Hawaii
A verb in hand
worth two in Bush
LIKE MANY of us, Maui's Bonnie Friedman of Grapevine Productions watched President George W. Bush deliver his "Saddam Hussein is between Iraq and a hard place" speech, and recalling an earlier diatribe here writes: "Well, my friend, I thought of you every time 'Dubbya' said the word 'nucular' in his speech last night. Did it make you cringe as much as it did me? You'd think with all the 'rehearsals' and the fact that it was dubbed one of the most important State of the Union speech in history that someone could have coached him on the word 'nuclear.'" Dubbya still pronounces it "Newk-u-ler." ...AND Tony Moon recalled this quote: "Beware of the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fever, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind is closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry infused with fear and blinded by patriotism will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and do it gladly so. How do I know? I know for this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." That came from Julius Caesar ...
Becker, or is it?
MY old cell mate in the early days of this column was Jim Becker, who did a daily essay column. We'll let him have his say again, as he put it in this e-mail: "Wal-Mart must be getting nervous about the attempts to block construction of the world's largest box store in the already congested Keeaumoku Superblock area." In their latest legal maneuver they accused Becker, a community activist, of having someone else sign his name to court documents. "In my days on the Star-Bulletin," writes Becker, "people often accused me of not being able to write my own name, but this is the first time lawyers have accused me of it in court." The old-time columnist adds, "In our racket, publishing a totally unfounded allegation of dishonesty that is demonstrably false is a very serious matter. I hope judges agree." ...
THIS could be some kind of record: The Sis Korean Kitchen restaurant on 11th Avenue advertised its opening on Jan. 21. On Jan. 23, there was a sign at the door covering the menu and saying the restaurant was closed because of management problems ... On the other end of the spectrum, Cliff Laughton has been facing one hurdle after another in getting his Bistro at Century Center open. The staff has been set and on the payroll for about two years, and now it looks like it may open next month ...
So Soo, so long
TOMORROW is the final day on the job for Capt. Richard Soo of the Honolulu Fire Department, so often interviewed about fires on TV. To mark the occasion, his friend Jessica Rich is putting together a party for him tomorrow from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Trellises Restaurant in the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel. Friends are invited to drop by to wish him well in his retirement. To help her in planning, RSVP Jessica at 921-5551...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com