individual and general prevention. But not for producing martyrs.
And yet there is something worse than the post-traumatic stress disorder made by USA and acted out in USA. The post glory exuberance disorder is acted out abroad and then made in USA with ticker tape parades and war tribe dances around flag poles for one more annual glory, the unconditional surrender by some somebody. The exuberance disorder of that invincible, exceptionalist one.
Obama, concerned with nuclear arms, could counteract PGED by letting a deed follow his many words: visit to Hiroshima. Yes, we did it, I wish it could be undone. Invitation declined, "this time". Instead he adds the 4th fleet for Latin America, nuclear of the "neither confirm nor deny variety", to the 7 Colombia bases against narco-traffic, terrorism and anti-US governments. And the Tlatelolco treaty? A US breach will encourage others. And we are in the midst of a nuclear arms race rather than any reduction.
And no word about the demand side of narcotics, following in the footsteps of those demanding Plan Colombia with no Plan USA.
The Goldstone report is a magnificent invitation to multilateral diplomacy on Israel-Palestine, a miracle of double-sidedness. A golden chance to remove that stone blocking the articulation of the issue toward solution, like for Korea opening for a nuclear free Middle East, and Korean peninsula. But no. Nuclear bilateralism is the formula. Is the guy a fake?
United States of America, please remember your own history.
Once upon a time 13 colonies-states on the Atlantic seaboard were peopled by Albion's Seed (a remarkable book), Puritans from East Anglia, Quakers from Bradford, from Devonshire 402 years ago to Jamestown VA, the border riff-raff relegated to inner domains; all run by a London-appointed governor for English self-benefit.
They merged those states, they united, 1776-1789-1812, from Declaration to Independence. Deal with us as a whole, no more divide et impera, you London. And London, slowly, learnt.
USA, maybe you inspired somebody? Maybe Latin America and the Caribbean are now at the same stage in history? Maybe so is Africa, with no country wanting to host your Africom, leaving that role to servile Germans in Stuttgart? Maybe East Asia wants the two Chinas, two Koreas, two Japans as a whole? Maybe one day the Middle East will get a fit of sanity, opting for a community of Israel with the five neighboring Arab states? And Central Asia, Afghanistan with 7-8 surrounding Muslim countries, the five former Soviet "stans", Iran, Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, maybe even the Valley should India practice democracy? And--even more--a Russian union that could include the non-Russians on equal terms, with Byelorussia and half of Ukraine--a huge whole? You, Washington.
All coming. USA, can you deny others what you made yourself? Why not rather help them, give institutional advice, do not leave that to the Europeans alone. Make them your friends, do not try to turn the time machine of history backward. Do not rest on past glory letting that exuberance run away with you. Rather, reach out, find friends close to you. There is a Latin America but also an English America, with you, Canada and into the Caribbean. With Mexico as a bridge. Celebrate this new turn of history.
What belongs together should grow together, like the Germanies 20 years ago. President Obama: it is unbecoming for you to act as a latter day George III trying to stop the inevitable.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
“Raiders of the Rainy Day Fund” won’t stop the legal challenges
by Larry Geller
Today’s Star-Bulletin features a very clever movie poster style illustration by Bryant Fukutomi to accompany Richard Borreca’s article, Labor agreements to be redrawn (11/21/2009). Clicking on the image on the Star-Bulletin website gets a larger, almost-readable, gallery view of the poster. Try cntrl-+ to make the pic even larger so you can read the fine print.
While the Governor may be happy with the heroic pose she has been granted, my guess is that Speaker of the House Calvin Say and especially Senate President Colleen Hanabusa will be less than pleased with their images on this poster.
On the other hand, readers may not be happy with the way Hanabusa demonstrates a certain hypocrisy in her statement at the end of the article:
"I hope we as a state are never faced with this kind of economic crisis again. I don't think there is any elected official who hasn't said education is the No. 1 priority. It is time to put our money where our mouth is. This is a policy statement," Hanabusa said.
The economic crisis isn’t over, in fact, many projections indicate that the worst is yet to come as job losses and foreclosures continue or accelerate.
The problem, though, is with “I don't think there is any elected official who hasn't said education is the No. 1 priority.”
Yes, that’s what they say, but then they let the Furlough Fridays cut Hawaii’s school year down to the shortest in the nation. Where exactly were they all before the worldwide attention and local protests developed? (Including the excellent Frank DeLima parody, "Friday come and we gotta stay home." )
Maybe illustrator Bryant Fukutomi has given Hanabusa the correct pose after all.
