Happy birthday, Dan and Dan, and many more

Hawaii’s two octogenarians in the U.S. Senate are blowing out birthday candles this week. Both are turning 86 — Daniel K. Inouye hit the mark yesterday, while Daniel K. Akaka will have his day on Saturday.

In the Senate, only Frank Lautenberg, Democrat from New Jersey, is older. Lautenberg hit the big eight-six on Jan. 23. And of the entire Capitol Hill roster, "the Dans" rank third and fourth. There’s ol’ Ralph Hall, 87, Republican of Texas.

With rank comes privilege and with seniority comes money. A small state like Hawaii, says conventional wisdom, scores far more with elder statesmen in place than it would otherwise.

So happy birthday, senators. And happy birthday to us.

Cheer for the WAC team while you still can

The good news is that a Western Athletic Conference football team could be considered to play in the national championship game at the end of this season, as third-ranked Boise State defeated No. 10 Virginia Tech in Landover, Md., and is a favorite to win the remainder of its games.

The bad news, of course, is that Boise State soon will make its exit from the WAC to join the Mountain West Conference, bringing the WAC to its knees and leaving the University of Hawaii in limbo. Definitely not something to cheer about.