Disappeared News

One of the many routines pleasures of living in Japan was to shop at any of the many department stores. The video linked below is from the latest podcast posted by Monocle magazine. It only shows the fancy bits of the Isetan department store in Shinjuku in the short time they gave it, but it is a good snapshot of the store and its attitude towards its customers.

There's much more to that store or others—for example the food floors in the basement. They often connect with nearby subway concourses. And for a small fee department stores will send your puchases to your home the next day, making subway shopping possible.

This is from the Monocle's RSS feed. On most browsers the video will play if you just click the link.

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One of Japan's most venerable department stores, Isetan stocks everything you'll ever need. We hit the shop floor to find out the secret of its success.

* Duration: 2:36*

Published: 3/22/16 5:00:00 AM *

Episode Download Link (14 MB): http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/monocle_podcast/~5/7CmaMNCAL-Q/160323_Isetan_iTunes.mp4

* Episode Feed: All Films - http://feeds.feedburner.com/monocle_podcast

by Larry Geller

Ian Lind has chronicled pricing issues at Safeway over the years (see these articles) and I’ve noted that imported produce seems to be routinely sold as “local.”

Actually, we don’t usually buy produce at Safeway—everything is so much fresher and often cheaper at the Honolulu Farmers Market or the KCC Farmers Market where we regularly shop. Since vendors at these markets are required to only offer local products, that’s never an issue. So I rarely visit Safeway’s produce section.

Today was one of those rare occasions. We needed a little Italian parsley. So off I went, anxious to complete my errand before the predicted thunderstorms hit. And I was pleased to see parsley in the Local section on a shelf marked Local.

Except it isn’t local, according to the tag attached to the parsley.

Nearby veggies are labeled as Product of Mexico or Product of USA.

The type on the shelf tag is tiny and would be easily missed, while the Local designation is large. So the store is misrepresenting its products to the customer.

Here are two snapshots taken this morning at the Pali Safeway, in the section identified as Local and on shelves marked Local:

This next picture is from an earlier article, demonstrating how blatant the misrepresentation is. The very large sign plainly reads “Locally Grown”:

I suppose if everyone read the fine print they’d see that these items came from Mexico, but other shelf tags don’t identify the point of origin. On the parsley I bought I had to inspect the twist-tie tag holding the bunch together in order to see that the item was not local.

Caveat emptor, or should something be done about this?

by Larry Geller

Do you remember that bill that would increase motor vehicle registration fees and add even more to the gasoline tax?  The House tried to sneak a hearing in with inadequate public notice. The bill was heard this morning at 10:30 and ended up killed.

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SB2938 – Relating to Transportation which Increases the state fuel tax to generate additional revenues for the state highway fund by amending section 243-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes. Allows for an increase in the state motor vehicle registration fee and increases the amount of the fee to be deposited into the state highway fund by amending section 249-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes. Increases the state motor vehicle weight tax by amending section 249-33, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

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This controversial bill was granted a waiver at the request of the Chair of the Transportation Committee, Rep. Henry Aquino. Instead of 48 hours notice as required by House rules, the public was short-changed.

As usual, I try to include the photo and contact information of the perpetrator committee chair who cares so little for public notice. But keep in mind that waivers are routinely approved (if not actually requested, who knows) by the Speaker of the House.

This bill had little public support. Perhaps that is the reason the notice period was cut short. (??) 

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I discovered that I didn’t post the article below when I should have – I just forgot to push that “send” button. Sorry about that. So as not to waste an opportunity to rant and call out our errant House members for breaking the rules, here it is anyway…

Hawaii House Finance committee holds another “public input not wanted” hearing

Life teaches us that some people believe the rules don’t apply to them. Whether it’s parking in stalls reserved for handicapped drivers, or taking pets into stores that don’t permit them, plenty of people think they are more important that the rules.

I suspect something like that is going on at our state House.

Hearings are, according to long-standing rules, to be given at least 48-hour notice. At least one reason for this is crystal clear—so that the people may attend a hearing or possibly write and submit testimony, whether they attend or not.

It’s particularly frustrating (frustrating to both ethics and democratic principles as well) when one side, perhaps the industry affected (and which may also have written the bill!) somehow knows about the flash hearing and gives testimony while the general public is blindsided.

The crime often leaves no tracks in the public record

I don’t know if it’s a record, but it appears that the public had about three (count ‘em, three) minutes notice of a hearing called by House Finance Committee Chair Sylvia Luke. Here’s an email report from Hawaii Thousand Friends:

HTF received notice of a 2:00 Thursday 3/3 FIN hearing TODAY 3/3 at 1:57. The notice lists 24 bills to be added to the 3/3 FIN hearing agenda. Interestingly the only bills on the agenda were the listed 24 bills.

This out-of-public-sight move is possible because FIN chair Rep. Sylvia Luke asked for and received a waiver from the required 48-hour public notice of a public hearing on the floor today 3/3.

Today’s rush rescheduling actually did leave a trace on the status pages of the bills because they were scheduled on the same day. So if one has sharp eyes, there is an entry dated 3/3 that says there will be a hearing on 3/3. Easy to miss. Had the bill not been scheduled on the same day it was heard, the date could give no indication.

We are fortunate in Hawaii to have a strong interfaith community that can come together to discuss issues that both unify and divide opinion and belief. Tonight the Interfaith Open Table has scheduled a meeting, open to all, that hopes to look forward on the issues still facing acceptance of LGBT rights.

