While HSTA and the state squabble …

In the long, laborious case of the HSTA versus the state, the latest point goes to …

To hear the head of the Hawaii State Teachers Association spin it, the union is "very pleased" about the state Supreme Court affirming its right to strike. To hear the governor react, the court’s denial of HSTA’s request for immediate relief from an imposed two-year contract is just the latest in the union’s losses in the labor dispute. So there.

We’ll stand apart from the fray, for now. Let’s simply give a round of deserved points to the kids and teachers in the classrooms, diligently working away as the first quarter of the school year comes to a close Friday.

One man’s ‘pain’ is another’s good fortune?

Higher gasoline prices are bad because they force us to spend more of our hard-earned money on fuel, leaving us less money for other needs and wants, and perhaps government should do something, right?

But, wait … aren’t higher gasoline prices to be welcomed because they encourage investment in alternative energy sources like solar panels and windmills? Don’t we all want gasoline prices to go through the roof, aided by greedy OPEC oil ministers and our own state Legislature and City Council adding taxes to the price of imported oil and at the pump? Darned if we do, darned if we don’t …