Meanwhile, both the Star-Bulletin and the Advertiser report that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has moved forward their hearing on the case brought by attorneys Carl Varady and Susan Dorsey that challenges Furlough Fridays as damaging to special needs students. Strangely, the stories differ as to whether the State must file its response by December 10th or December 11th. (The Advertiser link is to today’s breaking news, so it may not work after a while.)
Only the Advertiser article notes:
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima said although the lost classroom days are likely to cause "irreparable harm" to the special-education students, he believed ordering schools to be reopened would cause more harm than good.
Tashima’s finding that the furlough days are likely to cause “irreparable harm” taken together with the 9th Circuit’s willingness to move the hearing forward may indicate that the appeal has a good chance of success.
Our state government, the Department of Education and the Board of Education were fully aware that many special education IEPs would be “broken” by the unilateral changes brought about by cancelling part of the students’ agreed programs. No doubt, should plaintiffs prevail, it will take taxpayer money to resolve what could be a flurry of individual claims for compensatory education.
There are no heroes in this (aside from plaintiff attorneys) and a good deal of hypocrisy demonstrated by our educational and government leaders, few of whom in fact made the education of special needs children their “No. 1 priority.” At least there is federal law around special education that can be called on.
Our state simply left public education behind until world opinion (and some derision) caught up with them.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Did you think the ballot you cast in the 2008 election was secret? Think again if you live in Hawaii
by Larry Geller
Bob Babson, lead plaintiff in the Babson v. Cronin lawsuit, has documented some of his concerns and suggestions in an email request for new legislation that I hope our lawmakers will take very seriously. As I read through his document, I was alarmed at some of the revelations. See what you think.
In response to Babson’s lawsuit, Judge Joseph E. Cardoza enjoined Hawaii’s Office of Elections from purchasing electronic voting equipment until administrative rules were in place. A central concern expressed in the lawsuit was the danger of so-called “man-in-the-middle” attacks that could change election results.
But there’s more. To answer the headline question, no, your 2008 ballot probably wasn’t secret. Bob explains that the Hart machines chosen by the Office of Elections used a new and different technology, one that violates the secrecy of your vote:
In 2008, there was a number on the ballot and a different number on the detachable part of the ballot handed to the voter. But the election vendor who designed the system and ordered the ballots could easily know both numbers. The number on the detachable part was written down by election volunteers when voters signed in. Thus, election officials could later see this number and trace it to the ballot and learn how voters voted. This was especially easy because in 2008, "marksense" was not used but instead "digital ballot imaging" (see "terminology" at the end of this letter) was used where every ballot was photographed and made into a ".jpg" which showed the number on the ballot making it easy to see who voters voted for. This absolutely violates the constitutional right of all voters to vote anonymously.
In other words, the new machines did not just record your vote, the way the older machines did. They took a picture of your entire ballot, including the ballot number. As Bob explained above, that number is easily traced to you. So your vote cast in 2008 is not secret. It can be easily looked up in a computer. In prior elections, your ballot would have to be located, a time-consuming task. Once the paper ballots were destroyed, your vote could not be traced. Now your vote is recorded in a computer file with an identifying number.
I also noted that, according to Bob’s report, neither the Office of Elections nor the voting systems have ever been audited. This seems like an oversight that the Legislature could and should remedy, particularly given the lawsuits against the OOE and other difficulties it has experienced.
Of course, there is the unresolved question of how to prevent “man-in-the-middle” attacks if electronic transmission by phone or over the Internet is allowed. The OOE should be required to demonstrate that this or other hack attack is not possible before electronic voting equipment is allowed to be used. The value of an audit is that it could show whether the Office of Elections is truly protecting the sanctity of our vote or simply expecting the equipment vendor to do that for them.
Bob asks us to communicate with our legislators on some new lawmaking. His document is long, but very worth reading. I have redacted his personal information except for his email because spammers typically harvest that information from websites. If you can read this, you should be able to contact Bob if you wish via his email. (Note: his attachments are not included here, contact him directly if you would like them).
Dear Citizens of Hawaii,
There are serious problems with the Hawaii election system. Below, please find my letter to the Hawaii State Legislature making eight recommendations which I believe will significantly increase Hawaii election system accuracy. Please read over these recommendations and if you concur, please forward this email to your Representative and Senator and ask them to enact some or all of these recommendations into law. You can quickly forward this email with your comments to all Representatives by clicking on "forward" and addressing it to reps@capitol.hawaii.gov. Then, to send it to all Senators, click on "forward" again and address it to sens@capitol.hawaii.gov. Please add specific comments if you wish. Open, honest and accurate elections are the backbone of Democracy! We must protect it!
Sincerely,
Bob Babson
Email: babsonb001@hawaii.rr.com
November 1, 2009
Hawaii State Legislature
Hawaii State Capitol
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
Re: Recommendations for new Hawaii State Laws to be passed by the State Legislature which will significantly increase the accuracy of elections in Hawaii.
