I’m taking off early for the holiday, but I leave you with a “flASHback” on the weekly news that amused and confused:

• Local bankruptcies are up, tourism is down, layoffs are up, housing sales are down, fuel costs are up, stock prices are down. You know it’s a tough economy when even our ups drag us down.

• Barack Obama spent the week proclaiming his faith and arguing with a religious leader over the Bible. Is he running to succeed George W. Bush or Billy Graham?

• A fellow senator says John McCain grabbed a Nicaraguan official’s shirt and pulled him from his chair during diplomatic talks. No wonder Obama doesn’t want to to sit across the table from his GOP rival at campaign forums.

• Engineering professor Panos D. Prevedouros says he’ll challenge Mufi Hannemann for Honolulu mayor. This’ll be the first time Hannemann runs as the candidate with the easier-to-pronounce name.

• Prevedouros barely got the attention of Hannemann, who was busy simultaneously fighting with current Gov. Linda Lingle and former Gov. Ben Cayetano over rail transit. Looks like the mayor has already moved past 2008 and is power-lifting to prepare for 2010.

• House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell says voters shouldn’t decide rail transit because we find it “easier to tear something down than to be constructive.” If that were true, we’d tear down the Legislature. Wait … that would be too constructive.

• Some City Council members want to make drivers pay a toll for the congestion we cause when we venture downtown. Baskets for campaign donations would be placed on streets to the city center.

• The state says Aloha Stadium will look so new after a $185 million renovation that “it’ll be just like when you walked into the stadium the first time.” I don’t think so. The first time I walked in, it was in baseball configuration and the Islanders were playing.

• Honolulu police have new Tasers with video cameras attached to film rowdy suspects getting zapped. These will raise the bar for horror flicks that make your hair stand on end.

• Officials are tightening permit requirements for weddings on state beaches. The parties will now have to pass a sanity test.

And the quote of the week …

… from Sen. Daniel Inouye on the sinking economy:

“If there was a time when the phrase ‘Let’s get together, let’s work together’ makes good sense, now is the time.”

If he pulls off that miracle, he’ll be the next Hawai’i saint after Damien.

It’s difficult to understand the uneven official handling of the case against former Bishop Estate trustee Gerard Jervis for chasing down four high school students who threw eggs at his Lanikai home.

Authorities threw the book at Jervis after the students’ SUV ended up the guide wire of a utility pole, charging him with criminal property damage, terroristic threatening, harassment and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Police plan no charges against the students for their vandalism, according to their lawyer, despite eyewitnesses and an egg carton found with their vehicle. Jervis’ attorney may be gagged by the court from publicly questioning the actions of the boys.

Jervis must answer for what he did and face the consequence of any acts found to be illegal, but the same should be true for the students.

Law enforcers face a hit to their credibility if they fail to do anything to protect homeowners from harassment without offering a convincing public explanation of their inaction.