Just sayin' : No vote, no grumble.

If you're reading this, you're one of the smart ones. The ones who keep up on the issues and the news of the day.

You -- yes, you! You have not only the privilege of voting, you have the duty. Don't let our election be stolen by the power brokers, the money makers, the ones who can sway an election just by plastering a candidate's name around town.

You have the duty to vote because you know more about a candidate than his or her name. You know more about a ballot issue than what a special interest told you about it.

so, please. Do you duty. Get to the polls Tuesday and vote.

 If you aren't sure where your polling place is -- re- mem- ber, some polling places changed this year -- just put your address in the polling place locator above. No worries, we're not saving the information.

We just want you. You -- the informed voter. We want you to vote. Just do it. Otherwise, no complaining from you about what our elected officials are doing. No vote, no grumble. Just sayin'.

Just sayin' -- There's more to Hawaii than just Oahu

OK, I will admit it right up front. I am a haole. A malihini. A wahine.

But in some ways, I see myself as the King Kamehameha of the Hawaii media. My aim since I started this blog in 2008 has been to unite the islands. To remind that Oahu-centric state government and that Oahu-centric media that there are, at last count, at least eight separate islands making up the state of Hawaii.

I carry that goal forward as the neighbor island representative for the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter.

I’ve been accused of just using feeds to create All Hawaii News. Not true. Day in and day out, I read all the news from all the islands and then carefully – as a blogger later to the scene calls it – “hand-curate” each news item, arranged in, I hope, a readable format. I want All Hawaii News to be just that – all of the state news, no matter where it comes from. I’ve also added a feed, “What they’re saying about Hawaii,” to capture the latest national and international take on our state. That must have been a good idea, too, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I now reside on Kamehameha’s original island, Hawaii Island. But my three years on Oahu showed me time and again that those islands formerly known as “outer islands,” and now known by the friendlier, but no less alienating, moniker of “neighbor islands,” are still but an afterthought most of the time.

A source of food, yes. And soon, a source of electricity. A nice spot for a day-trip or vacation away from Honolulu, where the real action is. Just consider the snotty editorial from the Honolulu Advertiser, when it was in that kick-the-dog mood of its last days in existence.

And why worry about those neighbor islands? Oahu comprises 70 percent of the population of Hawaii. A healthy chunk, but not the end-all and be-all of all that is Hawaii. Are you listening, gubernatorial candidates? Our percentage can make or break your career.

But still that perception persists. Honolulu is where it’s at, the rest of the islands be damned. Even in the media, to work at one of the numerous daily papers on the neighbor islands is like being in the farm leagues. Maybe you can hope for something bigger, better, in the big city.

Even I, at the point of my career where I’ve been that, done that, I hear it that I am somehow to aspire to a job in Honolulu, that city I left not that long ago. But, there are all kinds of successful careers. I deliberately moved from covering state government for the 4th largest state in the nation to state government for the 50th largest. I then, not so deliberately, but it turns out no less happily, moved to the little Big Island to cover local government on a smaller scale. Turns out, it’s all the same thing.

But enough about me. Back to our islands. Back to how we’ve somehow become the Rodney Dangerfield of the state. No respect, no respect.

Even the latest tempest in the Honolulu media has brought that disrespect to mind. Ten years ago, when the Honolulu Star-Bulletin threatened to fold, we heard, “How sad for Hawaii to have only one daily newspaper and one editorial viewpoint.”

We’re hearing that same tune again about the buy-out of the Honolulu Advertiser and the new merged product, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Only one voice for Hawaii. Who are we kidding? Every major island in this state has at least one, and in some cases, two, daily newspapers. All islands also have at least one weekly and/or alternate newspaper. And then, there are the zillion bloggers on each island, each with their particular take on government and their well-thought-out or not-so-well-thought-out opinions as well.

But enough about them too. Because, it’s all good. No matter which island it is, lucky we live Hawaii. Just sayin’

Just sayin' -- End this paralysis by analysis. It's past time to move into the Internet world.

I was privileged to be in a big room with a lot of smart people last week, and, naturally, the subject of Hawaii’s economic future came up.

The event was the Pacific Congress on Marine Science and Technology PACON 2010 at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, and scientists from around the world were there to discuss, among other things, the state of the planet’s oceans and new technologies in measuring and evaluating ocean data.

Soon I began hearing a familiar refrain: Why can’t Hawaii create a knowledge economy? Why indeed? We live on the most beautiful islands on the planet. The weather is consistently moderate. Rich people like to live here. You know, smart people wish they could afford to, too.

We’ve got state-of-the-art telescopes. We’ve got some good research going on in our university system, even though it has a long way to go to rank among the country’s best. We’ve got a huge military presence that should bring, if not the great minds, at least the necessary infrastructure.