Dear Hawaii State Representatives and Senators,
I majored in accounting in college and was an auditor for three years following my graduation. In 2006 I was a Maui Official Observer and I saw numerous weaknesses in the Hawaii election system. I have described each weakness below and have made recommendations which I believe will increase the accuracy of all future Hawaii elections. Voting is the cornerstone of democracy. Every vote must and should be counted accurately. Please review each recommendation and if you agree, please introduce a bill in the State Legislature to make it Hawaii State law.
Recommendations for Significantly Increasing the Accuracy of the Hawaii Election System:
1. The Hawaii State Legislature should pass a law banning all election equipment from using any form of telecommunication or remote networking.
a. This will eliminate any possibility of "Man in the Middle" vote flipping. It is impossible to know where votes are going when they go over telephone lines and/or the internet. "Chain of custody" is completely broken. They could be going to a "middle man" at a remote website where they are "flipped" in a matter of less than 60 seconds and then sent on to the state count center. "Flipped" means votes are taken from one candidate and given to another candidate allowing the receiving candidate to win the election illegally. During all elections in Hawaii since at least 1998 through 2008, votes have been sent over the internet and could have been flipped. The Office of Elections has 100% "trusted" the election vendor who 100% secretly designs the software and hardware and no one is allowed to inspect it because of "proprietary" laws. Please Google "elections man in the middle" to see the numerous news stories about this very serious problem.
b. The election vendor could actually program the computers and manipulate votes and vote counts directly or indirectly by sending the vote counts to a remote computer where they could be altered (by the man in the middle) and then sent on to the state count center. Current law does not require this type of protection and the Chief Elections Officer has refused to consider such rules in petitions and letters seeking such rule making. Legislative protection is needed in this area.
c. To further illustrate how dangerous it is to have any computer connected to the internet, please go to www.gotomypc.com and click on "how it works" and watch the "demo" to get the idea of how easy this type of software is to install and use. It is designed for business people to access all their files on their office computer from a remote computer. Using this kind of software, an election vendor could come into their count center computers and flip votes at will any time during the day. It is therefore absolutely mandatory that all election equipment not be connected to any telecommunications of any sort.
d. California has already passed state law AB 3026 banning the use of the internet during elections (see Attachment #1).
e. Representative Rush Holt has introduced in Congress HR 2894 which, if passed, will ban the use of all telecommunications during elections in all 50 states (see Attachment #2). To see the text and status of HR2894, please go to www.thomas.loc.gov and enter HR2894. This is good bill and will significantly improve election accuracy in the United States.
f. Computer experts have stated it is impossible to have secure elections when the internet is used. Please see list of experts and their statements (see Attachment #3).
g. German High Court rules "evoting" unconstitutional. Germany not only banned the use of all telecommunications, they also banned all computers. All future elections will be hand counted (see Attachment #4). Note: there is a movement in the United States to have all votes counted by hand. Please see www.handcountedpaperballots.org.
2. The State Legislature should pass a law authorizing and ordering the Hawaii State Auditor to conduct a full 100% inspection of the Hawaii election system from start to finish and write a report with recommendations to the state legislature and the general public following each election.
a. The State Auditor should have 100% full access by law to all aspects of the election including election vendor software and hardware and not be denied any information they seek. Said inspection should include hiring computer experts if not already on staff to review and approve all election vendor software and hardware and all election procedures before, during and after each election. This would include being in attendance at all election events which Official Observers attend. Note: From 1998 to 2008 there has never been a computer expert evaluation or professional audit of the Hawaii election system. No reports have ever been made. Instead, we have just "blindly trusted" the election vendor. The State Auditor audits all other branches of Hawaii government. They should audit the Office of Elections and the Hawaii election system too.
b. The State Legislature should pass a law that all election RFP's should mandatorily require in advance the successful election vendor to allow "by contract" the Hawaii State Auditor to conduct a full inspection of all software, hardware and any and all other procedures designed by the election vendor and/or the Office of Elections. This would eliminate the ability of the election vendor to claim secrecy due to "proprietary" law. California and other states have computer experts examine the software and hardware and Hawaii should also.
