Inaugural Addresses–and all political speeches in general–are masterpieces of ambiguity. Low on specifics and high on lofty euphemisms and well-worn cliches, they seek to both reassure voters and provide sufficient cover for later, quite possibly nefarious actions. President Barack Obama's address today (click here to watch it, here to read it) was no different. One … Continue reading One more thing about Obama’s speech
Lingle apparently wants it both ways
Skeptic though I am of all things political, I must admit–in this first hour of Barack Obama's presidency–to feeling a bit contented at the state of our nation and its government. I'm sure it will pass in due time. In other news, I just noticed some strangeness surrounding our own Governor Linda Lingle's official statement … Continue reading Lingle apparently wants it both ways
Save the Paper Airplane Museum!
One of my first stories for Maui Time Weekly was on the old Paper Airplane Museum in Kahului's Maui Mall and its earnest curator Ray Roberts (you can see some of the amazing aluminum can models he built for the museum here). It was a quiet, quaint place run by Roberts, a soft-spoken retired shop … Continue reading Save the Paper Airplane Museum!
7 days to go
Like many of my friends and neighbors, and much of the rest of the world (we're talking just about every conscious person out there), I'm looking forward to a time now slightly less than a week away when George W. Bush will no longer be President of the United States. That this will be a … Continue reading 7 days to go
Newspapers according to Thoreau
Been relaxing with a copy of Henry David Thoreau's Walden for much of this afternoon, and I came across the following passage on newspapers. I tend to think about journalism a lot–given that until recently it's how I made my living and will probably be my profession again–and have often thought that the practice has … Continue reading Newspapers according to Thoreau
THIS JUST IN: Irony Lives!
Seriously, I was beginning to worry. But good ol' embattled Maui County Councilman Wayne Nishiki has ridden to irony's rescue. Check out this Maui News story, posted this morning, about how Nishiki now says County Board of Ethics Chairman Alan Kaufman is actually too biased towards super-developer Everett Dowling to be fair about Nishiki's failure … Continue reading THIS JUST IN: Irony Lives!
8.5 trillion reasons why we’re screwed
I know I've written about this before, but today's Pacific Business News report saying that the current $8.5 trillion in taxpayer-supported bailouts is more money than that spent on all U.S. wars since the Civil War demands some kind of comment. It seems like only yesterday (it was nearly 20 years ago actually) that the Berlin … Continue reading 8.5 trillion reasons why we’re screwed
BREAKING NEWS: Irony is dead
Seriously, it's hard to draw any other conclusion after reading this story in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin about the growing national gaze being thrust upon some baby President-elect Barack Obama held during his recent Oahu vacation (click here for Oahu blogger Ian Lind's back story on the baby in question). Umm, politicians posing with babies was old … Continue reading BREAKING NEWS: Irony is dead
Just reading DFW
Been reading the late David Foster Wallace's 1997 A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (a collection of thought-provoking and hilarious essays and journalism from the first half of the 1990s). I had forgotten the extent to which reading Wallace requires the reader to sit within relatively close proximity to a dictionary, and as … Continue reading Just reading DFW
Why I feel icky
I can't believe I just read this story. Nobody made me–I just up and read the whole thing, completely of my own free will. And yes, I did indeed read the entire story. Every single thing in it, from the headline to the very last word, is appalling. Appalling! So much so that I now … Continue reading Why I feel icky
Anthony Pignataro 