ALOHA AIR

The last time I actually showed up for jury duty it was a civil asbestos trial, and the defendant was Union Carbide.

I didn’t know much about Union Carbide, except the nagging thought, Weren’t those the folks who gassed thousands in Bhopal, India?

Union Carbide doesn’t exist anymore, it was purchased by some larger corporate entity. It’s India division had already been sold off.

You can argue about Rev. Wright’s rhetoric. But if you read the story of the Bhopal Disaster, you will agree that there at least some people in the world who can say with some justice, “God damn America.”

BTW: The lawyers for Dow (which bought Union Carbide) were the slickest litigators I’ve ever seen in action, including at least five trials and five more voir-dires as a juror, and one trial, lasting seven weeks, as a defendant. The Dow lawyers were world-class.

The plaintiff’s lawyer was fine—he could beat the pants off any Dep DA I’ve ever seen, but he was nowhere near as perfect as Dow’s guys (all guys). The mismatch in lawyers was probably to compensate for a similar mismatch in facts that tilted toward the defendants.

On a lighter note, Aloha Airlines has been in the news—it’s going out of business. I was kind of surprised that it was still in business.

Similar to the Union Carbide deal, my first association with the words, “Aloha Airlines,” is this:

Talk about fresh air exchange!

Aloha is such a nice word! According to Wikipedia:

Aloha in the Hawaiian language means affection, love, peace, compassion, mercy, goodbye, and hello, among other sentiments of a similar nature. It is used especially in Hawaii as a greeting meaning hello and goodbye. Variations occur based on circumstances when used as a salutation. "Aloha kakahiaka" is the phrase for "good morning". "Aloha auinalā" is the phrase for "good afternoon". "Aloha ahiahi" is the phrase for "good evening". "Aloha kākou" is a common form of "welcome to all".

Aloha.

Felicitations!

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