So why can’t we develop this knowledge economy?

Back in the late ‘90s, I was in a chat room with someone from Malaysia, who described his country as a “jungle with computers.” Malaysia was one of the earliest adopters of an aggressive online community, and, in 2009, this tiny country – split in half by the South China Sea -- has achieved a 67.5 percent Internet penetration. That compares favorably with 76.2 percent for the whole of  North America.

Do we even know what the Internet penetration is in Hawaii?

I couldn’t find it. But I’m betting it’s low: “Comparisons of broadband speeds rank Hawaii among the slowest in the nation. Speed Matters, a project of the Communications Workers of America, ranking Hawaii 47th in the country in 2009, up from 48th in 2008,” said West Hawaii Today earlier this year. “The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs will use a $1.9 million federal grant to map broadband availability in the state.”

You know what? I think it’s high time to move beyond the mapping and the study stage. We already have studies gathering dust on shelves in the cumbersome bureaucracy that is this state’s government.

How about this one?

The Hawaii Broadband Task Force disbanded in late 2008 after publishing a 74-page report detailing four major recommendations necessary for Hawaii to achieve broadband capability comparable to the world’s leaders:

• Broadband is Vital to Hawaii: The task force recommends that Hawaii establish an aggressive and forward-looking vision that positions the State for global competitiveness.
• Driving Broadband Deployment: The task force recommends that the State consolidate all relevant regulatory and permitting responsibilities in a new, one-stop, broadband advancement authority that promotes Hawaii’s policy objectives and provides advocacy at all levels of government.
• Maximize Hawaii’s Connectivity to the World: The task force recommends that Hawaii aggressively promote the landing of new trans-Pacific submarine fiber in Hawaii, including a shared access cable station that reduces barriers to fiber landing in Hawaii.
• Stimulate Broadband Adoption and Use: The task force recommends that Government lead by example in demonstrating the value of broadband to our citizenry, deploying broadband services to the public, and ensuring that we do not leave behind the economically disadvantaged members of our communities who may be inhibited from full participation in the 21st century.

OK, there’s the plan. Anyone read it lately? Better yet, anyone created steps toward implementation? Anyone throw some money into it? What are we waiting for?

We could move forward now. Or we can stay forever in this mode of paralysis by analysis. Just sayin’.

Just sayin' -- Media map points to dwindling coverage

In this brave new world of media mergers, sales and downsizes, you certainly don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. But in the latest game of media musical chairs, it doesn’t hurt to have a map.

While I tried to take a light approach, I’m offering this column with the utmost aloha, empathy and compassion for my inkstained brethren at the Honolulu Advertiser, the latest casualty of the New Age of Journalism and the legacy media corporate lust for obscene profits. Friday is the last day on the job for many of those journalists, while a few will be lucky enough to take a job for less pay at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in the newly christened Star-Advertiser.

Believe me, I’ve been there. In my three decades of living by the pen, I’ve been downsized, rightsized, outsized and offered the Morton’s Fork of an out-of-state transfer or a new job description. I want the latest casualties to know that yes, it hurts. You pour your all into this vocation, sacrifice a social life, a family life and better paying gigs on the PR side of the street. Your termination probably has absolutely nothing to do with your ability, your drive or your journalistic worth. But I am here to tell you there is life – and it can be a good life – afterward.

Some of it is our own fault. We became victims of our own complacency. We thought just because we read and reread our bylined stories and watched and rewatched our video clips start to finish, everyone else did too. We paid too close attention to the handful of followers applying the high gloss of praise, and not enough attention to the thundering quiet from the rest.

Enter the new media and bloggers – those pamphleteers of the New Age of Journalism.

It’s an exciting era we have entered. The Internet and personal Web sites are components of the greatest revolution in journalism since the invention of the printing press. Like the printing press, the Internet has opened publishing to a whole new class of hoi polloi. I’m glad it’s happening in my lifetime.

These New Age pamphleteers have a lot in common with their 18th century counterparts. Many are quick to opine, quick to set aside a few inconvenient facts while making their points. Some are even quick to accept free trips and gifts in return for glowing reviews. Nothing new about any of that.

Lest bloggers get too enamored of their own steadily rising numbers on the stat counters, here’s a cautionary tale about pamphleteers. Thomas Paine may have been the most famous of the lot, yet only six people attended his funeral. Some to mourn and some to make sure he was truly dead.

And then there’s Honolulu Civil Beat. It exists, says Editor John Temple, to "ask the important questions citizens might have in the face of the complex issues facing our community." In its first month, the new site has demonstrated it can do that.