3. The State Legislature should pass a law authorizing and implementing a 100% vote by mail election system like they already have in Oregon and other states.
a. This will also increase voter turnout and reduce costs to the State, since there will be no precincts other than the one required by HAVA for disabled citizens to be able to come in and vote at the County Clerk's office.
b. To implement voting by mail, Hawaii should order four optical scanners for use here in Hawaii to count votes. This would be one scanner for each county. It would be located at the county count center. Each scanner must be able to print out the accumulated election results at any time during the day in order to accommodate the numerous cutoff's explained below (see 3e(2)) which are required for the manual audit. Each scanner must also be able to record all accumulated election results on a memory card. When the final vote is counted in each county, a final printout of all votes should be done, and the memory card should then be removed from the optical scanner and both the final printout and the memory card should be transported in a secure container via automobile and/or airplane to the Honolulu state count center escorted by election officials and Official Observers where the memory cards will be read in by the tabulator. A second final printout should also be made which will remain in the county and be available to the manual audit team and the public. No votes shall be transmitted over the internet.
c. Hawaii should also order one tabulator which will be located at the state count center. The tabulator should also be able to print out election results and be able to read-in the memory cards from the four counties which shall be transported in a secure container from the four counties to the state count center. No votes shall be transmitted over the internet.
d. Hawaii should order compatible ballots for the scanners to read. Said ballots should be 100% anonymous for purposes of privacy. There should be no detachable part of the ballot. When the voter signs in, a ballot should be handed to the voter. This would guaranty the vote is anonymous. There would be no "trail" back to the voter. In 2008, there was a number on the ballot and a different number on the detachable part of the ballot handed to the voter. But the election vendor who designed the system and ordered the ballots could easily know both numbers. The number on the detachable part was written down by election volunteers when voters signed in. Thus, election officials could later see this number and trace it to the ballot and learn how voters voted. This was especially easy because in 2008, "marksense" was not used but instead "digital ballot imaging" (see "terminology" at the end of this letter) was used where every ballot was photographed and made into a ".jpg" which showed the number on the ballot making it easy to see who voters voted for. This absolutely violates the constitutional right of all voters to vote anonymously.
e. Here's how voting 100% by mail works and the safeguards in place. All voters register with the county clerk. The county clerk therefore has the voter's signature on file. The county clerk then mails out a ballot to all voters and voters vote and mail it back in. The outer envelope has the signature which the clerk checks to the signature on file to ensure it is valid. If valid, the envelope is stored in a secure room until election day. If not valid in the opinion of the clerk, it is also stored in a secure room for further review as a "provisional ballot." On election day, all valid envelopes are brought to volunteers at the county count center who open the outer envelope and give the inner envelope to a second team who opens them and unfolds the ballot and places them in special ballot boxes which are taken to the count center optical scanner for counting. Then:
(1) The first 100 ballots of the day are run through the optical scanner and the optical scanner then prints out the results which are placed in a ballot box along with the 100 ballots so that the manual audit team can double check that the optical scanner is accurately counting the ballots.
(2) In the 2006 election, and I believe in 2008, the optical scanner simply counted all ballots for the rest of the day accumulating the total. Unfortunately, this resulted in the Absentee Ballot Mail (AB Mail) precinct being so big (approximately 1/3 of all votes) that it was impossible to manually count the AB Mail precinct. Therefore, no mail-in ballots other than the first 100 were manually counted. This therefore became the logical place to "flip" votes if it was going to happen. By banning the use of any telecommunications, we have eliminated the "Man in the Middle" problem. However, software can be programmed to flip votes too. So to deter this possibility, I recommend that after counting every 250 ballots, the printer should print out the accumulated results so far and the printout put into boxes along with the 250 ballots and marked "Cutoff #1, #2, #3, etc. This will give the manual audit team the ability to randomly select various "cutoff's" each consisting of 250 ballots to count and compare the votes to. The manual votes counted should equal the current cutoff less the previous cutoff. Example: If "cutoff #16 is chosen to count, then the votes manually counted should be the accumulated votes for cutoff #16 less the accumulated votes for cutoff #15. This will enable the manual audit team to count the 10% of votes required by Hawaii state law and to make sure the software didn't "flip" any votes.
(3) In the 2006 election, and I believe in 2008, the manual audit team began counting at approximately 7:00 pm on election night and finished their manual counts about 11:00 pm. However, they did not count anywhere near the 10% of the votes required by law (HRS 16-42(3). In 2006 they only counted the votes for one candidate in each of seven precincts. This is less than one percent of the total vote. I therefore recommend, that for all future elections, the manual audit team arrive on the day following the election at 8:00 am and count until 5:00 pm or until such time as 10% of the votes are counted in accordance with state law. Note: Another problem with 2006 and 2008 manual audits on election night was that many precincts were not even in to be counted. Ballots from some precincts didn't arrive until 9:00 to 10:00 pm. So the audit team could not "randomly" select precincts to count that were not there, further thwarting any appearance of random testing. If 100% mail in voting is used, it could be late in the evening when the optical scanner finishes with the final cutoff. Thus, it is best to do the random selection and manual audit count on the next day when all counts are done.
