Lawmakers dig into privacy, money matters and poop

It seems the bird’s the word as we "flASHback" on the week’s news that amused and confused.

» Gov. Neil Abercrombie visited Keaau Elementary School’s computer labs to salute the digital initiative. The only digital action he usually sees in the schools is teachers flipping him the bird.

» Some legislators want tolet homeowners sue neighbors who feed birds that poop on their property, but the attorney general said it would be impossible to prove which bird dropped the load. Kind of like when House members and senators go into conferenceto write the budget.

» Senate President Donna Mercado Kim blasted the "bloat" in University of Hawaii salaries. That means a lot coming from a legislator who took a 30 percent pay raise during the recession and will get 25 percent more at year’s end.

» Legislators advanced a bill to require the UH Board of Regents to undergo annual training on the state’s Sunshine Law and open records laws. Once trained, the regents can explain it to legislators, who have exempted themselves from those laws.

» Sen. J. Kalani English would allow celebrities to sue people for photographing them in a bill named after Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, who was recently filmed on Maui playing a bongo drum while wearing a Speedo. What’s the bigger affront: a flabby, geriatric rocker frolicking in a Speedo or a photographer memorializing it for all time?

» Hawaii Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald gave his State of the Judiciary address on YouTube after lawmakers declined to hear the customary speech. If it’s not about power struggles, harassing UH or raising taxes under the guise of protecting our health, they’re not interested.

» UH is one of the fastest growing "sugar baby schools," according to a website that hooks up cash-strapped students with "sugar daddies" who pay their expenses in exchange for making nice. UH administrators may have to sign up if Donna Kim succeeds in cutting their pay.

» Mayor Kirk Caldwell said he tried to hide donors to a committee that helped pick his Cabinet so he wouldn’t see who was influencing him. It’s a tried-and-true formula: Campaign on accountability and govern on deniability.

» Hawaii island police are warning the public to be on the lookout for an impostor pretending to be a tax office employee. A real tax office employee would have you make out your check directly to the United Public Workers.

And the quote of the week … from Rep. Chris Lee on proposals before the Legislature to impose fees on shopping bags to protect the watershed: "The Legislature can approach problems like this two ways: We can raise taxes or think outside the box." A third option for lawmakers would be to place the bags over their heads.

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Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.