The venue is the hall at Harris United Methodist Church (see below). There’s plenty of parking and it’s near town and public transit.

From the emailed announcement:

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Interfaith Open Table

Tuesday, March 15, 2016
7:00 p.m.
Harris United Methodist Church
Corner of Vineyard and Nu‘uanu

Marriage Equality: What is Next?

Br. Jack Isbell, Discussion Leader

Panel participants:

Gene Corpuz, President/Dignity Honolulu
Rev. Laura Starre Emerson, Pastor, Orthodox Catholic Church of America
Margaret Mann, Counselor/Author
Kathryn Xian, Executive Director, The Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery

The LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered, and Questioning Persons) have come a long way in working for equality and social acceptance. This evening's panel discussion, followed by conversation with the assembly present, will help us understand the continuing social needs, civil rights, and acceptance of LGBTQ persons.

Learning to listen and ponder, helps us understand the needs of the LGBTQ community.

by Larry Geller

Why is Trump advancing steadily in America’s presidential race despite his racism, misogyny and other rather obvious disqualifiers? You’d think this guy doesn’t stand a chance. His own party, the same Republican party that wields almost absolute power over our political system at present, is so far unable to halt his advance.

How can Trump continue to accumulate delegates in his inexorable march toward the Oval Office despite all indications that he should be rejected as a viable candidate?

I suggest that politics and punditry will not give us a workable theory. We must turn to psychology.

If C. G. Jung were alive today he’d be popular on the network talk show circuit explaining how Trump appeals to universal psychological processes.

Trump triggers the collective unconsciousness into an awareness of what is wrong with our government and how it can be changed. Trump unleashes hope that has been repressed and yearning to be set free. He gives us the possibility of individual agency, the promise that our vote can actually make a difference and end our oppression. Note that this transcends views on abortion, human rights, social security, or whatever has dominated the discourse of discontent up to now.

The possibility of electing Trump brings with it the possibility of ending whatever particular oppression is bugging each of us.

If the goal of individual psychology according to Jung is to integrate opposites and advance human development, we can see that the disfunctional processes of American government must also yield ultimately to a process of transformation. We are confronted, at an individual and societal level, by the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of reforming a system of government that is not working for us. We don’t want this dysfunction to simply go on year to year without relief.

How to remove the influence of big money and special interests? It looks to be hopeless. How to regain not only women’s rights, but voter’s rights and racial equality in the current political enviornment? Once again, it appears to be hopeless.

Opposition to the neoliberal leadership that is inflicting damage on the lives of millions of Americans appears weak in comparison to the forces that prop up the status quo.

The apocalypse and the rebirth of power

A Trump (and to a lesser extent, a Sanders) presidency presents the possibility that there is a time ahead when the powerful will be brought down and the commons can be restored.

Perhaps this is the archtype of the Apocalypse, of collapse and rebirth.

So far nothing short of that holds a promise to reform our system of government.

Trump could indeed be the “nuclear option” that brings about the end of the current system, leaving open the possibility to create a true representative democracy in his wake.

Trump needn’t explain in detail how he intends to “make America great again.” It is sufficient that he appears intent on replacing the current political regime.

Trump needn’t explain his failings or defend himself against Romney’s multiple criticisms because it is sufficient that he is intent on replacing the current political regime.

Trump needn’t understand foreign policy as well as Clinton does because it is sufficient that he is intent on replacing the current political regime.

I would love to hear a Jungian analyst’s view of the current political race.

“
Here we see the elite class agreeing to pretend that Trump is advocating views that are inherently disqualifying when — thanks to those doing the denouncing — those views are actually quite mainstream, even popular, among both the American political class and its population. Torture was the official American policy for years. It went way beyond waterboarding. One Republican president ordered it and his Democratic successor immunized it from all forms of accountability, ensuring that not a single official would be prosecuted for authorizing even the most extreme techniques, ones that killed people — or even allowed to be sued by their victims.

Many of the high officials most responsible for that torture regime and who defended it — from Condoleezza Rice and John Brennan — remain not just acceptable in mainstream circles but hold high office and are virtually revered. And, just by the way, both of Trump’s main rivals — Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz — refuse to rule out classic torture techniques as part of their campaign. In light of all that, who takes seriously the notion that Trump’s advocacy of torture — including techniques beyond waterboarding — places him beyond the American pale? To the contrary, it places him within its establishment mainstream.—Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, 3/4/2016
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The article is Donald Trump’s Policies Are Not Anathema to U.S. Mainstream, but an Uncomfortable Reflection of It. Read it here.

In a nutshell, Trump is being criticized from all quarters for his “outrageous” statements, but as Greenwald explains, he’s just saying he’ll do pretty much the same as we are already doing.

One more quote, then you can go read the entire article (which includes links I’ve omitted here, and much more):

Then there’s the feigned horror over Trump’s proposal to kill the family members of terrorists. Though they claim they don’t do it deliberately, the fact is that this is something both the U.S. and Israel, among others, have routinely done for years: They repeatedly bomb people’s homes or work places, killing innocent people including family members, and then justify it on the ground that a terrorist was among them. While they claim they don’t target terrorists’ family members, they certainly target their homes and other places family members are certain to be found.

When a U.S. drone strike in 2011 killed the U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, and then another drone strike two weeks later killed his 16-year-old American son, Abdulrahman (who nobody claimed was involved with terrorism), former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs justified it this way: (omitted here)