(4) Under federal law, all ballots are stored for 22 months following each election in case a recount is necessary. They should be stored in the special ballot storage boxes mentioned above with 250 ballots per box including the cutoff printout. The box should be marked with the cutoff number so the manual audit team can easily find and count the cutoffs they randomly selected.
4. The State Legislature should pass a law that all election RFP's should mandatorily as a part of the contract require the successful election vendor's chief executive officer and all election vendor employees on site here in Hawaii to certify that to the best of their knowledge, every vote has been accurately counted. All CEO's and CFO's of publically traded companies are required by federal law (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) to certify that to the best of their knowledge the financial statements are true and correct. There is no reason why an election vendor cannot also certify that the elections were accurately counted to the best of their knowledge.
5. The State Legislature should pass a law that all Election Commissioners shall automatically as a part of their official duties and responsibilities be able to attend and observe, at their discretion, all election activities the same as Official Observers . The best way for Election Commissioners to judge the election system is to be there on election day watching at the county and state count centers. According to the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Elections Commission of October 16, 2008, paragraph V states: "Commissioners Nelson and Swift expressed their difficulty in being able to observe election operations in the County of Kauai." These minutes are posted on the Office of Elections website under "Elections Commission." Please go to www.hawaii.gov/elections and click on "Elections Commission."
6. The State Legislature should pass a law that all Official Observers should be chosen by random selection. Hawaii citizens who meet the requirements of the law to be Official Observers should be allowed to apply at their county clerk's office for the county count center or at the Office of Elections for the state count center. There should then be a public meeting where all applicants could attend and names should be drawn randomly from a box. Note: Under the current system, the chief election officer and/or the county clerk can "hand pick" Official Observers. I was a 2006 Official Observer and because I wrote some letters making recommendations which Official Observers are suppose to do (we are the "Eyes & Ears of the General Public" - according to the election manual), the Chief Election Officer denied me the right to be an Official Observer at the Maui Count Center in 2008. In the financial world, auditors are chosen by the board of directors or the shareholders, never by the chief financial officer who is being audited.
7. I recommend that the State Count Center also have a manual audit team who would meet at 8:00 am on the day following the election and whose duties would be as follows:
a. They should audit the "Detail Statewide Summary" showing all precincts and how they voted and add up the total votes for selected candidates on a random test basis to make sure they add up to the results in the "Statewide Summary." In 2006, the county manual audit teams traced all manual ballot counts to the "Detail Statewide Summary" but no one added up the details and traced it to the "Statewide Summary" which is what was used to announce final winners. Both the Detail Statewide Summary (540 pages in 2008) and the Statewide Summary (3 pages in 2008) are posted on the Office of Elections website as PDF's for your review. Please go to www.hawaii.gov/elections and click on "Election Results."
b. The state manual audit team should also receive the four county count center final printouts forwarded to the state count center (see 3b above) and manually add the votes for each candidate on the four county printouts together and trace the total to the final Statewide Summary.
8. The State Legislature should pass a law mandating that all election RFP's and the successful vendor's contract with all addendums be made immediately available to the public by being posted on the Hawaii Office of Elections website. Elections must be open and transparent and the public should have ready access to these important documents. Each member of the public should not have to go through a Freedom of Information request. It is noted that the current RFP for 2010 with addendums is posted on the OOE's website and this is good.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Please contact me if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Robert G. Babson, Jr.
Useful Terminology to Know:
1. "Marksense" technology was used in Hawaii from 1998 to 2006 by ES&S. The voter "marks" the ballot and the optical scanner "senses" the vote and counts it on the first and only scan.
2. "Digital Ballot Imaging" technology was used in Hawaii in 2008 by Hart InterCivic using their Escan optical scanners. The voter "marks" the ballot and the optical scanner is programmed to photograph the ballots and make a ".jpg." Next, the ".jpg's" are read by a second program and the votes are counted during this second program. Note: In Maui in 2008, the first scan produced "blurry" .jpg's and so Official Observers demanded that the ballots all be scanned again to get better .jpg's that the second program could more accurately read. The thinking was that if the Official Observers were having trouble reading the blurry .jpg's, then the second program would also have trouble and could make mistakes. The Maui Official Observers didn't go home until 8:00 am the day after election day.
Attachments:
1. California Assembly Bill No. 3026 bans use of internet in all election equipment.
2. Rush Holt Proposed Act of Congress HR2894 bans use of internet in all election equipment.
3. Computer Technologists' Statement of Internet Voting.
4. German High Court declares evoting unconstitutional.
Please see attachment to this email which includes these four attachments.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Will Washington State labor revolt against Dems spread to other states?
by Larry Geller
Labor is asserting itself in Washington State:
The Washington State Labor Council, the Service Employees International Union and unions representing teachers and state workers have either stopped or sharply reduced donations to Democratic caucus political-action committees that back candidates for the state House and Senate.