But it remains, as pointed out by blogger Larry Geller, a gated community with a rather stiff ($19.99 monthly) paywall. The new venture has hired a few bright young and not-so-young reporters and their output is promising. But it still has a way to go breaking out of its annoying insularity, with employees primarily retweeting and hash-tagging only each other, seemingly afraid to credit other sources that break the news they dutifully tweet at their first opportunity.

Can it survive? Can any of us survive this shakeup of the status quo? Will the pendulum soon swing, once the public realizes the watchdogs have been silenced and government is running amok? Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, here’s your map. And, it’s already obsolete. But isn’t that the whole point? Just sayin’

Just sayin' -- spinmeisters deconstruct Hawaii GOP congressional victory

Let the spin begin.

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou's victory in Saturday's special election to fill one of only two Hawaii congressional seats was just about a foregone conclusion after two Democrats split the winner-take-all ticket.  Djou won with 39.4 percent of the vote, compared to state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa’s 30.8 percent and former U.S. Rep. Ed Case’s 27.6 percent.

So it's not all that surprising that the prognosticators and spinmeisters jumped on stage early to help us understand just what this newest development means to the political parties battling for control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

“How did a Republican win in Obama's Hawaii hometown?” asks the Christian Science Monitor. “Hawaii gives Rep. Pete Sessions/NRCC a needed boost after drubbing in Pennsylvania,” proclaims the Dallas Morning News.

Sure the loss, even temporarily, of a Democratic seat in this bluest of the blue states is bound to be bit of a national embarrassment for the Democratic Party, especially for the president. And the national GOP can take away some bragging rights, at least in the short term.

But folks would be wise to heed the mantra of the late Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill that “all politics is local.” This has absolutely nothing to do with the broader picture, especially in Hawaii, whose people rarely look beyond their little rocks bobbing in the great blue Pacific over to what is universally here called “the Mainland,” as if it’s just another much larger rock bobbing in the same deep blue ocean.

Instead, this all about the local Democrats, and their bitter feud to claim a seat that in their minds, is historically and rightfully theirs.  It’s also about the Democratic new guard bumping up against the Democratic old guard and the battle that sees longtime kingmaker Sen. Daniel Inouye gradually losing his grip on the reins of power he’s controlled for decades.

There’s even some spin associated with that: “Finishing order shows influence of Inouye pick,” proclaims the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. In other words, says a prognosticator in that article, Inouye, by anointing Hanabusa, didn’t pick the winner, but he did pick the loser.

Which boils down to that old saw by Will Rogers, that “I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Democrat.” That is never more true than right here, right now.

Lucky for this splintered party that voters – not candidates, egos and kingmakers – will chose the Democrat who faces off against Djou in November.

Djou is right to revel in his victory. He should proceed to Washington amid congratulations for being the first Republican in almost 20 years to breach that not-so-thin blue line. But he might be wise to take out a short-term rental of an apartment there.

Because the silly season ain’t done yet. Just sayin’.

Just sayin' -- Veil of secrecy threatens access to Hawaii public records

I guess if a journalist were allowed to have an opinion about anything, it would be access to public records.

So it's appropriate here to post two letters the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter recently sent to Gov. Linda Lingle, asking her to veto two insidious bills the state Legislature passed this year. I'm the signatory on these letters, and I did write them, but they represent the opinion of the SPJ board, on behalf of FOIA-ers everywhere.

As a moonlighting FOIA lobbyist, I guess I’d better keep my day job. Lingle on Wednesday signed the bill formerly known as “vexatious requestor” and now simply known as the  “birther” bill, and we can only hope that it won’t take on a life of its own and continue past its original purpose. Talk about vexatious!

Still to come – what the governor decides to do with the public’s right to know about complaints filed against their dentists, builders, real estate professionals, etc. Think HB1212 is a bad bill? It’s not too late to register your concerns with the governor’s office.

Stay tuned here or follow me on Twitter for updates on this bill and other government news. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. I’m just sayin.

New! Weekly blog feature Just sayin' -- Bidding aloha to the 2010 legislative session in Hawaii

"No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session."
 -- Mark Twain

Whew! They're gone. The Hawaii Legislature adjourned sine die on Thursday, and reporters around the state are busily figuring out just what lawmakers accomplished during the 60-day session that in Hawaii Time stretches from Jan. 20 to April 29.

The debate over civil unions grabbed most of the headlines this legislative session, but tax and access issues hit equally close to home.

Old Samuel Langhorne Clemens had it right about property, at least as far as this year’s legislative session is concerned. In this tough economic climate, lawmakers raised the barrel tax from 5 cents to $1.05, an action expected to hike the cost of gas, electricity and shipping. Lawmakers also reinstated the death tax and tapped their old favorite, smokers, who face a 40-cent-per pack increase.