They can’t punish me, I quit (or so I thought)

It certainly looks as if the Democratic Party of Hawaii has missed its chance to punish former City Council member Gary Okino for his sins.

That chance was supposed to have come this weekend, when the Oahu County Committee is due to rule on a complaint stemming from Okino’s endorsement of Republicans in the 2010 races. But Okino pre-empted that, it seems, by resigning on Saturday first.

Oahu Chairman Tony Gill insists that the case is not moot. But the party constitution lists only expulsion, reprimand and censure as penalties for members. Those who have already quit, it says, can be barred from readmission for three years.

Not much ammunition. Any bright ideas out there? Robocalls at 2 a.m., perhaps?

Careful, you are what you smoke, and eat, and …

Yikes, just looking at the prototype packaging for those cigarette warning labels proposed by the federal government makes us want to stop smoking (if we did). "WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer," says one, with a photo of an open-sore lip and nicotine-stained teeth. Or another, more morbid: "WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease," showing a corpse’s feet with toe tag.

If the idea is to break people of bad health habits, this tactic has all kinds of possibilities. Coming soon to a fast-food joint near you: burger wrappers depicting obese belly folds, or french-fry containers showing dimpled cellulite thighs.