…
There's even talk of trying to defeat some Democratic incumbents if they don't support issues important to labor in the next legislative session — such as raising taxes to help close a growing budget shortfall.The unions said they're angry at deep spending cuts lawmakers made earlier this year to balance the state budget, and at a lack of action on labor-backed legislation and causes. [Seattle Times, State Democrats facing revolt by labor, 10/11/2009]
I have often wondered why business does not rise up against the GOP and labor against the Democrats. The lack of single-payer national health care has cost businesses, both large and small, dearly, for example, yet they do not use their control of our government to support true health care reform. Having to support a greedy and growing health insurance industry cuts into their prospects to satisfy their own greed.
And why do unions continue their knee-jerk support of Democrats who don’t support progressive values, or who work to hurt labor while pushing big banking or big business agendas?
In Hawaii, layoffs and furloughs of government workers and teachers make it harder for everyone to survive. There are alternatives, including taking back some of the tax breaks the rich have enjoyed, “sin” taxes such as on sweetened soda drinks, and other methods of raising money so as to keep as many jobs as possible. We also need to know where the stimulus money is going, and if it will benefit us or go out of state. Where exactly are those shovel-ready jobs? My shovel is ready….
Education in this state has been flushed down the toilet with the cooperation of labor. It should be just the opposite. Ordinary people don’t put their children in private schools. Labor should support the needs of ordinary people. Washington State could be Hawaii, except that the unions there are taking action:
The beef with Democrats varies among the different labor groups.
Some are unhappy with lawmakers for not raising taxes to help close the $9 billion budget shortfall earlier this year. To cut costs, the Legislature eliminated pay increases for teachers and state employees and cut health care, education and other state services.
The Washington Education Association wants lawmakers to put more money back into schools.
The dynamics of labor and politics are different in Hawaii, but still, I wonder when both unions and small business will take their power and work for change in our government.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Beating swords into carbon credits
by Larry Geller
So what would encourage Obama and the Russians renew the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expires December. 5? They could claim credit for reducing global warming. Read this snippet:
Warheads are no small part of America's nuclear power industry. Currently, 10 percent of American electricity is nuclear (compare that to 6 percent for hydro, or 3 percent for solar, biomass, wind and geothermal combined). A full 45 percent of that fuel comes from decommissioned Russian nukes whose cores have been converted into civilian reactor fuel -- at times Russian nukes have accounted for more than half. Comparatively, five percent of civilian fuel comes from decommissioned American bombs. [Popular Science, Old Soviet Warheads Fuel America's Nuclear Power Industry, 11/10/2009]
From the New York Times story on which this article may be based:
The program for dismantling and diluting the fuel cores of decommissioned Russian warheads — known informally as Megatons to Megawatts — is set to expire in 2013, just as the industry is trying to sell it forcefully as an alternative to coal-powered energy plants, which emit greenhouse gases.
Finding a substitute is a concern for utilities today because nuclear plants buy fuel three to five years in advance.
One potential new source is warheads that would become superfluous if the United States and Russia agree to new cuts under negotiations to renew the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires on Dec. 5. [New York Times, Power for U.S. From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons, 11/10/2009]
… but the judge knows best, doesn’t he?
by Larry Geller
So what do I think of the judge’s decision in the Friday Furloughs cases? You’ve read in the papers that 9th Circuit Judge Wallace Tashima did not grant any injunction to stop the DOE from closing schools for 17 days this year.
I think he’s wrong.
I was raised to respect certain authority figures and not others. Forget the mayor or anyone from the City Council. If New York had a corrupt government, then it was safe to just assume that anyone who could gain office had to be corrupt. But a judge was different. Presumably the judge worked (inevitably his) way through law school, rose to the top, and so was now a respected authority figure.
Flawed though that argument may have been, my peers, it has stuck with me even though I know now of many examples that would refute it. So although I never graduated from law school and it can be argued that I don’t know what I’m talking about, in an age where anyone can voice an opinion, I want to voice mine, for whatever it may be worth.
For one thing, the judge did not use much Latin. So what does he know. Ipso facto, his ruling is suspect.
Ok, let’s dig in.
The hearing was to consider whether a preliminary injunction should be granted to stop the DOE from closing the schools for Furlough Friday. It was not a hearing on the merits of the case. That is, whether the claims succeed or not will be hashed out later. Still, as we shall see, the judge has to say something about his opinion of the merits. I did notice that he scratched his head an awful lot, and assume therefore that he was pondering the merits. That was the first time I’ve ever seen a 9th Circuit judge on the bench, so I could be wrong about all the scratching.
