Ainokea spirit is not welcome as APEC summit approaches

The drumbeat for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Honolulu next month is shaking our windows and rattling our walls as we plant tongue in cheek and "flASHback" on the week’s news that amused and confused:

» Hawaii’s APEC host committee declared that "we are ready" for the massive conference of world leaders, with more than 1,000 local volunteers trained to spread the spirit of aloha. They’re closing off the roads to the rest of us lest we spread the spirit of ainokea.

» Unruly protesters who are arrested during the APEC meetings will be taken to Kaneohe District Court for their hearings and may have to ride the bus back to town. For the week, TheBus Route 56 will be renamed the "We Shall Overcome Express."

» Robert R. "Bobby" Titcomb, a close Hawaii friend of President Barack Obama, had his prostitution conviction stricken from the record after satisfying a court order to stay clean for six months. Now the president wants a deal to have his first term stricken from the record.

» The Abercrombie administration welcomed its new communications director, James Boersema, by misspelling his name on the state website. He must already want to spend more time with family.

» The state had to postpone a bond sale because it still hasn’t finished balancing its financial books from two years ago. Our leaders spend tax dollars by the fistful but count them with their fingers and toes.

» House Speaker Calvin Say is leading 10 Hawaii lawmakers on a weeklong goodwill tour of Taiwan paid for by the Taiwanese government. When our legislators extend the hand of friendship, it’s always with their palms up.

» Big Island Council Chairman Dominic Yagong wants to let voters decide whether mandatory annual drug tests should be required for Council members, the mayor and the prosecuting attorney. Once he goes down that slippery slope, IQ tests won’t be far behind.

» The Kauai Council unanimously approved a bill to ban urinating or defecating on the grounds of the Lihue Civic Center and County Building. That’s certainly an innovative way to speed up Council meetings.

» Honolulu was named the third best city to trick-or-treat behind San Francisco and Boston in new rankings by the real estate website Zillow. We’re No. 1 in election years, when sign-waving politicians are out scaring the kids.

And the quote of the week … from Mayor Peter Carlisle on the strict security measures we’ll face during APEC: "A few days of inconvenience is something that I think we’ve learned to live with on more than one occasion, and this is the right occasion to be ready for it." He’s setting the example by inconveniently interrupting his junketing to Asia to greet Asian delegates coming here.

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