Starting tomorrow, Advertiser blogs are scheduled to move from the b2evolution blogging engine to WordPress as part of the redesign of HonoluluAdvertiser.com.

Volcanic Ash will have a new Web address and can now be found at http://volcanicash.honadvblogs.com/.

The address for RSS feeds will also change to http://volcanicash.honadvblogs.com/feed/.

I'm still up to my okole in TurboTax slavery and not much in the mood to write. Let's just say there won't be a refund to pay for a new laptop and I'll probably be signing the rebate check right back to W.

If you're looking for something more substantive to read, you can check out my column in the Opinion section of today's Advertiser, "Time to look closely at DOE money trail."

I mentioned last week possibly taking a day off to renew my acquaintance with the newly marketed Primo Beer now hitting the stores.

But I realized I'm behind on my income taxes and had better use the day to become reacquainted with TurboTax.

After figuring the federal and state share of my semi-retirement earnings, I'm hoping I'll have enough cash left to replace my creaky laptop; then I'll have to turn my attention to Windows vs. Mac.

I used a Mac for many years, but switched to Windows in a fit of pique three years ago when my iBook and iPod broke at the same time and I found in trying to get them fixed that Apple had become as arrogant as Microsoft.

I don't care for Windows Vista and am tempted to switch back, but I never did succeed in fully merging data, e-mail and music files between the two platforms in the Windows years, and I'm worried I'll only compound the problem by changing again.

I don't want to have to keep up with two operating systems, so I don't find much advantage in the new Intel Macs that can also run Windows.

Oh well, if Uncle Sam and Auntie Linda dig deep into my pocket, I'll have another year to think about it.

It's sobering that we passed 4,000 American deaths in Iraq the same week we marked the fifth anniversary of our horribly ill-advised invasion of a country that represented no danger to us.

Who can forget a deluded President Bush strutting around the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to declare "mission accomplished" just a couple of months after he started the bombing, when only a few dozen U.S. forces had lost their lives?

Bush promised back then that the war would cost no more than $100 billion, but the cost today is $600 billion and climbing at a rate of more than $12 billion a month. Some estimate our national treasury could be $3 trillion lighter by time it's all over, leaving other pressing public needs begging.

There's no evidence that Iraq was part of the terrorism network responsible for the 9/11 attacks, or possessed weapons that posed any threat whatsoever to our citizens. A credible case can be made that we're less secure rather than more as a result of this misadventure.

Still, Bush and Vice President Cheney blithely insist it's all been "well worth the effort," even though two-thirds of Americans view this war as a failure. Our toothless watchdogs in Congress have failed to demand a meaningful accounting of the blunders, miscalculations and outright deceptions.

How much longer are we going to sit by and allow our tragic mistakes to compound?

A reader who introduced himself last week at Pearlridge wanted to bet that I couldn't come up with 10 amusing and confusing news items from Hawai'i's week that was without poking fun at Linda Lingle, Mufi Hannemann or the Legislature. You of little faith:

• Gerard Jervis was hit with a four-count indictment for allegedly ramming the SUV of four St. Louis School football players who threw eggs at his Lanikai house. The guy should have just stayed home and made an omelet.

• Councilman Charles Djou is ducking a race against U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie for Congress this year and instead will run in 2010, when he hopes Abercrombie will vacate the seat to run for governor. There's a term for this political strategy: Cock-A-Doodle-Djou.

• Abercrombie, meanwhile, was badgering Catholic theologians to disclose whether they consider torture to be a sin. The church was going to send a nun with a ruler to answer him.

• Vociferous Superferry opponents on Kaua'i told the state they'll continue trying to physically block the ferry from Nawiliwili Harbor no matter what an environmental impact statement says. If only their minds were as open as their mouths.

• After using his swing vote to force mass transit to skip the airport and run through his Salt Lake district, Councilman Romy Cachola now worries that noisy trains will keep his constituents awake and decrease property values. New plan: Route the train back to the airport and send limos for Salt Lake commuters.

• The state hopes 100 countdown timers installed on signal lights on Ala Moana Boulevard will make pedestrians safer. If the count gets to "3" and you hear drivers revving their engines, run. If you're too old to run, pray.

• Former University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones is late on a $400,008 payment he owes UH for skipping out on his contract early to take a $2 million-a-year job at Southern Methodist University. What, you expected him to show class now and spoil a perfect record?

• Some lolo hopped out of a cab on the freeway without paying his fare, then stripped down to his skivvies and ran off in the Moanalua Stream near Big Boy Restaurant. The dope must have mistaken the eatery for Chippendale's.

• Downtown architects are competing in an Easter egg decorating contest today. Winning entries will be thrown at Lanikai homes by St. Louis School football players.

• Primo, once Hawai'i's favorite beer, will be available again in local stores Monday for the first time in a decade. Sounds like a good excuse for a day off to get reacquainted with an old friend.

And the quote of the week …

… from Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona about the importance of getting more exercise in our daily routines:

"It can be as easy as flying a kite, walking the dog or walking down the street to buy a newspaper."

He's running for governor by telling potential voters to go fly a kite? Maybe we can jump in a lake, as well, to get some swimming into the workout.

It strikes me as a bit of an insult to Mayor Mufi Hannemann's constituents that he's spending $2,400 a month in public funds on KHVH radio to promote his view of the "truth" on Honolulu's proposed $3.7 billion rail transit system.

The city says the program, which runs from 3 to 4 p.m. every Tuesday, is needed to counter contrary views expressed on KHVH by morning host Rick Hamada and guests such as Councilman Charles Djou.

The thing is, there's no sign that Hannemann and his spokesmen have been unwelcome to present their views for free on regular programming. Print and broadcast media have been generous in providing the mayor and his minions space and time to promote rail.

For the mayor to use the power of his office and city funds to buy a premium forum where he can't be challenged reminds me of when former Mayor Jeremy Harris refused to participate in a televised debate with his election opponents, then appeared by himself on the newscast afterward to rebut their views.

In a word, chicken.

Hannemann seems obsessed with always having the last word and speaking in the loudest voice, not especially admirable qualities in a community that values personal modesty.

In this case, if he wants a controlled forum for a one-sided political message, he should leave public money out of it and pay with some of the $2 million in campaign funds he's amassed with no announced opponent.