The attorneys did no scratching. Each spoke confidently and passionately. Even Mark Bennett. It was easy to be swayed by their arguments, as they made them in turn. Even Mark Bennett. Then it was the judge’s turn to give his opinion. It’s called a ruling, but in reviewing my notes, I am surprised at his seeming reliance on material not raised (to my knowledge) in the arguments. For example, he stated (paraphrase) that the purpose of the IDEA is to give each handicapped child as close as possible to the education a non-handicapped student would receive. If the IEP is not being followed, parents are entitled to a due process hearing. Unfortunately, there is a collision of protecting the rights of handicapped students with the limitations of the budget. The argument is that something else should be cut.
Stop right there. The IDEA guarantees that the students it protects will receive a Free Appropriate Public Education, or FAPE. A school or school district cannot claim poverty as an excuse for not delivering FAPE. IMHO, the judge should not have weighed the budget argument at all, because it simply isn’t allowed under the IDEA. He was adequately briefed, so where did that come from?
Ok, he said that the purpose of a preliminary injunction is to preserve the status quo. That’s Latin, so he’s on the right track there. Then he went into the 4-prong test to see if a preliminary injunction may be granted. From my limited knowledge, the various circuits might apply slightly different tests according to the circumstances, but it went as follows: (1) Plaintiffs have to show that they will likely succeed on the merits, (2) that they will suffer irreparable harm, (3) something about equity, and (4) that the public interest would not be adversely affected by the stay.
He then said that he thinks the plaintiffs are suffering irreparable harm. Hmmm… this is hopeful and it should be encouraging to parents contemplating filing due process to seek remedy for the harm…. He said, if my notes are correct, not that plaintiffs “will” suffer irreparable harm, but that the “are suffering” irreparable harm. That means that this Friday they will suffer even more harm, etc.
Then he said that a lot of equity is in favor of the handicapped child. I think this means “fairness,” if I understand how “equity” is applied here. Although it’s not Latin, it is something I don’t know how to evaluate. Also hopeful…
Then he said that there are no easy choices here. Oops, that’s a red-light phrase. It means get ready to stop.
From my notes again, the judge said that the public interest does not favor shutting down schools, but is firing teachers better? He said that he cannot say that depriving special education students is worse than depriving others (of jobs). He said that the plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on the merits. So motion denied. He said that administrative decisions on how to run the schools generally are not covered by the IDEA. He agreed with Bennett that the changes made are not changes in educational placement.
Well… let’s look at this. I’ve commented that I think he has an incorrect interpretation of the IDEA. If an IEP says that certain services will be delivered in a certain way, and the school doesn’t do that, it’s a gotcha. Multiply that by the fraction of IEPs affected (it won’t be all, but it will be hundreds, at least) and it is a gross denial of the protections under the IDEA. FAPE would not be delivered. The IDEA does not contain the budget tradeoffs that the judge appears to have taken into consideration. We’ll find out if the cases get a hearing whether the merits are sound or not.
As to the public policy aspect, it is not for a judge to say that keeping teachers in the classroom means others will lose their jobs. For one thing, the Governor could abandon her hard ideology in a compassionate moment and agree to raise some taxes. The Rainy Day fund could be tapped. Or get this (thanks to an email I received today):
teachers now have 36 paid days where kids are out of school. If so, why not take 17 of those days as unpaid instead of school days?
I rest my case. For what it’s worth.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Creative mugging
by Larry Geller
As an antidote to all the depressing news these days, check out these clever coffee mug designs.
Actually, the site has clever alarm clocks, some strange and clever watches, and even some excellent examples of HDR photography (actually, tone mapping, the comments explain the difference).
For a nostalgia trip, check out The 25 Funniest Vintage Tech Ads.
I don’t know how I got on to those, but light reading is a good way to start the day. Now on to the various newspaper websites for the rest of the news.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Op-ed promotes distributed power generation
by Larry Geller
Long-time energy advocate and watchdog Henry Curtis has an op-ed in today’s Honolulu Advertiser, Creating a new path to reduce energy footprint (11/10/2009). Henry follows in the path of Thomas Alva Edison in favoring decentralized generation of electrical power.
Curious about feed-in tariffs (mentioned in Henry’s op-ed)? See earlier articles on the subject here.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Could furlough suits reform a school system almost no one wants fixed?
by Larry Geller
Hawaii’s government has done little to nothing to reverse the cuts that placed us last among all states with only 163 instructional days in the year. The state legislature has declined to meet in a special session to work on the issue. Despite a popular parody song, national and even international focus on the state (our “no school Fridays” were even the subject of an English lesson in China), Governor Linda Lingle remains ideologically opposed to the tax increases that could provide relief, and her Attorney General Mark Bennett holds that two lawsuits challenging the cuts are “without merit.”
