Following last week’s trip to Hawaii, the answer to a question is once again 42. This time, the question is “how many states has Xrlq visited?” [On the off chance that anyone cares, the eight states I've not been to yet are Alabama, Alaska, Florida, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia.]

Hawaii was everything I expected, and more. “Expected” means a lovely tropical climate, beautiful beaches, etc. “More” includes (1) 6 1/2 days of sunshine on Kauai, the rainiest island in the state, (2) a plethora of street and city names that lend themselves to bad puns (e.g., we stayed in a condo on Pee Road in Poopoo Beach, and spent half a day in Whyme Canyon) and (3) a rare, semi-protected species of bantam chickens that has free reign of the island. From what I gather, their legal protection is limited to public land, so when they wander onto private property, the real protection is the fact that they taste like crap.

I am curious about the free range chickens part. Is this phenomenon limited to Kauai, or do they run around freely on other islands as well? I can’t picture these critters running around on the beaches of Maui or Waikiki, but then again, I didn’t expect to see them in Kauai, either.

Talk Left has this post about a 9/11 widow, Ellen Mariani, who has sued President Bush and other members of his administration under the RICO statute for knowingly permitting 9/11 to happen. Only fringe members of the media have reported on the story to date. You can read the complaint here.

Time permitting, I intend to fisk it.

[cross posted at So Cal Law Blog]

Time again to announce the winners of this week’s contest. Congratulations to Alpha Patriot for the winning Council entry, “Inane Moonbat Barking,” and to the Politburo Diktat for the winning non-Council entry, “Gandalf the Unilateral.”

I’ve learned there are only two words of Hawaiian you need to get by here: aloha and mahalo. I’m told aloha means “hello,” but have it on good authority that it also means “goodbye,” “screw you,” “I’m an ethnic cliché,” and even “I’m the airline that didn’t lose your luggage somewhere between Los Angeles and Lihue.”

I haven’t yet gotten around to looking up the other word, mahalo, in the dictionary. I’m pretty sure, though, that the word means “asshole.” Here are a few examples I’ve seen on signs:

• Please remove your shoes before entering, mahalo.
• Smoking is not permitted in this restaurant, mahalo.
• Wash hands after visiting the toilet, mahalo.

Yesterday, a waiter called me a mahalo after taking my order. Was it something I said?

Merry Christmas to all! My Christmas present to myself was a free three-month subscription to AOL, so I finally have an opportunity to post. Don’t bother emailing me at xrlq@aol.com, however. Believe it or not, someone else has that address. Will post more later (maybe). Thanks to Joel and The Other Xrlq for holding down the fort.

“The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.”

Justene bring up an interesting question at Calblog What if?
I thought this was a very interesting question and thought I’d muse about it a little, seeing as I’ve been woefully quiet around here in Xrlq’s absence. I have always thought it is easy to judge the past because those past actors have not the ability to defend themselves. It’s truly a disturbing thought to think that a variety of civil liberties could be curtailed, but civil liberties are only useful to people who are alive. At some level, people recognize this, and I think that is why people in the midst of the restrictions mostly went along. I may muse more about this later, but I wanted to throw it out, and hopefully create a little bit of a discussion.

ABC News reports:

Foreigners entering U.S. airports and seaports except those from Western Europe and a handful of other countries will soon have their fingerprints scanned and their photographs snapped as part of a new program designed to enhance border security.

The program, to be up and running on Jan. 5 at all 115 airports that handle international flights and 14 major seaports, will let Customs officials instantly check an immigrant or visitor’s criminal background.

The program, called US-VISIT, or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, will check an estimated 24 million foreigners each year, though some will be repeat visitors.

The only exceptions will be visitors from 28 countries mostly European nations whose citizens are allowed to come to the United States for up to 90 days without visas.

(more…)

The Sacramento Bee reports:

A Newport Beach man whose brother and sister-in-law were murdered has started a campaign to expand California’s DNA database to include every convicted felon in the state.

Bruce Harrington wants voters to approve the initiative in order to find the killer and to solve hundreds of other cold cases in the state. The initiative also would allow local agencies to collect DNA evidence from people arrested on suspicion of murder and rape and, beginning in 2009, from anyone arrested on suspicion of committing a felony.

“What’s driving me is a sense of wanting to avenge the death of my brother and his wife,” said Harrington, a real estate developer. “I believe that DNA technology is the last practical hope of resolving the who and why of their deaths.”

You can view the initiative here.

[cross posted at So Cal Law Blog]

Preliminary 6.x Earthquake near Santa Barbara…More As it Develops from the USGS.

Update: 6.5 Magnitude

Update 2: I was actually on the phone with my Brother in Santa Barbara as it happened, I felt a little rumbling where I am up in Pleasanton. The actual quake was centered near Hearst Castle.BoiFromTroi has a roundup.

Our flight to Hawaii is early tomorrow and the company Christmas party is tonight, so this will be my last entry until I return on the 28th. Have a great Christmas, and be sure to stop by here every once in a while to see what my guest bloggers are up to. Here’s hoping that my cracked ribs from last week’s accident don’t prevent me from having at least some fun in Hawaii.

Also, the answer is no, I will not be able to meet the Venomous One on this trip, unfortunately. We’re staying on a different island (Kauai) and our stay on Oahu will be much too short to arrange anything. Plus, she’s got plenty on her plate right now anyway. I do hope to have the privilege of meeting Kate in the not too distant future, preferably at a time when neither of us are recovering invalids.