This is Democracy!

Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

Nostalgia Good & Bad

A  L  O  H  A !

" We could never

 have loved the earth

 so well 

if we had had

 no childhood

 in it. "

George Eliot 

" If you're yearning 

for the good old days,

 just turn off

 the air conditioning. "

Griff Niblack

" Nostalgia is a file

 that removes the

 rough edges 

from the good old days. "

Doug Larson 

"It's never too late 

to be 

who you might

 have been."

George Eliot

  =^..^=  

Nostalgia

is a visit to

hallways where

you lived,

walked,

 and breathed

a long time ago.

So much comes to mind.

Perspectives emerge,

forgotten joys

live once more

for the moment.

But 

you cannot 

live there.

We must emerge

as from cinema

into the bright lights

of Now.

Don't remain

in the shadows,

peering out

with suspicion

and derision

at those going about

their lives today.

We call such 

shadow dwellers

"Old People."

Don't BE one!

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Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

A L O H A !
 

When You Love

A  L  O  H  A !

When you love those around you

You are surrounded by those you love

Which can lead to being loved

By those all around you!

                  > < } } (°>

=^..^=

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Seeing History Unfold

A L O H A!

 Is more than a word, 

it is a concept, a philosophy of life, 

a rule of behaviour, 

a deep and sacred truth 

that is at once simple, obvious 

and powerful 

in any context. 

The Hawaiian People, 

it is said, recognized 

the spirit of Jesus 

immediately, but wondered 

at the cold behavior 
of the missionaries 

It was not a perfect society,

holding slaves, fighting wars,

ruled over by a class

of "superiors."

In other words,

it was like other

cultures around the globe

in that time.

What I am praising

is the inclusion and

courtesy that was

their heartbeat.

Vestiges of ALOHA 
remain.

They have blessed,

educated,

and changed

me;

For the better.

This week

our legislature

seems poised

to extend marriage equality

to all.

Hearings in special session

have run the gamut

from: "Gays are trying

to take over the world,

shame on you for taking

bribes to help them."

To wonderful testimony

from local families,

faith leaders,

seniors,

children,

as to why

equality and inclusion

are Pono

(the Hawaiian word

for "Right, righteous.")

For once, the dignity

of our local senators

(the majority of them!)

has risen to a

statesmanlike stature.

Senator Hee asked a 

very nice older woman

how she reconciled

the disagreement

between different churches

as to the bill.

She could not answer.

Nor could the person

who testified that 

legislative staff

was infiltrated with gays

when the same senator

asked:

"Which of them do I work with?

*Pause*

Thought you said you knew."

The US Supreme Court ruling,

as well as marriage equality

from South Africa to Iowa

have made a huge change

to local leaders.

Hawaii will vote: aloha to ALL

this week

or next.

My friends, my betters,

my forerunners,

 martyrs,

 and I

are poised to

succeed

in a long long long long long

struggle.

The world will not end.

Promise!

"It's historic in the sense that there's a huge paradigm shift, but it's a shift that, in my opinion, bends the arc of justice towards the right way,
It takes us to a new level of equal rights."

Hawaii State Sen. Clayton Hee 

" Kanaka Maoli*

 have been conditioned for so long

 to think and act like foreigners

 that we have allowed the meaning

 and intent of our words, traditions and philosophies 

to be replaced by neo-Christian beliefs 

and used to further a 

Western political agenda 

on our islands."

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu 
More about Hina:
HERE


=^..^=
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* Kanaka Maoli is what the original Hawaiian people call themselves in their own Language. 

Back in the 19th century, Hawaiian sailors were often listed on crew manifest as "Kanaka" or "Kanak)

Roots of Current US Political Divide

America continues to deal with race.

 Frankly, old subliminal attitudes are at the root

 of much of the demonizing of our amazing president.

 Check out this 3 minute preview.

 It will all begin to make more sense.

 Films like Lincoln, 12 Years A Slave, 

and Django, further a conversation 

that includes Trayvon Martin,

Stand Your Ground, and the bible 

(which was used to both fight and defend slavery - 

as in the marriage equality fight today)

Attitudes of opposition to the federal government 

are quite ingrained in parts of the US,

yet significant numbers of US military volunteers, and 

our presidents, have come from the South 

(the old rebel confederacy that lost the Civil War).

They continue to see things differently. 

As the British Empire, 

and much of the civilized world 

recognized slavery as unsavory 

(to say the very least)

southern plantation owners promoted 

images of happily singing "darkies" 

thriving under the protection 

of benevolent owners, er, masters 

(sounds so much nicer, like with pets).

Their motivations were financial,

yes -

but not solely,

and the entire US

made lots of money

on slave labor

(they partially built

our US Congress building

with it's famous dome)

I see an inspiring (if not always perfect) 

president who mostly 

effectively supports 

what I believe in 

They see, 

well, it would be distasteful 

to share some of the 

disrespectful crap 

I've seen thrown at this man

 and his family!

Now Europe seems to be facing up

to the Roma (Gypsy) in their midst.

China has her Uighurs

and Tibetans. 

(The Uighurs & Roma

are both unrecognized

nationalities

to Spell Check!)

SO

What is going on

with group relations

in YOUR place?

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Day OH

A  L  O  H  A !

" The sun is new each day. "

Heraclitus 

" If there must

 be trouble,

 let it be

 in my day,

 that my child

 may have peace."

Thomas Paine 

" I arise in the morning

 torn between a desire

 to improve the world 

and a desire to 

enjoy the world. 

This makes it hard 

to plan the day. "

E. B. White 

" With the new day

 comes new strength

 and new thoughts. "

Eleanor Roosevelt 

" Write it on your heart 

that every day

 is the best day in the year. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

" An early-morning walk

 is a blessing

 for the whole day. "

Henry David Thoreau 

> < } } (°>

=^..^=

Thanks for walking a while :)

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