In other states, the Attorney General has sued school districts which fail to obey state or federal law. In Hawaii, which has a statewide Department of Education, Bennett is the DOE’s attorney and defends their wrongdoing. This is an obstacle to school reform since Bennett will not prosecute the DOE when it breaks the law.
In other states the Attorney General is the people’s attorney. Today’s news includes this, for example: Illinois Attorney General seeks to intervene in suit over service dog in school (National School Boards Association, 11/9/2009). And yes, the Illinois AG is intervening on the side of the student.
In the absence of state government will to enforce state and federal law, two teams of private attorneys have filed suit in federal court. Dan Nakaso has written a comprehensive article in today’s Advertiser, Hawaii furlough lawsuits could spur sweeping change (11/9/2009). The views of outside attorneys are compelling (Jeff Portnoy is not one of the attorneys filing suit, Carl Varady is head of one of the legal teams):
Jeff Portnoy was the court-appointed special master in the Felix case and said the state's claim of budget problems had no merit then and has no merit today.
"I'm a little tired of the state of Hawaii claiming it has no money and is therefore exempt from federal law that applies to all 50 states," said Portnoy, a Honolulu attorney who also represents The Honolulu Advertiser. "It may be true they have no money, but unless they get the law changed, it is the law. It's clear from the entire Felix lawsuit and the years of litigation that the state's argument that it doesn't have the resources to comply with federal education laws has absolutely no merit and will continue to have no merit. You just have to find the money — now."
Varady included the history of the Felix case in court documents to show "these arguments have been made repeatedly for the past 15 years."
"We have to do something in this state to change education for the better instead of making the same excuses," Varady said. "If you look at our test scores, we're not doing well. How are we going to do better with fewer days? That makes no sense.
Throughout the course of the Felix lawsuit, the DOE, the Department of Health, and the state legislature concentrated on what they had to do to get the federal court off their backs. As a result, when federal oversight finally ended, the state regressed. That the furlough days could even have been instituted without consideration that federal law was being violated is an indication of how far compliance with the law has retreated in local consciousness.
The article indicates that hope is being placed on the legal challenges to improve Hawaii’s troubled system of education. It would be wonderful if that could be achieved with federal lawsuits, but there are counter-arguments. An important one is that the Governor, Linda Lingle, has fought to destroy public education, for example, by breaking up the single school board into as many as seven “baby boards” which would be more subject to political influence. Another is that the state Attorney General focuses on defending DOE wrongdoing instead of prosecuting it.
But perhaps the greatest obstacle to improving public education is the lack of demand for better schools. Since tourism is the prime mover of the economy, followed by service to the vast military installations in the state, there is little incentive to provide any more education than what is sufficient for the fairly low-level jobs that are available in Hawaii. Parents are not pounding on the Governor’s office door to get her to improve the public schools.
The children lose out, of course. Those who excel despite the system and long for careers in science or engineering, for example, have to leave family and homes behind and look for jobs on the Continent.
The lawsuits, to be heard today at the Federal Courthouse, may or may not change the school system. They have placed the problem in a public spotlight, but it will be up to the public and its elected representatives to bring about change. Or not.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Following the Twitter trail from Ft. Hood to the US Army War College Quarterly and future warfare
by Larry Geller
Of course, the tragedy at Ft. Hood last week dominated not only the mainstream news but also echoed and re-echoed in the twittersphere and elsewhere in online media. The problem with following tweets wherever they may go is that while many stops along the way are useless (“OMG I can’t believe it!”) some lead to new insights. Not all of these are any more encouraging that the Ft. Hood incident itself.
I can’t document the tortuous trail, but I was willing to let Twitter take me where it might, click by click. After a few clicks I found myself reading “Carlisle Barracks reacts to the Ft. Hood tragedy, reminds community members to take care of each other” and the logo of the US Army War College. Yes, Virginia, there is such a place. Ok, clicking on, and I found myself confronting this chilling quotation from the US Army War College Quarterly:
There will be no peace. At any given moment for the rest of our lifetimes, there will be multiple conflicts in mutating forms around the globe. Violent conflict will dominate the headlines, but cultural and economic struggles will be steadier and ultimately more decisive. The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To those ends, we will do a fair amount of killing. [quoted in this Information Clearing House article]
The original is dated 1997 and credited: “Major (P) Ralph Peters is assigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, where he is responsible for future warfare.”
I decided to stop clicking for the time being. This is not where I want to go today.
